Christina's Book Reviews

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie​

This novel is a MUST READ, especially for those in southern Alberta, whether you live on or off the reserve. Recommended to me by a Cree friend, this funny, heartwarming, sad and enlightening story follows 14-year-old Arnold (“Junior”), as he tries to navigate between two worlds: his life and upbringing on the Spokane Indian Reservation, and his life at an all-white high school. This excellent novel sheds light on the ups and downs of life as an Indigenous person, bringing important cultural perspectives and understanding while making you laugh and cry. I feel this book should be taught in all schools.

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Red Rising by Pierce Brown

If you love science fiction and a good underdog story, this is the book for you. Red Rising follows Darrow, a 15-year-old “Hell Diver” (term for someone who mines precious minerals on Mars), and his part in the larger quest to colonize Mars and make it a habitable place to live like Earth. A staunch hierarchy exists, and our main character as at the bottom of it. He soon discovers that everything he has ever been told about their purpose on the planet has been a lie; they are slaves and people in higher classes have been living in Earth-like luxury for years. The story follows Darrow’s mission to infiltrate the higher classes, transforming into one of them as he goes under cover to overthrow the system from the inside. A page-turner from start to finish, although wrought with violence and political strategy. The first novel of the Red Rising Trilogy.

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Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts

This is a great “read on vacation by the pool” kind of book. Filled with action, romance and murder, Chasing Fire chronicles the life of Rowan Tripp, a 20-something smoke jumper in Missoula Montana, who has the intense and dangerous job of parachuting out of planes into large forest fires to battle the blazes on the ground. Haunted by a fatal accident that claimed her jump partner the year before, Rowan must find a way to stay confident and push forward. When charred bodies begin appearing in the midst of the blazes, an investigation rocks the smoke jumping team to its core, making everyone a potential suspect. Boasting nothing particularly heavy, this book is a sexy, entertaining thrill ride.

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The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

This is, without question, one of the best books I have ever read. If you are a fan of people-centred stories, you will love this. It’s 1974, and 14-year-old Lenora “Leni” Allbright is walking a thin tightrope between her parents. Her father, Ernt, has recently returned from Vietnam, suffering nightmares, mood swings and a volatile temper. Her mother, Cora, does her best to put on a brave face, pretending everything is fine and does her best not to rock the boat of her husband’s fragile emotions. When the family is gifted a cabin in the Alaskan Wilderness, Ernt decides to uproot the family from Seattle, reasoning that living off the grid will cure him of his PTSD and solve all their problems. Leni is caught in the middle, forced to go along, witnessing her father’s mental deterioration and raging volatility as the family becomes more isolated and alone, struggling to survive in the harsh and unforgiving landscape. Ultimately a story of love, loss, and the strength of the mother-daughter bond, what they have to fear is not lurking in the wilderness; rather, it is lurking in their own home. I finished this 600-page novel in one week.  

 

The Women by Kristin Hannah

I read this novel immediately after The Great Alone. In 1966, Frances “Frankie” McGrath is an idealistic 20-year-old from a wealthy family who has just completed nursing school. Her older brother, Finley has been drafted and killed in the Vietnam war. Determined to make a difference but incredibly naïve, Frankie heads to the nearest army office and enlists as an army nurse, overwhelmed and unprepared for the carnage and bloodshed that she witnesses in the country’s mobile hospitals. As the war and her time in Vietnam rages on, with the help of her two nurse bunkmates, Frankie finds her feet, becoming a highly skilled combat nurse, saving hundreds of lives. When she is sent back home to California following two tours of duty, she is disheartened and discouraged to find that American sentiments toward the war have changed and both her country and her family are ashamed of her service. Over the next 15 years, the book details Frankie’s struggles as she spirals from the effects of PTSD and a lack of resources to help her overcome these struggles. A story of bravery, hope and redemption, this book is worth the read, but incredibly heavy. As far as historical fiction goes, it is mostly accurate, detailing the sacrifices women in service made, and lack of respect they received for their contributions.

