‘Elektra’ Book Review

The book ‘Elektra’ tells the story of three women who are all seemingly connected by one war. Clytemnestra is betrayed by her husband in the worst way possible. Cassandra can see visions of what will happen to her city but no one will believe her. Elektra longs for her father to return from war and have her life go back to the way it was before Helen was stolen and the Trojan War.

The characters here are very complex and I am sure have a lot more depth than the original Greek stories that they took part in. Clytemnestra was my favorite. She is a woman, a queen, who is having to deal with the grief of a terrible action committed by the one person who should never have done it. Cassandra, she was unnecessary to this story and I think it would have been no different without her, just the story of a mother and a daughter. Nevertheless, Cassandra’s story was of a woman who is a black sheep and trying to find where she belongs in the world. Elektra is the youngest daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, she still holds the innocence of thinking that her father can do no wrong and then does not have the understanding of her mother’s depression, therefore causing resentment to grow in her.

Jennifer Saint had a unique way of doing her world building. We progressively learned more about the world as the characters became more equipped in their roles. In a way, learning as the characters learned.

The narrative had beautiful writing. The dialogue was good but it did not blow me away in any sense. Still it was miles better than most Greek mythology retellings that I have read in the past. ‘Elektra’, was fast paced and easy to follow.

Where the novel lacked was the plot. You can tell that Jennifer Saint was mainly focused on the character work and the writing. Those things turned out great and I am usually someone who prefers character driven novels over plot but this just proved that I need a little bit more action in my plot for me to enjoy the book. This is a slow moving and barely there plot.

The characters here are very complex and I am sure have a lot more depth than the original Greek stories that they took part in. Jennifer Saint had a unique way of doing her world building.The narrative had beautiful writing. ‘Elektra’, was fast paced and easy to follow. Where the novel lacked was the plot. This is a slow moving and barely there plot. Out of all the Greek mythology retellings that I have read, this has been the best. This is an average read and I would still recommend it.

3 out 5 stars.

‘Mother Knows Best’ Book Review

Claire and Ethan went through the tragedy of losing their son due to a genetic disease that passed through Claire’s mitochondrial DNA. Years have gone by and they are finally ready to go down the path to have another child, that is when they go to a doctor who has been trying to make the world’s first genetically engineered baby. Therefore, the baby, Abby, has three biological parents rather than just the typical two. When Abby is a preteen, she starts to notice that some things aren’t exactly normal with her two parents and then a stalker comes along ruining the life that she thought she knew.

As thrillers are supposed to go, there were many twists and turns. Not necessarily just with the plot. I was constantly having to reconsider who the ‘good’ or ‘bad’ guys were. If some of these people were actually evil. These characters are complex and they all have a proper fight to fight rather than it all being over something petty. It really makes you think if science does go down the path of genetically engineering humans, what can that do to someone’s psyche, even if it is through something indirect. This book is filled with unreliable narrators but the reader does not realize it until far into the novel. That style of storytelling is usually a miss for me but this was a hit out of the park!

I was never really scared while reading this. I am not extremely familiar with the horror, mystery, and thriller subgenera. However, I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know where the story would go. Again, I never felt creeped out but I did like trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle in my head.

The writing felt like someone was actually telling me a story and I was sitting there waiting to be told what would happen next. It just felt like a friend, a very familiar feeling of storytelling. This was also fast paced and I think it could definitely be turned into a movie.

This is a genre binding story mixing in scientific themes with those typical of a thriller. I think that added into my enjoyment as I usually have a hard time finding a thriller story that I like but this one added in the science of genes. Some people might just fly through this and have a fun time which is great and others might really sit here with the story that they are given and start a debate, also great. It really makes you think how far we as humans should go with ourselves and with science before we end up hurting ourselves rather than improving. My dislikes of the story though are that some points just felt so far out of left field, or points that really made me stretch my belief.

