A Simple Favor: Darcey Bell

A Simple Favor: Darcey Bell
Genre: Thriller
Published: 2017
Pages: 298

Wealthy PR director Emily and mommy blogger Stephanie are best friends. So when Stephanie goes to pick up Emily's son from school, she thinks nothing of it. But then Emily disappears, and Stephanie finds herself filling in to help take care of Emily's family. Maybe there was more to this "friendship" that she realized.

But is Emily really gone for good? Or does she have bigger plans? That's what she thought at first. But unfortunately, plans go wrong, and soon her original plot becomes one to get revenge. 

Reviewing a thriller is always challenging because there are details that shouldn't be revealed. But I shall try my best. 

I'm going to warn you that you won't find many likable characters here. Stephanie disgusted me, especially in the first half of the book. She has affair after affair. She's a compulsive liar. When she meets her half brother, she meets him at a motel that same day. Yeah, her half brother, who's visiting to mourn the death of their father. I wondered for a while if she was the antagonist...but then we meet Emily. She's an odd character who is just intense and then whose thoughts suddenly stray from "wanting excitement" to wanting people killed...and then she shows some signs of remorse. Maybe. Seriously, she goes from stealing her mother-in-law's ring to wanting her husband dead. Boy, that escalated quickly...It's hard to know what to think of her. At first, both appear to be decent people. They have families and kids they adore. Of course, Stephanie has her secrets but ultimately the subplots about her dad and half brother really didn't contribute to the story. (Sigh. More moping about missing fathers.) Come to think of it, Emily was also supposedly estranged from her parents, but I don't recall learning why. 

A lot of side characters border on cliche, though. There's the housekeeper-who's Spanish of course-and frequently inserts Spanish words into her speech, particularly "senora" for "woman." Really? There's also incompetent law enforcement and a victim who's way too trusting for her own good- perhaps to move the plot along. This book could have ended very easily if she had just used common sense. Then there's Emily. She's rich and successful but is also unsatisfied. Oh, and then there's a secret twin. If you've read the genre you've probably seen a lot of this before. And of course, we watch Stephanie move in to Emily's to "help out" with her son Nicky. It's not hard to guess what comes of this.

The story itself was the strongest part. Three different characters have a chance to speak- Stephanie, Emily, and Emily's husband Sean. There are also some of Stephanie's blog entries in the mix. They serve to give you a feel of Stephanie's blogging lifestyle, but other characters also read it and use it in ways to evaluate their own lives. Stephanie isn't a traditional mommy blogger who writes pages of sponsored posts- actually, I don't know many mommy bloggers who straight-up blog about their lives like she does. Either way, it's interesting and an important vehicle to drive the plot forward. And refreshing- I don't like how commercial blogging is becoming! The language of the blog did feel a little formal and poetic though. 

I also liked the alternating POVs which allowed us to see things from lying characters' perspectives, leading to insanely unreliable narrators. You know what exactly is happening (if you're good with reading comprehension), but other characters do not. Of course since there's no real ending, the lies never get explained to them so nobody learns anything, or faces consequences. More on that in a bit. The idea was also well-thought out. I did find Sean's taking out a life insurance policy to be trite; same thing for the characters pointing out "oh look, this is just like a horror movie!" Eyes will roll. 

But there are issues. Not too long ago I wrote a post on some of my biggest pet peeves in recent book trends. One of them, #4, was a vague ending. The lack of an ending can singlehandedly ruin a book for me. Otherwise, what is the point of the story? I read because I want to know what happens! And sometimes when you're reading and the pages are slowly dwindling and dwindling, you worry because there's not enough time to resolve anything.

This really bothered me because a lot of the truth had yet to be exposed to the victimized characters. Emily's husband didn't get much of an ending at all. Neither did Stephanie. There's all this buildup leading to the consequences of Emily's doing in their life, and then we don't get to find out what happens. As a matter of fact, I don't think either of them ever found out the truth. I'm sick of authors deciding to leave us high and dry just so they can convey an artsy feeling of foreboding. Judging by her picture, it looks like Bell may be a hipster, so that may very well have been the effect she wanted. I don't know. I like closure in my books. And an ending. When I buy a novel, I trust the author to tell me what happens. It's not a fill-in-the-blank writing prompt book. 

