Educated Book Review

I know that this is hard to believe, but there’s a reason why truth is stranger than fiction. With fiction, an author can make stuff up while getting into a character’s mind and analyze their actions. Truth doesn’t permit one to do that. When composing nonfiction, authors have to write about what actually happened, and sometimes what occurred can appear to be unbelievable. This was my mindset when reading Educated by Tara Westover – a memoir about her life growing up in a Mormon-survivalist family in Idaho and her education. Even though I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, it was a powerful, well written book that shows what education can be and the costs of getting one.

Specifically, Educated is a coming-of-age story about a woman who was born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho and her education. When Tara is 17, she steps into a classroom for the first time in her life since her father didn’t want her and her siblings to go to school. Over many years, she obtains degrees from Brigham Young University and Cambridge University, but it comes at the cost of severing ties with her fierce family.

Throughout the memoir, I couldn’t believe what had happened to the author and her family. They were mostly isolated from society to the point that along with school, she didn’t see a doctor until she went to college. There were a couple of instances where I literally thought that certain characters should have been dead after accidents in the junkyard and even an explosion. What makes this work is that Westover states these incidents and others in a matter of fact way. It’s clear that she has pondered what has happened to her a lot, no matter how good or bad it really was.

Speaking of that, because this book deals a lot with abuse, some readers have certain expectations of how it should be handled like how the person being mistreated should not act passive at all in the face of it. When Westover talks about this, especially at the hands of one of her older brothers, she recalls that she had to go along with it, so he wouldn’t hurt her further. She even blamed herself for it, so she could have control of the situation. She yearned for power so much that she treated her boyfriend at that time like crap. In hindsight, she realizes that none of that was healthy.

In fact, Westover portrays her family with respect and frankness. In a way, she admires her parents for being self-sufficient and even mostly supportive of her schooling, but at the same time, she wishes that they, especially her dad, would be more protective, especially with the van accidents and her brother’s abuse. I’d imagine how hard it would be to have parents who unknowingly put their children into danger and put their own values in front of supporting them. It’s this balance that makes the book easier to get through.

Another thing that Educated does well is that it keeps readers on their toes. If the book was at a calming point, then it would immediately hit you with another tragic event. I remember thinking to myself, “Tara can never catch a break, can she?”

Even at the very end of the book, I wanted to know how she was doing and whether or nor her family had come to terms with the abuse. Hence, I’ve been reading and watching plenty of interviews. SPOILERS: she’s fine, but her family has not. Even two of her siblings have written one-star reviews of her book on Goodreads.

Reading Educated also made me think of The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah. It too contained a lot of death experiences and abuse, but the difference is that the latter is fiction, therefore it was able to spare readers from the continuing horror, especially with the mom shooting the dad in the back after he was abusing the daughter. Although both moms were pretty subservient to a certain point, I’m pretty convinced that Tara’s mom would never have the courage to stand up against her husband.

Another connection that Educated has with The Great Alone is that both audiobooks are narrated by Julia Whelan. As I mentioned in my review of the latter, Whelan had won a lot of awards for voicing the former title, and I can see why. She matches the matter-of-fact tone of the memoir perfectly. When it comes to the voicing, she does a commendable job. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t paying that much attention to the voicing this time because the focus was primarily on Westover, so I actually let it slide if some of the characters sounded quite similar. However, I noticed that some of the male characters had plenty of vocal distinctions, something that I thought Whelan could have done better with the The Great Alone audiobook. For example, the dad and the brothers were voiced with a similar gruffness to the dad in The Great Alone, while Westover’s professors at BYU and Cambridge had more worried and refined voices. Whelan definitely deserved those awards.

Educated by Tara Westover is a highly inspirational book that might be hard to get through for some people. It’s very balanced in its viewpoints and will keep readers on their toes. I would definitely recommend it to those who haven’t already read it. Just a quick warning: please take breaks while reading it.

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What Am I Reading? – Chapter Four

Hi Everybody,

I hope you are doing well, especially with all of the Christmas shopping. I sure am. I got some things to mail out, and I’ll be good for this holiday season.

