CATSKIN

Review of CATSKIN by ARTEMIS GREY

Poor Ansel’s world turns upside down the day he finds a quiet, injured girl hiding in his parent’s barn. Having been teased most of his life for being albino, Ansel’s an introvert not partial to meeting anyone new. But with this girl bleeding out and no one else around, he starts taking care of her. He even nicknames her Catskin based on a fairy tale, and at first she does seem much like a stray animal: she won’t speak, she lashes out sometimes even when he’s only trying to help, and she seems driven by nothing more complex than survival.

Gradually, though, as she feels increasingly safe and loved, Catskin reveals more personality. Though she still won’t share her real name or talk about her past, she and Ansel form a connection he never would have anticipated. Not just Ansel. His entire family takes Catskin into their hearts, no questions asked. And they’re ready to fight for her when someone threatens to take her away.

This book is above all a heart warmer, rooted in themes about finding your soul family, rather than defining family only by blood relations. It’s also extremely romantic but without any actual bodice ripping. Ansel’s parents raised him on traditional values, so against his body’s urgings he won’t sleep with Catskin. Nevertheless, the sexual tension between them is one of the book’s primary drivers.  

My only regret is that I wanted Catskin herself a little more developed. We follow Ansel’s point of view, so we feel very close to his every thought and reaction. Meanwhile, Catskin is a quiet, minimally expressive, closed off mystery. Without being privy to her thoughts I felt like I never got to know her to the degree I wanted.

This is a fun, warm, endearing novel about finding those people who become your home.

SLIPPERY SLOPE

Review of THE SLIPPERY SLOPE by LEMONY SNICKET

(tenth in the A SERIES OF UNFORUNATE EVENTS series)

At the end of the last book the Baudelaires found themselves swept away by the current. Now they’re carried out to sea where a submarine fortuitously rescues them. On this submarine they make some new friends and run into some old, as well as uncover more information about the mysteries keeping them on the run.

I just adore the narrator’s voice in this series. Each book has several quote-worthy lines, but I’ll pick out my favorite from this one: “Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant, filled with odd waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don’t always like.” Too true, witty and mysterious narrator, too true.

Minor spoiler, but Count Olaf actually doesn’t play as much of a role in this book. At this point he has become a constant background threat even when he’s not around and, for that reason, probably isn’t needed on as many pages. Oh, he does make his obligatory appearance, but he isn’t driving this story anymore. The Baudelaires are far more preoccupied with pursuing answers.

We’re nearing the end of the series now. Even though these are re-reads for me, I don’t recall the ending, so I’m eager to see how the author wraps up all these ambitious plot threads.

THE NANNY

Review of THE NANNY by MELISSA NATHAN

This one was a re-read for me. At first I worried I had misremembered how much I liked this book, as it wasn’t holding my attention yet. Then around page 20 it became clear why this made my re-read list. Our main character Jo starts musing on why she has refused her boyfriend’s marriage proposals three times. “Did he really think she’d want to start their married life feeling like his role was to make the decisions, hers to agree or disagree with them?” I know chick lit novels are meant to be lighter in content, more about entertainment than deep reading, but my favorites always carry at least a small thread of deeper content to them. In this case, I respect Jo’s feminist values and that respect makes all the silly humor of the rest of the novel even more enjoyable.

The premise of this book is that experienced nanny Jo accepts a job in London working for a wealthy family. She’s a small town girl and this means leaving the place where she’s spent her life, leaving her parents, and leaving the boyfriend who keeps proposing. It doesn’t take Jo long to figure out why the salary for this particular family is so high, but she’s up to the task of learning everything she needs to on the job. However, things become a bit more complicated when her boss’s adult son moves in as well, to the room right next to Jo’s. She can deny it all she wants, but it’s obvious to the reader from the get-go that there’s chemistry there...and that Jo sidestepping around the fact that she does have a boyfriend isn’t going to end well.

The dialogue in this novel is particularly fantastic. There’s a big cast and plenty of pages where a conversation turns into a quick back and forth between several characters, often a very entertaining back and forth.

THE NANNY is a fun, light read with some real depth on women’s issues subtly woven into a lot of humor.  

THE CARNIVOROUS CARNIVAL

Review of THE CARNIVOROUS CARNIVAL by LEMONY SNICKET

(ninth in the A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS series)

At the end of the last book, the Baudelaires escape one awful situation (aka unfortunate event) by willingly entering another awful situation: shutting themselves in their nemesis Count Olaf’s car trunk - since his vehicle is the only means of escape. They wind up at a carnival in the middle of nowhere (sidenote: bad for business).

Here the Baudelaires finally learn how Count Olaf so easily tracks them from one new home to another. Apparently, he knows a psychic at this carnival, eager to give him whatever information he wants.

The Baudelaires put their newfound expertise in disguises to work and blend in as carnival freaks. This turns out to be a less than ideal tactic, since Count Olaf has some plans of his own for the freaks...involving very hungry lions.

I think this book is my favorite of the series (with the disclaimer that I haven’t re-read the rest yet, but I remember it as my favorite and so far that’s still the case with re-reading.) I talk about the unique humor in this series a lot and page 100-101 is a perfect example of what I so love about this series. I also found this one a faster read than any of the others, because I’m more into the story.

