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chrissie_whitley's reviews
1547 reviews
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
Creating characters and their history seems to be what [a:Kate Morton|615274|Kate Morton|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1444262471p2/615274.jpg] does best. She interweaves the present with spiraling layers of the past, all tethered to three women, separated by circumstance, time, or distance.
As with [b:The Forgotten Garden|3407877|The Forgotten Garden|Kate Morton|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1455283767s/3407877.jpg|3448086], I was able to deduce, early on, the huge plot twist that gets revealed late in the book. However, unlike with The Forgotten Garden, I didn't mind one bit here. Being fairly certain of this secret was like having a pretty darned good idea of what your Christmas present is going to be. You're still excited and can't wait to open the wrappings and reveal the truth which you know it to be. But, you're patient, because somewhere in there, the waiting is half the fun. There were details within this reveal that I wasn't able to discern ahead of time, and that only made the knowledge even juicier upon its appearance.
But, as I say, Morton's characters are the gems of the story. Everyone gets picked up, turned over, and peeked at from all angles. So complete are these characters, especially in this particular book, that I almost didn't want it to end. The nuanced and detailed personalities are a blessing, and writing such fleshed out people only makes it harder to say goodbye.
The historical aspects are a blessing too. With such vividness, Morton paints each scene with care and depth. I felt transported, on the wings of her characters, to the different eras in time, each building upon the knowledge of the preceding pages.
4.0
Children don’t require of their parents a past and they find something faintly unbelievable, almost embarrassing, in parental claims to a prior existence.
Creating characters and their history seems to be what [a:Kate Morton|615274|Kate Morton|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1444262471p2/615274.jpg] does best. She interweaves the present with spiraling layers of the past, all tethered to three women, separated by circumstance, time, or distance.
As with [b:The Forgotten Garden|3407877|The Forgotten Garden|Kate Morton|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1455283767s/3407877.jpg|3448086], I was able to deduce, early on, the huge plot twist that gets revealed late in the book. However, unlike with The Forgotten Garden, I didn't mind one bit here. Being fairly certain of this secret was like having a pretty darned good idea of what your Christmas present is going to be. You're still excited and can't wait to open the wrappings and reveal the truth which you know it to be. But, you're patient, because somewhere in there, the waiting is half the fun. There were details within this reveal that I wasn't able to discern ahead of time, and that only made the knowledge even juicier upon its appearance.
But, as I say, Morton's characters are the gems of the story. Everyone gets picked up, turned over, and peeked at from all angles. So complete are these characters, especially in this particular book, that I almost didn't want it to end. The nuanced and detailed personalities are a blessing, and writing such fleshed out people only makes it harder to say goodbye.
The historical aspects are a blessing too. With such vividness, Morton paints each scene with care and depth. I felt transported, on the wings of her characters, to the different eras in time, each building upon the knowledge of the preceding pages.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
4.0
What a lovely book. Truly. This book was like that lovely, fuzzy feeling you have upon waking from a dream whose threads are unraveling fast, but which has left you with a tender level of contentment with life. Sigh.
This was a book that makes you wonder if the other books by this author have that same dreamlike quality. We shall find out.
"This book is childhood."
I cannot possibly write a review better than Emily May's found here: Emily May's Review.
This was a book that makes you wonder if the other books by this author have that same dreamlike quality. We shall find out.
"This book is childhood."
I cannot possibly write a review better than Emily May's found here: Emily May's Review.
Death Sworn by Leah Cypess
4.0
Death Sworn was a unique and interesting beginning for a YA series. I was pleasantly surprised and intrigued. I'm enjoying this direction of YA books lately that do not succumb to the instal-love phenomenon. There's a hint of a romance, and I assume more will develop with that farther into the second book.
Here's a female main character I liked, she was troubled and multi-layered but not fully revealed in one big character info-dump. Speaking of, the world development in this book is light, to say the least. I find myself thoroughly enjoying that. I know a lot of people complain about it with other novels, and it's been said it's forgivable in this instance because the whole of this story takes place in a labyrinthine cave system, but I rather like learning about the world as it's necessary to be told over the course of the book/series. Not every story needs a Hermione or a Dumbledore to tell the unenlightened main character about the world, especially one where the main character is not new to this world. For instance, [b:Doomsday Book|18413376|Doomsday Book|Connie Willis|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410771006s/18413376.jpg|2439628] is one that comes to mind where the mystery of the world in which we find the characters is slowly revealed through the story-telling. Good. To me, it would be like meeting someone from another country and immediately providing them with a history lesson of the United States. It could be a rather brief lesson, if I wanted, considering the country is young, but there's not reason to delve into every country-building aspect until the topic arises.
Not only were the characters enjoyable to read and learn about, but the action was well-written. I find some authors focus too much on making the action *descriptive and interesting* which can lead to a loss of understanding of the action - where you might say: Wait, when did she jump behind him? Not the case here - even for a fast reader like myself. I found this book, overall to be well-written and having well-formed characters and a richly layered world, which I look forward to finding more about in the sequel, [b:Death Marked|18803194|Death Marked (Death Sworn, #2)|Leah Cypess|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404496159s/18803194.jpg|26731281].
Here's a female main character I liked, she was troubled and multi-layered but not fully revealed in one big character info-dump. Speaking of, the world development in this book is light, to say the least. I find myself thoroughly enjoying that. I know a lot of people complain about it with other novels, and it's been said it's forgivable in this instance because the whole of this story takes place in a labyrinthine cave system, but I rather like learning about the world as it's necessary to be told over the course of the book/series. Not every story needs a Hermione or a Dumbledore to tell the unenlightened main character about the world, especially one where the main character is not new to this world. For instance, [b:Doomsday Book|18413376|Doomsday Book|Connie Willis|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410771006s/18413376.jpg|2439628] is one that comes to mind where the mystery of the world in which we find the characters is slowly revealed through the story-telling. Good. To me, it would be like meeting someone from another country and immediately providing them with a history lesson of the United States. It could be a rather brief lesson, if I wanted, considering the country is young, but there's not reason to delve into every country-building aspect until the topic arises.
Not only were the characters enjoyable to read and learn about, but the action was well-written. I find some authors focus too much on making the action *descriptive and interesting* which can lead to a loss of understanding of the action - where you might say: Wait, when did she jump behind him? Not the case here - even for a fast reader like myself. I found this book, overall to be well-written and having well-formed characters and a richly layered world, which I look forward to finding more about in the sequel, [b:Death Marked|18803194|Death Marked (Death Sworn, #2)|Leah Cypess|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404496159s/18803194.jpg|26731281].