Book Review #739 - The Happiest Refugee: A Memoir by Anh Do

Anh Do nearly didn't make it to Australia. His entire family came close to losing their lives on the sea as they escaped from war-torn Vietnam in an overcrowded boat. But nothing -- not murderous pirates, nor the imminent threat of death by hunger, disease or dehydration as they drifted for days -- could quench their desire to make a better life in the country they had dreamed about.

Life in Australia was hard, an endless succession of back-breaking work, crowded rooms, ruthless landlords and make-do everything. But there was a loving extended family, and always friends and play and something to laugh about for Anh, his brother Khoa and their sister Tram. Things got harder when their father left home when Anh was thirteen -- they felt his loss very deeply and their mother struggled to support the family on her own. His mother's sacrifice was an inspiration to Anh and he worked hard during his teenage years to help her make ends meet, also managing to graduate high school and then university. 

Another inspiration was the comedian Anh met when he was about to sign on for a 60-hour a week corporate job. Anh asked how many hours he worked. 'Four,' the answer came back, and that was it. He was going to be a comedian! The Happiest Refugeetells the incredible, uplifting and inspiring life story of one of our favourite personalities. Tragedy, humour, heartache and unswerving determination -- a big life with big dreams. Anh's story will move and amuse all who read it.

My Rating: 4/5

I have had this book on my TBR for sometime. I'm not that familiar with Anh Do as a comedian as I don't watch a lot of television but I became aware of this book because of the amount of "must read lists" I kept finding it on, the latest being the 2018 Dymocks top 100 which prompted me to finally read it. 

First of all I am a 5th generation Australian so I have idea what it is like to have cultural differences in your family but the way in which this book was written made everything very relatable and this was because it felt very genuine and never took itself seriously.

I loved that Do was able to take such a sensitive issue in society and make it such a fun, witty and hilarious read. 

The pictures used and their captions were particularly hilarious along with the clever antidotes involving his uncles. 

As soon as I finished this book my mum immediately started reading it as well. 

Book Review #724 - Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

For as long as Josephine Alibrandi can remember, it’s just been her, her mom, and her grandmother. Now it’s her final year at a wealthy Catholic high school. The nuns couldn’t be any stricter—but that doesn’t seem to stop all kinds of men from coming into her life.

Caught between the old-world values of her Italian grandmother, the nononsense wisdom of her mom, and the boys who continue to mystify her, Josephine is on the ride of her life. This will be the year she falls in love, the year she discovers the secrets of her family’s past—and the year she sets herself free.

Told with unmatched depth and humor, this novel—which swept the pool of Australian literary awards and became a major motion picture—is one to laugh through and cry with, to cherish and remember.

 

 

My Rating: 9/10

 

 

I was supposed to have read this in high school but I was sick that week and so the teacher told me to just watch the movie. My brother however got to read this at school and the reluctant reader that he is, gave me his copy afterwards.

 

First of all, I am something like 5th generation Australian so whilst I couldn't personally understand the cultural elements in this story, I did go to a catholic school with so many students of Italian heritage just like the protagonist Josie. 

 

 

I absolutely loved this book. I think it is my favourite Australian contemporary novel and the best Melina Marchetta book I have read so far. 

 

I loved the whole family dynamics - the relationships between mother and daughter of multiple generations and then the relationship between grandmother and granddaughter. It was like Gilmore Girls with a more cultural focus. 

 

This on its own would have made a fascinating story but then the whole cultural difficulties get thrown in and it becomes amazing. 

 

Josie's mother got pregnant as an unmarried teenager and her deeply catholic Italian immigrant mother has never really respected her since.

 

On top of all this, Josie's father comes to Sydney where Josie lives. The grandmother not knowing he's the guy who corrupted her daughter all those years ago is all friendly with him, meanwhile he has no idea he even has a daughter.

 

Then there is the whole exploration of the relationship between father and daughter which is really the essence of the novel.

Book Review #717 - Right Where You Left Me by Calla Devlin

In search of the perfect story to put a human face on a tragedy for his newspaper, my dad will fly into the eye of the storm. And now he’s heading to Ukraine, straight into the aftermath of a deadly earthquake. I don’t want him to leave. I don’t want to spend the week alone in a silent house with my mother, whose classically Russian reserve has built a wall between us that neither of us knows how to tear down. But I don’t tell him this. I don’t say stay.

