review: family storms by v.c. andrews

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Way back in middle school (yes, middle school), I devoured all the books written by V.C. Andrews and then moved onto the ones written by the ghostwriter hired by her estate. For the most part, the ghostwriter (Andrew Neiderman) retread the same themes of various atrocities (although I’m pretty sure that one was always rape) befalling a teen girl.

The newer books are in shorter series—two or three books rather than five—and seem less debauched. Family Storms wasn’t too unrealistic in the horrors that transpired. I doubt I’ll ever meet a person who was forced to live in a small room, fed arsenic-laced doughnuts, and then was raped by her own brother while still trapped in that attic (Flowers in the Attic); but it’s reasonable to think something similar to what happens to Sasha in Family Storms could really occur. When Sasha’s father leaves the family, her mother tries to maintain their already struggling existence, but ends up spiraling into alcoholism. Out on the streets, Sasha and her mother are hit by a car; Sasha’s mother is killed instantly, but Sasha survives with a broken leg. The driver is the daughter of a wealthy family who take Sasha in, partly to punish their daughter, but also so Sasha can serve as a replacement for their favored daughter who died of cancer. The formerly destitute Sasha struggles to fit in at her new private school and falls into a trap that results (spoiler, but you knew this was coming) in her rape when she too eagerly embraces her new “friends.” Tragic, yes, but not the complete insanity of something like My Sweet Audrina that had a girl believing her imaginary older sister of the same name was the one who was raped.

The plot was interesting and, as I said, far more realistic than previous titles from V.C. Andrews, but character development was either weak or a little off. The woman who takes Sasha in received an excellent education, but she has this short conversation with Sasha:

“No, my mother wouldn’t beg. She sold her calligraphy, and I sold lanyard key chains [sic] on the beach. I made them myself.”
“Calligraphy?”
“It’s Chinese writing.”
“Oh, yes.” She smiled.

Calligraphy is commonly used for wedding invitations, so Jordan March should be familiar with the concept even if she wasn’t aware of the Chinese version. Later her husband reveals she once bought some calligraphy while they were on vacation which means Jordan sounds even stupider in that conversation. Throughout the book, Jordan seemed naïve or somehow uneducated despite her background. Sasha, on the other hand, was always waxing on philosophically which seemed quite unnatural given her character’s age and background.
3/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Pocket Star Books.

review: dark eden by patrick carman

Teenager Will is paralyzed by fear. He can’t even attend school because of his phobias. His parents send him to a therapist who promises Will can be cured if he goes to Fort Eden along with six other teens. The teens don’t know each other, but Will knows everything about them because he’s copied all of their therapy sessions onto an electronic device he’s cobbled together. Immediately after arriving at Fort Eden, Will panics and runs. That’s when he discovers there’s something more than a little strange about what’s to happen at Fort Eden. Hidden inside a bomb shelter (where Will decides to set up camp) is a wall of monitors that allow Will to see the others. He’s horrified at “the cure” provided by Rainsford, who is a little creepy. Will is determined not to be cured, but he has no idea what tricks Rainsford will pull to meet his goal.

Dark Eden was such a thrill. The compelling plot kept me on edge as I raced through each chapter desperate to know Will’s fate. Making this book even creepier is that you can actually interact with it via an app available through iTunes and the Android Market as well as taking The Fear Test with a promotional DVD. (If you want to take The Fear Test on the DVD, just send me an email [mybookviews at gmail.com] with your address and I’ll get one out to you.) The one part I didn’t enjoy so much was the long exposition explaining everything about Rainsford. There are some things that just don’t need full explanations.
5/5
ARC Review
Review copy provided by the publisher, Katherine Tegen Books.

review: it's so easy by duff mckagan

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In a word, Duff McKagan’s memoir is amazing. With It’s So Easy (and other lies), he details not just the infamous Guns N’ Roses days of touring while heavily intoxicated, but also reveals some of his childhood and family life. The book opens with Duff and his wife hosting a birthday party for their 13 year old daughter. As Duff sees some of the young party-goers making out, he runs through a checklist of the things they could be doing…the things he was doing at their age and is summarily relieved. It sets the tone for what will come as Duff recounts his early start in the music industry.