These characters are complex and they all have a proper fight to fight rather than it all being over something petty. The style of storytelling presented is usually a miss for me but this was a hit out of the park! I was never really scared while reading this. I did like trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle in my head. The writing felt like someone was actually telling me a story and I was sitting there waiting to be told what would happen next. I think it could definitely be turned into a movie. This is a genre binding story mixing in scientific themes with those typical of a thriller. My dislikes of the story though are that some points just felt so far out of left field, or points that really made me stretch my belief. I loved this book but it is not a new favorite.

4 out of 5 stars.

Top Ten Books of 2022

10. Don’t Cry for Me by Daniel Black – A beautiful and emotional tale that I’m sure was hard but somewhat therapeutic for the author, Daniel Black, to write. In the author’s note, he speaks of how this story was, in a way, inspired by his own relationship with his father. The character work was amazing and something, as a reader, I have not seen a lot of. This is a letter from a father, explaining to his son his side of things and apologizing for how he was raised. Normally, we see these kinds of stories from the viewpoint of the child. This was an important story to tell. I just wish we could have seen Isaac’s side of things or his reaction to this letter. The setting takes us between rural Arkansas and Kansas City, the southern culture was spot on. I always find it so fascinating to read about the south in this time period as there were so many changes happening. As I started the review, the writing was beautiful and emotional. The book starts with the author’s note and I was even wanting to annotate that! I honestly cannot wait to go back and annotate the quotes presented here. The plot, again, was something we do not see a lot. Generational trauma is something so prevalent in our society and needs to be showcased in the media. In my opinion, almost every issue in this country can fall back on generational trauma. This was a moving story and I cannot recommend it enough. I just wish that we could have seen the fallout of this letter, Isaac’s reaction.

9. The Deal by Elle Kennedy – These characters had a lot more depth to them than you usually see in a romance novel. I really liked that this was a college setting as I am close in age with the characters. The dialogue was realistic for how people talk but it did grind my gears at times but I can’t fault that since it’s the same in real life! I really enjoyed this book and I’m not surprised that it is so hyped!

8. Book Lovers by Emily Henry – Best romance of the year, for me! The characters had so much depth to them that I was not just rooting for one but both of them, even though we only got the POV of one! You cannot go wrong with a New York and North Carolina setting; I love to read books set in both of those places. The writing was typical for a romance novel. This had all my favorite tropes, family values, enemies to lovers, and then all the small-town vibes. Do not let the hype fool you, this one is definitely worth it.

7. Take my Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez – My time reading about Civil had me feeling like a man who yells at his sports team even though they cannot hear him. She was constantly putting herself in situations that just made things harder for her. She does take note by the end of the story how doing this has delayed her from taking care of her own life and that is what I call real character development. Civil really did grow as a character throughout the novel but at times she drove me up a wall. The southern culture was spot on in this novel, food, politics, and dialect. The writer did a great job with that element of the story. The writing was albeit average but it did not add or take anything from the storytelling process. The plot is the strong point of the novel. The ideas and themes are so important with our own political climate and how the rights of women are still being questioned fifty years later. In school, I never learned of the injustices that the federal government did in the name of medicine and science. This might be a fictional novel but it is still so important to learn about what our own country was doing to impoverished people, sterilizing minors and grown women alike without their full and understanding consent of what they were signing for. This was a hard-hitting and tough read but one that is so important to read.

6. The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison – The midwife wasn’t a character that I liked or disliked but I think that is the way this is supposed to go. The side characters were very strong throughout the story. This setting was so grim and desolate, but I loved it. I love that the author used real cities and towns, instead of fictional ones, it was easier to follow the characters around and made the story feel more real. The writing was very creative, I wouldn’t call it lyrical and poetic but it really made you step back for a moment. This is the third “virus” book I’ve read but it’s the best one yet. I flew through the plot, it only took me a weekend to read. I am so thankful that I won this book in a goodreads giveaway.

5. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot – This plot is so important and I don’t know why it’s not taught in schools. There is actually a young adult version of this book and I think it should be read in schools. Believe it or not Henrietta Lacks has impacted all of our lives. The story shows the morals or lack of morals in science. It brings up so many things that seem to be hidden away in American history. Most of us assume it was only the Nazis doing experiments on people when it was happening here in the United States in the last century. It’s disgusting and needs to be brought to light. I am glad that the Lacks family finally got respect from someone like Rebecca Skloot and were able to have their mother’s story brought to light.

