Smoke

Pattyn and Jackie are obviously survivors. What I appreciate most about Smoke, by Ellen Hopkins was the fact that the girls didn't just magically heal overnight, in fact, they are still healing at the end of the book.

As usual, it is the character development that secured my interest, and my admiration of the book which is why I give it four stars, but I have some serious issues with many aspects of the book.

First, smack in the middle of the story, Jackie is suddenly dealing with symptoms of depression and addictive behaviors, a totally plausible situation considering what she has been through. However, Hopkins never really addresses these problems again. In fact, the story implies that Gavin's love and the fact that Jackie finally discovers and deals with the truth were the solutions to these complicated and difficult issues.

Next, she implies that Diedre is psychotic, but the resolution in the end is that she confesses to her crimes. Really?

Finally, I do appreciate the fact that Hopkins is trying to address and reveal the fact that religious people can be hypocrites that hide behind religion, but I have serious issue with her portrayal of the LDS church as cult like, suppressing women into the role of baby spouting, subservient second class citizens. One bothersome passage states, "The idea that a woman --even a chosen by God vessel --might have such power [like that of the Virgin Mary in Catholicism] would never be entertained. A woman's worth is contained within her uterus."

Obviously, this is the case with Pattyn and Jackie's mother's beliefs, but the implication here is that this is not only a commonly accepted view of members of the LDS faith, but that it is the official doctrine of said religion.

Truly, I understand that Hopkins is painting a picture of one family and the views of two young girls whose experiences are limited, but too frequently, I felt like Hopkins was on a personal soapbox spewing misconceptions and misrepresentations of what anti-LDS critics foster as truth. Such is the case when Jackie goes off about birth control being "frowned upon by LDS doctrine." Seriously, for the forty years that I have been affiliated with the LDS church, this topic has never been anything but a private matter between spouses.

Admittedly, the characters in this book were not likely to have balanced perspectives. In fact, as an adult, I know to question the validity of the things they say and believe, such is not the case with Hopkins' targeted audience of young adults who tend to believe what they read. I truly think that in some instances Hopkins could have accomplished her objective without "targeting" the a religion so specifically.

I did read and loved the story of Pattyn in Burned, but I felt similarly about it. In the end, I see these novels as stories that need to be discussed in mixed groups of adults and teens where questions about objectivity, perspective, character, voice and societal issues can be addressed.

Blackmoore

Kate decided long ago that she would never marry.  Her mother has other ideas.  After ruining several proposals, Kate convinces her mother to let her go to India, but only after Kate secures and then rejects three proposals.  Kate agrees and travels to Blackmoore in northern England, where she ends up confused about who she is and what she really wants.

A classic regency romance plot from the author of Edenbrooke, Julianne Donaldson, Blackmoore succeeded in meeting all of my expectations of a romance and then went a little beyond and secured for Kate a future that is uniquely her own.  A must read for any romantic.

Lone Survivor

Marcus Luttrell tells the true and amazing story of his lone survival after an ambush in Afghanistan in Lone Survivor: The Eyewitnees Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10.  The story begins with Luttrell's detailed account of SEAL training.  For me, it got a little tedious at times, but the story required that this part of his life, his training, be presented; so the reader could believe all that would happen in Afghanistan.

I absolutely loved this book.  Written so you feel and see what is happening, the pace of Lone Survivor is breathtaking, and Luttrell is the voice of so many soldiers struggling not only to survive physically, but to also survive the bureaucracy of government and trial by the media.  His story had to be told.

A Breath of Eyre

Eve Marie Mont's A Breath of Eyre  is an interesting look at a young girl's coming of age.  Reading it while longing for the greatness of the Gothic romance that Jane Eyre is would be like reading James Patterson expecting Agatha Christie.  I did not really like the "reading" that Emma placed on Jane Eyre, but as a method of propelling a young woman to become her own person, it worked.

Jane by April Lindner

Following her parents' death, Jane must drop out of the respected East coast college she been attending because she is broke.  Nearly homeless, Jane makes a desperate attempt at becoming a nanny through a rather reputable agency.  Surprisingly, Jane is just what the agency has been looking for.  Rock-star phenomenon Nico Rathburn needs a nanny for his six-year-old daughter while he launches his huge come back album and tour.  Practical and calm, Jane fits into her employer's life smoothly.  Drawn to the ominous force of Rathburn's character, she reluctantly discovers a depth of love she never dreamed possible wrapped in a forbidden romance.  Secrets are woven into the fabric of life at Thornfield  Park, dark secrets that may destroy any happiness Jane has found.
Openly based on the Gothic romance,  Jane Eyre, Linder's Jane sets the main character from Bronte's masterpiece smack in the middle of modern day America, cell phones, Internet, American Idol and all.  The premise is interesting, and Linder executes the transition beautifully.  Fully engaged, I moved through the story (even though I was familiar with the plot) rapidly .  Jane was endearing and Rathburn magnetic.  One of the problems was the lack of suspense or thrill that Bronte created in the original, perhaps because I was so well versed in the story or maybe because Linder explained things a little too thoroughly.

