Tag Archives: 2-stars

Review: Thea Astley – It’s Raining in Mango

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It’s Raining in Mango
Thea Astley
It’s Raining in Mango is a required novel I read for Australian Literature and History B at Griffith University. It is a typical Australian gritty novel, but the themes in it are varied and have the potential to be enjoyable.

1670400I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I hate Australian literature. Astley is an Australian author who has received the Miles Franklin award four times – just like Tim Winton, who is far more well known. Do you wonder why that is? It’s that Tim Winton writes accessible, modern fiction (that I’m also not particularly fond of), and Astley prefers to tackle the racism of early Australian history. Or at least she does in this novel.

It’s Raining in Mango covers five generations of the Laffey family. It takes quite a bit of getting used to, because the perspective jumps generations quite frequently. I really don’t like perspective jumps at all, and these ones also overlap in time. For example, Connie calls Will to tell him Harry has died, but then it jumps to Will going away for the war and he comes back as Harry dies.
I was surprised to find mid-way through this book a gay storyline. It turns out that Will is queer, but he finds it impossibly hard to accept it within the contraints of early Australian society. It’s sad to see that he can’t accept himself, and seems to be doomed to be lonely. At one point, it appears that he has sex with Connie instead, to comfort him from the horrors of war – but I can’t quite be sure.
The underlying themes of the book, as I mentioned before, include racism against the Australian Aboriginals, and also the judgement of women and men’s sexual choices. That’s one of the more interesting themes to me – in depicting the typical men and prostitutes, but also presenting a young prostitute’s side of things. Also, Connie’s son seems to be out of wedlock as well, so at least within the Laffey family, noone seems to mind about what women do with their bodies.
I borrowed this book from my local library because I didn’t think I’d care about it enough to want it on my shelves. There are a variety of covers it has had, but Amazon appears not to have any of them at the moment.

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Review: E L James – Fifty Shades Freed

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Fifty Shades Freed
E L James
So I’ve now read the third book in this erotic set. I told myself I was doing a service to my reader community to finish reading all the damn things, so don’t prove me wrong!
13536860The same things that irritated me in the other novels are present in this one. The various stupid repetitive sex scenes, the say way of referring to Christian as Fifty! Yeah, not impressed. I am not going to read this book again, and I’m glad I didn’t buy myself copies as it would have been a waste of money.
The Jack Hyde storyline, particularly its conclusion, was poorly followed, and smacked of the author being told to just include a climax! (ha ha, climax, see what I did there?) Bringing back Laila didn’t really make all that much sense either, and didn’t really add anything – except getting someone fired!
As if I didn’t see Ana’s problems in this novel coming. First, boy meets girl (book1), then boy marries girl (book 2) and finally boy and girl have a family. I’m pretty sure I didn’t just ruin it for you – it was obvious that that was coming.
 
Something that is introduced more seriously into this book are the flashbacks. I think more could have been done there, and the writing style in those was just as poor as the rest of the time, but at least something was done to try change things up a bit! There were also more email conversations, which did add a little more to the narrative.
More Dr Flynn! He was really needed in this book, but he wasn’t there. He wasn’t there whenhe was really needed! Christian breaks down far too quickly. He goes back on his ways rapidly, with little sense. The Elena storyline returns, but again, Ana is far too understanding.
Ana never learns. Christian doesn’t either. Her ‘sex’ is always wet and wanting for him. He doesn’t seem to get that she’s so sex mad. The pregnancy sex scenes at the end are sort of appalling – isn’t she thinking of the baby at all? Or maybe her toddler? Yeah, just sad.
 
I really struggled to find things to say about this book. It’s been a couple of days since I read it now, and I’ve read some other good, favourite books in the mean time, and I don’t really understand why I bothered finishing this trilogy. Perhaps I just felt like being a completionist! Also, they were really easy to read, and it’s boosting my total reviews ever closer to 100 (look out for a giveaway at that point).
 