4. Booth by Karen Joy Fowler – I picked up this book as it is the only book that I own that was nominated for the Booker Prize this year. We follow three siblings of the infamous, John Wilkes Booth. Rosalie, the older sister who’s role was often taking care of the family while the parents were busy with their own lives. Edwin, the boy who wants to be a famous actor just like his father. Lastly, Asia, the middle child, the youngest girl, who is trying to see where she fits in with the family. We are with these characters from the time they are children until they are in their graves. I never lost interest in them. I loved the setting of the 1800s, as it is one that I don’t read from often. Also, the east coast, mainly Maryland. The writing was fantastic, and I am already trying to decide which Karen Joy Fowler book to pick up next. In the present day United States, we see a lot of mass shootings but we do not know much of what leads a person into doing that and what impact it has on their family. That is what inspired Fowler to write this book. The reader gets to spot red flags all through John Wilkes’s childhood through the eyes of the siblings. The Booth family finds out what it is like to see someone they love become a monster and how they can live with that and how they have to adjust to life as outcasts of society. This is a new favorite book of mine.

3. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino – This is a character driven novel at its finest. Cliff was still the coolest and Rick’s POV still the most boring. If I could be dropped into one story this would be it. I think that that says a lot about the atmosphere. My only complaint for the writing was there was some head jumping but it improved as the story went on. If you are thinking that you don’t need to read this because you have seen the movie, you are wrong. The book adds so much more.

2. Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore – The characters!! I love them all and want them to live their best lives! They are all so detailed and have their own stories but are all connected. This book made me realize I love a small town setting, especially a Texas one or anywhere in the south. The writing was beautiful and it’s crazy that this is a debut novel, I need more from this author! The plot shows that each and everyone of us has a story that is important. We’re all here for a reason and important to the world even if we don’t feel like it at times. I loved this novel and can’t wait to reread it.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr – Great, great, great character work here. Zeno is the character arc that I want to say stands out the most but it’s so hard to choose. With Zeno we see his life all the way through where the others we don’t get as much time with. You get so hooked on a section and don’t want it to end and then you just get enthralled by the next one. All these stories are all connected, I was scared they wouldn’t be but the author knew what he was doing here. I wasn’t certain how this would go atmosphere wise. We are given a lot and it might be overwhelming to some. In chronological order we have two characters in Bulgaria and Turkey in the 1400s, then two in modern day(1930s?-2070s) Idaho, lastly a character in the near future on a spaceship. That is a lot to take in and I didn’t know how it would all come together but it did. Each setting was like something I had never read before and has given me so much more knowledge on the world and different human experiences.The writing was like that of a Greek epic. It was just told like a classic story, fairy tale like. This felt like a story as old as time and that is very poetic as stories and time are two of the main themes here. The chapters were short so I never felt bogged down like I had to keep in this one place forever. It was quick for a six hundred page book. I read along with the audiobook and that really enhanced the experience for me.

‘Sapiens’ Book Review

‘Sapiens’ starts many millennia ago, so far back to when there were multiple kinds of human species roaming the savannas of Africa. Harari starts with how humans gained cognitive skills to make us different than our chimp cousins. From there, how we developed agriculture to money, empires, and religions. Lastly, we see what might be in the future for the human race, even if there is a human race in the future.

There are so many great conversation points brought up by the author that just make your mind go in laps until it explodes with so many questions! Later, in the post, I will bring up some of the points that fascinated me the most. This would be a great book to read with a friend because of all the conversation that can stem from it. This book is very accessible as there is also a graphic novel edition that I read previously, they cover almost the exact same material. I also like that it never seemed that the author was criticizing a culture or religion, putting down their beliefs as silly. He really laid out the facts and held no personal judgment, something I find rare in today’s society. I learned a lot from this book and that is my goal when I read. I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Sapiens’.

Now onto some of the things that I learned while finishing my first book of 2023.

