Review: Talking at Night (by Claire Daverly)

My Rating:  4.5 stars

One thing I wanted to establish right off the bat:  this is one of those books that is hard to place into any one genre, since it's technically a mix of several, however I would strongly caution against classifying it as a typical "romance" novel.  Sure, there's a "love story" at the core of this one, with a main "couple" that it's pretty much impossible NOT to root for (more on this later), but there is actually so much more to the story than that.  This is a story with a tremendous amount of emotional depth and nuance, told in a way that is raw, honest, heartfelt, and realistic.  

When the story first starts out, it might seem, on the surface, like "romance trope" territory:  a shy and soft-spoken good girl (who is also an ardent rule-follower) falls in love with a handsome bad boy whom we find out actually has a heart of gold despite his tortured past — but then tragedy tears them apart and they end up going down very different paths, seemingly forever…yet somehow the deep connection they share keeps pulling them back into each other's orbit. That's the general premise, but as the story progresses, we come to realize that there is so much more beneath the surface that, in the end, elevates things to a level beyond a simple love story.  There is love, yes, but also family, friendship, parental expectations, unrequited longing, missed opportunities, regret, tragedy, death, etc…and a roller coaster ride of feelings and emotions both heavy-hitting as well as lighthearted. Throughout it all — despite how many times I felt incredibly frustrated with Rosie's indecisiveness, or how many times I felt incredibly sad seeing Will's pain and anguish dredged up over and over again, or how many times this "couple" broke my heart, put it back together, then broke it all over again — I could not help rooting for them, steadfastly, unequivocally, from beginning to end.  I didn't always agree with their decisions, of course (in fact, I found myself yelling at them more than once), and truth be told that I was a bit more partial toward Will than Rosie (because, um, how could anyone not be after what he does in the later part of the story), but I still ended up loving both of them regardless.

A few comments on the writing, which I personally thought was beautifully done. I felt that there was a lyrical, rhythmic nature to the writing that seemed to ebb and flow alongside Will and Rosie's tumultuous relationship.  Now there will be aspects of the writing that may not sit well with some readers — for example, the lack of quotation marks for the dialogue, some random words and phrases that don't seem to express a complete thought, some sentences that run on for entire paragraphs — but if you become as immersed in the story as I was, you probably won't notice any of these things after awhile (as I didn't).  

This was Claire Daverly's debut novel, though it definitely didn't read like one, at least to me.  There's no doubt that I will be on the lookout for more from Daverly in the future.  In the meantime, if you're looking for a story that's poignant, powerful, and heartfelt, with believable characters that you won't be able to stop yourself from caring about, I definitely recommend picking this one up!

Received ARC from Pamela Dorman Books via NetGalley.

Review: The Late Bloomers’ Club (by Louise Miller)

My Rating: 3.5 stars

After a slew of emotional, heavy, intense reads, I needed a "palette cleanser" of sorts, something light-hearted and not too long, a book that would be a perfect wind-down to summer -- Louise Miller's The Late Bloomers' Club fit the bill nicely!  This is a charming story set in a small town in Vermont, with characters so endearing that I found myself taking to them almost immediately.  I grew up in the hustle and bustle of a big city where everyone was always so busy trying to meet the demands of city life that it was often hard to develop friendships with others in the same neighborhood, let alone the community at large.  Because of this, I'm often attracted to books about small towns where everyone in the community know each other and the natural inclination is to band together and help each other out in times of trouble – this is the exact type of community at the center of this story, which revolves around Nora Huckleberry, owner of the Miss Guthrie Diner, her free-spirited sister Kit, and cake lady Peggy Johnson who bequeaths the sisters with her home and property upon her death.  While the sisters are tasked with having to decide whether to sell the land to the big-box developer that Peggy was in talks with prior to her death, they also have their own personal issues to deal with – add to that the differing opinions from everyone in the community, some of whom want the growth opportunities that the developer would bring, while others oppose any change that could potentially threaten their livelihoods.  These various conflicts were incorporated into a narrative that featured many elements of a heartwarming, "feel-good" story – small town atmosphere with ordinary people living ordinary lives, close-knit friendships, sisterly and family love, plenty of descriptions of mouth-watering foods and desserts, lush depictions of farms, orchards, country houses, a light touch of romance, and yes, Freckles the dog (one of the characters I adored the most, lol).  The result was a well-balanced story with just enough depth to keep things interesting, but still maintain a light, warm tone that made this an easy, fun read.  While it's true that much of the plot was predictable and the ending was tied up a little too nicely, that was to be expected with this story, so not much of an issue there.  If I had one "complaint," it would be that the narrative was told entirely from Nora's first person point of view, which made the writing a little bit clunky in some parts – I think the story would've been better told in third person, especially since the other characters aside from Nora also factored into the story in significant ways. 

