Review: Moloka'i (by Alan Brennert)

 My Rating: 5 stars

Several months ago, I was offered an ARC from the publisher for Alan Brennert’s newest novel Daughter of Moloka’i (which is scheduled to be published in February).   At the time, I skimmed the brief synopsis of the book that came with the email and that, along with the knowledge that the book would be in the historical fiction genre (one of my favorite genres), was enough for me to make the decision to accept the ARC I was offered.  Thinking at the time that the book was a standalone novel, it wasn’t until the end of last year, as I was planning my upcoming reads for 2019, that I read a more in-depth summary of the book and discovered that it is actually a sequel to a novel that Brennert had written 15 years ago, a bestseller from 2003 titled Moloka’i.  I put the book on my TBR list hoping I would get a chance to read it before reading the sequel.  A few weeks later, as I was browsing at a used book store I had recently discovered, I unexpectedly came across a paperback version of Moloka’i – coincidence or not, I knew right then and there that this was a book I just had to read, so I decided to take a much needed break from my ARCs list and squeeze this one in.  I am glad I did so, as I ended up loving this book and am happy to say that it is my very first 5 star read of 2019!

Prior to reading Brennert’s beautifully written masterpiece, I actually had no clue that there once existed a quarantined leprosy settlement on the Hawaiian island of Moloka’i.  I also knew very little about leprosy (now known as Hansen’s disease) itself outside of brief mentions I had come across many years ago that talked mostly about the physical deformities associated with the disease.  With this little bit of knowledge to go on, I went into this book expecting a heavily depressing story, one that I wasn’t sure I would be able to handle.  Now I know that I need not have worried, as instead of a depressing read, I was treated to an exquisite, beautiful, moving story about life, love, family, and strength in the face of adversity – a story that, while sad and heartbreaking, was also simultaneously hopeful and uplifting.  I appreciate the fact that Brennert took a humanistic approach with this story in that he was able to give leprosy patients a voice and show the world that, at the end of the day, these were ordinary people just like the rest of us, with the only difference being the horrible disease they were afflicted with, through no fault of their own, that forced them to live under extraordinary circumstances and make heartbreaking sacrifices that many of us often take for granted.

I loved all the characters in this story and really connected to all of them on an emotional level.  I especially loved the main character Rachel Kalama, whose story, albeit fictional, is beautifully rendered in here.  When she is discovered to have leprosy at the young age of 7, Rachel is taken from her family and exiled to the leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka’i, first at the Bishop Home for girls where she is cared for by the Franciscan sisters, then later, in adulthood, living on her own in Kalaupapa.  Despite the natural beauty of its terrain, Moloka’i is a desolate place, isolated from the world, where leprosy patients are sent to die — an “open grave” in a sense where the number of people who meet their deaths far outnumber those who survive. Yet, in such circumstances, Rachel and those she meets here, her new “family,” are determined to make the best of their situation, defying the odds and living their lives to the fullest — they go to gatherings, date, fall in love, get married and do everything else that others in a “normal” society would do.  Living out most of her life on the settlement, having to watch her friends succumb to death one after another, then later having to give up her beloved daughter, forcibly separated from her just like she herself was from her parents, Rachel shows incredible endurance and strength even in the face of so much tragedy and sacrifice.  Rachel is one of those unforgettable characters whose strength, bravery, and resilience touched my heart to the point that I continue to think about her and everything she went through long after finishing this book. 

One common characteristic with most of the books I’ve rated 5 stars is that almost all of them were emotional reads for me on some level.  This book was certainly no exception, as the roller coaster of emotions I felt while reading it never ceased – the story and characters gripped my heart from the very first page and never let go.  I found myself crying tears of sadness each time something bad happened to one of the characters and as the progression of the disease took one life after another, tears of joy each time one of the characters is able to overcome a small triumph over the disease as well as the moments of happiness that they are able to enjoy despite the circumstances, and of course tears of anguish each time one of the characters had to unfairly endure harsh words or cruel treatment from others in society that were guided mostly by fear and ignorance.  Reading this book, it is hard not to be drawn in emotionally and even after finishing, I know this is a story that will stay with me for a long time to come.

Good books have the innate ability to transport us, as readers, to a completely different world, to experience things (however briefly) that are beyond our reach, to gain knowledge about things that we probably would never have explored otherwise, and most importantly, to provoke us to think and reflect upon the attitudes, beliefs, values that we uphold in our lives and the impact these have on others.  This book definitely checked all the boxes for me and then some!  This book is historical fiction at its finest and one that I absolutely recommend, without a doubt.  Now that I’ve experienced Rachel’s story, I can’t wait to read her daughter Ruth’s story in Brennert’s follow-up novel Daughter of Moloka’i next month!

Review: Memories Before and After the Sound of Music (by Agathe Von Trapp)

 My rating: 2.5 stars

Coming up against the end of the year with only 2 letters left for my A to Z Author Challenge, I decided to read this memoir by Agathe Von Trapp to fulfill the “V” entry on the list.   As a long-time fan of the The Sound of Music, I had initially approached this book with some amount of excitement – after all, the title of the book draws a distinct connection to one of my favorite movies of all time!  Now that I finished reading the book, I must say that I am quite disappointed, as this book turned out to be nothing like what I expected, and not in a good way.

