Cassandra in Reverse

Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What would you do if you discovered you could go back in time (though no further than a certain date)? Would you use it to win the lottery? Prevent accidents? Or try and keep from getting fired from your job and dumped by your boyfriend on the same day? Cassandra Penelope Dankworth chooses the latter option. It is, however, exhausting, and perhaps not what the universe had in mind.

I absolutely LOVED this book. Cassandra was such a wonderful, heartbreaking character. I would say I wanted to scoop her up and hug her and tell her there was absolutely NOTHING wrong with her, except, of course, she would hate that.

I did have a really hard time believing she had gone 31 years without realizing she was autistic, as that was blindingly obvious from almost the first moments of the book, but then I read that the author wasn’t diagnosed until she was 39, so I guess that’s sadly more plausible than I’d realized. I also read that the author herself processes emotions as colors, which explains the phenomenally beautiful way they are described throughout the book.

For readers’ advisors: character and language doorways are strongest. A fair amount of occasional swearing. References to sex and a time loop sex scene (as Cassie tries to “fix” things) which is not described in detail. No physical violence aside from the anti-fur protesters who yell and throw fake blood on Cassandra when she accidentally stumbles into their midst.

View all my reviews

 

Spinning the Moon

Spinning the Moon by Karen White
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

4 stars for In the Shadow of the Moon, 2 stars for Whispers of Goodbye

In the Shadow of the Moon is a time travel novel with the feel of Outlander, although all the details were different. I thoroughly enjoyed the tale of Laura Truitt, a grieving mother thrown back in time to Civil War era Georgia, searching for her young daughter who went missing while Laura and her husband were viewing a dual astronomical event: comet plus lunar eclipse. Turns out there was a reason her home seemed strangely familiar the first time she laid eyes on it.... But unlike with Claire and Jamie, Laura takes forever to trust Robert with her story.

Whispers of Goodbye tells of Catherine, summoned by her sister's letter to post-war Louisiana, who discovers upon arrival that her sister has disappeared. She learns of the misery and scandals her self-centered sister has caused, and despite her own grief over losing her son and husband the previous year, falls in love with her niece and brother-in-law. Shortly after her sister's body is found, Catherine marries John, yet harbors doubts about his potential guilt and fears learning the truth.

The novel succeeded in evoking a very Gothic feel, but the pacing was excruciatingly slow, the characterizations wavered and didn't always ring true, and the only plot element I didn't guess WELL in advance was Rebecca's true parentage. 2 stars is probably too generous, but the setting/tone were well done, and the narrator did an excellent job under the circumstances.

For readers' advisors: setting doorway is primary. Some mild sexual content but nothing explicit.

View all my reviews

For All Time

For All Time by Jude Deveraux
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Montgomery-Taggert clan is back with a whole new generation, but some things remain the same: family legend states you marry the one who can tell the twins apart. Problem is, this time the twins are princes, and the heir to the throne has his engagement already arranged. Still, Graydon is fascinated by Toby and decides to trade places with his younger brother and stay on Nantucket for an extra week after his cousin's wedding just to see what it's like to feel like an ordinary man rather than a crown prince.

Toby's introduction to the twins does not go well. When Rory approaches her group at the restaurant the night before the wedding, she takes an instant dislike to his presumption they'd stop what they were doing and pay attention to him. The day of the wedding, Graydon pretends it was he who'd come over to them at the bar, angering Toby, who hates liars, especially smooth, handsome ones like the men her mother constantly throws in her path. He will have to work very hard to convince her to give him another chance.

An accident in Lanconia means Graydon has to stay put for a while, joined by his bodyguards, Daire and Lorcan. Initial assumptions lead to hurt feelings, which leads to Toby falling asleep in a vacant house and dreaming of a past life filled with friends and family in different clothing and social roles. It's the most realistic dream Toby's ever had, though, and suddenly, a tiny hidden room in the house fills her with terror and the conviction that she once died inside. At least the mystery serves to somewhat distract Toby from the knowledge that her time with Graydon will soon end, so falling in love with him would be a Bad Idea.

