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Book Review: Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley

Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley

  • Method of Obtaining: I received my copy from the publisher.
  • Published by:  Delacorte Press
  • Release Date:   1/29/2013
        

Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they’re found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable sisters’ diaries. What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies. Upon the five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred’s death, the English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey is busily preparing to open its patron saint’s tomb. Nobody is more excited to peek inside the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings dead in their tracks: the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist, his face grotesquely and inexplicably masked. Who held a vendetta against Mr. Collicutt, and why would they hide him in such a sacred resting place? The irrepressible Flavia decides to find out. And what she unearths will prove there’s never such thing as an open-and-shut case.

I also recommend:

My Review:

I broke my own rule by picking up Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley – but I just couldn’t help it. You see, I’d seen this series on the bookshelves but never took the plunge, even though I love, love, love the cover art. A young girl detective combined with a mystery (not my normal go-to genre) and all I could think was that it would be cliche and… well, silly.

So was it those things? Yes and no. The first plus was that I was easily able to dive into the book and did not feel as if I was being left out of anything having not read the previous books in the series. The second was that Flavia de Luce is just so dang cute. I couldn’t help but laugh and marvel at her smarts, her wit, and her hilarious way of naming (and treating) her bicycle.

As a mystery, Speaking from Among the Bones was average. There wasn’t any great surprises or revelations and I didn’t walk away feeling as if I’d just had my mind blown by the level of intricate details – but Flavia’s methods of solving the mystery and her hobbies had just enough charm to make me think of this book as a cozy mystery. It was fun to pass the hours with and I felt satisfied when I put the book down. So while I may not be rushing out to read all of the backlog of the series, I am content in knowing I’ve read one and enjoyed it. I think if I was more of a mystery person that feeling of needing to read might be more present – but still, it’s high praise that I enjoyed this book especially when I was uncertain that the insides might be as enjoyable as the cover outside.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Cozy Little Book Journal | You Book Me All Night Long | Mysteries Etc. 

 

 

Lydia
24 January, 2013
Cozy, Crime, Mystery, reviews
1 comment
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Book Review: We Live in Water by Jess Walter

We Live in Water by Jess Walter

  • Method of Obtaining: I received my copy from the publisher.
  • Published by: Harper Perennial
  • Release Date:   2/12/2013
        

We Live in Water is a darkly comic, moving collection of stories, published over the last five years in Harper’s, McSweeney’s, The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Non-Required Reading, Byliner, Playboy, and elsewhere. The stories veer from comic tales of love to social satire to suspenseful crime fiction, from hip Portland to once-hip Seattle to never-hip Spokane, from a condemned casino in Las Vegas to a bottomless lake in the dark woods of Idaho. This is a world of lost fathers and redemptive conmen, of meth tweakers on desperate odysseys and men committing suicide by fishing.

In “Thief,” an aluminum worker turns unlikely detective to solve the mystery of which of his kids is stealing from the family vacation fund. In “We Live in Water,” a lawyer returns to a corrupt North Idaho town to find the father who disappeared thirty years earlier. In “Anything Helps,” a homeless man has to “go to cardboard” to raise enough money to buy his son the new Harry Potter book. In “Virgo,” a local newspaper editor tries to get back at his superstitious ex-girlfriend by screwing with her horoscope. Also included are the stories “Don’t Eat Cat” and “Statistical Abstract of My Hometown, Spokane, Washington,” both of which achieved a cult following after publication online.

I also recommend:

  • Roofwalker by Susan Power
  • The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
My Review:

If you asked me to name my top three male, contemporary authors Jess Walter would top the list. We Live in Water is the third book written by Walter that I have read and, frankly, his previous novel, Beautiful Ruins, is the one that won me over. But We Live in Water shows just how masterful Walter’s writing is and how adept he is at taking one single, pivotal moment and magnifying it in such great detail that it is impossible to not get the message he is trying to get across.

In this series of short stories Walter examines the lives of people from the future and the past; he examines those without homes and those who want to escape their homes. Young and old are subject to the scrutiny and the only thing each of these stories has in common is that, much like a fish in a fish tank, it’s placed before our wondering eyes and we pause for just a touch of time to watch the subjects swim in their lives before moving on to the next thing.