First, the writing was very drab and overly simplistic to the point of being boring.  Of course, I did cut some slack due to the fact that this was a memoir written by someone who didn’t write for a living, but still, I felt that this was where a good editor could’ve come in and cleaned things up a bit so that the book would’ve been more readable.  To be honest, I’m not too sure if this would appropriately fall into the memoir category because there is actually very little about Agathe herself or about her siblings.  Instead, the book felt more like a rambling account of the history of the Von Trapp family, from the grandparents to the parents and then eventually to the children.  There was a lot of time spent on describing things that the family did/saw/heard, including elaborate descriptions of the various places where the family lived as the children were growing up as well as when they were on tour, plus a lot of stories about things that occurred before Agathe herself even existed.  For example, there were entire chapters dedicated to her father (Captain Von Trapp), her beloved birth mother (also named Agathe), her maternal grandmother Gromi (the family had lived in her home for a few years early on), ordinary events such as birthday and holiday celebrations, her father’s sailing experiences while serving in the navy, the various nannies and governesses they had and what had been taught to them, etc. etc.  It felt like a lot of mundane detail regurgitated in a simplistic, monotone kind of way – I will admit that I found myself nodding off a few times while reading so about a third of the way through the book, I started skimming rather than actually reading word for word as I had been doing previously.

The writing aside, I think my biggest problem with this book was the fact that it seemed to be written for the sole purpose of “setting the record straight” – basically to relay the message that the creators/producers behind the stage and movie versions of The Sound of Music got it “all wrong” in terms of their portrayal of the Von Trapp family.   Throughout the book (it felt like every couple pages to be honest), we, as the readers, were constantly reminded that this detail was wrong or that detail didn’t match or they didn’t actually do this thing or that thing – basically, it seemed that the author’s point was to reiterate that like 99% of what was in the movie/musical was false.  As if that weren’t enough, there was also an entire chapter dedicated essentially to “criticizing” the movie/musical where the author makes her resentment toward the inaccurate portrayal of the family (and the fact that her family never benefited financially from the musical or the movie due to a contract that had been signed when the rights were sold that prevented them from receiving royalties initially) quite known.  I’m not against the author venting her grievances about the family being taken advantage of in terms of the unfair contract piece, but I felt like the book went a bit overboard in its negative tone toward the musical/movie.  To be honest, as a fan of The Sound of Music, I felt a bit insulted after reading this book – no, not by the author’s negativity / bitterness toward a movie I adored, as everyone is subject to their opinions, plus the author certainly has the right to feel anger and resentment about not being portrayed accurately – where I feel insulted is that the author went to such pains to point out how “different” the portrayal was from real life.  I’m sorry, but I think most movie-going audiences nowadays are smart enough to know that producers almost always take certain amounts of creative liberty when adapting a real-life story to the big screen – it’s pretty much a given with all movies that any portrayals, whether of real-life events / people or stories from books, won’t be 100% accurate.  Also, there’s no doubt that those of us who are already fans of the movie/musical have that extra layer of familiarity where we already knew the portrayal in there was only “loosely based” (or “inspired by” if that fits better) the story of the Von Trapp family, so in a sense, we weren’t really expecting to see a “100% accurate portrayal”.    In trying too hard to state the obvious, this book ended up turning me off quite a bit to it.

Also, in reading this book, there were 2 things that surprised me, mostly because I didn’t expect them.  The first was the heavy religious undertone in the book, which I guess shouldn’t really be surprising given the background of the family and the time period, but I was honestly a bit put off by the constant references to “being guided by God’s hand” or “God was watching over the family” or everything that happened being attributed to “God’s intervention and will”.   Don’t get me wrong – it’s not that I’m not religious or anything like that, it’s just that 1) I don’t like being preached at, especially in books, and 2) I prefer to know ahead of time if the book is going to be heavily slanted towards a particular religious perspective so I can decide whether I want to read or not.  The other thing that surprised me was what came across as the author’s ambivalent attitude toward her stepmother Maria.  When talking about her birth mother in the first half of the book, the author seemed a lot more enthusiastic and I could sense the fondness and admiration she had for her mother, but after her mother died and Maria joined the family, the author’s tone came across more detached and “matter-of-fact,” almost as though she was talking about an outsider rather than a member of her family.  I haven’t read Maria Von Trapp’s biographies, but I do know a bit of background about Maria from other things I’ve read so I do know she was a difficult person with a larger-than-life personality that set her apart drastically from the author’s mother.  I’m not necessarily trying to judge their relationship but I just thought it was interesting that the author painted such a peachy sweet, saccharine portrait of the entire family (honestly it seemed that everyone in the family was flawless and perfect, even the extended family consisting of all the aunts and uncles), but when it came to Maria, the tone was obviously different (not necessarily negative per se, but detached and less emotive).

