The Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook - Matt Dunn

Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook by Matt Dunn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Edwards girlfriend of ten years, Jane, has left him. There was no discussion, no fight, no warning; she just packed her stuff and left. She leaves a note explaining that Edward has let himself go in every way imaginable, and she can't live with it. He has 3 months to get his life in order for when she gets back, or else.


Because it's not done very often, I am a fan of books that are told from the male perspective and are also a part of a genre that I enjoy. The Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook one ups that because it is, in fact, written by a male, which gives it a very different feel than normal. I would not call a romance novel by any stretch of the imagination - because it really does lack all the heat and passion that one would find in a romance novel, but it does include all attributes of boy-meets-girl, which I truly enjoy.

I really liked Edward, even in his fat, "I don't care" state of mine, he seemed like a very stand-up kind of guy. This, I guess, really is the point. The book really focused on how while being a good, faithful person really just isn't enough for women, especially when it seems like the guy has sort of checked out of life and is just living day-by-day as if there is another to come. Edward's growth through the book is wonderfully mapped out. I enjoyed joining him on his relationship epiphanies, when he has pealed back another layer of his life, and has taken the next step on figuring out where he has gone wrong.

Edward's best friend, Dan, is another story. As expected I'm sure, I do not like him. What an all around jerk! I think some of my favorite parts of the book are when Edward would say something to his lady admirers about him that was completely appalling and utterly untrue. I think I did most of my chuckling at these parts.

I honestly believe that this book would make a great movie. I could see it easily being converted into a romantic comedy quite successfully.



View all my reviews

Ape House - Sara Gruen

Ape House by Sara Gruen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Ape House was not exactly what I expected. I was expecting was a book about monkeys who are forced to take part in this reality TV show….and it is, to some degree. The book is actually about Isabel Duncan, the scientist who works with the bonobo monkeys, and has essentially made them her family, and John Thigpen, a journalist who was hoping to land an award winning story once he visits and discovers how remarkable the monkeys really are. It’s a story about how in one giant explosion, both if their lives fall apart, and then how they pick up the pieces again. The monkeys are at the heart of the book, but really are sort of a bi-product.

This is not to say I didn’t like the book. The story itself catches you early on. At the first interaction of with the bonobos you can’t help but want to move forward in the story and find out what happens. It started to slow down a bit for me right after the explosion, there seemed to be a lot of hem-hawing or fluff there…or so I thought. It is at this point that I realized the book was a little less about the monkeys and a little more about humans. It is around this time that I begin to have a vast dislike for Amanda, John’s wife. I can understand the depression and the desire to go off and do something, but she seemed to go through extremes and then went on a spending beige that – would never have flown in a normal household. Honestly the things that happen between John and Amanda in this book, I am not sure many marriages would survive. I DID like John a lot, and I really loved how much he loved Amanda, and continued to love her throughout, despite some of the crazy things going on. Near the end, John has a few of his own crazy moments – so I guess they really are perfect for each other.

I loved Isabel, her love and passion for the bonobos was evident, and I loved her drive. She did become a little paranoid of everyone, but with good reason. I mean, she was in a major explosion. I am so thankful she saw through her loser of a fiancé! It was really easy to see he was no good from the onset, it just took her a little bit longer to catch up with the rest of us. I am pretty sure that guy did not have an honorable bone in his body.

As far as the reality show goes…I thought it was as sad as it was made out to be. It really made me feel sorry for the bonobos for being so exploited. Yet, I really wouldn’t have put it past anyone to actually do something like that.



View all my reviews

Rebel Angels - Libba Bray

Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Gemma, Felicity and Ann are back! In Rebel Angels it is Christmas time, and the girls get to go home for the holidays. Thankfully, a good portion of that time away will be spent together, so their new mission; finding the temple and containing the magic that Gemma let loose in the realms earlier in the year, will be that much easier.

