Warning: Affiliate links appear in the following post. Although shopping the embedded links won’t cost you any additional dollars, it might mean that I download a few extra audio books this month. Your support of my reading habit is always appreciated!
Who’s ready for February’s Books?! When I first started drafting this post (I usually try to write the reviews immediately after I finish each book so that I don’t forget anything!), I thought this might be a slow month of reading. My goal for the year is 52 books, so I’m trying to average one book per week. I know I will read far more than that over the summer, but I still hate to get behind this early! Most of the time, I’m “reading” two books at once — I listen to an audio book during my daily commute and then read another book at home when I have extra time. It’s weird being invested in two stories at the same time, but it’s the only way I can find to utilize my driving time and still be able to physically read every day.
1. The Siren by Kiera Cass // 1.5 out of 5 stars
After reading the Selection Series last year and The Heir last month, I was really excited for Cass’ newest arrival: The Siren.* The cover was beautiful and the short description sounded captivating. Since I have loved everything else I’ve read by her, what did I have to lose?
This was an audio selection that I purchased right after the first of the year. Right off the bat, I hated the narrator. I actually didn’t mind her voice when she was reading as herself, but all of her other female characters were so whiny and overly dramatic. I had a hard time connecting to any of them because I just couldn’t wait for them all to stop talking.
The very beginning of the book was interesting. I loved learning about the Sirens and how they came to be and trying to figure out how that was going to plug into the story line over all. Once Collin became a Siren, things took a turn for the worse. I listened for a few bored hours, hoping it would get better. I’ll admit, that in the middle of the book there was a gasp-inducing scene where I made an actual sound and covered my mouth. I got excited thinking the second half of the book was going to be excellent and I would forget all about those first few hours, but that never happened. The girls started whining and I lost interest. Again.
This book has a happy ending — there is no cliff-hanger and so apparently, no sequel. I didn’t hate it, but I can’t say that I liked it either. It helped me mindlessly pass the time I spent in the car for a few days, but I definitely wouldn’t read it again and I doubt I would recommend it to anyone over the age of 12. While I usually don’t mind YA fiction (and sometimes prefer it), this one felt really young. There wasn’t much innuendo, so I will probably pass this one along to Ella in a few more years. My biggest concern is that I will let this lemon keep from enjoying any future works by Cass that aren’t somehow related to the Selection Series.
[*Edited to add: After writing the review, I realized that this isn’t her newest book, but her first! It was re-released with a fancy cover earlier this year. I hope this means all of her future releases will be of the same caliber as The Selection was, but read at your own risk.]
2. The Luxe by Anna Godbersen // 3 out of 5 stars
I need you to know ahead of time that this book falls well outside of my usual genre. Sure, I love a good romance novel from time to time, but I am not usually a fan of period or historical fiction. It’s actually quite funny since I managed to read TWO of them just this month! The first book in the Luxe Series was published in 2008, so they’ve been around awhile, but I only became aware of them when I saw Bailey share them on Instagram earlier in February. I was initially intrigued by the cover and decided to download it even though it didn’t sound like anything I would normally choose.
I will admit that it took me a little longer to really feel connected with the story, but the historical setting, wordy language and cultural formality had a lot to do with that. I had to listen closely to make sure I wasn’t missing anything and the cast of characters was HUGE. I seriously would have benefited from a character map during the first few chapters. I described this book to a friend as “Gossip Girl set in 1898. It’s twisty and turny and everyone is in love with the wrong person.” As if that isn’t hard enough to follow, the book is told from the perspective of four different girls, so you are getting various stories that overlap and the narrator isn’t always identified until you’re well into the chapter. Once I figured out all of the connections and relationships, I started to recognize the “voice” of each character and then I could focus on enjoying the plot and choosing sides!
The narrator is perfect and you either love a character or love to hate them, there wasn’t anyone in between for me. Every time I thought I had the whole thing figured out, something in the story would shift and I completely changed my mind. I’ll admit that I’ve already downloaded the entire series and I’m well into the third installment already!
