Book Review: "Bonfire" by Krysten Ritter

Krysten Ritter rocks. Not only is she a total badass on Jessica Jones, and she rocked my world (and made me laugh out loud constantly) on her old television series Don't Trust the B— in Apartment 23 (still bitter it was canceled), but now her debut novel, Bonfire, is a really good read. I hate overachievers...

Abby Williams couldn't get out of her Indiana hometown, Barrens, fast enough. Tormented by her childhood best friend Kaycee and her band of mean-girl minions, mistreated by her father, she fled the first chance she got, changed her accident and landed a job as an environmental lawyer in Chicago.

"I couldn't even explain it to myself. All I knew is that Barrens broke something inside of me. It warped the needles on my compass and turned the south to north and lies to truth and vice versa."

Ten years later, Abby's firm is investigating Optimal Plastics, the most high-profile company in Barrens, and the one that single-handedly rescued the town from all but certain elimination. The thought of going home again and facing her nemeses, including her father, is almost too much to bear, but she'll admit that the opportunity to enact a little revenge isn't totally unappealing. But it's not too long after she arrives back in Barrens that she realizes that the more things change the more they stay the same—or people want to pretend things have changed, even when they haven't.

As Abby and her colleagues try to make sense of whether Optimal is truly the town's savior or more of a danger, she finds herself unable to shake her memories of a scandal that Kaycee and her three friends were involved in all those years ago, a scandal which could possibly have ties to the problems with Optimal occurring today. She's desperate to find out what really happened to Kaycee, who allegedly disappeared all those years ago, and she is trying to decide whom she should trust—if anyone.

To uncover the truth, Abby must reopen doors that people want to remain closed, and that includes coming to terms with her father as well. She finds a web of blackmail, corruption, trading sexual favors, and lie upon lie. Her job and her mental state, perhaps even her life, are at stake.

I'm always a little bit dubious when a celebrity writes a novel. Sure, there are talented writers among them, but for every Carrie Fisher and Ethan Hawke comes a James Franco or Joan Collins. Ritter has a natural voice as a storyteller, and the book quickly hooks you and doesn't let you go, even as you may see how things will play themselves out. She is particularly impressive with her imagery as well as her descriptions of emotions, and what it's like to return home to a place where you never felt comfortable anyway.

It's not a perfect debut—she falls into the trap that so many action and crime movies do, where the villain gives a long, dramatic speech justifying why they were so hell-bent on destroying everything. (See Michael Shannon in Man of Steel for one.) But while that is a little annoying, I found Bonfire a really compelling read, one I devoured pretty quickly and enjoyed quite a bit. I'll definitely be looking out for Ritter's next book at some point.

Okay, Krysten...now how about a Don't Trust the... reunion?

NetGalley and Crown Publishing provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Book Review: "Chemistry" by Weike Wang

Here's a bit of a cautionary tale for those of you who might put too much pressure on your children to succeed academically, or those of you who push yourself too hard.

"The optimist sees the glass half full. The pessimist sees the glass half empty. The chemist sees the glass completely full, half in liquid state and half gaseous, both of which are probably poisonous."

Chemistry is spare and slightly quirky, yet it is surprisingly profound and moving. The unnamed narrator of Weike Wang's debut novel is a PhD student in chemistry at a university in Boston. She's been at her studies for several years and hasn't yet had the research breakthrough that will lead to her completing her dissertation, receiving her PhD, and hopefully getting a job, much to the chagrin and frustration of her Chinese parents, who will accept nothing less than success from her. They don't want excuses, delays, explanations—if she doesn't get her PhD, she's no longer their daughter.

"Ninety percent of all experiments fail. This is a fact. Every scientist has proven it. But you eventually start to wonder if this high rate of failure is also you. It can't be the chemicals' fault, you think. They have no souls."