ADULTS ONLY! It’s been described to me as a Twilight erotica – and I can sure see where that came from. A stupid female and a hunky man getting it on! It just needs a bit more of a love triangle.

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Review: E L James – Fifty Shades Darker

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Fifty Shades Darker
E L James
I am appalled to admit that I’ve now read the second book in the ‘Fifty Shades’ trilogy. I want to say it was a waste of time, and it was in a way, but I didn’t have access to anything else to read, so it was at least some form of reading material! I didn’t like it any more than the first – but read on for my critique.
11857408The beginning to this novel is obvious after the ending of the first book. The weight Ana loses, and that fact that it is remarked upon a million times at the beginning, then just forgotten as they get back together again (I’m not spoiling anything for you here, it was obvious they would from this being a trilogy!). Naturally all those clothes that the private shopper bought still fit regardless.
I skimmed most of the sex scenes as boring, repetitive and in some cases, disgusting. I have to say that they’re well done for sex scenes if you must have them, but again, I felt cheap reading them. There is some relief to them, as James skips a couple, but the rest of the time Christian and Ana are at it like rutting dogs.
Ana is always stuck on how ‘beautiful’ Christian is. And when Christian comes, he always says ‘Oh Ana’. It gets way too repetitive and annoying. I know that Christian belongs to Ana, and that she loves him, so she doesn’t need to keep thinking about it! And his constant surprise that she is wet for him. Duh, she wouldn’t be kissing your face off if she wasn’t. Not to mention the constant ignition of her blood.
The ending is just pathetic. I found the whole helicopter gone wrong storyline as a weird adjunct to the rest of the book, and it felt like it had been tacked on just to add a bit of drama. Elena, yeah, not much I can say there, but that’s there, and it’s sort of annoying and pretty transparent. I could see the ending coming for that so easily too!
This book has the same obvious flaws as the first in that Ana refers to her subconscious and Inner Goddess as separate people. Those points basically broke any of the sexyness of the prelude to sex scenes that there was. Referring to Christian as Fifty is irritating too. Not to mention the ‘firsts’ they have together, and Christian’s jealousy even though Ana was a virgin, and of course she wouldn’t sleep with anyone else! 
 
Chaste kisses are handed out left right and centre. But they are never anything like that! It’s always leading into sex. I think at the end it turns out they have been together for a grand total of 16 days before Christian is wanting to have Ana as his forever.
The causes of those scars are so obvious to me. Ana is blissfully ignorant, and yet she’s willing to force Christian into doing what she wants. They are as bad as each other! Of course, it’s Ana that is portrayed as sexmad and insatiable. Christian is also that way, but Ana is just unforgivable. Her forays into sex games is interesting to an extent,
Something I thought that could have been worked more upon, but did work well, was the quick chapters with the shrink. Ana and Christian could sure do with more psychotherapy. Ana can not have just cured him! Forcing someone to do something doesn’t fix them, particularly with the issues that Christian professes to have.
Sometimes it feels like James should have just stuck to the romance and left out the drama. The helicopter, the Elena storyline and harrassment at Ana’s workplace. Pretty pathetic really. The harassment is something I ‘enjoyed’ because it broke things up a bit from the sex scenes. Oh! And the Leila storyline! So memorable I forgot to mention it until now. Seriously, a deranged woman is going to get past the ever-awesome Taylor? I don’t think so. Not believable at all.
I honestly don’t know why I keep reading these books. Maybe because I don’t own many books on the computer, and it is way too easy to just sit down and be distracted from my other work and read them, rather than hiding a book under my desk!

