Review: The Winners (by Fredrik Backman)

My Rating:  5 stars



A couple days ago, I received a surprise in my email box that made me squeal with delight.  An advance copy of a book that I've been dying to read since January but didn't think I would get the chance to until October, landed unexpectedly in my inbox and my first reaction was to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming (I wasn't). My second reaction (after I stopped screaming of course, lol), was trying to decide whether to forego all upcoming reads that I had lined up (including anything I was currently reading) so I could jump on this one right away — which is exactly what I ended up doing.  The book I'm referring to is Fredrik Backman's The Winners, which is the third (and final) book in the Beartown series.  I read Beartown and its sequel Us Against You for the first time back in January and fell absolutely head over heels in love with the story as well as the characters.  I loved both books and when I heard that the last book in the series would come out in the fall of this year, I was agonizingly counting down the days until I could get my hands on a copy (given this context, it probably makes sense now why I was so delighted to have received an ARC so many months in advance of publication)!  As is usually the case when I pick up one of Backman's novels (not to mention this one being Beartown-related), I knew I would be so absorbed in the story that I wouldn't be able to tear myself away, so I decided to start this on a Saturday, which would give me the entire weekend to read non-stop if it came down to that (a sensible decision, especially when I saw that this book clocks in at nearly 700 pages!).   In the end, I finished this one in a matter of hours, which is nothing short of a miracle for me (though worth every single minute I spent on it). 

The story opens 2 years after the last events in Us Against You where, in addition to being reunited with all the beloved characters from the first 2 books, we are also introduced to a few new ones who, by the end of the book, still managed to find a place in my heart despite their relatively brief appearances.  Going into this third book, I was already expecting it to be an emotionally charged read for me, just like the previous 2 books were, but what I wasn't expecting was the extent of the emotional impact — perhaps because, not long after the story opens, it hits me that this will actually be my last opportunity to spend time with these characters that I had grown to love so much, or perhaps because I already had an idea of the tragedy that would occur at the conclusion of the story (even though the previous 2 books had already dropped hints as to what the fates would be of certain characters and so I had time to brace for impact, it didn't make the moment, when it occurred, any less heart wrenching). Perhaps it was also my mindset going into this, knowing it was going to be the final chapter to a beloved series, it made each moment — whether happy, sad, sweet, upsetting — feel much more pronounced and poignant.  I was actually quite conflicted while reading this because on the one hand, I didn't want to let these characters go, so part of me wanted to read slowly and prolong my time with them, but then on the other hand, I was eager to find out what was going to happen and whether they would be okay in the end.

I am going to keep this review deliberately short, as it is incredibly difficult to talk about any of the plot points that occur without giving away too much of the story (especially if you haven't yet read the previous 2 books in the series).  To be honest, I feel that the blurb describing the book already reveals too much — if you decide to pick this one up, especially if you've already read the first 2 books and are as big a fan of the series as I am, I would recommend not even reading the blurb and going straight into the book itself (I know for me, the mere fact of this being "Beartown #3" was enough for me to dive right in, lol).  And if it so happens that you haven't read the first 2 books yet (I only just read them earlier this year myself, even though both books have been out for quite some time already), definitely read those 2 first before attempting his one, as being able to see all the characters grow and evolve throughout all 3 books makes the reading experience so much more special.  Also, if you do decide to pick this one up, just make sure you have some tissues handy because while the events that happened in this one were a fitting conclusion to the entire series (I loved how Backman brilliantly and masterfully  brought the story arc full circle), it was also sad and bittersweet.  

It's not often that I rate all the books in a series 5 stars, but this one absolutely deserves it!  I'm not much of a re-reader nowadays, as I already don't have a whole lot of time to read in general due to work and family priorities, so I prefer to spend that time chipping away at my ridiculously huge TBR of first time reads, but this is a series that I can totally see myself re-reading at some point, which says a lot about how much I loved the entire series.  

Received ARC from Atria Books via NetGalley.

Review: The Younger Wife (by Sally Hepworth)

My Rating:  3 stars

I finished an ARC of this book yesterday and to be honest, I'm still trying to process how I feel about it.  While this was a good story overall and Sally Hepworth is no doubt a talented writer (I've read other books she's written and liked them all well enough), I will be honest in saying that I wasn't particularly enamored with this one after I finished it.  For one, I didn't like the ending, and two, the way some of the female characters in the story were portrayed (especially in relation to the male characters) bothered me more than I expected. Also, plot-wise, there was way too much ambiguity throughout the story in my opinion (yes, I know this is a thriller and in a sense, some ambiguity is expected, but still…) — this annoyed me a bit because I felt like I had to suspend disbelief way too many times (especially with Tully's and Heather's story arcs) — not only that though, some parts of the story actually didn't make sense, (including the ending). When I finished reading this book, my first reaction was to scratch my head and try to parse what exactly I had just read.  My second reaction was an urge to go back and re-download the ARC because I thought, perhaps, I was missing a few pages at the end somewhere, because the ending of the book frustrated me.  My third reaction was a curiosity to read through reviews to see 1) what other readers' reactions were, and 2) whether I was the only one who didn't really "get" the story. And this is where my entire reading experience with this book veered off into something I had never encountered before.  