As if her academic challenges weren't enough, her longtime boyfriend Eric has proposed marriage. A fellow scientist, Eric has followed his academic dreams without any challenges, and is on the cusp of getting a teaching job somewhere other than Boston. He doesn't understand why she can't accept the possibility that perhaps chemistry, and maybe even science altogether, isn't right for her. All he knows is how right they are for each other, so he can't fathom why she won't accept his proposal and go with him wherever his job takes him, and stop allowing her parents to rule her life.

But how can she give up her dreams to follow Eric, without giving her work all she has? Can she actually make a life with someone who has never had to struggle, whose parents support his every move, and give him the self-belief he needs?

When the pressure becomes too much to bear, she makes a split-second decision that changes everything. And now she has no idea what she wants, from her career, her relationship, her parents, or herself. Should she teach? Should she marry Eric and/or move with him? Should she tell her parents how she really feels, or work to finally make them proud of her? The dilemmas she faces turn her into a wholly different person, one she doesn't always recognize or even like.

"Eric has said that I carry close to my chest a ball of barbed wire that I sometimes throw at other people."

I found this really fascinating. Wang's narrator tells the story in the style of a person for whom English is not her first language, so at times the narrative is very spare and/or stilted, but the use of language and imagery really works here. The narrator doesn't come across as the warmest person, but Wang gives glimpses of her vulnerability and the emotion beneath the steely surface she has built to defend her from her parents and from those who don't believe women have a place in science.

Chemistry is definitely a quirky book that might not be for everyone. As she seeks to find answers to problems for which answers aren't always readily available, she is finding her way, with sometimes comical, sometimes emotional, and sometimes stoic results. She's a flawed character but one with surprising sensitivity, and you get to understand why she hides that away.

Don't let the title scare you. I got a "D" in high school chemistry (hope my mother doesn't read this) and vowed never to deal with that subject again, but I still found this a really compelling, beautifully told read.

Book Review: "Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies" by Michael Ausiello

It has been said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing multiple times but expecting a different result. Did I really believe I could read Michael Ausiello's lovely, bittersweet memoir Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies, a book of which its editor said, "You'll cackle; you'll sob," and not be a sobbing mess when it was done? I mean, I cry watching the car commercial where the little boy gets a dog, and then when he's grown up and goes to college, the dog is old. Color me insane, I guess.

Spoiler alert: while I wasn't out-and-out sobbing at the end of the book, I was pretty emotional.

Michael Ausiello is one of my favorite go-to sources for television-related gossip and information. I've been following him since he wrote for Entertainment Weekly and TVGuide.com, and am an avid fan of the site he founded, TVLine.com. In 2001, when he met Christopher "Kit" Cowan at a benefit, he was smitten instantaneously, both because of Kit's good looks and the easy banter they quickly fell into.

Their relationship took off, but like all relationships, dealt with some rough spots along the way. Some challenges were common—dealing with infidelity, financial independence, Kit's marijuana habit, Michael's emotional insecurities—and some were a little less so: Michael's, umm, obsession with all things Smurf, and Kit's prodigious collection of sex toys. But even through the rough patches, both realized how much happier they were together, and how much they truly were two halves of a whole, along with their long-suffering cat, Mister Scooch.

In 2014, in the middle of their 13th year together, Kit was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of neuroendocrine cancer. For Michael, Kit's illness not only brought him face-to-face with the threat of losing the love of his life, but it reminded him of losing both of his parents to cancer when he was younger. But Michael took on the role of Kit's caregiver as fully as he did every interview with a celebrity, every column he wrote, every guest appearance he got to make on a television series.

Although the two had eschewed marriage in the past (while supporting the right of everyone to marry the person they love), they got married just before Kit's first chemo appointment. This allowed Michael to be fully engaged in every aspect of Kit's treatment and care. And while Kit faced his bleak prognosis with the same good humor he approached every day, he never seemed to get the upper hand on his cancer, and after a tough battle, he passed away in February 2015.