My love for short stories is a fairly recent thing. I never could understand the fascination with reading a short story – having always loved my stories to be fully developed with world and characters. I thought that in order for my emotions to get wrapped up in a characters life it would require at least 300 pages of solid reading about that character. Oh, if only I’d been handed something like this book sooner. Some of these short stories are a mere two pages long, yet they pack the same punch (or more so) than books that are 300+ pages long.

If you haven’t experienced Jess Walter and want a sample of what this man is capable of then go to a bookstore and read just one of these short stories. I guarantee you will find yourself not only buying the book but looking at his previous work, just as I have done. In fact, I think I’m going to be reading Beautiful Ruins again very soon.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

 

Publisher’s Weekly

 

Lydia
22 January, 2013
Contemporary, reviews, Short Stories, Social Issues
0 comments
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Book Review: The Scrivener’s Tale by Fiona McIntosh

The Scrivener’s Tale by Fiona McIntosh

  • Method of Obtaining: I received my copy from the publisher.
  • Published by: Harper Voyager
  • Release Date:   3/26/2013
        

Gabe Figaret, an ex-psychologist, turned writer, now works in a bookshop in Paris as he comes to terms with his past. While he’d prefer to probe his own mind rather than a stranger’s, he cannot refuse when Reynard, a doctor and one of his regular customers, asks Gabe to mentor a patient, a young, delusional and mute woman named Angelina.

At first, the shy girl appears to be terrified of Reynard. But as Gabe soon discovers, Angelina is not quite what she seems. As his relationship with the strange young woman deepens, Gabe’s life in Paris becomes increasingly unstable. He senses a presence watching, following, every move he makes. And there is a raven, which eerily appears wherever he turns.

Angelina tells Gabe there is only one way to save them both: he must flee to Morgravia. Gabe believes her claim to be part of her delusion but when she begins to link minds and show him the realm where the cathedral that he has dreamed about since his youth, is real, he is drawn into her spell and her plan. But the journey to Morgravia comes at a price higher than he may be willing to pay: he must kill Angelina and absorb her spirit.

Though Angelina is exquisitely persuasive, Gabe is not a murderer. But his morality cannot protect him for what is to come. Soon, Gabe’s world will be turned upside down, and he will learn shocking truths about who he is . . . and who he can-or cannot-trust.and he will learn shocking truths about who he is . . . and who he can-or cannot-trust.

I also recommend:

My Review:

I admit, I was extremely hopeful picking up The Scrivener’s Tale by Fiona McIntosh. After a series of historical and contemporary novels I was more than ready to dive into a fantasy world, and the idea of a single volume, set in a world that was already created, appealed to me. I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to fully discover that world… but that fear was not the one I should have been concerned about.

The good was that McIntosh knows her fantasy world, Morgravia, very very well. I was able to get a feel for that world quickly – in fact more quickly then I do for other series that take their time introducing their own worlds. I found the good characters (especially Cassien) to be sympathetic, the bad ones to be teeth-gnashingly evil, and the story (overall) to be acceptable. However… and there is an however, the Paris section stuck out like a sore thumb.

I understand the appeal – starting a story like this off in our world and wanting a successful cross-over, but it just didn’t work for me here. There was not enough explanation of how it all came about, where the connection was, where certain characters went (after they supposedly perished), etc. It seemed left open-ended and unfinished and it really messed with my enjoyment of the story. Better to have just stuck in Morgravia and worked the story there than incorporate Paris in because, frankly, that incorporation demands more page space than a single volume will allow.

Still, the last half of the book was good fun. There were predictable moments and the battle scenes were a bit lacking, but the romance of the story swept me up and The Scrivener’s Tale became unputdownable for the last 150 pages or so.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Bookd Out 

Lydia
20 January, 2013
Fantasy, reviews
0 comments
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Book Review: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

  • Method of Obtaining: I received my copy from the publisher.
  • Published by: Penguin
  • Release Date:  1/5/2013
        

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time.