Unbeknownst to me when I requested the ARC from NetGalley, this is the second book in the series. I normally do not read series books out of order, and this is a prime example of why: I spent much of the novel wishing there were a detailed family tree and glossary of people and houses to help me keep track of who was whom. I kept having to flip back and reread pages, trying to piece together what was going on and how everyone was related. I'd definitely suggest reading this series in order, since one book flows right in to the next.

I'd classify this romance novel as a good beach read. Graydon is so improbably perfect (A prince who cooks, organizes messy rooms, waters plants, has the body of a toned warrior, and pitches in to help plan a fancy wedding? Riiiiight.) that I almost tagged the book "fantasy." It's a fun read, though.

For readers' advisors: story doorway. Lots of kissing, not much sex or bad language.

I received a free Advance Reader's Copy (ARC) from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

View all my reviews

A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows

A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Such a bittersweet story! This novella tells what really happened to Roger MacKenzie's parents, specifically his father, during WWII. It's beautiful and heartbreaking all at once to know...and yet to realize that Roger will never fully know the truth.

For readers' advisors: story and setting doorways, primarily. A little sexual content and bad language.

View all my reviews

Dark Destiny

Dark Destiny by Mary Jo Putney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The final book in the Dark Mirror trilogy opens where book two left off: Tory's 17th birthday party. Allarde and Mrs. Rainford get a vision of Napoleon invading England, so the Lackland students return to 1804 to stop this from coming to pass. They successfully thwart one major incursion, but soon Britain's magical defenses are stretched to the breaking point, and the Irregulars realize they will need help from their twentieth century friends if they are to prevent the French from landing on British soil.

There are romantic subplots, as everyone but Elspeth has a romantic interest that grows and develops over the course of the trilogy. Putney hints that Elspeth's love will appear later--perhaps another book? However, the various romances are not the focus of the story, which means a refreshing lack of angst. All the couples will face uphill battles in their relationships: Cynthia and Jack are from different classes, Nick and Rebecca are from different faiths, and Tory and Allarde face disinheritance. Should Putney choose to continue the series, I would be very interested in reading how they all overcome their various obstacles.

The second book is still my favorite of the three, but this one is very enjoyable as well, albeit less exciting. (Things move along slightly too easily somehow.)

For readers' advisors: character, story, and setting doorways. No sex, just a fair amount of kissing and heavy petting. I don't recall any swearing.

View all my reviews

Dark Passage

Dark Passage by Mary Jo Putney

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After successfully using their magical talents to help thousands of British soldiers escape from Dunkirk in 1940, Tory and the rest of her friends return through Merlin's mirror to 1803, ready to resume their regular lives and vowing to never make that journey again. The best laid plans oft go awry, however, and when Nick comes through the mirror seeking their help to rescue a scientist imprisoned by the Germans in a French castle, it's not long before they are dodging searchlights and bullets.

I do not know why I am finding it so difficult to write this review--it's been "in process" for 4 days now. I loved the book! I especially loved how the first half contained so much character development, and the second half was so exciting I resented having to put the book down. Even though I wasn't wild about the first in this trilogy, this one more than makes up for it.  Why do I not know what to say about it? Grrr. OK, I'll post this as-is and then come back to it if/when inspiration strikes.

For readers' advisors: character & story doorways primarily, setting was secondary. It's a young adult novel, so Putney dialed down the steaminess to just a few make-out sessions.



View all my reviews

Kissing Shakespeare

Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm really having a difficult time deciding how to rate this one. One and a half stars for the beginning of the book, three stars for the last half, for an average of two and a half stars overall? The premise was intriguing: a young William Shakespeare is being recruited to the (forbidden) Jesuit priesthood and away from his destiny as the great playwright, so a time-traveler enlists the aid of a modern teenager from a theatrical family to seduce Will and restore history. The author seems to have done a good job researching that era, both the history of Shakespeare & Catholicism as well as the habits of daily life, but the set-up of the story is rushed and full of holes.