While Spoiler Alert is a chronicle of Kit's fight with cancer, and how he and Michael faced down the disease and the setbacks together, this book is more than just a sad account of a life nearing its end. This is also a story of a relationship, a love affair, from start to finish, with the funny and sweet moments, the challenges and the anxieties, and all of the emotion and beauty of two people who truly gave each other their whole heart, their humor, and their love.

This certainly was a book that hit me hard emotionally, and made me want to hold my own husband and my own loved ones a little bit closer as soon as I finished reading it. (Plus I couldn't see while reading the last chapter I was crying so hard.) But it was also a book that made me laugh, made me recognize myself and my own relationship in certain anecdotes Michael shared, and made me thankful that he was willing to share his relationship with Kit with us, although I'm sorry this is why he did.

NetGalley and Atria Books provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Book Review: "Standard Deviation" by Katherine Heiny

It has been a long while since I literally laughed out loud while reading a book, but Katherine Heiny's debut novel, Standard Deviation, had me cracking up more than a few times. (Nothing quite like sitting at the chiropractor laughing to yourself and having everyone wonder if you need more than your back adjusted...) Zany, contemplative, occasionally moving, and tremendously insightful, this is a book about love, family, raising children, temptation, and origami.

"It had begun to seem to Graham, in this, the twelfth year of his second marriage, that he and his wife lived in parallel universes. And worse, it seemed his universe was lonely and arid, and hers was densely populated with armies of friends and acquaintances and other people he did not know."

Graham's wife, Audra, is tremendously outgoing, the type of person who can tease a story from a stranger with whom she's waiting in line within a matter of minutes. This is the complete opposite of Graham, who would prefer to blend into his surroundings, and would rather not know the personal peccadilloes of everyone in their apartment building, their son's pediatrician, even his wife's yoga teacher.

"Audra could converse with a statue. (In fact, once in the ER she had had a long talk with a man who turned out to have had a stroke and could only communicate by blinking.)"

Audra is vastly different than Graham's first wife, Elspeth, a slightly standoffish lawyer. But Audra has decided that she wants to be friends with Elspeth, so through the sheer force of her personality, she wills Graham to make it happen. For a little while it works, which leads Graham to wonder what his life might have been like if he had stayed married to Elspeth, and wonder what it was that kept their relationship from working. (Other than the fact that he cheated on her with Audra.)

In addition to Audra's utter vivaciousness, the couple deal with the challenges of raising a son with Asperger's. When Matthew becomes interested in joining an exclusive origami club (seriously), the couple throws themselves into their son's passion as much as the other socially awkward members of the club will allow. And as Matthew navigates the difficulties of adolescent friendship, again, Audra, dragging Graham along for the ride as they try to convince a boy to be friends with Matthew again (even if a little bribery is involved).

Standard Deviation made me laugh quite a bit, but it also made me tear up a few times, and it made me think. Sometimes Audra is almost too wacky to be believed, but yet I know a few women who seem to befriend everyone they meet, even those not interested in speaking. The book is a fascinating, touching, humorous meditation about what love, marriage, and parenthood mean, and how those who don't remain in our lives still have the tendency to affect us.

I remember wanting to read Heiny's debut story collection, Single, Carefree, Mellow, but you know—too many books and not enough time. Given how good this was, how well Heiny balances humor and heart, the quiet moments of life along with the zany ones, I'll definitely need to give her stories a try as well.

Even if you don't have an Audra, an Elspeth, a Matthew, or a Graham in your life, this book is so worth picking up. I don't think I'll get these characters—or the things Heiny made them say or do—out of my mind anytime soon. And I don't think I mind that one bit.

Book Review: "Anything is Possible" by Elizabeth Strout

I don't know about you, but people watching utterly fascinates me. It's really amusing to watch the dynamics of families and groups of friends, but what's even more fun is making up stories about those we see, developing a narrative about their relationships, challenges, and victories. (It would be great to find out how far from the truth these stories are, wouldn't it?)

