Showing posts with label fiction book review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fiction book review. Show all posts

March 14, 2018

The Murderer’s Daughter by Jonathan Kellerman

Synopsis:
A brilliant, deeply dedicated psychologist, Grace Blades has a gift for treating troubled souls and tormented psyches—perhaps because she bears her own invisible scars: Only five years old when she witnessed her parents’ deaths in a bloody murder-suicide, Grace took refuge in her fierce intellect and found comfort in the loving couple who adopted her. But even as an adult with an accomplished professional life, Grace still has a dark, secret side. When her two worlds shockingly converge, Grace’s harrowing past returns with a vengeance.
Both Grace and her newest patient are stunned when they recognize each other from a recent encounter. Haunted by his bleak past, mild-mannered Andrew Toner is desperate for Grace’s renowned therapeutic expertise and more than willing to ignore their connection. And while Grace is tempted to explore his case, which seems to eerily echo her grim early years, she refuses—a decision she regrets when a homicide detective appears on her doorstep.
An evil she thought she’d outrun has reared its head again, but Grace fears that a police inquiry will expose her double life. Launching her own personal investigation leads her to a murderously manipulative foe, one whose warped craving for power forces Grace back into the chaos and madness she’d long ago fled.

The Murderer’s Daughter was my first Jonathan Kellerman book, and I think I am going to have to invest in more of them.

Grace Blades is an interesting protagonist. Kellerman does a good job of making her a very deep character, using flashbacks from her past to paint the picture of what led to her life currently. I almost enjoyed the flashbacks more than the present time because it was a bit messy.

I felt like there were so many characters involved with the “present time” that it was hard to keep them straight. This also stems from them having a bunch of different names for one character. I still don’t know if I kept it straight in the end, but I got the point of the book and the story. I enjoyed it a lot; it was just a bit difficult to keep it all together at times.

One thing to really note about this book is the description of death and, later on, grief was really spot on. It was interesting to read, and I think people will be able to relate to what Grace saw and how she felt.

The Murderer’s daughter is a fast-paced mystery/thriller that will keep you turning pages until the very end.

3.5/5 Stars just for how difficult it was to keep some characters straight.

Memorable Quotes: "If people like you, maybe they won't hurt you."

"Whatever it took to survive. She'd always been driven to survive. Which is why she was still around. A bit of luck didn't hurt, either. Fate, karma, divine will, choose your delusion."

"Despite everything she told her patients about open communication, she craved the balm of ignorance. She supposed that could change. 
Meanwhile, she'd drive."



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January 26, 2016

Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

Synopsis:
Rafe is a normal teenager from Boulder, Colorado. He plays soccer. He's won skiing prizes. He likes to write.

And, oh yeah, he's gay. He's been out since 8th grade, and he isn't teased, and he goes to other high schools and talks about tolerance and stuff. And while that's important, all Rafe really wants is to just be a regular guy. Not that GAY guy. To have it be a part of who he is, but not the headline, every single time.

So when he transfers to an all-boys' boarding school in New England, he decides to keep his sexuality a secret -- not so much going back in the closet as starting over with a clean slate. But then he sees a classmate break down. He meets a teacher who challenges him to write his story. And most of all, he falls in love with Ben . . . who doesn't even know that love is possible.

This witty, smart, coming-out-again story will appeal to gay and straight kids alike as they watch Rafe navigate feeling different, fitting in, and what it means to be himself.
You know when you read a book that you enjoy so much that you just want to shove it in everyone’s face and tell them to read it? Yeah, that is how this book left me feeling when I was done reading it.

It was a very well-written book that covered a lot of different topics. It was a very good coming of age story that portrayed what some young gay men may be going through on a daily basis. Everyone has a different experience, but I think the basic concept of Rafe’s feelings and beliefs can touch many different people.

This book was fun, it made you think, and it was heartbreaking all at the same time.

It covers topics of inner-struggles, acceptance, homophobia, and misconceptions – about many different “types” of people or “labels”.

Once I picked up this book, I couldn’t put it down. I read it straight through and didn’t even notice I was sitting there reading for 6 hours. It is very fast-paced, and I just needed to see how it ended.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys YA novels.

5/5 Stars


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November 12, 2015

Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson

Synopsis:
In MAXIMUM RIDE: SAVING THE WORLD AND OTHER EXTREME SPORTS, the time has arrived for Max and her winged "Flock" to face their ultimate enemy and discover their original purpose: to defeat the takeover of "Re-evolution", a sinister experiment to re-engineer a select population into a scientifically superior master race...and to terminate the rest. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel have always worked together to defeat the forces working against them--but can they save the world when they are torn apart, living in hiding and captivity, halfway across the globe from one another?
I’m pretty sure this series just keeps getting better as it goes. I feel that there was depth added to the characters in the flock in this one, especially when they were split up.

Max and Fang are both incredible leaders, but they need to learn how to work together to lead as a team. I feel that by the end of this novel they figured that out. I hope so, at least.

We got a peak into some of the inner workings of the big, bad corporation that is trying to take over the world. I wasn’t aware that they were stationed all over the place, but we learn that they are.

The new flying creatures they created were pretty comical. They were very strong, but they were so dumb and often ended up in destructing themselves.

We finally figured out the truth about Max’s origins as well. It will be interesting to see how that plays out and if she will return to her real family at all.

This book just left me wanting to dive right into the next book in the series, so I would say that it did its job!

That said, YA novels can be so cute when they have a bunch of kids standing up for the flock. When kids read these books, they probably feel like they can achieve anything they set their mind to, and that is awesome!

4/5 stars



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