3. Rumors by Anna Godbersen // 3.5 out of 5 stars
I am so surprised by how much I am enjoying this series, despite my doubts in the beginning. The characters are so detailed and well-developed, that you have no choice but to completely understand them (even when you are appalled by their actions). Rumors picks up right where Luxe left off and is full throttle from the very beginning. Although each book is narrated by four girls, it seems that each book is “about” one particular character. The first book focused more on Elizabeth and her engagement to the most eligible bachelor in town. The other three ladies were integral parts of the story, but the plot centered on her. Rumors spends most of its efforts on Diana, Elizabeth’s little sister, and her tawdry affair with a gentlemen you will spend equal amounts of time loving and yelling at. I’ll spare you his identity for now, but it’s a juicy little secret.
I was so thrilled with how things were going for Elizabeth and her sister in this installment. Despite all of their struggles in the first book, things seemed to be looking up for them both financially and romantically. I spent most of the book being equally horrified and impressed at the lengths Lena and Penny will go to in order to preserve their (perceived) social status — they are two of the most selfish women you will ever read about. Though they are on opposite ends of the social spectrum, they couldn’t be more alike.
Rumors ends with a cliffhanger and the last chapter got some audible gasps and a few outbursts from me while listening in the car. I liked this book significantly more than the first one, but I was less satisfied by the ending. I’m going to press on in hopes that a lot of good things happen in the last two books. I’m super concerned that I’m not going to be happy with the ending…
4. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon // 4 out of 5 stars
I mentioned this book in a blog post last month and by the time I hit publish, it was already sitting on my desk. I think this one is a bit controversial and I have the Instagram comments to prove it. I’ll admit that when I first heard about the book I completely overlooked it as something I would read. The more people talked about it, the more interested I became, but 850 pages is a bit daunting. Ultimately, it took the television show to get me to bite the bullet. Josh and I had finished binge-watching everything on our list and we still had a week to go before winter television returned. We surfed Starz on a whim and I recognized the title — we managed to watch all sixteen episodes in just under a week?!
In case you’re not familiar, Claire is a British army nurse in 1945. While traveling with her husband in the Highlands of Scotland, she is unexpectedly thrown back in time to the 1740’s. She finds herself at the hands of a brutal British officer and is rescued (and rescued about fourteen times subsequently) by a band of rogue Scotsmen and ultimately finds herself married to the dashing Jamie Fraser. It’s an unlikely plot, but Gabaldon makes it surprisingly believable.
The controversy stems from all sorts of things, but I think there are two chapters in particular that cause people to put the book down and walk away. The 1700’s weren’t exactly known for their fair treatment of women and Claire realizes early on in her relationship with Jamie that his idea of “discipline” doesn’t exactly line up with her knowledge of marriage. Did I hate him for hurting her? YES. Do I think they both came to terms with what happened and that he learned so much from her about how relationships work? Absolutely. They were from two vastly different cultures and were thrown into a marriage of necessity, with very little time to process their decision. They learned a lot from each other — Claire came to respect his authority and protection and Jamie came to understand how women deserve to be treated. I’m not condoning his actions towards his wife, but it is fiction and terrible things happen in books all of the time. I don’t think that makes it unreadable or any of the main characters less lovable.
The hardest part for me to reconcile was a brutal chapter near the end of the book. I need you to know that it wasn’t easy to read and it was even more difficult to watch. We did skip a good bit of that episode (even Josh found it difficult to bear), but I’m thinking it might have been a necessary evil to establish further plot points. Without a doubt, I absolutely despise Black Jack Randall. There is nothing at all redeemable about his character and I’m hoping and praying he meets a violent end in the near future. The only thing good that comes of that is Jamie’s redemption (although he didn’t need it) and the subsequent repair of his relationship with Claire.
I absolutely loved the story and was completely sucked in by the end of the first chapter. While not my normal genre, it’s probably the best book I’ve read so far this year and those few difficult scenes are the only reason I didn’t give it five stars.
