Book Review #20: "Hard Red Spring"

Hey Everyone,

  I am going to review the book "Hard Red Spring" by Kelly Kerney. This book is fresh for the picking as it is released today March 29, 2016. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book took place in the backdrop of the tensions between the Mayan natives, people of Spanish descent in Guatemala, and the influence of American citizens and American politics.  This book consists of four stories spanning over a 100 years. It is ultimately about a missing girl. Her story is told throughout three other stories that build off each other in connecting 4 different families of different generations into one storyline. 

     Overall I would rate this book three and a half stars out of five. This was an intriguing, book filled with a rich history of Guatemala. I particularly loved the depth that this book went into. I loved how this book while fiction read like a nonfiction. It was a fictional story told in the backdrop of real events. This book truly got to the core, the heart and flesh of Guatemala's violent history. It brought forth some very real questions that are extremely relevant to today's world. Such as how does a genocide occur? How does one heal from the traumatic events such as genocide? How does one move forward?  How do people handle conflict?

     I did have some difficulty reading this book. At the beginning of the book it was hard to tell where the story was going and because of this it made the book seem a little disjointed. However this book ended with a bang. It was the best part of the book. The ending was what made this book worth reading. The ending came full circle, it tied up all the loose ends of the story together. It was like each of the four stories/parts of this book built its way to tip top of a climax and then just stopped when everything was getting good. It left me cold I needed that closure, however I did get that closure I needed at the end. So in a way it was delayed gratification. I also did feel that the characters in this book could have been stronger. Or that this book would have been better if more of the characters were likable people. 

     With this said, everyone has different likes and dislikes. Just because I disliked the style of this book, does not mean you will too. As I said the ending was what made this book worth the read. The overall storyline was excellent. Especially the depth it went into bringing to life Guatemala's rich history. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Kelly Kerney (the author) and Penguin Group Viking (the publisher) for giving me an opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #19: "The Crime of All Crimes"

Hey Everyone,

      I am going to review the book "The Crime of All Crimes: Toward a Criminology of Genocide," by Nicole Rafter.  I want to say first and foremost I am deeply saddened to hear about the very recent death of Nicole Rafter, on February 29, 2016. It saddens me that such a talented author and scholar particularly in the field of criminology will not be able to see the release of her newest book, "The Crime of All Crimes" released today March 29, 2016. To purchase a copy of this book hot off the press CLICK HERE. 

     I chose this book to read mainly because of the subject, genocide has been on my mind recently. I have always been interested by the Holocaust not only interested but it was something that shook my inner core. I have read quite a few books on it. I also have read quite a few books on the Rwandan genocide in the 1990's. I am always heartbroken and confused on why genocides continue to happen and why we allow them to happen? Because for most of us, we usually take a back seat and watch it happen from the safety of our homes. Or we live our lives in ignorance and denial, living without knowing that these atrocities are happening to our neighbors. I had the same questions as the author did. How can people do this?

     Overall, I would rate this book 3.5 stars out of 5. It was an extremely in depth, detailed investigation on the criminology of eight genocides. It compared and contrasted these genocides in attempt to answer questions such as: how do genocides happen? This book was extremely interesting and informative. It was presented in well organized scientific profiles of eight genocides. This book did a very good job at presenting the information at hand, including backing everything up with facts and statistics. 

     Being very well organized usually is a good thing, but sometimes such as in this book it didn't work out so well. I found it too organized, too repetitive. Because of the repetitiveness of the book there was some unnecessary information, and the book could have been shortened in length. The repetitiveness I felt took away from the integrity of the book.

     It was still a good read, I do not regret reading it because this book definitely has value. This book would be good for people who have an interest in genocides and would like to learn more. People who have an interest in criminology, sociology, and psychology would like this book as well. This book discusses an important topic that does need to be read and discussed. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley,  Nicole Hahn Rafter (the author), and NYU Press (the publisher) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #18: "The Last Girl."