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Review: E L James – Fifty Shades of Grey

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Fifty Shades of Grey
E L James
This book is one that has been on bestseller lists everywhere for a while, and seems to be the modern woman’s novel of choice. I wasn’t that captivated by it, but then maybe I’m reading it for the wrong reasons *wink*
10818853I found chapter one sort of irritating. I don’t believe in cosmic connections or being overwhelmed by masculinity. I’ve never met a man I felt overwhelmed by. Maybe I’m looking in the wrong places! But Ana was willing to just go with it all, despite reservations. Why does every woman feel that she can change a man?
Ana has far too much insight into Christian from the beginning, and I don’t understand how someone who is such a clutch, and obviously rather socially inept can possibly attract him. I can understand why Ana is attracted to such a relationship though! She seems like she can be pushed into anything very easily. Again, this changes throughout the book.
The first person present tense narration is a style I don’t usually read. Although it I found myself constantly frustated by stupid references to her subconscious and inner goddess. This is her mindstream! Of course she’s going to have different opinions in each part of her, they don’t need to be named. Complete with eye catching italics too.
The readers anticipation moves with Ana’s. As she feels drawn into Grey, the reader also feels that attraction. It’s not particularly well written, but I did feel compelled to read to the finish. Sometimes I just thought she was a complete and utter idiot. The Mrs Robinson storyline was sort of pathetic until the end. Apparently this is something developed more in the second book, which I would hope for. It’s almost enough to get me to read the second book, but we’ll see. I’d rather read a detailed synopsis without the sex scenes and get it over with.
The dialogue is stilted. There, I said it. Things such as ‘I’m not a hearts and flowers kind of man, I don’t do romance’ just seems very set up. I know that this is the kind of man that Christian Grey is, but I still didn’t feel it. And I certainly couldn’t understand the animal attraction Ana feels for him with such stunning lines! Or perhaps it was her unforgettable and awkward lines, such as ‘What is the time?’. It just didn’t fit in with her as a character.
I found myself grossed out by some of Ana’s thoughts. I’m not a prude by any means, but ‘I eye Christian’s toothbrush. It would be like having him in my mouth.’ is just wrong. She’s going to use a toothbrush of a man she’s basically just met and fantasise about it! Ew, she’s just spent some of the night vomiting, and then eaten breakfast, and now she’s going to brush her teeth with someone else’s toothbrush and spread her nasty germs. Healthy. This is a cheap novel. It made me feel cheap reading it. ‘Two orgasms… coming apart at the seas, like the spin cycle on a washing machine’. Statements like this kicked me out of the narrative, sexy as it was. It made the novel seem very amaturish.
The rules Ana must follow are laughable. Of course these things are likely to come up, but to see them written down in plain print. Sorry, maybe I’m just not a romantic, but I can’t believe that a woman would want to subject herself to that! Seriously, exercise 3 times a week? And it’s laughable what Christian is dictating when he has already told Ana to do things.
The sexual domination storyline which seems to be the major draw card for this book was transparent. Although Ana seems clueless (and a virgin), the reader can almost tell straight away what Christian is suggesting. I feel that it’s not even my foreknowledge of this book that told me that. p. 57 starts it all in an elevator!
I’m not sure if the PDF copies I obtained from the book club I am part of were sanctioned by E L James – I doubt it. This book is available in all the usual places (affiliate links to Amazon and TBD), and I’m sure you probably already own a copy or can obtain one even more quickly from a concrete store! I’m more interested in hearing what other people’s ideas are on it – too sexy, or just right?

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Review: Kathryn Lasky – Daughters of the Sea: Hannah

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Daughters of the Sea: Hannah
Kathryn Lasky
Hannah has been brought up in an institute for orphans, yet she feels a yearning for something more. She is surprisingly well educated, yet she can’t guess what she is going to become. Some transparent drama complicates Hannah’s life, yet she doesn’t know she can move on.

0-439-78310-0Hannah was tolerable. I was really very disappointed in this book. There was no depth. Hannah is a flat character, the three sisters are flat characters and the painter is rather like a cameo. Something I did like was the way the beautiful painting was described in great detail. I would have liked to see more of the painter’s work, and know what happened to the painting once it was defaced.

