Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

Print:  464 pages

Published: December 4, 2018 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books

 

I apologize that I’ve been inactive lately.  There has been a lot going on in my life, and I just wasn’t in the mood to read even when I had the chance.  Hopefully, I’ll be back on track from here on out!

Book Blurb:

“A dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the Thames. The regulars are entertaining themselves by telling stories when the door bursts open on an injured stranger. In his arms is the drowned corpse of a little child.

Hours later the dead girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life.

Is it a miracle?

Is it magic?

Or can it be explained by science?

Replete with folklore, suspense and romance, as well as with the urgent scientific curiosity of the Darwinian age, Once Upon a River is as richly atmospheric as Setterfield’s bestseller The Thirteenth Tale.”

 

My Thoughts:

I had actually received an ARC of this from Netgalley and the publisher before it was published but just didn’t get to it in time.  I’m actually glad because I ended up listening to the audiobook version narrated by Juliet Stevenson, who was marvelous.  She has the perfect voice for narrating this atmospheric book, and her delivery pulled me into the book.

The book begins on the eve of the winter solstice in The Swan, an inn located next to the river.  The folks in this town are big storytellers, and they are in the middle of their storytelling when an injured man enters the inn carrying a child.  Rita, the nurse, examines the two and determines that the child is dead.  There are already questions about what happened to the little girl when much later she magically returns to life, creating even more questions.  The mystery continues because there end up being three sets of individuals who all think she is the child they have lost.

If you like atmospheric, adult fairy tales, you will like this book.  The characters are interesting, and the river even plays a character in this book.  The book is lyrically written, and it is not a fast-paced book. Sometimes I felt like it was repetitive with the re-telling of the child coming back to life, making me think the book could have been much shorter without losing the mystery and magical feeling which is part of the charm of the book.  You do learn by the end of the book what actually happened, providing an excellent resolution.

If you do pick up this book, I recommend listening to the audiobook if you can and block out chunks of time.  This is one that is better read/heard in longer stretches rather than spurts here and there.

My Rating:  4 Stars

 

 

 

 

 

The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo

Printed Length: 384 pages

Published: February 12, 2019 by Flatiron Books

 

Book Blurb:

 

A sweeping historical novel about a dancehall girl and an orphan boy whose fates entangle over an old Chinese superstition about men who turn into tigers.

When 11-year-old Ren’s master dies, he makes one last request of his Chinese houseboy: that Ren find his severed finger, lost years ago in an accident, and reunite it with his body. Ren has 49 days, or else his master’s soul will roam the earth, unable to rest in peace.

Ji Lin always wanted to be a doctor, but as a girl in 1930s Malaysia, apprentice dressmaker is a more suitable occupation. Secretly, though, Ji Lin also moonlights as a dancehall girl to help pay off her beloved mother’s Mahjong debts. One night, Ji Lin’s dance partner leaves her with a gruesome souvenir: a severed finger. Convinced the finger is bad luck, Ji Lin enlists the help of her erstwhile stepbrother to return it to its rightful owner.

As the 49 days tick down, and a prowling tiger wreaks havoc on the town, Ji Lin and Ren’s lives intertwine in ways they could never have imagined. Propulsive and lushly written, The Night Tiger explores colonialism and independence, ancient superstition and modern ambition, sibling rivalry and first love. Braided through with Chinese folklore and a tantalizing mystery, this novel is a page-turner of the highest order.

 

My Thoughts:

I love historical fiction, and this book intrigued me because it is set in a time and area I’m not very familiar with -1930’s Malaysia.  There was so much in this book that I’m finding it hard to know how to review.

I really expected to fall in love with it like many others have, but that just didn’t happen for me.  I enjoyed it but felt there was just too much going on and too many characters coming in and out of the story.  Adding the mystery and Chinese folklore and magical realism and forbidden love also added to too much going on for me.  Besides, there were aspects of the book that got dropped without resolution.  I also didn’t really get drawn into the story right away.  It took a while for me to get into it.  I think that it is because there was just too much going on.  I also wish I came away feeling like I had learned more about the area and time.