While I was obviously disappointed with this book, it wasn’t an entirely bad experience, as some parts truly were interesting – such as the last chapter for example where the author gave a brief update on each of her siblings and what happened to them after the Trapp Family Singers disbanded.  Also a few tidbits here and there that were interesting “fun facts” about the family, though I honestly didn’t feel that the information warranted an entire book to be written.

Review: The Time Traveler's Wife (by Audrey Niffenegger)

My Rating: 3 stars

I should start off by saying that this book definitely was not my cup of tea and it I wasn't reading it for book club, I probably would not have picked this book up at all. I can't say that I hated the book (I DID rate it 3 stars after all), but there were enough things I disliked about it that made the reading experience less than enjoyable for me. The two biggest problems I saw were in the writing and structure of the book (two things that matter a great deal to me when I'm reading fiction, so that's where I tend to pay more attention). I also didn't like any of the characters much either -- especially the two main characters Henry and Clare -- which in large part was due to the way the characters were written. I found it difficult to develop any type of emotional attachment to any of the characters, which I know sounds awful given the many hardships the characters go through in the story, but I just wasn't able to "feel" for them for some unexplainable reason.

For me, this book was an extremely tedious read, to the point that I actually set the book aside 3 different times while reading so I could finish other books that ended up being way more "worthy" reads. I felt that the pacing of the book was way too slow and oftentimes, the story went absolutely nowhere. A large part of this had to do with the writing being very inconsistent – at times, the writing was choppy, with a whole paragraph consisting of short, and sometimes incomplete, sentences, but then the next paragraph would have super long sentences and descriptions, then a few paragraphs later, it would be choppy again. Speaking of descriptions, that was another area which, looking at some of the reviews, I wasn't the only one who felt was problematic. Normally, I have no problem with authors being descriptive, as long as it is done properly and there is an identifiable purpose to being overly-descriptive – for example, to establish setting or to pull the reader into the characters' worlds or to relay particular characters' emotions, train of thought, etc. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those cases, at least not for me. Throughout the book, the author often went into excruciating detail about the smallest of things that, for the most part, did nothing to further the plot (i.e. the grocery lists, detailed descriptions of food, the steps that Clare would take when putting together an art project, etc.). There were also entire swaths of dialogue between characters (i.e.: "…there is a knock at the door, Henry says, 'Come in', the door opens…" ) as well as quite a few scenes that I felt were meaningless, to the point that I wondered (more often than not) why the author even bothered to put those scenes in there (one example that sticks out is that scene at a party where Henry was having a detailed discussion with some strangers about what constitutes "punk" and "rock" and then proceeds to rattle off a list of rock (punk?) bands that they should be listening to). To me, all these extraneous descriptions, scenes, dialogue, etc. felt like 'unnecessary fluff' that seemed to serve no purpose other than to make the book way longer than it needed to be (my version was 530 pages). I honestly feel that if all the unnecessary stuff was cut from the book, it could've probably been pared down to around 350 pages or so).

I also found the way the book was structured to be very distracting – but this could just be me not understanding (or appreciating) the author's way of telling the story. The narrative goes back and forth in time, which is not a problem, since a lot of books do this and usually it just takes a little bit of slowing down the reading and sometimes checking back a few pages to see where the previous time period left off. The problem with the narrative here is that it doesn't simply switch back and forth between time periods – rather, it mixes past, present, and future sporadically throughout the book. Even though each chapter was labeled with the dates and characters involved as well as their ages at the time, I still found it extremely hard to follow the narrative, mostly because the order with which the author places many of the events that occur didn't really make sense. It also didn't help that some of the scenarios were too far-fetched (which I guess should be expected given this book is about time travel and therefore already puts it into 'science fiction' territory). Perhaps I'm just not keen on time-travel and science fiction stuff but I truly felt confused with all the instances of the characters appearing with different "versions" of other characters (i.e. the different versions of Clare that didn't always match up with the different versions of Henry) or, in some cases, the same character appearing in "duplicate" form (i.e. Henry's current self with his past self or future self). I actually spent so much time trying to sort out which Henry and which Clare was narrating each section that I ended up not paying much attention to the story itself (which was another reason why I wasn't able to relate to any of the characters on an emotional level – I could barely keep up with who was who)! I think if the author had structured the book differently, like in a way that was less distracting, I may have been able to focus on the story itself and perhaps actually find something to enjoy about it.

Overall, despite the issues I talk about above, I don't feel that this book was a complete lost cause (which I guess is obvious since I chose to give 3 stars instead of 1 or 2). It was definitely readable and some sections I would even say were entertaining. However, taken as a whole, the story didn't work for me. Even when I tried approaching it from a "contemporary romance" point of view, the story still fell flat for me, as I felt emotionally detached from the characters and didn't feel anything for anyone except for maybe one or two minor characters. While I don't really feel it is appropriate for me to comment on whether I would recommend this book or not (it didn't work for me but perhaps it might work for others), I know for sure that this is one book I wouldn't want to spend time reading again.