Review: Ruined

Ruined by Paula Morris

3.25 stars

Reasons for reading: sounded intriguing, liked the cover, YA Challenge, One Word Title for Four Month Challenge

Description: "Rebecca couldn't feel more out of place in New Orleans. She's staying in a creepy house with her aunt, who reads tarot cards. And at the snooty prep school, a pack of filthy-rich girls treat Rebecca like she's invisible. Only gorgeous, unavailable Anton Grey gives Rebecca the time of day, but she wonders if he's got a hidden agenda.

Then one night, among the oak trees in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend. Sweet, mysterious Lisette is eager to show Rebecca the nooks and crannies of New Orleans. There's just one catch.

Lisette is a ghost. A ghost with a deep, dark secret, and a serious score to settle.

As Rebecca is drawn deeper into a web of old curses and cryptic customs, she also uncovers startling truths about her own history. Will Rebecca be able to right the wrongs of the past, or has everything been ruined beyond repair?"

First line: "Torrential rain was pouring the afternoon Rebecca Brown arrived in New Orleans."

My thoughts: This one was pretty good. Somewhat predictable, but not too bad. I liked the New Orleans setting. It was actually quite interesting because the author clearly knows and loves New Orleans, but for most of the novel she has to make Rebecca loathe it. She pulled it off well, describing both the good and the bad aspects. Probably the most interesting and unique scene is when Lisette leads Rebecca through the streets and shows her the generations of ghosts that linger throughout the city.

But...there were some odd things. The mystery of Rebecca's family history comes to light, but not why her father, who has spent his life trying to protect her, suddenly delivers her into danger. And, frankly, gives her into the care of a woman who seems to barely be able to look after her own daughter and lets her life be ruled by her psychic feelings. Both adults of course epically fail in their mission to protect her. Anton has reasons for trying to distance himself from Rebecca, but I thought it was pretty clumsily done, making his character uneven. And while they tied into the prophecy that is the backbone of the novel, his dangerous actions at the end of the novel (I won't spoil it) didn't make sense to me other than the prophecy had to be wrapped up, so he did something wildly dangerous and destructive.

If you're interested in New Orleans and like a ghost story, this is a pretty good, quick read.

Review: Three Girls and their Brother

Three Girls and Their Brother by Theresa Rebeck
4 stars

Reasons for reading: recommended by a colleague, Alex Award winner for Book Awards Challenge

Description: "They may be the granddaughters of a famous literary critic, but what really starts it all is Daria, Polly, and Amelia Heller’s stunning red hair. Out of the blue one day, The New Yorker calls and says that they want to feature the girls in a glamorous spread shot by a world-famous photographer, and before long these three beautiful nobodies from Brooklyn have been proclaimed the new “It” girls.

But with no parental guidance–Mom’s a former beauty queen living vicariously through her daughters, and Dad is nowhere to be found–the three girls find themselves easy prey for the sharks and piranhas of show business. Posing in every hot fashion magazine, tangling with snarling fashonistas and soulless agents, skipping school and hitting A-list parties, the sisters are caught up in a whirlwind rise to fame that quickly spirals out of control.

When Amelia, the youngest of the three–who never really wanted to be a model in the first place–appears in an Off-Broadway play, the balance of power shifts, all the pent-up resentment and pressure comes to a head, and the girls’ quiet, neglected brother reaches a critical point of virtual breakdown. And against the odds, even as the struggle for fame threatens to tear the family apart, the Hellers begin to see that despite the jealousy, greed, and uncertainty that have come to define their relationships, in the celebrity world of viciousness and betrayal, all they really have is one another."

First line: "Now that it's all over, everybody is saying it was the picture, that stupid picture was behind every disaster that would eventually befall my redheaded sisters."