With a number of the celebrity memoirs I’ve read, there tends to be an underlying theme of either “how awesome am I?” or “look at my tragic life;” It’s So Easy has neither. Although Duff talks of early financial difficulties, he seeks no sympathy; and when it comes to bragging about successes, Duff actually says things like, “I suppose competition makes a better ‘product,’ and Steven Adler and I would go watch Jane’s Addiction play gigs whenever possible once we got to know them. It made us better—and I think we made them better, too.” I thoroughly appreciated his manipulation-free candor on every topic addressed.

This memoir isn’t just for Guns N’ Roses fans; it’s for anyone who was into the Seattle or Los Angeles music scene of the era. Duff writing of Seattle’s now defunct weekly The Rocket and shows at VFW halls brought back so many memories. It’s So Easy will definitely strike a note with fans.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Touchstone.

giveaway winners: help! for writers

Winnie, holdenj, and mrsshukra are the winners of Help! for Writers. Congrats!

review: the harvest of grace by cindy woodsmall

The Harvest of Grace introduces a new character to Dry Lake, but also continues the stories of the others from the Ada’s House series. Sylvia comes to Dry Lake three years after the man who asked her to marry him married her sister instead when Sylvia said she wasn’t ready. She finds work on the Blank farm; they need help after the death of their daughter (which happened in The Bridge of Peace) and son’s subsequent entering rehab. That son soon returns home and meets Sylvia in an amusing scene that provided a bit of relief in a novel that’s otherwise about heavy subject matter regarding the scandals surrounding both Sylvia and her new friend, Aaron Blank.

The original story from The Hope of Refuge gets its conclusion here as Cara continues her studies of the Amish ways and their language while also working on forgiving her father. Her successes bring happiness, but she also struggles, especially when part of her past resurfaces. The main character from The Bridge of Peace also gets her story wrapped up as Lena and Grey are finally completely honest about their feelings. All of the conclusions are satisfactory, but with Sylvia being a completely new character from a different community it was a stretch to tie her into the previous plots. For much of the novel Sylvia was isolated to the Blank family without any interaction with the other Ada’s House characters. It took far too long for Sylvia to make some friends.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, WaterBrook Press.

review: the local news by miriam gershow

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Miriam Gershow’s debut novel, The Local News, is a peek into the life of a teen who would be unremarkable if it weren’t for the fact that her older brother disappeared while walking home from the park. While some think Danny intentionally left home, the family believes he was kidnapped. They appear on the news, work with the police, and eventually hire a private investigator to pursue the numerous crazy leads that pour in. Lydia becomes very involved with the private investigator’s hunt for answers while her parents completely fall apart.

Despite it being a finalist for the Oregon Book Award, I couldn’t get into The Local News. Lydia is a nerdy teenager who would be utterly boring if it weren’t for the fact that her brother is missing. Even with the missing brother, Lydia does not rise to the level of a protagonist one would root for. She remains a shallow girl with little social skills and evokes no sympathy. The pace is tedious, but then the ending is rushed and unnecessarily tries to wrap up Lydia’s life for the next ten years. The Local News was not an enjoyable read and provided little entertainment.
1/5
Review copy provided by BookDivas.

giveaway: the christmas wedding

Thanks to Hachette, one person will win a copy of James Patterson's latest (with Richard DiLallo)!

Check out my review of The Christmas Wedding; the publisher description is below:
"The tree is decorated, the cookies are baked, and the packages are wrapped, but the biggest celebration this Christmas is Gaby Summerhill's wedding. Since her husband died three years ago, Gaby's four children have drifted apart, each consumed by the turbulence of their own lives. They haven't celebrated Christmas together since their father's death, but when Gaby announces that she's getting married--and that the groom will remain a secret until the wedding day--she may finally be able to bring them home for the holidays.

But the wedding isn't Gaby's only surprise--she has one more gift for her children, and it could change all their lives forever. With deeply affecting characters and the emotional twists of a James Patterson thriller, The Christmas Wedding is a fresh look at family and the magic of the season."

The rules: Enter by leaving a comment to this post with your email (if I can't contact you, you can't win). You can gain additional entries by leaving separate comments letting me know that you're a follower (one extra each for the blog and Twitter) or have posted a link to the giveaway on your site. The deadline to enter is 11:59pm Pacific on November 5. Winner will be selected at random. Since this is from Hachette the winner must have mailing addresses in the US or Canada; no PO Boxes.