The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah {Review}

November 24, 2017 KalaLeave a comment

Hello everyone, I hope that you all enjoyed your holiday and hope that you were able to get some good deals shopping if that is what you participated in. I was fortunate to receive an ARC of Kristin Hannah’s new book that is set to be released February 6, 2018 from St. Martin’s Press.

Goodreads Description:

Alaska, 1974.
Untamed.
Unpredictable.
And for a family in crisis, the ultimate test of the human spirit.

From the author who brought you the phenomenon of The Nightingale.

Review:

Let me just start by saying get ready to go on an emotional adventure. Kristin Hannah does it AGAIN!!!

In this novel we meet the Albrights. They are a family of three. Ernt(dad), Cora(mom), and Leni(daughter). This novel takes place in the mid seventies, after the Vietnam War. Ernt has returned home after being captured and held captive for 6 years. He suffers from what would not be called PTSD. There really wasn’t a word for it then. The men were just described as “being changed by the war.” He cant hold down and job and he has anger issues. Cora tries to pacify him by giving in to his grand ideas and constant moving around, although their daughter, Leni, has to suffer because of all the changes.

The dynamic of the relationship of Cora and Ernt is not apparent at first but quickly surfaces once the family moves to Alaska. Ernt has been gifted a house and some land by a fellow war comrade. When they first move to Alaska, things seem as if they will be okay. As the time goes on, Ernt takes a turn for the worse. While he is spiraling out of control, Leni is beginning to grow into a young adult and she is becoming a mentally strong young woman. She begins to see things in her parents that she had not noticed before and is having a difficult time accepting them.

Leni meets Matthew Walker, a young man who is going to play a key role in her life. As will his family in her father’s breaking point.

I will stop there because I really do not want to give away much more about the story. Just know that there is so much more that is going on in their lives.

This is one of those novels that will make you think about how mental health and love can affect relationships. It also shows how unconditional love can either make or break a person. As I said earlier, this novel is another emotional adventure. I read The Nightingale a couple of months ago and was emotionally exhausted when I finished it. I love a book that can make me feel that way and The Great Alone did the same thing. Hannah puts on paper real life issues and makes you think and feel with her characters.

I may have had some watery eyes with the end of this novel, but I will neither confirm or deny it. I strongly suggest purchasing this novel when it is published if you are a fan of Kristin Hannah and if you have not read any of her novels, this is a great introduction to her style of writing. This book isn’t even out yet and I am already looking forward to her next novel. I guess I will have to go get one of her older novels off my shelf to hold me over.

I give this book 5 stars!

books · Family · Salem · Salem Witch Trials

The Fifth Petal by Brunonia Barry [Review]

November 7, 2017November 7, 2017 KalaLeave a comment

Initially when I finished this novel today, I thought it had taken me forever to read but in reality it only took 7 days. I’m not quite sure why I thought it took me longer. Anyway, here is my review:

This novel is set in Salem, home of the Salem Witch Trials. It follows a case that is opened after the sudden death of a local boy. This boy is said to have been killed by one of the town’s local witches, Rose. This death makes the chief of police consider the fact that it could be connected to a cold case from several years ago. A case in which Rose was at the center of at that time as well. We are also introduced to Callie who is the only known survivor of the “Goddess Murders.” Her mother was one of the women who were killed in that case and the killer was never found and Callie was shipped off to grow up in the state foster care program. All this time she has believed that Rose was dead but soon discovers that she isn’t once the story airs about the young man who was possibly murdered by her. Callie heads back to a territory that she has not so wonderful memories of. She returns to a place filled with superstition, betrayal, and revenge. True to the manner of a Salem Witch based novel, we have our characters who are the accused, the accusers, the believers, and the non believers. We see what some are willing to do in order to protect what they think is rightfully theirs, even if it means employing “black magic” or witchcraft. We also see what others are willing to overlook if it means “saving face.” And what would a novel of this subject be without some love? There is a healthy dash of love affairs and finding love in this story. Not too much romance but enough to keep the story going. And for this subject, you do have to have the aspect of a love story. Face the facts, love is probably the top reason people turn to this type of lifestyle. Either the want of love or the want of revenge on someone who was loved but was hurt by the one they loved.

I would have to give this novel a rating of 3 stars out of 5 only because I felt as though it moved a bit too slow at first and then everything was rushed at the end. There are still some points of the story that I was hoping would have some closure but they didn’t. Maybe this is why I thought it took me so long to read. I do appreciate the bit of history in it along with the mystery/thriller aspect. The novel unravels in about a years time with bits of flashback thrown in. I will admit that the way Barry wrote the story makes you wonder if witchcraft is indeed real. She doesn’t use fanciful events to touch on the possibility of witchcraft, she uses events that cause the reader to stop and wonder and I appreciated that aspect. This is my first novel by this author and I am definitely interested in reading her other works even if this novel is not at the top of my list of books that I enjoyed reading.