Gemma is having new, cryptic and scary visions involving three white girls and someone that cannot be trusted. Between these visions, and the discovery of a young girl who was once part of the Order but is now placed at the mental hospital that Thomas, Gemma's brother, works at; the pieces of this mystery are slowly coming together.

I am a big fan of this book. It's a lot better than A Great and Terrible Beauty as the adventure picks up right where the other left off, and it is wall-to-wall suspense! I loved how, with the magic loose in the realms, you could see the corruption of the garden every time the girls went back. To me, it was like a distorted version of Alice in Wonderland though even more scary. A bad dream. It really was a wonderful visual for why the magic needed to be contained and protected.

Then there are Felicity and Ann. In this book you could see the desire and longing for their own control of the magic coming out, and how it is corrupting them. While Gemma is known to use the magic for her own uses, like trying to help her father, she is trying to keep her mind focused on the task at hand. Felicity and Ann are growing increasingly jealous of her, because they are wanting to use the magic for their own self-gain and without Gemma's; which to me is corruption in itself. I was a bit disheartened at Gemma's inability to stand up for herself and for what she believes in. Felicity and Ann are constantly pressuring her into doing things she shouldn't or doesn't even want to do. I would really like to see Gemma's character grow a backbone. This is not really the kind of role-model our teenagers need right now.

I must mention also, the very slight love triangle. I have already voiced my opinion of the ever popular love triangle fad that is running wild in all fantasy/teenagery novels....I'm not a fan. But in Rebel Angels it was done so delicately and rather appropriately. This was not an "Oh I LOVE HIM, but I also LOVE HIM," and then there is an epic battle for who the greater man is, scenerio. This was decision made by Gemma based on who she felt was best for her. A decision that is not influenced on society or the opinions of others, but based on her own gut feeling. This is a love story that I can respect. Wonderfully done!

The dramatic conclusion was a little predictable for me (she who reads over 100 books a year), but was very good none-the-less. I loved the end, and Gemma's one moment of "hey I do have a spine" when she stood up for what she knew was right for the moment. I really hope that The Sweet Far Thing continues with THIS Gemma!



View all my reviews

Devil's Desire - Laurie McBain

Devil's Desire by Laurie McBain

Elise is way down on her luck. She recently lost both of her parents in an accident, and her brother to the sea. She was forced to sell most of her possessions off to pay off debts, including her beloved horse, Ariel. At the opening of the book, she is living with her half-aunt, her last living relative, who treats her as though she rates below the servants. At best, her life is miserable.

Alix is the luckiest man alive, and the most notorious rogue. It isn’t wise to bet against him, because he has never been known to loose at anything; many say he’s made a pact with the devil himself. His biggest troubles are getting rid of his most recent lover, and the fact that he no longer finds his life fulfilling.

Elise and Alix's lives collide in a scandal. With no way out, they are forced to marry, settling for a semi-fulfilled life. What they get instead is much more passionate, adventurous and fulfilled than either of them imagined.

What I really enjoyed about Devil’s Desire was the chemistry between Elise and Alix. They are wonderful together, so much so that the book is best during the scenes where both are involved. Their banter and snide remarks toward each other do nothing but fan the sparks of attraction that fly between them. Their relationship, and it’s progress and growth throughout the book are what made it enjoyable to read. I loved Elise, she was a solid character from beginning to end. Alix was a bit harder. He was suppose to be a dark, sinister character; but in most of his interactions he was much too polite and well mannered to be the person everyone claimed he was through the entire book. He has his dark moments, but in his conversations and his thoughts and his dealings with other people he was very fair and reasonable, making the opinions of others seem unreasonable.