Reading Elizabeth Strout's new collection of linked stories, Anything is Possible, feels like a cross between people-watching and eavesdropping, because the stories give you glimpses into people's lives you might not ordinarily get, without facing the embarrassing risk of getting caught. These stories are beautifully written, at times utterly moving, and, like people-watching, often truly fascinating and compelling.

I haven't read Strout's My Name is Lucy Barton, but the stories in this collection feature Lucy's small Midwestern hometown of Amgash, Illinois, and Lucy has a presence in many of the stories, and an adult Lucy is a character in one. These are stories of people struggling with challenges—emotional, romantic, familial, professional, even philosophical. As Strout says of a character in one of her stories, but this applies to most of them, "Life had simply not been what she thought it would be."

My favorites in this collection included: "The Sign," in which an elderly man finds his faith tested after a conversation he has with a troubled man he occasionally looks after; "Sister," where an adult Lucy Barton returns to her hometown and her siblings after being away for nearly 20 years; "The Hit-Thumb Theory," about a Vietnam veteran suffering from PTSD who has a dilemma that could radically change the course of his life, and he finds a moment's solace in a small bed-and-breakfast; "Windmills," in which a lonely widow changes her life after reading a book written by someone from her hometown; and "Snow-Blind," about a shocking discovery a young actress makes after she has left her family behind.

These are not happy, well-adjusted people in many cases. A few of the stories deal with odd sexual situations, and at times the characters are quite mean to each other. But Strout's talent as a storyteller makes even the somewhat bizarre stories, and those with unappealing characters interesting, and you want to keep reading them.

Interestingly enough, I've only read one of Strout's earlier books, The Burgess Boys, and I didn't like it that much. But now I'll definitely need to read more of her work, because I really found these stories moving and so well-written. If I had any criticism, it's that she uses subsequent stories to advance the plot of previous ones, referring to a character and saying, "Did you hear that so-and-so did...?" But that was a minor irritation for me.

I know short stories, even linked ones, don't appeal to everyone. But Anything is Possible feels a little like hanging out a party—you spend some time with lots of different people and get the opportunity to hear something about their lives and what makes them tick, then you move on. But the good news is, you don't have to bring an appetizer, help clean up, or worry how you're going to get home afterward.

Book Review: "The Awkward Age" by Francesca Segal

Ah, family drama. What would we do without you? I'm just glad none of these issues happened on The Brady Bunch (although apparently some of the shenanigans were occurring backstage)!

It has been a number of years since Julia Alden's husband died, leaving her with a young daughter, Gwen. Julia and Gwen have been an inseparable duo, weathering life's problems and enjoying adventures together, just the two of them. But now Julia has fallen in love with James, an American OB/GYN who has made his home in England for years. James has awakened Julia's passions—for life, love, sex, and security—things she figured she'd never find again.

The two plan to merge their lives and their households together, and receive nothing but enthusiastic support from James' daughter as well as Julia's inlaws, a couple which has their own interesting relationship. The roadblock? Gwen, now 16, completely dislikes James, and can't even deign to keep her hatred a secret. Not only does she resent the fact that her mother has found happiness again and (as she sees it) abandoned her, she now has to share her house with James and his egotistical, 17-year-old son, Nathan.

Every day is an emotional minefield for the blended family. But after a Thanksgiving trip to James' Boston hometown, Gwen and Nathan begin to see each other in a different light. It's not long before the new relationship turns the household upside down, bringing drama and recrimination, and severely testing Julia and James' relationship.

"How was it possible that one spoiled, angry teenager had wrested control of all their lives?"

Even as your children grow to adulthood, are you expected to sacrifice your own happiness for their sake? Should your loyalty always lie with your own child, even if it might cause stress in your own romantic relationship? How much, and for how long, should you owe your child for a difficult childhood? Does honesty really mean telling the person you love everything you feel, even if it's about their child?

The Awkward Age is an interesting look at these questions. It's a take on modern relationships, gender roles, and how often the things we don't say to one another can cause the most damage. The book definitely has a soap opera-esque feel, even veering into melodrama, and at times I wanted to shake some of these characters to get them to be sensible.

