Book Review: The Life She Was Given

Title: The Life She Was Given

Author: Ellen Marie Wisema

Genre: Historical, Literary Fiction

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars 

While there seems to be a run on circus settings lately, The Life She Was Given is actually perfect to have a circus setting! We have two settings and POVs here. One from a girl in the 1930's and another from a girl in the 1950's. Both are connected to the same house; but the mystery of how, why, etc. is of course a good chunk of the plot of the book. 

Setting

You can't go wrong with a creepy old house that has areas boarded up and secret rooms. And alternatively the circus is a great place to tell the story of a 'freak' or 'unnatural' (as she is called in the books) girl. Between these two settings I was hooked from the first chapter. 

The rich circus setting is not over done or exaggerated at all. As for the house; I can't say much or I'll give too much away. Just now that it's a bit creepy and hides secrets well. 

The 30's

As always, the primary story I loved was the older one set (largely) at the circus with our 10-year-old girl.  The start of our story is a 10-year-old girl who is trapped in an attic and never let out by her parents because she is a 'freak'. 

I won't give away what makes her a 'freak' because I think it's an interesting reveal.

Relevant to the start of this story is actually a tidbit from the acknowledgements where author Ellen Marie Wiseman indicates that Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews was a part of the inspiration for the past story. Certainly she nailed it on that aspect. I read Flowers in the Attic when I was a teen (and like Wiseman) I was very struck by it and immediately upon reading the first chapter of The Life She Was Given it was my first thought. Kudos to Wiseman for taking the trapped in the attic element and making it her own story from there. 

The 50's

Our lead gal in the 50's timeline is a down on her luck gal who definitely could use some direction and purpose in life. This portion of the story is maybe 25% of the whole story; but is (of course) relevant to the reveal at the end of the book. I think there was just enough of this time period without it becoming monotonous or overdone. The reality is that we all want to read about the circus more than we want to read about breeding race horses. That's just basic human curiosity for most. 

Writing Tone

Of all the things that were lovely about The Life She Was Given, certainly the tone, flow and voice of the stories was most striking.  Wiseman has a writing style I love. One that compels you to turn the page, but also captures that 'old' feel. Almost like you are watching an old movie of someone's life that has the stains on the edges, and is maybe a bit worn. I'm not sure how else to explain it but this is the kind of historical fiction writing I love. Where we feel immersed in the past and the small details (like the value of leather or silk) is emphasized in order to remind us that they didn't use go to a mall to buy things. I am definitely interesting in reading all of Wiseman's books now just to read more of her writing style. 

Overall

If you like historical fiction I think you are destined to like this. Interestingly it sets just before WWII and just after. I found this choice to be quite clever by Wiseman and at no time did I feel like she forgot the war because during the narrative it's clear lots of things are happening in the world. However it's not necessarily relevant to our the very focused story here. 

Overall I adored this book. Characters were all very enjoyable, romance was lovely (not over done) and the settings were the icing on the cake. 

Definitely one I will be purchasing for my personal print library!

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Book Review: Tarnished City

Title: Tarnished City 

Series: Dark Things 

Author: Vic James

Genre: YA, fantasy, dystopia

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars  

I was really hoping for an improvement over Book 1 (Gilded Cage). Unfortunately I think I got the exact same book in terms of pacing, boring political parts, intense action at the end, and only liking a few characters. I could probably lift my Gilded Cage review and put it in here with few edits. 

It's really unfortunate because I really think Vic James has created a great world. But she has made the exact same mistakes in this second book that she did in the first. Now I realize it was possibly already written and whatnot before book 1 was released but given the timing between the books there would have been time to revisit it to make some improvements. 

Second Book Syndrome

Any long time series reader knows what I mean. A trilogy usually has a middle book that is weaker than the rest. There is a little bit of that in Tarnished City. Certainly an inability to move the plot forward until the very end of the book is telling that it's all just a set-up for book 3. 

I also think some second book syndrome set in here when it came to characters we heard from (each chapter is from one character Point of View). It's the same mistake George R.R. Martin makes in his later Song of Fire and Ice books; which is to drop certain character POVs (who are not dead) from the narrative. The problem with this is that if they are your beloved characters then it is harder to keep people's attention. I would have loved to see at least one or two chapters from Daisy (who has a unique view on everything now) and from the parents of our lead teens who are also now in a different location. Instead we get to hear from Garvan, Bouda, and others that I just don't care about that much. Yes they are important, but I'd honestly rather read about them and the politics from the viewpoints of more interesting people. 