The book begins with Miranda upset at her terrible performance as Katharine in her high school's production of The Taming of the Shrew. A cast member she barely knows kidnaps her, taking her first to the roof and then to Elizabethan England. Stephen tells her she is to pretend to be his sister while they stay at his uncle's house, and her mission is to seduce Shakespeare so he will decide not to be a priest after all. She thinks he's crazy and is insulted that he believes she's sexually experienced. But Catholicism has been outlawed in England, and after Miranda--now called Olivia--witnesses a priest being burned at the stake, she stops resisting the plan and becomes an active participant, intent on saving Will's life.

I am glad I kept reading. I almost quit after the fourth or fifth time "smirk" appeared in the text. (Oh, how I wish YA authors were forbidden from using that word!) Mercifully, she invested in a thesaurus about a third of the way into the novel, although that did not stop the incessant eye rolling--both mine and the characters'. However, I was reading an ebook galley copy from NetGalley, so perhaps Ms. Mingle's editors were able to take another run at the manuscript before it went to print.

Word choice aside, I struggled to get past the implausibility of Stephen choosing Miranda for this task. Why choose an American? Why not choose a British girl? How is it possible that her accent, vocabulary, and patterns of speech didn't give her away moments after their arrival at Hoghton Tower? Miranda is supposedly chosen for her acting ability and knowledge of Shakespeare's plays, yet she continues to speak like an American teenager, not like an actress immersing herself in a life-or-death role. It just felt...off. Fiction requires a willing suspension of disbelief, but this needed too big of a leap.

Still, I enjoyed the fast pace by the end. The spying and sneaking around held my attention, and I wanted to know how the story would unfold.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, character and setting are secondary. No actual sex occurs, but it's a near thing.

View all my reviews

Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict

Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to wake up in a different place and time? How would you react? How would you adapt?

Jane Mansfield hits her head when she falls off her horse in England in 1813, but when she awakens, it is 2009, and she is in the body of Courtney Stone...in L.A. There is a strange man in the other room, a glowing box contains tiny people acting out her favorite book, all of the clothes in the closet are inappropriate for a lady, and a horrible, deafening noise only stops when she accidentally knocks into the bumpy black box with the bright red numbers. How can this be? Why can she not wake from this strange dream? And how on earth is she supposed to fix Courtney's messed-up life?

This is the companion to Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, and I wish I had read them closer together because I had forgotten a few details about the first book. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the story of a Regency-era lady experiencing for the first time the freedom to make her own choices. I love the idea of time travel and have often daydreamed about what it would be like to travel backward or forward in time. How would one avoid the insane asylum?

For readers' advisors: character and story doorways, with character primary

View all my reviews

Dark Mirror

Dark Mirror by M.J. Putney

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I was SO excited for this book to come out because I love Mary Jo Putney's books, and I enjoy YA fiction, but this book was really a watered down version of her Guardians series, and I was quite disappointed. Everything felt too easy, too glib. Putney is known for the depth of her characters and character development, and most of that was lacking this time. The premise of the story was interesting--members of the British aristocracy discovered to have magical talents are sent to a prison-like school to be "cured," but a group of rebel students work to develop their talents instead and end up traveling through time to save England--and sometimes got exciting, but much of the time I found myself rolling my eyes and/or gritting my teeth. These teenagers adjusted to "modern conveniences," inventions, and socio-political changes WAY too easily to be believable. The pace was a little too fast. The romance seemed shallow. The book wasn't precisely bad...just lacking in depth and nuance.

On the other hand, I might be judging harshly because my expectations were so high to begin with. And I probably will read the sequel.

For readers' advisors: story doorway, with setting secondary (Regency & WWII)



View all my reviews

An Echo in the Bone

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


814 pages, and still everything is left hanging by the end?! Ack! Diana Gabaldon had better be working furiously to finish the next book asap, that's all I can say. There are too many cliffhangers to count in this one.