Like last time, I’m still reading What Was Your Name Downriver?: Tales of the Shattered Frontier by Anthony Lowe and White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo. I’m also still reading Blowback by Brad Thor since I have to read one chapter at a time to get all of the details.

As a result, I only have one novel to talk about this time, and I’m almost done with it.

It’s light novel called The Curious Charms of Arthur Culpepper, wait no, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepperpot, sorry scroll down.

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick is a curmudgeon novel. What do I mean by this? These kinds of books are usually about a stubborn person who has a certain way of living. Then, they go on a journey (physically and emotionally) to discover more about themselves and that there are people who truly care about them, resulting in them opening up to the world around them.

In this case, Arthur has a strict routine, which involves getting up at 7:30am, wearing the same pair of pants and vest, watering his plant named Frederica, and gardening. On the one-year anniversary of Miriam’s – his wife – death, he discovers a charm bracelet that he’s never seen before. Each of the charms tells a different story of her life before she met him. To feed his curiosity, Arthur goes on a journey to various places like London, Paris, and even India to find out his wife’s past life, and in the process, he discovers hope, healing, and more about himself.

I’ve read other curmudgeon novels in the past like A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, so at first, I wondered how The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper was going to stand out. Luckily, unlike the titular characters of those two books, Arthur is a parent who spent a lot of time traveling for work, resulting in him being emotionally distant from his two now adult children. I like how the novel shows the consequences of behaving this way and how it affects his kids, especially his daughter Lucy. Also, some of the characters that Arthur meets along the way are pretty colorful like his seemingly obnoxious, but gregarious neighbor Bernadette, the tiger loving Lord Graystock, and Mike – a caring homeless man.

I’ve been listening to the audiobook, which is narrated by James Langton. Since the book mostly takes place in York, England, he does a good Yorkshire accent for the male characters with enough differences to make each character distinct. I can’t say the same thing for most of the women. They all sound dangerously close to Eric Idle impersonating a Yorkshire grandmother. I tolerated this when Langton is voicing older women, but not younger ones like Lucy.

I’ll save the rest of my feelings for the full review.

And that, we come to the end of the fourth chapter of “What Am I Reading?”

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Then She Was Gone Book Review

For a while on this website, I’ve been reviewing suspense books, specifically ones with the “missing person” trope. Even though those novels were good, I’m kind of getting bored, especially if I know what the outcome is going to be a third of the way in. However, I recently read Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell – another book that falls under that category, but its characters and twists make it worthwhile.

In Then She Was Gone, a 15-year-old girl named Ellie Mack – the apple of her family’s eye – goes missing. Ten years later, her recently divorced mother Laurel is trying to put her life back together when she meets Floyd Dunn in a café. Soon after, they start dating, and she meets his daughters. One of whom is his youngest Poppy, who looks a lot like Ellie. Unanswered questions that Laurel had tried to bury rise up as well as new ones about Floyd and Poppy. In other words, the book is like The Child by Fiona Barton if it had mainly focused on how Angela and her family dealt with the disappearance and how she fell apart because of it.

The characters were pretty realistic, especially Laurel and Noelle Donnelly. Readers get to see how the family dynamic fell apart after Ellie vanished. Jewell portrays Laurel sympathetically, yet at the same time, the author acknowledges that she has some flaws like favoring Ellie over her other daughter Hanna during the former’s lifetime. This leads to a strained relationship with the latter. Meanwhile, Noelle Donnelly – Ellie’s former math tutor – is seen as mentally unstable, yet Jewell gives her a backstory with her only sister dying at a young age. As a result, her family misses her sister more than they acknowledge Noelle’s own existence. While readers would disagree with Noelle’s actions during the course of the novel, they can at least understand where she’s coming from. It also provides an outcome for Hanna if Laurel kept wallowing in her own misery because of the loss of Ellie.

Much like The Child, I thought I had the outcome of Then She Was Gone figured out a third way through. However, two-thirds in, the book fulfilled and defied my expectations. I was completely shocked! It was what I expected and much worse. I’m not going to spoil it. All I will say is that twists like that would likely make Lisa Gardner proud.

