The Queen of Hearts by Kimmery Martin

Disclaimer: I was given a chance to preview this book in its infancy by the author, who lives in my town, but whom I did not meet until right before publication.  Several changes were made after I read it, so there was a new element of surprise included.  Still, I am a bit partial to the story....




Y'all.

This is good stuff.  (And the prettiest cover, like EVER.)  Get your bookclubs together and read this one - and then have a really really good and honest conversation about friendship.  About loyalty.  About how far you'd go to protect, or hurt, the people you love the most.

Zadie and Emma are polar opposites - one is outgoing and cute and perky (and smart and disorganized), the other is tall and gorgeous and coldhearted and brilliantly together.  Right?

Not so much.

As best friends go, these two have been through it.  You have a friend like that, don't you?  If you do, you are lucky.  Yet Zadie and Emma make it through medical school, residencies, tragedies, rotations, flirtations, boyfriends, husbands, kids, jobs, etc etc etc.  Until: until the past comes roaring back.  And there are two sides to every story, right?  Unless one of you thinks there was only one truth, and that YOUR truth is the same as hers.

Not so much.

I love how the chapters from Zadie's perspective are hilarious and quick and kind of all over the place - just like Zadie.  I laughed out loud at how she tries so hard to get to work on time but then her verbose toddler says something funny or her twins remind her of the game today or her daughter rolls her eyes - been there done that (but I don't have twins, thank the good Lord).  She's got some wit, that Zadie. And I loved how Emma's chapters are immediately calmer, introspective, organized and factual.  Just like Emma.  You know pretty quickly which voice you are reading.

Yes, this book is chock full of medical jargon.  Our esteemed author, is after all, an ER doctor.  But this book is also chock full of the daily disasters a toddler can create, because our esteemed author is also a mother.  And this book is chock full of heart, because...well, because our esteemed author CAN WRITE.  And to write about the particular bond of a deep female friendship is brave.  And hard. And fulfilling, and painful and .....REAL.

Do you have a girlfriend like that?  Someone you'd do anything for or with?  Someone who knows all your secrets and you know theirs?  Who knows every little thing about you?

Think again.  Because when the betrayal comes, you'll have to decide whether the secrets you keep for each other and the love and trust you shared are bigger than the not knowing.  Whether forgiveness is possible, and whether it is worth it.  Martin gives us a very brave and real ending here after the big reveal, and I LOVED it.  I cannot wait to discuss this with my book club - and we live in Charlotte where the book is set so we will have some fun with this - but I am also going to bring extra tissues because I can see having a really deep dig at the open heart surgery Martin performs here on the anatomy of friendship.  It'll get you, ladies.  But once you close, that scar will be a beautiful reminder of the strength you had to heal.

Scalpel.

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Fascinating...

I had some big problems with this book, but was also spellbound.  I listened to it on Audible, and there was a different narrator for each chapter that was told from a different character's viewpoint - I liked that actually. Emma is a single mom to two teenage boys, one of whom has Asperger's Syndrome, is obsessed with forensic science and is accused of murder.  Their lawyer Oliver decides to plead insanity, using the Asperger traits to explain why Jacob could not have understood what he was doing when he rearranged the crime scene like they do in the Crimebuster's show he watches every day at 4:30.  I have read other reviews that criticize Picoult's  overuse of Asperger traits - Jacob apparently has every single marker - and there is a mention of the immunizations he received as a toddler that supposedly changed his behavior.  So just be ready for that side.

But you cannot deny that Picoult did a tremendous amount of research here.  She touches on how Jacob sees and navigates the world.  She delves into how his younger brother Theo feels like he doesn't matter, because his mom focuses only on Jacob's (many, many) needs.  She digresses in Jacob's character into the factoids that he obsesses over, the cases he knows about, the Crimebuster episodes he likes best - to the point of distraction for this listener.  She goes deep into Emma's feelings of love for her son but curiousity about what her like could have been like, and her deep devotion to bringing Jacob back into high functionality.