I received a copy of this novel from Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review.

books · Family · World War 2

The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan{Review}

October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 KalaLeave a comment

I have received a copy The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this honest review.

Book Blurb:

Told through letters and journals, The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir moves seamlessly from budding romances to village intrigues to heartbreaking matters of life and death. As we come to know the struggles of the charismatic members of this unforgettable outfit — a timid widow worried over her son at the front; the town beauty drawn to a rakish artist; her younger sister nursing an impossible crush and dabbling in politics she doesn’t understand; a young Jewish refugee hiding secrets about her family, and a conniving midwife plotting to outrun her seedy past — we come to see how the strength each finds in the choir’s collective voice reverberates in her individual life. The novel is set during World War II.

Review:

This story is about a local choir who was at first being shut down because there were no men available to sing with the women until Miss Primrose Trent arrives and decides to make it an all women choir. The choir is brought together to be a positive outlet during a time of war. The ladies and girls in the choir come from various backgrounds but work wonderfully together. Thru the journal entries from each woman (nurse, midwife, sisters, and refugee), we learn secrets of love, devotion, and deceit. Not everyone is who they seem at first and there is tremendous growth in the ladies as they take on the challenge of being a woman only choir during a terrible time of war. They experience laughter, love, and tragedy. I enjoyed how the story was developed thru each of their views. I found that appealing because it makes you image how people really may have felt during that time period. There aren’t too many stories set during World War II that have a comedic type of appeal to them. I was able to more than just the feeling of dread. I was able to laugh with some of these ladies. Although the story is told thru the women, you do get a feel of how the men acted who weren’t at the front fighting and even those who came home to visit from the fighting. Some men were supportive, some were abusive, and there were those who were loving. Being in the choir gave strengths to each of the women that were needed to help them develop as people. Jennifer Ryan’s style of writing made this an enjoyable and easy read. I look forward to reading more from her.

Family · The Light Between Oceans

Secrets and Lies

February 13, 2017 Kala2 Comments

So I just finished an emotionally trying book called The Light Between Oceans by M. L Stedman.
It is a novel set in Australia surrounding a married couple and their secret or as some may perceive it, their lie.
The story follows Tom Sherbourne and his wife Isabel. Tom is a World War I vet and Isabel is a native girl from Partaguese. Tom is employed to be light keeper on the island of Janus where Isabel later joins him after a short and odd, yet endearing courtship. They have to reside on the island 3 years at a time with supplies being brought out every six months. They are the only residents on this island. It would seem that whatever they do on the island would not have an effect on anyone not on the island but that is not the case.
After years of trying to have a child, 2 miscarriages and 1 stillborn, an infant is washed ashore in a boat with a dead man. Tom, being a man who follows the rules immediately knows that he must report this incident. What keeps him from doing so is the love he has for his wife. This act made me think about how far a person would go for a person they love even if they knew what they are doing is wrong. Isabel is recently mourning their stillborn child and thinks this baby has been sent to them by God as a gift for all of their suffering. She knows the rules just as Tom does but does everything in her power to keep him from reporting the incident.
They keep this secret for about 3 years, during this time, Tom starts to struggle with knowing what they are doing is wrong especially after finding out that the baby’s birth mother is still alive.
Not only have they lied to people who care about them, they are now withholding information from a grieving mother and her family. Isabel refuses to see that what they are doing is wrong. She wants to keep this baby for her own selfish reasons.
This secret, once out, nearly destroys everyone in its path. I definitely would recommend the novel for anyone who wants to read a good emotional drama. The ending just about threw me for a loop. I definitely have a book hangover after this one.
How long if at all would you have kept a secret like this? If married would you be able to be like Tom and turn a blind eye just so that your spouse would be happy? If you were Isabel would you expect for your spouse to keep this secret for you even if it means contributing to the hurt of an innocent person?
This is the second novel that I have read this year that surrounds a secret that is kept within a family. Although secrets are kept within families, the outcome of the truth is just as bad if not worse as the outcome of a secret kept between strangers. Once the truth is out, families are at risk for being destroyed to the point of no return.
I know firsthand how it can be. My parents kept my adoption from me for 21 years. Once I found out the truth, I was completely devastated and had to literally go thru a healing process. I know it seems that keeping the secret or holding onto the lie is better at the moment but in the end it can destroy more than what was set out to protect.