Jilliand by Clare Gutierrez

Jilliand by Clare Gutierrez

Publisher: River Grove Books (April 2018)

310 pages, eBook (provided by Publisher for review)

Book Rating: 5 Stars

Content Note: Includes Swearing , Violence, and Sexual Situations

Jilliand—captive of the man she calls father, escapes years of abuse only to be captured by Viking raiders, but is lucky enough to find favor with the Viking Sea King Rurik. This story contains a love story (of sorts) but I wouldn’t classify this as a romance story. This is more a myth or legend about the heroine Jilliand, that tells of all her trials, tribulations and exploits. The story is told in the style of a person telling you a myth or legend, and I really enjoyed that. According to the author’s note at the end, many of the characters are at least, in part, based on real historical characters, which I felt lent to the overall realism of the tale. Rurik (Jilliand’s Viking love interest) is less a hero of the tale and more one of the things Jilliand must overcome. Jilliand comes through so much heartache and adversity in this tale, that it is probably not a read for everyone, but I loved her strength, her humility, and her helpful, caring nature. This story includes depictions of violence that are not for the faint of heart. A fascinating tale of a woman’s will to survive in a harsh world!

The Comedown by Rebekah Frumkin

The Comedown by Rebekah Frumkin

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (April 2018)

319 pages, eBook (provided by Publisher for review)

Book Rating: 3 Stars

Content Note: Includes Swearing, Violence and Sexual Situations

This is a twisted tale of two families, one Jewish and the other black, forever connected by a drug-deal gone wrong, in which no one emerges unscathed. The blurb billed it as a dark comedy, but I found very little of comedic value in these pages. It was a rather depressing and, I have no doubt, realistic look at a world where entire families are ruined by one member’s bad choices and seemingly everyone is taking some sort of drugs. The characters were colorful and very vividly drawn, but there was little to like about them. There was also a lot of backstory given on characters that had little to do with the main plot, which I found unnecessary. I found the ending very abrupt and without sufficient resolution. I will say that it was very well written and it had an interesting rhythm that I enjoyed. Perhaps just not my cup of tea, exactly.

The Scarlet Liter by Merrick Green

The Scarlet Liter by Merrick Green

Veronica Mars - the TV series (Kindle Worlds Novella)

Publisher: Merrick Green (March 2018)

89 pages, eBook (provided by Author for review)

Book Rating: 5 Stars

Content Note: Includes Swearing, Violence, and Sexual Innuendo

Great Veronica Mars story involving a convenience store robbery. Fast-paced and witty, with all the familiar characters. Fans of the show will enjoy all the references to people and events from various episodes (all of which are nicely annotated by the author at the end of the story). But the story includes plenty of backstory to be very enjoyable for readers new to the Veronica Mars world as well. Reading it felt just like watching another episode of Veronica Mars! Entertaining short read!

The Parking Lot Attendant by Nafkote Tamirat

The Parking Lot Attendant by Nafkote Tamirat

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (March 2018)

225 pages, eBook (provided by Publisher for review)

Book Rating: 4 Stars

Content Note: Includes Swearing and Violence

This is a story about Ethiopian immigrants living in Boston, and centers around a teenage girl who befriends/becomes obsessed with a charismatic middle-aged man who works as a parking lot attendant. As her involvement with this man grows, she finds herself at the center of things that are much more dangerous and far-reaching than she could have ever imagined. This story had a rambling, poetic quality that I enjoyed, and the characters were all wonderfully complex. Much of the story focuses on the complexity of various relationships and how our view of a person may change over time. Riveting read! My only complaint would be the beginning and the ending. The beginning I found very confusing, but later determined it was meant to be disorienting, before the story starts to unravel making everything clearer. The ending I thought was abrupt and maddeningly vague—I prefer a bit more resolution I guess. Nevertheless, a very entertaining story!

Red Blood, Yellow Skin by Linda L.T. Baer

Red Blood, Yellow Skin by Linda L.T. Baer

Publisher: River Grove Books (June 2015)

343 pages, eBook (provided by the publisher for review)

Book Rating: 4 Stars

Content Note: Includes Violence and Sexual Situations

This is a memoir of a young Vietnamese woman’s experience during the hostilities between France and Vietnam, then later between North and South Vietnam. Loan’s father was killed during the hostilities when she was very young, and after her mother remarried, her family was constantly on the move trying to escape the war-torn areas, while struggling to find enough food. Loan eventually sets off on her own to relieve her family of another mouth to feed and heads to Saigon looking for work, at the age of 13. Loan describes a harsh, yet simple existence in the countryside as a youth prone to getting in trouble, and a corrupt, chaotic lifestyle she was drawn into in the big city of Saigon. Very interesting to read from a Vietnamese point-of-view about a time period that we usually only hear from the American GI that was stationed there. Easy read, not overly encumbered by statistics or political history, but very focused on the story of a people caught in the middle of someone else’s fight.

The Mud Dance by Neil Grimmett

The Mud Dance by Neil Grimmett

Publisher: Peach Publishing (June 2016)

191 pages, eBook (purchased myself for $4.99)

Book Rating: 4 Stars

Content Note: Includes Swearing, Sexual Situations, and Violence

Kenny and Larry met at school as young men, and the friendship they forged led to their lives being inextricably linked from then on, as they attempted to make it in the 1970’s heyday of the music business. In many ways, this is the story of the making of a washed-up rock musician, told in all its gritty glory. This isn’t an uplifting or overly hopeful story, but there is something to be said for realism—no glamorization here. Kenny was a very likable narrator, and I often felt he was the victim of bad surroundings and worse company more than anything else. Larry was a sociopathic, brooding musical prodigy of sorts, with a charisma that made him even more dangerous. Interesting story, full of colorful characters. Definitely gives you a little peek into the life of a struggling rock musician, as fame comes and goes, and they come to find their goals and motivations change along the way.

Divergent Lives by Minnie Lahongrais

Divergent Lives by Minnie Lahongrais

Publisher: Lahongrais Books (December 2012)

318 pages, eBook (provided by the Author for review)

Book Rating: 4 Stars

Content Note: Includes Swearing, Violence, and Sexual Situations

This is the story of two twins, separated at birth and raised in different households. Adina and Rhys both grow up to be disturbing people and we follow them as they do disturbing things, culminating in their lives intersecting to the detriment of all. The forward and backward organization of this story was a little jarring a first, you are constantly switching between storylines, and past and present, but once you get the rhythm it was a nice way of slowly revealing what led up to the events at the beginning of the story. This story is fairly dark and does include some taboo elements, which may not be for everyone, but I felt it was very well-written and vibrantly portrayed a variety of people with psychological problems (the two main characters weren’t the only ones with problems here). Very engaging read!