That said, the ending is somewhat exciting. Unfortunately it's basically stolen from a famous movie (which I knew before the author explicitly pointed this out. Again, eyes will roll). Still, most of the subplots don't go past the climax and that left me disappointed.

Verdict

It's hard to know what to think of this book. A Simple Favor kept me turning pages because I wanted to know what happened, but that didn't turn out so well. I didn't like the characters, but I also thought that having super-flawed people was an interesting new angle. Still, you might find yourself wondering...do I really know my best friends? Just don't go into it expecting too many twists or many answers.

2 stars

The Children's Books I Still Keep On My Shelf

Okay, granted, I don't really keep children's books on my shelf. I mean, I can't really toss a book after I get it because Frog and Toad Are Friends is taking up too much space. I keep them in my official "special items" shelves in my closet so I can look through them whenever I'd like.

Anyway, I recently did a post on YA books about college students, so here are some of my favorite kids' books that I can't stand to throw away.

Go Dog Go, P.D. Eastman
Why I keep it: Sentimental Value, Still Loved

It doesn't get better than a board book of colorful dogs. Teaching kids about over/under/up/down/whatever, these awesome illustrations make you wonder, "where are those dogs going, anyway?" The answer is revealed in the last pages. Add in a subplot about a dog trying to impress others with her hat and you have a good book. The pages also smell really good, at least in my worn copy.

The Adventures of Captain Underpants; Dav Pilkey
Why I keep it: Sentimental Value; Still Loved

My sister and I got hooked on these. We even played our own game of Captain Underpants, pretending to be the superhero as we ran around the house solving crime. It's a clever story and good for those who don't necessarily like either superheroes or reading. Shame that the books weren't as good after the first 5.

The Fudge series; Judy Blume
Why I keep them: Still Loved

These stories don't have too too much of a plot, but they're great because they really throw you into another life and let you be another character for a day. My favorite is probably Fudge-a-Mania just because it hits the dynamics of family vacations and gatherings so well, and I love the additional characters. But they're all fabulous.

Winnie the Pooh: The Haunted House
Why I keep it: Sentimental Value

Does this look familiar? No? That's probably because its...get this...a personalized book. You simply filled in an order form and a story with your name on it. The result was a story with your name inserted at points. In this case, I was a character who helped Pooh and friends figure out the mystery of a not-so-haunted house. 

Changes for Kirsten; Janet Shaw
Why I keep it: Sentimental Value

Kirsten was my very first American Girl doll that led our family to our love and enjoyment of the franchise. My mom and I used to read a chapter from the six-book series every night before bed, and the doll was great fun as well. Plus, my book is one of the originals; as in, the very original design before the covers took on new looks. It's just special holding it in my hands, like an antique.

Aquamarine; Alice Hoffman
Why I keep it: Still Loved

Two girls who are threatened by the possibility of one of them moving away bond by meeting a mermaid who's washed up on the beach club that's closing down. The lyrical prose sparkles just as much as the story and holds nice messages about friendship. You could easily read this in thirty minutes. Way, way better than the movie for those who are asking, especially since the writing style is part of the experience. In my opinion, this book suffers from "Scholastic syndrome," or the fact that it was published by a kids' publishing house. I think any adult mermaid fan should give this a try. 

Frog and Toad Are Friends; Arnold Lobel
Why I keep it: Sentimental Value

These were a classic in the bedtime story department. My dad would read a few tales aloud before bed, and now that's how Frog and Toad's voices will sound. Who doesn't love this odd couple? From hiding in bed until spring to sending mail to being self-conscious in a bathing suit, I'm hoping this stays a classic. The pages and text may be dated, but the stories are not. Too much. 

What children's books do you still love? Let's get some chitchat going here.

