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writerrhiannon's Reviews (1.1k)
Look out summer reading lists! Lauren Weisberger is back with Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns, a sequel to her 2003 debut novel The Devil Wears Prada. For those of you living under a rock, The Devil Wears Prada shot to the top of the best-seller lists ten years ago and inspired the 2006, $27 million opening weekend film, starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.
Weisberger wrote three more best-selling "luxe life" novels since Devil (Everyone Worth Knowing, Chasing Harry Winston, and Last Night at Chateau Marmont) but thankfully returned to give readers a little more Andy Sachs.
Revenge picks up at Andy's wedding to media heir and darling Max Harrison. Joining forces with now friend and business partner Emily to produce their own high-end bridal magazine, The Plunge, Andy feels that her life is perfect. But as the inside cover of the novel so eloquently states, "karma's a bitch." Andy accidentally finds a letter to Max from his mother on the day of their wedding begging him not to marry her. If that weren't enough, Miranda wants to acquire The Plunge and Andy's life is turned upside down with one phone call.
Read my full review here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/06/revenge-wears-prada-devil-returns.html
Weisberger wrote three more best-selling "luxe life" novels since Devil (Everyone Worth Knowing, Chasing Harry Winston, and Last Night at Chateau Marmont) but thankfully returned to give readers a little more Andy Sachs.
Revenge picks up at Andy's wedding to media heir and darling Max Harrison. Joining forces with now friend and business partner Emily to produce their own high-end bridal magazine, The Plunge, Andy feels that her life is perfect. But as the inside cover of the novel so eloquently states, "karma's a bitch." Andy accidentally finds a letter to Max from his mother on the day of their wedding begging him not to marry her. If that weren't enough, Miranda wants to acquire The Plunge and Andy's life is turned upside down with one phone call.
Read my full review here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/06/revenge-wears-prada-devil-returns.html
Don't be deceived by the size of John Cuevas's Cat Island: The History of a Mississippi Gulf Coast Barrier Island. While under 200 pages, it is filled with the exhaustive history of the T-shaped island. Full of photos, illustrations, charts, graphs and maps, this book leaves no stone of the island unturned.
Cuevas provides an extremely detailed account of his personal ancestry and the island's heritage. This single island has an amazing history full of pirates, soldiers, Seminoles, and gangsters. It boasts of lighthouses, turpentine and lumber businesses, and top secret military dog training. That's quite a variety and that's not even the whole list!
To read my completer review, go here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/06/cat-island.html
Cuevas provides an extremely detailed account of his personal ancestry and the island's heritage. This single island has an amazing history full of pirates, soldiers, Seminoles, and gangsters. It boasts of lighthouses, turpentine and lumber businesses, and top secret military dog training. That's quite a variety and that's not even the whole list!
To read my completer review, go here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/06/cat-island.html
I'll be honest, I didn't want to read this book. It sounded so depressing. Orphaned children shipped to the Midwest for free labor? Ugh. Heartbreaking! But as I gained momentum in my reading, I realized that the train is just a starting point. A metaphor for where life takes you. Sometimes you are merely at the mercy of the route., hopeful for a compassionate conductor.
While the subject matter is indeed bleak, the main character's perseverance and hope overpower even the worst conditions. Dorothy focuses on her future, even after Mr.Grotes' "violation." When she finds she will be staying with Miss Larsen temporarily, her "heart is swelling with joy. Miss Larsen is taking me home with her! I can't believe my good fortune." Instead of focusing on the tragedies of her recent past, she focuses on the present and considers herself lucky.
Read my entire review here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/05/orphan-train.html
I was first introduced to the concept of the Quiverfull movement about seven years ago in a feminist magazine, so when I stumbled upon Kathryn Joyce's 2009 book "Quiverfull (Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement)" I was interested in learning more. Keeping an open mind with the expectation that there would be doctrine I don't believe in, I wanted to find out for myself what the movement was all about.
The first half of the book is packed full of the multiple schisms and branches of Christian religion. Not knowing my Protestant from my Episcopalian, I tried to follow along in explanation of their differing beliefs, but did become a bit confused as to how they define themselves. However, I know this is no fault of the author, but rather the fact that a full religious history would be quite an undertaking. Joyce merely ties together the fact that each of the branches she outlines embrace the belief of a submissive wife. Filled with proclamations from pastors and quotations from the Bible, it is easy to see why the female followers of these congregations accept their submission as their religious duty. Trying to stay open minded, my red flag was waving frantically, but I read on. Then Joyce proceeds to tell the harrowing story of Mark and Jennifer Epstein and pastor Doug Phillips' personal attack on their marriage, specifically Jennifer's refusal to fully submit to her violent husband. And now I am begin to get frustrated. So I gave myself a little pep talk "Ok, ok. I knew it was going to get me worked up, but keep trucking along because what I really want to know about is the mass production of humans."
To read my full review, go here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/04/quiverfull-inside-christian-patriarchy.html
Inspired by her sister's journey of adoption, Patti Callahan Henry drew from personal experience to tell Jack and Katie's story. With measured but warm prose she tackles the legacy of adoption. So often I steer away from novels that contain such a heavy topic because authors draw up characters that become one dimensional and the situation overpowers conversations and relationships. Not so with Henry. Her conversations are precise combinations of words and actions delivering a perfect balance of pain and promise. Each character in the novel is developed and rounded. Their connections to Katie are authentically written and embraced regardless of their intentions toward her. Even selfish prepster Rowan.