I think I’m holding it together okay—until the FBI comes knocking on our door. Now it’s all I can do to fight off the horrifying images in my head. The quake has left so many orphans and widows, but Mom and I refuse to be counted among them. Whatever it takes to get Dad back, I’ll do it. Even if it means breaking a promise…or the law.

My Rating: 5/10

I had to read this book for a book club and it probably otherwise wouldn't have been a book that I would have chosen to read on my own. 

This book was rather short (just under 300 pages) but it felt much longer because I felt like it tried to accomplish too much.

Charlotte's father who is a journalist goes missing whilst covering an earthquake in Ukraine. We see Charlotte's grief and anguish as she deals with this. 

Charlotte is also about to graduate high school and commence college. She is indecisive about which branch of photography she wishes to pursue. 

Then there is also the family dynamic. Charlotte's mother is Russian and there was a lot of Russian folklore thrown in there which I actually liked. 

On top of all that there was a romance which felt completely out of place with the tone and other elements in this book. 

Book Review #639 - Matty's Comeback by Anita Heiss

My Rating: 4/5


Source: Scholastic Australia



Goodreads

Matty loves footy. 

He's South Sydney's #1 fan and the star scorer in his own local team. He knows he can help his team to the semi-finals and beyond. But things don't go to plan, and now it seems Matty won't be able to help his team to victory after all. But help can come from surprising places, and people.

This is the perfect book for reluctant readers. The ONLY books my brother has ever voluntarily read are the Specky Magee books (a series of books about Australian Football) and so it would seem this book is the next generation in that genre. 

Matty was a really relatable character for me. It helped that he was around the same age I was when my obsession with football really began.

I found it refreshing that the book was centered around indigenous characters as that is something I have never come across before - it added a whole cultural element to the story as well. 

This book uses football/rugby league to explore deeper issues such as family. Matty and his sister Nita do not get along at all, and the development of their relationship takes place throughout the book. 

Nita was a very intriguing character in her own right. She hates football, in a family obsessed with it. She is a vegetarian - sorry, a kangatarian (it's a real thing, google it). Nita had a very Lisa Simpson vibe about her. 

Overall, being about sport I was probably always going to enjoy this one, but I must admit it had a lot more depth to it than I had expected. 

Book Review #623 - Lovesong by Alex Miller

My Rating: 2/5


Source: Book Club


Buy: The Book Depository


Goodreads

Seeking shelter in a Parisian cafe from a sudden rainstorm, John Patterner meets the exotic Sabiha and his carefully mapped life changes forever. Resonant of the bestselling Conditions of Faith, Alex Miller's keenly awaited new novel tells the deeply moving story of their lives together, and of how each came undone by desire.

Strangers did not, as a rule, find their way to Chez Dom, a small, rundown Tunisian cafe on Paris' distant fringes. Run by the widow Houria and her young niece, Sabiha, the cafe offers a home away from home for the North African immigrant workers working at the great abattoirs of Vaugiraud, who, like them, had grown used to the smell of blood in the air. But when one day a lost Australian tourist, John Patterner, seeks shelter in the cafe from a sudden Parisian rainstorm, the quiet simplicities of their lives are changed forever. John is like no-one Sabiha has met before - his calm grey eyes promise her a future she was not yet even aware she wanted. Theirs becomes a contented but unlikely marriage - a marriage of two cultures lived in a third - and yet because they are essentially foreigners to each other, their love story sets in train an irrevocable course of tragic events.

Years later, living a small, quiet life in suburban Melbourne, what happened at Vaugiraud seems like a distant, troubling dream to Sabiha and John, who confides the story behind their seemingly ordinary lives to Ken, an ageing, melancholy writer. It is a story about home and family, human frailties and passions, raising questions of morals and purpose - questions have no simple answer.