I also recommend:

My Review:

I really enjoyed Jojo Moyes’ last novel and so when I saw that Me Before You was available I snatched it up. I’ve gotten rather picky over the last few years on contemporary women’s literature and Moyes passed the test the last time around so I was hoping to enjoy this one. And guess what? I did!

Me Before You is the story of a young woman Lou who is the backbone of her family. With a father who is in danger of losing his job, a sister who dropped out of college to have a child, and all of her wages going to support her family, when Lou loses her job she is desperate for work. Enter Will – a quadriplegic who has a dark secret of his own.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I sympathized with Lou as she struggled to find things to get Will back out into the world but I also sympathized with Will. Me Before You deals with a sensitive subject in a way that showed just how complicated it can be and I appreciated Jojo Moyes’ light touch when it came to telling the story.

I may or may not have shed a tear when it came to the end of the book (although I was a little bit with the rolling-eyes at one certain aspect) but ultimately I put the book down and felt satisfied with what I read which, in all honesty, is one of the things I look for when it comes to a good book.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Jenn’s Bookshelves | Linus’s Blanket | A Reader of Fictions

Lydia
18 January, 2013
Chick-Lit, Contemporary, reviews
1 comment
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Book Review: The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier

The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier

  • Method of Obtaining: I received my copy from the publisher.
  • Published by: E.P. Dutton
  • Release Date:  1/8/2013
        

In New York Times bestselling author Tracy Chevalier’s newest historical saga, she introduces Honor Bright, a modest English Quaker who moves to Ohio in 1850, only to find herself alienated and alone in a strange land. Sick from the moment she leaves England, and fleeing personal disappointment, she is forced by family tragedy to rely on strangers in a harsh, unfamiliar landscape.

Nineteenth-century America is practical, precarious, and unsentimental, and scarred by the continuing injustice of slavery. In her new home Honor discovers that principles count for little, even within a religious community meant to be committed to human equality.

However, drawn into the clandestine activities of the Underground Railroad, a network helping runaway slaves escape to freedom, Honor befriends two surprising women who embody the remarkable power of defiance. Eventually she must decide if she too can act on what she believes in, whatever the personal costs.

A powerful journey brimming with color and drama, The Last Runaway is Tracy Chevalier’s vivid engagement with an iconic part of American history.

I also recommend:

 

My Review:

I am trying to figure out today what made this book so unputdownable last night (I was up reading it until I finished at 3am) and the only thing I can come up with is the character of Honor Bright. She is such a sympathetic character and I wanted to know what happened to her.

The Last Runaway is the story of Honor Bright, a young Quaker woman who leaves England to escape an unpleasant past that is not of her own doing, and her attempt to fit into the American society in a small town in Ohio. There are a cast of interesting characters in Donovan and Belle, Jack Haymaker, Adam and Abigail, and more and decisions that need to be made by Honor that foreshadow a deeper meaning behind her name.

There were familiar aspects to this novel, anyone who has read Uncle Tom’s Cabin will recognize similarities between the stories – but this is more dealing with the other side, what happens to those who disobey the Fugitive Slave Act. It’s a life filled with secrets and lies in the midst of a people who refuse to lie.

So this ended up being an unputdownable book for me. It moved quickly, had heart and characters that tugged at my heartstrings, and it was a story that was above and beyond interesting. There were little bits of flavor throughout it as well that helped with the story, making it more personable. The difference between English quilting and American, recipes, culture, and more.

This is a great book for fans of historical fiction who are interested in immigration, the underground railroad, Quakers, and the early pioneer midwest.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Nomadreader | Bookworm’s Dinner | The Secret Writer

Lydia
16 January, 2013
Historical, reviews, Social Issues
1 comment
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Book Review: The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan

The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan

  • Method of Obtaining: I received my copy from the publisher.
  • Published by: Riverhead Books
  • Release Date:  1/10/2013
        

Paris. 1878. Following their father’s sudden death, the van Goethem sisters find their lives upended. Without his wages, and with the small amount their laundress mother earns disappearing into the absinthe bottle, eviction from their lodgings seems imminent. With few options for work, Marie is dispatched to the Paris Opéra, where for a scant seventy francs a month, she will be trained to enter the famous ballet. Her older sister, Antoinette, finds work—and the love of a dangerous
young man—as an extra in a stage adaptation of Émile Zola’s naturalist masterpiece L’Assommoir.