Some may love Heathcliffe, I love Rochester because of his faults and Rathburn is equally intriguing.  The romance of the forbidden, the love for someone so imperfect is captured fully in Jane.  An excellent entry novel for the more complex original, this novel is recommended for anyone interested in the classic tales of love, loss, and redemption.

Soulless, An Alexia Tarabotti Novel by Gail Carriger

Miss AlexiaTarabotti has no soul.  She lives in an alternative 19th Century where vampires, werewolves and ghosts live -nearly- side by side with daylight beings (humans).  Generally, she goes unnoticed and frequently ignored as she is also a spinster whose father was Italian. Then, she is attacked by an unusually rude vampire in the library of the Snodgrove's home. She accidentally kills the vampire which brings the powerful, handsome, loud, and werewolf, Lord Conall Maccon into her story. Although he loudly argues with Alexia, he also efficiently cleans up the mess and makes it all disappear.  In spite of his best efforts, Miss Tarabotti is now the central suspect of everyone (vampire queens, werewolf alphas, and strange wax creatures) as more socially gauche vampires appear and other rogue vampires and werewolves disappear.

Thinking that this novel would fall heavily in the steampunk fiction genre, I anticipated more intrigue, more gadgetry, more sci-fi.  Still, I seriously enjoyed Alexia's character.  Her complete loyalty to self, her curious mind, her random observations, and even her insecurities made me laugh, made me like her.  The constant banter between Miss Tarabotti and Lord Macoon was charmingly written.  Their lack of self awareness and control was the central propulsion of the plot. I loved it, just the way I loved Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy; Beatrice and Benedict, and Rhett and Scarlet.

If you are expecting a suspenseful, action dense novel, you may be disappointed.  Part urban fantasy, part romance, part mystery, and a splash of steam punk, Soulless is an excursion into a fascinating alternative world, with delightful characters and plenty of touchy, kissy, descriptive, romance stuff.  Myself, I am anxious to read the second novel, Changeless (a NY Times Best Seller).

Bess Crawford Series by Charles Todd

Mother-son duo, the Todds have created another fabulous protagonist, Bess Crawford, a WWI nurse whose upbringing is not that of a typical British upper class daughter.  Colonel Crawford was stationed in India for Bess's childhood, and as a result Bess is determined, honorable, and carries a strong sense of duty.  In the first of the series, A Duty to the Dead, Bess is injured on the Britannica when it is struck and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea.  Her brush with death spurs her on to fulfill a commitment she made to a dying patient, Arthur Graham.  She must deliver a cryptic message to one of his brothers, Jonathan, in Kent.  Once the message is delivered, Bess feels no sense of relief.  The Graham's treat the message with apparent indifference. As she persists in her duty to Arthur, Bess finds herself embroiled in their family secrets that involve an insane, murderous, older half brother.  And for the first time, Bess's sense of duty places her in life threatening danger.

 Bess's honor draws her into yet another dangerous situation in An Impartial Witness, the second novel in the Bess Crawford series.  Returning to the front after delivering a seriously burned pilot, Lieutenant Evanson, to England for further treatment, Bess notices an obviously upset woman pleading with an indifferent soldier at the train station.  His coolness is striking, but most shocking of all is the fact that the woman is Evanson's wife, Marjorie.  Bess is stunned when weeks later she sees a rough sketch of Marjorie in a newspaper. Marjorie disappeared the very day Bess saw her, and the police need information.  Bess can't help herself, especially after the lieutenant slits his own throat, she begins her own search for the man at the train station, a man who may be the murderer.

In A Bitter Truth, trouble literally lands on the doorstep of Bess's London home.  Huddled against the freezing rain, a woman, Lydia Ellis, is bruised and terrified when Bess finds her.  Tea, a night's rest, and Bess's comforting presence finally convince Lydia to reveal the story of the argument she had with her husband whose response was violence.  Once the story is out, Lydia is ready to return home, and begs Bess to join her.  In Sussex, at Vixen Hall, death is prominent for they are mourning Lydia's brother-in-law Arthur, a recent victim of the war.  The darkness of death soon takes the form of murder, David Hughes, a family friend, is discovered dead the morning after he accidentally revealed a secret while drunk during dinner at Vixen Hall.  A suspect in the case, Bess cannot leave until the true murderer is caught. So, she really can't help herself, stuck; she launches her own inquires that once again lead her into the sites of a killer.

Like their Ian Rutledge series, the Todd's have created a fascinating central character true to the time frame.  Bess is not a modern woman dropped into the past, she is truly a determined woman from World War I.  Her character, her intelligence and her upbringing gift her with the talents and strength required to unravel the marvellous puzzles created by the Todds.  The Bess Crawford series like the Rutledge series presents an in-depth and intriguing look at life during in England during World War I.