Defending Jacob, by William Landay | Legal Thriller | Family Drama | Book Review

Deeply Psychological, Thrilling!

Oh. My. God.

You know, I nearly abandoned this book based purely on the first couple of pages of the book because I disliked the court transcript formatting for those pages. I thought it was difficult to follow and lacked depth (which ought to be obvious). If I'd not pressed on, I'd have missed one of the most entertaining reads I've enjoyed in some time.

Ironically, these first couple of pages, and the way they tie the entire story together and wrap it up in a tidy bow, are precisely the reason this book made it onto my coveted list of five star books. (Alright, alright. Maybe not COVETED. I'm a nobody, after all.)

I realize I'm fangirling, but this book is BRILLIANT. It's  not just the way the author ties one end of the book to the other so skillfully. It's not just the brilliant pacing which rarely ("never" is too strong a word for me) drags. It's not just the fact that every move the author made throughout this novel was so deliberately planned (and, no doubt, well-revised). Amazingly, it's not what this book made me feel.

Oh no. It's what this book DIDN'T make me feel.

Truly and astonishingly perhaps the MOST psychological book I've ever read, brilliantly executed, and outstanding in its construction. 

Oh yes. I loved this book.

But that's not what you REALLY want to know. You want to know if YOU will love this book.

I like to give my readers information about the book -- a warning label, if you will, of things about the book which may not appeal to some readers. When I first started writing, I couldn't think of a single thing I'd want you to know before you invest your time (and potentially your money) in this novel. Fortunately, the more I wrote, the more cognizant I became of some of the flaws in this novel.

So  here's what you need to know before you purchase, or borrow this book.

First, Landay writes in huge blocks of text.

See how short my paragraphs are here on my blog? I try to keep them a length which is easily readable for most people. We tolerance is lower, of course, than print tolerance, but I try to keep my paragraphs at a length readers can easily scan without losing any significant amount of information. A paragraph is generally about five sentences long, often four lines long in text. This paragraph is five sentences long.

Landay's paragraphs sometimes span the length of AN ENTIRE PAGE of text. This makes it more difficult for the reader to scan the paragraph for relevant information, slows down speed readers, and can make even a standard reader (one reading every word at a normal pace) frustrated because its point seems interminable. I consider myself a "standard reader" and Landay's paragraphs slowed me down considerably.

This is never more relevant than at the end of the novel. 

Because following the climax, Landay continues with the story. 

Now if you're like me, you like something after the climax. You're probably not looking for much more story, just something to conclude what you've been reading and to wrap up the book. Some books are terrible about ending immediately after the climax -- what we'd call a "cliffhanger," sometimes without any intention of continuing as a series. So I appreciate the effort. Really, I do.

The problem is the massive paragraphs. They initially felt superfluous, as though they intended only to tell the reader the general sense of what happened after the climactic moment. I asked myself several times, while reading page-long paragraphs, why the author had included this information. (I'm glad I kept reading, because the story actually continued, but suffice it to say this was frustrating, and somewhat tedious.)

I know what you're probably thinking: "Well good! There's something to wrap the story up!" And if you are a die hard for post-climax conclusions, this will definitely be helpful for you.

But this post-climax storyline goes on for several chapters. I'll be the first to admit it's important, and it seems the author had it in mind the entire time, but it's poorly paced. A quick-moving story takes a turn for slow and drawn out. And maybe -- just MAYBE -- this was information I didn't WANT to have.

Not that it destroys the story, because it doesn't. But I'd have been fine with a bit more left to the imagination. (Intriguingly, one of the one-star reviews on Amazon argues that the entire story leaves TOO MUCH to the imagination!)

In another note about the ending, it's similar to the ending of another book I've read. Not that it's predictable, because HOLY MOLY I DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING! But the resemblance struck me as odd and jarring. I didn't like the ending of THAT book, but in this case I felt like it worked. (No, I'm not going to tell you which book, in case you've read it and can then compare notes.)

Finally, I want you to know before committing to read this book that the characters aren't likable. 