As I was reading reviews, I came across various comments that mentioned about the finished copy of the book actually having a very different ending from the ARC version.  Given that I wasn't keen on the story's ending (in the version I had read), I was curious, so naturally, I hunted down a finished copy of the book so I could read the "new" ending. As it turns out, it wasn't just the ending that changed — majority of the last chapter (the one right before the epilogue) had changed as well.  Now of course, I've read enough ARCs to understand that changes between the advance and finished copies are common…but the thing is, these changes were actually QUITE significant— to the point that it took the story in an ENTIRELY different direction.  In fact, in my opinion, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that those changes, even though only to the last chapter and the epilogue (at least I think that was it, as I didn't re-read the entire book), turned this into a completely different story from what I had originally read.  

While I have to admit that the changes did make the entire story more believable (not to mention the parts that didn't make sense earlier actually made sense now), the overall experience itself (reading the ARC, then finding out that the finished copy had significant changes and subsequently having to hunt down a finished copy to read the changes) unfortunately left a bad taste in my mouth.  In a way, I felt cheated, but more upsetting was that I felt like I had wasted my time reading an ARC when I could've just read the finished copy (this is exacerbated by the fact that I already don't have much time to read due to work and life obligations, plus I have a mile-high TBR that I'm trying to get through).  Perhaps I'm overreacting and I wouldn't fault anyone for saying that, but for a reader like me, who views the reading experience as being just as important as the contents of the book being read, this type of thing affects me more than it probably should.

Having said all that, I decided to rate this one based on my initial reaction to it, which is that I thought the premise had a lot of potential and Rachel's story arc especially kept me engaged and absorbed in the story, but overall the way things went down with the plot, (and the ending) left much to be desired.  So I ended up rating this 3 stars based on the ARC (of course, if I had read only the finished copy in its entirety, my rating would most likely be different).

Lastly, I will say that I am very obviously the outlier with this one so definitely check out other reviews as well.  And if you do decide to pick this one up, might be better off reading the finished copy rather than an ARC, as it will likely impact the way you react to the story.

Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.

Review: Peach Blossom Spring (by Melissa Fu)



My Rating: 3.5 stars

In recent years, there has been much discussion about the saturation of World War II era books in the market.  While this is definitely true, and with that, many people's general weariness over reading yet another book set in this time period is absolutely understandable, part of me still hopes that people don't give up on books set in this time period just yet, primarily because the fact remains that too few of these books tell about WWII from the less widespread perspective of the Asian nations that either participated in the war or were severely impacted by it.  This is why I felt that Melissa Fu's debut novel Peach Blossom Spring— despite falling a tad short of expectations for me (more on this later) — was still very much worth reading overall.  

In this generational story that spans decades, Fu explores the impact of WWII (as well as its aftermath) through the experiences of the fictional Dao family.  With the onset of the Japanese invasion of China, wealthy and shrewd patriarch Dao Hongtse, who owns a lucrative kerosene and antiques shop in Changsha, sees his family torn apart when his youngest son Xiaowen is killed in battle, leaving behind his young wife Meilin and their 4-year-old son Renshu. Devastated by the loss of his most beloved son, Hongtse withdraws into himself and turns most of his business over to eldest son Longwei, who has returned home after also fighting in the war.  Not long after Longwei returns however, news breaks out about the Japanese army's imminent advance into the city, forcing the family to leave nearly everything behind and flee their home.  As they travel across their war-ravaged country seeking refuge and ultimately survival, Meilin and Renshu rely on the stories from an ancient scroll for solace.  After the war, Meilin and Renshu settle in Taiwan, which eventually becomes "home" for them.

The second half of the story focuses primarily on Dao Renshu, who, as an adult, has settled in the United States.  Having adopted the name Henry Dao, Renshu pursues his graduate studies and eventually meets Rachel, whom he marries and subsequently they have one daughter, Lily.  As Henry becomes more immersed in his life as an American, he starts to distance himself from his past and his tumultuous childhood growing up during the war.  Even though he continues to stay in constant communication with his mother Meilin in Taiwan, he feels more and more that his current life in the U.S. as Henry Dao is incongruous with the boy he was growing up in China and Taiwan. Believing that the only way to keep his family safe is to separate his past from his present, Henry refuses to reveal much about his childhood, despite his daughter Lily's persistence in wanting to understand her heritage.  Much of the second half of the story focuses on Henry's struggles to reconcile his past life and experiences in China with his present one in America.

