Jenni from the book

Although I'm not making it through books at the same speed that I was in lockdown (because you know, there are other things to do now too), the summer always gets me reading more. There's nothing better than stealing some time in the sun with a good book and I've now made it through another 5. Although not all of them were good! You'll have to read on to find out if they fall into the good, the bad or the ugly category. Beware of spoilers...

This book was the oldest one on my to-read shelf on goodreads, having saved it in 2017, and I was excited to finally get around to reading it. I haven't actually read a dystopian YA novel in a while so it made a nice change! The Forgetting is both the title and the main theme of the book; in the city of Canaan, every resident has a complete memory wipe every 12 years. They don't know who they are, who their family is, how they got there - nothing. So the way of the city is that everyone is to keep books; write everything down, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, the good and the bad, so that when you wake up each time, you can learn about who you are. And anything not written is not remembered. Except by one. Eighteen year old Nadia has never forgotten a thing, and she has also learned to see the world a different way after experiencing the last Forgetting 12 years ago and is dreading the next one that is fast approaching. Just imagine, if no one, not even yourself, was going to remember what happened; what bad things would you do? We first meet Nadia as she is climbing back over the walls that surround the city; the walls that they're not meant to go beyond for fear of what lies there. So you know straight away that she's destined to be the change, as all good dystopian heroines are. The book also begins in the way that all good love stories do; with boy meets girl. Her latest trip over the walls is different from the others as she has been caught this time; not by the Council who would punish her for rule-breaking, but by Gray the Glassblowers Son. He's as curious as she is about the mysteries of the city, and they begin an alliance built on finding answers (and mutual attraction). Both of them have their secrets, but none as big as some of the ones the other residents of the city are keeping. As they try to figure out where they've come from, what causes the Forgetting and maybe even how to stop it, they must fight against an evil they've never realised was right there all along. I really enjoyed this book and I thought that the storyline was really strong and well thought-out. Secrets and mysteries were kept for just long enough that you were intrigued without being frustrated, and there were plenty of twists and turns to keep it interesting. I did find that there was an awful lot of description, which I suppose is normal for this genre; you have to set the scene to explain how this alternative reality is. But sometimes I did find myself a bit bogged down with all the descriptions, and the action scenes felt a little confusing. However, the writing style was sophisticated and I was glad the author didn't fall into the trap of a childish writing style just because the book is for young adults. It articulated interesting ideas about truth, bravery, trust, the way of the world and what it really means to be a family. The pace of the book is pretty interesting. It feels quite slow and deliberate, like the author is taking their time, and you initially think you've got everything figured out about 50% of the way through. But this book has a way of surprising you and I found that it kept me guessing right until the end. As did the characters. Nadia started off a little whiney but she really did grow as a character, as she began to see her Remembering as a gift instead of a curse. As Gray helped her to be brave, she learned to stop living in fear and the connection that blossomed between the two felt genuine and sweet. Their love story was well-written too, without anything too dramatic or mushy - it felt quite authentic. But for me, the main reason that I liked this book and didn't love it, was because of the ending. Nadia has never forgotten, so she's not worried about doing so after the upcoming Forgetting. But Gray is. What if he forgets the truths they've uncovered, and even worse, what if he forgets her? So, towards the ending, they've figured out what causes the Forgetting and have learned it's being used by the enemy to make people forget at will. So to try and escape a hostage situation, Nadia uses it and Gray forgets (before everyone else does). Then the actual Forgetting comes and they (with a load of other residents) manage to avoid it. All of that was fine by me. But then they also figure out a way to remember; to cure everyone in the city who wants their memories back. That for me, ruined it a little. I would've much preferred that Gray's memories remained gone, but that he and Nadia had found a way back to each other anyway. That slight change, was the difference between a 3 and a 4 star rating. 

