Book Review: An Unlikely Goddess by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar

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An Unlikely Goddess by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar

A Historical Fiction Novel published through Createspace Independent Publishing Platform (10/14/13)

 

Summary:

“A straight man who won’t sleep with you because he wants to be serious? Marry him,” Manoj said, “Be happy and have lots of babies.” (Kindle Locations 3601-3602).

An Unlikely Goddess focusses on the cultural traditions of an Indian family in both India and America, with a specific focus on the first born daughter Sita. From her very birth, where she was supposed to be a boy and not a girl, she disappoints her mother, father and herself. She must figure out what she believes in order to find her way in a world where she is considered an outsider. Sita’s family is seen by Indian relatives and neighbors as the opulent immigrant family in America, where wealth is taken for granted, but their reality is far different. Sita’s family struggles to stay afloat in America and this borderline poverty affects Sita and her own struggles to be American and fit into the unforgiving expectations of the American schoolchildren.

 

Keywords:

Culture, South Asia – India, Immigrants, Fitting In, Breaking Away, Poverty, Expectations, Faith, Stuck, Happiness, Freedom, Female Main Character

 

My Review:

I will jump right in and say that Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar is like the South Asian version of Amy Tan. Rajakumar’s story in Unlikely Goddess is about a young girl growing up as a woman, an Indian immigrant displaced into a vastly different culture than the one she grew up in, parents who want their children to stay true to their culture and traditions, the oppression against females and their independence, and more. Unlikely Goddess is a brilliantly written, masterfully told, powerful story about Sita.

Rajakumar was able to weave a story that was as fascinating and informative as any of Amy Tan’s novels about Chinese immigrants or turn of the century China. An Unlikely Goddess was a story alive that gave me an unusual insight into Sita’s life. Sita was a fascinating character. Her story was the main focus, but through her the reader is privy to the angst a teen feels in America as culturally and ethnically and financially set apart from her peers. Sita’s discomfort was the reader’s discomfort. Rakajumar is able to translate the book’s emotions so that the reader is involved in Sita’s life and her emotions and desires.

It is not just Sita that the reader feels compassion and understanding toward, but also her mother Mythili. Through books like these readers can gain a true understanding of what it’s like to be thrust into an environment where you are the one apart, where you are the one that is different, where expectations are placed on you for your gender and your culture and your skin color.

This book blew me away and I appreciated Rajakumar’s prose and style and story so much that I plan on reading everything else she has written.

This novel was published through Createspace Independent Publishing Platform October 14th, 2013 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 5.0

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar’s Website

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Book Review: From the Wreckage by Michele G. Miller

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From the Wreckage by Michele G. Miller

A YA Romance Novel published by Enchanted Ink Press (06/11/14)

 

Summary:

“Don’t waste a day wondering what if.” (Page 88).
From the Wreckage is a book that explores the above quote. For Texas teen Jules Blacklin, everything changes in one day when a natural disaster tears her small town apart. Her life is turned topsy turvey following the tornadoe’s wake. She has lost one of her best friends. Her town has a lot of recovery to go through. Her school was decimated. The aspect of her life that changed the most; however, was realizing that it isn’t worth it to stay in a relationship that isn’t the same anymore and that she shouldn’t put off her own happiness.

 

Keywords:

Contemporary Romance, Natural Disaster, Loss, Grief, Texas, Small Town, School Rivalry, Friendship

 

My Review:

This book throttled me as hard as the tornado devastated Jules’ town. The description of events leading up to and during the tornado were like a scene from the classic movie Twister. I was on the edge of my seat and my eyes were wide with the tension. The author really does capture the emotional upheaval and turmoil that goes along with escaping the clutches of a disaster. And this was less than a quarter of the way through the novel.

How could it get more tense? How could there be more excitement? Well, there wasn’t. Michelle Miller climaxed less than 25% through the novel and spent the rest of the plot and character development in limbo. It was like if I stay by Gayle Foreman, where you’re waiting for the big punch, only to be disappointed by the almost lackluster and anticlimactic ending. Miller set herself up for this when she gave away her big emotional roller coaster so soon. The rest was just the aftermath.