How much we do not know about ourselves as humans. There is still so much to learn about ourselves as a species.
How everything impacts well, everything. Our ancestors on the African continent would find a sweet fruit tree and have to eat as much of the fruit as possible before other wildlife would get there. This is why we are so fond of sugar and have a sweet tooth today. One quote stated, “Even today, scholars in this field claim our brains and minds are adapted to a life of hunting and gathering.”
Chapter five discussed animal cruelty and how it has been a part of agriculture for thousands of years. I won’t go into too much detail but I am shocked by some of the things that were being done to animals back then before big slaughterhouses were around.
One quote even mentioned how money, human rights, and the United States of America are all man made constructs. This is something that I have thought about in the past but to actually read about it in depth really made me think about it.
That there has always been some kind of hierarchy since the start of time and that it might be based on religion.
No one knows why patriarchies seem to be the dominant kind of society.

4/5 stars.

‘Mrs. Everything’ Review

This is the story of two sisters, Bethie and Jo, going from the 1950s all the way to our year of 2022. It shows how they come to find themselves and grow as people in the everchanging society around them and what it means to a be a woman of the modern age.

Character work in its finest form, Bethie was the most relatable character for me, but I liked her less and less as the novel progressed. Jo, on the other hand, her story was like nothing that I had ever read before. Bethie had the ‘flower child’ story we see a lot of when the twentieth century is portrayed in literature, whereas Jo was something different. Jo was a struggling housewife, living the perfect American dream but not being able to be her true self. The characters were so human, with their flaws, and that was one of the main factors of this story.

I have never read a historical fiction book, other than ones in the Tudor era, that follows the whole life of its protagonist, not until now. As the characters change, the reader sees how the world changes around them and it was just perfect for slice of life from the 1950s to the modern day in 2022.

The writing is why this is not receiving a five-star review. Do not get me wrong, there were beautiful paragraphs that I wanted to annotate. (I will on reread.) However, it was lengthy and longwinded. Some of the formatting was awkward. The passage of time was hard to tell as chapters went on. This could have been edited better, but as it is, this a book that would make for a good audiobook experience.

The plot is where, ‘Mrs. Everything’ flies. There are so many ideas brought forth by Weiner. Ones including family, race, and religion. My favorite was the themes of feminism throughout the novel. That a woman does not have to fit into one mold and how the idea of feminism is different for each woman, rather it be a housewife in a northeastern suburb or a drifter in Santa Fe, but that in the end each woman is wanting the same thing, wanting to live their life how they see fit. There are also interesting discussions of how mental and physical health intersect one another. The main theme is the life of women, and how it has its bumps and is never perfect, mistakes are made and sometimes learned from. In the end the life is lived with all its highs and lows and makes for a beautiful story.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

‘Eleutheria’ Book Review

Willa Marks grew up with paranoid, doomsday prepper parents. A childhood isolated from the real world, the rest of society. She goes on to live in Boston with eccentric, strange, cousins. The city leaves her shell shocked compared to the nature surrounding childhood she once had. That all changes when she comes across Harvard professor, Sylvia Gill. Sylvia is intelligent and shows Willa how the world really is.

After many days spent with the professor, Willa comes across a book about a place called ‘Camp Hope’ and how the leader of this camp has plans to save the world from the impending climate disaster. This is all a girl filled with hope needs to hear before jumping on a plane, to the Bahamas, to join those saving the ecosystem around them.

The reader gets to experience two sides of the climate spectrum here. First, we start with Willa’s childhood. Parents, who I would say are far-right conspiracy theorists, who only view the negative that nothing can be done to stop the apocalypse and that you should only focus on yourself and your small family, when the time of the end of the world comes. In most literature that I have read, we always see things from a leftist perspective, now I may not agree with a far-right point of view, but I do want to read from all standpoints and see people who have different beliefs than my own. Later on, in Willa’s life, we see her meet Roy Adams and his local of Camp Hope, Adams is an optimist, he is trying to prevent climate change or make it easier for the people who will go through it. To Willa, this is the complete opposite of what she has known, and it intrigues her, gives her hope in the world.