A slight change of speed with this one, which is the story of two sisters, Jo and Bethie Kauffman. Second generation Jewish immigrants growing up in 1950s Detroit, the two sisters are perfectly opposite but always acutely in sync. Jo is a messy tomboy, constantly disappointing and infuriating her short-tempered mother, whether that be through her rebellious ways or the passion with which she wants to stand up for injustices; Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl who dreams of stardom and doesn't concern herself too much with stepping away from the beaten path. But life doesn't always turn out like you planned. Jo suffers heartbreak after heartbreak, which sees her lose courage in the idea of being who she really is - and being with who her heart really desires. Instead, she becomes a young mother with no career or life of her own, and becomes a witness to the changing world instead of a participant in it. Meanwhile Bethie suffers trauma after trauma which leaves her dreams destroyed and her trust in the world (and men) gone. So she becomes a wild child who seeks solace in drugs, parties, travelling and theft. As the two sisters navigate their lives, will either one get the one they dreamed of? First of all, I loved the longitude of this book. It follows Jo and Bethie from childhood right through to old age, and you get such impressive character arcs from both of them. I really felt like I knew who each of them were, and despite being so different, they had such a lovely bond and relationship too. The other part I enjoyed about the long time period that the book covered were all the important issues and events that happened within it. From feminism to racism to JFK being shot, the author handled all of them with depth and care in a way which felt as though they were the root of the book and that Jo and Bethie were just vessels to carry them. It covered rape and the attitudes towards it (attitudes that sadly still exist today), it covered the horrific way in which black people were treated (specifically in the Vietnam war and the era of the Black Panthers) and it delved into what racial equality truly means and the fact that we still don't have it. I'm not sure I'm 100% sold on Jo's progressiveness. Despite growing up in an almost completely white neighbourhood, she seems to have a very deep understanding of black people's struggles and very intelligent analogies about (in)equality. And then just completely abandons her beliefs as she settles into a traditional life (I found the settling-after-heartbreak part believable, but not the total personality transplant). But I think it was an important aspect of the book to cover and the author did so brilliantly - again, I just think Jo was a vessel to do this. The book also seamlessly switched from the heavy matter to the lighthearted stuff, with lot of laughs and shocks along the way. I liked that the book wasn't a story so much as it was a collection of stories. A novel sewn together out of the many things that life throws at us. It teaches you that life doesn't always turn out how you planned, it will ALWAYS have a way of surprising you, happy endings are usually just the beginning and no matter what, life goes on. I feel as though the main message of this book though can be perfectly summed up by a sentiment included in one of Jo's later chapters. Sometimes in life, you lose yourself, but you find yourself again too.

Ah, yet another book that promises to be full of fun and frolics and girly goodness but ends up being a terribly written, disappointing mess. If this book and ‘Hot Mess’ have taught me anything, it’s to NEVER ever read another book that promises to be the “next Bridget Jones” (because FYI they never are; they’re just attempting a badly copied heroine). The blurb says that The Plus One is all about Polly Spencer, a nearly 30 year old who’s love life is tragically hilarious and hilariously tragic. When her best friend gets engaged, she’s not fussy about finding The One but just a plus one would be nice! So when her job as a journalist has her mingling with the handsome, charming lothario, Jasper Milton the Marquess of Milton, it looks like her love life may finally be taking an interesting turn. Unfortunately, the book didn’t. At any point. The “love story” between Polly and Jasper was nothing more than a fling that goes wrong towards the end of the book before she realises who she’s really meant to be with (a “twist” I spotted very early on). Which would’ve been fine, except the author wants you to believe she’s really fallen for him and that she’s basically heartbroken when things go wrong. For all the interactions between Polly and Jasper in the whole book, there wasn’t one emotive scene. Not one powerful conversation, not one scene of laughing uncontrollably together, not one snippet of emotional support. Just a few date nights and sex scenes. I understand the temptation by authors to include sex scenes in chick lit books, but I think they have to serve a purpose to the overall storyline. These were just factually descriptive and not very sex positive, given that it explored his kinks, (which she wasn’t into but pretended to like anyway just to please him) without exploring any of her own. I also find it highly unrealistic that any woman would believe she’s in love from having sex with a man once or twice a week. I think that was my main gripe with the book actually. There was not a single scrap of emotion. Polly was either emotionally stunted or a robot, as the book doesn’t delve into her emotions about Jasper, about her best friends wedding, about her mum being diagnosed with (and treated for) breast cancer(!). The whole thing was just a 400 page descriptive account of living and working in London. There were some other more minor things about the book that frustrated me like the authors inability to grasp the concept of age; Polly being single at thirty was deemed practically dead and her 60 year old mum was painted as more old fashioned and out of the loop than my 77 year old grandma. The other thing I found frustrating was the messy fusion of themes and concepts, like the author couldn’t work out what kind of book to write or what the message was supposed to be so simply included them all. Was it a book about being single, a book about love when you’re from 2 different worlds, a book about not needing a man, a book about sex, a book about realising the one was right there all along? I’ll be damned if I know. The only thing I do know is that I would not recommend this book, even if Polly did have a few mildly amusing one liners.

