Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review # 31: Kinslayer

Kinslayer
The Lotus War, Book 2

Author: Jay Kristoff
Pages: 464
Publisher: Thomas Dunne
Read: August 19-23, 2013
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review
Recommended by: Lynn

Description from Goodreads:
A SHATTERED EMPIRE
The mad Shōgun Yoritomo has been assassinated by the Stormdancer Yukiko, and the threat of civil war looms over the Shima Imperium. The Lotus Guild conspires to renew the nation’s broken dynasty and crush the growing rebellion simultaneously – by endorsing a new Shōgun who desires nothing more than to see Yukiko dead.

A DARK LEGACY
Yukiko and the mighty thunder tiger Buruu have been cast in the role of heroes by the Kagé rebellion. But Yukiko herself is blinded by rage over her father’s death, and her ability to hear the thoughts of beasts is swelling beyond her power to control. Along with Buruu, Yukiko’s anchor is Kin, the rebel Guildsman who helped her escape from Yoritomo’s clutches. But Kin has his own secrets, and is haunted by visions of a future he’d rather die than see realized.

A GATHERING STORM
Kagé assassins lurk within the Shōgun’s palace, plotting to end the new dynasty before it begins. A waif from Kigen’s gutters begins a friendship that could undo the entire empire. A new enemy gathers its strength, readying to push the fracturing Shima imperium into a war it cannot hope to survive. And across raging oceans, amongst islands of black glass, Yukiko and Buruu will face foes no katana or talon can defeat.

The ghosts of a blood-stained past.

Previous Books in Series:
1: Stormdancer

First Sentence: "Now witness the end of the beginning."

Review:
Last year, I was really blown away by Jay Kristoff's debut, Stormdancer. Though this often isn't the case, I'm actually more impressed with the sequel. This does seem to have been a trend lately, and I do hope it continues, especially if the book world is going to continue to be overrun with series. But I digress. Kinslayer is darker, creepier, and more intense than its predecessor. If you're one of those people who thinks characters meeting gruesome ends is a necessity in epic works, get excited, because Jay Kristoff has a real flair for murdering his characters in nasty ways.

The one weakness Stormdancer had, if it can be counted as one, for me was that it had that typical fantasy slowness at the beginning. Building a world takes time, and characterization took a back seat while that happened. In Kinslayer, the world's already built, so the action kicks off right from the start. Of course, Kristoff does lull you into a nice little unsuspecting place by not doing anything particularly cruel in the first half, and then he pounces on your hear and tears it to shreds. But we'll come back to that.

In the opening, we spend some time with Yukiko and Buruu, who remains magnificent. Yukiko on the other hand, well, girl's not doing so hot. The Kenning has really amped up, and is inducing serious headaches and bleeds out of facial orifices. To silence the voices, she's got a drinking problem. Also, Yukiko's fiercely angry and desirous of vengeance, because, well, she was scorned and apparently that guy still has ways to mess with her. Basically, Yukiko's not heroic. She's not a role model. She's not particularly likable. While this will no doubt be tough for a lot of readers to fathom, I thought it was a nice change of pace from more saintly heroines. Kristoff's world is one where even the good guys have a lot of the dark side in them.

Introducing new characters can be tricky, and often backfires. In such large casts, it's hard enough to keep everyone straight, though, thankfully, there's a handy dandy guide at the opening of the novel that lists the pertinent cast members, which totally saved me. Actually, in this case, I love the new additions to the cast. Hana is probably my second favorite human character. She's on the lowest rung of society, fit, literally, only to carry shit, which she does in the palace. One-eyed and spat upon, she still dreams and dares, having joined the rebellion. I also love her brother Yoshi and his boyfriend Jurou. The healthiest relationship (which may not be that healthy, but let's remember how Jay Kristoff hates happiness) is a gay one, which gives me joy. Momentarily. Until Kristoff stomps on that joy.

Kristoff is also doing some interesting things evolving the characters we knew from the first book. The character arcs are really impressive. Kin shows signs of doing something intense in book three, which could be for good or for ill and the fact that I have to wait forever to find out is frustrating. Aisha has a part to play, and it is intense. My new favorite (human) character, though, is Michi, who we didn't really get to see in action, and, oh man, is it a thing of beauty. She's way more lethal than Yukiko, who, let's face it, mostly has animals do the work for her. Again, I like that, though Yukiko's the figurehead, she's really not any sort of savior; other people are doing the bulk of the work. Of course, one of my favorite animal characters bit the dust. THANKS FOR THAT SCARRING PAIN, JAY.

The plot of Kinslayer moves a bit slowly, but if you wait for it there's some crazy stuff going down. Some things caught me entirely off guard, and now I just have to wait and find out what happens. There's a bit of a second book element in that most of the happenings here are clearly moving the players into place for the epic, bloody showdown to come. Still, I don't feel like Kristoff was just biding his time and I was never bored, so I really don't mind that. Some of Yukiko's journey does seem a bit out of place, but I suspect that something that happened there will become absolutely crucial, so, again, really not an issue for me.

Kinslayer is intense and heart-punching. Are you ready? Probably not. Will you venture into the storm anyway? I think you should.

Rating: 5/5

Favorite Quote:

"Look, I know that might make me a bitch, but at least I'm not a stupid bitch."

---

Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. This actually wasn't going to be next book, but it's jumping to the top of the list, so I could gift the ARC to another blogger, but then I learned Michelle doesn't sign on Saturdays because of the sabbath. So I bought her a copy but I'd already started it. Whatever, it's all made up and the order doesn't matter.

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #30: The Grass Dancer

The Grass Dancer

Author: Susan Power
Pages: 300
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Read: August 11-13, 2013
Source: Library
Recommended by: Ann Kristin

Description from Goodreads:
Set on a Sioux reservation in North Dakota, this novel recounts a story about the connections among generations and how the actions of our ancestors affect contemporary life. The author weaves a myriad of folk motifs into the fabric of present-day reality.

First Sentence: "When Harley saw his father, Calvin Wind Soldier, and his brother, Duane, in his dreams, they were wearing crowns of glass."

Review:
Right from the beginning, I knew that Susan Power's The Grass Dancer was a book I never would have picked up on my own. Though I'm generally up for reading about any culture, I've been burned by a couple about Native Americans, so I'm hesitant to read them. Still, that's not something I'm proud of and is certainly no reason to write off all of those books, so, when this showed up in Sadie Hawkins, I figured I'd give it a try. While I didn't precisely dislike The Grass Dancer, I didn't really like it either, and I definitely did not understand it.

