February Books

[mainemilyhoon.livejournal.com]

Murder is Bad Manners by Robin Stevens (I won an ARC of this from the author on Twitter; it won't be out until late April.)

The perfect mix of boarding school story and murder mystery, very British and very fun. The story is told in the form of a case book written by Hazel Wong, whose best friend Daisy Wells has decided that this term they should form a detective team and investigate cases. Neither of them expects to come across a real mystery, though, in the form of a teacher's dead body.

First Impressions by Charlie Lovett (didn't finish, lost interest)
This book had me at Oxford and Jane Austen...or it should have. The modern chapters are bad enough, but every other chapter is told from Jane Austen's perspective, as she's just started writing Pride and Prejudice - and in Charlie Lovett's version, she plagiarized it (the heck??!?).



Cover Her Face by P.D. James (didn't finish, lost interest)
My only previous experience with P.D. James was Death Comes to Pemberley, which I wasn't impressed with, but I thought maybe that was just due to her trying to copy Jane Austen's style too much. After her death a few months ago I read an article which made me want to read some of her other books, and this was the only one checked in at the time. It was alright, it just seemed to lack a spark that would hold my interest. The characters felt very character-y, if that makes sense? Like, they'd been thought up just to behave like people in a mystery novel, but they weren't believable as real people. I just didn't find it very enjoyable.

When by Victoria Laurie
Weird but compelling thriller about a girl who can see people's death dates on their foreheads. She warns one woman whose son is about to die, and when the boy disappears on the day she mentioned, the mother accuses her of having something to do with it. It didn't seem entirely plausible that the police would be so quick to suspect a teenage girl who'd never been in trouble before for what turns out to be a brutal murder, but after listening to Serial maybe it isn't so far-fetched? Anyway. The other thing I didn't like was the love interest, Aidan, who showed up every once in a while just to give the main character a chance to talk about how cute he was, but had no connection to the rest of the story until the very last page. And then it was super-duper cheesy.

Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
A Poirot mystery that felt strangely dissatisfying until I finally realized why: you spend the majority of the book thinking that one person's life is in danger, only to find out at the end that the real victim, the one who deserved sympathy and protection, was a character who showed up seemingly at random and who died a few pages later. Which is actually quite clever, now that I think about it! Clever, but frustrating.

The Midnight Queen by Sylvia Izzo Hunter
Another one that had me at Oxford, Regency England, and magic, except it didn't pan out. After an exciting beginning it slowed waaaaay down and took forever to pick back up. The main character was too passive, didn't seek answers that I wanted, even if he didn't, and was just kind of generally useless. The romance was awkward, too. I just really didn't like this book!

Fairest by Marissa Meyer
I seem to be the only person who wasn't thrilled when Marissa Meyer announced this was going to be her next book, but come on! I want Winter! That didn't stop me from pre-ordering, though, and I'm glad I did. For one thing, finding out more about the evil Queen Levana and why she is the way she is (and what she wants with Prince Kai) does add another level to the stories. For another: FIRST 3 CHAPTERS OF WINTER!!!! And they are awesome!

Honey By Sarah Weeks (skimmed at work)
Fun little middle-grade story about a girl who overhears something and jumps to a conclusion, which may or may not be right, about her dad. Alternates chapters with the thoughts of a dog who was taken in by a stranger after his owner died. It's quirky and funny and enjoyable, even if the adult reader will pick up clues about the dad's secret which the target audience probably won't.

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger
I do not get all the fuss about this book. Yes, it's kind of amazing that Kody Keplinger wrote it when she was a teenager, but it's cliche city and if the guy in a story treated a girl the way the girl in this book treats the guy, people would be up in arms about sexual assault. So basically, Bianca is at a teen hangout with her friends one night when the school "man whore" approaches her and tells her flat out that he's talking to her so her hotter friends will think he's a nice guy - that she's the "DUFF" - Designated Ugly Fat Friend. Which leads, in a roundabout way, to Bianca throwing herself at him repeatedly whenever she's upset. It's crass and unromantic and cynical and kind of unpleasant to read.

Breaking the Ice by Gail Nall
I didn't realize the characters in this were so young, I just saw figure skating in the description and couldn't NOT read it! It's cute, but very young - at one point the main character is paired up for a lesson with a 15-year-old skater and is swooning over how mature and manly he is, which cracked me up.

Perfect Couple by Jennifer Echols
What happened to the Jennifer Echols who wrote Going Too Far? I've read that book about six times and I never get tired of it, but her newest series is really bad. Really, really bad. It's set in a Florida high school where everyone is taking drugs and sleeping around and more worried about dates for dances than what they're going to do after high school. I didn't think it would get worse than the first book, but it did. And as a bonus, it featured one of my least favorite tropes: girl has boyfriend who is awful but refuses to acknowledge that they aren't suited. Girl finds boy she likes better but refuses to acknowledge that she likes him. Girl cheats. We're supposed to sympathize. Uh, no.