The storyline, to me, is very jagged. I could never tell what direction the book was going to go. At one point you’ll be following down one path – and you think you have an idea what might happen or where the story will turn, but then all of the sudden that path dead ends and you find yourself walking down another road all together. This made it difficult to take any part of the story as “important” because all too many times from the beginning all the way to the end, what just happened has no significance to what is going to happen. I feel a story should have a nice smooth line, foreshadowing, maybe a scene or two to explain the hows and whys. There also should not be so many villains (this story had seven that I can count right off the top of my head). Two of these villains ended up spewing their disgust and hatred in a very Scooby-doo fashion. At the point when they believed they had the upper hand and are going to “win” their battle they would spew their whole plan of action and all of it’s intricate details in one conversation. I find it much more fulfilling to have the mystery or details revealed as the story unravels. little hints laid down here and there for you to grasp on to until the end of the book.

As long as you're able to read through the storyline (and who knows, you may not agree with my assessment) this was a perfectly romantic book. Alix and Elise, as well as the happy ending, make this book worth the read.

Devil's Desire was published previously, but is being re-released in November by Sourcebooks, Inc. Romance lovers really should not hesitate!

The Red Scarf - Kate Furnivall

The Red Scarf by Kate Furnivall

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


When thinking about trying to summarize The Red Scarf for a review, I found it very difficult. Kate Furnivall has written such a completely intertwined story that pretty much every moment from beginning to end is significant. As I write reviews, in most cases I like to be sensitive and not give away pertinent information to anyone who may be reading the review. I might give away names of characters or a side plot or something, but not something that will ruin the entire book for the reader. Below is the summary from Barnesandnoble.com, and to me, it really does not do the book justice…but it also does not give anything away you don’t already learn within the first few chapters of the book:

Davinsky Labor Camp, Siberia, 1933: Only two things in this wretched place keep Sofia from giving up hope: the prospect of freedom, and the stories told by her friend and fellow prisoner Anna, of a charmed childhood in Petrograd, and her fervent girlhood love for a passionate revolutionary named Vasily.

After a perilous escape, Sofia endures months of desolation and hardship. But, clinging to a promise she made to Anna, she subsists on the belief that someday she will track down Vasily. In a remote village, she's nursed back to health by a Gypsy family, and there she finds more than refuge—she also finds Mikhail Pashin, who, her heart tells her, is Vasily in disguise. He's everything she has ever wanted—but he belongs to Anna.

After coming this far, Sofia is tantalizingly close to freedom, family—even a future. All that stands in her way is the secret past that could endanger everything she has come to hold dear...

In my opinion, Kate Furnivall is a master storyteller. Under any normal circumstances, I wouldn’t pick up the books she writes based on the summaries given, because I can tell, by the summary, that there is a lot of real life anguish that is going to happen which is what I usually avoid when picking out a book. Life is usually real enough for me. Plus, her books tend to be rather political in nature…which is a bit of a turn off for me as well. I don’t even know what made me pick up The Russian Concubine, my introduction to Kate’s work. I’m pretty sure it was an impulse buy at Half Price Books, but I am glad I gave her a chance. As I said, the books are political and they are usually about struggle, but the characters are so real and unbelievable strong, they suck you into their lives and do not let go. There is always an air of hope that is mixing and spinning in all the distress and injustice.

The Red Scarf was, to me, ultimately about friendship and love. Sophia struggles with her decisions to do what is right for herself or, in a sense, laying down her life for her friend. It is about survival. Anna spends most of her time just focusing on surviving, and never giving up hope. Sophia, too, must survive and find a way to save her best friend. I don’t know many people or friendships that are as tight as this friendship, but I love it because we should love each other in such a way that we would walk to the ends of the earth for them. Could you imagine the world we would live in if we did?

I really enjoyed the way this book was set up. Usually I’m not big on bouncing forward and backward in time, but the flashbacks in this book were appropriately placed and absolutely necessary. The book would have been too long and too slow moving had it been told from the beginning to end in a straight line. This was my biggest surprise of all though, the fact that the book never seemed to really slow down. Even if there were moments of “down time” they were fast moving and still pertinent to the story. There was absolutely no extra fluff anywhere in the story that I could tell. The story and it’s message are just beautiful, even in all of its harsh realities.

View all my reviews