Which brings me to my Rowan rant: Understandably a bombshell like an unknown child is bound to be a bit much to take in but when Katie tells him, he is definitely not supportive. Going out all night drinking, turning his phone off, then blabbing to Larson and not even telling him to keep it confidential was bad enough but the way he acted at the dinner party was the worst! Pressuring her to tell "the story" when she clearly doesn't want to, throwing a fit, then storming out of the house when she does tell it. I seriously don't think I've ever wanted to tell a character to get their head out of their ass as much as I wanted to with Rowan. *end rant*
To read my full review, go here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/04/and-then-i-found-you.html
Which brings me to my Rowan rant: Understandably a bombshell like an unknown child is bound to be a bit much to take in but when Katie tells him, he is definitely not supportive. Going out all night drinking, turning his phone off, then blabbing to Larson and not even telling him to keep it confidential was bad enough but the way he acted at the dinner party was the worst! Pressuring her to tell "the story" when she clearly doesn't want to, throwing a fit, then storming out of the house when she does tell it. I seriously don't think I've ever wanted to tell a character to get their head out of their ass as much as I wanted to with Rowan. *end rant*
To read my full review, go here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/04/and-then-i-found-you.html
Rita Leganski's prose cast a spell and hypnotized me for 374 pages. In an epic story spanning three generations, multiple character threads are woven together to produce the most perfect magical realist novel I have ever read. With a cast of characters showing that every action has its consequences both near and far reaching, Leganski provides everything a story with true love, questioning of social relationships, and wonderfully unconventional villains. The Louisiana setting saturates the story to the point of becoming a character itself with its hoodoo, voodoo and class divisions.
To read my full review, go here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-silence-of-bonaventure-arrow-by.html
Lori Barrow, the youngest graduate from Superior Technical Institute (STI) returns to her alma mater in hopes of securing tenure. Soon after her arrival a suspicious death of a disliked student triggers a series of cover-ups, competition and sabotage. The refusal between departments to assist each other results in constant bickering and secret missions.
The science university setting foreshadowed what was hopefully going to be a geeky and quirky mystery, but some of the story's structural problems interfered with a smooth reading. The scrambled flow can probably be attributed to author, Susy Gage's genius brain. As a physics professor, her knowledge of the academic protocols and jargon can be assumed to be massive. However, an average reader needs to have more simplified descriptions.
To read my full review, go here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-slow-cold-death-by-susy-gage.html
The science university setting foreshadowed what was hopefully going to be a geeky and quirky mystery, but some of the story's structural problems interfered with a smooth reading. The scrambled flow can probably be attributed to author, Susy Gage's genius brain. As a physics professor, her knowledge of the academic protocols and jargon can be assumed to be massive. However, an average reader needs to have more simplified descriptions.
To read my full review, go here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-slow-cold-death-by-susy-gage.html
Women tell their hairdressers some things that they don't even tell their best friends. Hairdressers claim that nothing their clients say shocks them. Whatever relationships exist between client and hairdresser, they rarely extend beyond scheduled salon appointments. Dorrie Curtis and Isabelle McAllister, however, develop an unconventional friendship exceeding age and race.
In a novel spanning 70 years, "Calling Me Home" gives intimate insights into multiple interracial relationships. On a road trip from Arlington to Cincinnati in order to attend a funeral, Isabelle and Dorrie reveal more of their pasts to each other. As time on the road progresses, both women's stories come to light. While Dorrie is worried about her new beau being "too good to be true," we see firsthand her daily encounters and dismissals based on her skin color. We learn that Isabelle grew up the daughter of a doctor in a home where the color of your skin determined if you were able to be in town after sundown.
To read my full review, go here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/02/calling-me-home-by-julie-kibler.html
In a novel spanning 70 years, "Calling Me Home" gives intimate insights into multiple interracial relationships. On a road trip from Arlington to Cincinnati in order to attend a funeral, Isabelle and Dorrie reveal more of their pasts to each other. As time on the road progresses, both women's stories come to light. While Dorrie is worried about her new beau being "too good to be true," we see firsthand her daily encounters and dismissals based on her skin color. We learn that Isabelle grew up the daughter of a doctor in a home where the color of your skin determined if you were able to be in town after sundown.
To read my full review, go here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/02/calling-me-home-by-julie-kibler.html
Answering 911 Life in the Hot Seat by Caroline Burau
Caroline Burau acknowledges the general public's fascination with her job. As a 911 dispatcher she fields calls from people in danger as well dangerous people. We follow her from her first day on the job, to on-the-job training, through her rotation at multiple stations within the call center.
I empathized with her back story. She had been through drug addiction and come out on the other side. I also thought that being a 911 operator might be the worst job for a recovering addict in regards to being exposed to triggers on a daily basis. But I was optimistic, I was cheering her on.
The 911 calls themselves are the most fascinating. I suppose it is my voyeuristic nature. However, I quickly became annoyed at Burau's attitude towards her newly adopted stepdaughter. Burau doesn't express many motherly concerns but then makes comments like an exasperated mother. She brushes her stepdaughter off because she doesn't make trouble and gets good grades, but she is annoyed that she talks too much. This insight into Burau's nature was the first to rub me the wrong way.
Read my full review here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/01/answering-911-life-in-hot-seat.html
Mary Sharratt sculpts this historical novel from the real characters and events recorded by Lancashire court clerk Thomas Potts's in his 1613 publication The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster. Cunning woman, Bess Southerns, heals the local animals and citizens of Pendle Forest. Her descendants as well as one of her childhood friends share her abilities, though each have individual strengths. Illegitimate children, changing religions, and individual relationships in a small pastoral community fill the majority of the novel. While most of the Bess's neighbors welcome her and provide work for her family members there are those that that are wary. Only when her granddaughter Alizon is grown do the accusations of witchcraft begin to brew and fingers are pointed.
Read my full review here:
http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2013/06/daughters-of-witching-hill.html