Review: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Hodder 
Release Date: May 18th 2004
Rating: ***
The back cover blurb:  Sara Fitzgerald's daughter Kate is just two years old when she is diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia, Reeling with the helpless shock of it, Sara knows she will do anything-whatever it takes-to save her child. Then the test results come back time and again to show that no one in their family is a match for Kate. If they are to find a donor for the crucial bone marrow transplant she needs, there is only one option: creating another baby, specifically designed to save her sister. For Sara, it seems the ideal solution. Not only does Kate live, but she gets a beautiful new daughter, Anna, too. Until the moment Anna hands Sara the papers that will rock her world. Because, aged Thirteen, Anna has decided that she doesn't want to help Kate live any more. She is suing her parents for the rights to her own body.


Anyone who has previously seen the film or read the book and enjoyed it, may hate me for this review. But I have always set out to give my honest opinion...

I must be one of the only people I know who hasn't seem the film version of this, and to be honest I had no real desire to read it. I tend not to read books that are 'in fashion' just because everyone else thinks that I should. I picked up this copy at my local library and thought well, the hype is over, why not.

After reading it, I'm not sure I have any desire to see the film. I was really disappointed with the ending (although I understand the ending is different in the film).

The book centres around the Fitzgerald family, their daughter Kate who is slowly being killed by a rare form of Leukaemia, her sister Anna who was specifically born to save her life and their elder brother Jesse who's attention seeking behaviour would be heartbreaking if it had been written properly.

At the age of Thirteen Anna is beginning to understand that her sister really wouldn't be alive were it not for her, and she is not sure she wants to deal with that kind of responsibility any more. She is fed up of her body being used and not once being consulted about the procedures she is undergoing, so what does she do? Sue her parents for the rights to her own body of course...

(Only in America right?!)

In the initial stages of the book I had Anna written off as a selfish teenager, but her argument is compelling, and as the story continues we see the moral and ethical dilemmas that all the family face over Kate's future.

The truth is, this is exactly the kind of book (and story) that you should get emotionally attached to, but I didn't shed a single tear, I couldn't, not when everything that Anna has fought for is wiped out with the ridiculous ending. All through the book we are given Anna's side of the story, only for her voice to be silenced at the end with no difficult decision having to be made. What on earth is the point of the rest of the book I ask myself? I really don't know. I felt it was a real cop out on the author's behalf, like she didn't even know the answers herself.

I don't want to give it away, so I will begrudgingly recommend the book, but only to see if you share my opinions!

The Man Booker Prize longlist announced

Today saw the announcement of The Man Booker Prize longlist, the titles below will be shortlisted on 10 September 2013, and the winner of the Booker Prize announced on the 15 October 2013

Five Star Billionaire Tash AW (Fourth Estate)
We Need New Names NoViolet Bulawayo (Chatto & Windus)
NoViolet Bulawayo (Chatto & Windus)

The Luminaries Eleanor Catton (Granta)

Harvest Jim Crace (Picador)

The Marrying of Chani Kaufman Eve Harris (Sandstone Press)

The Kills Richard House (Picador) 

The Lowland Jhumpa Lahiri (Bloomsbury)

Unexploded Alison MacLeod ( Hamish Hamilton) 

TransAtlantic Colum McCann (Bloomsbury) 

Almost English Charlotte Mendelson (Mantle) 

A Tale for the Time Being Ruth Ozeki (Canongate)

The Spinning Heart Donal Ryan (Doubleday Ireland)

The Testament of Mary Colm Tóibín (Viking)

I was tweeted the link by my local bookshop, and it got me thinking. I'm not sure I have ever read a book that has won the prize, or even one that's been short-listed. So, I'm setting myself a challenge to read as many of these books as I can before the year is out. Obviously it's not going to be cheap, unless any lovely publishers or agents would like to send me a copy ;0) but I hope it will be worth it.

onglist 2013 announced

23 July 2013

Five Star Billionaire Tash Aw (Fourth Estate)

We Need New Names NoViolet Bulawayo (Chatto & Windus)

The Luminaries Eleanor Catton (Granta)

Harvest Jim Crace (Picador)

The Marrying of Chani Kaufman Eve Harris (Sandstone Press)

The Kills Richard House (Picador) 

The Lowland Jhumpa Lahiri (Bloomsbury)

Unexploded Alison MacLeod ( Hamish Hamilton) 

TransAtlantic Colum McCann (Bloomsbury) 

Almost English Charlotte Mendelson (Mantle) 

A Tale for the Time Being Ruth Ozeki (Canongate)

The Spinning Heart Donal Ryan (Doubleday Ireland)

The Testament of Mary Colm Tóibín (Viking)

- See more at: http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/longlist-2013-announced#sthash.yNn2d4Fj.dpuf

onglist 2013 announced

23 July 2013

Five Star Billionaire Tash Aw (Fourth Estate)

We Need New Names NoViolet Bulawayo (Chatto & Windus)

The Luminaries Eleanor Catton (Granta)

Harvest Jim Crace (Picador)

The Marrying of Chani Kaufman Eve Harris (Sandstone Press)

The Kills Richard House (Picador) 

The Lowland Jhumpa Lahiri (Bloomsbury)

Unexploded Alison MacLeod ( Hamish Hamilton) 

TransAtlantic Colum McCann (Bloomsbury) 

Almost English Charlotte Mendelson (Mantle) 

A Tale for the Time Being Ruth Ozeki (Canongate)

The Spinning Heart Donal Ryan (Doubleday Ireland)

The Testament of Mary Colm Tóibín (Viking)

- See more at: http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/longlist-2013-announced#sthash.yNn2d4Fj.dpuf

Review: The First Wife by Emily Barr

The First Wife by Emily Barr
Publisher: Headline Review
Release Date: 15 September 2011
Rating: ****
The back cover blurb: 
His first wife was everything you're not. But was she everything she seemed?