However,  did no one think to ask Jacob what REALLY happened the day Jess Ogilvy died?    Seriously?  Maybe he did kill his tutor, maybe he didn't.  All Jacob wants to do is follow the rules, the House Rules, and tell the truth.  He is not capable of lying due to his Asperger's.  So why doesn't anyone just ask him a simple question:  What happened when you got to Jess' house, Jacob?  I realize his lawyer won't ask him, and his mom is taking the stand, so maybe she shouldn't ask him either.  But they jump into a trial without even knowing what happened - they just assume he killed her "accidentally" and build a defense based on insanity due to a mental condition. (There is a lot of assuming going on here actually.....) And (spoiler) once he does take the stand, he is never cross-examined.  WHAT?  I am not a lawyer, but this left a gaping hole for me - that prosecutor surely would have said, "Jacob, did you kill Jess??" and then we would have known what you can see coming from the get go.  "I didn't mean to hurt her."  Literally.....  everything is literal....

But overall, I could not stop listening.  I wanted to get in my car and drive around the block to see what would happen next.  So if you can get beyond the gaping holes, this was an interesting story.  A bit of an abrupt ending, but loved the reference to My Sister's Keeper near the end - look out for a title chapter reference....  wink!!!

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

The Woman in the Window 
by A.J. Finn 

This one started off a little slow for me - I was comparing it immediately to The Girl on the Train with the voyeurism and alcohol usage. But trust me, once you get about half way in to this one, you will not be able to put it down.

Yes, there are some obvious and previous used-to-death plot points here. Hold out though because the second half is totally worth the ride. There were a few surprises I did not see coming to help balance out the obvious ones. Anna Fox is housebound and has been for 10 months following the break up of her marriage and a traumatic experience. She is also a doctor - a psychologist. Ironic.

The action happens over a three week period. I like how the author (who I will be following now, this is quite the debut!) separates the story into what happens each day between October 24 and November 15. The reader gets a feel for Anna's days, her schedule, her fear of outside and finally we learn why open spaces are debilitating for her. Meanwhile, she has it all worked out. Her therapist and her trainer come to her, as do her meals and her meds. Lots of meds.

So one day when she is spying on her neighbors, she witnesses something she shouldn't have. And she decides to tell, but no one believes the crazy lady who never leaves her house. Always in a bathrobe and hardly ever showered, Anna begins to doubt herself. How much wine did she have? Which meds did she take double of and which ones did she forget to take at all? So much becomes a blur. She finds some solace in helping other people on an online message board, which makes her feel useful. And she meets the new neighbors across the street, which only adds to her angst when she witnesses what she thinks is a murder.

Very well written, even if the subject is familiar. Anna's fascination with films, esp film noir, gives the author some fun with movie quotes and Anna's dry humor. I'd give this five stars but for the overused plot, but points for originality with the ending.

Origin by Dan Brown

Origin (Robert Langdon, #5) 

Not quite as good as his other symbol-filled books, but this one does give you pause more about where we are going rather than the Origin of where we came from. There is a lot of secrecy about these two questions, centering on a big announcement about what a scientist has discovered/predicted about the future of the human race. When you finally get to the big reveal, it is not as earth shattering as I expected, but much more plausible - which might even be scarier, really. I love Robert Langdon, and the introduction of Winston in this book was fun and, um, interesting. Set in Barcelona and including the Sagrada Familia basicila as an important location was a bonus. Forget where he's been (some nice references to Langdon's past adventures are sprinkled in), I have to wonder about where Langdon himself will show up next!!!

Note - pay close attention to the flap of this book - therein lies a code....... clever!!!

Hiddensee by Gregory Macguire

Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker 
by Gregory Maguire, Tbd (Reading) 

I had forgotten how dark Maguire's books can be. Wicked is NOT for children, my little pretties, and neither is this story.