The Grass Dancer is a strange novel from a narrative perspective. Power uses multiple perspectives, varying from chapter to long chapter. Some of the perspectives are in third person and others in first. Since I read the book in chunks by chapter (seriously, they're long), I can't say for sure how unique the voices are in the first person chapters, but it pretty much all read like the same narrator to me. As such, I found the shifts in narration confusing.

Shifting from third to first person isn't all that weird though. Plenty of books do that. What not as many books do is jump around in time while switching perspectives. The book opens (with no year ascribed, then goes to 1981. From there, the narrative keeps jumping backwards years at a time, all the way to 1935, at which point it finally hops back to the early 1980s. WHUT.

Each chapter is a somewhat self-contained narrative and, taken individually, some of them were quite interesting and would have made decent books if built out more. Both the 1981 story, involving Pumpkin, one of the only female grass dancers and one of the best regardless of gender, and the 1964 story about Crystal Thunder, which is about her falling in love with a white man. Race and culture and identity and romance are the main themes, and I'm totally all for that. Some of the other narratives, the one of Red Dress most especially, bored me.

Taken as a whole, though, I have no freaking clue what to make of this book. Why did it go backward? Why make it so difficult for me to piece together how everyone's related? To follow this, I would have had to build out a family tree and keep track of names. As it is, I think I got the broad strokes, but missed the more subtle impacts the earlier timelines had on the later. Having finished, I really have no clue what I was meant to get out of this novel. What I consider the main plot, the frame story, seems, to me, unresolved and unsatisfying. Basically, I just don't get it.

So there you go. I don't think this was a book for me, and I don't think I did it justice because I am baffled.

Ann Kristin, if you have insights, I'd be happy to hear them. Either way, thanks for taking part in Sadie Hawkins Sunday!

Rating: 2/5

Favorite Quote:

"'You can't help who you love, Unci,' she had protested.
     'Yes you can. You love yourself, you love your family, and you don't let your feelings run around and jump into someone else's hand.' Mercury made a fist. 'You grab on to your own life and push it around where you want it to go.'"

---

Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff. Make sure to stop by for that if you want to see my heart served up on a platter.

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #29: Quintana of Charyn

Quintana of Charyn
Lumatere Chronicles, Book 3

Author: Melina Marchetta
Pages: 516
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Read: August 13-18, 2013
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review
Recommended by: Steph of Cuddlebuggery and Lynn

Description from Goodreads:
The climactic conclusion of Printz Award winner Melina Marchetta’s epic fantasy trilogy!

Separated from the girl he loves and has sworn to protect, Froi and his companions travel through Charyn searching for Quintana and building an army that will secure her unborn child’s right to rule. While in the valley between two kingdoms, Quintana of Charyn and Isaboe of Lumatere come face-to-face in a showdown that will result in heartbreak for one and power for the other. The complex tangle of bloodlines, politics, and love introduced in Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles coalesce into an engrossing climax in this final volume.

Previous Books in Series:
1: Finnikin of the Rock
2: Froi of the Exiles

First Sentence: "There's a babe in my belly that whispers the valley, Froi."

Review:
This series is over. MY BODY IS NOT READY. I just want to live forever with these characters. Is that wrong? Sometimes reading is a painful hobby. I get so close to and so emotionally tied to the happiness of fictional characters, but then their books end and I emerge, blinking and lonely, into the real world. They leave me slightly changed, but are none the different for my love of them. Quintana of Charyn did not quite surpass Froi of the Exiles for me, but it is still an immensely satisfying read that I will surely revisit someday.

As ever, Melina Marchetta excels at world building. The whole of this world is so real to me, and I have such an understanding of their prejudices and customs. Those are, I think, what Marchetta does to really make the communities seem so real. There are always the stereotypes of whatever group, and they have their truth, but underneath there's so much more. For example, the Lumaterans are a much more physically affectionate culture. Happy occasions are shared with the whole of the community, like the scene with the proposal at the end of Finnikin of the Rock and another, similar scene in Quintana of Charyn. Of course, even within the Lumaterans, the people of the Rock aren't quite like those of the Mont, and, oh, Marchetta does this all beautifully.

In Quintana of Charyn, Marchetta really delves into the political situation in Charyn. With the death of the king, Charyn was thrown into chaos as various factions attempted to take control. The whole country is on the verge of a massive civil war. Neighboring Lumatere fears that such a war could overflow into their borders, especially since they already have a tense relationship with the Charynite exiles living in the Lumateran valley between the two countries. Political sounds boring, but it's not because battles and relationships in jeopardy.

For me, though, it's all about the characters. They're so beloved of me, this whole large cast of flawed, beautiful, grumpy people. Watching them find love and acceptance, move past the curses of their people, has meant so much. To speak to why I love each one of them would make this review of a length utterly unacceptable, so let me just hug them all in my head and proclaim that I would read as many books about these people as I could.

Though I loved this one nearly as much as Froi of the Exiles, I do have two issues with Quintana of Charyn. The first is a reiteration of my reason for not finding Froi of the Exiles quite perfect. Marchetta has created well-drawn, lovable characters, but I think her own love for them has kept her from making the book as dark as it would need to be for perfection. Everything wraps up a bit too conveniently.

The other issue is a change to the writing style in Quintana of Charyn. Where the rest of the series was entirely in roving third person limited, Marchetta makes the odd choice of adding in first person for Quintana. While Quintana's narration is hauntingly beautiful, written in a sort of savage poetry, I do not understand this decision. Perhaps if Quintana has ALWAYS been in first, but to add this, and for so few sections, in the final book in the series, makes absolutely no sense to me, and was really unsettling as a reader.

Quintana of Charyn is a solid conclusion to the Lumatere Chronicles, even if it does leave me wanting more because Marchetta probably couldn't write enough about these characters for me to tire of them. The final installment will not leave fans disappointed.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'I determine my own worth. If I had to rely on others, I'd have lain down and died waiting.'"

---

Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be The Grass Dancer by Susan Power, which was recommended by Ann Kristin. It was...an experience. Come back later to find out what kind of experience.

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Review: The Returned

The Returned
The Returned, Book 1

Author: Jason Mott
Pages: 352
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Publication Date: August 27, 2013
Read: August 18-
Source: ARC from publisher

Description from Goodreads:
Jacob was time out of sync, time more perfect than it had been. He was life the way it was supposed to be all those years ago. That's what all the Returned were.