My thoughts: This was a fun read. I can really see why it won the Alex Award (for adult books that are appealing to teens) - it's actually not far from a YA novel, just a bit longer. The characters are teens and it's fast-paced with lots of glamour and glitz. But at its heart, it has the relationships of the four siblings. These seem fragile, non-existent, hate-filled, and just confused at times, but in the end, the Heller children really do only have each other. As with lots of actual YA novels, the adults in this book are horrifyingly neglectful and damaging! Their father buggered off and started a new family, their mother is a drunk, faded beauty queen who wants to live out her dreams through her daughters no matter what harm it does them, and the agent looking out for their interests is a piranha/parasite who will stay with them only as long as they make her money. Another awful but entertaining adult is the cutthroat, very scary Hollywood mover and shaker woman who is enormous, wears caftans, and claims to be Kafka's great-granddaughter. The way everyone treats Phillip is appalling - that he survives, hangs on to his sanity, and still manages to love his sisters is amazing. At the photo shoot Phillip describes dancing with his sisters as a lot of fun and basically the last moment they'll have like that for a while and it's really lovely.

Each sibling gets a chance to narrate, which could have been annoying but wasn't, it added to the story. Amelia really sounds 14, Phillip sounds like a confused teen boy who wants things to be okay and to do the right thing (and who is actually really smart), sexy party girl Polly tries hard takes charge when the chips are down and Daria is coolly imperious but very capable (though she is taken down a much-needed peg or two). The appearances of odd hairdresser Laura add considerably to things - Phillip has a crush on her and she turns out to be very resourceful, even if her ability to filter her thoughts as they come out of her mouth is nonexistent.

It's not Kafka, but this book is entertaining, heartbreaking, funny, and satisfying with a close look at the manipulating and just badness behind Hollywood and also at sibling relationships.

Review: All is Vanity

All is Vanity by Christina Schwarz
2.5 stars

Reasons for reading: book club selection, hardcover book for Four Month Challenge

Description: "In All is Vanity, Margaret and Letty, best friends since childhood and now living on opposite coasts, reach their mid-thirties and begin to chafe at their sense that they are not where they ought to be in life. Margaret, driven and overconfident, decides the best way to rectify this is to quit her job and whip out a literary tour de force. Frustrated almost immediately and humiliated at every turn, Margaret turns to Letty for support. But as Letty, a stay-at-home mother of four, begins to feel pressured to make a good showing in the upper-middle-class Los Angeles society into which her husband’s new job has thrust her, Margaret sees a plot unfolding that’s better than anything she could make up. Desperate to finish her book and against her better nature, she pushes Letty to take greater and greater risks, and secretly steals her friend’s stories as fast as she can live them. Hungry for the world’s regard, Margaret rashly sacrifices one of the things most precious to her, until the novel’s suspenseful conclusion shows her the terrible consequences of her betrayal."

First line: "I was a promising child."

My thoughts: Well, none of the book club members liked this one much. We felt there were some sparks of good writing, but the two main characters were a bitch (Margaret) and an idiot (Letty). Letty's financial situation spiralled out of control too quickly and too ridiculously for it to be believable. The book is referred to as satire, so I suppose that was supposed to be the satirical element about consumerism. Still didn't make it an enjoyable read. The person who chose the book had heard it was great, but couldn't remember where and now doesn't know why anyone would say it! One thought was that it does describe how difficult the writing process is and how people tend to treat would-be authors as though it's very simple. So maybe other writers liked it for that!

The verdict: No-one thought it was actually all that badly written, but overall it wasn't enjoyable and neither character got our sympathy.

Review: Summer at Tiffany

Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart
3.5 stars

Reasons for reading: I have an interest in Tiffany and New York history; sounded good; Autobiography for Four Month Challenge

Description: "New York City, 1945. Marjorie Jacobson and her best friend, Marty Garrett, arrive fresh from the Kappa house at the University of Iowa hoping to find summer positions as shopgirls. Turned away from the top department stores, they miraculously find jobs as pages at Tiffany & Co., becoming the first women to ever work on the sales floor, a diamond-filled day job replete with Tiffany-blue shirtwaist dresses from Bonwit Teller's—and the envy of all their friends.