Hey Everyone,

     I am reviewing the book "The Last Girl: Book One of The Dominion Trilogy," by Joe Hart. This book just was published on March 1, 2016, with the second book in the series "The Final Trade," set to be published on September 16, 2016. Now is the time to get a head start on reading this series, CLICK HERE to purchase a copy of "The Last Girl." This book is a post-apocalyptic dystopian/thriller. It is about "a virus" that has attacked society in stopping the reproduction of females. So with human society threatened by this, a government committee kidnaps a group of females who are imprisoned and controlled by a set of strict rules. At their induction at the age of 21 the girls are never seen again. Not one of the girls really knows what happens at these inductions besides that they are able to meet with their parents and leave the territory that were raised in. It is about one girl in particular, who feels imprisoned, trapped and confined. She dreams about freedom and escaping, because she feels very skeptical of this system that she is confined to.  

     Overall I would rate this book just shy of four stars, 3.75 stars out of 5. I was so close to and very much wanted to rate this book four stars. It was a great story. I loved the premise of it, of a declining female population, and what that would look like in our society. I did think parts of this book were very realistic to what would happen if this became true. This book was very descriptive and I loved how I could imagine the story playing out while I was reading it. There was good character development I felt for the most part. I did like the questions this book posed, such as what is freedom? What does it mean to be human? To what extent and extreme should one go to, to protect the greater good? What rights should we have? Should women have rights and control over their own body's and the choices they make? The author did take risks in this book and for the most part they all worked out. There was a lot of mystery and intrigue that kept me in suspense, kept me continuing to read this book. I loved all the twists and turns this book took, which it did a fantastic job of keeping this story unpredictable. It is a fast and intriguing read, that for the most part kept me involved in the story for most of the book.

     So, why did I hold off in rating this book four stars? Well this book did have some problems for me. The first part of the book was wonderful, and as I was reading it I was saying to myself that I am going to love this book. However, during the second part of the book it kind of lost me a little. I am not completely sure why. But I thought it went off track a little with its alien like descriptions. It was only one section of the book. After that, the storyline progressed and continued on to being like the first part of the book. So it did end well with me, and did leave me with a pleasant taste in my mouth. The second problem was I didn't see the romantic relationship between Zoe and Lee as being necessary to the story. At times it just seemed that, that relationship was just kind of thrown into the book just to add a love story. 

     However, this is not going to stop me from finishing the trilogy. So with this I do recommend this as a worthy read. And for those people who stray away from horror books, this is one to read. The horror element in this book is very subtle, and played a very natural part to the story. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Joe Hart (the author), and Thomas & Mercer (the publisher) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

 Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #17: "Five Days at Memorial"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book, "Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital," by Sheri Fink. This book was extremely well written coming from a correspondent from the New York Times. This book was based off of a previous article written by Sheri Fink called "Deadly Choices at Memorial," which was co-published by ProPublica, and The New York Times Magazine. This article was published on August 27, 2009. The article mentioned above and this book has won multiple awards, which made this book even better to read. This was an investigative report on the events and choices that were made during Hurricane Katrina at Memorial Hospital and it discusses the consequences of those choices in the events that took place after the hurricane. It is a story of neglect, bad decisions and choices, life and death decisions, survival. It discusses all the factors that led to the unpreparedness of Memorial during the disaster. It talks in depth about all the main people involved so it was easy to gather who they were.  Memorial hospital flooded and lost power, patients and employees were living in horrible, unsafe conditions. It was an emergency like no other, and discussed how the doctors, nurses, patients and their family members, politicians, government agencies, and the CEO's of Memorial responded to emergencies. It made me think the hypothetical what if that was me? What would I do? Decisions were made to evacuate the "more able" people first and in saving the sickest and most vulnerable to last. Then decisions were made to inject this last group of patients with a lethal dose of morphine, to quicken their deaths. The last section of this book discussed and addressed the ethical concerns of this situation, and the repercussions of it.

