Review: Incantation by Alice Hoffman

Review by Lora (DivaBetty)

Allow me to begin by confessing my adoration for Hoffman's bewitching coldly-observant-on-the-outside-heartbreaking-in-the-center style.

If you require references in addition to my oath of fealty, check out The Probable Future or Green Angel for astonishing proof of her power.

I've loved her other YA books (Green Angel, Green Witch, The Foretelling) so I was thrilled to find Incantation for $2.50 at the school book fair last week.

The Premise:
Sixteen year old Estrella lives in a Spanish village with her widowed mother Abra (she spins wool and dyes yarn a spectrum of gorgeous blues as well as practicing herbalism) and grandparents. She loves her home, her town, her best friend Catalina next door--they are inseparable, dark haired and mischievous. Locals even called them Raven (Estrella) and Crow (Catalina) as children.

Officials begin to  set more regulations on the Jews in town--surgical practice/medicine is banned as well as the possession of books by a Jew. Estrella finds this disturbing, but Catalina is rather callous about it. Any thoughtful reader over age ten will realize this is your first clue that Catalina's a raging bitch. Anyone under age ten (or named ESTRELLA) will not notice that obvious fact.

Estrella's stern grandmother gives her a string of pearls bought for her on the day she was born. Catalina manages to weasel these away from her by questioning her loyalty. Estrella's devout and studious brother comes home from seminary for a visit. Catalina gripes that he thinks he is better than everyone else.

The next door neighbors are turned over to the officials as secret Jews and executed. Estrella sees Catalina looting through their house afterward, taking embroidered tablecloths and anything fine she can scavenge.

Yes, folks, she's a greedy greedy ho-bag.

Did I mention that--uh ohs!--Catalina's orphaned cousin Andres lives with her family? It is assumed that he is betrothed to Catalina. He loves Estrella. Estrella begins to notice him.

Catalina is mad and crazy jealous. She becomes suspicious of how Estrella's family always lights candles before dusk on Friday afternoons and performs the sign of the cross differently. I think you see where this is going. If you don't, I won't spoil it for you.

Despite the impending doom in the plot, Incantation is fascinating, beautifully detailed, and well worth reading. It's well-researched, provides a personal and vivid depiction of closeted Jews during the Inquisition, against the background of a sweet love story brought from the ashes of devastation.

An excerpt (because it's so much lovelier than I can say):
We floated in the dark water. Above us the sky was so filled with stars it seemed more white than black. I thought of salt and flour on my grandmother's tabletop. I thought of pearls in the sea. All this way from town we could still breathe in the odor of the lime flowers from the burnt trees in the plaza.  Some things were strong. They stayed with you. The place where you grew up, the scent of lime flowers, the dreams you had. When I stared into the bathwater, I thought of the bowl my mother had me gaze into so many times and I thought, It is all here, the beginning and the end.

Monday Mabel

The coming of winter tends to put me in the mood for romances, so I turned to my unread books and picked up England's Perfect Hero by Suzanne Enoch.  I'm not far in, but I already really like it. The hero is an ex-soldier given to panic attacks, and he has a serious crush on the heroine, who has a crush on someone else. It feels like it's going to be a nice change from the "twisted steel and sex appeal" of too many heroes in the Regency genre. Will report back when done! - London Mabel  :-)

Free Books! Go Now!

Books on the Knob, an excellent source for info on free or inexpensive ebooks, has posted that Kobo has a $3 off coupon going right now, good until midnight.  (Non-Agency books only, unfortunately.)  If the book is under $3 before the coupon, it's free.  Kobo, if you haven't heard of them, is a reputable ebook vendor.  I've bought from them many times with no problems at all.  Their books are in epub format, so be sure that works with your reader, or be ready to read on the computer.

Here's  a link directly to the post.  What are you still here for?  Go!  Download lavishly!  And then come back tomorrow and tell me what you bought!  ;)

Review: Butterfly Tattoo by Deidre Knight

Butterfly Tattoo by Deidre Knight

Review by Chronic Betty

Just when the darkness seems permanent, fate flips a switch.

Michael Warner has been drifting in a numb haze since his lover was killed by a drunk driver. As the anniversary of the wreck approaches, Michael’s grief grows more suffocating. Yet he must find a way through the maze of pain and secrets to live for their troubled young daughter who struggles with guilt that she survived the crash.

Out of the darkness comes a voice, a lifeline he never expected to find—Rebecca O’Neill, a development executive in the studio where Michael works as an electrician.