Harold and Lucille Hargrave's lives have been both joyful and sorrowful in the decades since their only son, Jacob, died tragically at his eighth birthday party in 1966. In their old age they've settled comfortably into life without him, their wounds tempered through the grace of time ... Until one day Jacob mysteriously appears on their doorstep—flesh and blood, their sweet, precocious child, still eight years old.

All over the world people's loved ones are returning from beyond. No one knows how or why this is happening, whether it's a miracle or a sign of the end. Not even Harold and Lucille can agree on whether the boy is real or a wondrous imitation, but one thing they know for sure: he's their son. As chaos erupts around the globe, the newly reunited Hargrave family finds itself at the center of a community on the brink of collapse, forced to navigate a mysterious new reality and a conflict that threatens to unravel the very meaning of what it is to be human.

With spare, elegant prose and searing emotional depth, award-winning poet Jason Mott explores timeless questions of faith and morality, love and responsibility. A spellbinding and stunning debut, The Returned is an unforgettable story that marks the arrival of an important new voice in contemporary fiction.

First Sentence: "Harold opened the door that day to find a dark-skinned man in a well-cut suit smiling at him."

Review:

At BEA, Harlequin was really pushing The Returned. The publicists were all really excited for it and recommending it highly. While a bit interested, I was also skeptical, because, hey, they're publicists and pimping the more highly marketed titles extra hard comes with the job description. Well, in this case, they were right. The Returned is slow-moving, but elegant, graceful and thought-provoking.

The Returned is not going to work for every reader, though that's not surprising since no book does. I suppose what I mean to say is that it will be a tough read for many. The pace of The Returned is slow most of the way through, though there is some serious speed right at the end. What Mott's really digging into is the concept, so it's a very philosophical read, a brainstorming of what such a strange occurrence could result in. If you need books packed with action and excitement, The Returned will not do that for you. Sure, it's people coming back from the dead, but it's not zombies and there's no mayhem or brain-chomping.

In The Returned, Mott puts forth this concept: people who died begin coming back to life. They don't all reappear, nor do they necessarily seem to appear in the location where they died. None of them remember anything between their death and returning to life, and they are all the precise age that they were at the time of their demise. All memories seem to be intact. Scientists can find no rhyme or reason in why anyone is returning and why some do or do not return.

Using a family in the small town of Arcadia as an example, Mott depicts the spiral of society into chaos and hatred as this phenomenon occurs. As one might expect, there's a lot of discussion of what it means to be human and what the Returned really are. These people died but now here they are. Is it the same person or a different one? Should they have rights? The ethical concerns are fascinating.

Mott also looks at the possible logistical issues with regards to the Returned. Since they pop up in seemingly random places, like Harold and Lucille's son Jacob who appeared in China, there's the difficulty of sorting people back to where they belong. More of an issue, though, is what to do with all of these Returned if the formerly dead begin to outnumber the true living. The government doesn't know how to handle the situation, and the public is torn between hatred and fear of them and joy and hope at having lost loved ones back.

What this does to interpersonal relationships is my favorite aspect, of course. A situation like this begs so many questions: if a person remarried after the spouse's death and the spouse Returns, what happens? What if two teenagers were deeply in love until one of them died, and, now the dead one Returns still 16 with former love so much older? If they had sex would that be statutory rape or a whole new situation? In pretty much every way, no one has any clue how to deal with the Returned. It's scary and confusing and hopeful and worrisome.

If you're wondering whether The Returned is right for you, I point you to those hypothetical questions. Do you find the consideration thereof a fascinating enterprise or do you think that such speculation on something so utterly unlikely and illogical is pointless? If the former, read away. If the latter, probably not, I'm sad to say. The Returned lives in the hypothetical, and the beautifully simple writing likely will not be enough to save the novel for you if you simply do not care for that.

However, despite the fact that I loved the intellectual exercise, the writing, and that the ending almost made this hard-hearted reader cry in a public place, I did have a couple of issues with the book. First off, I think it's a bit ridiculous that, at least towards the start, there was never any move to put The Returned to work, except for the one famous artist. I mean, come on, if there are more people then there will need to be more stuff, so there need to be more workers. Obviously. Also, I'm not a really a fan of how the book wrapped up, which, sadly, I cannot explain without spoilers. I just felt like it was sort of a weak and anticlimactic way to do it. I get why, as that ending is more poetic, but I thought it a bit too simple.

Though I have nothing against romance novels, I am really excited to see Harlequin broadening their horizons with titles like The Returned, especially since they're doing so with such great books like this one. Patient readers who adore high concept reads that will really make them think need this book.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "There is a music that forms sometimes, from the pairing of two people. An inescapable cadence that continues on."

Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #27: Vigilant

Vigilant

Author: Angel Lawson
Pages: 268
Publisher: Self-published
Read: July 30-31, 2013
Source: Free for Kindle
Recommended by: Rochelle - whose info I forgot to write down. If anyone knows her, please link her up! (Note to self: BE. MORE. RESPONSIBLE.)

Description from Goodreads:
Ari Grant spends her days helping the troubled youth of Glory City, and her nights trying to feel something other than the cold numbness that has settled in her bones. For years, she satisfies this urge with trips to the tattoo parlor or late night clubbing, but everything changes when she becomes a victim of an armed robbery.

She manages to escape notice from the gunman, a former client, but only because she’s saved by Glory City’s own Vigilante. A hooded man who has impeccable timing when it comes to those in need.

It seems Ari isn’t the only one trying to save lost souls or looking for a life outside their job. She’s caught the attention of Nick Sanders, a handsome attorney at juvenile court. Solid and steady, he seems the perfect fit, but Ari has developed an obsession with Davis, the mysterious and sexy director of a local fight club that rehabilitates delinquent boys.

Each of these men fight for the less fortunate, but not everyone has altruistic motives. When Ari’s female clients begin to disappear, she can’t figure out who to trust. Soon enough it becomes obvious that while Ari watches over the kids of Glory City, someone else has taken to watching over her.

First Sentence: "What kind of person robbed a hardware store?"

Review:
Oh man, reading self-published books is always a little terrifying. Will it be edited? Will a negative review garner you the sort of attention you don't want? With Vigilant there was also another kind of pressure: would I lose the friendship of the author who I've chatted with on Twitter? Angel Lawson's been very nice to me about Cover Snark (I think that's what she first tweeted me about) and we've had some great conversations about negative reviews. I know she's cool, but I'd still just feel so awful if I didn't like her book. Thankfully, it's a Sadie Hawkins miracle (only not really, because that's not what miracles are), because I actually really liked Vigilant.