     This book definitely went on my favorites list, as in why I rated this book 4.5 stars out of 5. This book was very well written, in that while I was reading it I felt as if I was there watching everything happen. It is very detailed and goes into much depth it discussed every angle of the situation and left nothing out. Yes there were some details and descriptions that I felt were unnecessary to the point where it did feel a little wordy at times. However, I do see why this was done in order to portray the whole truth, for transparency, to leave nothing out. It was a hard book to read, due to the nature of the story, it was heartbreaking.  It was a very emotional book. I really thought this book did an excellent job presenting the whole story without any judgement or bias from the author, she told the story as it was. She did such a great job of this that there were times in this book where I was questioning how it was possible for the author to write this story without including her opinion and beliefs. It was a mystery kept throughout the book, and was finally revealed in the epilogue. Again this book brings up a controversial but important topic of euthanasia. I am sure everyone has their own beliefs and opinions and I am sure everyone feels different. This book will bring your beliefs and opinions to light and will attempt to question your beliefs.  

     I highly recommend this book to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. I want to thank Blogging For Books, Sheri Fink (the author), and Penguin Random House (the publisher) for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the Next Page,

Jill

Book Review #16: "In Real Life"

Hey Everyone,

     I will be reviewing the book, "In Real Life," by Jessica Love. It is hot off the press, released today so for those of you who would like to purchase this book CLICK HERE. I chose this book to read because of the plot, it sounded very realistic in the present day society, and quite interesting. It is about teenage love, and what happens if you fall for your best friend. It is about two teenagers, Hannah and Nick who met online and maintain an online friendship for four years. It is about what happens when Hannah decides to meet Nick in real life and it doesn't all turn out the way it was expected to or does it? This really drew me into wanting to read this book, I wanted to find out what happened when Hannah meets Nick. 

     This was a well told story. I loved how it was a very modern story using the popular technology that is present in today's society such as Internet, cell phones, blogs, and social media. It definitely made me think how much has changed since I was a teenager. Actually a book like this would never have been written in my teenage days. This book brought up the challenges one faces in communicating online and in real life. I did like the sarcastic tone that this book was narrated in, it gave me a few chuckles. This book was well written, in its well formed descriptive manner. This book was definitely a fast read from start to finish. 

     One thing that made this book kind of difficult to read was the main character and narrator was unlikeable, at least I thought she was. Because I found her unlikeable and annoying at times it did take away from the book. However, it could be because I am two decades older than Hannah and found the generation gap difficult to relate to. 

     With all this said, I do think today's generation of teenagers will enjoy this book more. So if you are younger than 25 do not let my review scare you away from reading this book. This book was written for you, and you will definitely relate to the characters in this book. I guarantee you will love it. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Jessica Love (the author), and St. Martin's Press (the publisher) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #15: "All the Single Ladies"

Hey Everyone,

     I will be reviewing the book "All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and The Rise of an Independent Nation'" by Rebecca Traister. This book is available today to purchase fresh off the press. If you are interested in purchasing a copy of this book, CLICK HERE. Overall I would rate this book 3.5 stars out of 5. This book is about the journey of feminism and how it lead to the independent society we have now. It goes into depth into the history of women. This book talked about all the factors such as societal, political, cultural, and economic forces with how a group of women paved the way to the freedom and independence that we enjoy now. It is not only a history book, but it addresses all the issues that women are confronted with that inhibits them to becoming fully independent, in today's society. Its essential element is change, a call to action to women to continue fighting for equality and independence.
     I did enjoy this book, it was very thought provoking, and pointed out things in myself that I was not aware of before. I definitely learned a lot reading this book. I liked how the book tied in factors like poverty and racism in relating it to the fight for independence and equality for women and society. This book was packed full of information.This book did have a nice balance between personal anecdotes and straightforward information. Overall it was well written. I did like reading this book. The best thing about this book was that it was very thought-provoking. I always enjoy when a book gets my brain cells working.
     I was a little disappointed that this book did not stand out among other similar books. I was waiting for that moment that makes a book special and unique and it fell a hair short. There were also some parts in this book that were repetitive, so it felt a little wordy at times. With that said, I do think this book will be worth your time to read. It is a subject that is essential and important to society. I do recommend it.
     I want to thank Netgalley, Rebecca Traister (the author), and Simon & Schuster (the publisher) for giving me an opportunity to read this book.

Keep turning those pages,

Jill