Marie throws herself into dance and is soon modelling in the studio of Edgar Degas, where her image will forever be immortalized as Little Dancer
Aged Fourteen. Antoinette, meanwhile, descends lower and lower in society, and must make the choice between a life of honest labor and the more profitable avenues open to a young woman of the Parisian demimonde—that is, unless her love affair derails her completely.

Reason for Reading:
  • There are ballerina’s on the cover!

I also recommend:

 

My Review:

When I was a little girl I craved books about ballet – scouring the shelves of the library, looking through bookstores, garage sales, and flea markets trying to find anything that would have pictures of pointe shoes, references to famous ballerina’s or composers of ballets. I still remember reading a book I found at a garage sale so many times that it literally fell apart in my hands one day (but for some reason I cannot recall the title of it, I just know it was so so good to my nine-year-old self).

I wasn’t a big fan of Cathy Marie Buchanan’s previous novel, so I approached The Painted Girls with some trepidation. I mean, her writing was sound – but the subject matter in her previous book left me a little, well, bored. That did not happen with The Painted Girls.

Told from two viewpoints, sisters Antoinette and Marie, this is the story of a family who has lost its father, the mother is a drunkard, the oldest sister a foolish girl and the younger one struggling to find her footing. There is a third sister, Charlotte, but she does not receive much of a voice in this story.

Also making an appearance in this book is the painter, Degas, and Buchanan references quite a few of his famous pieces of art to give the story setting and context.

I found The Painted Girls to be a heart-breaking, beautiful story and I walked away feeling like I’d read something that wasn’t only interesting, but educational and enriching as well. Buchanan has redeemed herself in my eyes with this subject matter and I’m anxiously awaiting her next project.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Beth Fish Reads | RedRoom | Book Review Blog

Lydia
14 January, 2013
Historical, reviews
0 comments
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Book Review: Philida by Andre P. Brink

Philida by Andre P. Brink

  • Method of Obtaining: I received my copy from the publisher.
  • Published by: Harvill Secker
  • Release Date:  7/31/2012
        

Soon there must come a day when I can say for myself: This and that I shall do, this and that I shall not.

Philida is the mother of four children by Francois Brink, the son of her master. The year is 1832 and the Cape is rife with rumours about the liberation of the slaves. Philida decides to risk her whole life by lodging a complaint against Francois, who has reneged on his promise to set her free.

His father has ordered him to marry a white woman from a prominent Cape Town family, and Philida will be sold on to owners in the harsh country up north. Unwilling to accept this fate, Philida continues to test the limits of her freedom, and with the Muslim slave Labyn she sets off on a journey across the great wilderness on the banks of the Gariep River, to the far north of Cape Town. Philida is an unforgettable story of one woman’s determination to survive and be free.

Reason for Reading:
  • I was interested in the geography and story.

I also recommend:

 

My Review:

Philida by Andre P. Brink is a novel steeped in historical events that follows the journey of Philida, a slave in Cape Town from the time she decides to make a stand for herself until the year of emancipation of the slaves.

This is not a book for the faint of heart. Philida has no “filter,” she documents everything done to her in a detached way that still manages to infuse the account with deep, painful emotions. She gave birth to four children, two who still live, and struggles to deal with the idea that her master and lover will not hold true to his promise to her.

Brink lays it all out there with this book. From stories of escaped slaves, to those who were caught during an uprising, tales of the auction block to comparisons to kittens being drowned, there is nothing that is left untouched in this book. The brutal, horrible, degrading way in which the slaves were treated is presented to the reader in its raw form and it’s only the beauty of Brink’s writing and the infusion of the culture into the book that keeps it from being too hard to read.

One of the things I love about reading is being taken to places I never knew about. This is one of those cases. This is a part of history I knew nothing about, a place I knew nothing about, and a story that should be remembered as a warning to humankind. The story of Philida is one of strength and determination, a young woman standing up against immense odds to take what is her right – to find strength through her own religious beliefs and to learn to live as a human being and not a possession.