Rebecca, a former sitcom celebrity left scarred from a crazed fan’s attack, has retreated from the limelight and from life in general, certain no man can ever get past her disfigurement. The instant sparks between her and Michael, who arrives to help her during a power outage, come as a complete surprise—and so does her uncanny bond with his daughter.

For the first time, all three feel compelled to examine their inner and outer scars in the light of love. But trust is hard to come by, especially when you’re not sure what to believe when you look in the mirror. The scars? Or the truth?

This is a difficult one to review, because it's such a big novel, not it's length so much as it's scope.  Rebecca is a woman who is damaged both physically and emotionally, and struggles daily to deal with that damage.  Michael was widowed almost a year ago, and he's struggling to find his balance and connect with his daughter again.  Either of those problems would be enough to fill a book.  But Rebecca and Michael have one more.  Michael's dead spouse was a man.

He's not only dealing with the usual feelings of betrayal as he finds love again, he's also readjusting his view of himself as he accepts that maybe he's not as gay as he thought he was.  Rebecca, who was horribly scarred in the attack and has understandable self confidence issues because of it, also fears that at some point Michael will decide he'd rather be with another man after all. 

The book is very gentle in how all these issues are faced and dealt with.  Michael and Rebecca take the relationship slowly, breaking down walls and building sexual tension.  And Michael's daughter, Andrea, develops a significant relationship with Rebecca.  There's a lot of pain to go around in this story, but a lot of joy, too.

About two thirds of the way through the story it took a surprising turn toward Inspirational.  (If there are many Bisexual Inspirational Romances out there, I certainly haven't come across them.)  There was no heavy handed proselytizing, but religion became important to them all in a way that I've never seen outside of the occasional Inspie.

Shortly before that, Michael and Rebecca break up.  One of my few problems with this book is that this portion of the book dragged a bit.  Pain because they're dealing with some heavy stuff I can deal with.  But this is where it started to tip over into angst for me.

I also wasn't completely in love with the style the book was written in.  It's first person present tense, with Rebecca and Michael narrating in alternating chapters.  The narrator is labeled at the top of each chapter, but I tend to skip past chapter headers, so it took me a little while to figure out what was going on.  Those first few sentences of each chapter were pretty confusing until I caught on.  As I got used to the style it became invisible to me, and the story took over.  But someone who really dislikes first person or present tense might have issues with this.
Overall, this is a rich, emotional story, with unusual characters and situations.  I give it a B+.  It was published by Samhain and is available in trade paper and ebook.  I bought this one myself.

A WTF? Special

In the shadowy corner of every reader's history is the hall of shame, the books we finished and wish we hadn't or the one's we cast aside in disgust.

Here are a few to consider giving as gifts to people you hate, in the spirit of the holiday season.

Books I Wish I'd Never Seen.

1.  Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
I adore Trigiani. Her Lucia, Lucia is one of my favorites and my grandma's as well. Her real-woman voice is formidably true and wry. I await the third volume of her Valentine trilogy. However, I have a copy of Big Stone Gap in a box in my garage. I can't keep it in the house because I'll try to reread it and my Normally Patient Husband said if I attempted it he'd set it on fire.
It's beautifully written and the narrator, Ave Maria, is relatable in the extreme. She runs the small town pharmacy in the titular village and dwells on the agonizing breast cancer death of her beloved mother and the oppressive abuse of her stepfather before his death. It hit a little too close to home and the mother's death left me in shreds. I cried so hard I gave myself a sinus infection. I sobbed intermittently for three days just from remembering things in this book.

2.  Sleeping in Flame by Jonathan Carroll
The king of all WTF books, this one is like Baz Luhrmann on crack. You know, Baz Luhrmann, gifted director of opulent flicks like Strictly Ballroom and Moulin Rouge--so clever, sumptuous and over the top that eventually one wants to smack him because he went two steps too far in his surrealist buzz. Well, Carroll is just as talented but about a hundred times more wacko. To call it speculative fiction would be to sully the good name of the genre.
It's about Walker, a modern day guy infatuated with Mavis. The first couple of chapters are gorgeously written and made me think I'd love the edgy romance.
In a past life, Walker was an assassin. He reminisces about stabbing women just beneath the ear. Then there's a talking potbellied pig. And then (spoiler) Walker's dad is Rumplestiltskin. Yes, THAT Rumplestilskin--he keeps resurrecting Walker to see if he can "get it right" but he always chases after some girl and dad gets pissed and KILLS him and has to bring him back as a baby again to keep trying. So to stop Rumplestiltskin from killing Mavis (after he has caused a gory miscarriage already), Walker has to remember his dad's real name. It's Breath. There, I've ruined it for you. Save yourself the pain.

