Review: Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives by Josie Brown

Posted on June 5, 2010 · 12 Comments
Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives

Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives by Josie Brown
Genre:  Women’s Fiction, Chick Lit
Publication Date:  June 1, 2010
Downtown Press
ISBN:   978-1439173176
331 pages (on my Nook)

I received an e-galley from the publisher for an honest review.

Suburbia is a jungle, filled with lots of vicious creatures.

Take the Paradise Heights Women’s League board. Lyssa Harper should have warned golden-haired DILF du jour Harry Wilder what he was getting into when she invited him to meet the mommies who run their suburban, gated community. At least he brought cupcakes. Since meeting the former Master-of-the-Universe turned stay-at-home single dad, Lyssa has been his domestic Sherpa, teaching him the ins and outs of suburban life. She just didn’t realize her friends would show up at his house unannounced with casseroles, leopard-print bikini briefs, and plans to rearrange his kitchen cabinets.

The truth is, if Harry and his wife, the neighborhood’s “perfect couple,” can call it quits, what does that mean for everyone else? Lyssa’s husband, Ted, is a great father, but he pays her Pilates-pumped momtourage more attention than he does his own wife. Her friends gossip about the neighbors while ignoring their own problems: infertility, infidelity, and eating disorders.

When Harry sets boundaries with his new fan club, he is exiled from the neighborhood’s in-clique. But Lyssa refuses to snub him. What she never expects is the explosive impact her ongoing friendship with Harry will have on her close-knit pals — and on her marriage.

My Thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel!  It blends elements of both chick lit and women’s fiction into a delightful story of suburbia – and it is not always a pretty picture!  This book actually reminded me a bit of Desperate Housewives – lots of infidelity, backstabbing, secrets, and sex!  Just my kind of book!
Lyssa Harper befriends her neighbor, DILF du jour (Dad I’d Like to…well you know!) Harry Wilder after he is separated from his wife.  He is floundering through life, trying to be a single dad and hold onto his career at the same time.  Lyssa really feels for him and tries to help him through life post-separation.  To help him integrate into the mommy scene, she introduces him to her friends at the Paradise Heights Women’s League Board.  Poor Harry – he never had a chance!   These women are C-R-A-Z-Y!!  Harry is soon bombarded with food deliveries, new clothing in the form of leopard print bikini briefs (yes, for HIM!), and women rearranging his kitchen cabinets and drawers.

Harry is forced to draw a line and soon finds himself exiled from the mommies of Paradise Heights.  Lyssa continues to be his friend, to the anger of her mommy friends.  What Lyssa doesn’t expect is the impact that this friendship will have on her own marriage with her hubby (who likes to watch tv sports while having sex – what a great guy!), and her so-called “friends”. 

This is a fast read and a great story.  I enjoyed reading about Lyssa and Harry’s friendship and the shenanigans of the mommy clique were downright hysterical!  This would make a great beach read – definitely recommended!

Are you a book blogger who is interested in reading this story?  Stop by my new book tour site – Crazy Book Tours and signup to read it!

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Review: The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

Posted on May 9, 2010 · 13 Comments

The Chosen One
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
Genre:  Young Adult
St. Martin’s Griffin
ISBN:  978-0-312-55511-5
213 pages

Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters, with two more on the way. That is, without questioning them much—if you don’t count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her.

But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle—who already has six wives—Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.

 

My Thoughts:

This book is absolutely amazing and incredible.  I could not put it down and finished it in less than a day.  Kyra’s life is something I cannot grasp – living in a polygamist community cult where you are watched constantly, not allowed to read books of your choice, forbidden to choose your husband, and forced into marriage with a much older man, who already has other wives.  You must be obedient to the Prophet or you will pay and you may just pay with your life.  When 13 year old Kyra learns that the Prophet “had a vision from God” that Kyra was to marry her 60 year old uncle, she fights – and fights hard – to live the life of HER dreams.  What ensues is a story that is utterly captivating.  Kyra’s struggle to be true to her family and to find her own identity felt very real and pure.  Her story is one of hope and one I won’t soon forget.  I would absolutely recommend this book.  I loved it!