 

Lydia
12 January, 2013
Historical, reviews, Social Issues
0 comments
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Book Review: My Heart is Boundless: Writings of Abigail May Alcott, Louisa’s Mother Edited by Eve LaPlante

My Heart is Boundless Edited by Eve LaPlante

  • Method of Obtaining: I received my copy from the publisher.
  • Published by: Free Press
  • Release Date:  11/6/2012
        

 In this riveting compilation of Abigail May Alcott’s previously undiscovered and unexplored private writings, biographer Eve LaPlante annotates the letters, poems, recipes, and diaries of the real-life inspiration behind “Marmee” of Little Women, one of the most famous mother figures in American literature.

This companion volume to LaPlante’s groundbreaking Marmee & Louisa covers everything from writing (Abigail’s own ambitions as well as her daughter’s) to family life and the expectations of society. Full of wit and charm, Abigail’s private letters offer a moving, intimate portrait of a woman intellectually ahead of her time who found herself trapped in an unrewarding marriage and who would transfer her wisdom and ambition to her talented daughters, Louisa most of all.

In beautiful prose (a biographer once pointed out that “In some ways, Abby was a better writer than her more famous daughter”), this fantastic new collection lays bare the unparalleled love that Abigail held for her family, in the process restoring a powerful female voice too long lost to history.

Reason for Reading:
  • I’ve loved the Alcott’s for years and this looked like a fascinating look at the inspiration for “Marmee” in Little Women.

I also recommend:

 

My Review:

What a way to start out 2013 – wrapping up my reading of these lovely bits of notes, letters, and historical tidbits by and about Abigail May Alcott. My Heart is Boundless is a nice, tidy, organized book that chronologically (mostly) follows Abigail’s life through her own writing and reflection.

I’ve been a fan of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women since I was a young girl. I was the oldest of four girls (for a time, before three brothers and two more sisters came along) and related well to Meg – the oldest of Louisa’s quartet. I admired her quiet dignity, her willingness to accept what happened, and understood how she managed being surrounded by the sisters she was surrounded by. So it was a bit of a delight for me to learn that Louisa’s mother, Abigail, also had quite a few sisters and brothers and I hungrily dug in to her writings.

I identified strongly with Louisa’s desire for knowledge and information – but not only that, her desire to keep her family close. There was quite a bit of tragedy that struck the May family and Abigail appeared to be the bedrock through it all. These writings are a perfect example of how a woman of her time need not be shut away, but rather could find happiness and fulfillment in ways other than motherhood.

My only issue with this collection is how choppy it can be. It’s mostly chronological, but I needed to finish it and would have rather spent time reading portions and then moving on to other books. It does not make for a comfortable, “unputdownable” book – but rather is perhaps intended to be a book to be read in short bites. The other small issue I had was with the numerous footnotes – every name seemed to be identified by the author every single time it cropped up (which was nice at first, but after a while I began to feel like I was being treated like I was stupid for “not getting it” when I was). Still, easily enough avoided if you are someone who can resist the temptation of those footnotes.

I recommend this for fans of Louisa May Alcott. I think you will find much of Marmee hiding in this book, waiting to be awakened.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Louisa May Alcott is my Passion 

Lydia
10 January, 2013
Non-Fiction, reviews
0 comments
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Book Review: The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell

The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell

  • Method of Obtaining: I received my copy from the publisher.
  • Published by: Harper
  • Release Date:  1/2/2013
        

Today is Christmas Eve. Today is my birthday. Today I am fifteen. Today I buried my parents in the backyard. Neither of them were beloved.

Marnie and her little sister Nelly are on their own now. Only they know what happened to their parents, Izzy and Gene, and they aren’t telling. While life in Glasgow’s Hazlehurst housing estate isn’t grand, they do have each other. Besides, it’s only one year until Marnie will be considered an adult and can legally take care of them both.

As the new year comes and goes, Lennie, the old man next door, realizes that his young neighbors are alone and need his help. Or does he need theirs? But he’s not the only one who suspects something isn’t right. Soon, the sisters’ friends, their other neighbors, the authorities, and even Gene’s nosy drug dealer begin to ask questions. As one lie leads to another, dark secrets about the girls’ family surface, creating complications that threaten to tear them apart.