I thought the book could have been shorter. After all, how much resolution can there be after a climax so soon? Still, I wasn’t disappointed entirely because the novel fits quite well into young adult literature, giving me all the angsty teen drama I could want. I just wish it hadn’t been preempted so soon with such a whirlwind beginning. For this unequal pacing I was annoyed, but not too much because I loved Miller’s writing style and how she painted her characters.

This book wasn’t about the action so much as about the characters. It was fascinating to watch Jules go through her own stages of grieving and loss. Her conflicted thoughts on her relationships with both the football star and West Rutledge were the highlight of the book in my mind.

The second major nuisance of the novel was the way Miller presented the story. It was told mainly through the narrative of Jules herself, as she tells the story for the video documentation of the high school seniors. This is so annoying and unnecessary that I skipped almost all the parts where Jules is in the present commenting on the past. The second major nuisance of the novel was the odd sounding tense used (third person present). It was jarring every time I picked up the book and made the entire thing difficult to read on a sentence by sentence basis. For these two reasons alone this book will never be a five-star book, at least in my opinion. If the story is in the past, let it be in the past and don’t pull us out of the narrative to let us know Jules is sad again in the present. Let the story tell itself! Still, if I had noticed these errors before I had begun reading, would I do it again? Yes, because the story was interesting, the characters were fascinating, and the emotions were real.

This novel was published by Enchanted Ink Press June 11th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.25

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Michele Miller’s Website

Book Review: Pieces of Me by Carrigan Richards

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Pieces of Me by Carrigan Richards

A YA Novel published through CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (01/26/14)

 

Summary:

 “One thing I’ve learned is that those who won’t support you aren’t worth your time.” -Scott (Kindle Locations 428-429).
What if you were responsible for the death of a loved one? Corinne fell asleep for an instant, but that’s all it took for a chain of events to lead to her brother’s death. She should have been the one to die instead of him, or so she thinks. When those around her blame her for his death too, she internalizes the guilt even further. Headaches from the accident and panic attacks from her own remorse build up until she can no longer take the pain and the guilt. After being sent to Fairview Mental Institution, Cor meets others who are trying to heal or have tried to end it, just like her. She is not alone, even though she thinks those most important to her have abandoned her. It will take all her strength and willpower to work through her emotions and finally open up to her doctor about what happened.

 

Keywords:

 Teen Angst, Emotional, Suicide, Mental Institution, Abusive Relationships, Love, Infatuation, Imperfections, Female Main Character, Death, Accidents, Guilt

 

My Review:

I wanted to like this book. It has everything a teen wants to read: angst and struggle, a female main character, a romance, relationships between friends and lovers. I think this would be a great book for a teen to read if they can look past its faults and stick with the core theme and message presented.

Corinne was supposed to be likeable, even with her faults. The reader is supposed to, if not relate to her, but sympathize with her. I thought Richards was trying too hard to get me to sympathize with Corinne by making the other characters around her unrealistically put her down and make her life harder. In making Corinne a stronger and more dynamic character, Richards made her other characters stereotyped and one dimensional. Lisa was too mean. I’ve never thought a girl deserved to get punched in the face as much as Lisa. If she had been a guy someone would have done it. Even though she was given the motivation to behave the way she does, I thought her character was over the top while at the same time too shallow. Corinne’s mom was too unsympathetic to Cor, to the point beyond abuse. Both Corinne’s parents, actually, behaved unlike parents or people. They were robotic, only serving the role of parents, with the dad being the helpful parent and the mom being the conflicted unhelpful parent throughout the entire book until the resolution.

James. The love interest. He was the worst. There is no teenager alive like him. He was the most unrealistic character of them all. Instead of being perfect prince charming he was flat and annoying (i.e. too perfect). Prince Charming has to be at least flawed enough to imagine in real life, unlike perfect James who loved Cor from when he first set eyes on her and loved her with all his being immediately… Why does he even like her? We are shown an average girl of at least above average beauty who apparently has very few hobbies and talents and seems quite unremarkable, yet James falls instantly in love. Not just in love, either, he was puppy dog love obsessed in love.

