5 stars I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. While reading it, I considered deducting points for a few reasons, but ultimately, I enjoyed the book far too much to allow a few issues to affect my review. My issues were… First of all, Uncle Ezra was too obviously a villain right from the start so it bothered me how long it took for Matthew to figure that out. The fact that his mother had left was a bit too convenient to account for Ezra’s influence over Matthew. I was also bothered by Matthew’s tendency to be easily manipulated by Ezra, allowing him to repeatedly keep Matthew from Julia when it was clear he wanted to be with her. The other issue was that Matthew had no friends. Like all other young men of the gentry, wasn’t he sent away to boarding school? Wouldn’t he have made friends while there? Why were none of them in his life, offering advice and counsel, potentially opposing what his uncle said? Not having friends made Matthew particularly susceptible to Ezra’s machinations and it seemed unbelievable to me. I realize he was young, but he was exceptionally uncertain and insecure. The narration is good. It starts in the present, with Mrs. Rutley (Julia’s former headmistress) asking Julia to tell her the story of how she met her husband, Matthew. Yes, she already knows the story, but her reasons for requesting this make sense. By retelling the story, Julia travels into the past to describe their meeting. Unfortunately, she narrates as a third-person narrator. It only works because the reader is drawn into the story and forgets that it is Julia telling it. That said, had I edited the book, I would have suggested switching to Julia’s first-person POV to keep it consistent with the concept of her retelling her story. (I hope the author does this in future books in this series, but it won’t be a deal-breaker for me if she doesn’t). The other thing that was hard to miss was the frequent usage of exclamation points! In The Elements of Style (Strunk & White), exclamation points are addressed thusly: Do not attempt to emphasize simple statements by using a mark of exclamation… The exclamation mark is to be reserved for use after true exclamations or commands. The author would do well to remember this! ;) There is a sequence of events in the story that didn’t make sense. In chapter 19, the girls eat dinner, Julia comments on how delicious it was, and then Mrs. Rutley goes out. (I think this has something to do with what happens in Emma’s story.) Julia goes upstairs and finds Bridget, her lady’s maid, in her room. Bridget asks Julia if she’d like her to help her get changed for dinner (but she just ate dinner). Julia agrees that it would be best to do it right away. Meanwhile, Ruth enters her room and informs her she has set up a meeting with Matthew at 10 pm in the garden. She follows up by telling Julia she’d better get dressed soon because the hour is growing late. By the time Bridget has finished getting Julia ready to go meet Matthew, it’s time to go. The tension is good and I found myself stressing for Julia and Matthew near the end, even though I knew they would end up together (not just because this is a romance, but also because she is telling how she met him). Somehow, the author managed to inject uncertainty into a guaranteed outcome. I thought the characters were developed well, with multi-layered personalities and backgrounds, even secondary characters. In fact, this was so well done that I am anxious to read Emma’s story, even though I’m fairly certain I know one of the secrets that will be revealed. I really enjoyed Jennifer Moore’s storytelling and would be happy to read more of her books. I’m hoping the next in the series will also be offered by Netgalley and I’m keeping my eyes open for that. January 3, 2022
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5 stars I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. I’m afraid it will stay with me for a long time. (Trigger warning: somewhat graphic gang rape). Jodie, a white “disabled” girl, accuses four Muslim boys of raping her. Well, really, she accuses three while she claims one watched and did nothing to help. Each time one of the characters speaks, you feel certain that this one is telling the truth. Then, you find out it was a lie and wonder if anyone is telling the truth. The returning sentiment over and over again is a desire to “take it back.” Jodie wishes she could take back the accusation and the boys wish they could take back what happened that night. But does she wish to recant because she lied or because the trial is too painful? Do they wish to take back what happened that night because they did something unspeakable or because they are innocent and handled things poorly? Did things just get overblown? The entire community becomes involved and the racist vitriol and misogyny are on full display. The Muslim community accuses Zara, Jodie’s legal representative, of betraying her Muslim brethren and call her a whore, amongst other things. Meanwhile, the white community spews racist epithets against the Muslims, and Zara is included in their rancor. It seems everyone is against her, and even her family begs her to withdraw from the case. But she feels honor-bound to continue to fight for Jodie, despite her misgivings about whether Jodie may be lying. “Zara, the brave” is just a regular person trying to navigate life and do what’s right. She has her foibles and she makes mistakes, but ultimately, she allows her conscience to determine her actions. She’s not the only one. In the end, the truth is revealed and it’s horrifying. This story is compelling and shrouded in mystery. It’s really hard to make any kind of judgment about who is telling the truth and who is lying. Because there are always three sides to every story (side one, side two, and the truth), there’s a sense that all may be telling some version of their truth. In fact, only one character comes across as a sociopathic liar (Hassan), but since his friends share his story, it’s hard to assume he’s lying. If he’s lying, that means they all are and they are far more sympathetic characters. It’s a terribly sad story of five young people whose lives are irrevocably damaged by the thoughtless actions of one night. It’s also the story of Zara, who is actually the heroine of this story, a Muslim woman fighting against the misogyny obvious in her community but also prevalent in society as a whole. It highlights the assumptions we make about the “other” and how tribalism influences our beliefs and actions. Sadly, it also serves as a reminder of why so many women choose not to report rapes. I’m not sure how I hoped this book would end, but it wasn’t like this. I'm reminded of these words from the book: "Zara listened as the words from Jodie's mouth fell like black spiders, crawling over her skin and making her recoil." To be honest, when I initially read these words, I thought it was a great image, but it wasn’t until later in the book that I actually felt them. Now, I wonder if I can wash the stench off of my skin because, honestly, it made me sick. January 2, 2022 3 stars I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. I was intrigued by the plot, and even though I was unfamiliar with the author, it sounded worth reading. I have mixed feelings now that I have read it. I loved the plot. It was thought-provoking and memorable, with a strong dose of romance. I don’t want to ruin the plot so I won’t go into detail. The characters were multi-dimensional, with real feelings and motivations. It was the narrative that bothered me. About one-third of the way through the book, I almost stopped reading. I found the narrative to be boring, with few conversations, descriptions of feelings rather than actions demonstrating them, and a lot of filler (in my opinion). The story starts out from the POV of Tom Waites. For unexplained reasons, Tom Waites is omnipresent and omniscient. He not only relates conversations, he also relates the feelings of those participating. In chapter 24, the POV changes to Bruce Meyer’s. Chapter 31 is Rachel Lee. Chapter 32 is Jack Campbell. Then, it’s back to Bruce, Rachel, Jack, Katherine St. Clair, Rachel, Jack, Rachel, Frank Walsh, Katherine, Rachel, and Bruce. If that’s not confusing enough, many times when the POV changed, the same scene was described from the new POV, with the same dialogue, but different feelings expressed by the person experiencing it. Changing the POV after 23 chapters of just the one (Tom) was jarring and made me turn back to figure out what had happened. Switching back and forth was irritating. There was also the jump in time without much of a transition that took the reader from the past to the present. The reason this was so confusing was because the entire novel was told in the present-tense. I enjoyed the theme of the book, the realization that we mere humans are kidding ourselves if we think we can change destiny. Because the narrative was so matter-of-fact, I never really connected with any of the characters and felt their pain. This was unfortunate because the idea of selflessly separated soulmates could have been a serious tear-jerker. Instead, it was just another fact of the story; nothing more. I wish the author had been able to engage my emotions. If not for the exceptionally fascinating plot, I would probably give the book only one or two stars. December 29, 2021 |
Elizabeth J ConnorWriter. Editor. Proofreader. Archives
September 2022
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