As I mentioned at the beginning of my review, this book ended up falling a bit short of expectations for me (though having said that, I'm still glad I decided to pick this one up).  While there were many aspects of the story I really liked — such as the character of Meilin, the Chinese cultural elements referenced throughout, the fables revolving around the scroll, etc. — I felt that the writing was too uneven.  The way this was written, I felt like it jumped back and forth too much between long descriptive sentences and short choppy ones, often describing relatively mundane things that I felt weren't really important to the story.  With that said though, the first half of the story, which covers Meilin's story arc, was engaging enough that it was easier to overlook the inconsistencies in the writing - so much so in fact, that I was actually disappointed when Meilin didn't feature as much in the second half of the story.

Speaking of which, that's what didn't work well for me — the second half of the book when the narrative shifted primarily to Renshu's adult life in the U.S.  I felt that these sections were too tedious to read, as there were too many unnecessary descriptions that bogged down the story (mundane things such as describing a character writing a letter, folding it up, putting it in an envelope, licking the flap, putting it in the mail — actions that could be described simply in one sentence were drawn out over several sentences). The other reason why the second half of the story (Renshu's story arc) didn't hold my interest as much as the first half (Meilin's story arc) is because the latter half veered too much into the political tension between China and Taiwan — a topic that I'm already very familiar with having grown up surrounded by constant discussion about the potential fates of Hong Kong and Taiwan in relation to China.  At times, I felt like I was reading an overly drawn out primer on China and Taiwan geopolitics that was geared more toward those who may not necessarily be familiar with the history and context behind it.  There were also some parts that came across like the characters were reciting matter-of-fact historical tidbits rather than having actual conversations with each other.  For me, this definitely detracted from the overall story, but not only that, it also made the story less emotionally resonant when it had the potential to be so much more.  

Overall, I would say that this was a good story with a premise that had a lot of potential, but needed more refinement in terms of writing and execution.  Because of this, deciding how to rate this book was agonizing for me, as the first half I felt was pretty strong (and I would probably rate 4 stars), but the second half was definitely a struggle that took me way longer to get through (and to be honest, I probably would've rated 2-3 stars on its own).  In the end, I chose a happy medium of 3.5 stars, mostly because I truly did love and appreciate the first half of the story, despite some elements that didn't quite work for me.

Received ARC from Little, Brown and Company via NetGalley.  

Review: The Diamond Eye (by Kate Quinn)

My Rating:  4.5 stars

Kate Quinn has done it again!  This tremendously talented author (one of my favorites) has once again written another engrossing, transportive work of historical fiction with a strong, formidable female protagonist at its center.   In a provocative narrative based on the real life story of Lyudmila "Mila" Pavlichenko, a Russian librarian and history student turned deadly sniper, Quinn returns to the WWII time period of her previous novel, except this time, the focus is on the Soviet front and the physical battles fought during the war.  Mila's story is fascinating in its own right, but through her beautifully rendered prose, Quinn truly brings this little-known war heroine to life.  I love the way Quinn writes her characters in all her books and this time around was no exception.  With the character of Mila, I appreciated how, despite the moniker "Lady Death" and a tally of 309 kills to her name, the focus throughout most of the story wasn't really on her fame per se, but rather, on her humanity.   Mila was formidable, but never hostile, and in the face of everything she had to deal with — taking care of her son as a single mother, pushing back against the bias and prejudices she had to endure on a daily basis in her field of work, fending off those with bad intentions toward her, being tasked with defending her country against foreign advances, etc. — the tremendous strength and fortitude she consistently displayed was nothing short of admirable.

This was a meticulously researched, engaging story that I found difficult to put down.  I learned a lot about a segment of WWII history that I was less familiar with, which I appreciated, as I always hope to learn something from my reading experiences.   Kate Quinn's novels have all been 5 star reads for me up to this point and while this one was indeed wonderful, it did fall a tad bit short this time around, mostly because I felt parts of the story leaned a little too much into the technical aspects related to weaponry and battle, which has never been a subject of interest for me. Also, I felt the storyline involving Alexei went on for way too long, and the way he seemed to keep popping up all over the place honestly kind of annoyed me.

One thing I do have to mention — given the context of what is going on in the world currently involving Russia and Ukraine, it was honestly hard to read this book and not feel impacted in some way by the similarities of war.  This would be the one caution about reading this book during this time.  

That notwithstanding though, The Diamond Eye is a magnificent story that is absolutely well-worth the read.  Highly recommended!! 

Received ARC from William Morrow and Company via NetGalley.