As you may know about me by now, I tend not to read blurbs, so unless the cover is seriously indicative of the book inside, I generally have no clue what's going on. As such, I was totally stoked to realize that Vigilant is about superheroes. Well, not quite, but about vigilante justice. Do you know how much I love this sort of stuff? SO MUCH. Now, the Vigilante, as he's being called, isn't dressing up in a costume. There's no cape, no calling card, and no screaming hordes of fans. It's just a guy in a hoodie, coming to help save people when the cops can't or won't.

Vigilant opens with a robbery. Ari, the heroine, is kneeling on the floor, trying to escape notice as armed men rob the hardware store in which she was shopping. The Vigilante arrives, saving her specifically before capturing all but one of the bad guys. Pretty thrilling start, no? During the robbery, Ari recognizes one of the perpetrators from her day job. No, she's not a criminal. She's a case worker for juvenile delinquents, one with the utmost belief in her charges. Ari has a really huge heart, and hopes for bright futures for all of them. Though she's not meant to, she reacts emotionally to each and every case, believing in them like no one really has before. I love this about Ari, and it's not a profession I've read about before.

Vigilant takes place in lower income neighborhoods, most of the characters are delinquents or work with them daily. This could easily go very wrong, but Lawson handles it well. In no way does anyone feel stereotyped or dismissed because of how they were born. While some of the delinquents give up on themselves, others are respectable people who didn't know what else to do in horrible circumstances. The racially diverse cast and the unique setting really make Vigilant stand out from the norm.

Ari has two sides to her: the caring professional and the wild, tattooed girl who likes to go out dancing. Even her roommate and best friend Oliver has no idea about her other self. One night, out at the dance club, she makes out with this random guy, who turns out to be significant. During the daylight hours, she's being wooed slowly (too slowly!) by Nick, a lawyer. The two men appeal to the different sides in her nature, and Vigilant also focuses on her own journey to self-acceptance and finding a way to bring the two halves of herself together. The romance sort of represents this journey, but doesn't take over. Even when she's made her choice, she remains independent first and in love second, which is fabulous.

Can we talk about Oliver a little more? How many books have a straight man and a straight woman who are roommates and best friend and aren't going to fall in love by the end of the story? NOT MANY. Now, they did sleep together once a long time ago, but they have no sexual tension now. They care for one another, they banter, and they discuss each other's romantic lives openly. I loved their friendship so much; I get tired of the whole men and women can't be friends thing, because they can, Harry. They really can.

When it comes to the plot, I saw most of the twists coming, but that wasn't really a big deal. It was well executed and entertaining whether surprising or no. There are some slight hints of possible paranormal twists if there prove to be follow up books, but that could really go either way. There's a good deal of action, as well as day to day life working as a case worker.

I can definitely recommend Angel Lawson's Vigilant. It's got a smart, practical, caring heroine, a respectful hero, and a unique setting. The book's been fairly well edited, as I only noticed a couple of significant mistakes (the most amusing of which was "marital arts" instead of martial), which I plan to report to Angel, so hopefully they'll be fixed soon. Vigilant is an all around quick and enjoyable read.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote:

"'To watching our friends fall in love,' Nick held out his beer for a mock toast. 'Or crashing disastrously.'
     Ari held out her glass and clicked it to his and laughed. 'I'll drink to that.'"

---

Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book is All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill, which I was forced to read by Lili. I have learned a valuable lesson: do not tell her until I'm done or I will get in trouble for not reading quickly enough! What a bully! :-p (Please all take this in the tongue-in-cheek manner in which it is intended.

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #26: Froi of the Exiles

Froi of the Exiles
Lumatere Chronicles, Book 2

Author: Melina Marchetta
Pages: 593
Publisher: Candlewick
Read: July 31- August 5, 2013
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review
Recommended by: Lynn (@kuro_rin01) and Steph of Cuddlebuggery

Description from Goodreads:
From master storyteller Melina Marchetta comes an exhilarating new fantasy springing from her celebrated epic, Finnikin of the Rock.

Three years after the curse on Lumatere was lifted, Froi has found his home ... or so he believes. Fiercely loyal to the Queen and Finnikin, Froi has been taken roughly and lovingly in hand by the Guard sworn to protect the royal family, and has learned to control his quick temper with a warrior's discipline. But when he is sent on a secretive mission to the kingdom of Charyn, nothing could have prepared him for what he finds in its surreal royal court. Soon he must unravel both the dark bonds of kinship and the mysteries of a half-mad princess in this barren and mysterious place. It is in Charyn that he will discover there is a song sleeping in his blood ... and though Froi would rather not, the time has come to listen.

Previous Books in Series:
1: Finnikin of the Rock

First Sentence: "Froi's head was ringing."

Review:
Oh, internet peoples, you have not lied to me. Finnikin of the Rock was good but rather slow, due to the set up of the word building. Froi, though, is a thing of beauty, and I loved every single moment of it. All the world building in book one was so that the awesomeness could happen now. *happy sigh* If this is indicative of Melina Marchetta's usual writing, it's safe to say that I'm going to be a huge fangirl.

Where Finnikin of the Rock took a couple hundred pages to really get started, Froi of the Exiles had my attention from the first page and never let go. Though just under six hundred pages long, this book in no way felt long. In fact, I would have read more happily. Were it not for my ridiculous system by which I determine what I read next, I would have gone straight into Quintana of Charyn because I have a FIERCE need to know what happens next. If you're hesitant about wading through the world building in book one, it's worth it, because Froi of the Exiles continues to have awesome world building, but also focuses on the amazing cast of characters. The feels have been located!

Marchetta uses a rotating limited third person narration. Even within chapters, the character being followed can change, but there's always a page break to indicate the switch. Usually, in a story like this, with the main characters split into two different places, one of the story lines is boring and you're just sitting there waiting to get back to the juicy stuff. Though Froi's arc was more exciting, I was also desperate to find out what was going on back in Lumatere, so did not begrudge the POV switches in the slightest. Also, even though third is a bit distancing, I still felt very connected to everyone. Melina Marchetta is a great example of showing, rather than telling.