3.  The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
I was so excited to read this, which was reputed to be the next Jane Eyre, I bought it in hardback. The writing was bewitching. I was fascinated.
Then there was the incest. The sadism. The brother running around raping girls. The dad yanking hair out of his daughter's head and dying of septicemia from the hair wrapped around his finger.
I quit.
Ew.

4.  Straight Talking by Jane Green
She wrote Mr. Maybe--my favorite trashy chick lit book. I've read several of hers with varying degrees of enjoyment but I actually threw this one away. Frankly if they are having that much graphic sex in the first two pages, there isn't going to be a plot. I tried to find one. I think she's after her best guy friend. It was too frustrating trying to puzzle together a story with all that pointless nakedness.

So which books have made you vow Never Again?

Review: Motor City Fae by Cindy Spencer Pape

Motor City Fae by Cindy Spencer Pape

Reviewed by Chronic Betty

Detroit artist Meagan Kelly has had a strong sixth sense all her life, but that doesn't mean the gorgeous stranger's crazy story—that she's a half-elf, half human heiress—is true. But Meagan can't deny the evidence of her own eyes—he's Fae. A tall, blond, handsome, pointy-eared elf—and a man she just can't get enough of.

Ric Thornhill's assignment just got a lot more complicated. The more time he spends with Meagan, the harder it is to see her as a political tool to prevent an all-out war between humans and Fae.

Now Meagan's in a race to master her newly released powers in time to prevent the conflict, convince a jealous Queen not to strip Ric of his powers, and find out if she can build a life that straddles two worlds.

 Motor City Fae was the first book from new digital-first publisher Carina Press that really caught my eye.  The Fae, romance, political intrigue, and the first of a new series?  Sign me up!

The romance was the strongest part of this story.  Meagan and Ric had chemistry from the start, and even though they went from meet cute to marriage in a ridiculously short period of time (I think the whole story happens over the course of five days), I still believed they had a shot at working out.

The weakness for me was all the rest of the story.  There were lots of creatures other than just the Fae, but they got only the most perfunctory of introductions.  And the political intrigue was a bit too straightforward to count as intriguing.  I would have preferred more world building and complexity when the supernatural element is supposed to be such an important part of the story.

But even so, Fae was a light, entertaining read.  I give this one a B-.  The hero and heroine for the next book, Motor City Witch, are well signalled, and I'm looking forward to their story.  It's already on my reader, waiting it's turn.

As a digital publisher, Carina Press titles are available as ebooks from their website and from major ebook retailers, and some titles are also available as audiobooks through Audible.com.  I bought this one myself, with the help of a coupon from Kobo.  (Seriously, ya'll, keep an eye out for those Kobo coupons.  They're majorly helpful, or dangerous, depending on your point of view.)

Help Me Get My Mojo Back!

Have you ever felt a little "meh" about reading?  I know, heresy!  But hear me out.  I'm still working my way through the Vorkosigan series, which is wonderful as always, but I need something to cleanse the palate before diving in again.  I poked through my Kindle and found an historical romance that I started a few weeks ago and hadn't finished yet.  Now I know why I didn't finish it.  It wasn't pretty.  More on that on Wednesday.  But for right now I need something to get me reading again.  What books have helped you get your reading mojo back?  To kick things off, here's a list of books that have done it for me in the past.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
On the Edge by Ilona Andrews
Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs
The Silver Master by Jayne Castle (aka Jayne Ann Krentz)
Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
Venetia by Georgette Heyer

As you can see, there is a pretty good variety there.  Historical, futuristic, contemporary, lots of fantasy of one type or another.  I just need something a little different for a while, and then I know I'll be ready to jump right back in again.  So what do you suggest?

Late Monday Mini

I finally have internet again!  Hooray!  Hopefully things will get back to normal by the end of the week.  Please feel free to jump in with a mini review in the comments, or email it to me for next week's mini Monday.

