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The Unraveling of Luna Forester
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
87 of 220
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The Unraveling of Luna Forester
By Marisa Noelle
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When his best friend Luna is found catatonic after a devastating house fire, Matthew begins to fall apart.

“Take care of them, Matthew.”

“Always.”

“Protect my secret.”

“Of course.”

That’s the promise he made to her only three nights ago. A solemn vow to protect their large found family of humans and supernatural creatures alike.

Fated to love her for the rest of his life, and unwilling to break his solemn vow, Matthew knows the only person who can help Luna is her grandmother. Through the woods they must go, just like a fairytale. But the forest is filled with deadly peril: poisonous black moss, chimeras, and worst of all, members of their family who don't want them to continue.

As they are picked off one by one, Matthew races to get Luna to safety, all the time doubting everything he thought was true.

Can Matthew untangle the twisted threads of Luna’s secret before he himself unravels?

Well this was a little bit of a special read. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like it before. So well written it was a truly haunting journey through a young girls mind helped along by some special friends.
  
The Wren, The Wren
The Wren, The Wren
Anne Enright | 2023 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is a beautiful story of 3 generations of women, all affected by the same man: poet Phil McDaragh. They have very different relationships with him. Carmel is his daughter and when he leaves the family, it’s up to Carmel and her sister to care for their mother with terminal cancer. Carmel loves her father, but is conflicted with their abandonment And how what he writes in his poems is at odds with the way he treated them.

Carmel’s daughter Nell, a Trinity College graduate, discovers just how difficult life is without her mothers help when she strikes out on her own. She meets a man who is abusive towards her.

This is a story that highlights multi-generational family trauma, and probably why both Carmel and Nell have such poor relationships with men. Running alongside this, is the love these women have for one another.

I get that not everyone will like this novel, but I’ve read two of Enright’s novels now and really enjoyed both of them. I read this as a part of the Women’s Prize shortlist, and whilst I realise they can’t all win, The Wren, The Wren really did deserve to be on that list.
Recommended.
  
40x40

ClareR (6054 KP) rated The Trunk in Books

Jan 29, 2025  
The Trunk
The Trunk
Kim Ryeo-Ryeong | 2024 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Well, I didn’t know how much I needed to read Korean literature until I read The Trunk!

Inji works for a secret branch of a well-known matchmaking agency. Men who would like a wife without the long term commitment, hire a Field Wife. She fulfils their every wish, be it domestic or sexual. Inji’s current husband is a repeat contract. He’s not very good at being a husband, and reinforces Inji’s opinions on marriage: unnecessary and unfulfilling. And then there’s the possibility of domestic violence and exploitation.

To be fair, this doesn’t paint a great picture of marriage in (this case) Korea. Inji doesn’t even refer to her husband by name. He’s just “husband”, which makes him almost incidental to the story.

There’s a lot going on in this novel: family dynamics, exploitation, modern slavery, death (by suicide?), prostitution.

And what is the trunk in the title? I personally think it’s Inji’s personal baggage: the emotions, feelings and responsibilities that she carries around with her all the time. This trunk goes with her between field husband, her family and her flat. She’s never without it.

Is it the thriller that it’s sold as? I don’t think so, but it is a very interesting glance into life in Korea, and I really enjoyed it.
  
The Stars Are Fire
The Stars Are Fire
Anita Shreve | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Grace Holland is living a fairly ordinary-if not particularly happy-life with her husband Gene and their two young children in Maine. It's the late 1940s, and Grace's life revolves around Gene and her family. She cannot drive, she does not have a job, and her role in life is pretty clearly laid out: serve her husband and their children. All that changes when an awful drought hits Maine. As a horrible string of fires burns near Bar Harbor, where Grace and her family live, Gene joins a group of other men to help fight the blazes. Suddenly, Grace is awoken in the night by little Claire: the fire is upon the house. Gene is still gone, so Claire rushes to save Claire and baby Tom, as well as her best friend Rosie and Rosie's two young children. They huddle in the sand near the ocean for hours, and when they are finally rescued, nothing will ever be the same.

<i>This was an amazing book. </i> I'm not always an historical fiction fan (the story is based on actual fire that occurred in Maine), but I'll make an exception for Shreve, whom I've loved since her beautiful novel, [b:The Pilot's Wife|5191|The Pilot's Wife|Anita Shreve|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1435011220s/5191.jpg|3131254]. There is just something poignant and touching about this novel. I was immediately drawn into Grace's story, and I read the novel quickly over the course of a day or so. Shreve creates a fierce and wonderful character in Grace, and you cannot help but root for her.

Grace is held back by so much in her life: her gender, her financial circumstances, her husband. After experiencing such a terrible loss: her entire town is basically burned to the ground, including her home, it's amazing to watch her resilience in the face of such horror. In many ways, it's not as if a lot happens in this novel, yet I feel like so much occurs during Grace's journey. I so loved her spirit, and I also wanted to swoop in and take away all the horrible things that occurred in her life.

I don't want to go into much detail and ruin the details of the plot, but I'll just say that this is a lovely book, with well-drawn characters--led by the tough and wonderful Grace. I was captivated by the story, and I would certainly recommend the novel. 4 stars.

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