The dialogue was idealistic for teenagers. They spoke quite well and communicated very, very well for being conflicted and emotional and young. A teen reader may not notice this, but I thought it was unusual for characters to be so well-spoken in the midst of such emotionally charged events.

The second half also become quite repetitive and the author pushed her point over and over again before finally bursting through the climax and on to the resolution.

Richards handled the ending very well. She gave us almost all the resolution that was needed. The only resolutions I wanted more of were those with Corinne’s mom and Lisa and Will (albeit a minor character). Even though Corinne resolved her conflicts with Lisa, I felt that Lisa’s conflict was still unresolved and perhaps a book two would take over Lisa’s story?

Overall, despite the flaws of the book, I thought it was interesting to read and worth the time of any conflicted teenager as I thought it was emotionally authentic, showing how Corinne felt and what she was going through in a way anyone in a similar emotional state could relate to.

This novel was published through CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform January 26, 2014 and is available on amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.00

 

Links for more information:

Carrigan Richards’ Website

Goodreads

Book Review: Shadows on Snow: A Flipped Fairy Tale (Flipped Fairy Tales) by Starla Huchton

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Shadows on Snow: A Flipped Fairy Tale (Flipped Fairy Tales) by Starla Huchton

A Fantasy/Fairy Tale Adaptation published through CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (11/03/14)

 

Summary:

“Strength comes in many forms. Beauty is but one.” (Page 28).

Raelynn is both beautiful and strong and when she overhears that the Queen is in trouble, she cannot but try to help. Rae has a magical gift that helps her remain unnoticed as she attempts to help the Queen. In the form of a lowly, simple stable boy she is still able to charm the young Prince Leopold, but when he is in danger himself, she must try to save him as well. Forever late, even in birth, can Rae protect the Prince from his evil stepfather?

 

Keywords:

 Fairy Tale Adaptation, Contemporary Fairy Tale, Magic, Wards, Glamour, Survival, Family, Love, Romance, True Love, Souls, Strong Female

 

My Review:

The messages in this fairy tale adaptation ring loud and true. Starla describes animals that have intelligence and feelings, life having souls, being strong even after victimization, standing up for beliefs, perseverance and hard work paying off, love being the highest form of magic. Each ‘moral’ is layered into the novel so that none come off as too obvious. There were so many wise words in this tale, so much one could learn, so many beautiful quotes. Starla is wise beyond measure and is able to communicate through her novels these lovely themes.

Starla’s characters are the noblest and the most evil. They became larger than life for me and I loved all of them, even the evil stepfather, because they were each and every one so well described, unique, and so real you could sink your teeth into them.

The main character, Raelynn was very well written and I fell instantly in love with her. She is stubborn but resilient. She is well meaning but can’t always talk about her feelings. She has a resounding character flaw that isn’t so much a ‘flaw’ but an event that is cataclysmic in her need to help others when she can and to do everything to shield herself for protection. She doesn’t hesitate when it comes to duty.

Prince Leo falls in instalove with Rae, but for good reason. She is wonderful, with passion and care for those around her and for what she believes in. She is beautiful and kind, but also timid at times and brave when she needs to be. She is the ultimate strong female character, even though she is constantly plagued and haunted by memories of a tragedy that happened in her past.

This book contains magic, but not in the over the top kind. The use of magic is not a crutch for the author but a wonderful new imaginative tool.

I loved the special bond between the seven sisters.

The author’s clever interweaving of subtle hints of common fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White was awesome and so very, very clever.

The character’s never break character and fit so well into the world/environment that Starla has created for them in this book.

My only critique would be to get rid of the epilogue and do away with the introductory bit in the beginning.