I always find myself wondering at the fact this is such a BIG deal for so many reviewers. "I didn't like the characters." Really? Do you like EVERYBODY you come into contact with on a day to day basis? Now granted, even the worst monsters in history have had FRIENDS who loved them in spite of their flaws, but that's beside the point.

Some people just aren't likable, and Andy, Laurie, and Jacob Barber are on the list of unlikable people in the world. (So, as it happens, are Derek Yoo, and Paul Duffy. You're going to despise Ben Rifkin and Neal Loguidice by the time it's done as well (though that is less veiled than the aforementioned characters). 

There's good in each of them. Well, MOST of them, anyway. But I don't think you're supposed to like them. No, not even Andy, the narrative character, Jacob's father. Not even sweet, sympathetic Laurie. While not caricatures, I do believe these characters were made intentionally exactly the way they are. So if you're reading this book, and you pause to think to yourself "something seems to be missing from this characterization," try to consider some people have something missing from their personality and that's just the way the author intended it to be.

Oh yes, I loved this book. LOVED this book. It was amazing! I'm not finding many negative reviews I don't feel missed the point of the novel. I think you'll enjoy it too, if you can live with the aforementioned flaws.

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase Defending Jacob from this page, I will receive a small compensation from Amazon.

With Love from the Inside by Angela Pisel | Family Drama | Legal Thriller | Book Review

A Roller Coaster from Start to Finish! 

This book made me FEEL things.

If you've ever been a mother, or if you've ever had a mother, this book will make you feel things, too. Some of them may be heartrending, others tragic, but this book will make you feel things. 

I loved this book. 

With that said, let me (as I like to do) go over what I feel you need to know about this book before you purchase it. Whenever I can, I like to help readers avoid purchasing books which will provide unexpected or unwanted surprises.

First, while not what I'd call "Christian fiction," the religious aspects of this book were a bit of a smack for me. It might help to note that my to-be-read shelf (the one in my home, as I don't keep one on Goodreads) includes Witch, by Lisa Lister, 78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack, and The Inner Sky, by Steven Forrest.

If you're not at all interested in religious undertones in your fiction, skip this one. While it's not exactly "in your face" it was a bit much FOR ME, and I tend to be pretty diplomatic about these things. (Heavens, I even read Christian fiction from time to time. As long as I know it's Christian fiction, I'm fine with that!)

Second, it's implausible. I'm having a difficult time believing a woman was sentenced to death for the murder of an infant. I probably SHOULD be able to believe it, but I watch true crime shows and read enough true crime novels to find this difficult to swallow. 

Because it is SO CONFUSING whether this novel is set in North or South Carolina, it's difficult to track down the information on death row convictions for the state in which the novel is set (but I think that would be important information. I WAS able to find the site where Pisel appears to have done her research on the female death row.

It strikes me this may have been the only research into females on death row in North Carolina the author did at all, and that astonishes me. The topic should have been more well-researched than that.

The final thing I think you need to know before committing to this book is the editing is odd. I wish, now, that I'd taken better notes with the book as I read it. (I'm terrible at this, by the way.) In one case, the author used an ENTIRELY WRONG word (one which sounded similar, but was NOT a homophone AND had an ENTIRELY different meaning).

Alright, so now you know what you NEED to know before you commit, I'd like to talk about the details, plus my feelings on this book. No worries! I don't include spoilers in my reviews. 

Like the past two books I've reviewed, it was written in alternating perspectives from Sophie (the daughter), and Grace (the mother). Sophie's parts are written in third person, and Grace's in first. 

It is crucial for me to mention this because there are some problems with the perspective I want to bring to light. 

Specifically that Grace's portions alternate between past and present tense and her first-person perspective is in itself a potential spoiler for a novel. If you've ever read a first-person novel from the perspective of someone whose life is in peril (and Grace's is, considering she's on death row for the murder of her infant son), you'll note most of them are written in PRESENT TENSE in order to avoid alerting the reader this character survives to tell the story.

Plus, you'll note my admonition on the editing, above. This is troubling for me as this book was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons (a division of Penguin Publishing) and it seems the editing should have been SUPERIOR. Watch out for this if you're accustomed to reading better edited books!