The family’s rather sudden sympathy for Hannah makes no sense. The reader doesn’t see her socialising with the staff, and although she gets along well with Ettie, I don’t think it was shown clearly enough that Ettie had come to love her. I’d almost say there was too much telling and not enough showing.
I knew almost from the beginning what Hannah was, it was so blindingly obvious. Transparent, that’s what I’d call this book. Transparent and unsatisfying. Not unreadable like Wit’ch Fire, but still not great. No real danger in the book to satisfy the reader, not even really any anticipation. The cat Jade and her owner Lila are nasty, irrational and mean but they don’t really do anything to Hannah.
 
The book is Americanised to an extreme. Hannah travels from Boston to Kansas. See, I have some knowledge of geography, but only very little bit. So I felt almost completely lost. I’m sure Americans might appreciate the localisation more.
The ending was quite unsatisfying. Too open ended for me, and I just couldn’t love the way Hannah thought she could choose anything she wanted. The question of Lila wasn’t answered. Worse still, the next book in the series (there was a small excerpt at the end of this book) doesn’t seem to be about Hannah, and what she found. I’m just glad I didn’t get the sequel which was right next to it in the store.
I picked this book up while on my overseas holiday, and was actually tempted to just leave it at the house I was staying at. If I’ve met my weight limit when flying home, this one will not be returning with me. I don’t think it’s worth a second read – not enough depth.
Although this is marketed to young adult readers, I’d recommend this book for children who can’t see through transparent plots. Normally I would be relatively tolerant of perceived inadequacies in children’s books – they aren’t aimed at adults like me – but in this case, I’m not sure there were any really good redeeming qualities.
In my opinion, save your money, but if you’re still interested:

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Review: Patricia McCormick – Cut

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Cut
Patricia McCormick
Callie doesn’t talk about what she does. In fact, Callie doesn’t talk at all. At Sea Pines she is expected to reveal all about what she does. What she does should be obvious to you! The book title says it all.

So this is yet another angsty teen novel I have read lately. And sadly, I found it lacking in a couple of ways. The storyline was very predictable, thin and unsatisfying. There wasn’t enough fleshing out even of the environment. I couldn’t imagine anything except the laundry and the bathroom, and even then there wasn’t enough detail to satisfy me.

In a way, I found it pathetic. Each of the characters, although they tried to support each other, I just found it a bit lacking. Especially Amanda. Her character is so much in opposition to everything that is trying to be achieved by Callie and the other girls. I wanted to know more behind each of them! Just giving them problems and names wasn’t enough.Yes, this book did touch me. I felt some shivers. It did disturb me a little. For a book written by someone who has never cut, it’s not bad. I guess I’m comparing this book to Scars (Cheryl Rainfield) and The Burn Journals (Brent Runyon). Those books are built on true stories, and the sincerity really shines through to make a well-rounded and developed character.

Some things I find absurd, such as the therapist visits. I find it hard to believe that the therapist could lie so blatantly to Callie about Becca. Also, the whole thing about her scars fading – that’s something that Callie could have worked out for herself – no they won’t fade completely, but there is makeup! I guess for a 13 year old girl willing to believe anything she is told, it’s ok.

This book is very female biased. There are no men, except Callie’s brother, Sam, who is very sick and so understandably sympathetically portrayed. In contrast is Callie’s father, who she doesn’t talk about. It seems like there is a deeper issue there – I was hanging out for it to be rape, or something serious – but it was simply something else. Callie did a great job with the situation she found herself. I can’t give too much away, or I’ll ruin the little suspense the book had.

There is something about the show Rescue 911. I’ve never watched it. But apparently everybody loves it! And of course it has relevance to Callie’s situation. It’s not a subtle reference, and I guess that ruined it for me. This book is going to be dated within a couple of years for sure, and it doesn’t even make any attempt to be universal (not that it necessarily should, just an observation).

