Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich- Book Review

I have been slowing down a bit with my fun reading and have been focused a bit on my educational reading, so my blogging has suffered a bit in the last few months. I am never sure if individuals would be interested in reviews about non-fiction educational books, so I have erred on the side of not posting. The good news is, I am making a slight swing back into the fun reading, so we are off and running again.

For those who have never read a Lousie Erdrich book, there are a few things you should know:
1. She is one incredible Native American author and brings Native culture into her books.
2. Her books are not what you would call happy books. They are deep and often explore the darker side of light, but are so worth reading anyway.
3. She often has strong female lead characters who undergo a lot, but persist through their own strength.
4. She has written 35 books! From children's books to poetry to novels to short stories. Yet, when asked, many have not had the joy of reading her books.

Future Home of the Living God does not give you much to begin with. Cedar Hawk Songmaker is pregnant and begins a quest for her biological parents. We don't know why she is in danger, but she is on the run. Revealing her pregnancy to individuals means trouble for Cedar.

As the book progresses, we see a group of religious radicals have taken over and are imprisoning pregnant women. Street names are changed, churches have become shelters, and pregnant women are disappearing never to return. Cedar is being protected and taken care of by her boyfriend.

I will not spoil anything as part of the book's draw is being in a world where you do not know much at all. The book jacket and descriptions spoil the book pretty harshly, but I won't do that in the review. One can guess though that something will happen to Cedar.

It is difficult not to draw comparisons to Handmaid's Tale in the sense that a religious group has taken over and pregnant women are the focus and strong feminine characters are present. That is where the comparisons end, although one can feel Atwood's presence within this book. Erdrich has her own spin on this though to make it very much her book.

This book, while dystopian in nature, is more about the strength and the power of women. Cedar does not need anyone to take care of her, but allows herself to be cared for at times by others. She will do anything to protect her unborn child in this world, even at the expense of her own safety. Getting her child born is the goal and loving the child no matter what is the desire.

After the initial first act where one has to get his/her bearings, this book simply takes off. It has gotten on my list of favorite books of the year. Yes, it is bleak and yes it is difficult, but get through this one as it is such an incredible story.

I gave this one 4.5 stars.

Artemis by Andy Weir- Book Review

I was blown away, like most people, by The Martian. It was hard to believe it was a self published book that just blew it out of the park. The characters were so well developed and the technical aspects were interesting and moved the story along nicely. When I received notice I was getting an ARC of Weir's sophomore book, I was over the moon, so to speak. Would it hold up?

Artemis takes place on the moon which has become a haven for rich tourists. Jazz is a local to the moon. She lives in a small alcove and has unsuccessfully tried to get a real job on the straight and narrow rather than her current smuggling job. When she fails again, she gets a proposal from a "friend." He is going to purchase a company that seems like it is failing and he wants Jazz to destroy the machines of a competing company- a simply job.

As one can guess, things go horribly wrong and Jazz must now get herself out of a nightmare predicament on an isolated planet.

I will tell you up front, I wanted to love this book, but something did not work for me. It had all the right elements- the technical, the humor, and a good story, but something just did not click for me and I think it was Jazz.

Jazz was meant to be a street wise 20 year old, but often comes off as an inexperienced 13 year old. In fact, I thought she was a kid and often forgot she was 20. When the protagonist doesn't hold the story, it hurts the book.

I also thought the smuggling story and the escape portion just kind of ok. I really don't enjoy reviewing books that I didn't care for, but this was an ARC and I had to.

I gave this one 2.5 stars.

*I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green- Book Review

If you are like me, when this book came out, you saw or read one of the many articles written about this book you would have seen the three words “John Green” and “anxiety.” This was billed as a book about a teen who has anxiety. What it winds up being is a small mystery/romance/book about anxiety.

Aza, a sixteen year old with anxiety, and her friend Daisy, who writes Star Wars fan fiction often involving human and Wookiee romance, see an ad offering a reward to find information about the local rich man who is missing.

Seeking to find information, Aza is reunited with her childhood crush Davis, the missing man’s son. Davis and his brother are living in his mansion filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars strewn about the house. If their father is found dead, they lose it all as their father left the entire estate to an exotic pet.

As Aza reconnects with Davis, old crushes begin to stir again, but Aza’s sometimes crippling anxiety might derail a romance that could be.

This one was a tough one for me. While I enjoy John Green’s writing and his writing style, I often find his books fall into the danger zone of YA in the sense that lots of things seem rushed and often story lines are forgotten about until the very end. I found, for example, I forgot about the missing dad and how Aza and Daisy were looking for him until there is a later chapter where Aza and Daisy once again decide to go looking for the missing dad. Aza’s anxiety shows up here and there, but one doesn’t get a complete picture of what it looks like to live with anxiety. The romance seems to be the main focus of the book, while the other two aspects play support to that romance until they are needed.

At the same time, I did find the sections on Aza’s anxiety spot on and even shared some paragraphs on my Facebook feed because they gave a great insight on what it means to live with anxiety. I found Aza’s debating with herself as to whether or not she changed her band aid, for example, as very real and true to the anxious mind. I found this would be a good tool to help a youth/young adult recognize anxiety and to learn about it, but I will warn it is a brief glimpse. This is a romance book first.

Any time I read YA, I keep in mind that I am not the target audience, so I try to read the books with different eyes, which is why I keep reading John Green books. He has a great voice and writing style for the YA audience. I would recommend this book for the person who wants a brief glimpse into anxiety without too many technical moments and a cute teen romance in the midst of it all. The mystery isn’t a mystery and it gets very rushed at the end.

I would give this one 3.5 to 4 stars.

Bonfire by Krysten Ritter- Book Review

Many people will know Krysten Ritter as an actress in several TV shows, especially Jessica Jones. She has been incredibly successful in the work she has done. Now she is entering the world of writing with her first book Bonfire. Will Bonfire hold up?

This is the story of Abby who returns home to investigate the local company who have been accused of poisoning members of the community. As Abby returns home, she falls into old HS patterns of popular and unpopular kids, who are now adults and sees the newest generation repeating the patterns of her generation. As she investigates, she realizes things from her past especially her missing friend, might all be tied together with certain people in the community. As she also investigates, she meets resistance from town members, as the company is the main industry that supports the town. Can the town turn a blind eye to what is happening to their children? What about the harmful patterns that are happening within the HS?

Let me first state, this is an incredible book. Ritter knows how to write and it shows. The story moves along pretty quickly and the cast of characters are well developed. This is a great story too.

Where I found a bit of difficulty is I think she tries to tackle a lot of subjects within the story. She focuses on environmental issues as the main part, but there is also sexual assault, bullying, the story of coming back, and a few other issues. With all the topics, some get shortchanged a bit within a great story.

I think readers will really enjoy this one. It is a fantastic book that many will enjoy. I gave this one 4 stars.

I want to thank NetGalley for the early access to the book. I received it in exchange for an honest review.