Some story lines hang out with loose endings. In the case of this book (and I won't spoil which loose ends aren't tied up), I feel like the sub-plots are mostly unnecessary. There are three major sub plots throughout this story. None of them resolve completely. Each of them has some gaping hole which doesn't get filled by the author. The reader is left to simply drop this sub-plot entirely as though it never happened. It's frustrating.

Not only that, but the sub-plots mostly bored me. I found all but one totally uninteresting, and they had little impact on the story as a whole, other than (perhaps) to make Sophie (who is altogether unlikeable as a character) more sympathetic to the reader. At least one of these sub-plots introduces what may be her only positive traits to the reader.

Also, without giving it away, I had suspected the ending purely based on the dust jacket. If you read deeply at all, the ending is wholly predictable.

So why did I love this book so much?

It touched on issues I can understand and relate to. It made me feel things I hadn't felt in a long time. It brought emotions I had refused to feel to the surface and forced me to deal with those feelings in a healthy manner.

I loved it because it made me not only cry, but WEEP. I loved it because of the emotional tone and quality of this book, and because of how deeply it touched me. I loved this book. I did. 

I think a lot of others will love this book as well, if they can tolerate the negatives and overlook those for the good in the novel. I hope you'll give it a try!

What did you think of With Love from the Inside, by Angela Pisel?

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase a book through this page, I will receive a small commission from Amazon.

The Letter, by Kathryn Hughes | Pre-Review

#1 eBook Bestseller!

Gah! I'm such a sucker for a good cover. I fall into them like Alice down the rabbit hole and sometimes I forget to take a better look at my surroundings. In THIS case, I forgot to read the sample.

Before I get too deep into this pre-review (which is something I plan to begin doing more often because I think it has merit), I need to establish one important factor: LOTS of books have one-star reviews which state the book is poorly written, slow-moving, predictable, and/or repetitive (in the sense there are other books with the same story line as this book).

The literary world is CHOCK-FULL of garbage one-star reviews which are in no way helpful to the potential reader. In fact, many of the negative reviews of this book reflect the buyer/seller experience rather than the content of the book. 

Based on the reviews alone, it is NO WONDER this book slipped through my normal filters.

(I'll admit, however, to my shame at noting the sub-title of the book was "No. 1 eBook Bestseller!" That one should NOT have slipped through my normal filters.)

This book arrived in the mail two days ago and I have spent those two days deciding whether or not it is worth the energy to send it back to Amazon. (To be fair, I'm not sure they will TAKE it back, since it is a book, even though I haven't read it.) 

Spoiler Alert: I decided it wasn't worth the energy to send it back. Now we have to find out if it's worth the energy to READ.

I'm going to spend a piece of time here talking about what stood out to me about this book, and why THIS is the first book I've EVER felt the urge to PRE-review. (Seriously, this has never happened before, but now it sounds like a great idea I think I'll continue.)

These are my initial observations of the book, ALL of which put me off of it.

The lovely cover is ruined by the presence of large subtitle print declaring it the No. 1 eBook Bestseller! Ugh. Where do I START?

First of all, I stopped reading eBooks a while ago, after my Kindle Paperwhite got scratched. It's difficult for me to read on the Fire, and I don't want to pay to have the Paperwhite replaced because I FAR prefer to have a book in my hands than a device. I guess I'm getting to be a fogey. 

What I mean to say is I'm not impressed by an eBook bestseller, especially when I ordered the paperback version of the book. 

Second of all, all "bestseller" means is that a lot of people have downloaded the book. In the case of ebooks, it doesn't even necessarily indicate how many people paid full price for the book, just that a particular threshold of people DOWNLOADED the book. It could have been at a promotional price. It could have been FREE. What matters is the downloads. So no. I'm not impressed.

(I'll be writing a separate post on this topic upcoming, and will link to it here.)

That was the first thing I noticed about the book, and it bothered me. Alone, it would have irritated me, but it wouldn't have put me off the book entirely.

Then I opened it.

The font is enormous. This applies, of course, only to the print (paperback) copy of the book. I have no idea what the eBook looks like other than in the sample I glanced at only after the fact (to check for the font size).