This novel was published through CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform November 3rd, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 5.00

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Starla Huckton’s Website

Book Review: Coordinates For Murder (Geocache Series Book #1) by Darren Kirby

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Coordinates For Murder (Geocache Series Book #1) by Darren Kirby

A Thriller/Horror Novel published on amazon.com (02/18/2012)

 

Summary:

 Sammy and John are two friends who are in to geocaching. They plan a camping trip out into the woods to find a new cache – a multi-cache – but when they find the first part they are surprised by something they have never seen before. After following the series of caches deeper and deeper into the woods, they get so much more than they bargained for. They find the Woodsman, a sick creep bent on their destruction. Scenes of torture full of blood, gore, and horror-type things occur. Tied up and bleeding, will Sammy or John get out of the lair of the Woodsman’s elaborate setup?  They were the first to find. They might be the first to die.

 

Keywords:

Hiking, Woods, GPS, Murder, Torture, Psychopath, Thriller, Geocaching

 

My Review:

REVIEW BELOW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

The start of this book was promising. Sammy is a fun character who likes to mess around with his landscaping crew. There is a fun action sequence to start the book off on its toes, creating a mild amount of tension and creating a fun atmosphere. The dialogue was interesting and light. The characters were shown through their actions and words. The reader got to see a fun competition.

The title of the book contains the word ‘geocaching.’ The description is of a dashing cache hunt and a daring hope for escape and rescue. The real description should account for the miles of lost words describing John getting lost in a cave and the overlong scenes depicting the mad Woodsman’s maniacal torture. The author does a great job with these sicko scenes, but it was not what I was looking for nor what I thought the book was going to contain as it wasn’t in the book’s description.

There is something wrong with the Woodsman. The reader is not given much information into who he is or where he came from. The reader gleans from his actions and what he says that the reason he does what he does is because he is -presumably- a psychopath. He is only described as a large muscled man. He has a peculiar way of speaking, an intriguing bit of slang to make me think there is more going on than we are told. The author gives us a glimpse of this enemy early on and he is accompanied by a shorter companion who disappears immediately after with no indication of why this happened or where he went.

There are several plot inconsistencies that had me confused. Why wouldn’t the two boys take one vehicle to get to the campsite? If the Woodsman could find something lethal in the lair, why couldn’t Sammy? Why would the boys think there might be another cache when they’re in the middle of nowhere?

One of my chief criticisms is the boys’ lack of fear or any emotion similar. From the very initial creepy part, they are not at all worried or afraid or reticent to continue. When they meet the Woodsman they are not afraid, they only react to what he does. I’m sure they must be afraid, but the author never describes their fear it or tells us how they are afraid.

For me the ending was unsatisfying. Was this a series I didn’t know about? So many questions to answer, but even if it were a series I wouldn’t want to continue reading.

 

This novel was published through Createspace Independent Publishing Platform 02/18/2012 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 2.50

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Smashwords

Book Review: The Heist by Shaun Jeffrey

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The Heist by Shaun Jeffrey

A Thriller Novel published by Deshca Press (02/05/2013)

 

Summary:

The Heist opens with a high stakes robbery at a theme park, resulting in the deaths of 87 innocents when the gang leader blows up a roller coaster as the robbers escape. Months later the lead investigator in the robbery/murder case Kurt Vaughn is out for a nice family day in the park with son and wife when they are all unwillingly thrust into the gang leader’s newest plan.

 

Keywords:

Heist, GPS, Murder, Deranged, Thriller, Geocaching, Puzzles, Multicache, Investigation

 

My Review:

I picked up this novel because it involved geocaching and I wasn’t disappointed. There was a multi-cache with some cool puzzles and interesting hiding places. The author used some of the more clever points of geocaching, although technically only one geocache was involved. This story was like the geocache version of Dan Brown’s clever clues in The Da Vinci Code.

For such a simple story, at approximately 24k words, it was quite intriguing and the author kept the tension throughout, climaxing in an exciting hold-your-breath way and ending just the way I wanted. There were a few plot holes and inconsistencies, but they didn’t detract from the thrilling plotline. This could have been a longer story had the author filled in details between the heist and the time we meet Kurt and his family, but I thought the novel worked quite well just as it was.

 

This novel was published by Deshca Press 02/05/2013 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TLDR Star Rating: 4.25

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Shaun Jeffrey’s Website