I understand that some readers have complaints about the logistics of the investigation and how Noelle did what she did, yet one of my complaints is that it started off pretty slow with its exposition. Once Laurel meets Floyd in the café, the pacing picks up pretty quickly. The other is the structure itself. It’s divided into six parts with no real reason for doing so. Each of the sections contain different narrators and jump between timelines. I was so confused that I wished that Jewell would have eliminated those six parts altogether.

I enjoyed the audiobook spoken by English actress, comedian, and narrator Helen Duff. Duff has narrated several of Jewell’s novels, and I can see why. She creates pretty distinct characters vocally like having Laurel with an older Cate Blanchett type of voice, Poppy with a spunky and clever tone, Noelle with a thick loner Irish dialect, Hannah with a very moody and disinterested attitude, and Floyd with a slightly eerie and sexy anglicized American accent. I had no trouble figuring out who was talking and feeling for them.

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell is a really good “missing person” book. It takes what we expect from it and adds so much more even to a regular reader’s disbelief. The novel also contains relatable characters and ones that people can express empathy towards even if they don’t agree with their actions. This book is available in print, as an audiobook, and on Hoopla and Overdrive. It’s definitely for the Gone Girl crowd as well as for those who love suspense and want a little something more in their “missing person” stories.

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What Am I Reading? – Chapter Three

Hi Everybody,

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I sure did! While I wasn’t feasting, I did other things like finish The Gown by Jennifer Robson! Woo hoo! Look for that review sometime during next year’s wedding season 🙂

As I have mentioned before, I’m a slow reader. As of now, I’m still reading What Was Your Name Downriver?: Tales of the Shattered Frontier by Anthony Lowe and White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo.

As a result, I only have one novel that I have on the reading block this time around. It’s over 600 pages, so don’t expect a review of this one until the second half of next year because I will be reading this for a quite awhile.

You still want to know what it is?

Here it is!

Blowback by Brad Thor is the fourth book in the Scot Harvath series that was originally published in 2005. In this novel, Harvath’s counterterrorism career has crashed and burned, but wait, the president brings him back after the war on terror takes a chilling turn. Underneath an Alpine glacier, a weapon that was designed to destroy the Roman Empire has been discovered. It’s up to Harvath to retrieve this ultimate weapon of mass destruction before another organization takes it and uses for America’s downfall.

Judging by the summary and from I’ve read of it so far, it seem like it’s one of those action packed thrillers that one needs to pay attention to. About a month ago, I finished another one of these books – Nighthawk by Clive Cussler. All I will say of that title is that it was captivating as long as one stayed awake to catch all the details. This is why I’m going to take my time with Blowback.

And that, we come to the end of the third chapter of “What Am I Reading?”

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Clock Dance Book Review

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how books don’t always have to have bells and whistles to keep readers interested. I mean, if people enjoy reading action-packed novels, good for them! All I am saying is that every now and then, it’s good to sit down and read something that doesn’t rely on distractions to hold people’s attentions.  This allows them to focus on the plot, the characters, and what they go through, and when done right, it can be quite impactful. Case in point: Clock Dance by Anne Tyler.

Clock Dance is about one woman’s transformative journey. Willa Drake is a woman who lets things happen around her. In 1967, she’s a schoolgirl dealing with her mother’s emotional rollercoasters. In 1977, she’s a college student considering a marriage proposal despite the future that she wants for herself. In 1997, she’s dealing with becoming a widow despite the fact that her husband and sons paved her life for her, and in 2017, she yearns to have relationships with her sons and to be a grandmother. One day, she gets a call from a stranger, and before she knows it, she flies to Baltimore to look after her son’s ex-girlfriend – a woman she has never met, her nine-year-old daughter, and their dog. The experience shows her that she still has a chance to dance through life as opposed to going at it slantwise.