It's not SO LARGE that it's "large print" but it is excessive, as though the large font would mean more pages in the book, and more pages was somehow more impressive. (Yes, this is actually how the maturity level of this author strikes me.)

Suffice it to say I find the font off-putting.

The paper quality is thick and rough. I don't want to begrudge recycled paper (which this appears to be), but it's uncomfortable on my fingers when reading a paperback novel. It's the sort of cheap paper used in days gone by for dime-store paperbacks costing a good deal less than the $10.39 this book set me back. 

Basically for the price I'd have expected a better quality of paper. Not only does it feel thick and rough on my hands, it smells unpleasant. Again, more like a book I might have purchased in the '80s. I don't expect the paper, with this quality, to have the longevity I expect from the books I purchase in paper (or hard) back.

The quality is simply lacking.

These factors cannot compensate for the content of a poorly written book; Let me make that clear. However, the COMBINATION of these factors has made me feel ripped off by the author and the publisher who picked this novel up for publication. The price point is simply too high given these elements of paperback quality.

Oh wait! But there's more!

The first several physical pages of this book (which I would have noted had I read the sample -- lesson learned!) contain reviews.

Alright. If this seems pretty typical, I feel you. The book I'm currently reading (Defending Jacob by William Landay) is preceded by reviews from popular publications and well-known authors. In fact, I'm sure I could pull virtually any book off my shelf, and unless it was independently published, it will contain some similar reviews.

This is normal, and that's fine.

(You can, in fact, see these by viewing the sample on Amazon, as this is essentially a printed copy of the eBook.)

My issue is with the source of the reviews. As a reader, I don't particularly care what "Pamela, Amazon" thinks of the book, or what "Stacey, Goodreads" thought. In fact, since I purchased this book online I had access to this information directly through the site where I purchased the book (Amazon) or by checking in on Goodreads.

These have a gaudy appearance (especially on the cheap paper) and strike me as SILLY, an effort by the author to bloat her own work and her own ego. 

If you're an indie author reading this, please, PLEASE consider leaving these OUT of the hard copy (printed copy) of your book. Not only do they not add value for readers like me, but they literally detract value from the book.

I plan to read this book, and I MAY pre-review it AGAIN before I read it.

I intend to enjoy it. The positive reviews far outweigh the negative reviews on the book as of right now and I hope the content of this novel can make up for the poor quality of its binding. 

What are your thoughts? Have you read this book? Enjoyed it? What did you think of the quality of the printed copy?

This post contains affiliate links. When you purchase this book through the links on this page I receive a small commission from Amazon.

Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent | Thriller | Psychological Backdrop | Book Review

The Book That Spoils Itself

I am at a loss for words.

I am SO CONFUSED, having finished this book and taken some time to process, that I don't know how to review it. 

I think I'll start with what you absolutely need to take away from this review. If you stop reading right now, I want you to know one CRUCIAL detail about the book.

If you read the synopsis of the story (on the dust jacket or on Amazon), you have the most important details. There's no thrill to this story. None. None AT ALL. That's because from the very first sentence, you know who committed the murder and who they killed.

Dust jacket reviews purport that the mystery is in WHY the killer murdered the victim, but the reader discovers this information so early in the story, and it's so easily deduced before that point, that there is no real thrill, no suspense, no wondering.

I want you to know this FIRST, because if you're looking for an exciting thriller, you can skip this one right now. This book literally spoils the suspense for itself.

The other thing you HAVE to know before investing in this book is that the ending is, well, ODD. I'd hate to spoil it for you, so I won't say more than that up here. Feel free to jump to the end to read about why the ending bothered me so much.

I've taken to looking for book recommendations on Pinterest of all places. I'm one of those people who judge a book by its cover, and Pinterest is a wealth of cover art, often linked to further information on the book it covers.

I bought this book (the day it was released, no less!) for the sake of its cover, and because it promised to be a psychological thriller. 