SPOILER ALERT in this last paragraph. We learned in the last book that one of the Baudelaire parents may have survived the fire. Previous history from this series suggests it’s best to prepare ourselves for tragedy and disappointment, but that possibility still provides a light at the end of the tunnel as well as a little more mystery.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN FLORENCE

Review of THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN FLORENCE: A STORY OF BOTTICELLI by ALYSSA PALOMBO

(review based on an advance reading copy)

Based on real history, this story follows Simonetta Cattaneo, reputed to be the most beautiful woman in Florence as well as the muse for Botticelli’s famous painting The Birth of Venus.

Each character, especially Simonetta, feels remarkably real and complex. Many of the main characters are taken from history, but Palombo does an excellent job filling in the blanks and developing these historical figures into real, believable people. I also admired the relationships. With nuanced characters comes more opportunity for an examination of how so many different personality types interact with each other.

In particular, I liked the relationship between Simonetta and her husband. This book is focused on Simonetta’s relationship with Botticelli, but with Simonetta’s marriage Palombo shows how relationships can morph over time. At the end of the book, I couldn’t help comparing Simonetta’s clean-slate introduction to her future husband at the start of the novel to their more complicated relationship by the end.

Above all, though, I adored Simonetta’s character. I ached for her. She’s a woman born in the wrong time, for certain. She wants to be appreciated for her mind more than her body, but many swoon over her beauty while considering her intellect a bonus novelty in an attractive woman. She’s starved for intellectual conversation because few deem it appropriate for her. She also craves independence in a time when such was scarce for women. While she carves out a place for herself as best she can, there’s a touch of tragedy from the beginning that her life will never be what she really wants.

I loved this novel from the very first page. The beautiful prose pulled me in and the vivid characters and complex relationships held me riveted to the end.

THE HOSTILE HOSPITAL

Review of THE HOSTILE HOSPITAL by LEMONY SNICKET

(eighth in the A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS series)

After fleeing “the vile village” from the last book, the Baudelaire orphans find themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere and falsely accused of murder. They find shelter, if you can call it that, in a strange hospital that looks like the architect/construction workers grew bored halfway through and gave up on building the other half.

In this installment, the Baudelaire siblings finally manage to make the general uselessness of adults work in their favor. For seven novels now, they’ve found themselves frustrated by the fact that their nemesis Count Olaf can slap on a mediocre disguise and all the adults believe he must be someone else. Well, two (er, four if you count all the siblings) can play at that game. The Baudelaires realize if adults are so easily fooled, they can disguise themselves, too.

I love that the series becomes increasingly unpredictable as it moves forward. So many series lag in the middle, but A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS thrives in the middle. The first few books start off with a very formulaic plot. A few key points stay consistent with the later books: a change of setting for each book and Count Olaf’s unavoidable arrival no matter where the orphans go. However, the other similarities start blurring. The earlier books see the orphans placed with a variety of guardians. In the later ones, they’re in more unusual settings, often out on their own. (They have, by now, realized that adults are useless and stopped seeking them out for help.)

I also like that Sunny’s aging becomes apparent in the later books. Her word choice is maturing and she’s transitioning from crawling to walking. Especially in a series that can feel set aside from time, it’s a nice reminder of the passage of time as the children go from one unfortunate event to the next.

THE ORIGINAL GINNY MOON

Review of THE ORIGINAL GINNY MOON by BENJAMIN LUDWIG

(review based on an advance reading copy)

Ginny is a foster teenager lucky enough to have finally found a forever home with wonderful adoptive parents. Of course, it’s no happily ever after. In fact, the novel opens with Ginny stuffing a pretend baby into a suitcase when it won’t stop screaming. Given that they gave her the doll as practice for the real baby they’re about to have, this understandably concerns Ginny’s adoptive parents.

I positively adored this book, more so than I have any book for a while (and by a while I mean a few weeks). I loved the story so much due to Ginny’s remarkable voice. Ginny is autistic with other personality quirks that could be labeled as anxiety, OCD, etc. She requires a daily list and precise routines to keep calm and comfortable. She distinguishes between approximately and exactly seven o’clock, because that’s an important difference for her when someone claims they’ll do something at a certain time. She keeps her mouth firmly shut when she’s worried people can see her thoughts. When someone asks her more than one question, she becomes overwhelmed and doesn’t know which one to answer and usually then says nothing.

One of the most amazing things about Ginny’s voice is that by being in her mind, as the reader, you understand her completely. However, she speaks so little that it’s entirely believable why everyone around her is struggling to understand her at all. She simply doesn’t know how to express what she means in a “normal” way that others can accept.

It’s not only Ginny I liked. Every character in this book feels nuanced and distinct. No one’s perfect. Her adoptive parents do their best, but they both have their breaking points. Her teachers and therapist all mean well, but everyone’s missing things, including one big thing! Her birth mother loves Ginny, but she’s deeply flawed and dangerous. With great characters often come intriguing relationships and this story is no exception. From Ginny’s bond with her adoptive father to her unconditional acceptance from her therapist, each relationship feels complex and interesting.

I really liked how the writing style itself develops Ginny’s character. Many of her thoughts and snippets of her dialogue are italicized, calling attention to words and phrases that she’s basically parroting back from someone else. Probably due to how Ginny struggles with expressing herself, she often takes something someone said and repeats it. This can make her dialogue feel a little stilted, some parts juvenile and others too mature for her character, except for the fact that the words aren’t originally hers. The italics work well in emphasizing Ginny’s adopted (couldn’t help the pun) words as she tries to mimic those around her.

It’s very easy to tear through this whole book in one or a few sittings, because the chapters are so short, many only 2-4 pages. And once you’re invested in Ginny’s well being you have to keep reading about her self-sabotage with your fingers crossed that she learns how to look out for herself and the people who’ve taken care of her before it’s too late.