Looking back on that magical time in her life, Marjorie takes us back to when she and Marty rubbed elbows with the rich and famous, pinched pennies to eat at the Automat, experienced nightlife at La Martinique, and danced away their weekends with dashing midshipmen. Between being dazzled by Judy Garland's honeymoon visit to Tiffany, celebrating VJ Day in Times Square, and mingling with Cafe society, she fell in love, learned unforgettable lessons, made important decisions that would change her future, and created the remarkable memories she now shares with all of us."

First line: "From the top deck of the bus, Marty and I were mesmerized by Fifth Avenue as we watched glamorous stores spring up like pages out of Mademoiselle."

My thoughts: This was a love letter to the bygone days of New York City and to Tiffany & Co. I enjoyed the first-hand descriptions of everything from eating at the Automat (I wish we still had them!) to VJ day. The celebrity visitors to the store were my favourite parts - giddy newlywed Judy Garland and sultry Marlene Dietrich, whom I didn't know had been so dedicated to the USO. I loved the stories of the inner workings of the grand store - the amazing secret elevator that could run by itself, the way the salesmen "rang" their diamond rings on the glass counters to call the pages, and the amazing goods to be had on every floor. And really, it was quite an amazing feat that two girls from Iowa could walk into Tiffany and be hired as the first women to serve on the shop floor.

This isn't an earth-shattering book, but it provides a brief look at a pivotal summer in North American (and world) history and at places and a way of life that are basically lost to us forever.

Review: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
4.5 stars

Reasons for reading: it looked fun, YA Challenge, Book with proper name in title for Four Month Challenge

Description: "Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew--just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn’t seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she’s coming to terms with her father’s death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road--diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards--this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself."

First line: "I sat on the front steps of my house and watched the beige Subaru station wagon swing too quickly around the cul-de-sac."

My thoughts: I loved this book! It absolutely made me want to head out on a road trip right this minute. In fact, the descriptions of Kentucky have bumped it up near the top of my to-visit list. The inclusion of the souvenirs from the road was fun and I liked Amy's notes on the different states (many of them are varying degrees of "big") and the couple of times she makes a note to herself not to talk to Roger about cult favourites like Hoosiers (in Indiana) and The Wire (in Maryland) because he can go on and on and on about them. I loved that they explore regional fast food, after getting over their disappointment that In n Out burgers are a west coast thing. Their reaction to the wonders of Sonic was very similar to mine (they have cherry-limeaid! and mozzarella sticks!) a couple of years ago. I'm now also dying to try Chick-fil-A.

But it's not all happy times - Amy is still incredibly traumatized by her dad's death, which she believes is her fault (the truth behind the accident is revealed slowly through flashbacks and while it's not a big surprise, it's still heartbreaking to read). Roger is dealing with being suddenly dumped by a goddess-like but very bitchy girl and he can't quite get over her. So, rather than follow Amy's mom's boring route, they set out on their epic detour to get some answers and find some closure. They meet some interesting folks along the way, like the golf course lawn-mower who fronts a Wizard of Oz-inspired band in Kansas (of course). And there's music, too! Amy is a musical theatre actress and Roger has eclectic tastes, which show up in his the iPod playlists.

The verdict: Join Roger and Amy on their journey before summer's officially over - you won't regret it!

Review: Wild Ride

Wild Ride by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
3.25 stars

Reason for reading: I really enjoyed this pair's first two books.

Description: "Mary Alice Brannigan doesn’t believe in the supernatural. Nor does she expect to find that Dreamland, the decaying amusement park she’s been hired to restore, is a prison for the five Untouchables, the most powerful demons in the history of the world. Plus, there’s a guy she’s falling hard for, and there’s something about him that’s not quite right.

But rocky romances and demented demons aren’t the only problems in Dreamland: Mab’s also coping with a crooked politician, a supernatural raven, a secret government agency, an inexperienced sorceress, an unsettling inheritance, and some mind-boggling revelations from her past. As her personal demons wreck her newfound relationship and real demons wreck the park, Mab faces down immortal evil and discovers what everybody who’s ever been to an amusement park knows: The end of the ride is always the wildest."