I have not given up on this author, however, because I did enjoy it somewhat.  I do have her previous book, The Ghost Bride, that I will eventually read.

My Rating:  3 Stars

 

 

 

 

 

Only Child by Rhiannon Navin

Print Length: 304 pages

Published:  February 6, 2018 by Knopf Publishing Group

I listened to this audiobook, superbly narrated by Kivlighan de Montebello.  I don’t think I was really aware of the overall topic of the book or else I might not have picked it up.  I kept seeing that it was getting good reviews, though, so I gave it a try, and I’m glad I did.

This book involves a school shooting in a tight-knit community and the aftermath it creates.  The story is told entirely from the perspective of six-year-old, Zach Taylor.  When the beloved security guard, Charlie’s, son enters the school as a shooter, Zach’s class is forced to hide in a closet as they listened to the shots ring throughout the hall.  Zach fairly quickly realizes that this lockdown is not a drill.  Zach’s brother, Adam, was one of the unfortunate victims who died in the shooting  The shooter had been known to have some mental health issues.  In her grief and anger, Zach’s mother goes on a mission to go after the parents and hold them responsible for her child’s death.

This book is emotionally powerful, and although this is such a sad topic, I found the observations made by Zach fascinating and providing more insight into the fallout from a situation like this.  Although Zach often didn’t understand the circumstances he was seeing or overhearing with his parents, as an adult, we were privy to what was going on with his parents as well. It was interesting seeing how his mind worked and how he worked through his sadness, moving toward healing and understanding.  I often wonder how a person/family can cope after such an event, and I was drawn to the problems they all faced in handling the situation, each member of the family handling it in a different manner. I  often found Zach wise beyond his years, but not in an unrealistic way.

Please don’t be put off by the subject matter.  This is an excellent book, written in a compelling and fresh manner.  If you do decide to venture into this story, I highly recommend that you listen to the audiobook version.  The young man narrating the book is one of the best readers I’ve heard, mastering the skill as well if not better than many of the adults.

My Rating:  5 Stars

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Flatiron Books (May 28, 2019)

 

When I was at my last genre discussion at work, one of my colleagues mentioned that the best book she had read recently was Flatshare.  Since this was right before I was headed for London and it is set there, I decided that would be the perfect book for this trip.  I am SO GLAD that I chose this book.  It was perfect timing, and I adored the book.  It really hit the spot for me.

Tiffy works in the publishing business on craft books like crocheting and is currently working with a crochet author who is taking off in popularity.  She has recently broken up once again with her boyfriend, and when he tells her she has to move out, she finds a flat where the owner works nights and is looking for someone to share the flat with.  He is there to sleep during the days, but Tiffy has the flat in the evenings and on weekends Leon, the flat owner,  is at his girlfriend’s flat.  They share the same bed, although not at the same time, sleeping on different sides.

First of all, the idea of sharing a flat and never meeting the other person was intriguing to say the least.  You know they will eventually have to meet which kept me curious how it would happen.

What I loved was the way the author used post-it notes to develop the individual characters.  Tiffy and Leon would leave post-it notes around the flat to communicate, and their personalities really came through using that method, especially Tiffy’s.  The book is told in alternating chapters from Tiffy’s and Leon’s point of view, and the author excels at further developing the characters through the secondary characters that support the two main characters.  They are also well-developed, and I fell in love with all of them -except the bad boyfriend.

There also was a good amount of substance to the storyline with a brother who has been wrongly imprisoned, a couple of patients Leon tries to help, a stalker ex-boyfriend, Tiffy recovering from a bad relationship, and a realistically developing romance, although in a most unusual way.

This was a debut from this author, and I absolutely adored this book.  If you are looking for an original, heart-warming novel with a realistic romance, delightful characters, and a great storyline with substance, this is the book for you.  I will definitely be on the lookout for her next book.

Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for a copy of this book for review.

My Rating:  5 Stars.