I was particularly dissatisfied with the ending. Arg! Would it have killed McCormick to give Callie a decent ending? Sorry, but I know how cutting works, and a on eoff idea that you’re going to stop isn’t necessarily going to carry on. And I didn’t have much faith in talk therapy like that (with no cognitive behvioural therapy) fixing a problem. No wonder some of the girls were still sick.
The bonus of this book was that it was short and cheap! So I don’t feel like I wasted too much on it. I’ve ripped it apart, but surely there are other people that like it. The cover is surprisingly attractive to my mind.

I’d recommend this book for teens. It’s not a great insight into how Callie’s mind works (and certainly not how all cutters’ minds work), and I think maybe it could be negative for some other people who have never thought of the idea of cutting before. The idea of a residential facility fixing all mental problems is absurd, and out of reach of most people anyway – they’ll never be able to relate.

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Review Update: 22nd December 2021 – Wow. I didn’t remember that I only gave this two stars. A reread mostly cemented this for me though, it doesn’t deserve a place on my shelf. I still hold true to a residential mental facility being unnecessary and not helpful. Also, that cutting is not necessarily a problem in itself, it is more the trauma that needs to be dealt with responsibly by a trained psychologist to do any good.

Review: Jay Asher – 13 Reasons Why

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13 Reasons Why
Jay Asher
Hannah Baker committed suicide. That’s not the end of her though – she has made a map and audiotape a bunch of reasons why she has killed herself. Poor Clay is on her list, and he feels compelled to keep listening.
1217100I didn’t actually like Hannah very much. I felt that she could have avoided the trouble she got herself into – it wasn’t fair to blame her year level. She should have known better! She gave up.

I liked Clay, good boy Clay, and felt he was really short changed by Hannah. He’s so nice! And she put him through this after her death. It was so unfair.

I found the first chapter of this book confusing more than anything. Initially I thought it was the person who’s chapter it was with the interspersed comments, but it wasn’t. I checked the blurb of the book multiple times to make sure I wasn’t confused.
The book was compelling in a weird way. Asher did suck me in and I wanted to know what Clay had done. And then I was disappointed there too. I can’t say I found it comfortable to read – but then it wasn’t supposed to be comfortable. I ended up skimming the end. I just wasn’t into it enough to accept it.
I felt let down by this book. I expected so much more, maybe unrealistically hoping that Hannah had bigger problems than just being labelled a slut. Yes, it’s bad, but there are other things you can do rather than killing yourself. There is help available! She didn’t really try very hard, and although people didn’t help her, it was unfair to blame everyone else for a choice that ultimately only she could make. I guess I was looking for depth, but I didn’t find it.The discussion question type things at the end are ok. I guess this could make a good school book, which would be ever so relevant, particularly to American teens. Sorry, perhaps Australians are a little less wimpy. I’d recommend this book for teens. I really didn’t love it enough to properly recommend it – maybe other people will enjoy it more than me. I know there are a number of people out there who love this book. But it’s not me. I feel like I have wasted 10 reviews on ‘earning’ this book, and I could have picked something with more substance.

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Review: Lili Wilkinson – Scatterheart

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Scatterheart
Lili Wilkinson
Hannah is Quality. She is one of the born aristocrats of London, but her father leaves her behind. A series of misunderstandings later and Hannah finds herself on a ship to Australia. Hannah has always been selfish, but the long trip and the factories afterwards open her eyes to enjoying what she actually has.
4706044Hannah develops beautifully as a character, and it is obvious that lots of research has gone into this book. Wilkinson has a gift for bringing history to life. The majority of tortures written into the book actually occurred, and that is what makes this a historical fiction, as far as I am concerned.
I felt driven to finish this book, even though I knew what the outcome would be. It wasn’t a badly written book, like some others I have read recently, but it just wasn’t my style. For a book that says it is ‘fantasy’, it doesn’t cut it for me. The only fantasy element that I could see were the short fairytale sections put in as hallucinations or flashbacks, as well as the chapter verses.
I really want to blame disliking this book on it being written by an Australian author. But at the same time, some of my other favourite authors are Australian (think Isobelle Carmody). Maybe it is just the Australian content. I will probably try more books by this author, just not from this pseudo-fantasy genre.
This book has been long listed for a number of awards, and has glowing reviews elsewhere, if historical fiction is your thing and you think you want a more unbiased opinion. There is an underlying romance in this book that also might appeal to others – again, it’s not really my thing, and I couldn’t tell you if it is representative of its kind.
I picked up this book by mistake at the library. It was right next to another set of books by Carole Wilkinson which I really enjoyed, and the spines of the covers looked very similar. Both sets of books are published by Black Dog Books.
The level of gross in this book is pretty high. There’s torture, sex, theft; a whole range of fantastic bad things! I’d recommend this book for teenagers, not children by any means.