I absolutely loved Francesca Segal's first novel, The Innocents (see my original review), an interpretation of The Age of Innocence set in a Jewish suburb of London. Segal created fascinating characters and a plot you couldn't tear yourself away from.

I didn't feel as if she succeeded as well with The Awkward Age. I thought the first part of the book, which dealt with Julia and James' growing relationship and how everyone around them reacted, was really interesting, but once the melodrama began it lost a bit of its appeal. Perhaps the plot was realistic, but everyone just acted so unpleasantly and dodged around the elephant in the room for so long, I wished I could have walked into the story and set everyone straight.

Segal is an excellent writer, and there is a lot to like about this book. Her characters, while irritating, are really well-drawn. (I found Julia's inlaws and James' ex-wife fascinating.) I just wish this book was less dramatic and more contemplative, because when her storytelling does the talking, the reader definitely wins. (P.S.: Definitely read The Innocents!)

Book Review: "He Said/She Said" by Erin Kelly

Now that's the way you do a thriller.

Kit and Laura are young and newly in love in the summer of 1999. Kit, who has been chasing solar eclipses since his childhood, convinces Laura to join him on a trek to Cornwall for a festival, during which they're expected to see a total eclipse of the sun. While the weather doesn't quite cooperate to give them the full eclipse experience, it still wows Laura, as she truly understands why Kit finds these events so mesmerizing, and loves being able to share them with the man she loves.

Walking back to their campsite after the eclipse, Laura comes upon a man and a woman. At first she doesn't understand what she's seeing, but then she realizes that the man appears to be taking advantage of the woman. She, then Kit, intervenes, the woman is dazed, the man is angry and protests his innocence. Once the authorities take over, the peace of the event is shattered for Kit and Laura, knowing they may find themselves part of a trial in the future.

After the case is over, the woman gets in touch with Laura to express her gratitude for their help. As the woman becomes needier and needier, both Laura and Kit have concerns, but how can Laura turn a woman away who has had her whole life turned upside down, even been betrayed by those she considered friends? Little by little, Laura starts feeling unsure that she made the right decisions—did she actually see what she thinks she saw? Is the victim as innocent as she appeared?

"...that's the thing with secrets. They're leaky; you can't decide to share the bits that suit you without a million questions oozing out. You have to solder a part of yourself shut."

Fifteen years later, Kit and Laura have changed their names and live almost in hiding, off the physical and virtual grid. Every move they make is one made cautiously, and both live in fear that everything they've built can be destroyed in a moment. But while they share the same fears, they also have vastly different things they are afraid of, things which have caused Laura nearly paralyzing anxiety and have strained their marriage.

"There is so much unshared life to intrude upon the marriage; so much opposing history. The defining event of my life is the defining event of Laura's. I don't know how couples who haven't been through something like that stick together."

With so much at stake, they know their fears will catch up with them. And when they do, will they—and their marriage—be able to survive?

He Said/She Said seems like a pretty basic thriller at first, but Erin Kelly's storytelling keeps you hooked. If you read thrillers, or even watch crime-type shows on television, you've seen this story before, and you have a feeling what will happen. At least you think you have. But Kelly never rests on plot-as-usual; she stretches everything to the limit, so just as some of the things you expect to happen do, the next second you're shocked by what else unfolds.

The book may get a little more melodramatic than it needs to at times, and because certain aspects of the story take a while to unfold, I found myself confused by the behavior of some of the characters. But this was a really well-written book, and Kelly kept me hooked from start to finish. While I could have passed on the jet-lag-induced insomnia, I didn't mind passing the time devouring the remainder of this book.

I've only read one of Kelly's previous books, The Poison Tree, and I remember enjoying that, too. While she's apparently referred to as "the queen of the killer twist," I think if you just let the story unfold as Kelly intended it, and don't keep focusing on the twist, you'll be able to concentrate on all of the things that made this a great thriller.

NetGalley and St. Martin's Press provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!