As you may have guessed from the last post, I'm still working my way through the Vorkosigan series.  This morning I finished the omnibus Young Miles, which is a combination of The Warrior's Apprentice and The Vor Game.  My favorite part of Apprentice is the screwball humor of it.  A 17 year old goes out on what amounts to a Grand Tour after flunking the physical exams for officer school.  One small lie spirals until... well, I won't tell you that part.  But believe me, that one lie grows to outrageous proportions.  And I cackled the whole time.  (Except for one really tragic part, but mostly it's crazy fun.)

My favorite part of The Vor Game was not actually Miles, although I love him as much as ever.  My favorite part was the close up look at Gregor.  As the Emperor, he is frequently a part of Miles's calculations as he scrambles from disaster to disaster-- What would serve the Emperor, what would serve Barrayar?  But this is probably the closest we come to seeing the inner life of Gregor, and what kind of sacrifice being Emperor has required of him.  There's still a lot of scrambling and scheming in Apprentice but it's got a more serious edge.

And so far I've read maybe a chapter of the next book in the series, Cetaganda.  Nine more books and three novellas until I get to the new one.

The Vorkosigan Series- A Love Letter

I'm not always swift on the uptake.  For years I saw this series mentioned anywhere people love books.  Romance, romcom, urban fantasy, everyone liked and recommended these books.  Finally, in the spring of 2007, I read The Warrior's Apprentice.

Wowza.

In less than 6 months I tracked down and read the whole rest of the series.  That 6 months was also when my health tanked and I was diagnosed with Crohn's.  It was a miserable time for me, and I read Ethan of Athos over and over.  You'd think it would be Miles, brilliant, damaged Miles who attracted me just then.  But it was Ethan instead.  A man who had been pushed out into a whole scary world that he knew almost nothing about.  The friendship between Ethan and Quinn was so sweet, and it kept sucking me in again and again.

Now that I've read the whole thing, I have other favorites, too.  Grover Gardner does an excellent job of reading the books (although the very first time I heard him reading The Warrior's Apprentice, I thought "Really?  That's who they picked to be the voice of Miles?"  By the second chapter I was hooked, and now I can't imagine any other reader), and I've listened to A Civil Campaign over and over.  Although I may have referred to Miles as my literary boyfriend once or twice (last week), I really can't imagine a more perfect match for him than Ekaterin.  I love watching the two of them bumble along until they're sure what they want.  I always cheer during the proposal scene at the end.  Miles and Ekaterin are a force to be reckoned with.

It wasn't my favorite at first, but subsequent reads, and listens, of Cetaganda have definitely highlighted its pleasures.  I love Rian and the haut lady bubbles.  I love the wary, yet friendly and respectful relationship he builds with Dag Benin.  Cetaganda and Barrayar are once, and probably future, enemies, but they're still able to work together and help each other, even while saving their respective planets.

Falling Free is a wonderful book, apparently inspired by the author's father.  It takes place in the same fictional universe as the Vorkosigan novels, but hundreds of years before our hero's birth.  It doesn't have much direct impact on the rest of the series, but it is a bit of a thrill in Diplomatic Immunity when Miles goes to Graf station and sees a performance in the Minchenko Auditorium, and you know who those places were named after.  Also, Falling Free is a really community book.  You know who's meant to be doing the heavy lifting, but all the characters are heroes in this one.  Except for the baddie, who is probably one of the top three (bottom three?) bad guys we've experienced so far in the Vorkosiverse-- a bureaucrat.

The latest Vorkosigan novel went on sale the other week, and with all the squirreliness in my life, I don't have it yet.  But since I'm writing this in advance, I'm hoping that by the time this posts I'll have it in my hot little hands.  If you're at all curious about these books, especially if you have an ereader, I strongly suggest you pop out and pick up a first edition copy of the new book, Cryoburn.  It's got a disc in the back with e-versions of all but one novel in the series.  That's a significant savings.

It's going to mean avoiding anything that might have spoilers for the next month or so, but I plan to read the whole series again, in order, before moving on to Cryoburn.  Bujold has been writing these books for years; the first one was published in 1986, I believe.  But as I said above, I'm a Betty-come-lately to the series.  This is the first new Vorkosigan book she's put out since I became a fan.  I plan to savor the experience. 

As I write this I'm within a few pages of finishing Shards of Honor.  It's amazing to go back and see the origins of Miles' personality in Aral and Cordelia.  I think in many ways he's more his mother's son than his father's, although he might be surprised to realize which bits came from her.

I caught a vague rumor of a tragedy at the end of Cryoburn, and I have a suspicion what it might be.  That may also be why I'm wanting to go slowly through the whole series first.  I don't want to get to that tragedy.