A Page Turner...Reconstructing Amelia

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I read this books straight through without stopping, so...literally, I couldn't put this book down. However, It wasn't that this book was extremely well written, but the plot was definitely above average, and the topic engaging.

I've noticed that some readers gave this book a low rating since all the characters were unlikeable. I totally agree with the unlikeable characters part. Everyone in the books seemed to be a liar, a cheater, influenced greatly by how others view them, and weak at making the right decisions. However, I still think the author should still receive credit for creating such terrible characters. They are annoying yet believable; unlikeable yet memorable. A few years from now, I could probably still remember some of the characters in this book. They reminded me of some unpleasant people in real life.

The book begins with Kate Baron, a successful lawyer and single Mother, receiving a call from her daughter's private school notifying her of her daughter Amelia's suspension, and asking her to pick up her daughter. It came as a surprise for her since Amelia is an achiever and well behave student. If not counting all the extra hours she spends work, Kate also have a very close relationship with Amelia and spends enough time together. However, when Kate arrived at the high school, Amelia was dead. Knowing how she mostly put her work before her only daughter’s needs, Kate was heartbroken.

A few months after the incident, Kate received an anonymous text telling her that Amelia did not kill herself. She embarked on a journey to find the truth for herself and her daughter. The things that she discovered were all unpleasant with lots and lots of betrayal and lies. The discoveries did not only involve secrets of Amelia, but also those of Amelia's best friend, classmates, teachers, and even long buried secrets of Kate herself. Having a teenage daughter myself made me broke out in cold sweats a few times, and wanted to grab a brick and kill someone at other times during the reading of this story. High school is way too cruel for teenagers to handle alone.

The organization of this book needs a little getting used to, especially for "older" readers like myself. The chapters include texts, Facebook posts, letters, a blog called Gracefully, entries from Kate’s old journals, and two POVs: Kate and Amelia. The chapters also jump back and forth in time from before to after Amelia’s death, and from Kate’s journal. It was particularly difficult to tell which time of her life Kate was talking about. I learned to differentiate her POV by looking at the year on the first page of her chapters. Once we get over this hurdle, the story will become so much easier to read.

Although some of the pranks were quite impossible to be planned by 15 year-olds girls but more of the style of a professional criminal, and the logic of the story left me with a quite few questions (For example: Amelia was narrating up to the last minute of her life), this book was quite an fast and enjoyable read.




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Schroder Book Review: Is love alone enough for your child?

Schroder: A Novel by Amity Gaige

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"I have told stories, in fact, that were elaborate-you could say-fictions, and although these fictions were not meant to defraud or to injure, I always knew-I knew in fact-that they would."

The book is narrated by Eric Kennedy as an apology letter to his estranged wife Laura, after being put in jail for abducting their daughter Meadow during a regular supervised parental visit. They were deeply in love before, but sometime during their marriage, like 50% of other marriages in the US, it fell apart. He then lost custody of the person he loves most. During that particular visit, Eric suddenly had a spontaneous urge to spend more time with Meadow, whom he deeply loves. He decided to take her for a prolonged trip, without consulting his wife Laura, who would have just said no to the request anyway. The complicated part is, Eric Kennedy was not a man he claimed he was, so the deceit was much more than a simple prolonged visit.

Eric's real name was Eric Schroder. He emigrated from East Germany with his Father when young. He had a harsh childhood that he has been trying desperately to forget. During a summer when he was applying for a prestige summer camp, he changed his last name to Kennedy. He got in. The name also got him into college with scholarship. When he met Laura, he was still a Kennedy who grew up somewhere near Hyannis Port. After marrying Laura, to protect his identity that he loved so much, he decided to stop visiting his Father.

From the first few pages of the book, we knew all about Eric and everything I mentioned above. We knew how the book was going to end and how unlikable Eric is. We knew that he was caught, thus the apology letter. We also knew that Eric was an emotionally non-existent husband, an unreliable Father, a pathological liar. He leaps before he thinks; he had no concern about anybody else but himself. Knowing the plot ahead of time, the fact that I actually finished the book, and gave it 5-stars, indicates how brilliantly this book was written.

This book falls into the strange book category that I can't classify simply, which includes The Death of Bees, Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See, and Where'd You Go, Bernadette: brilliant writing, unforgettable characters and even thought-provoking questions. Since this whole book is narrated in Eric’s voice, one could only understand the other characters from glimpses in his narration, which is unreliable since he’s a liar. However, we did understand Laura’s frustration when he described his life with her. We knew Meadow is exceptionally intelligent from his conversations with his daughter. We got how irresponsible, unreliable, lack of common sense, extremely self-absorbed, spontaneous, unpredictable Eric is. The strange part is, due to the talented writing, we somehow started rooting for him or rather, his voice, regardless of all his faults. We found his love for his wife and daughter genuine, his pain substantial, his lies…somewhat understandable. His narration was so powerful that sometimes the readers need a break to recuperate from their emotions. We even found him brilliant in his study of “pauses.”