After looking at discussion questions for this novel, I knew that it wasn’t going to have a lot of conflict. For some, conflict is what drives the book as well as their interest in it, but in the case of Clock Dance, the drive is Willa’s transformation. Readers who love it were drawn into seeing the protagonist become a more assertive person who has an actual say with what she does in her life. However, not all books can deal with little conflict. Imagine The Great Alone without the abusive father coming to Alaska. That automatically eliminates a lot of conflict, and it would change the tone and even the story entirely. The reason that Clock Dance is able to get away with this is that Tyler (from what I know) constantly writes about everyday people. These people don’t always deal with conflict, yet when they do, it’s not always extreme. In Clock Dance, the conflict is more subtle and internal (as opposed to external) with Willa being divided on doing things for herself versus for others who don’t appreciate her efforts.

What is also subtle is the writing. There were plenty of instances, in which readers would need to put the two together. For example, Willa’s sister Elaine calls, and she mentions how Peter – Willa’s current husband – is doing. However, she accidentally calls him Derek – Willa’s first one; she says, “…same difference really, right?” (p. 265).

As readers might see, Peter and Derek are similar people. Both want Willa to do things for them with little thought to how it would affect her. Elaine’s dialogue displays an indirect acknowledgement of that.

Now let’s talk about Willa. She starts off pretty passive, but being that way is not always a bad thing in books. Jessi Jezewska Stevens – author of The Exhibition of Persephone Q – wrote an article for LitHub promoting the idea of the passive protagonist. She uses the example of Candide in Voltaire’s book of that name. Candide is wholly optimistic and yearns to live in the “best of all possible worlds” despite being thrown into a series of violent misfortunes. However, once he is on the quest, he becomes less passive. Tyler is able to have Willa be passive in the beginning of Clock Dance, for nearly 100 pages is devoted to the character’s backstory. And the book is not even 300 pages long. Overtime, she realizes that she can have a life of her own and have a family – a cast of colorful neighbors -that does not take her for granted.

All in all, Clock Dane by Anne Tyler is a very good example of how to write a book with little conflict. Readers will know why Willa is the way that she is, and she goes through a subtle transformative journey that I’m sure people can relate to. I would recommend this to Anne Tyler fans as well as to readers who want a lighter read. However, that kind of read doesn’t always mean sacrificing depth and impact.

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What Am I Reading? – Chapter Two

Hi Everybody,

I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter of “What Am I Reading?” I actually got done with two of the books that I talked about. What better to do than to add two more titles!

Let’s get started!

The first novel on the reading block is The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson. It’s a historical fiction book that takes place in 1947 London, and it’s about two embroiderers – Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin – who are chosen to take part in creating Princess Elizabeth’s wedding gown. Meanwhile, in 2016 Toronto, Heather Mackenzie tries to unravel a mystery of a set of embroidered flowers that her grandmother possessed. It just so happens that they resemble quite closely to the ones seen on Queen Elizabeth II’s wedding dress.

I literally started this book today, and so far, it’s pretty interesting. I feel like it’s one of those novels that grabs people’s attention by simply describing or showing a dress, yet it will show that it’s more than that. I have a similar reaction every time I think of the times that I watched Gone With the Wind. I can’t wait to see where it takes these storylines. Also, I have to point out that The Gown is a great title. Usually, whenever I see titles that have “The _____”, I make fun them because of how vague they are (see The Child review for reference). However, in this case, that title signifies importance of a specific dress. Also, I enjoy saying “The Gown” like an artistic movie director describing their mindsets while filming.

Marisa Calin narrates the audiobook, and so far, she does a great job of maintaining English, French, and Canadian accents.

The second and last book on the reading block is White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo (a white woman). This talks about white fragility – defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, how it protects racial inequality, and what can be done in order to have meaningful conversations about race.

As I have mentioned in my The Hate U Give book review, many people have decided to read books to understand racial prejudice against black people. This was part of the reason why I wanted to read this specific title. Another reason was that I have seen both praise and criticism of how the book handles its very “sensitive” topic, and I would like to see where both sides are coming from. So far, the book is informative with a lot cited sources, but as a warning, this is written for white people for good reasons.

And that, we come to the end of the second chapter of “What Am I Reading?”