My Sister's Keeper: Why the Movie was Better than the Book

I'm going to turn a lot of heads here. I think that a movie is actually better than the book it was based upon. In this case, it was Jodi Picoult's novel My Sister's Keeper. This heart-wrenching novel tells the story of a family whose daughter gets cancer. They conceive Anna to, for lack of a better phrase, provide body parts to save her health. But Anna gets tired of this and decides to sue her parents to get her life back.

Beware, there are spoilers. I recommend reading the book first.

The characters act their age.

I don't like the way that Picoult writes kids (at least in the two books of hers that I read). Anna was supposed to be about thirteen, yet with all the terminology and philosophy she throws around, she sounds forty. Kate sounded a bit older herself. In the movie we can see the characters actually act like kids. There is some narration, but it's more age-appropriate. 

There's no ridiculous romantic subplot.

What? You're telling me that in a book that deals with serious things and a thought-provoking topic with interesting characters, you don't want 200 pages to be devoted to Anna's lawyer's side romance that adds nothing to the plot? Gee, I can't imagine why. Someone needs to tell this author that romance is not an obligatory component in books. I wish more authors realized this. I've had countless novels, especially in the YA realm, ruined because the author wanted to focus on a predictable boring romance instead of the initially interesting storyline. 

Actually, there are less distracting subplots in general.

The one about Anna's brother getting into trouble? The one about her dad's adventures in firefighting?  All possibly interesting, but even moreso when small issues are cut to make rom for the story at hand. Anna's was the one I really wanted to hear about. 

The ending isn't random and includes conflict resolution.

At first I thought the ending of the book was masterful. But hard-hitting doesn't mean it's good. When Anna dies it's like they spent hundreds of pages arguing and debating for nothing. Kate survives, and everyone is happy...kind of. Of course, considering that the family mostly cared about Anna because she existed to help her sister, maybe they weren't totally sad after all. I think that in writing, characters should work toward their ending. Chance incidents like in the novel do happen, but it makes everything that happened in the previous pages irrelevant. The debate is rendered unimportant.

In the movie, though, Kate and Anna make peace with things on their own. Kate sees how her sister is suffering and doesn't want that for her anymore (she's already more compassionate than the parents!). The ending, while not easy, comes a bit more natural.

Don't get me wrong. My Sister's Keeper is a thought-provoking book, though it has its flaws. It can also be argued that the book has more room to explore the issues, but when it comes to storytelling I thought the movie was the winner.

Have you read this book? Did you think it was better than the movie? 

Truly Madly Guilty: Liane Moriarty

Truly Madly Guilty: Liane Moriarty
Genre: Women's Fiction/Domestic Suspense
Pages: 517 (large paperback version)
Published: 2016

An Adventures By The Page 2018 Best Book Nominee
2018 Most Unique Story Winner

"This is a story about a barbecue." 
Or so the book begins, when Clementine is giving a talk about what really happened that day to a group at the library.

Clementine and Erika don't exactly have a traditional friendship. They're just so different, and then there's the part about how Clementine's mom forced it on her. But they're friendly enough that when Erika invites her and her husband to a barbecue with their neighbors, they accept the invitation. And then something goes terribly wrong.

Two months later, that fateful day continues to haunt each couple as they wonder: whose fault was it? Suddenly their normal lives hang in the balance and everyone is scrambling to save relationships between their friends, spouses, and even themselves. 



If I don't like anything these days, besides our president, it's probably how generations love to attack each other over the Internet. Millennials are blamed for just about everything under the sun and for being "lazy," when in reality it's harder to find jobs that it was for the previous generation. They might counter with the fact that previous generations hated black people. Yes, people are flawed. But nobody is perfect, and wouldn't it be a better world if we all learned to get along and saw things from the other's perspective? (Obviously that won't always work for some of those scenarios, but you get the idea: it's easier to point fingers and blame people than to actually see eye to eye and fix the problem if there is one.)