Willa is a character who grew up in isolation. She seeks out other people to compensate for the lack of relationships with other people in her childhood and teenage years. Rather this be, following her cousins, with their crazy schemes throughout the city, stalking a Harvard professor until she becomes her closest companion, or flying to the Caribbean to join a somewhat cult to stop climate change. Very unique character work.

If we think back to Willa’s childhood, growing up in a secluded cabin, in the middle of nowhere New Hampshire; that makes me want a book with that atmosphere. Yes, we do get bits and pieces in flashbacks but that would play into a really cool story in itself. Boston, it was like you would expect it to be. The Bahamas, Camp Hope, very intriguing, especially as someone who had been to the Bahamas, and not for vacation purposes. It was very easy to picture and just overall fascinating at the thought of someone making a camp or compound like Camp Hope.

The writing is what I marked the most of in my experience annotating ‘Eleutheria’. There are positives and negatives. At first, I had no idea how this writing would be for me, I knew that I was either going to love it or hate it, well, I fell in the middle of that. The quotes lack actual quotation marks, but I never had a hard time telling who was speaking. This is the first time a book that I have read has been successful with that. Another thing, at the start, the author seemed so focused on making the writing sound poetic or metaphoric. I could not help but roll my eyes at some of the comparisons. However, as the book progressed, it became easier and easier to read and I started underlining more and more quotes. That being said, some of the paragraphs were beautiful and had great commentary on the society we live in and are going towards.

That leads us into the plot. The first plot point that I will focus on is how Americans view climate change and really anything in the world that is not at our front door. A lot of us, Americans, don’t seem to care what is happening in other parts of the world. We just scroll on by and say something like “Oh, that sucks.” and just go on to the next post but no, most really don’t care unless it is right in their backyard threatening their actual way of life. This can be said for a lot of first world countries in the Western Hemisphere. It was just great to see this brought up and how no matter the number of protests and petitions are done, most of the time nothing is actually done to fix the issue. Hyde, the author, just goes to show the morals, or lack thereof, that go behind so many campaigns on making the world a better place or just social movements in general. Just great, great commentary on the political climate around us and how it is truly all messed up. It was all just so realistic on how people, mainly Americans, would act and are acting in the world of an ever changing climate. I highly recommend picking this book up for the ideas and themes that are presented.

The reader gets to experience two sides of the climate spectrum here. Very unique character work. If we think back to Willa’s childhood, growing up in a secluded cabin, in the middle of nowhere New Hampshire; that makes me want a book with that atmosphere. The setting was very easy to picture and just overall fascinating at the thought of someone making a camp or compound like Camp Hope. The writing is what I marked the most of in my experience annotating ‘Eleutheria’. That being said, some of the paragraphs were beautiful and had great commentary on the society we live in and are going towards. I highly recommend picking this book up for the ideas and themes that are presented.

3 out of 5 stars.

‘Dynasty of Evil’ Book Review

(Since this is a last book in a series, I am only going to give the description of the first book in the series.) Des lived a rough life, the son of a miner, that was the life destined for him; to be just like his father. Des has always dreamed of escape, to see the galaxy. He finally gets the chance when he gets into serious trouble and must go on the run. He gets sent to war; he joins the ranks of the Sith army to fight against the Republic. All his talents show in this field and the higher ups know that he is destined for far greater things as the role in the Sith empire. Des does not believe the teachings he is given at the Sith academy and goes against it all to find his on role in the galaxy.

This almost seems like the second book, was just an introduction to this one. In ‘Rule of Two’, I felt as though some of the characters were one dimensional and were just doing random things. In the third book, one of those characters, Zannah, became my favorite. It was like a switch was flipped and they all suddenly came back to the depth they had in the first installment. We had some new characters introduced as well, I enjoyed them. All the connections between the characters and their arcs, overall, ended nicely.

Like in Karpyshyn’s previous works, the writing was fast and easy to read. Something that other books in this era of Star Wars has lacked. For the Old Republic, this author is the shining star for writing.

