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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Summerland in Books

Mar 19, 2020

Summerland

Elin Hilderbrand | 2012 | Romance

6.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

It's high school graduation on Nantucket. But this usual time of celebration turns to tragedy when--on graduation night--a terrible car crashes kills one local student, Penny Alistair, and leaves her twin brother, Hobson, in a coma. Penny's boyfriend, Jake, and her friend, Demeter, are not hurt, at least physically. But the crash shakes the island and leaves everyone wondering exactly what happened. Why was Penny driving Jake's Jeep that night? What caused her to drive so quickly and recklessly?

I enjoy every Elin Hilderbrand book I read, and I liked this one, though it wasn't one of my all-time favorites. I didn't find myself greatly attached to any one character, or really pulled deeply into the plot. Honestly, while many of Hilderbrand's books have a dark or sad side, this one was really depressing at times, even though there was a layer of hope as well. It hit very close to home, as I am a mother of twins, so maybe that was part of it. I was a little heartbroken, and my heart went out to Zoe, the mother of Penny and Alistair.

As with all Hilderbrand books, the story is interesting, and she weaves a detailed and intricate tale of island life. There's more than just an accident, with intersecting webs of characters. I liked the parallels and ties between the high school children and their parents. It was an engaging story, with a lot of serious subjects.

I'm glad I read this one, but if you're just starting out with Hilderbrand, there are other books I'd recommend first. 3+ stars.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2357 KP) rated Murder on Memory Lake in Books

Apr 8, 2020

Tranquility Shattered by Murder

Things are looking up for Alberta Scaglione in her retirement. She’s inherited money and a cabin on Memory Lake from an aunt, and her granddaughter, Jinx, has come back into her life thanks to a job for the local paper in Tranquility, New Jersey. However, things take a sad turn when Alberta finds the body of her childhood nemesis in the lake. Alberta quickly realizes the woman was murdered, and Jinx talks Alberta into investigating to jump start her transition to crime reporter. Can they solve the case?

The book starts out with a couple of chapters that are little more than data dumps, giving us the background on the characters. Yes, we need to know the information, but it could have been slipped into the novel better. The mystery itself is strong with several viable suspects and a logical trail to the great climax with some fun red herrings along the way. Alberta and Jinx are joined by another couple family members, and the four women are a delight, making me laugh a few times. The book is written in omniscient point of view, but mostly sticking with Alberta and Jinx. It mostly works, but it allows for passages of the characters pondering life. These felt like they’d be more at home in a literary novel than a mystery. The book closes out with a few recipes. The bones of the book are good, but overall, it felt overwritten. There is enough enjoyable elements to the book that if you are curious about the book, I recommend you check it out and see what you think for yourself.

Kudos

ClareR (5885 KP) rated Coming Up For Air in Books

Apr 17, 2020

Coming Up For Air

Sarah Leipciger | 2020 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry

10.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Coming Up For Air is a really interesting book, in that it gives a life to the face of the resuscitation dummy, Resusci Anne. The original mask was the death mask of a suicide victim in Paris in 1899, and Leipciger tells the background story of a girl who decides to take her own life when her life becomes unbearable.

We also meet the Norwegian toy maker who designs Resusci Anne, and the things that happened in his life that brought him to that point. His is an equally sad story, and although he has been fictionalised, he has been based om the real man who made the doll.

The third story is that of a Canadian girl with cystic fibrosis, and her journey from childhood up until she becomes a journalist as an adult.

This is a book about transformations: the French maid is transformed in to a mask that will be recognised around the world over a hundred years after her death; a toy maker is transformed after the death of his beloved son, into someone who tries to ensure that everyone has the ability for such things not to happen again; and a woman with cystic fibrosis has a literal transformation with the promise of renewed, transplanted lungs.

This novel sucked me in to all three lives and times. Both the French girls and the child’s death devastated me, and the Canadian woman’s story was one of hope (although I was pretty much dreading the idea that something bad would happen to her).

I loved this book, and I feel lucky to have read it. I would most definitely recommend it.