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Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

After several Australians get their age and cause of death predicted by a would-be fortune teller on a domestic flight from Hobart to Sydney, this book follows the lives of seven different passengers, including fortune teller Cherry Blackwood, following this experience. It's an interesting look into the human condition, and the way people behave when armed with such knowledge. Some try to change course, hoping to alter the future. Others do nothing, giving no credence to the "death lady". When some deaths start coming to fruition, everyone is on edge, including Cherry, who has never considered herself a "real" fortune teller. Readers get an insightful view into Cherry's past, filled with loss and resilience, ultimately illustrating what led to the events that day.

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The Push by Ashley Audrain

This book is a must-read! An intense psychological thriller about motherhood through three generations, this book kept me on the edge of my seat as Audrain tackles the question of nature versus nurture with unapologetic abandon. Blythe is a young woman in her 20s determined to shed past trauma and become the loving mother she never had. When she and her husband Fox welcome their daughter Violet, Blythe is unable to bond with her, and she can't shake the feeling that something also seems off about Violet. When she attempts to share these concerns, they are immediately dismissed by everyone around her. The years pass, and Blythe and Violet's relationship worsens, becoming ever-more tumultuous. When the couple welcomes their second child, Sam, and the unthinkable happens, Blythe's world is thrown into chaos as she questions her past, herself and her daughter. An innate look into how past generational trauma shapes our experiences and who we become.

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Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper

This leisurely paced book was a true pleasure to read! Alternating between three time periods (present day, the 1930s, and the 1940s during the Second World War), this book is set in rural Saskatchewan, where, in present day, 83-year-old Etta Vogel decides to make the harrowing journey walking from the farm she shares with her husband Otto, to the ocean in Nova Scotia. The book recounts the lives of Etta, Otto and Russell, a friend to the couple for nearly 60 years who owns the adjacent farm. Rich with emotion, Hooper does a fantastic job of telling each person’s story separately and thoroughly, while seamlessly weaving the threads and experiences that shape the trio’s longtime connection. Although now all in their 80s, each of them explores their desire to forge their own paths in a quest for more. There’s also a touch of Forrest Gump-ness to it, which I did not expect, but was pleasantly surprised by. As for James? He was probably the best character of all.

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Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

I’ll be honest: I did not enjoy this book. I’ve read other excellent Atwood books (The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments), and I’m aware dystopian novels are her forte. But this one didn’t reach me like the formers. The story follows Snowman, a seemingly lone human in a post-apocalyptic world destroyed by a global pandemic. Snowman is tasked with his own survival, along with the survival of the Crakers, a human sub-species invented in a lab prior to humanity’s downfall. The book alternates between the present, and Snowman’s past, when he was known as Jimmy. In Jimmy’s past, we learn that society has become segregated, with elite families living in biodomes working in laboratories that experiment with human and animal genomes to create new species. When Jimmy is a teenager, he meets his best friend Crake, and as an adult, Oryx, who is the love of the lives of both men. The story dives deeply into the past, leisurely threading its way through the events that lead to Snowman’s present situation. I felt it took too long to reach some of these vital answers, and at the book’s end, many questions were left largely unanswered. Though disappointing, it’s my fault for not realizing that this is only the first novel in a three-novel trilogy. Although these answers may be in the next books, I lack the desire to continue. There’s only so much dystopian bleakness a girl can take. But, if post-apocalyptic, slow-burn novels are your thing, give Oryx and Crake a try.

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The Whispers by Ashley Audrain

As the second book I’ve read by this author, Audrain is excellent at writing about the human condition, and what people will do under extraordinary circumstances. The Whispers follows the stories of four women in a well-to-do suburban neighbourhood, all of whom are not what they seem. Mara is 82, with a past marred by tragedy; Whitney is a mother of three who wishes she never had children at all; Blair is the picture of perfection while harboring deep flaws and insecurities; Rebecca is a doctor with five miscarriages under her belt, stopping at nothing to get the baby she yearns for. When tragedy strikes after a child’s birthday party, the women’s lives intertwine in a catastrophic and irreversible way, leaving each to come to terms with the damning consequences of their conniving actions. While I found none of these women even remotely likeable, it was a highly entertaining read.

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