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Daisy Jones & The Six Book Review

I love 60s and 70s rock n’ roll and have so since I was young. When I found out that the book Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid was about a fictional rock band that thrived in the 70s, I had to read it. Now that I have read it, I can confidently say that this is a good book, but the audiobook is better.

Here’s the part where I would normally describe the plot in my own words, but it’s essentially an oral history of a fictional 70s rock band who, in more ways than one, resembles Fleetwood Mac. I mean Daisy Jones is essentially Stevie Nicks with the raspy voice and bohemian style. Billy Dunne is pretty much Lindsey Buckingham, in that their chemistry was undeniably like those Fleetwood Mac members I just mentioned. In addition, both bands began making blues rock and experienced lineups changes that factored into mainstream music and commercial success. Both bands also had only one number #1 hit (in an alternate universe, “Turn it Off” would become a Tik Tok sensation).

Having the novel as an oral history is a very unique idea, but I’m not sure if this format works well in a book. For one thing, authors strive for the “show, not tell” mentality. A lot of reviewers noted that it involves a lot of talking instead of showing how the characters feel. In other cases, I would agree with them, yet in this one, it’s like a VH1 Behind the Music special, where the talking is acceptable, so I didn’t mind it as much. It helps that it has a cinematic feel. However, what gets to me is that novel discusses the music and lyrics to the songs that the fictional band produces, especially on their album Aurora (their Rumours essentially). If one listens to the audiobook, they will listen to the music of one song, but it’s only an instrumental. One would also need to look up the actual lyrics to see what Daisy and Billy are talking about. In other words, the music and lyrics are never combined. Luckily, a TV adaption will air on Amazon, and apparently, it will feature original music. I hope the series will rectify the main flaw of the book.

I have watched a lot of documentaries on rock bands over the years (including one on the Beatles-parody band The Rutles), and I have to say that the story on Daisy Jones & The Six the band is fairly tame. When I say that, it’s not related to the sex and the drugs (there’s plenty of that), but rather the group as a whole. I felt that them splitting up and never getting back together was too neat and simple. Granted, there were real bands, whose tensions were so great that when they broke up, they never got back together like the Beatles or Creedence Clearwater Revival. With Daisy Jones & The Six, they ended on an almost amicable note, which kind of made me disappointed that they never got back together decades later.

If one is going to read it, the best way to do so is through the audiobook because the performances give more depth to the novel than the written word. There are 21 actors, yes you heard it right, 21 ACTORS narrating this book, and all of them are wonderful! All of them are distinct, and I’m not just saying that because they mention their names every time before they speak. They all deliver the right amount of emotions appropriate to their characters. For example, Jennifer Beals (yes, the lady from Flashdance) gives the title character a raspy voice who refuses to take crap from people. Some readers may find the character empowering, while others may find her entitled. For me, I was always looking forward to Daisy Jones speaking because I wanted to see how Beals tackled her obstacles. Another standout was Judy Greer, (the best friend in your favorite 21st century rom com) who tackles the role of Karen Karen – the keyboardist in The Six (think Christine McVie in Fleetwood Mac). Greer gives it her all as she embodies Karen’s need to be in control of her own life and career, especially when she experiences a pregnancy scare. In fact, all of the main female characters were empowering in one form or another, and the actresses embodied them well.

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a unique book that people will talk about for a while. While its oral history format doesn’t quite work as a book, its strengths are shown more when listening to the audiobook. Each character is distinct and filled with their quirks and personal struggles. Along with the audiobook, I would recommend it to readers who love 60s and 70s rock music and female protagonists who are clearly in charge of their own destinies. For me, I can’t wait to view the series when it eventually premieres on Amazon, so everybody can see its assets on full display.

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What Am I Reading? – Chapter One

Hi Everybody!

Now that my Book Reviews From the Vault series is finished, I have decided to show you what I have been reading. I call this series “What Am I Reading?”

It’s fairy simple. I will display titles that I am reading at the time of the post and talk a bit about them. I usually read about three books at a time. However, I am a slow reader, so there will be times that I will only show one new book, or I might only do this series once a month, instead of every other week.

Anyway, let’s get started.