The beauty of this series lies in just how flawed everyone is. No one is perfect, though Finnikin and Isaboe do come close in the eyes of the people; we know their flaws well from the previous book. Most of them are not unusually attractive, except for Lirah; even the others who used to be have had their looks and bodies destroyed. In Froi of the Exiles, the main characters are even more messed up. Froi, an exile from who knows well, has found a home in Lumatere, but is still haunted by the things he did in his past, afraid to really let himself live lest he break his bond to Isaboe. Froi of the Exiles does focus on him more than anyone else, but it's not just about him.

Sent to Charyn to impersonate one of the last borns (literally the last children born to Lumatere eighteen years before), Froi is charged with assassinating the King of Charyn and Quintana, his crazy daughter, as well. Of course, the people and Quintana expect him to impregnate her, also a last born, to complete the prophecy and end the curse of barrenness in Charyn. Froi must confront his past and his demons to survive his mission.

Quintana is one of the most fucked up heroines I've ever read. There's a brilliant description of Quintana by one of the other characters, so I'll borrow that: "'She'll be strangely intriguing...With a touch of mystery and savagery that will bewitch only the bold and courageous among us'" (572). When I called Quintana crazy, I meant that literally. She also is savage, growling at people and prone to attack at the smallest provocation. However, she's also been abused all of her life, both verbally and physically. Since she was thirteen, she's been sexually abused in attempts to end the curse. There's a reason she's so broken, and it's really just impressive that she functions as well as she does.

Other flawed cast members that I really just can't help loving: Lucian, Phaedra, Arjuro, Gargarin, Tippideaux, Lirah, and De Lancey. Yes, I may have just listed most of the characters in the book, but, whatever, they're the best. Every single one of them will give you cause to hate them at some point, but they're so real and trying so hard and I just want to hug them all and force them to live happily ever after.

Speaking of happily ever after, which totally is not happening in Froi fyi, Melina Marchetta writes the freaking best romances. Or, at least, they work perfectly for me. See, she rocks the whole hate to love gambit and that just gets me every time. The couples are angry and mistrusting and awkward, so I'm just sitting there reading and yelling at them to get over themselves and realize how perfect they are for one another already. With most of the romances in this series, the couples almost don't show one another affection at all, but it's there, and I suspect it doesn't bode well for me that I find that so emotionally appealing. Odds are that several of my ships are going to be separated by death and GAH my body is not ready.

My only slight reservation with Froi is that it felt like Marchetta pulled her punches there at the end. Some really serious shit had gone down and I was about to cry an ocean worth of tears, but then I realized that nothing was really as big of a deal as it was made out to be. On the one hand, I'm happy because tragedy sort of avoided, but, on the other, nothing's more badass then letting that tragedy stand and making everyone get past it. Of course, being somewhat nice here at the end of Froi might just be a trick to make me let my guard down so she can decimate me emotionally in Quintana.

Fantasy-loving friends, this series should probably happen in your life. Melina Marchetta has now proved her adeptness at world building and characterization, and her writing has been stellar all the way through. I will be reading through the other books in my pile as quickly as possible so that I can get to Quintana because I must know what happens.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'So plunge that fact into your conscience and allow it to rotate for a while. Until it hurts.'"

---

Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be Vigilant by Angel Lawson. Rochelle recommended this title. Also, I have to apologize because I deleted the entry to the list before I made note of her contact info, so I really hope Rochelle finds the review!

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Review: The Chalice

The Chalice
Joanna Stafford, Book 2

Author: Nancy Bilyeau
Pages: 496
Publisher: Touchstone
Read: August 3-4, 2013
Source: Finished copy from publisher for TLC Book Tour

Description from Goodreads:
The Chalice is a historical thriller told from the point of view of a young woman caught in the crosswinds of time: She has pledged to become a Dominican nun in an England ruled by Henry VIII, who has ruthlessly smashed his country's allegiance to Rome. By 1538, the bloody power struggles between crown and cross threaten to tear the country apart. Joanna Stafford has seen what lies inside the king’s torture rooms and risks imprisonment again, when she is caught up in a shadowy international plot targeting the King. As the power plays turn vicious, Joanna understands she may have to assume her role in a prophecy foretold by three different seers, each more omniscient than the last. The life of Henry VIII as well as the future of Christendom are in her hands—hands that must someday hold the chalice that lays at the center of these deadly prophecies. As she struggles to forge a life for herself in a country that rejects her faith, she must also decide if her future should be shared with a man--and if so, which of the two men who love her should be chosen.

Previous Book in Series:
1: The Crown

First Sentence: "When preparing for martyrdom on the night of December 28, 1538, I did not think of those I love."

Review:

Having gone straight from The Crown into The Chalice, I'm remarkably impressed by how largely consistent the two books are in quality, and I had a very similar reaction to this installment, which is to say largely positive but lacking that spark that really makes it a me book. In The Chalice, the stakes for Joanna Stafford are raised as it becomes more about her and less about Catholicism in general. Readers who loved The Crown will likely find that they are similarly thrilled by The Chalice.

Perhaps what I enjoy most about this series is its unique perspective on a heavily documented, in both fiction and nonfiction, historical period. We are obsessed with the Tudors, most specifically with King Henry VIII's reign. The drama, the sex, the beheadings, and the betrayals make that period such ripe fodder for entertainment. As such, it's been done to death, except that clever authors can still manage to put a unique spin on well-trodden ground. Rather than focusing on the usual suspects and court life, Bilyeau looks at this turbulent period in English history from the perspective of a novice nun, and puts the shift to Protestantism into sharp, personal relief.

Though not of a religious persuasion myself, the way that Bilyeau confronts these issues is fascinating. The former nuns, friars and monks are lost in this new world, the priories and monasteries having been dissolved at the end of The Crown. Some of the former religious personages manage to establish fairly ordinary lives, marrying and finding professions. Many, though, live together on their pensions, trying to keep life as much as it was before as is possible. Others, desperate, wander the kingdom in search of God and a sign, beaten and battered by the judgmental and fearful. Their world has changed so rapidly, which is all the more upsetting for those who have been cloistered in places of routine and unchanging order.

I still really like Joanna Stafford, but she wasn't quite as level-headed in this one. She waffles back and forth between her two love interests and the possibility of being single. To distract herself from her indecision, she throws herself into absurdly idiotic schemes in the name of her faith without thinking them through. She gets arrested so many times and saved by her connections, thus embroiled into another huge scheme where she's manipulated by other forces, wresting control for herself at the last minute through her badassery. The way that all came out just felt rather contrived. In addition, I wasn't a huge fan of the mysticism angle, though it was an interesting interpretation of King Henry VIII's difficulties fathering children.

