Daughter's of Fortune by Tara Hyland
Here is the synopsis from www.goodreads.com:
"Katie O'Dwyer flees the constraints of her rural Irish upbringing for the excitement of London. Here she meets and falls in love with William Melville: the imposing head of the Melville fashion dynasty. Elusive, charismatic; married. Their affair is brief but passionate. Katie conceives a child. Fifteen years later she succumbs to cancer; and her beautiful daughter Caitlin finds that she must go to live in England, with the father she has never met. Her half-sisters - cold, high-achieving Elizabeth, and spoilt princess Amber - react to her with hostility; while their elegant mother is too high on valium to notice what goes on. Reeling from her mother's death, unable to fit into this alien world, Caitlin is sent away to boarding school. It is here that something happens which is so awful, so brutalizing, it will change Caitlin forever . . .
Over the next fifteen years the sisters' lives will take them in very different directions. Golden girl Elizabeth will enter the family business, hoping to fulfil her destiny of taking the helm; longing above all for her father's approval. But Caitlin remains William's favourite; even though she has rejected his love and his money. In fact, Caitlin's success as a high-fashion designer has been achieved entirely on her own terms. Amber, meanwhile, is too beautiful for her own good. Spoilt but unloved, she craves attention: this makes her easy pickings for predatory men. But the sisters' paths will continue to cross. Because the simple truth is that, no matter how far you go, you cannot escape the claims of family."
I really liked this book. It is a great summer read because it's one you can't put down and you finish in no time. I liked the way the author had such a real take on the girl's and how their lives unfolded, showing that money can't always buy happiness. This is a fun book and a quick read so if you are looking for something that isn't super deep, but something that will keep you interested, this is the book for you.
Grade: B+
8/20/12
The Soldier's Wife by Margaret Leroy
Here is the synopsis from www.goodreads.com:
As World War II draws closer and closer to Guernsey, Vivienne de la Mare knows that there will be sacrifices to be made. Not just for herself, but for her two young daughters and for her mother-in-law, for whom she cares while her husband is away fighting. What she does not expect is that she will fall in love with one of the enigmatic German soldiers who take up residence in the house next door to her home. As their relationship intensifies, so do the pressures on Vivienne. Food and resources grow scant, and the restrictions placed upon the residents of the island grow with each passing week. Though Vivienne knows the perils of her love affair with Gunther, she believes that she can keep their relationship and her family safe. But when she becomes aware of the full brutality of the Occupation, she must decide if she is willing to risk her personal happiness for the life of a stranger.
I loved this book. When I first read what it was about, I asked myself how a woman who could fall in love with a German solider during WWII when she could see all of the attrocities that Hitler and his army were involved with, and she was one of the groups being oppressed by the soldiers. The book was so interesting, and definitely a love story. This was one I couldn't put down. Although at times it seemed like a fairytale romance, the author does a good job of snapping the reader back to reality with harsh truths about the war, especially at the end.
Grade: A
8/1/12
War Brides by Helen Bryan
Here is the synopsis from www.goodreads.com:
With war threatening to spread from Europe to England, the sleepy village of Crowmarsh Priors settles into a new sort of normal: Evacuees from London are billeted in local homes. Nightly air raids become grimly mundane. The tightening vice of rationing curtails every comfort. Men leave to fight and die. And five women forge an unlikely bond of friendship that will change their lives forever. Alice Osbourne, the stolid daughter of the late vicar, is reeling from the news that Richard Fairfax broke their engagement to marry Evangeline Fontaine, an American girl from the Deep South. Evangeline's arrival causes a stir in the village?but not the chaos that would ensue if they knew her motives for being there. Scrappy Elsie Pigeon is among the poor of London who see the evacuations as a chance to escape a life of destitution. Another new arrival is Tanni Zayman, a young Jewish girl who fled the horrors of Europe and now waits with her newborn son, certain that the rest of her family is safe and bound to show up any day. And then there's Frances Falconleigh, a madcap, fearless debutante whose father is determined to keep her in the countryside and out of the papers. As the war and its relentless hardships intensify around them, the same struggles that threaten to rip apart their lives also bring the five closer together. They draw strength from one another to defeat formidable enemies?hunger, falling bombs, the looming threat of a Nazi invasion, and a traitor in their midst?and find remarkable strength within themselves to help their friends. Theirs is a war-forged loyalty that will outlast the fiercest battle and endure years and distance. When four of the women return to Crowmarsh Priors for a VE Day celebration fifty years later, television cameras focus on the heartwarming story of these old women as war brides of a bygone age, but miss the more newsworthy angle. The women's mission is not to commemorate or remember,they've returned to settle a score and avenge one of their own.