The first book that I will discuss is Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith. This is a realistic and cultural young adult book about Louise – a Native American teenager who dumps her first boyfriend after he makes a very insensitive remark about her race. She then spends her senior year working on the school newspaper with Joey Kairouz – the ambitious new photojournalist – and covering the backlash to the musical director’s color-conscious approach to casting The Wizard of Oz. Oh, and she might have feelings for him.

I picked up this novel because I discovered that it takes place in the same universe as another book that I read recently called Rain is Not My Indian Name. The protagonists of both books are apparently cousins. It’s good and pretty woke so far. We’ll see how I feel about when I finish it.

Up next is What Was Your Name Downriver?: Tales of the Shattered Frontier by Anthony Lowe. This book is western fantasy novel about two women – Evaline and Trivan – navigating a hostile environment with wit and weapons as they try to get back to civilization.

I have never read a book that contains both western and fantasy elements, and so far, it’s pretty engaging. It’s like a buddy film but in book form. I’m rooting for them to get to their destination.

And finally….

Yes, I’m doing it! I’m finally reading, as in listening, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens!!!

Since I’m sure that a good chunk of people who view this website have already read this book, I will give a very brief summary of it. Here it goes: a woman named Kya who lives alone in the marsh in mid-twentieth century North Carolina becomes a suspect in a murder case, but she is not what the villagers say.

I like it so far. I like how the book alternates with Kya’s backstory and with the investigation, and how it focuses on what she does as opposed to implying, “Poor Kya.”

Cassandra Campbell narrates the book, yet she has a tendency to voice almost every character with the same Southern accent. This makes it kind of difficult to follow whose talking.

And there we have it. This concludes the first “chapter” of my new series “What Am I Reading?”

Let me know what you think of this series!

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Privilege Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given a free PDF copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In all of my years of reading, I have never come across a political thriller. However, I’m glad that I started this website, so I could read novels that I would normally not pay much attention to. I’m glad that I lost my political thriller virginity to Privilege by Bharat Krishnan – a wonderfully fast-paced book with complex characters that addresses privilege, power, wealth, class, and race.

Privilege is the first book in the WP Trilogy. It revolves around Rakshan – a twenty-something Indian American in New York City who plans to steal a powerful drug known as WP, which grants superhuman powers. Only white people can get their hands on it legally. After Rakshan gets fired from his job at a hedge fund run by Aditya Shetty – another Indian-American who has been able to acquire WP through business transactions – and dumped by his girlfriend, he is determined to obtain the drug to earn glory and to win her back. He enlists his friends from college to help him with the heist. His journey also sets off a chain of events that affects others in the city, the country, and even the world.

In this political climate, I think readers would know what WP stands for (and no, it’s not for WordPress.) Having that as a drug is a very clever idea on Krishnan’s part to emphasize the issues of race, power, and obviously privilege. I’ve noticed some people expressing issues with how the drug works. All I will say is that they may have overthought about it because to me, the drug is similar to cocaine, as in it makes the user euphoric; mentally alert; and hypersensitive to sight and sound. Obviously, Krishnan exaggerates these effects to show how powerful people can become while on the narcotic.

Krishnan claims the book is perfect for fans of Ocean’s 11 and House of Cards. Even though I’ve never seen the latter, the former makes sense. In fact, the novel made me think of The Bouncer by David Gordon because both evoke the humor, crime, and thrill of the Ocean series as their characters go on their heists.

I also enjoyed how fast paced the book was. There was always something going on. At only 118 pages, the novel manages to contain a main story and three subplots. I was able to follow every one of them because of how Krishnan fleshes them out. My favorite subplot was with Rakshan’s ex-girlfriend Sadiya as she comes to terms with her sexuality with her lesbian best friend Maadhini. The author gives the proper weight to that conflict, especially when Maadhini questions if Sadiya’s feelings are real, or if she is only wanting to experiment. In addition, I liked the plot with Jerome – a black teen who comes across the ring Rakshan used to propose to Sadiya. He notices that it contains WP and goes to many lengths to have more, even if it means dealing with shady people. Also, there’s another subplot about some politicians trying to legalize WP, yet it’s not given a whole lot of development. I imagine that Krishnan will do more with that one in the trilogy’s future titles.