The first, maybe, twenty percent of the book, did not grip me. I was scared that this was going to be another fail like ‘Rule of Two’ but then connections started to be made, missions began, and I buckled up for a new journey through the galaxy. That being said, it did take a little while ,it not feel like it though with the fast writing, to get into but once the plot got going; it was hard to put down.

This almost seems like the second book, was just an introduction to this one. All the connections between the characters and their arcs, overall, ended nicely. Like in Karpyshyn’s previous works, the writing was fast and easy to read.For the Old Republic, this author is the shining star for writing. The first, maybe, twenty percent of the book, did not grip me.That being said, it did take a little while ,it not feel like it though with the fast writing, to get into but once the plot got going; it was hard to put down.

4 out of 5 stars.

‘Spoiler Alert’ Book Review

Marcus is an actor who has his big show coming to an end. An unsatisfactory ending, that is. April is a fangirl but has never shared her interests with anyone in her life. That is until there is a tweet from Marcus’s show that asks fans to send in their best cosplay pictures. April sends in her picture and it definitely gets a lot of attention, and not all positive. Marcus takes note of this and invites her out to dinner from the kindness of his heart. Little do both know that they both already know each other through their secret online identities and that there might actually be real feelings.

I did not hate the characters but I also did not connect with them. First we are introduced to Marcus and he started out like a jerk but somehow when he is with April he is a completely different person, yeah, I don’t know. April started out good, we got some backstory on her and building on her personality but as the novel went on she was a stagnant. At times, she did annoy me but I could only find it relatable, of being insecure about yourself and also trying to date. It isn’t easy and I am glad to have read about a character going through something similar.

In romance books, atmosphere plays little part so there is not a whole lot to say for the atmosphere category in the CAWPILE system. It is set in Northern California, scenes in the Bay Area and Sacramento.

The writing was lengthy, this was something that I was shocked by. Usually, romance reads fast even if I am not a fan of one or two elements that the story has. Here, I was constantly having to check how many more pages that the chapter entailed. This could have been diced down a lot and not include, or just dice down, the bits of scripts and fan fictions between chapters.

Where this book will be a hit or miss for people will be the plot. I mean, is the star of a show like Game of Thrones really writing fan fiction about his own character and cast mates? I mean, it is kind of creepy to be writing dirty stuff about your coworkers, if you ask me. Still, this book is every fangirl’s dream. The other fan account you are talking to ends up being the guy your are a fan of? I think all fangirls have dreamed that at one point or another. All the talk of servers, fanfiction sites, and just the dynamics of a fandom, is spot on. Especially if you are apart of the Game of Thrones or ASOIAF fandom, I think that you will have at least a little fun with this one!

I did not hate the characters but I also did not connect with them. April was a relatable character and it was nice to read to someone who has the same fears of dating and relationships that I do. In romance books, atmosphere plays little part so there is not a whole lot to say for the atmosphere category in the CAWPILE system. The writing was lengthy, this was something that I was shocked by. It could have been diced down a lot and you would still get the same story. Where this book will be a hit or miss for people will be the plot. An average, three star, read.

‘Medici ~ Supremacy’ Book Review

In the mid to late 1400s, the new leader of the Medici family is having to come to terms with ruling and giving up the woman he loves to marry a woman from a high-ranking Roman family. Lorenzo is torn between love and power and making the right choices for the city of Florence. There are enemies from his family’s past and then those who have come out the shadows, trying to come for the young Medici’s neck.

Strukul’s writing of characters improved tremendously in this installment in the Medici trilogy. In the first book, I was connecting more so with the side characters than the actual Medici. Here, all the characters are enjoyable to read from and all so different, they are each going through their own thing, Lorenzo ruling a city, Clarice in a loveless marriage, Leonardo wanting to discover things that are against the church’s beliefs. This book really showed off how people were advancing during the renaissance. I liked that it did not paint the Medici like gods, no, they all had flaws and did make wrong choices at time. This book made historical figures into real people.