Lovesong is a simple enough story in many ways - the story of a marriage, of people coming undone by desire, of ordinary lives and death, love and struggle - but when told with Miller's distinctive voice, which is all intelligence, clarity and compassion, it has a real gravitas, it resonates and is deeply moving. Into the wonderfully evoked contemporary settings of Paris and Melbourne, memories of Tunisian family life, culture and its music are tenderly woven.

I read this book for the book club that my mum and I joined and this is definitely a book that was outside my comfort zone. 

This book begins by telling you the ending of the book then showing you how it got there. I had mixed feelings about this method. 

On one hand, I liked that we knew the ending because it added more intrigue to the story when it didn't look possible for the story to end the way it did. 

On the other hand, I felt like knowing the ending ruined some of the potential suspense that could have developed. 

The major problem I had with this book was the character Sabiha. I have never come across a character anywhere near as selfish or plainly unlikable as her. She ruined the entire book for me.

The title is a little misleading as when I was handed this book at book club I was dreading this being a romance book, but it is anything but. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the writing style but obviously the author is too good at writing horrible characters. 

Book Review #491 - Goose (Paper Aeroplanes #2) by Dawn O'Porter

It's a year and a half on from Paper Aeroplanes, and Renée is now living with her Aunty Jo. They even have geese, and Renée likes to sit and watch them, wondering if she'll ever find 'the One' - someone who will love her no matter what, and be there for her no matter how bad things get. She and Flo are in their final year at school, and they've got some tough choices to make - like will they go to university? And if so where - and will they go together? Renée's usual ambivalence on the matter shocks Flo, who had assumed they'd continue as they were, the best and closest of friends, forever. She feels as though she needs Renée's support more than ever, so when a handsome young boy enters Flo's life, she finds herself powerfully drawn to his kindness, and his faith. Renée and Flo's friendship will soon be tested in a way neither of them could have expected - and if Paper Aeroplanes was a book about finding friendship, Goose is the novel that explores whether it's possible to keep hold of it.

My Rating: 3/5

I received this book for review from Five Mile Press and it is the sequel to Paper Aeroplanes.

This book is set roughly 18 months after the first one and so although there have been a few changes in their lives they both still remain good friends.

Goose deals with with a lot more darker and complex issues than Paper Aeroplanes did particularly towards the end. These really edged out the characters and matured them.

This book deals with the strain their friendship goes through when they both get boyfriends. This is such a realistic situation and was really relatable.

I don't feel like this book was completely necessary as I was happy with the way Paper Aeroplanes ended but at the same time I am happy it was written because I enjoyed the updates on their lives.

The only part of this book I didn't particularly like was the fact there was a lot of talk about religion. It's not than I am against religion or anything, I just found it boring and it slowed down the middle portion of the book.

Book Review #419 - My Left Foot by Christy Brown

Christy Brown was born a victim of cerebral palsy. But the hapless, lolling baby concealed the brilliantly imaginative and sensitive mind of a writer who would take his place among the giants of Irish literature.

This is Christy Brown's own story. He recounts his childhood struggle to learn to read, write, paint and finally type, with the toe of his left foot.

My Rating: 3/5

There were two main aspects of this book that I found interesting. The first was the detailed insight into living with such a debilitating condition in a time period where it was nowhere near as understood as it is today.




The second was the time period as it was set from the 1930's up until the mid 1950's.




Since Christy was a child he never saw himself as being different. This plays a dominant role in his personality and is the reason why he was able to accomplish as much as he did with his life.




Christy's mother was an amazing woman as she never gave up on Christy and was able to care for him even though she had twenty plus other children.

Book Review #417 - Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender

Colette Iselin is excited to go to Paris on a class trip. She’ll get to soak up the beauty and culture, and maybe even learn something about her family’s French roots.

But a series of gruesome murders are taking place across the city, putting everyone on edge. And as she tours museums and palaces, Colette keeps seeing a strange vision: a pale woman in a ball gown and powdered wig, who looks suspiciously like Marie Antoinette.



Colette knows her popular, status-obsessed friends won’t believe her, so she seeks out the help of a charming French boy. Together, they uncover a shocking secret involving a dark, hidden history. When Colette realizes she herself may hold the key to the mystery, her own life is suddenly in danger . . .

My Rating: 4.5/5

I received this book for review from Scholastic Australia.