The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore
I can never quite decide whether I like this or not. I've read it three times now - the first time I loved it, the second I barely made it through, and this time I have mixed feelings. Southern gothic isn't a genre I normally go for - I like my gothic romances British, thanks very much - and the plot of this one gets messy, so much so that after reading it three times I'm still not quite sure what happens at the climax. There's a lot of build-up and then the story kind of coasts to an end without a lot of explanation. Sylvie can be a bit irritating, but she admits it, and it's not like she doesn't have reason to be. I guess I just want it to be a little more...fully developed.

The Importance of Being Alice by Katie MacAlister
Katie MacAlister writes the most ridiculous, over the top books. Her heroines are always extremely talkative, especially during the intimate scenes - it works, though, because instead of going into a lot of flowery romance novel detail, she can be very vague about details but still make it obvious what's going on. And her heroes are always big, bumbling guys who look alpha but are more beta at heart. This one sets up a new series about a family of adopted siblings and their Elizabethan estate, and even though I would have liked a little more relationship development before the first sex scene (they knew each other for 2 days! 2!) they were really sweet together. The spy plot felt unnecessary but added some funny moments.

The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead
Ugh, this series should have been three books long, not six. Once Sydney and Adrian got together everything fun about it got swallowed up by gloppy scenes where they talked about how true and pure and strong their love was. Sydney seemed to lose her brain when along with her heart and made stupid decision on top of stupid decision, and Adrian changed from flirtatious and charming to a mopey wimp. This was supposed to be the final book to wrap up the series but Richelle Mead seems to have forgotten that she had actual plot points that needed to be addressed and made the focus all on how Sydney and Adrian could live happily ever after. So so stupid. It makes my slight disappointment with the way Rose treated Adrian in the last Vampire Academy book look like nothing in comparison.

Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier
I made it about ten chapters in and then it got bogged down in a lot of Alaskan history that wasn't really what I wanted to read about, so I just stopped.

All the Money in the World by Laura Vanderkam
Asks, "how can money be used to make us happy?" Her answers all seem aimed at people like her, upper-middle-class families with freelance jobs that allow for flexibility in schedule and budget. But I think her basic principle is sound - figure out what you actually want and put your money toward that, rather than spending all your money on a house or car that looks impressive but doesn't really bring you joy.

Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver
Personal pet peeve: the itty-bitty font used in this book! It hurt my eyes to read too long. The story, however, is great fun; for once the (American) author doesn't overdo the Britishisms and it sounds authentically English. I liked the love triangle for a change, it was handled pretty well and the main character's reasons for not being able to choose between the two guys made sense for once! I was completely blindsided by the murderer, too; I was fairly certain who'd done it and had a compelling case built up in my head for his guilt, but it was all a red herring. Well done, Ms. Weaver!

Pairing Off by Elizabeth Harmon
Between Jennifer Comeaux and Elizabeth Harmon I've realized that figure skating romance is exactly my brand of heroin.* Maybe because I read My Sergei ten times in a row when it first came out, or maybe because I spent five years of my life plotting to move to Russia and marry Alexei Urmanov - the combination of love story and skating story just works for me. I especially loved this one because, even though I don't think the author has ever been to Russia, she made Moscow come to life on the page. She wrote very convincing chemistry between Carrie and Anton, too. About the only thing I didn't like was that the skating scenes were glossed over for the most part, and the competition between the different pairs felt flimsy as a result.

A Fine Romance by Susan Branch
Re-read, trying to decide whether I like it enough to buy it. I think I do. Susan Branch can be a bit much sometimes; she's very...twee, I think is the best word for it, but there's so much here I do love: the essays on cottage gardens, public footpaths, and driving on the "wrong" side of the road, and the section on Jane Austen. (Though it does irk me that she says J.A. had to publish anonymously because she was a woman. Some of the most popular novelists of the day were female and published under their own names; J.A. just didn't want the publicity.) As long as you're in the right mood for it, it's sweet. (If you're not in the right mood, it can be annoying.)

The Gentleman Jewel Thief by Jessica Peterson
Historical sort-of caper romance with no chemistry between hero and heroine and some incredibly cheesy lines. At one point the heroine turns down the hero's proposal by saying, "You live for the thrill. I live for the chase." Not only does it not make sense, it just sounds stupid.

Ace's Wild by Sarah McCarty
Fifty Shades of Grey, Wild West style. Dreadful.