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Review: Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omololu

Posted on May 6, 2010 · 10 Comments

Dirty Little Secrets

Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omololu
Genre:  Young Adult
Walker & Company
ISBN:  978-0-8027-8660-9
210 pages

Everyone has a secret. But Lucy’s is bigger and dirtier than most. It’s one she’s been hiding for years—that her mom’s out-of-control hoarding has turned their lives into a world of garbage and shame. She’s managed to keep her home life hidden from her best friend and her crush, knowing they’d be disgusted by the truth. So, when her mom dies suddenly in their home, Lucy hesitates to call 911 because revealing their way of life would make her future unbearable—and she begins her two-day plan to set her life right.

With details that are as fascinating as they are disturbing, C. J. Omololu weaves an hour-by-hour account of Lucy’s desperate attempt at normalcy. Her fear and isolation are palpable as readers are pulled down a path from which there is no return, and the impact of hoarding on one teen’s life will have readers completely hooked.

My Thoughts:

This was one of the books I read for the Readathon last month as it is only 210 pages.  What is packed into those 210 pages is a fascinating novel about a young girl named Lucy who is trapped in a nightmare.  Her mother is a hoarder.  If you have seen the television show series on AETV called Hoarders or Hoarding:  Buried Alive on TLC then you can get a good picture of what Lucy had to live with on a daily basis.   Hoarding is a psychological disorder that is as disgusting to me as it is fascinating.  Reading about Lucy’s life with her mother and the filth that she must contend with is horrifying.  I can’t imagine being a young teenager and having to be stressed out about one of your friends discovering this type of secret; how she doesn’t really want to make friends because she doesn’t want someone discovering her home life.  The author really captures the thought processes of this young girl and her actions in the aftermath of her mother’s sudden death.  I could not put this book down.  I was a bit disappointed by the ending, but only because I WANTED TO READ MORE!!  It just kind of ended in a weird spot and I really wanted more closure and to find out where Lucy is today.  I don’t want to go more in depth with this review because it is a story that you just need to read for yourself.  It is a quick read, but you will be utterly hooked and crave more when you are done!  I would definitely recommend this book!

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Review: Push by Sapphire

Posted on May 4, 2010 · 12 Comments

Push: A Novel (Paperback)
 
Push:  A Novel by Sapphire
Vintage Contemporaries
Genre:  Fiction
Publication Date:  1997
ISBN:  978-0-679-76675-9
176 pages

Relentless, remorseless, and inspirational, this “horrific, hope-filled story” (Newsday) is certain to haunt a generation of readers. Precious Jones, 16 years old and pregnant by her father with her second child, meets a determined and highly radical teacher who takes her on a journey of transformation and redemption.

My Thoughts:

I really wanted to love this book – I really did.  Many people recommended it to me and it sounded like the kind of book I could really dig into and become engrossed in.  Sadly, this just wasn’t the case.  I had an extremely hard time with this book.  It is written from the perspective of an illiterate teenager, so the language takes some getting used to.  I think it is a great way to tell the story, though, and once I got used to it and understood it, I found it compelling.  It made the story feel more true-to-life, which is important with this type of book.

Precious Jones is a sixteen year old girl who is pregnant with her second child.  The second child fathered by her own father.  Her mother treats Precious like a maid who expects to be waited on every second of the day.  Her mother is also abusive to Precious.  Her mother is also jealous of Precious because Precious’s father is having sex with Precious.  Twisted enough for you?  Precious finds her way to an alternative school where she meets a teacher who helps her learn how to read and write and to figure out her way in the world.  The twisted situations keep coming throughout the entire book – there is never any reprieve.  I wanted to rescue Precious from her world.   I’m glad that Precious wants to make a better life for herself and her children – in that way, the book is very inspiring.  Precious could just get caught in the cycle of illiteracy and welfare like her mother expects her to, but she doesn’t.  She wants to make something of herself; to become a better person.  I admire Precious for that.

I kind of felt that the author was trying to shock the reader, which may have been the point, but I found it was just too much for me.  Some of the scenes were downright vulgar and appalling and I literally had to put the book down because I could not read any more.  I did end up finishing it, but it was a struggle and one I forced myself to complete.  I cannot fathom the life that Precious Jones had to live and that could be another reason why I had a difficult time with the story.  Books depicting abuse of any form are not easy reads, but this one was especially graphic.

Soon after completing the book, I wanted to watch the movie version.  I did like the movie slightly more than the book, which is strange for me.  I usually prefer book versions to the movie version.  I think the difference with this book is that the scenes were not as graphic as the book version depicted them.  It was easier to watch the story play out on screen than it was to read the book.