This book combined a lot of things that I love in books - unique settings, strong historical element and paranormal activity.

From the very little I knew about Marie Antoinette before reading I could tell that this book was extensively researched and made me interested in learning more about her.

The romance in this book was a little lacking. This was not something that bothered me that much but I just felt that the relationship between Jules and Colette was underdeveloped.

The whole idea of the Secret of the Key was my favourite part of the book.

Hannah was the most annoying character in the book. I spent the majority of the book wishing that Colette and Pilar would stand up to her and stop letting her manipulate them.

There were parts of this book that reminded me of The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson so if you liked that I would recommend reading this.

Book Review #416 - The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

In Ponyboy's world there are two types of people. There are the Socs, the rich society kids who get away with anything. Then there are the greasers, like Ponyboy, who aren't so lucky. Ponyboy has a few things he can count on: his older brothers, his friends, and trouble with the Socs, whose idea of a good time is beating up greasers. At least he knows what to expect-until the night things go too far.

My Rating: 4/5

I seem to have been one of the few people who did not have this book for required reading during high school.

All I knew about this book was that it was highly liked and considered somewhat of a modern classic. Plot wise I knew nothing.

When I first started reading it I found it hard as there was too much dialogue for my liking. The story also seemed a little slow.

It wasn't until Ponytail and Johnny's incident in the park where I started understanding the hype about this book. It was around this time that I became fully invested in the story.

All of the characters are unique and even though they all belong to the same stereotyped group they are all individuals.

I watched the movie soon after finishing the book and although the characters didn't look exactly like I had expected them to I thought that it was a strong portrayal of the story. I also liked how it quoted the book word for word at times.

Book Review #379 - Head Over High Heels (Smitten) by Kate Forster

When Lyssa is scouted by a modelling agency, she’s more surprised than anyone. She’s a gangly girl from a migrant family, with out-of-control hair and the wrong postcode.

She’s not even interested in a modelling career. She wants to get into Medicine at university. Then she learns how much she could earn from a single photo shoot – enough to give her struggling family the help they need.

Lyssa’s parents don’t like her talking to boys, let alone posing provocatively for a photographer. And while her best friend Emily is a champion liar, Lyssa’s still not sure she’ll get away with it. She’s always played it safe.

But then she meets Dan at the modelling agency, and Dan is all kinds of amazing. Maybe amazing enough to convince Lyssa that she should play it dangerous for once...

My Rating: 3/5

I have read quite a few of the Smitten books now and they all have very interesting stories but the protagonists seem to all be very similar.

This book is set in Melbourne, and the city has a very present feeling throughout. The constant mention of the trams was the main reason for this.

Lyssa's race plays a huge role in this story. In fact she only gets her modelling job because of her unique look. However, I felt like the way her parents reacted to her new job was the more accurate portrayal of the differing cultures.

Andre was obviously one of the more interesting characters, although he seemed to go missing towards the end of the book. As did Lyssa's best friend Emily.

Dan was a character that I didn't really like. I just didn't get the whole attraction thing with him nor did I feel any connection between him and Lyssa.

Book Review #373 - Getting Rooted in New Zealand by Jamie Baywood

Craving change and lacking logic, at 26, Jamie, a cute and quirky Californian, impulsively moves to New Zealand to avoid dating after reading that the country's population has 100,000 fewer men. In her journal, she captures a hysterically honest look at herself, her past and her new wonderfully weird world filled with curious characters and slapstick situations in unbelievably bizarre jobs. It takes a zany jaunt to the end of the Earth and a serendipitous meeting with a fellow traveller before Jamie learns what it really means to get rooted.

 

 

My Rating: 4/5

 

 

I received this book for review from the author. The author's Goodreads page can be found here.

 

 

This book was everything that I had been expecting Bridget Jones's Diary to be. This book was actually funny and had a likeable narrator.

 

 

As an Australian, I can't say that I was surprised or shocked by the  change of culture as it seemed almost identical to ours but could understand how different it would be from an American perspective.

 

 

I was actually more surprised by the American culture, especially the universal tax.

 

 

It was hard to believe how many "weirdos" the narrator seemed to meet. She was like a magnet for them. Gretchen was by far my favourite of these.


