Month: April 2018

Ecstasy Review & Giveaway

2 Comments

This is Alma Schindler Mahler’s love, or lack thereof, story.  It starts as she is a teenager on vacation with her family and takes her through the years of courting, to marriage and children, and back to a need to define who will truly fulfill her and make her happy.

The cover — I mean, if that doesn’t make you want to pick this book up…I can promise you the story will.  For music lovers and historical fiction fans, I urge you to get your hands on this one.

The writing is exquisite but does not slow down the pace at all.  Each chapter had me racing to Google to find out more of the facts of Alma’s life along with photos and snippets from diary entries and letters.  It’s obvious the amount of research Sharratt put in to complete this novel.  Even the afterword accounts for what a fascinating life Alma led.

I empathized with Alma as a mother and wife and losing a piece of herself with it all.  It’s so hard to find the balance, and I loved that this theme, while prevalent in the 1900s, carries so well into today’s world.  It really proves how strong women have always been.

While this story is primarily about Alma and her life, what Sharratt does so well is write secondary characters with such detail and emotion.  Even though some, like her sister Gretl, were barely in the book, I felt like I knew her so well.  Guests at dinner parties she met once were truly three-dimensional.  If this became a movie, which no doubt, it should, I would be the first in line for tickets.

My thanks to the publisher and HFVBT for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

MARY SHARRATT is an American writer who has lived in the Pendle region of Lancashire, England, for the past seven years. The author of the critically acclaimed novels Summit Avenue, The Real Minerva, and The Vanishing Point, Sharratt is also the co-editor of the subversive fiction anthology Bitch Lit, a celebration of female antiheroes, strong women who break all the rules.

Her novels include Summit Avenue, The Real Minera, The Vanishing Point, The Daughters of Witching Hill, Illuminations, and The Dark Lady’s Mask.

For more information, please visit Mary Sharratt’s website. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Blog Tour Schedule

Tuesday, April 10
Review at Broken Teepee

Wednesday, April 11
Feature at Passages to the Past

Thursday, April 12
Review at Bookfever
Review at Unabridged Chick

Friday, April 13
Interview at Unabridged Chick
Review at View From the Birdhouse

Saturday, April 14
Review at Clarissa Reads it All

Monday, April 16
Review at Cup of Sensibility

Tuesday, April 17
Review at Based on a True Story

Wednesday, April 18
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Thursday, April 19
Review at History From a Woman’s Perspective

Friday, April 20
Review at Linda’s Book Obsession

Sunday, April 22
Review at Carole Rae’s Random Ramblings

Monday, April 23
Review at A Bookaholic Swede

Tuesday, April 24
Interview at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Wednesday, April 25
Review at A Literary Vacation

Thursday, April 26
Guest Post at A Bookish Affair

Friday, April 27
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews

Monday, April 30
Review at Caryn, the Book Whisperer

Tuesday, May 1
Review at A Bookish Affair

Thursday, May 3
Interview at The Writing Desk

Monday, May 7
Review at What Cathy Read Next

Wednesday, May 9
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Thursday, May 10
Review at Writing the Renaissance

Friday, May 11
Interview at Writing the Renaissance

Monday, May 14
Interview at Let Them Read Books

Wednesday, May 16
Review at Jorie Loves a Story

Thursday, May 17
Review at Nicole Evelina

Friday, May 18
Interview at Nicole Evelina

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour we will be giving away a paperback copy of Ecstasy! To enter, please enter via the Gleam form below.

Giveaway Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on May 18th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to US residents only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

Ecstasy

You All Grow Up and Leave Me Review

4 Comments

Combining stories of her own childhood and adolescence while reporting on a unique case of someone she trusted during that time, Piper Weiss has written a story of growing up in the ‘90s mixed with a scandal that broke with her tennis coach.

The author is the same age as me, so I appreciated all the references to the clothes and the styles during the time she was in middle school because it was the same for me.  It made her more relatable, as we experienced school and fads together.

It seemed like a lot of this book was written as therapy, as she was coming to grips with what happened and why her coach behaved the way he did.  She touched based with a lot of people she knew back then to try to dig for answers and as much information as she could.