Additionally, I liked the characters and how complex they were, especially Rakshan. After getting fired and dumped by Sadiya on the same day, he thinks that getting the narcotic will help him get her back (even though he swears to his friends that’s not the case.) As a result, his actions take on a more obsessive, stalker tone as he and his pals plan to break into Shetty’s apartment to get WP. Rakshan even taunts his best friend Abhinav for his weight and how nerdy he is. Abhinav is willing to tolerate that to a point, but when the group is jailed for the first failed attempt to steal the drug, he loses his temper and points out Rakshan’s actions. Later on, Rakshan heartfully apologizes to his friends for his behavior. He even gets a chance to make a difference when he encounters Jerome’s mother at the very end.

Overall, Privilege by Bharat Krishnan is a very entertaining and compelling piece of work. Its concept is a very clever take on the issues that ravage today’s society. At 118 pages, it’s a fast read with captivating characters and situations. I can’t wait to read the next title in the trilogy, which is appropriately called Power!

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Rose Madder Book Review

Well, ladies and gentlemen: I just read my very first Stephen King novel. You probably think it would be something like It, The Shining, or Carrie, but nope! It was his 1995 book Rose Madder. Fans and even King himself regard it as one of his weaker novels, but I thought it was pretty good despite its shortcomings.

Rose Madder is about Rosie Daniels – a woman who has spent 14 years in a highly abusive marriage. After a drop of blood makes her realize that her husband is going to kill her, Rosie leaves with his credit card. She travels to a town 800 miles away to begin a new life. While there, she meets Bill Steiner and comes across an odd painting at a pawn shop. However, she continues to look over her shoulder. Her husband Norman – a corrupt cop and detective – tries to track her down any way possible.

Essentially, it’s Snow White. Rosie is the title character. Norman is the Evil Queen. The drop of blood is the Huntsman, and the women that Rosie encounters at the Daughters and Sisters shelter in the new town are the dwarves. Oh, and Bill Steiner is the prince.

Normally, I don’t do scary things, but keeping the Snow-White narrative made things easier to deal with while reading it. I really enjoyed the parts, in which Rosie finds the strength to live her own life, to fall in love again, and to fight back Norman.

I also was surprised that King could write fully realized female characters. Rosie is not just a damsel in distress. She made the decision to leave Norman after seeing the drop of blood on her mattress. King makes sure to detail how Rosie grows from being timid to being confident in leaving her past behind with all of its trials and tribulations. For example, when she and Bill argue about which house to move to, she has trouble controlling her temper and comes extremely close to becoming Norman. Now, some people have complained about Rosie ending up with another man, instead of being an independent woman. Honestly, I didn’t mind this because Rosie still wanted to be a wife and a mother, even after her experiences with Norman.

In addition, King wrote supporting female characters well like Anna Stevenson and Gert Kinshaw. Anna Stevenson is the head of the Daughters and Sisters shelter, (therefore she’s Doc). She is no-nonsense, but highly understanding of Rosie’s situation, and her ex-husband Peter even helps her out by sending abused women to the sanctuary. Her parents started the shelter to protect and help battered women rebuild their lives, and Anna wanted to continue that legacy. Then, there is Gert. Gert is a black full-figured woman, who teaches mixed martial arts at the shelter to help women restore their confidence. From what I have read, King tends to be fatphobic in his writing, but Gert is refreshing. She is plump and competent. She even pees on Norman when she spots him at a picnic that Rosie is supposed to be at. What also helps is that the mixed martial arts are shown to have limits. Gert fights Norman while confidently using her abilities, but despite her efforts, Norman gets away. However, don’t expect all other black characters to have that kind of character development. The other speaking black person is essentially a servant to the white woman in the painting and a magical Negro. After reading this book, I’m going to put King on my list of male authors who write fictional female characters well, which currently only has Chris Bohjalian.