Like with The Crown, The Chalice was a bit of a slow start for me, though I did get quite absorbed at certain junctures. The slowness was not aided by the one formatting change Bilyeau made, adding a prologue and epilogue to this installment. I did not much care for these, as they, like most, are intended merely to drum up dramatic irony. The prologue hints that Joanna might die, and then jumps back two months to wind the story forward. I'm not a fan of this narrative device at the best of times, but thought it particularly weak here, since the moment therein isn't even the culmination of the main plot arc, but a minor, stupid plan. The epilogue just felt redundant and out of place, but is, likely, paving the way for book three.

All in all, I'm still quite impressed with this series and do plan to read the third book when it comes out. They're definitely good reads for those who appreciate historical fiction with less of a focus on romance and sex scandals.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote:

"'King Henry plays his part in the great game.'
     'Game?' I said.
     'The wars waged by kings for land and glory.'"

Review: The Crown

The Crown
Joanna Stafford, Book 1

Author: Nancy Bilyeau
Pages: 448
Publisher: Touchstone
Read: July 29-August 3, 2013
Source: Paperback from publisher via TLC Book Tours

Description from Goodreads:
JOANNA STAFFORD, a Dominican nun, learns that her favorite cousin has been condemned by Henry VIII to be burned at the stake. Defying the rule of enclosure, Joanna leaves the priory to stand at her cousin’s side. Arrested for interfering with the king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, is sent to the Tower of London. While Joanna is in the Tower, the ruthless Bishop of Winchester forces her to spy for him: to save her father’s life she must find an ancient relic—a crown so powerful, it may possess the ability to end the Reformation.

With Cromwell’s troops threatening to shutter her priory, bright and bold Joanna must decide who she can trust so that she may save herself, her family, and her sacred way of life. This provocative story melds heart-stopping suspense with historical detail and brings to life the poignant dramas of women and men at a fascinating and critical moment in England’s past.

First Sentence: "When a burning is announced, the taverns off Smithfield order extra barrels of ale, but when the person to be executed is a woman and one of noble birth, the ale comes by the cartload."

Review:

The good luck I've been having with historical fiction continues. I've seen The Crown praised everywhere, and there's a reason for that: it's really good. Though the novel got out to a bit of a slow start, by the end, I was really close to the main characters and captivated by the plot. Bilyeau writes beautifully, and made me interested in the sort of subject matter I wouldn't ordinarily care one whit about, which I take as a sign of her talent.

Though set almost entirely in Dartford Priory and told from the point of view of a nun, I didn't find the religious sentiments overwhelming. With historical fiction, I'm a bit more patient with the trappings of religion, just like I am less bothered by infidelity than usual. The author merely records, as much as possible, the historical facts, and generally isn't trying to preach one way or another. Certainly, there is no preaching in The Crown, even though Joanna believes strongly in her religion.

Sister Joanna may be a nun, but she's totally not the image I carry in my head of what nuns are like, an image which I know to be false but can't seem to shift anyway. Joanna is not elderly, stern, and quiet, nor is she like Maria of Sound of Music, though she does perhaps have more in common with Maria. In fact, Joanna is quite level-headed, stubborn, determined, daring, and has quite the temper. She also has a thirst for knowledge, loving to research and to read. These qualities made her easy for me to like, even if I'm not remotely religious and couldn't relate to her passion for Christ, which does exist, since she voluntarily gave her life to the Priory.

The Crown takes place during Henry VIII's reign, during his marriage to Jane Seymour and the period beyond her death. At this time, Henry VIII has begun closing down Catholic institutions, seizing the money for the crown and turning people to Protestantism. The nuns of Dartford Priory, like all the rest, is worried about the likely inevitable dissolution that faces them. Joanna Stafford, for she was of a noble family before she committed herself to Christ, becomes embroiled in a scheme to save the Catholic church.

At the opening of the novel, Joanna breaks her oath to Dartford so that she can go be with her beloved cousin Margaret as she is burned at the stake. Her father also turns out to be there, and they are both arrested along with an innocent bystander, because her father threw gunpowder into the conflagration to help speed Margaret's passing, thereby making it less painful. Taken to the Tower of London, Margaret is eventually offered freedom (and the ability to stop her father's torture) by Bishop Gardiner. In exchange, she must return to Dartford Priory, which he will force the prioress to accept, and locate for him Athelstan's crown, said to have powers, which he hopes to barter to the King in exchange for sparing the monasteries and priories.

The plot consists of the search for the crown, which involves a lot of research of legends. Though Joanna does not want to help the Bishop, who she mistrusts, she throws herself into the search, largely because she loves to know things. Added to the espionage, there's a murder mystery and some possible future romance for Joanna. Of course, she's a novice nun, but with the impending dissolution of such livings, she will have to choose what to make of herself once again, and she could likely end up either with Geoffrey, arrested with her at Margaret's death, or Brother Edmund, who will also no longer technically be a friar when the Priory is closed.

Immediately upon finishing The Crown, I'm starting The Chalice, and I'm quite excited to do so. I'm really curious to see what becomes of Joanna now that the Priory will have been closed.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote:

"'She will deceive us,' he insisted. 'I know it in my soul. She is a creature of our enemies. And she already knows enough to betray all. Haven't we all been taught of the wicked frailty of woman? Their own Thomas Aquinas said the female is defective and misbegotten.'
     Brother Edmund moved toward me, protectively. But I stepped in front of him, to confront my accuser.
     'I am a sworn servant of God, equal in dedication to you,' I told Brother Timothy. 'I have seen wickedness and defect and frailty in men who practice all forms of religion, greater than the actions of any woman.'"

Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #25: Covet

Covet

Author: Tracey Garvis Graves
Pages: 320
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Read: July 23-30, 2013
Source: ARC from publisher at BEA
Recommended by: Blythe of Finding Bliss in Books

Description from Goodreads:
What if the life you wanted, and the woman you fell in love with, belonged to someone else?

Chris and Claire Canton’s marriage is on life support. Downsized during the recession and out of work for a year, Chris copes by retreating to a dark place where no one can reach him, not even Claire. When he’s offered a position that will keep him away from home four nights a week, he dismisses Claire’s concern that time apart could be the one thing their fragile union can’t weather. Their suburban life may look idyllic on the outside, but Claire has never felt so disconnected from Chris, or so lonely.