I was hoping for more of the true crime aspect of the story.  I realize there wasn’t a lot of information out there about it or people who could speak to it, but it read more like a straight-up memoir because of it.  I felt there was a lack of information on the subject and we got the ending rather than the beginning and middle.

Those who enjoy reads about girls coming of age in such stories as Marlena by Julie Buntin and Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman will find similarities to this book.

The uniqueness of the style of writing and the chapter titles cemented her ability as a storyteller.  It wouldn’t have been the same book otherwise.

Be sure to follow the tour for more reviews!

Thanks to the publisher and TLC Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About Piper Weiss

Piper Weiss has served as editor in chief at Levo, editorial director for HelloGiggles, and features editor for the New York Daily News and Yahoo. She is the author of the book My Mom, Style Icon and has written for various publications, including Hazlitt, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Elle.com, and Refinery29. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Find out more about Piper at her website, and connect with her on Instagram.

The Other Mother Review

4 Comments

Talk about an unreliable narrator.  Or two.  If you’re a fan of suspense written in this style, you’ll want to get your hands on this book.  For me, I felt there were too many coincidences to make it believable.

I have always been a fan of Carol Goodman’s reads.  She does eerie, mental institutions, and psychosis so well.  She is the perfect author to grab her book and a blanket and sit in front of a cozy fire to read.

For this one we meet Daphne, a new mother who is struggling with postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, Chloe.  She heads to a support group and meets Laurel, another new mom with her daughter, Chloë.  How eerie that they both share a name, except you’ll notice her Chloë has the umlaut.  And that’s where the similarities begin.  These women form a fast and tight friendship and they both begin to question their lives and their support network.  I don’t want to say too much so as to spoil the story.

I will say I’m surprised the author didn’t confuse herself when writing.  Aside from the similarities between Daphne and Laurel, we follow another storyline of a past patient at a mental institution where Daphne travels for her new job.  You really have to be focused when reading this one so you don’t miss anything.

This book is definitely dark and has several twists.  I don’t know if I’m burnt out on the unreliable narrator but there were a couple I just didn’t buy.  I enjoy them more when they don’t seem forced or thrown in for the sake of a twist.  But I may be in the minority here and recommend checking out if you are generally a suspense fan.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the publisher for the review copy.  Be sure to follow the tour for more reviews.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the author: Carol Goodman is the critically acclaimed author of fourteen novels, including The Lake of Dead Languages and The Seduction of Water, which won the 2003 Hammett Prize. Her books have been translated into sixteen languages. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her family, and teaches writing and literature at the New School and SUNY New Paltz. Find out more about Carol on her website, and connect with her on Facebook.

Before I Let You Go Review & Giveaway

10 Comments

Oh, this book has my heart.  What a compelling, emotional journey I just returned from.

Lexie receives a call at 2:00 am that nobody is prepared to hear.  Her sister, Annie, who she hasn’t spoken to in years, is in trouble.  Lexie rushes to her aid and finds her living in a dirty trailer, addicted to drugs, and pregnant.  Having always rescued Annie in times of trouble, Lexie makes it s point to make sure Annie gets help again.  But with the law working against her, it isn’t as easy this time.

I loved how addiction, while a main focus, wasn’t the only issue brought up in this novel.  Rimmer also confronts abuse, religious sects, death, legal battles, learning to be an adult before you’re ready, and the struggles of balancing it all.  There are so many subjects to foster a great book discussion here, so if your book club is looking for new fiction, this would be a perfect choice.

If you’re a fan of heartbreaking, yet heartwarming fiction and enjoyed books such as Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, Still Alice by Lisa Genova, and Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah, this is one you’ll definitely want to get your hands on.  And I guarantee it will quickly become a favorite

Be prepared to shed some tears.  For me, the cry was a cleansing, and I felt better after having finished it.  Hug your sisters and your brothers and your mothers and your fathers and your children a little tighter today.  And then tell them they need to read this book.

I received an advanced copy from Little Bird Publicity and the publisher.

About the author:

I write contemporary women’s fiction. My novels, Me Without You, The Secret Daughter, When I Lost You and A Mother’s Confession have been published by Bookouture.

You can find some more information about me at www.kellyrimmer.com.

Thanks to Little Bird Publicity, I have one copy to give away to a lucky reader.  Enter on the Rafflecopter.
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