The cover is brilliant, isn't it? I imagined a story of the body of a murdered victim being uncovered slowly but surely, or the dirt over her grave being washed away to reveal the horror of her death. Because we know immediately who the killer and the victim are, I expected SOME kind of suspense surrounding the discovery of the murder.

Only there wasn't any suspense. The book simply DID NOT DELIVER on its promise.

I could have gotten behind this book if I wanted the killer to be discovered. I could have gotten behind it if I battled suspense because I hoped the killer would NOT be discovered. 

I felt neither as this book went on. 

It's hard to explain WHY I couldn't invest in justice for Annie Doyle. I cared about her, and it was hard NOT to care about the family torn apart by her disappearance. I cared about the family of the killer (though admittedly not the killers themselves). I just couldn't bring myself to care whether the murder was solved, and that alone was problematic.

One potential reason for this problem is the book was told in alternating perspectives among three different narrators: Lydia Fitzsimons, Laurence Fitzsimons, and Annie Doyle's sister Karen. It's hard to "choose a side" when you can see the playing field from all angles. While the actions of one of these characters are entirely deplorable, discovery affects another so deeply it's hard to decide whether to root for the bad guy or for the victim's family.

You, of course, may find the experience different from mine. It's altogether possible you'll find one of these characters particularly appealing.

It wouldn't surprise me, in fact. The character development in this story is superb, and the characters (primary, secondary, tertiary, and even ancillary) unfold slowly and beautifully, like a flower blossoming. Each is fully realized, believable, and terrifyingly like someone you probably already know.

This is a DEEPLY psychological book.

And, well, I like that. Actually, I like that a LOT.

This book WILL creep up on you. Slowly. (Too slowly for some people. ALMOST too slowly for me, to be honest with you.)

I liked it, but I didn't love it. It moves too slowly, and at least one of the three main characters appears to change suddenly. On reflection, I feel this is not a change so much as it's a revelation of the person they were from the beginning. (I'm using gender-neutral pronouns to avoid spoiling WHICH character in the beginning.)

The ending shocked me. If you want to talk about an awesome twist ending, I did not see that coming. Not even for an instant. It blew me away.

Unfortunately, it also felt rushed, sudden, and startling. This is a book which builds like a crescendo, and ends with a deafening crash. For some, this will be a "crash and burn" scenario. For others, it will be a shocking, thrilling end to an otherwise mediocre book.

For me, I found it exciting when I read it, but with a bit of distance, I'm left disappointed. Nugent could have done better.

Mostly this one just DISAPPOINTED me, and I cannot recommend the hardcover at this price point. 

This page contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase the book reviewed from this blog, I will receive a small commission from the purchase.

The Mermaid's Daughter, by Ann Claycomb | Little Mermaid Spinoff | F/F Love Story | Book Review

A Love Story in Three Acts

Oh. My. Goodness.

Where do I even START? 

Okay, okay. How about here? I loved this book. In fact, this book was enough to pull me out of a major reading slump following a series of disappointing books I felt compelled to read (because that's just how I am). 

This book is the reason I bought books again.

Let me reiterate that. This book is the reason I have a to-be-read shelf AT ALL.

First of all, I've discovered I love these sorts of re-imaginings of classic fairy tales. There is something intriguing about taking a classic story and transplanting it into modern times. I'm ESPECIALLY thrilled when that story is intended for ADULT (rather than YOUNG adult) audiences (not because I dislike young adult fiction in general, but because I find books written for younger audiences often lack the rich prose of literary fiction).

It was the language that hooked me. (See what I did there? Haha, fish puns.)

Surely I would have continued reading had the language NOT been so compelling and rich (that first chapter is a hard sell, let me tell you) but it was the language which impressed me. It's a rare thing to meet a book in which the language is so provocative but in which it doesn't completely take over and bog down the narrative. (No doubt you've read at least one fantasy novel in which the description and world building was so extensive it was difficult to follow the story line or the characters. If not, pick up any novel by Anne Rice or see my review of The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco.)

The Mermaid's Daughter starts strong with an introduction to the first act: Soprano Kathleen's love affair with the Opera. Her voice is stunning, remarkable, something special, even among students of opera. She is destined for tragic ingenue roles, to die a thousand deaths on the stage. Kathleen must embrace these roles in spite of her own tragic past.