The start of us was a book that intrigued me immediately because it’s essentially all based around the multiverse theory; the theory that says that there are infinite universes, playing out infinite versions of reality all at the same time. It’s a theory I love, if not wholly believe in (I believe in the power of THIS universe and the fate that this one provides). But the blurb sent me off in a slightly different direction than the story went so the book more than exceeded expectations. Essentially, Erica has a gift. Ever since she was young, she’s been uncontrollably catapulted to different dimensions, moments from her own past and the pasts of her family. But having not had it happen for a while, when it starts up again after her boyfriend dumps her, this time the gift is different. She’s no longer being transported to the past but to the now; to the different versions of her current reality. She gets to witness another Erica - a her whose parents stayed together and who never moved to Blackpool and who is adventurous and wanderlust in a way the real Erica isn’t. But is it a gift to see another world, or a curse? Erica has always seen it as the latter, but when she meets Daniel, he certainly believes the former. Loving her and accepting her for who she is, Daniel is her missing puzzle piece and it looks like the two are set for happily ever after. But when tragedy strikes, will her ability to travel to different worlds give her the reality she really wants? So first of all, I loved the premise of the book and her powers and the different worlds she sees. It’s never really explained how or why she does it but I think it’s written really well, especially as she begins to understand it more and starts to learn to control it. I also loved the characters. Sure, Erica was a little whiny and woe-is-me but I really believed in and became invested in the connection between her and Daniel, especially the way he chose to love her despite her uncontrollable disappearances (very Time Travellers Wife). Despite the two following a very conventional path (buying a house, getting married, having a baby), the author managed to write it in a way that felt exciting and unexpected. My guess after reading the blurb, was that the tragedy was going to be Daniel dying. But the reality was so much better and more complicated and more heartbreaking than that (spoiler alert and trigger warning). After just six months as a happy family of three, their beloved baby tragically dies, ripping their world apart. So the question isn’t whether she could find another version of Daniel in another life, but whether she could find a version of the two of them that was happier and more free from pain. I loved that this book dealt with such a difficult subject matter and you really felt the blackness of their grief in the chapters that followed the event and I could definitely see why it normally tears couples apart. So as Erica attempts to process what has happened and is ever tempted by the other version of her who hasn’t been through what she has, she gets to explore the question that so many of us sometimes toy with. What if? I loved the last few chapters and the way the story ended. My only gripe was that Erica was adamant her and Daniel would have a happily ever after in the other version of reality, whereas he kept reminding her that life goes wrong all the time and it’s never without pain and if not this then it would’ve been something else. He kept telling her that you have to be thankful for the things you DO have. I didn’t like that it took her seeing a very different version of the two of them for her to come to that realisation too. Otherwise, it was a really well written story about how the grass isn’t always greener and that it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

The Summer Seekers rather intrigued me, as it set out to be a story of a mischievous 80 year old woman, Kathleen, who doesn't see any appeal in being 'old' and certainly doesn't believe her travelling days (or the excitement that comes with it) are over yet. After a break-in at her mother's cottage though, Kathleen's daughter Liza is of very much the opposite opinion. Having always lived on the safe and cautious side of life (in direct juxtaposition to her mother), Liza thinks it's time for her mum to move into a retirement home. Kathleen has different ideas though, and instead gets to work on planning the infamous trip along Route 66 that she never managed to tick off while she was younger. Naturally, her worrisome daughter would be completely the wrong companion for such a trip so Kathleen advertises for a travel buddy to drive her the 2,448 miles across America. The person who answers her advert is 25 year old Martha. Despite her younger years, Martha doesn't even have a smidge of the zest for life that Kathleen does. Alone, unemployed, uninspired and beaten down by the negativity and disappointment that her family are constantly unloading on her, Martha thinks this trip might be the perfect opportunity for a change of scenery. The fact she hates driving is only a minor hurdle surely? And with her mother and Martha jetting off for a glamorous summer in the sun, Liza starts to look more closely at her own life (largely spent running around after her husband and twin teenage daughters) and starts to think she might be in need of a change of scenery as well. I loved this story because it really taps into the emotions of the 3 women and follows them as they begin to confront their own lives, with Kathleen wrestling with her past, Liza unhappy with her present and Martha unsure about her future. Following a heartbreak many years ago, Kathleen has always had a detached approach with her emotions (even with her own daughter) and with some prompting from Martha, she begins to wonder if it's there's still time to choose a new path. And Kathleen does plenty of probing of her own too, making Martha see that she isn't as useless as her family would have her believe and that maybe it's the people around her she needs to change, rather than herself. She also does some probing in the love life department and even gets involved in a spot of matchmaking along the way too! While I loved the Kathleen and Martha chapters, reading about their trip and seeing their sweet friendship blossom, it was actually Liza's story that was my favourite. It was a lot more simplistic but really delved into how easy it is to burnout when you're a woman with the weight of the world on her shoulders, and how sometimes a break and some fresh air can do you the world of good. I really loved seeing Liza have a reality check, tap back into the woman she once was, and even play with a little bit of fire, then transform into a brand new her. The way that the relationship improved between mother and daughter was really nice to see and I really enjoyed all 3 main character arcs. The writing style was nice too although something that frustrated me was how emotionally intelligent and articulate all 3 of them seemed to be. Each one of them seemed to telepathically know exactly how the other women felt, even down the phone from 5,000 miles away. Obviously, the author did this so you got the depth of emotions from every character even when you weren't currently in the chapter written from their perspective but it all came across a little unrealistically. I also felt a bit dissatisfied with Martha's ending, as it all felt a bit rushed and a little too easy but then I guess she was a secondary main character to the core mother daughter relationship so it made sense that she got a little less attention. Overall though, I did really enjoy this book. I liked the message that it's never too late; to live, to change, to forgive, to repair, to travel, to love or to create a whole new life for yourself.