Local police officer Daniel Rush used to have it all, but now he goes home to an empty house every night. He pulls Claire over during a routine traffic stop, and they run into each other again at the 4th of July parade. When Claire is hired to do some graphic design work for the police department, her friendship with Daniel grows, and soon they’re spending hours together.

Claire loves the way Daniel makes her feel, and the way his face lights up when she walks into the room. Daniel knows that Claire’s marital status means their relationship will never be anything other than platonic. But it doesn’t take long before Claire and Daniel are in way over their heads, and skating close to the line that Claire has sworn she’ll never cross.

First Sentence: "I'm on my way home from dropping off the kids at school when he pulls me over."

Review:
Though I was curious enough about Tracey Garvis Graves to lug Covet back from BEA, I certainly felt a healthy dose of skepticism about whether her writing would really be for me. The blurb of the book only exacerbated my hesitance, because it hints at a torrid affair and melodrama. While on the surface, the blurb is true, it's also misleading. Covet does deeply examine infidelity, but it's understated and realistic, and never once angered me, despite infidelity being a huge no no for me.

The first thing that impressed me was Graves' writing. She really excels at writing people, full and vibrant and realistic. She focuses on Claire's family, and really captures Claire perfectly. You can feel Claire's every emotion and sense how much she cares about her family. There are myriad little details that really make the house therein seem like a home and everyone within it a believable person. Covet is very domestic and very family-oriented.

Claire loves her husband deeply, but things have not been the same between them since her husband lost his job a year ago. A golden boy, life always came easy to Chris, and he never expected to be job hunting for months. During that process, money gets tight, Claire becomes their sole earner with her freelance graphic design, and Chris has to go on antidepressants. Though Chris now finally has a new job, circumstances have not improved between them, as this job requires him to be on the road for weeks at a time. Claire and Chris barely speak and the gulf between them doesn't seem to be shrinking.

At about the same time Chris is beginning his new job, Claire meets Daniel Rush, a cop, when he pulls her over to inform her that her taillight is out. They meet again coincidentally and he helps her get a speed limit sign put in on her street to keep people from speeding. After that, he helps get her some freelance work for the police station. From this foundation, they form a friendship, mostly trying to hide their mutual attraction.

I'll tell you right now that there is no torrid affair, but everything's not necessarily innocent either. Graves really explores infidelity, what it means, and why it happens. Claire, lonely, seeks out companionship when its offered, but she doesn't immediately abandon her senses either. She's very aware of her situation and careful not to cross the line. Though my opinions on cheating are pretty well set, Graves really made me look at infidelity in a new light and from a different angle. I'm not saying I think it's okay now or anything, but I understand why Claire behaves the way she does.

There were some elements that I wish had been flushed out better. Julia's got some close female friends, and I would have liked to see a bit more of them. One has a philandering husband, another a drinking problem, and the third a husband with a gambling addiction. Their interactions are all about their men or children, and it would have been nice to see the women get to show a different side.

Covet's told from multiple perspectives, which is decently well done, but not perfect. Daniel and Chris have very short chapters, two pages or less generally, whereas Claire's are more expansive. I would have liked to see that a bit more even, but I suspect keeping the male POVs terse was a way to make them sound less like Claire. The POVs weren't especially unique, but I had no problems keeping them apart either.

Tracey Garvis Graves' portrayal of family life and investigation of a relationship on the rocks in Covet had me eager to read more. Covet's a very character-focused read with most of the drama taking place in Claire's head, rather than in a bed.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "I'd much rather be here in this hotel room in Denver, employed, than be without a job. Actually, I'd rather be employed and at home with my family, but it didn't work out that way."

---

Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta. That series was recommended by Steph and Lynn! Obviously, I'm excited about this because it's supposedly the best and the series. Also, spoiler, I'm reading it now and it's awesome. So yeah. Check back next week for that and another SHS post as well.

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Review + Giveaway: Pretty When She Dies

Pretty When She Dies
Pretty When She Dies, Book 1

Author: Rhiannon Frater
Pages: 238
Publisher: Createspace
Read: July 28-29, 2013
Source: Digital copy from Xpresso Book Tours
Purchase: Amazon

Description from Goodreads:
Amaliya wakes under the forest floor, disoriented, famished and confused. She digs out of the shallow grave and realizes she is hungry...

... in a new, horrific, unimaginable way...

Sating her great hunger, she discovers that she is now a vampire, the bloodthirsty creature of legend. She has no choice but to flee from her old life and travels across Texas. Her new hunger spurs her to leave a wake of death and blood behind her as she struggles with her new nature.

All the while, her creator is watching. He is ancient, he is powerful, and what's worse is that he's a necromancer. He has the power to force the dead to do his bidding. Amaliya realizes she is but a pawn in a twisted game, and her only hope for survival is to seek out one of her own kind.

But if Amaliya finds another vampire, will it mean her salvation... or her death?

First Sentence: "When she began to stir from her deep slumber, she had no idea she was buried under several feet of moist, dark earth."

Review:

Though this is technically my second Rhiannon Frater novel, it's my first pure experience, since the first novel I read she coauthored with Kody Boye. Though The Midnight Spell was a cute, fun read, I was looking forward to the dark, creepy novels Giselle of Xpresso Reads made me so curious about when she fangirled all over them. With Pretty When She Dies, I got just what I was hoping for: a dark, sexy, creepy, comic read.

Pretty When She Dies opens with a bang as Amaliya digs herself out of her grave. Covered in dirt and weirdly hungry, she stumbles into her dorm room to take a shower. Once clean, she heads out in search of food, passing up a lone student for something more that she senses. More turns out to be a secret frat house orgy, where Amaliya proceeds to murder thirteen students, after which she has sex with her maker. Whoa, right?

Amaliya, though, isn't really like that usually. She sort of is, in that she does love sex and she's not opposed to killing as a vampire. However, she actually loathes her maker, who raped and killed her, but she didn't remember that in the haze of being newly awoken. She hardly knew who she was at that point. In case the circumstances of her transition to vampirehood were not enough of a clue, turns out that her maker, Professer Sumner, is actually one of the most powerful vampires ever and a freaking sadist. This girl has fantastic luck.

While not really breaking any new ground with vampire lore, Frater does what she does well. The vampires aren't sweet and innocent, though they can love. They murder. They're violent and powerful. Pretty When She Dies is gory and has plenty of sexual content. Actually, it's got a fairly similar vibe to True Blood, what with being set in the south (Texas, rather than Louisiana) and about intense, sexy vamps.

