Book Review: The Art of Keeping Secrets by Rachael Johns

The Art of Keeping Secrets by Rachael Johns
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book follows the lives of three friends as they share some huge secrets that have made an impact on their lives.
I really enjoyed the characterisations and I thought they were all likeable and believable. It was also a story with a few surprises, tears and laughs.
On the flip side, I found the prose and the dialogue a little superfluous and a proper edit would have taken this from a good book to a great one that could sit along side other fabulous contemporary Australian authors such as Liane Moriarty.
For example, a character drives to a church and we are told "when they arrived...(she) slipped the car keys into her clutch bag and walked over to join Zoe, Seb...." The keys going into her bag and her walking over to these characters adds nothing to the story. I probably wouldn't notice this once or twice, but it was continual through the book that we are given step-by-step and it just isn't needed. Also, some of the dialogue "your daughters will be happy to have you closer to come again too, especially Hannah who will also be here". or "Would you like me to run you a bath and pour you a glass of wine" That just isn't how someone would actually speak in a casual setting. This may seem like I'm being picky, but it did bug me through the book as I think there is so much potential here.
Having said all of that, I did enjoy it and would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict

The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I find this a very difficult book to rate because of the creative license the author has taken when it comes to historical accuracies. I understand this is fiction, but I do still feel that when a historical fiction book is about a real figure, there is an onus on the author to portray that person and the facts as close to the truth as possible. The portrayal of Albert Einstein as a selfish, dismissive, and increasingly cruel husband surprised me. Upon reading the Author's Notes at the end, and other article's on Albert's character, I'm not sure how true to life his character is. Also the role of his wife, for which this book centres around, makes claims that are generally thought of as untrue in regards to her role with Albert's work.
The book was well written, and I appreciate the author's research, but for me, I would have preferred the narrative to be more focussed on Mileva rather than the relationship between her and her husband, and for there to be a little more truth than fiction to the characters and their actions.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.



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Book Review: When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

McLemore writes magical realism very well. Her first novel, The Weight of Feathers took me a little while to get used to and then I loved it. This book I found did the opposite. I fell in love from the start, and then it slowed down considerably and I would have liked to see a braver edit to keep a more steady, albeit still relatively slow, pace.
The author explains in her Author's Note that her husband is transgender and this, along with her interest in bacha posh (a cultural practice in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan in which families who only have daughters dress one as a boy in order to be the "son" of the family) became the inspiration for this story about a girl called Miel who appeared out of the water on day with roses growing from her arm, and Sam the boy who has secrets he wants to keep.
It is a Young Adult book so there was a bit of teen angst, and beyond the magical realism there was also the "mean girls" story with a group of four perfect sisters who want to ruin what Miel and Sam have.
I would recommend to anyone who enjoys magical realism or stories about identity and truth. I look forward to the next novel the author releases.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Book review: A Deadly Affection by Cuyler Overholt

A Deadly Affection by Cuyler Overholt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

New York, 1907 and Genevieve is lucky enough to have the means, and progressive parents, that enable her to come a Doctor. Specifically, a psychiatrist who is trialling out a new form of therapy which we now know as cognitive therapy. When one of her patients is accused of murder, she is convinced of her innocence and so tries to track down the real killer.
I liked the time period and the writing, and most of the characters were well developed. I didn't really warm to Genevieve though, and I found some of her actions quite frustrating. Also, the mystery became a little comical in how convoluted it was, and even despite this it wasn't too hard to guess.
In summary, I thought this was a pretty good book and would suit Historical Fiction fans that don't mind a mystery, but I didn't really "love" it.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan

Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was really intrigued from the start with this world where humans (Rhunes) are seen as inferior to Fhrey (whom they treat as gods). In reality, the Fhrey are no different to humans, except they live a lot longer and they are able to access "The Arts" (a form of magic). And so as this first book in the series begins, a Rhune is able to kill a "God" (Fhrey) and therefore a clan of Rhunes discover that maybe there are more similarities than differences after all.
The characters are well developed and I particularly enjoyed the role of Suri who is a mystic and Persephone who is a very strong female leader.

At the beginning of the novel there is a few pages of "Author's notes" where Michael explains how the series has been written to completion, as he writes all the books at once, and his explanation of how and why he does this was really interesting. He also explains that this book is set 3000 years before his other series and you do not need to read the other series in order to read this one.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys Fantasy novels where characters drive the plot, an interesting world but no needless pages of world-building, and a good pace.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: Dear Thing by Julie Cohen

Dear Thing by Julie Cohen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm sure from the synopsis you can already see this is going to be a difficult book. Ben and Claire have been trying for six years to have a baby and every attempt and intervention has failed. Although we aren't there for this emotional roller-coaster, we get given a great insight into the aftermath on their emotional well-being and relationship. It is, naturally, heart breaking.
Romily is Ben's best friend since College and one drunken evening declares she will be their surrogate, using her egg and Ben's sperm.

I found this book so hard to put down because I was so intrigued and curious as to how Cohen would be able to manage this seemingly impossible situation. I loved the characters and felt for all of them, and just like The Day Of Second Chances I was swept into their lives.

The ending wasn't quite satisying, and I still had a lot of questions about what happens next, but I also don't know how this kind of story could be ended in another way.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: The French Lesson (The Confessions of Henrietta Lightfoot #2) by Hallie Rubenhold

The French Lesson by Hallie Rubenhold
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Henrietta Lightfoot is living as a mistress to the wealthy Lord Allenham when he is required to go to Paris and she, despite his instruction, decides to follow him soonafter. This coincides with the timing of the French Revolution and Henrietta finds herself at the mercy of strangers to have shelter, food and safety.
Told through first person POV of Henrietta via letters, we experience the life of a "professional mistress" in a time of great upheaval. It is not often I come across historical fiction of this period, let alone from the persective of someone on the fringes of "good society".
I hadn't read the first book, and I didn't feel like that was an issue as Henrietta does refer to previous events, although it would have been nice to have that background of her relationship with Allenham.

A fun and interesting read. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: When We Were Alive by C.J. Fisher

Why I read this: I requested and received this from Netgalley. I like contemporary fiction and the synopsis appealed to me. It was published on March 1, 2016 so I was a little behind in reading and reviewing. 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

In a Nutshell: Families, relationships, not an uplifting book

Would suit fans of: Julian Barnes

Rating: 3 stars

Find more about this book on Goodreads here

Review:

Final thoughts? Colour me confused.

To begin, this book is letters from Myles in 2011 to his mother he has never met. It is not a spoiler to tell you that he was adopted and his adoptive parents were honest with him very quickly that he was adopted. Then we jump back to 1936 and follow the story of Bobby and Rose, with Myles' letters making an appearance as we flip back and forth between the two timelines.

Unexpectedly at about 40% we are introduced to 1972 and William and Dawn.

As we get close to the end of the book the connection between these characters starts to become apparent, but I found myself trying to remember who-was-who and when ; and with an ebook it is not as easy just to flip back and remind yourself. In hindsight, I wish I had been prepared for all the characters and timelines and kept notes on them. Because by the end I found myself stumped as to what had happened and shaking my head. I will have to find a review with spoilers in it to answer some of my questions I think!!

Still, I thought the writing was well done and the author has a large vocabulary so the kindle dictionary function came in handy ;). I would probably try more of Fisher's work in the future, but perhaps next time I will read a few more reviews before I start to ensure that I have a better idea of what I am in for.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.