Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys ★★★★☆ It's 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test. New Orleans is pretty high up on my list of places to travel to, despite the stories of dirt and crime in the city. Josie's New Orleans isn't without dirt and crime of its own, but it has a charming side, too - surprisingly found in a brothel. Sepetys describes the setting well, but the book's real strength lies in its characters. The characters in this book are downright brilliant. First off, you have the prostitutes. Sepetys doesn't write them as simple, sex-minded women; they're funny, loving, and most definitely not cookie-cutter. The brothel madam, Willie, is just as uniquely imagined. Instead of fitting the stereotype of a cruel and unfeeling boss, Willie is both tough as nails and sweet as pie, acting as a mother figure to Josie. The cast of colorful characters continues, from Sadie, the mute maid, to Cokie, the lovable cab driver, to Josie herself. Josie is my favorite part of this whole book. She's realistically flawed and absolutely lovely, the perfect heroine for a book like Out of the Easy. The book doesn't have one central plot line, instead, it has a jumble of stories that make up Josie's life. Because of that, it feels much more realistic than a lot of books that focus on just one thing, but it also isn't what a lot of readers would be expecting. From Josie's longing to go to college and escape the Big Easy, to her horrendous mother's troubles with the mob, and a few other plot lines, there's a lot going on in Out of the Easy. Sepetys does a great job of keeping the numerous plots from overwhelming readers. Usual a book with as many plot lines as this would be too all-over-the-place, but in Out of the Easy, it takes the attention of the events and puts it on the characters. More than anything, Out of the Easy is about Josie, and because she's such a great character, it works really well. The moment I saw that Ruta Sepetys was the author of this book, I knew it was going to be good. The same raw emotion and subtle but powerful prose from Between Shades of Gray is part of Out of the Easy, and although the two books are about very different subjects, they both leave a lasting impression on readers. Those who love historical fiction will devour Sepetys' books, and anyone on the fence about the genre will love it after reading her work.
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Moon at Nine by Deborah Ellis (Available April 4 2014) ★★★★☆ Fifteen-year-old Farrin has many secrets. Although she goes to a school for gifted girls in Tehran, as the daughter of an aristocratic mother and wealthy father, Farrin must keep a low profile. It is 1988; ever since the Shah was overthrown, the deeply conservative and religious government controls every facet of life in Iran. If the Revolutionary Guard finds out about her mother’s Bring Back the Shah activities, her family could be thrown in jail, or worse. The day she meets Sadira, Farrin’s life changes forever. Sadira is funny, wise, and outgoing; the two girls become inseparable. But as their friendship deepens into romance, the relationship takes a dangerous turn. It is against the law to be gay in Iran; the punishment is death. Despite their efforts to keep their love secret, the girls are discovered and arrested. Separated from Sadira, Farrin can only pray as she awaits execution. Will her family find a way to save them both? The fact that this story is based on real events sends shivers down my spine. While my own country is by no means completely open to LGBTQ people, a world where being gay is a crime, and one punishable by death, is foreign to me. I was afraid Moon at Nine would rely on stereotypes in depicting Iran and its people, but it offered a well-researched view of Iranian culture, and the majority of its characters were multi-faceted and interesting. The storyline moves fairly quickly and doesn't drag, but at times it moves a little too fast and some of the detail is lost. It seemed more like a sequence of events instead of a story, especially after Farrin and Sadira are arrested. The detail that was there was very good, but that part of the plot could have been elaborated on much further. The occasional lack of detail didn't affect the story's message at all, though. Ellis' writing was pretty average, but the story itself has a lasting impact and an important lesson behind it. The love story is well done (if occasionally a bit cheesy) and bittersweet, and the ending of the story is realistic, if agonizingly ambiguous. Breathing Room by Marsha Hayles ★★★★☆ Evvy Hoffmeister is thirteen years old when her family brings her to Loon Lake Sanatorium to get cured of tuberculosis (TB). Evvy is frightened by her new surroundings; the rules to abide are harsh and the nurses equally rigid. But Evvy soon falls into step with the other girls in her ward. There’s Sarah, quiet but thoughtful; Pearl, who adores Hollywood glamour; and Dina, whose harshness conceals a deep strength. Together, the girls brave the difficult daily routines. Set in 1940 at a time of political unrest throughout the U.S. and Europe, this thought-provoking novel sheds light on a much-feared worldwide illness. Hundreds of thousands of people died each year of TB, and many ill children were sent away to sanatoriums to hopefully recover. Although Breathing Room is a few years too young for me, I was intrigued by the story of a young TB patient. Although the book doesn't really get into the grittiest details of the disease, it remains realistic and sobering. The book is full of historical documents and photos detailing life during the TB epidemic. It also touches on World War II. I enjoyed Evvy's steady narration of daily life in the sanatorium, her quiet determination, and the friends she made there. Middle-school kids interested in history would love Breathing Room. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein ★★★★★ Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy? Code Name Verity is the most most heart-stopping, heartbreaking book I have ever read. The first time I read it, I couldn't finish it - I didn't like it. A few days ago I found it under a pile of laundry and decided to have another go at it and my god am I glad I did. I honestly can't say why I didn't like Code Name Verity the first time I tried to read it, because I am head-over-heels madly in love with this book. On the outside, it's a story about girls who love each other fierce and true, fighting for their country, but underneath is the brutal life of a captured spy and an airwoman behind enemy lines. Verity and Kittyhawk, even the Nazis, are some of the best written, well-rounded characters I've ever read. They were all real, the whole book seemed real to me, and just as terrifying and heartfelt as a real-life account of the events would be. I cried for hours after finishing Code Name Verity. I could gush (possibly incoherently) about it for hours, but I don't want to give anything away, so I'll only say this: Code Name Verity is just grand, a masterpiece of storytelling and a piece of history brought back to life. The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman ★★★★☆ In Sunderland, England, a city quarantined by the cholera epidemic of 1831, a defiant, fifteen-year old beauty in an elegant blue dress makes her way between shadow and lamp light. A potter’s assistant by day and dress lodger by night, Gustine sells herself for necessity in a rented gown, scrimping to feed and protect her only love: her fragile baby boy. She holds a glimmer of hope after meeting Dr. Henry Chiver, a prisoner of his own dark past. But in a world where suspicion of medicine runs rampant like a fever, these two lost souls will become irrevocably linked, as each crosses lines between rich and destitute, decorum and abandon, damnation and salvation. This tale is masterfully told, with a clear, tender voice like no other. The dismal, disease-ridden streets, graveyards, and hovels of Sunderland will take shape around you. Holman’s prose is poetic yet disturbing, fleshing out the raw truth of 1831 Sunderland. Holman doesn’t dance around the subjects of dress lodging, dissection, disease, and grave robbing, but rather plunges into their heart with a blunt voice. The heroine, young Gustine, will capture your interest and your heart. The wide, vivid cast of characters in The Dress Lodger riot from the pages; Holman gives the reader reason to pity, loathe, and love them by turns. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley ★★★☆☆ Flavia de Luce is an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison. In the summer of 1950, a series of inexplicable events strikes her home, Buckshaw, a decaying English mansion. A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. For Flavia, both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. To Flavia, the investigation is the stuff of science: full of possibilities, contradictions, and connections. I have read far better murder mysteries than Sweetness. Its rambling, often disjointed writing lends to the childishness of its narrator, eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, but makes the story hard to follow. The biggest problem I had with Sweetness was Flavia herself. She goes from singing and switching topics constantly to scientific lectures on chemistry. For her to be eleven and know and understand as much about such a complex subject as chemistry, she would have to be a genius, and the murder would’ve been solved much faster. I found it difficult to believe that she had been experimenting in her own chemical lab for years, creating poisons, and understands more about chemistry than my entire ninth grade class combined. Flavia also makes quite a few references to 1950s pop culture and famous chemists, which the reader knows nothing about, and which weren’t needed in the story. It got to the point where I’d see song lyrics and just skip over them. The end of Sweetness was actually rather good, though. As the final pieces of the puzzle clicked into place, the story got much more interesting and captivating. About the last quarter of the book is excellent, but the rest of it left something to be desired. The Luxe by Anna Godbersen ★★★★☆ Pretty girls in pretty dresses, partying until dawn. Irresistible boys with mischievous smiles and dangerous intentions. White lies, dark secrets, and scandalous hookups. This is Manhattan, 1899. Beautiful sisters Elizabeth and Diana Holland rule Manhattan’s social scene. Or so it appears. When the girls discover their status among New York City’s elite is far from secure, suddenly everyone—from the backstabbing socialite Penelope Hayes, to the debonair bachelor Henry Schoonmaker, to the spiteful maid Lina Broud—threatens Elizabeth’s and Diana’s golden future. With the fate of the Hollands resting on her shoulders, Elizabeth must choose between family duty and true love. The Luxe is a lush, romantic story rife with scandal and betrayal. The pages are filled with vivid details, from the mansions to the gowns. I loved that it brought the era to life accurately and interestingly, but it sometimes seemed too much. In scenes like Penelope’s party, it fit with the over-the-top atmosphere of the party. Other times, it was more dead weight. The love triangles in The Luxe are knotted up and confusing - more like love octagons, actually. This is where the main conflict of the book is, so it was important that they exist, but it seemed like almost every character in the book was involved in one. Even so, The Luxe was a beautifully detailed and well-written story. Lovers of romance, scandal, and the Victorian age will be delighted. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair ★★☆☆☆ In some of the most harrowing scenes ever written in modern literature, Upton Sinclair vividly depicted factory life in Chicago in the first years of the twentieth century. The horrors of the slaughterhouse, their barbarous working conditions… the crushing poverty, the disease, and the despair - he revealed all through the eyes of Jurgis Rudkus, a young immigrant who came to the New World to build a home for himself and his family. Sinclair’s writing style is somewhat dense, some of his characters flat and plot points improbable. But at the same time, it’s interesting and rife with scandals and insights into life in the early twentieth century. Sinclair is an expert at making every misfortune that falls Jurgis and his family personal to the reader, even if we don’t live in the early 1900s. Parts of this book had me on the edge of my seat, praying for Jurgis’ life right along with him. However, towards the end (after chapter 28 or so), Sinclair deviated from his story of the stockyards and tyrannical packers to talk politics and Socialism. The last few chapters read more like propaganda pamphlets than a novel, and Jurgis actually has very little to do in them besides listen to long political speeches and debates. Up until that point, though, Sinclair kept me interested in every paragraph, and I enjoyed his book. Sirens by Janet Fox ★★★★☆ When Jo Winter’s parents send her off to live with her rich cousin on the glittering island of Manhattan, it’s to find a husband and forget about her brother Teddy’s death. But all that glitters is not gold… Caught up in the swirl of her cousin’s bobbed-hair set—and the men that court them— Jo soon realizes that the talk of marriage never stops, and behind the seemingly boundless gains are illicit business endeavors, gangsters, and their molls. Jo would much rather spend time with the handsome but quiet Charles, a waiter at the Algonquin Hotel, than drape herself over a bootlegger. But when she befriends a moll to one of the most powerful men in town, Jo begins to uncover secrets—secrets that threaten an empire and could secure Jo’s freedom from her family. I love that Sirens addresses the darker side of the twenties - the gangsters and their gun molls, the shady business in the back of every speakeasy. Danny Connor’s character scared me a little - how cold he was, what he was capable of. I was scared of what he would do to Jo. Lou was realistic in her jealousy, but at times I thought it was overdone. It was very obvious that Jo wasn’t interested in securing Danny for her own, and increasingly obvious that Danny was just using her. She didn’t even seem that bothered by the way Danny treated her. Jo herself was a little disappointing at times. She took too long to pick up on the last hint; there was no dramatic irony involved, she just didn’t get it, when it seemed plainly obvious. But maybe that’s just me. Other times I couldn’t feel enough of her; things didn’t seem to affect her as deeply as it seemed like they should. In all fairness, though, Sirens was a very good read. The plot line was a little convoluted at some points, but overall it held my attention and was full of suspense. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in the 1920s or the gangsters of Prohibition. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare (The Infernal Devices #3) ★★★★★ Tessa Gray should be happy - aren’t all brides happy? Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa’s heart, will do anything to save her. If I had to describe this book in three words, they would be these: holy plot twist. Clare has outdone herself with the finale of The Infernal Devices. Despite the book’s having begun with a giant demonic worm, it’s truly incredible. Beginning this book, I was really nervous, because I knew we’d finally figure out exactly what Tessa was, who would win her heart, and whether or not Mortmain would be stopped. Clare did a wonderful job of answering these questions. And her plot twists - of which there were several - knocked me completely off my feet. (There will be spoilers beyond this point. You have been warned). One of the things I absolutely loved about this book was Charlotte’s role. In the 19th century, women weren’t seen as capable of taking on the kind of responsibilities Charlotte does. I love that although the Consul is extremely sexist and makes many insulting remarks about the “fairer sex,” Clare also makes it clear that she doesn’t share that view and goes so far as to make Charlotte the new Consul, a huge victory for any woman in that time period. A problem I had with the book was the ending - everything seemed too neatly wrapped up. Everyone marries who they’ve fallen in love with, and even Jem, eventually, gets the girl. But at the same time, if the book had ended any other way, I probably would’ve thrown it against a wall. This series has put me through enough pain, I think we deserved a bow-tied ending. |
Once Upon a Time...As a longtime lover of stories and a believer in the power and magic of books, I've spent my life seeking out the best reads. This blog is dedicated to reviewing the books I read - good, bad, or magnificent - to help other readers find their next favorite books. Currently ReadingKing Zeno
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