New Zealand has always been a country that I have had no interest in travelling to and after reading this book I can't say that it has changed my mind.

Book Review #369 - Paraglide by Peter Anthony Kelley

 

For siblings Jim and Erica Winters, a summer vacation to London promises adventure and a bit of freedom from their overprotective mother. But once they arrive, they end up with more excitement than they bargained for. Their mother is kidnapped and her captors demand the one thing they can’t produce – their long-absent father.

Unable to trust the authorities, Jim and Erica set off in pursuit of their father, racing across Europe and fending off mysterious assailants. As the trail of clues dries up, help arrives in the form of a raven-haired beauty. Is she the answer to their prayers or a romantic distraction?

 

With the kidnapper’s deadline looming, the truth about their father’s shadowy past is revealed. In a last ditch effort to save their mother, Jim and Erica must climb high into the Swiss Alps where a perilous choice confronts them. Can they trust their father who has repeatedly betrayed them?

 

 

My Rating: 3.5/5

 

 

I received this book for review from the author. The author's Goodreads page can be found here.

 

 

I liked the brother/sister relationship between Jim and Erica. It was very realistically portrayed and genuine.

 

 

My favourite part of the book was the fact that contained a broad range of settings particularly across Europe.

 

 

It is hard to pigeonhole this book in one particular main genre, it seems to have little bits of a lot of genres in it.

 

Book Review #361 - Last Kiss in Venice (Legend of the White Snake #1) by Martin Chu Shui

 

Beside a bridge over a canal in Venice, Charlie is spellbound not only by Caitlin’s absolute beauty but also by what seems like a mythical bond between them. The more he knows about her, the more mysterious she becomes. As they finally admit their love to each other in Paris, then move to settle down in Australia together, it looks like the start of Happily Ever After. But neither of them realizes that this is just the start of a heart-wrenching journey.

After a lifetime of searching, Caitlin finally finds her true love, settles down in the beautiful rolling countryside of outback Australia, and starts to raise a family, but her enemy is never far away. She loves Charlie deeply and is certain he is her soul mate, but she knows she can never reveal her secret; he must never know who she really is, and that is her downfall. Information in the hands of her enemy brings her life crashing down around her. To save all she has worked for, she must fight for her love and the right to survive.

“Last Kiss in Venice” is a reinterpretation of one of China’s most famous love stories, ‘Legend of the White Snake’. It is a supernatural love epic that encompasses both eastern and western culture to tell a story of love and hate, loyalty and betrayal, revenge and justice. This cocktail of oriental magic, vampires, and sword fights is a legend not easily forgotten.

 

 

 

My Rating: 3.5/5

 

 

I received this book for review from the author. The author's Goodreads page can be found here.

 

 

This book is a modern retelling of a Chinese legend, of which I am unfamiliar of.

 

 

This book is primarily romance which on its own I am not usually that fond of. However, this book contained enough paranormal elements to keep me interested.

 

 

I liked how many locations this book included - especially as it one was my city. I also enjoyed the insight this book gave to the Chinese culture.

 

Book Review #356 - Cleo by Helen Brown

 

Helen Brown wasn't a cat person, but her nine-year-old son Sam was. So when Sam heard a woman telling his mum that her cat had just had kittens, Sam pleaded to go and see them.

 

Helen's heart melted as Sam held one of the kittens in his hands with a look of total adoration. In a trice the deal was done - the kitten would be delivered when she was big enough to leave her mother.

 

A week later, Sam was dead. Not long after, a little black kitten was delivered to the grieving family. Totally traumatised by Sam's death, Helen had forgotten all about the new arrival. After all, that was back in another universe when Sam was alive.

Helen was ready to send the kitten back, but Sam's younger brother wanted to keep her, identifying with the tiny black kitten who'd also lost her brothers. When Rob stroked her fur, it was the first time Helen had seen him smile since Sam's death. There was no choice: the kitten - dubbed Cleo - had to stay.

 

 

Kitten or not, there seemed no hope of becoming a normal family. But Cleo's zest for life slowly taught the traumatised family to laugh. She went on to become the uppity high priestess of Helen's household, vetoing her new men, terrifying visiting dogs and building a special bond with Rob, his sister Lydia, Helen - and later a baby daughter.

