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Booksnthreads (19 KP) rated Full Cicada Moon in Books

Jun 4, 2018

I absolutely loved this book! I suppose I’m a bit partial to stories told in poetry, as I’ve really enjoyed all of the YA novels I’ve read that are written this way, but I’m just so impressed at how these authors use this medium to tell incredibly powerful stories about difficult topics.

This particular book addresses issues of racism as well as tackling issues involved with being bi-racial in America, something that hits particularly close to home for me as I’m raising bi-racial children. While the story is set in 1969, I think so many of Mimi’s experiences still resonate today–everything from being followed around a store by a suspicious salesperson to being a wallflower at your first middle school dance.

Of course, the other aspect that I’ve fallen in love with in Marilyn Hilton’s writing is her ability to capture images so beautifully in her poetry. This section, towards the end of the novel, is particularly touching:

I used to think the people of Vermont

were like the snow–

crusty,

chilly,

and slow to thaw

But now I think

they’re what’s underneath.

Like the crocus bulbs making flowers all winter

in the dark earth–

invisible until they push through the snow–

and like the cicadas growing

underground for years–

until they burst from the ground–

the people of Vermont

do their hardest thinking

and their richest feeling

deep inside,

so no one can see.

Kudos

Christine A. (965 KP) rated Truth and Lies (DI Amy Winter, #1) in Books

Dec 9, 2018

Quick Read (1 more)

Didn't want to put it down

Book #1 in Caroline Winter’s DI Amy Winter’s series

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

“Truth and Lies” captured my attention from the very beginning. I frequently read mysteries and suspense books and, while I enjoy them, am not usually surprised by them. This novel included twists and turns that kept me hanging on every page. After I sat down to read it, my eyes starting hurt from reading the first 16 chapters without taking a break!
While dealing with the death of her father, a fellow police officer, DI Amy Winter receives a letter from Lillian Grimes, one half of a notorious serial killing team, her father’s most famous case. Grimes said she is Amy’s biological mother and would reveal the location of her victims were if Amy follows Grimes’s demands. Amy’s world is turned upside down trying to deal with her father’s death, Grimes’s allegations, and the kidnapping of a young girl. The incidents seem to be related, but can Amy trust herself to handle everything with everything that’s happening?
It was refreshing to have such a fully rounded, well developed, strong female character who is portrayed as a police officer and human and have the two so mingled together. “Truth and Lies” is the first in Caroline Winter’s DI Amy Winter’s series.