I had thought this book would be more about the Nutcracker and Klara. But the main character here is the man who becomes Godfather/Uncle Drosselmeier. This is HIS backstory - unknown origin, bounced in a dreamlike state from small town to small town, finally becoming a toymaker with no family of his own. A love affair early on seems token and trite and contrived, but maybe that was just me. I found the writing to be stilted with a confusing sense of place (no bridging from one location or scene to another - a very strange stream of consciousness almost). And I was just not satisfied with the story at all.

Until.....the end.

Oh my Goodness what a beautiful way to end this book. It took me by surprise and made me think Oh wait, maybe I did like this book!!! There are definitely beautiful sentences throughout; Maguire wouldn't still be published if he couldn't write. But the whole plot line just seemed to plod along with no real meaning until the end. And even then, Maguire's dreamlike story leaves you wondering if you have questions or if you just didn't get it. Hmmmmm.

I wouldn't recommend this book to people who prefer just to read bestsellers. I am not even sure I would categorize this as fantasy. If you are a fan of Maguire's previous takes on fairy tales then give it a whirl. I would say this is not my favorite of his, but in the end, I liked it. Just didn't love it.

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Not at all what I expected.

I have thoroughly enjoyed Backman's other novels.  A Man Called Ove had me laughing out loud and a bit teary throughout.  My Grandmother Told Me to Tell you She's Sorry was likewise a light, funny and great family read.

This one, not so much.

Definitely not light.  But definitely about family - the regular family unit and also the family built within a sports team, and in a Swedish town that is obsessed with their sport - hockey in this case.  Bear Town LIVES for hockey.  It is their only claim to fame, and they hold onto it with a vice like grip.  They are on their way to the finals, and they have to win.  The current manager of the team was their star player in his youth but is beginning to realize he has very little say in anything, the coaches are vying for the top spot with highly opposing coaching styles, and the boys (both young and old) will do anything - ANYTHING - to help the team succeed.  Even cover up a crime.

I was a little disturbed by this story.  There are a lot of dual relationships here - loved the description of the relationships between Peter and his wife Kira, between their daughter Maya and her bff Ana, Fatima and her son Amat, even between Kevin and his bff Benji.  But Peter was so weak, it was annoying.  His daughter was strong and probably my favorite character, but not enough time was spent on her.  Lots of time was spent on Benji and his secret (was that even really relevant to the story?  What was the main story??) It was hard to tell who was the main character but I think that was by design.  The main character was Bear Town itself.  Does the town survive a scandal of this nature?  Does the team?  Do the boys who witness it, know about it, cover it up, refuse to believe it?  And most of all, what is more important - a hockey team which provides jobs, direction and inspiration for this town, or justice??

This is not a book about hockey.  It is written in a bit of a disjointed style, switching perspectives and inner dialogue and scenes very quickly.  You may have more questions than answers here, but I can promise you time spent in well written, thought-provoking story with lots to talk about in a book club, for sure!!!

n the end, I actually liked it better than I thought I would.  The ending was brilliant. Jodi Picoult would be proud of this one.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

I was not excited about reading this book.  The book flap did not excite me.  But my book club friend said it was really good, so I dove in.

The Book Flap Writer should be fired.  (And I should be hired. HA.)

What I thought from a review was going to be a politically charged story about cross racial adoption was actually a story of the complicated definition of motherhood.  And teenage rebellion.  And the secrets from your past that can break you.

There is a LOT going on in this book.  A mixed race teenage couple.  A single mom who won't name her daughter's father, especially to her daughter.  A Stepford Mom who always plays by the rules, much to the disgust of her youngest child.  Two teenage girls who are jealous of each others' lives, and each other's Mothers. A boy named Moody caught in the middle.  And a childless woman who would do anything for a baby.  The issues of teenage sex, abortion, adoption, friendships, first love, surrogates, and whether or not to stick your nose in (or your neck out) are all intermixed.  Whew, I'm exhausted.

The author does a fine job of melding all of this together seamlessly.  Her writing flows, even when she is skipping ahead to give the reader a clue as to the future path of a particular character or relationship.  I liked that.  The ending left me hanging and a bit heartbroken, but with a thread of hope.  And the title is both literal and figurative.  A really good read.