 

 

My Rating: 5/5

 

 

As I have stated on this blog before, I don't read too many memoir's of non-sporting personalities. However, I decided to read this because of its inclusion on the 2010 50 Books You Can't Put Down list which I am seriously behind in completing.

 

 

This book was published in 2009 and so I think it is clear that it was probably influenced by Marley and Me. The two are very similar, this obviously being the cat version.

 

 

I liked this book more than Marley and Me which surprised me a lot as I am definitely a dog person. I felt like this book had a lot more emotion and depth.

 

 

I really liked how as a reader you get to experience the journey of not only the cat Cleo but also a great bunch of real people who go through an unimaginable trauma.

 

 

This was a very honest portrayal of loss and amazing impact a pet can have on a family, even one as damaged as this one.

 

Book Review #352 - Out of His League by Pat Flynn

When Ozzie, an Australian exchange student, arrives in the West Texas town of Hope, life in America seems completely foreign. But his skills on the rugby pitch translate onto the football field as he becomes the star of a team in desperate need of a miracle to save their losing season.  As Ozzie settles in, America really does feel like the land of opportunity, and he soon finds himself torn between the lure of this new country and the ties that bind him to his home in Australia.

This co-mingling of cultures offers a fresh perspective of life in a Texas town where football is life, winning is everything, and the rest is just details.

My Rating: 2.5/5

Given that the only thing I love more than reading is sport, I had expected to enjoy it a lot more than what I did.

When I first started reading it, I really enjoyed it. It wasn't until Ozzie moved to the US that I started losing interest.

Ozzie was a character that I didn't like at all. He was under developed and I just wasn't able to connect with him at all. He also seemed too stereotyped.

This was a very smart concept for a book, but I just don't think it reached anywhere near its potential. I think this was largely to do with the writing style. It felt very choppy and had no continuity to it.

Book Review #341 - Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

This story is a rare and utterly engaging experience. It tells the extraordinary story of a geisha -summoning up a quarter century from 1929 to the post-war years of Japan's dramatic history, and opening a window into a half-hidden world of eroticism and enchantment, exploitation and degradation. A young peasant girl is sold as servant and apprentice to a renowned geisha house. She tells her story many years later from the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Her memoirs conjure up the perfection and the ugliness of life behind rice-paper screens, where young girls learn the arts of geisha - dancing and singing, how to wind the kimono, how to walk and pour tea, and how to beguile the land's most powerful men.

My Rating: 5/5

Before reading this book I knew very little about Geisha's and Japanese culture. This has now changed as this book is very in depth with both of those aspects.

I definitely liked the first half of the book more than the second half. The childhood part was more interesting along with all the politics involved in a Geisha house.

It is amazing though of what a vivid portrayal the author creates not only with the Japanese setting but the characters as well. It really felt like you were in the characters heads sometimes.

Given that this is mostly a young adult blog, I wouldn't recommend this book to younger readers as it does have some detailed adult themes.

Book Review #335 - Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup

Previously published as Q&A

A former tiffinboy from Mumbai, Ram Mohammad Thomas, has just got twelve questions correct on a TV quiz show to win a cool one billion rupees. But he is brutally slung in a prison cell on suspicion of cheating. Because how can a kid from the slums know who Shakespeare was, unless he has been pulling a fast one?

In the order of the questions on the show, Ram tells us which amazing adventures in his street-kid life taught him the answers. From orphanages to brothels, gangsters to beggar-masters, and into the homes of Bollywood's rich and famous, Slumdog Millionaire is brimming with the chaotic comedy, heart-stopping tragedy, and tear-inducing joyfulness of modern India.

 

 

My Rating: 4/5

 

 

Like most people who have read this book I had watched the movie first. I felt like that helped me a lot because the book is not written in any kind of order.

 

 

I felt like it was a pretty accurate portrayal of Indian culture. The only thing I found a little distracting was all the characters names were foreign and so they were hard to distinguish at times.

 

 

The whole idea of the game show was my favourite part about this book. It is a very unique and interesting story.