Of course, there's a romance, which, for me, was the weak part. It was pretty hot, actually, but the infidelity and the fact that the couple "falls in love" in less than a week is disappointing. Now, I'm going to be totally honest and say that the infidelity didn't bother me as much as it should have, because Cian's fiancée Samantha is really annoying. She's basically like Sookie, convinced she's made the vampire Bill or Eric into a sweet fluffy human, when along comes Amaliya to prove that's not true. However, Cian and Amaliya thinking they're in love so fast? Blergh. Seems like they've both lived enough to know the difference between lust and love.

The supporting cast is delightful and brings a lot of humor into Pretty When She Dies. Though I hated Samantha when she was with Cian, she starts to be hilarious when she teams up with local vampire hunter, Jeff; she makes all sorts of Buffy comparisons, which amused me greatly. Plus, I freaking adore Amaliya's cousin, Sergio, and grandmother, Innocente. As Amaliya says, "you shouldn't fuck with little Mexican grandmas," and boy is she right. Innocente is fantastic, and totally my favorite character. Not only is Amaliya a powerful female character, but Innocente is as well, and Samantha even shows some promise.

Rhiannon Frater's vampires harken back to the classic vampire lore. Dark, comic and sexy, I highly recommend Pretty When She Dies to anyone looking for a quick, fun read that's still not tired of vampire stories.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'I think happily ever after is bullshit.'"

Giveaway:
As part of the tour, I can ofter up ebooks of the first three books in the Pretty When She Dies series! Just fill out the Rafflecopter to enter. This giveaway is international! If you want to enter to win the grand prize giveaway with jewelry, go here.
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Review + Giveaway: The Husband's Secret

The Husband's Secret

Author: Liane Moriarty
Pages: 416
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books
Publication Date: July 30, 2013
Read: July 23-28, 2013
Source: ARC from publisher at BEA

Description from Goodreads:
At the heart of The Husband’s Secret is a letter that’s not meant to be read

My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died. . . .

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . . Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

Acclaimed author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses—and, ultimately, ourselves.

First Sentence: "It was all because of the Berlin Wall."

Review:

To say that I was surprised by the quality and beauty of The Husband's Secret would be an understatement. In fact, I almost didn't pick Moriarty's novel up at BEA, but did so at the behest of a publicist, one whose name I wish I'd noted so that I could thank her. My hesitance to read The Husband's Secret stemmed from the cover (which bears an unfortunate resemblance to that of Black City) and the blurb (which makes the novel sound like a stereotypical novel about infidelity). If either of these reasons are holding you back, do not let them as The Husband's Secret is women's fiction at its finest.

The basic premise, the one that the blurb points to, is a sort of retelling of Pandora's box, a woman's life transfigured when she opens something she perhaps oughtn't. On a basic level, this is true. Cecilia Fitzpatrick does find a letter addressed to her to be opened on the event of her husband John-Paul's death. She calls him to ask about it, and he makes her promise not to open it. She agrees, but secrets it away curious. When John-Paul comes home early from his business trip and ventures in the middle of the night into the attic, which he avoids due to claustrophobia, to claim the letter, Cecilia pulls it from its hiding place and reads. From this moment, a certain chaos does enter the world, and lives and marriages are tested.

What the blurb only barely hints at is that this story is not just about Cecilia. Tess and Rachel are but a footnote of the blurb, but they have equal share in the story of The Husband's Secret. Though initially not tied together seemingly in any way, the lives of the three weave together inexorably as the pages pass. The story is a dark one, moving and gorgeously-written.

Though the subject matter may be a bit melodramatic, I found the story endlessly compelling and it almost made me cry, which is the equivalent of saying most readers will want to keep a box of tissues handy; I am not one who cries easily. Despite the scale of the drama within, The Husband's Secret actually feels quite down to earth, thanks to the personalities of these three women who inhabit its pages. Rachel, Tess, and Cecilia are all good women, whose lives have been thrown off kilter by personal tragedies, past or present.

Cecilia does it all. She's a brilliant wife, mother, homemaker, and brings in a hefty income doing Tupperware parties. She appears to other women, like Rachel and Tess, as one of those women who has everything together, and who has been blessed in life. Cecilia's three daughters are bright and affectionate. She and her husband love one another deeply, and have, until very recently, always had a very satisfying sex life. Opening the later, though, must change everything, one way or another. And, no, the letter's not about a secret affair.

Tess, like Cecilia, is a woman of vast achievement. She's a successful account manager for the advertising company she runs with her husband, Will, and cousin (also best friend) Felicity. Her son, Liam, is the source of some concern, as he is being bullied at school, but otherwise life is happy. One day, out of the blue, Will and Felicity sit her down to explain that they've fallen in love. Tess, questioning both of her relationships, leaves their home in Melbourne and takes Liam to Sydney, where they stay with her mother and he can attend a school his bully does not attend. In this break from her day-to-day life, Tess has space to evaluate what role Felicity has always played in her life and what she wants her life to be from here on out.

Rachel, a grandmother, has been a largely unhappy woman ever since her daughter Janie was murdered, strangled to death and left in a park, the murderer never located and brought to justice. She's always suspected Connor Whitby, but has no proof. Her one small joy in life, her grandson, will soon be wrested from her, as her son, Rob, and daughter-in-law, Lauren, are moving to New York City. With this announcement, Rachel descends even more heavily into her desire for closure in Janie's case.

All three women are likable and sympathetic, even when they make choices that aren't necessarily good ones. They face moral dilemmas with no good solution, and just try to muddle through. The Husband's Secret really considers whether choices should be made to protect the children or because they are morally right. Though I can't say that I'm necessarily in agreement with the way that each storyline wrapped up, each woman is so well-characterized that the routes they take do make sense.

Powerful, heart-wrenching literary fiction with a focus on women, The Husband's Secret is a lavish novel. Bear the warning of the Pandora comparison in mind, for the the tale is not a happy one. Liane Moriarty's writing and characterization have convinced me to add the rest of her adult novels to my to-read list. I can only hope I find them as moving and well done as this one.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "Marriage was a form of insanity; love hovering on the edge of aggravation."

Giveaway:
In my continuing quest to share my very favorite reads with readers across the world, I'm offering an international giveaway for a hardback of The Husband's Secret. The book will be shipped via The Book Depository, so as long as they ship to your country, you can win!
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