Now, let’s move onto novel’s flaws. First, let’s talk about the painting. In the middle of the book, Rosie comes across an oil painting of a woman wearing a rose madder (haha get it?) toga-like garment standing on a hill looking at a temple. She ends up buying the painting, yet later on, she notices that the picture keeps changing and even discovers dead crickets when she slices open the back. Then, she finds herself in the painting, not once, but twice! I get that King wanted to King-ify the book because maybe he wasn’t satisfied with the story solely being a serious drama. The lady in the rose madder chiton can be seen as a fairy godmother, for whenever Rosie is in a vulnerable place, she imagines her, and poof, she’s empowered. At the same time, a lot of reviewers have pointed out that it’s a sudden change of tone, and that it doesn’t develop naturally. While those are valid critiques, my main issue is that King spends too much time on it, especially when Rosie ends up in the painting the first time and is instructed to find Rose Madder’s baby. It’s like King was getting paid by the page and wanted to top himself for the sake of topping himself. I have a similar problem with the novel ending a couple of times, but at least, what occurred there was more necessary than what happened in the painting.

My main problem with the novel is Norman himself. Now, I have read books that feature very intense and abusive antagonists, yet they are usually portrayed objectively. What makes Norman Daniels stand out from this group is that he is the most irredeemable. Not only is he abusive and corrupt, he is sexist, racist, homophobic, and most of all, a murderer. The first scene of the book depicts Rosie’s miscarriage, which occurred after he punched her in the stomach, and it gets worse from there. His crimes range from busting a guy’s balls during interrogation to biting people to death, including some of the dwarves, uh I mean ladies from Daughters and Sisters. Norman’s actions make him less human as the book progresses. Heck, even Schlegal – the cartoon villain from The Paris Architect – would not have gone that far to torture Jewish people and those who try to hide them, (and we’re talking about a guy who wanted to cut people’s fingers off as an intimidation tactic). A novel allows people to look into the minds of every character, no matter how unlikeable they are. It’s not that King didn’t want readers to know what Norman was thinking. They get a lot of that since the book is told through both his and Rosie’s perspectives. The problem is that his soul is so full of vile that it makes him barely human and beatable. When I read the Norman’s passages, I felt angry and stressed because I knew that he was going to do something horrible and get away with it. The only good part about Norman is that he dies after a spider bites him to death, while he’s in the painting trying to track down Rosie and Bill.

(*breathes)

In the meantime, I listened to the audiobook, and the performances and the music really enhance the story. Blair Brown – an actress who has appeared on stage and in film and television shows like Fringe and Orange is the New Black – voices Rosie, and she does a great job. In the new town, Rosie is hired as an audiobook narrator since her voice is soft, silky, and dynamic. Brown projects this very well along with other emotions like the fear of being tracked down by Norman and the self-confidence that Rosie slowly develops. It helps that she has recorded a variety of audiobooks ranging from Number the Stars by Lois Lowry to City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert, and it pays off. King himself plays Norman. Some people might get distracted with his nasally voice, but for me, that tone made the character all the more infuriating, which is I’m sure what King wanted. The best part of the audiobook was the music. I have heard musical interludes in audiobooks before, yet Rose Madder utilizes this the best. Between passages and perspectives, various melodies would play in the background. For example, a hopeful and romantic piano phrase will come on when Rosie gets closer to Bill. My personal favorite is the lurky and slimy synthesizer and hard guitar riffs that play when the novel transitions into and out of Norman’s passages. I wouldn’t be surprised if John Carpenter came in just to compose those bits. Despite the issues that I have with the book, I would recommend the audiobook, so one can appreciate how the music was used like I have.

Overall, Rose Madder by Stephen King was fairly good. Despite the critiques with painting and Norman, King is clearly capable of writing from a battered woman’s perspective as well as from those of other female characters too. I also really respect the creativity that went into making the audiobook to enrich the story. And, these are all coming from a person who normally doesn’t read scary stuff. Along with getting the audiobook, I would also recommend the novel to those who like horror, stories about overcoming domestic abuse, and especially to Stephen King fans who haven’t read it yet or haven’t read it in a while. Warning: the book might give one nightmares.

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