I liked this book because I like reading things based in history, especially WWII history. This book took a little while to get into, I wouldn't say it was one that I couldn't put down, but I'm happy I read it through to the end because the ending had quite an unexpected twist. I liked how the author wrote about these women and their lives, all very different, and how their lives became linked through different series of events. It reminded me of the movie Crash, which I love.
Grade: B
6/30/12
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
This was the second book in Veronica Roth's Divergent triology. It was so good! You really get sucked into the story after reading the first book and moving on to this one. She has yet to publish the third in the series, but I am impatiently waiting. Loved it! Here is the synopsis from www.goodreads.com:
Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.
Grade: A
6/6/12
Divergent by Veronica Roth
I really liked this book. It was semi-similar to Hunger Games. Here is the description from "Good Reads" (http://www.goodreads.com/):
"In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.
Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance."
At first it was a little difficult for me to get into this book because I read it very shortly after I read the Hunger Game series, and it is similar but different. Eventually though I was totally pulled into the story and couldn't put it down. This is also a trilogy series, and I can't wait to read the next two books, Insurgent and the third, yet untitled, which is scheduled to be out Spring/Summer 2013. This is a fast-paced, short and easy read that will leave you wanting more!
Grade: A-
5/25/12
The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
I love Nicholas Sparks. I mean, what girl doesn't? He brought us The Notebook and Dear John. This book is about a soldier who finds a picture of a girl while on tour in Iraq. The picture becomes his good luck charm, and when he returns to the States he decides to find her. It is, of course, a love story, but it has an interesting story line with a few twists and turns. This is what my friend Justine calls "a summer read" because it isn't long, it's hard to put down, and it's the perfect read for a girl who is looking to just get away for awhile without reading too much into the story. I loved this book, and now all that's left is to go see the movie (hello, Zac Efron!).
Grade: A-
4/30/12
The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
This book was confusing to me. I couldn't tell if it was little excerpts from different peoples' lives, or if it was just one person taking different pieces of their life throughout the book until I looked on the back and saw it was about one girl's life. Each chapter was a snapshot of a different time in her life, not in chronological order. For me, the book lacked continuity. I never really got into it, but by the time I realized I wasn't going to like it I was so close to the end that I had to finish. I never did relate to the character, because I felt there was no depth to her. I also didn't feel good about the ending. It felt like there was no conclusion, it just all of a sudden ended. There were some keen observations that the narrator makes about love that are very real, raw and relatable, and that I enjoyed. This book did get great reviews but just didn't do it for me.
Grade: C-
Here is my first book review (3/27/12)
I just got done reading Jodi Picoult's Sing You Home.
I absolutely adore Jodi Picoult's work, and usually can't put her books down. I was, I hate to say, a little disappointed with this book. The storyline was good...a woman who could not get pregnant despite years of trying with her husband. They divorce and she meets Vanessa, a woman who she falls in love with. A legal battle ensues between Zoe, the main character, and her husband over the rights of their 3 still frozen embryo's. It dives into two very controversial topics, gay rights/marriage and religion. This was by no means a bad book. I still got through it fairly quickly, but it wasn't one of her books that I couldn't put down or wait to find out what happens. I won't spoil the end for you, but it seemed a bit unrealistic to me, it was too "fairy tale" and seemed far-fetched (I'm not sure if other people would agree or that's just the pessimist inside of me coming out).
Grade: B-
If you do want a good Jodi Picoult book, I would recommed Salem Falls, which is one of my favorite books. It's about 3 young girls and witchcraft that they practice. Might not sound like your thing but give it a try, I bet you'll like it!