First line: "Mary Alice Brannigan sat on the roof of the Dreamland carousel at twenty minutes to midnight and considered her work in the light from her yellow miner's hat."

My thoughts: I didn't enjoy this book as much as this duo's previous novels, Don't Look Down and Agnes and the Hitman. If it had been the first book I'd read by them, ir might have put me off reading the others. It still had their trademarks of wit and romance mixed with macho stuff, but the supernatural element wasn't great.

I found it quite hard to figure out what was going on at first. And I just couldn't get behind the premise - that an amusement park (hello, crawling with children!) was built to house 5 demons in easily-breakable chalices inside iron statues. And the key to each "cage" is an integral piece of the statue that, when removed to lock the cage, makes the statue incomplete, so people tend to replace the pieces and unlock the cages. Mab at one point questions this and gets an explanation that we're supposed to buy, but I didn't.

If you can figure out what's going on and suspend your disbelief, there are some fun characters and some cute love stories. And a nice message about creating your own family. I found the details about classic amusement parks and Mab's work to restore Dreamland interesting. It was still an entertaining book, but it was pretty over-the-top, even for these two. I hope they go back to their quirky but non-supernatural ways next time.

Review: The Man of my Dreams

The Man of my Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld
2.5 stars

Reasons for reading: Heard good things about it; on the booksale shelf and I needed a bathtub book

Description: "Hannah Gavener is fourteen in the summer of 1991. In the magazines she reads, celebrities plan elaborate weddings; in Hannah’s own life, her parents’ marriage is crumbling. And somewhere in between these two extremes–just maybe–lie the answers to love’s most bewildering questions. But over the next decade and a half, as she moves from Philadelphia to Boston to Albuquerque, Hannah finds that the questions become more rather than less complicated: At what point can you no longer blame your adult failures on your messed-up childhood? Is settling for someone who’s not your soul mate an act of maturity or an admission of defeat? And if you move to another state for a guy who might not love you back, are you being plucky–or just pathetic?

None of the relationships in Hannah’s life are without complications. There’s her father, whose stubbornness Hannah realizes she’s unfortunately inherited; her gorgeous cousin, Fig, whose misbehavior alternately intrigues and irritates Hannah; Henry, whom Hannah first falls for in college, while he’s dating Fig; and the boyfriends who love her more or less than she deserves, who adore her or break her heart. By the time she’s in her late twenties, Hannah has finally figured out what she wants most–but she doesn’t yet know whether she’ll find the courage to go after it."

First line: "1 June 1991 - Julia roberts is getting married."

My thoughts: I dunno, I just don't get Curtis Sittenfeld's appeal. I read Prep a few years ago and my friend Vidalia loved it and I was just meh. Same for this one. I think it's because I really find her characters hard to like and likeable characters are important to me. I felt the protagonist in Prep was really whiny when in fact she was incredibly fortunate. In this book I felt like Hannah acted weird on purpose to distance herself from people and yet seemed to be clueless about why she basically had one friend and no boyfriends. She did have a difficult childhood, with an emotionally abusive father, and that's actually the best part of the book - when she stands up to him in college and when, years later, she realizes that he wasn't actually much to be scared of. But, as with Prep, it felt like a lot of angst over not much and while Hannah does grow over the course of the book (she should - it covers around 20 years!), I just didn't really care about her. I found her approach to life rather strange, too - she'd be totally passive and doing nothing (staying in her room and sleeping) or she would make huge decisions that would completely alter her life. She seemed unable to care about other people for any length of time, except for her fantasy about Henry.

I thought about quitting a few times, but I needed a tub book and I had just enough interest to see if Hannah would end up with the man of her dreams. One reviewer called the ending "hokey" and that's about it - I didn't think it suited Hannah or was particularly satisfying.