Of course, one of the things they love to pick on millenials for is parenting. Helicopter parenting bothers me a lot, but so does the fact that this generation apparently needs "help" from the previous one to tell them everything they think is wrong. But keeping an eye on your kids is definitely a good thing, as shown in Truly Madly Guilty. And it brings up a lot of the other issues I mentioned too.

Yay!

The book centers around the effects of what happened at the barbecue. But guilt is actually explored in many ways here, and not just through asking the question, "whose fault was it?" One parent struggles to deal with a morally questionable past, while another considers how strong their friendship with another really is...by considering a life-changing favor simply because it's "paying them back." Others feel guilt about the relationship with their neighbors. This neighbor actually becomes a good subplot as you wonder what their role in the conflict was. Even the children wonder if they had a hand in what happened. Many fingers are pointed, but you also wonder...was it truly ever anyone's fault? The message about how useless it can be to place blame on each other and ourselves hits home. (And as for who does right? The answer may surprise you, adding to some already interesting twists.)

With flashbacks and guilt come suspense. Moriarty's use of suspense is again masterful. In her traditional style, she alternates between the present day and the day of the barbecue, two months prior. You're just dying to find out what happened. I actually did manage to figure out the "who" and the "what," but even that guess wasn't 100% correct. So it's not totally predictable. And it leads up to a breaking point that's actually tense. I had previously read Big Little Lies by the same author, and while the big reveal is dramatic, the event it was built around wasn't quite as big as you would expect. In short, a bit disappointing. Not the case in Truly Madly Guilty. Readers are getting the drama and suspense they're paying for. Unlike some of her other novels, the plot twists continue until the book ends and it's not just a bunch of filler.

I't's not all about suspense, either. I haven't touched on the heart of the story: characters! They're just so real and easy to relate to. Little Ruby's hobby of personifying a kitchen item is exactly the quirk a young child might have. I liked grumpy old Harry too, even if the eventual excuse for his behavior bordered on the cliche. The couples deal with their struggles realistically and are good for each other. You have the dreamy cellist Clementine and the orderly Erika. I wanted to dislike some at first, especially Erika, but then I learned to see her as a person. Ultimately, you don't want anything bad to happen to them. Each character also gets a good amount of time for readers to hear their story. The transitions between POVs don't feel shocking and everyone gets to be in the spotlight.

All this suburban life gives way to commentary, too. I especially liked when Tiffany's body is complimented and she is hesitant to respond, believing that women expect modesty when it came to  their body (Again, there's that guilt!). That instance is one of many others. You'll have a lot to think about in the undercurrents.

Nay!

(general spoiler alert; meaning, no specific events are revealed but general ideas are)

I've said the same things before: Moriarty's ending don't always do it for me. Or rather, a few events that precede the ending. I feel like some characters resolved (or not) their conflicts very quickly. I'm thinking of one particular couple who was most affected by the events of the novel. Their ending is quick, predictable, and sudden. It doesn't take long for them to be happy again. On the other hand, two months have passed since their initial decision to fix things, so why shouldn't things be going better by that point? They certainly have their share of drama in the present day chapters. I guess what I'm saying is that I would have liked to see them work things out a bit more rather then suddenly realize things weren't going well and want to fix them. It's like when you're watching something like The Office for the first time and get annoyed in the season 4 opener that Jim and Pam are suddenly dating without you having seen any of their initial dates. But it's a documentary show that skips to certain points in the future, so it's natural that you don't see everything. 

That said, there was another couple who didn't seem resolved enough. Yet another couple seemed to stop caring about the initial conflict in the last 50 pages, so they could wrap up their own problems in a bow. I won't spoil them here, but you'll likely figure them out.

Verdict

With the topics at hand, the memorable characters, and suspense that will keep you turning pages, Truly Madly Guilty is probably one of Moriarty's best. Granted, characters could have been more involved in working out their endings, but I think readers will still be satisfied because it doesn't really detract too much from the story, which is strong. Overall the ending is fine. If you like domestic suspense, this is a must-read. A great beach book and book club choice as well!