Never Surrender to a Scoundrel by Lily Dalton
Heroine was seduced by a man she thought was going to marry her, then finds out she's pregnant. While being comforted by a family friend, they're discovered in what looks like a compromising position, and forced to marry. No one knows he's actually a spy assigned to guard her grandfather. Fun, slightly gothic, lots of kissing scenes. I do love an arranged marriage story!

When You Give a Duke a Diamond by Shana Galen
Started out alright, about a woman everyone believes is mistress to a wealthy Earl but is really more of a daughter to him, and a Duke who thinks emotions are the root of all evil. They have to team up for...some reason I've forgotten now...and end up falling in love, naturally. It was an interesting twist on the "hero believes heroine is a loose woman" trope, because she'd been married before her reputation was ruined so had no way to prove to him that she wasn't what everyone believed her to be. But the ending was awful; for some reason the author decided the hero needed to grovel (I don't know why; he hadn't done anything, she was the one who stormed out without listening and then refused to see him for weeks) and made this stupid scene at the opera where everyone watched while he proposed.

The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy by Julia Quinn
Julia Quinn is awesome; if you ever want to read one of my favorite romance novels, her Brighter Than the Sun is great! I'd read a couple of reviews of this one which made me wary, but now that I've read it I can't figure out why there's so much hate for the hero. The way people on Goodreads were carrying on I expected his secret to be something much more appalling or scandalous. It was a jerkish thing to do, yes, but not completely unreasonable given the time and circumstances.

Losing the Ice by Jennifer Comeaux
Novella continuing the story from Crossing the Ice, where two former rivals are now a pairs skating team and have to deal with a potentially career-ending injury. I always like Jennifer Comeaux's books, but this one fell just a little flat. It was so short that there wasn't enough time for character development beyond what we got in the first book.

Love, Lucy by April Lindner
A Room with a View is not a story I'm very familiar with - I remember watching the movie several years ago, and I might have read the book, but if I did I don't know if I even finished it - so I can't really say whether this is a good modernization. Either way, I didn't like it very much. Like she did with Jane Eyre in Jane, April Lindner leaves out the heart of the story in order to focus on romance with a Bruce Springsteen lookalike, and pretty much everything she finds hot about the guys she writes turns me off, so it just doesn't work for me.

Gentleman in the Street by Alisha Rai
Makes 50 Shades look like an inspirational romance novel. And I think the less said about it, the better.

Scent of Heather by Jane Peart
After reading that I felt a bit dirty and took refuge in some Christian fiction. Jane Peart was my favorite author from 4th grade through probably my sophomore year of high school, but I never realized she'd written anything besides the Brides of Montclair series. Much to my surprise, the library has a whole bunch of her romantic suspense novels in the large print collection! I really liked the banter between hero and heroine in this one, and I always love it when Jane Peart writes about Scotland. Some of the clothing descriptions made me laugh, though - it was written in 1985, so you can probably imagine what she thought was stylish!

*Yes, that's a Twilight reference.



February total books read: 28
2015 total books read: 52

Comments

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

Sheesh, you read so much. But am I reading correctly that you're counting books you don't finish in your final tally?

I got Fairest from the library yesterday!

I keep seeing commercials for The DUFF movie and they make me roll my eyes, because of course the girl is not at all ugly or fat. I've not read the book but remember hearing about it through Brenda or someone else on LJ.

[mainemilyhoon.livejournal.com]

Yes, I count even the ones I don't finish because usually I still skim through to the end and find out how it all turns out.

Based on the trailers, the DUFF movie looks like it'll only be very loosely based on the book - there's nothing in the book about the guy teaching her how to be hot, and there's no mean girl she has to stand up to. Much as I dislike the book I think it would be a better movie as written, rather then turning it into a cliche teen makeover movie.

[sk8eeyore.livejournal.com]

Maybe because I read My Sergei ten times in a row when it first came out, or maybe because I spent five years of my life plotting to move to Russia and marry Alexei Urmanov

Awesome.

My interest is decidedly piqued by this idea of figure skating fiction. All-time favorites you'd recommend?

[mainemilyhoon.livejournal.com]

It's frustrating, because there's not very much of it, and a lot of it tends to be aimed at preteen girls. But the "Edge" series by Jennifer Comeaux is great, especially the first book. She does a nice job balancing skating scenes with off-ice stuff, and knows how to keep up the romantic tension! (I also appreciated that her heroine is a virgin who wants to save herself for marriage, and it's not treated like an unreasonable expectation or a problem.)

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

My Sergei. *cries*

I see Facing East in your picture but not on the list - did I miss it?

[mainemilyhoon.livejournal.com]

No, you didn't miss anything. I checked it out but still haven't gotten around to reading it!