With all that said, I did enjoy this one overall and actually would like to read this author's first book, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living, which it sounds like is a companion piece to this book (same setting and some of the same characters).  Overall, a worthwhile, recommended read!

Received ARC from Pamela Dorman Books via Penguin First to Read program.

Review: Everything Here is Beautiful (by Mira T. Lee)

 My Rating: 5 stars

 

Two weeks into the new year, I’ve come across my first 5 star read -- Mira T. Lee’s incredible debut novel Everything Here is Beautiful.   At its core, this beautifully written story is about two sisters who, after losing their father at a young age, are brought to the U.S. by their widowed mother, a strong woman determined to give her children the best life possible.  As the older sister, Miranda is the responsible one, the one who always took care of things, fixed things whenever they went wrong, and constantly played the role of protector for her vibrant yet extremely headstrong younger sister Lucia.  After their mother dies, the bond between these 2 sisters grows even stronger as they rely on and support one another through life’s good moments as well as the bad.  When Lucia is diagnosed with a debilitating mental illness, Miranda dedicates herself to helping her sister live a normal life, fighting to get her the treatment she desperately needs, the constant driving force who steps in time and time again, regardless of distance, to put her sister back on the right track.  Over the years though, their relationship becomes strained as Lucia refuses to let her illness define her and instead chooses to live her life as she pleases, letting her impulses guide her.  As Miranda and Lucia embark on their separate life journeys, their sisterly bond, once so strong, is repeatedly put to the test, with each incident, each confrontation, escalating in intensity, emotion, heartache – as things reach breaking point, they are forced to reconsider how much they are willing to sacrifice for the ones they love versus learning to finally let go and live their own lives.

There were so many things I loved about this book!  It wasn’t an easy read by any means, as the story itself was heart-wrenching, with the chronicling of multiple lives impacted by the complexities of mental illness.  I don’t have much experience dealing with mental illness so I can’t speak to how realistically it was portrayed in this story, but it absolutely felt so real to me and on an emotional level, the story moved me deeply.   I felt for all of the characters, really connected with them and grew to love them despite their many flaws and in the end, I didn’t want to let them go.  With each character, I found myself on an emotional roller coaster ride –rejoicing with them during the small successes, feeling saddened and heartbroken when things took a turn for the worse, feeling frustrated and angered when their actions were self-destructive or hurtful to others, yet couldn’t help smiling during the many tender moments. There was also the humor, infused so wonderfully and perfectly throughout the story, in such a way as to make some of the sadness more bearable, yet without making light of the seriousness of mental illness and its impact on each of the characters.  I especially loved all the “aiya” moments and yes, my favorite character was Yonah, who made me laugh so wholeheartedly one minute yet cry buckets and buckets of tears the next minute – my favorite chapters were those narrated by him and when I had gotten to the end of that section, I felt grateful to the author for giving such a wonderfully endearing character the chance to tell his story in his own voice.  I felt that the emotion throughout the book was very raw and so very real, which in large part contributed to what made this story so powerful yet also beautiful at the same time.

In terms of the narration, this one alternated between first person and third person, with each chapter told from the perspective of one of the many characters who were part of Lucia’s life or were affected in some way by her actions, her illness. I’ve seen other authors use a similar format (alternating between first and third person), yet this one stood out in the way that it was able to seamlessly transition between perspectives, almost to perfection, resulting in a narrative that was richer and fuller but didn’t detract at all from the power of the story and the many emotions it elicited.  I loved how the author Mira T. Lee was able to give each of the characters their own voice and do it so well!  Once again, I am blown away by the fact that this is a debut novel, one written with such skill that it really speaks to the talent of the author.

This beautiful story is one that will stay with me for a long time, its characters now among my favorites.  Needless to say, this one comes highly recommended and absolutely should not be missed!  Everything here is indeed beautiful!

Received ARC from Pamela Dorman Books / Viking via Edelweiss