Lily, a young woman left alone in the world on the death of her grandparents, finds purpose when she befriends Harry Summers, a grieving widower, whose wife Sarah recently took her own life in Barcelona. The pair fall in love and Lily finally finds the security she has never had. But Lily's life takes a darker turn when she realises there may be more to Sarah's death than meets the eye. Anxious to find the truth before she marries her beloved Harry, Lily sets off to Barcelona in search of answers. What she discovers is more shocking than she could ever have imagined...



First things first, I think this is a great novel, however the reason I've given it four out of five stars is due to general pace of the novel. I really struggled through the beginning of it, and almost gave up on it. I'm glad I didn't however because it does progress into a really interesting story.

The First Wife centres on Lily, a very naive young girl who finds herself down and out after the death of her grandparents whom she was caring for and had led a very sheltered life with. She is forced to move in with a family she doesn't know and to find herself a job, in a world which she knows nothing about.

To cut a long story short (literally) she ends up cleaning for local celebrity Harry Summers and his wife Sarah. She admires Harry from afar, which borders on infatuation but despite her naivety is astute enough to know that nothing will happen between them.

Lily of all people knows that life doesn't turn out how we plan, and when Sarah takes her own life on a trip to Barcelona, Lily finds herself growing ever closer to the grieving widow and ever resentful of his 'dead' wife, particularly when their relationship moves up a gear.

I love the emphasis throughout the novel that Harry's first wife Sarah is the 'problem' shall we say, even the back cover blurb would lead you into believing this, however there is a twist in the final parts of the story that I didn't see coming, and I think it is worth reading for this alone.

I don't really want to give any more of the story away, so if you think you can manage the slow start then I would definitely recommend it.

Review: Me Before You - JoJo Moyes

Me Before You by JoJoMoyes
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Release Date: 5 January 2012
Rating: *****
The back cover blurb: 
Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.



I was hooked from the very first page of this novel. This doesn't usually happen. It usually takes me at least the first chapter for me to settle in and decide if I am to continue. Especially if it's a book by an author I'm not familiar with.

Anyone reading the blurb on the back of the book, writing it off as just another 'love story' will be disappointed. It is MUCH more than that.

The story focuses on Will Traynor, a guy who had a fantastic, privileged life that he lived to the full, until a tragic accident, and Louisa Clark, a small-town girl who works selflessly to help provide for her slightly dysfunctional family. Usually their worlds would not be further apart, until a cruel twist of fate which sees Louisa down on her luck after loosing her job and reluctantly forced (by the job centre) into taking a job as a carer for a quadriplegic man - Will.

I don't want to give too much of the book away, because I really believe it's something you should read yourself. It is definitely a book I will be reading again.

It is beautifully written and really makes you think about life, how you should live it to the full, and not take anything (or anyone) for granted. The complex issues are dealt with sympathetically, but that's not to say it's not an emotive subject, and the ending of the book is a real tear jerker.

Personally I have never read anything by this author before, but if her other books are as thoughtfully written, then I would have no hesitation in giving them a try.

I also think this book would make an amazing film, but don't take my word for it, give it a go for yourself.

You can buy 'Me Before You' online from Amazon and all good book shops.

Review: The State We're In - Adele Parks

The State We're In by Adele Parks
Publisher: Headline Review 
Release Date: 04th July 2013
Rating: *****
The back cover blurb:  What are the odds that the stranger sitting next to you on a plane is destined to change your life? Especially when they appear to be your opposite in every way.

She's a life-long optimist, looking for her soul mate in every man she meets; he's a resolute cynic - cruel experience has taught him never to put his faith in anyone. People can surprise you. In the time it takes to fly from London to Chicago, each finds something in the other that they didn't even realise they needed.

Their pasts are such that they can never make one another happy and it's when they get off the plane that their true journey begins...


I'll cut to the chase here, I'm a huge Adele Parks fan. Ever since I read, 'Playing Away' her début novel she's had me hooked. I'm not going to lie about that fact, but I will try and make this a constructive review (and as unbiased as possible).

I'm not a general fan of book reviews where the reviewer proclaims that the book is the author's 'best yet', I'm about to throw my general disdain out of the window and proclaim, that this is most definitely Adele's best yet.

I've always admired Adele's style of writing, she is brutally honest and personally I don't view her as a 'chick lit' author, I just view her as an author, one I particularly like.

I didn't know an awful lot about the book before I started reading it, there has been an air of mystery about it. I knew it was about two people meeting on a plane, as I had read the back cover blurb before hand, but I knew very little else, and I didn't want to.

I like reading books that haven't had the story splashed all over the internet weeks before their publication date. To me, the whole point of a decent book is not to want to put it down because you NEED to know what happens next. Not put it down because you know exactly what happens next!

Adele doesn't disappoint, I finished the book in less than two days (even with working full shifts) because I couldn't wait to find out what happened. Dean really is the resolute cynic that the synopsis suggests and Jo the life-long optimist, until she discovers something that has huge significance for both of them, past, present and future.

I really don't want to give anything away, it's definitely a book that you need to read for yourself.

The ending is certainly not the ending I was expecting, all I can say is, if you've read it - #keepthesecret 

You can buy 'The State We're In' now from Amazon and all good bookshops.

Quick intro

Hi!

I'm Vic, this is just a quick test post really to make sure everything is up and running okay...

If you think my 2013 reading challenge is quite small, I thought I'd err on the side of caution as we're more than half way through the year already.

I will probably read many more though :)