Written with fierce sympathy and beautiful precision, told in alternating voices, The Death of Bees is an enchanting, grimly comic tale of three lost souls who, unable to answer for themselves, can answer only for each other.

Reason for Reading:
  • I enjoyed The Secret Life of Bees and this book was compared to it in the summary.

I also recommend:

 

My Review:

I was surprised at how quickly The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell grabbed my attention. I mean, well, I guess a story that begins with two young girls burying their parents in the backyard will do that to you. But where do you go from there?

The Death of Bees is told from several different perspectives: an older sister, Marnie, who is quite jaded for being as young as she is; a younger sister, Nelly, who sees the world from a completely different perspective; and Lennie, the old man next door who has been labeled a sex offender.

But don’t worry – the book doesn’t take you in that direction. Instead, it introduces something entirely different.

What this book does is take a good hard look at the social system here. It’s telling that young girls, upon the death of the parents, would so fear being split up that they would go through immense horror to avoid that particular horror. The Death of Bees examines how we view child abuse, neglect, sexual predators, and rebellious children. Although the story is rather too neatly wrapped in a bow and handed over on a platter, it does provide an interesting springboard to start conversations about these hard topics. Lisa O’Donnell does an admirable job of bringing them to light, and although I wish she’d left things a bit more open-ended (as you cannot solve all of these issues in a mere 300ish pages) I understand why she finished the book the way she did.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Leeswammes’ Blog | The Siren’s Tale | The Book Pod

Lydia
8 January, 2013
Coming of Age, Contemporary, reviews, Social Issues
1 comment
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Book Review: Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz

Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz

  • Method of Obtaining: I received my copy from the publisher.
  • Published by: Simon Pulse
  • Release Date:  1/1/2013
        

Rudy’s life is flipped upside-down when his family moves to a remote island in a last attempt to save his sick younger brother. With nothing to do but worry, Rudy sinks deeper and deeper into loneliness and lies awake at night listening to the screams of the ocean beneath his family’s rickety house.

Then he meets Diana, who makes him wonder what he even knows about love, and Teeth, who makes him question what he knows about anything. Rudy can’t remember the last time he felt so connected to someone, but being friends with Teeth is more than a little bit complicated. He soon learns that Teeth has terrible secrets. Violent secrets. Secrets that will force Rudy to choose between his own happiness and his brother’s life.

Reason for Reading:
  • Fairy Tale? Caught my interest.

I also recommend:

 

My Review:

Wow. Just.. wow.

I’ve started a few reviews with that first line, but it’s been a while and now that I’ve had a few days to chew over this story I have to say… just wow.

Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz comes off as being a strange little story about a boy and his sick little brother who are taken to an island where magical-type fish are eaten by those who are sick in an effort to get well. Sound strange? Well, it is.

You see, Rudy (a name that first had me thinking the character was a girl) meets Teeth – a half-fish/half-boy (aka merman of sorts) who is determined to save his brothers, those magical fish, from horrible deaths at the hands of the fisherman. But Teeth is also being abused and in a way that keeps Rudy up at night.

As I read this story I kept thinking that something was up. I had that feeling on the back of my neck, that tingling that made me think I was missing something. It wasn’t until I had almost reached the end of the book that I realized there was an awful lot of symbolism going on and that, perhaps, the story was allegorical in nature. Then the world opened up.

I don’t want to spoil what Teeth and Rudy and all of the characters in this book stand for (and I highly advise you to avoid spoilers until after you’ve read and thought the book through for yourself), but read it with the idea in mind that not all is as it seems. The experience that results is one that is dumb-founding and, perhaps, may prompt your mind to open up a little more. I sympathized deeply with Teeth – but even more so when I figured out what was going on and I have to applaud Hannah Moskowitz for writing an incredibly intricate, detailed book about a subject that is very, very relevant today.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Cuddlebuggery Book Blog | The Nocturnal Library | Wild Heart Book Reviews

Lydia
6 January, 2013
Contemporary, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, reviews, Young Adult
0 comments
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