Next, the reader is introduced to the second act: Kathleen's love for her girlfriend, Harry (Harriet), a Mezzo at the same school (and more deserving of a special place with instructor Ruzena than the student selected for instruction). It is Harry who takes care of Kathleen when the mysterious pain in her feet or mouth become too much to bear, Harry who consoles Kathleen, who encourages her, who supports her.

Not long after, you will learn of the third act: Kathleen's tremendous love for the sea. It is the sea which provides the most comfort from the stabbing pain in her feet, the pain which plagues her mouth. She longs for the ocean, for the salty water which claimed her mother when she was only a baby in Ireland.

These are Kathleen's three great loves. A love story, in three acts.

I could wax lyrical like this for any length of time, but you could get this easily enough from the back of the book, and that's not REALLY what you're here for. 

Let me tell you what I loved about this book.

I loved (LOVED!) the way the fantasy blended seamlessly with the modern world. I'm a sucker for the type of story in which the supernatural exists quietly alongside the natural without interference by science or politics. (Let's just say the Sookie Stackhouse novels did NOTHING for me.) It's always intriguing for me when one of those very supernatural creatures considers themself to BE human.

The fantasy elements are unveiled from the start, but the main character comes to understand them slowly, which I loved. What seems impossible in the beginning is unveiled later in the novel.

But, I'll admit, it's unveiled a bit too quickly, somewhat haphazardly, as though the author was in a rush now that she'd written nearly half a novel without revealing all the information.

I would PERSONALLY have enjoyed this book more (and yes, I DID love it. LOVE it!) had the author taken her time, introduced more of these elements to the story earlier, and allowed the reader to savor Kathleen's emergence, her growing understanding of what she was. Instead, it happened ALL AT ONCE in this book, leaving me feeling frustrated, and a bit disappointed.

This has led me to a general confusion surrounding this book. I loved the language (I did!), and in spite of her whiney, needy, UNPLEASANT personality and behavior, I enjoyed Kathleen. I loved the story as well, though this has left me with another issue in reviewing.

I both love it and accept its faults. There were some things missing, and some things which bogged down the narrative.

What was missing? All that history! This is a story which goes back for GENERATIONS, for more than 400 pages and the only story we walk away UNDERSTANDING is Kathleen's. Yet how can we understand her story if we don't understand the women who came before her? 

There is SUCH a missed opportunity here. I hope Ms. Claycomb will read this and take it to heart for her future endeavors. Each of these love stories was unique and in its way could have contributed to the story, bolstered it, proven it through the generations. These stories were RELEVANT to Kathleen's experience, and the story of the original Little Mermaid. 

I felt some of these stories were skirted instead of addressed the way they deserved to be addressed, and I was disappointed.

(The way Claycomb tied the story to Hans Christian Andersen was fascinating, and I appreciated that part of the story. It gave the narrative some credence.)

I also enjoyed the alternating perspectives. I'm partial to this style of writing because each person exists differently in the minds of others, and it was fascinating to see the way Harry felt about Kathleen vs. how Kathleen felt about herself. 

On the other hand, I would have been satisfied with these TWO alternating perspectives, and often felt Robin's parts of the story (told in the third person perspective instead of the first person perspective of the two leading females) could have been omitted and the story wouldn't have lost anything.

I'd have much preferred the absence of Robin's Composer's Notes in exchange for more development of the previous generations of mermaids.

The ending of the novel was beautiful and tragic, but also wholly predictable. It didn't let me down (though as I have said, I enjoy those twists and turns in a story!), but I feel you should know, as MY reader, that you may be able to anticipate the ending of this novel, and therefore could be disappointed by it.

This book has been difficult to review precisely BECAUSE I loved it so. I try to be realistic, even about the books I love the most, but often by the time I'm finished writing a critical review, I find myself confused. WHY do I love this book so much?

Sometimes I think the reasons why defy explanation. 

I loved this book. That's enough for me.

This page contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase the book reviewed from this blog, I will receive a small commission from the purchase.