And don't even start me on the lack of Jenner point of views... (see note at bottom for rant).

Overview

I'll definitely read book 3 as I'm interested in where this goes. What I'm really hoping for is that after this series James can come out with something totally new in the YA fantasy genre and blow us away with everything she learned from writing her first trilogy. Because I really do believe there is potential here (she is amazing at writing cliffhanger endings and action sequences) it's just been diluted with poor choices and boring narrative in places. 

Note: My fan girl self, for those familiar with the series, is very, very disappointed in the serious lack of Jenner in this novel. The last half he might as well (nearly) not exist until the very end. This was really hard for me to be okay with. I know James is holding back with him so that a mystery isn't revealed but I just missed him a lot. Not even because I'm a fan girl for him necessarily but because he has THE most unique situation of all (and isn't a child).

Book Review: Into the Drowning Deep

Title: Into the Drowning Deep
Author: Mira Grant
Genre: Horror, thriller
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

You'd never know that Mira Grant is the psydonym for Seanan McGuire if you only went by writing samples. Grant's books are scientifically based, horrific thrillers that keep you on edge for most of the book. Into the Drowning Deep is no exception to the rule. Right from the very two things are very clear: 

• Mermaids are real.
• They are not friendly like Ariel...

Plot
I found the overall plot unique in that the mermaids are monsters (I don't think I've ever encountered this idea before) and yet a bit standard in that it follows the typical monster book timeline. Monsters appear, not everyone is convinced, people investigate, monsters appear, etc. In the case of this book there was really o other way to handle the discovery of mermaids and so it was a good choice for a classic timeline to be used. I think Grant chose well to have a classic monster plot with a very unclassical (is that a word?) monster. 

Timeline
Few authors are very good at ensuring their timelines and timing between events makes sense. Michael Crichton was someone who had a really good handle on this. How long does it take to walk an area, shoot a gun, travel to the ocean, etc. And for all the scientific information in Into the Drowning Deep the thing that bothered me the most was that each chapter indicated the date (day, year) and location we were at. Which is all well and good when it's relevant. But for most of this book it is not relevant. What would have been far more helpful is the time on that day of that year given how many events happen close together. 
I'd have to go back and map out the timeline to be sure but I believe that at one time a character mentions a time and then a few chapters later a different character mentions the time and it's in the past (even though it is clearly  supposed to be linear). Maybe I'm picky but this kind of thing really bugs me and gets in the way of my enjoyment of the ongoing story. I start thinking too hard about the continuity instead of enjoying the ride. This was my biggest annoyance in this book, and given how many authors break it (on a constant basis), it's actually a fairly mild complaint. 

Rollicking Ride
For someone, like me, whose standard genres do not include horror, and who has massive hydrophobia (fear of water); Into the Drowning Deep didn't even have to try that hard to scare me. But regardless of those two factors I think the average person would be both intrigued by our mermaids as well as horrified by them. 
Grant describes the biological water creatures in detail and has clearly thought about what makes it most intimidating or scary; as well as what makes it practical and scientifically plausible given it's habitat and evolution.

Science
I'm no marine biologist or any of the other fancy scientists featured; in fact I'm not a scientist of any discipline, but I felt throughout the entire book like Grant had done her homework in regards to the plausible biology, environment and evolution of the mermaids. It reminded me a lot of Crichton. I'd be comfortable saying that enough research was done to make it all sound legit. And maybe it's not perfect but hey it's fictional (we hope!) mermaids after all! I'm not concerned about each individual trait being scientifically accurate so much as it all seeming to make sense and flow with the story being told. Grant certainly achieved this for me.

Overall
I really, really enjoyed this book. Into the Drowning Deep is easily a book that will stick with me and that I would happily recommend to anyone that wants a good horror/thriller story. 
My husband is a big horror fan and has read Grant before. I believe he is now very interested in reading this one based on my reactions to it. He even had to console me one night when I woke up thinking mermaids were after me! (Yes I am a bit of a wuss, but remember massively hydrophobic so this was a challenge from page 1 for me). 

Of all the things I'll say I'd like to say, I want to thank Mira Grant for giving me more reasons why the ocean is scary as hell and why I'll stay on land. I'd also like to thank Grant for taking a sweet, pretty, only sometimes a bit scary mythological creature and making it a true monster that could (and will) haunt nightmares. So be forewarned there is no Ariel, Princes or magical transformations in this story. You can be rest assured that happily ever after is (obviously) not in the cards.