Atmosphere is made by descriptive writing, in my opinion. The reader really gets to see how Florence and Italy has changed from the first book. It is interesting to see how the politics of the leaders changed the republics around them as the series continued. This story takes place in the peak of the renaissance with a Medici and then Leonardo Da Vinci as two of its main characters.

The author has never lacked with his writing skills. In the first book, there might have been some errors in translation, but I did not see any of that in this installment. As stated before, Strukul is a descriptive writer, but he does not overdo it in anyway. This was fast and easy to read and if historical fiction is not your main genre, I still think that you would find this enjoyable. The dialogue was great as well, I really hoped it would be for the characters that the story focused on, I was not let down.

This is my favorite time in the Medici family history I was super excited for the plot of this book. This book only spans about ten years, yes, I would have liked to see more of Lorenzo’s “reign”, but I was not disappointed with what I got. I truly was not expecting to get Da Vinci as a point of view, and it was so interesting to see his thoughts on the Medici and his process of making his inventions and masterpieces. Lucrezia is one of my favorite characters on the Netflix series about the Medici, this book gave her so much mor depth though of how she was seen in Florence with Lorenzo and Leonardo. Clarice has not been someone in the family’s history that I ever connected with but her portrayal in this story was so much more harrowing than we usually see. Strukul does not paint the renaissance as this beautiful and bright time, he showed the hardships and violence that was happening as well. I think there could have been so much more added to the story like Giuliano, Botticelli, and Simonetta Vespucci but I understand the author did not want to linger too far from the facts and I respect that.

Strukul’s writing of characters improved tremendously in this installment in the Medici trilogy. This book made historical figures into real people. The reader really gets to see how Florence and Italy has changed from the first book. This story takes place in the peak of the renaissance with a Medici and then Leonardo Da Vinci as two of its main characters. The author has never lacked with his writing skills. The dialogue was great as well, I really hoped it would be for the characters that the story focused on, I was not let down. This book only spans about ten years, yes, I would have liked to see more of Lorenzo’s “reign”, but I was not disappointed with what I got. Although this did not feel like a five star, I still enjoyed my time reading this book. I will finish up the series next month, in April.

4 out of 5 stars.

‘A Lite Too Bright’ Book Review

Arthur Pullman’s famous grandfather passed away shortly before this story begins. He believes there is more to the story and his family is too greedy and self-absorbed to investigate it. When clues start to appear at the family’s cabin, that makes Arthur set off on a grand voyage across the United States to find out what truly happened to his grandfather.

The biggest downfall here, for me, was the characters. I think they might be made to be unlikable but even so, I should still enjoy reading about them. We have a bit of an unreliable narrator here and that is something that I have not read a lot of, so it was something interesting and new for me. There was no connection there for them, but I will say, this is one of the young adult books that I have read where I have found the adults to be annoying and the kids to be less so.

The atmosphere in this novel was cool. In America, our train system is not the most used source of transportation, so it was awesome getting to see it being used in this story. The reader also gets to see the small railroad towns of the west and Midwest, somewhere that the average person probably has not visited. I liked getting to explore some of these places that I have never heard of.

The plot started out strong and I loved how Arthur was going out and discovering this mystery of his grandfather’s disappearance and then death. The atmosphere and literature played into the plot nicely. Towards the middle, we get these ‘cult’ aspects and that turned it off for me. It brought this from being a 3.5 to a three star.

The writing was albeit strange. I should say it was more formatting than anything, just a guess. We would randomly have a flashback scene with no break in the page or anything, so it was quite confusing for the reader. There should have been a break in the page or maybe even starting a new chapter all together. Other than that, this writing was above average for a young adult novel.

The biggest downfall here, for me, was the characters. I liked getting to explore some of these places that I have never heard of. The plot started out strong and I loved how Arthur was going out and discovering this mystery of his grandfather’s disappearance and then death. This writing was above average for a young adult novel. This book touched on a lot of important subjects like the protests of the Vietnam war, capitalism, police brutality, mental health, and Alzheimer’s. I knew of some of these subjects before but for the ones that I did not it has given me a good place to start on my research.

3 out of 5 stars