”I’ve always been fascinated by – and uncomfortable with – pauses. My research forced me to see that short pockets of silence were everywhere and that even sound needs silence in order to be sound. There are tiny silences all over this page. Between paragraphs. Between these very words. Still, they can be lonesome. So for all my project’s shortcomings, I’d say the worst is that I haven’t shaken the lonesome feeling that pauses give me. Sometimes I still wish there weren’t any silences at all. And so it is with some reluctance that I give you this one.”

The author did an awesome job on this wonderfully and beautifully written book. I don’t normally re-read books, but I might re-read this one just to admire her prose and beautiful writing again and again.

Note: I did not hear about the comparison of this story to the real story of the con man Clark Rockefeller until I finished the book. I think The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Impostor may be a great next read!



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Another YA trilogy...Unremembered by Jessica Brody

Unremembered by Jessica Brody

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A 3.5 stars book.

I'm always on the look for interesting YA series, for my daughter and son mainly, but also for myself. Although the writings of YA books are a bit less sophisticated and there's always a love with such childish teenage angst (not to mention the consistent appearance of love triangles), some recent YA books are beautifully written with a wonderful plot and/or great prose. Some well written YA series that I loved are Delirium, Divergent and Seraphina. This book falls into the great plot category, but I definitely will not call the writing great, or the characters unforgettable.

A girl, recovered from a plane crash site, who does not remember who she is, or where she's from - does the plot sound familiar to you? The Jason Bourne plot line has been used over and over again in modern literature. In this case, the mystery is that she was not on the original passenger list. It later turned out that she was also great with numbers, strong, fast and intelligent, but lack human emotion that we all possess naturally. The girl has beautiful, inhuman purple eyes, and a tattoo on her wrist that later turned out to be some sort of a tracker. She was then adopted by a foster family that appeared only in one or two chapters. During this time, she was constantly approached by a boy who she has no memory of, but his appearance always triggered a bit of recognition in her subconsciousness. He insisted her to trust him, and that there are people, bad people, after her. She was amazed by her own strength and intelligence, but also the lack of will power to face danger instead of fleeing every time. Is she human?

"What makes us human? Is it our hearts? Our brains? Our senses? Our limbs? Ask a hundred people and you'll get a hundred different answers."

The book is a page turner, with a good (yet a bit familiar) plot. However, the character development is a bit weak compared Delirium or Divergent. Although the physical descriptions were there, I could not visualize them as someone likable or grow to empathize them. They blindly believe in the love between them, and think it will triumph over every other obstacle...and that they will find each other even if one's memory is erased, which I found a bit unbelievable. In addition, the writing style is a bit bland compared to the other books, and quite lacking in prose. A phase from a Shakespeare sonnet was used throughout the book, and it was, sadly, the most beautiful writing in the book:

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments. Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove."

I wished the characters are as attractive as Romeo and Juliet, but they are not. However, I will still read the second book when it comes out. I love how the author integrated lots of technology, math and science facts into the story. I can't reveal too much, or I'll be giving the plot away. The plot is quite intriguing, so, if you ask me if this book is worth reading - yes, it is.



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The Story of a Lost Vet, and a Dog

The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs by Nick Trout

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A 3.5 stars book, but I gave a 4 due to the immensely funny and accurate descriptions of a true introvert, interesting pathological facts of diseases and the numerous and appropriate quotes from numerous books, movies and plays.

I was looking for a happy and quick read (chick-lit, or feel good story) when I noticed this book in the Kindle store. I'm not usually a reader of stories about dogs, cats or other pets. However, I did have fun reading about a dog in The Art of Racing in the Rain, a cat in Making Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat, a duck in Enslaved by Ducks...and even parrots in The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill: A Love Story . . . with Wings.

On the other hand, I had mostly unfavorable experiences with pet/animal books. They were either too cheesy, too touchy-feely, have a weak plot, or extremely boring. We know all pet owners love their dogs/cats/other pets to death, and they all seem to be the perfect and loyal companion and friend. However, to have the literary skill to convince your readers to feel the same is another story. The most recent one I had read, Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me a Family Man would had been okay if the author did not boast about himself that much and focused more on his rooster, other pets and his new family.

This fictional story was...not a bad read, but far from the caliber of the books that I had mentioned up there. The story was about Cyrus Mills, who is a Veterinarian pathologist himself, inherited a Vet clinics from his estranged Father after he died. He has some legal issues with his license where he came from (North Carolina), and was hoping to quickly sell the practice to use the money for his legal expense. However, as he encounters one after another of his Father's old clients and their pets, things are not going exactly the way he wanted them to be.

This is truly a character-based book, and defining and building each of these characters was obviously the author's strong suit. There's Cyrus, who's a true introvert and not exactly good with people or pets, so he chose pathology as his emphasis. He believed his Father, the beloved Dr. Cobb, had wronged him and his Mom by spending too much time at work. Lewis, Cobb's old practice partner who seems to be always running some mysterious errands. Doris, the receptionist who evidently showed Cyrus that she takes orders from no one, especially him, Denise, a poor teenager who's pregnant, as well as her cat Tina. A cop who was Cyrus' tormentor in school, a young and smart waitress, a few cougars, a bitter step dad.,,and they all added up to a quite interesting storyline. The author’s writing is what I may have problems with: It’s a bit impersonal in times.