Overall, I did not care for the book version of this story.  It just went beyond what I am able to handle in a story.  And, just because I could not handle it doesn’t mean that you could not appreciate the story.  It just wasn’t for me.  And, it’s mainly because of the graphic nature of the abuse scenes – they really affected my appreciation for this book.

If you’ve read the book or watched the movie, what did you think?
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Review: My Sister's Voice by Mary Carter

Posted on April 30, 2010 · 10 Comments

My Sister's Voice 
My Sister’s Voice by Mary Carter
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Publication Date:  May 25, 2010
Kensington Books
ISBN:  978-0758229205
318 pages

A proudly deaf artist in Philadelphia, Lacey Gears is in a relationship with a wonderful man and rarely thinks about her childhood in a home for disabled orphans. That is, until Lacey receives a letter that begins, ‘You have a sister. A twin to be exact’. Learning that her identical, hearing twin, Monica, experienced the normal childhood she was denied resurrects all of Lacey’s grief, and she angrily sets out to find Monica and her parents. But the truth is far from simple. And for every one of Lacey’s questions that’s answered, others are raised, more baffling and profound. “My Sister’s Voice” is a beautifully written novel about sisterhood, love, and the stories we cling to until real life comes crashing in.

My Thoughts:

My Rating: 2.5 stars = Crazy Good

Lacey and Monica are two women living separate lives, in separate cities.  Lacey is profoundly deaf; Monica is hearing.  One day, Lacey receives a letter in the mail that changes her entire life – she has an identical twin sister – Monica.  The premise of the book really drew me in.  What if you got an anonymous note telling you that you have a twin sister?  What if you are Deaf and you find out that this twin sister is hearing?  How would you feel?  What would you do?

Lacey Gears is a 28 year old portrait artist who also happens to be profoundly Deaf.  Her character is very rough-around-the-edges and unsympathetic.  She holds a lot of animosity from her childhood and it has shaped her into the hard-edged woman she is today.  She is extremely proud of being Deaf and has formed a very close bond with others in the Deaf community.

Monica Bowman is a 28 year old author, who is currently promoting her book “The Architect of Your Soul”.  Monica is a very needy woman who seems to always crave attention.  I found her character to be a bit all over the place.  At times she seems normal and easygoing; at other times she seems very unstable.  It was a weird dichotomy for me and I didn’t quite come to a final conclusion as to who Monica really is by the end of the book.

Lacey receives a note telling her that she has a twin sister and directs her to a bookstore to learn more information.  Lacey laughs it off at first, thinking it is a joke.  But, curiosity gets the better of her and she goes off to investigate.  What she finds at the bookstore changes everything she’s known.  There really is a twin sister – and her name is Monica.

As Lacey and Monica struggle to come to terms with each other and their pasts, the narrative shifts between the two of them, and also to their mother, Katherine.  The narrative also reverts back in time to what happened when the girls were separated.  I found some of these chapters a bit confusing since there isn’t an introduction or a note at each chapter to let us know that the POV had shifted or that the time had shifted to 25 years in the past.  The development of their relationship is interesting – with lots of give (Monica) and take (Lacey).  They both seemed confused about how to act and what they should do with each other.  It was intriguing, but, overall, I found their entire relationship to be very unhealthy (especially from Monica’s end).

The reason for their separation at a young age is a bit strange, in my opinion.  I’m not sure I really connected everything together and came to a full understanding of WHY things happened the way they did.  I don’t quite comprehend why their parents acted the way they did.  It didn’t make much sense to me and I couldn’t rationalize it in my head.  Yes, there were things happening at the time, but I couldn’t fathom a parent giving away one child and keeping the other.  It just didn’t connect with me and I didn’t get it.

I learned a great deal about the Deaf culture from this book.  Back in my college days, I had some exposure to the Deaf culture in Rochester, NY, and was able to interact with many people who are Deaf.  I find the whole culture and language fascinating and this book really helped me to understand it even more.

Overall, this was an okay read for me.  I was left confused and questioning some things that happened, but I would still recommend it for a fascinating look into the Deaf culture.

I received a copy of this book as part of a blog tour for Pump Up Your Book Promotion.  This did not influence my personal opinion of the book.
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