 

 

Even though it's predictable because you know from the start that he wins all the money, I really enjoyed the journey into his past as he explains how he knew each answer.

Book Review #317 - The International Kissing Club by Ivy Adams

Piper, Cassidy, Mei, and Izzy have been best friends their whole lives. And they've always agreed on one goal: to get out of tiny Paris, Texas, and see the world. The school's foreign exchange program seems like the perfect escape: Piper will go to the original Paris; Mei will go to China; Cassidy will go to Australia; and Izzy, unable to afford the program, will stay at home. To add spice to their semester away, and to stay connected to their best friends, the girls start The International Kissing Club, a Facebook page where they can anonymously update one another and brag about all the amazing guys they're meeting. After all, these girls are traveling abroad: amazing guys abound at every turn! But sometimes fun, flirty vacation flings turn into more serious romances, and sometimes you don't return from abroad the same person you were. Will the girls' relationships-and their friendships-be able to survive?

 

 

My Rating: 4/5

 

 

I received this book for review from Bloomsbury Australia.

 

 

I didn't really expect much as the premise didn't really appeal to me. I am really glad that I read it though as I really enjoyed it.

 

 

This book was written by a few authors, and for the most part the writing really does reflect this. Piper's personality was too dominant compared to the others in the first half of the book.

 

 

I really liked the idea of the book being set in numerous international locations. However, I thought that a lot more could have been made about that.

 

 

My favourite character was probably Cassidy, simply because she went to Australia I was able to relate to her experience more than the others.

Book Review #315 - Thorn on the Rose (Woody Creek #2) by Joy Dettman

I received this book for review from Pan Macmillan Australia. It is the sequel to Pearl in a Cage.

This book was equally as good as Pearl in a Cage which is fairly uncommon for sequels. The plot progressed immensely and had numerous unexpected twists along the way.

Jenny never seems to be able to cut a break. I really liked her son Jimmy and the conflict with Vern. I can see that reaching a peak soon.

Given that I really liked the setting of Woody Creek from the first book I didn't really like that most of the book was set in Sydney.

I liked that Gertrude told Jenny  about her past which I thought was long overdue. I am not really sold yet on the fact that Archie Foote is going to be a part of Jenny's life now.

Like in Pearl in a Cage the mentioning of real historical events like Hitler's death and the bombing of Hiroshima gave a authentic feel to the story.

Book Review #290 - Pearl in a Cage (Woody Creek #1) by Joy Dettman

On a balmy midsummer's evening in 1923, a young woman – foreign, dishevelled and heavily pregnant – is found unconscious just off the railway tracks in the tiny logging community of Woody Creek.

The town midwife, Gertrude Foote, is roused from her bed when the woman is brought to her door. Try as she might, Gertrude is unable to save her, but the baby lives.

When no relatives come forth to claim the infant, Gertrude's daughter Amber – who has recently lost a son in childbirth – and her husband Norman take the child in. In the ensuing weeks, Norman becomes convinced that God has sent the baby to their door, and in an act of reckless compassion and lonely desperation, he names the baby Jennifer and registers her in place of his son.

Loved by some but scorned by more, including her stepmother and sister, Jenny survives her childhood and grows into an exquisite and talented young woman. But who were her parents?

Spanning two momentous decades and capturing rural Australia's complex and mysterious heart, Pearl in a Cage is the unputdownable new novel by one of our most talented storytellers.

My Rating: 4.5/5

I received this book for review from Pan Macmillan Australia. They also provided me with the other three books in the series.

This is my most surprising read so far of 2013. I don't read much of adult fiction and so really did not expect to love this book as much as I did.

I found this book really slow paced and even though normally this would be something that would make me stop reading I wasn't able to because I was so caught up with the characters and the story.

The amount of characters as well is something that would normally turn me off. I liked that there were so many characters as it gave the realistic feeling of a small Australian country town.

I liked how the author casually mentions historical facts in with the story such as the prime minister dying or World War II as it reminded me what era this book is set and also gave more life to the characters and the town.

The characters were all so well portrayed and every single one of them were written with so much depth. Jenny was by far my favourite but there weren't any characters that I didn't love or didn't love to hate.