There was also a lost dog, Frieda, but not "dogs" - as indicated in the title. I think the title is a bit misleading. There were definitely no lost dogs, but just lots of dogs (or cats) that the owners can't live without and love. However, there were quite a few lost humans, not literally, of course.

So, to summarize this review: This was definitely a good books to read, but even with the great plot, the wonderful characters, literary references and a few tear-jerking moments, don't expect this book to wow you. The writing lacks a bit of polish and style. However, it will definitely make you smile, especially if you are a pet owner.




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Beautiful Creatures, not so beautiful book.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book could have been so much more...with such an interesting plot, conflicted yet attractive characters and wonderful world building/setting (South, Civil War vs. present day). I could see why a movie was made based on the above factors: forbidden love, characters torn between two worlds, mysterious families and past, unbelievable power that could used to do good, as well as bad...and a haunted mansion with an attractive owner... I loved how the main character was a love-sick boy, not a girl as in most other YA books.

Unfortunately, there are several factors that did not contribute to a good rating for the series:

1. The story drags on too much without smooth transitions from one part to another. The story could be told in less than two books, 4 are just too many.

2. The characters are not consistent in their actions and beliefs. It's hard to really know and cheer for them, except that they love each other, just like Edward and Bella from Twilight. (Did I mention how much the beginning and plot of this series reminded me of Twilight? By the way, I DID like Twilight, so I'm not one of those anti-paranormal fans) The first person thinking of a new twist is a genius, all others are just copycats.

3. There are so many opportunities to make the 2 main characters likable, yet the author(s) failed; probably neither of them is good in writing from her heart to begin with. Not to mention the collaboration, which may also hinder the smooth flow of the story. It also happened to most of the supporting characters, so I feel sad for the extremely great ones, as Macon and Amma, since they would go down, with the series.

4. Terrible and unpolished writing and grammar, weak descriptives and word choices.

“Just as I lay down, she sat up. I sat up, she flopped back down. Awkward. That was my every move, when it came to her.”

"There was a curse. There was a girl. And in the end, there was a grave. I never even saw it coming."

"I knew what I was doing. You don't. You think you do, but you don't. She was in my head again, as it she'd always been there."

"Everything around me changed, and it was like I was somewhere else. I was in the garden, but not in the garden..."

I'm a serious note-taking and highlighter (with Kindle) when reading, and the only phrase I highlighted in this book was in the beginning: "There were only two kinds of people in our town. The stupid and the stuck." After reading the first two books of the series (and skimping through the third and the fourth), I seriously think a third person wrote that quote...

5. People can die and be revived as the authors pleased; as well as the characters gaining and losing their power(s). Anything goes. This is the main killer for me. This predicted the forever dragging on of the plot.

I wish some wonderful YA authors, like Roth, Taylor, or Oliver could take this series and rewrite the books so not to waste the characters and the setting.

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Beyond Belief

Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't normally read memoirs of celebrities or other people who were made known by public media. I feel that a person’s memoir shouldn’t be read as an entertainment, but as something that one could learn a few life lessons from. But, I need to read the newest Scientology Book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief for a group discussion, and figured that this newly published memoir written in a first person account by a previous Scientologist would be a great complement to help my understanding of the organization. I'm so glad I did.

However, as a Chinese American whose parents and Grandparents suffered during the Cultural Revolution and Communist reign in China, it absolutely broke my heart to realize that similar practices could happen right here, right now, in our free and democratic country. Many techniques Jenna and her peers had suffered since young was not news for people who recognize them: Uniform dress code, isolation from the public, chanting/singing, vague and fuzzy ideals/doctrines, lack of privacy, controlled and public punishment, peer evaluation/finger-pointing, controlled diet, forced labor/resulted fatigues, metacommunications, mass gatherings, child/physical/mental abuse, personal and public humiliation, impossible and long work to move up the rank.... I could go on and on and on. It's unbelievable what kind of practice could evolve from the misuse of the First Amendment. Reading this book invoked lots of anger in me that I didn't even realize I have.

Putting my own feelings aside. The book was wonderfully written. Jenna Miscavige is the niece of the leader of Scientology, Dave Miscavige. She was born into a Scientology family. Both sides of her grandparents were devoted Scientologists and her parents were leaders in the Sea Org (where the highest rank and most devoted Scientologists belong) with prominent and important jobs. She was raised a Scientologist since birth and was in a children's camp since a toddler until she voluntarily left the organization in her early 20's after here wedding. Her narrative voice was down to earth, even child-like...which drew me in right from the beginning. She was able to tell the story quite objectively, just like Jeanette Wall's The Glass Castle, with no self-pity or extreme anger. She laid out all the facts exactly as what they were with no up- or downplaying. Ultimately it's up to each reader to draw his/her own conclusion at the end.

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