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Review: Peter Carey – The True History of the Kelly Gang

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The True History of the Kelly Gang
Peter Carey

This novel is metafictional – Carey has taken the facts and then changed them to suit the story if it had really happened. Instead of Ned Kelly being an unforgivable highway robber, he is a painted more as a lovable modern day Robin Hood in a way. He is set on the pathway to criminality by his mother, trying to support a huge family of Irish children with no support from Ned’s father.
110090The language of this book is hard to get into, as Carey attempts to capture the language of Ned Kelly back in the early days of Australian history. The novel is sectioned according to where Ned’s correspondence comes from. As always, Carey’s writing challenges conventions.

This book is relevant to anyone who has an interest in Ned Kelly. Sure, you aren’t going to get historical facts out of it, but if you have someone who hates Australian literature (and for good reason!) or don’t know very much about our ‘national icon’, then this is a great book to introduce them to it.

This isn’t a novel I would read of my own volition, this was yet another literature text. It was one of the more enjoyable ones to read, surprisingly since it was Australian literature! However, the language usage, although ‘authentic’, was very offputting for me.

If you had to pick a Peter Carey to read out of this and Collected Stories, I’d pick this one over it. Collected Stories gives you a nice variety, but it’s all very deep and meaningful. The Kelly Gang is slightly more lighthearted, and infinitely easier reading.

It is very sensitively written, and doesn’t contain any swearing, though of course Ned comes up with his own adjectival curses! It’s likely suitable for teens, and certainly for adults.

As with many books for my literature classes, I didn’t purchase this book, rather I borrowed it from my local library. I don’t think I would reread for pleasure, although others may feel differently.

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Review: HonorĂ© de Balzac – Pere Goriot

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Pere Goriot
Honoré de Balzac

‘Pere Goriot’, or Old Father Goriot, is a realist text which is difficult initially to understand and read. There are a number of characters, including Goriot himself and the irredeemable Rastignac, who focalize the novel. This novel is translated from French. If you want an in-depth experience of ‘real’ Paris, this will be good for you. Hit the jump for more details…

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The first 100 or so pages of the novel are impossible to get into. It is all just setting the scene for the ‘action’. If you persevere, you will find some more satisfying plot developments, but nothing that really shouts at you to read on. In the end, I found myself reading just to see what would happen to poor old Goriot, who got the death I expected.

If you do suddenly find yourself attached to any of the characters, this novel is part of a set ‘The Human Comedy’. Balzac made it his mission to catalog the entirety of Parisian society, and most of this is contained within his published works. Balzac died before he completed it, but this is a project that I feel he probably never would have been satisfied with .

This novel is a great example of realism! There is a heavy focus on detailed settings, as if you are really walking the streets of Paris. A number of the characters seem like placeholders, while others are fully fleshed out. I don’t think anyone feels real emotion for the characters, for everything is already set out for them. They seem to not try escape their sorry lot, and Rastignac in particular is quite a repugnant person.

This is not something I would enjoy reading for pleasure. As a text in a literature degree, it was a good one to study though, as it was filled with details that I could use for analysis. My version has a set of essays in the second half of the book, which was interesting and useful reading. It is good to know some historical background before setting out into the book.

Keep in mind that this is translated from French, so each translator may potentially put a different spin on things. Also, if you’re going to buy it online, make sure to get the English version!

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