Book Review: The House Girl by: Tara Conklin The House Girl I give this book four out of five stars for the depths of emotion provoked, the discussion of race, and the exploration into family bonds. The work is thought provoking and a long journey into the lives of two women in two points of time. What I liked: 1) The discussion of race, slavery, and reparations was poignant, well thought out, and shove against the surface level banter revolving around these issues. 2) The relationship tensions. I think Lena and her father Osacar’s interactions conveyed this the best. Their communication always skirted some topics while others were pursued head on. They provide a relatable portrayal of times when simple conversation never really is simple. 3) There is an overarching question of the meaning of life. Many characters are in pursuit of finding themselves or seeking something greater. Discussions of God’s role; is sense of self something imposed on us by others or is it of our own design; and the meaning of freedom. What I didn’t like: 1) The narrative voice (please note-I’m not talking about the actual narrator here, I’m discussing the technical construction of the work) never seemed to change or vary. This was most obvious when the narrative was coming from a historical document where letters were filled with gazes, detailed looks, and eloquent prose that are easily recognized as the narrators. Not every character needed to speak in such detail, and because they did the definition of the characters is blurred. 2) The extraneous details. Details and long prose were everywhere and at every moment in the book. I found myself longing for moments of simple narrative. At times I wanted to tell the narrator to skip down the page and pick back up where there was action. The historical letters became very long winded and I groaned whenever another one started because not a single one was short and to the point. The feel of Lena’s office space would remain intact if half the details were stripped. I listened to the audio version of this book. I thought the female narrator, Bahni Turpin was especially gifted in her inflections for certain characters and her smooth shift into a male’s tone of voice.

The Redeeming (Age of Faith #3) by: Tamara Leigh

I give this book three out of five stars for being an enjoyable read with some colorful combat scenes. It’s a love at first sight kind of romance with some interesting action to build on future books.
What I liked:
1) The male protagonist Christian Lavonne. I really liked his introduction in the last book and I looked forward to a book featuring him.
2) The climax to the conflict between Christian and his ill father. Their conflict was introduced in the last book, and it was a believable ending to the strife between them.
3) The twist in how the final battle at Soaring played out. It was very exciting with a lot at stake for many of the characters.

What I didn’t like:
1) The romance between Christian and Gaenor. I didn’t see what/how/why Christian fell in love with Gaenor. I was hoping it would be more than just a lust/love at first sight kind of thing. Unfortunately I don’t see how else to explain their attachment. There wasn’t much else that passed between them to create a burning romance.
2) I wasn’t very attached to the heroine Gaenor. She repeats mistakes, falls for people she barely knows, doesn’t speak her mind, and overall didn’t grow or progress much as a character.
3) I was hoping to see more of how Christian’s time and training as a Monk would shape his current life. It didn’t seem to have much if any impact. I found it a little odd how quickly Christian was able to shift into his duties as Baron. I’m not sure lack of combat training would be his greatest struggle.

Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1) by: Charlaine Harris

Narrated by: Johanna Parker

I gave this book three out of five stars for its entertainment and the unique characters. As a fan of the HBO television series True Blood, I looked forward to reading the book it was based on and have waited to read them so I would not taint either television or book experience. It was fun to find elements in the book that never made it to the show and discover characters added or altered in the series that were not organic to Harris’s work.

What I liked:

1) The environment. All the little bits of the southern setting enriched the story.  The descriptions of humid heat, pine pollen, the type and conditions of buildings, and the sounds of crickets and frogs were great.

2) The Fantasy. Sookie considers her telepathic ability a “disability”. The Vampire mythology was pretty much the usual but had a unique twist of how Vampires had “come out” and were mainstreaming into society. They drank synthetic blood and the media claimed vampires were victims of a horrible virus that caused allergies to garlic and silver. When Sookie discovers her boss is a shifter she has an epiphany and figures there must be all kinds of myths that were real.

3) The mystery. Having watched the show, I knew who the killer was, but I still enjoyed the suspense of how the killer was revealed.

What I didn’t like:

1) The way in which this book is written. It’s poor technical construction was painful, absolutely painful. I was glad I was listening to this book instead of seeing its poor construction on paper. Harris’s number one crime is her use of adverbs. Harris loves adverbs so much she made one up: “shame-facedly”. I’m still in shock by how this work went to publication with that in its pages. For fun I kept a running list of every adverb used in only the final two chapters of the book:

Alertly

Instantly x 2

Expectantly

Thoughtfully

Thoroughly

Reluctantly

Reproachfully

Drowsily

Finally x 4

Abruptly

Comfortingly

Hopefully x 2

Enthusiastically

Quizzically

Heavily x 4

Cautiously

Doubtfully x 2

Curiously

Firmly x 2

Practically

Sadly x 2

Dreadfully

Slightly

Softly x 2

Shame-facedly

Graciously

Helplessly

Eagerly

Intently

Sloppily

Unexpectedly

Abruptly

Loudly

Sympathetically

Questioningly

Earnestly

Cheerfully

Ghastly

Dutifully

Wryly

Obediently

Obligingly

Vehemently

Carelessly

Hesitantly

Involuntarily

Carefully x 5

2) The connection between Sookie and Bill was lust, there’s very little romance. I can’t tell you what Bill loves about Sookie, besides feeding or having sex with her, he never reveals his attachment. While they shared personal information with one another, Bill’s character was very flat. He tells her how naive she is and later laughs while he tells her how she knows nothing about the world. What a charmer. Sookie’s biggest enchantment with Bill: she can’t read his mind. So yeah, not much love connection there.  The only sex scene that didn’t make me yawn, was the one in the cemetery when she found Bill alive.

3) Clothing and life details. Harris likes to tell you head to toe what every characters wearing. This is useful and fun when some of the eccentric choices of clothing for vampires were described. It seems pointless and strange when Sookie’s bar uniform or lame taste in every other article of her attire is described. I wanted to check the year this book was written when Sookie put a banana clip in her hair. I also did not understand why details about brushing teeth, shaving legs, and use of facial moisturizer were shared on more than one occasion.