4.5 stars

The Bookshop on the Corner: Jenny Colgan

The Bookshop on the Corner: Jenny Colgan

Genre: Chick Lit

Pages: 332

Published: 2016

Libraries are life, or so thinks Nina. Then Big Business wants to turn her cozy library into a media center and she is out of a job. A sudden impulse inspires her to purchase a van in a remote village and turn it into the Little Shop of Happily Ever Afters. Soon she is inspiring the residents to try new stories, and ends up helping a lot of people along the way. From children living in squalor to a train conductor who enjoys poetry to most people in the village, Nina is soon back to doing what she does best: finding everyone's perfect story. With any luck, she'll be able to create her own happy ending, too...as long as she's able to stick around.

I have been loving Colgan books lately because they often allow you to slip into someone else's life with them. You grow and meet new people along with the main character. There isn't always a solid plot structure, but they do imitate the flow of real life. Unfortunately, the lack of structure hurt things this time around.

There were some problems that were hard to ignore. For one, the story is almost identical to Little Beach Street Bakery except it featured a bookshop rather than a bakery. The premise was exactly the same: a woman escapes to a remote village to start a business. The character cutouts are also the same: the oddly-named best friend who likes to party, grumpy landlord, love interest in a thoroughly-unromantic profession, and the village cronies all show up in both novels. And there's a love triangle.

But there's the kicker: the love triangle wasn't predictable. I honestly had no idea whether she would end up with Lennox the farmer or Marek the train conductor. There's even a third possibility. Both relationships presented both "problems" and romantic aspects. Props to Colgan for not making it straightforward; what a breath of fresh air in chick lit.

But Nina isn't just in it for love. First she must obtain a van to sell her books, and then she has to get the books themselves. Her ultimate goal seems to be nothing more than just staying afloat. That's where the book lost me a bit. She obviously succeeds in putting a business together---you don't have to read the book to realize that; I mean, the summary and cover alone tell you it happened---so the rest of the story consists mostly of watching Nina sell books. While it's nice to see a cast of characters find books that are good for them, there isn't really a lot of conflict or storyline holding it together. It's day-to-day life. It could also be argued that finding love was a central problem, but it was never really a singular focus in the story. Another possibility for the book's conflict is is her wanting to prove to herself that she can take risks. However that too seems like a stretch, as some of the logistics (like finding a place to live) happen way too easily. 

And okay, problems pop up. For example, Nina must take action when some kids show up who are obviously under the care of negligent parents. I would have liked to see more time spent on these issues, but they get abruptly solved in a matter of pages instead. In this case, it's by handing them over to social services who are suddenly kind and helpful despite their indifferent reputation that Nina was discussing through the rest of the book....okee dokee. And it's hard to get fully invested there, too, because I felt like Colgan summarized events rather than immersed me in them. She does utilize occasional "showing," but usually she saves that for drawn-out descriptions of nature instead of important events. More action and dialogue would have been nice---not that the book is without them. But because of the lack of tangible conflict, the novel ends rather abruptly, which isn't unbelievable considering that there was no real end goal. It was missing something...what, I'm not sure. Ah, yes...*checks notes*: "the finality of a hard-fought conflict." I guess I should draft my reviews more often. Yes, there isn't really a feeling of victory at the end because I wasn't really sure what her initial conflict even was. I also felt more invested in the relationship that didn't work out rather than the one that happened. That didn't help things.

With all this criticism, why would someone pick up The Bookshop on the Corner? To be fair, I liked seeing life through Nina's eyes. As a twenty-something really looking to kick off life, Nina's story was inspiring. I liked reading the realistic cast of kooky characters who weren't so unrealistic to be believed. I'm torn here. Nina's life was interesting. But if it wasn't, this wouldn't have been a good book. It seemed rushed and a bit lazy. If you've already read Little Beach Street Bakery, I might pass this one up. And if you're not into the "daily life" type of story, I'd ignore it altogether for one of her other novels. Colgan isn't a bad writer, and I like most of her books thus far, but this wasn't her best.

3 somewhat generous stars, perhaps bordering on 2.5