Volume seven in the Outlander series takes place during the Revolutionary War (Jamie & Claire's time) and 1980 (Brianna & Roger's time). Gabaldon skips around between storylines and narrators quite frequently, which keeps things interesting and also can be frustrating. There is a LOT going on in this episode. I read very quickly, and even I couldn't read fast enough to satisfy my urgent need to find out what the heck happened!

I really wished I had a computer by my side (or an Apple iPad/Touch/Phone) while reading this book because I kept wanting to look up names, battles, places, and timelines to remind myself of historical details I'd forgotten. The book really brings the Revolutionary War to life.

For readers' advisors: story, character, and setting are all strong doorways, but the length and occasional sexual content might scare off some readers.



View all my reviews

The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel

The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel by Diana Gabaldon

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I should preface my review by saying that graphic novels are not really my thing. I love reading comics in the paper and all, but this is only the second graphic novel I have ever completed reading. It's not going to make me a GN convert, let's put it that way.

I had a hard time following along in the GN version of Outlander as told from Jamie's (and Murtagh's, among others) point of view. The artwork was lovely, but I could NOT keep the men's faces straight. They all looked nearly identical to me, and I had to rely on the skimpy dialogue to follow the story. Thank God I'd already read the real novels!

While I'm on the subject of the artwork, what is up with the artist's inability to keep Claire clothed?! I know Claire had a very curvy figure and all, but seriously, no matter what the outfit or context, she always had to be falling out of her flimsy bodices?! WAY too much cleavage to be believable. Capt. Randall's assumption that Claire was a prostitute became utterly logical and rational. She's drawn to look like a blowsy barmaid, for crying out loud!

I'm not certain who the target audience is for this GN version. Perhaps Diana Gabaldon wants to whet GN fans' appetites and get them to read the original series? The nature of this format is such that at least 85% of the story is missing, along with 98% of the character development and back story. It's like reading an abstract for a doctoral thesis. *sigh* In this case a picture really is NOT worth 1000 words. Ah well, I tried. And I stuck it out for the whole thing, just to be sure.

For readers' advisory: story doorway...or people with short attention spans?



View all my reviews

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

My review

rating: 3 1/2 of 5 stars

I am a Jane Austen addict, albeit not quite as obsessed as Courtney Stone, the main character of this novel. I am not so miserable in my own life, which is apparently a good thing, as it makes me less likely to awake one morning in 1813 as she did. (For all my moments of wishful thinking, I don't really want to be someone else.)

Courtney, however, retreats to the world of Jane Austen as often as possible, especially since she discovered her fiance cheating on her with the wedding cake designer. Reading about Austen's world is not the same as living in it, however, and Courtney-inside-Jane-Mansfield's-body has a great deal to learn both about her new situation in life as well as the true meaning of being responsible for her actions.

I nearly tagged this book onto my "mystery" bookshelf because so much of the story is Courtney/Jane discovering what in the world happened in Jane's life--friendships and heartbreak alike--and how she came to inhabit Jane's body. (My practical soul could have used a tad more explanation on that last bit.) It's great fun to read, even if I did want to smack Courtney/Jane quite often and tell her to catch a clue.


View all my reviews.

Return to Summerhouse

Return to Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

Okay, so I admit, I'm a sucker for time travel stories. Love them. Can't get enough of them. There is so much "scope for the imagination" (to quote Anne of Green Gables) in time travel.

In Return to Summerhouse, Amy is more or less coerced into going to Maine to stay with two other women--total strangers--as a form of therapy to help her deal with her recent miscarriage. The two women, Faith and Zoe, come to the summerhouse with their own traumas to heal. Where the story really gets good is when Amy starts dreaming about a Lord Hawthorne in the eighteenth century...and wakes up bruised or wet, according to what happened in her dream. The women begin to open up to each other and tell their personal stories, and Amy convinces the other two to come with her to Madame Zoya's cottage and travel back in time to "put destiny back on track."

I loved this book also for believing in fidelity and for championing organic gardening of heirloom varieties (and botanical variety in general).

If you're recommending it to someone else, you should know that there are quite a few sexual references but no explicit scenes.


View all my reviews.