Book Review: Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly

Thank you Netgalley and Random House/Ballantine Books for an advanced digital copy of this book for review.

Lost Roses releases April 9, 2019.

I predict that this book is going to be very popular this spring. As the follow up to Martha Hall Kelly's incredibly popular historical fiction novel, Lilac Girls, it's sure to be a hit with historical fiction lovers. And overall, I really enjoyed this book too. I am a lover of historical fiction and this book while not without its shortcomings (more on that in a minute) is a beautifully written and researched account of human resilience and love. For the most part it's well paced, the writing is digestible and overall the book is one that I'll remember. It would have been nearly perfect five star read if not for one little thing.

I'm sure that I'm being a little nitpicky with this, but there's one thing about this book that's been nagging me since finishing it. At 448 pages, I can't help but think this was a little too long. It's a tri-narrative that could have easily been a dual narrative and I know this is going to be a very unpopular opinion, but this story could have been a dual narrative focusing only on Sofya and Varinka that would have been incredible. I read the author's note, I get that her intent was to feature Eliza Farriday - but in my opinion, Eliza was boring. Her chapters felt forced and while I understand that she has a pretty big role to play, everything she does could have been just as effective in the background of the story. I found myself skimming her chapters so much that I think they could have been cut out completely. I know it's pretty bold of me to suggest that the entire POV of a character be wiped out from a book, but her activities felt completely detached from the heart of the story, which was Sofya and Varinka's experience with the fall of Imperial Russia and the rise of the Bolshevik Revolution.

Where I found Eliza's storyline lagging and dull, Sofya's and Varinka's were fascinating. I was invested in both of them. One a socialite with royal bloodlines and the other a peasant girl who finds herself attached to the bloody Bolshevik revolution, their intersecting stories were captivating. I only wish that we would have had a little more detail on their respective journeys to Paris because I think it would have added some more tension to the storyline.

This book is definitely one that I would recommend to my friends who enjoy historical fiction. This book is well researched and written - and the parts set in Russia completely engrossing. And while I think it could easily have been a dual narrative, it's still a fantastic story. I think fans of Martha Hall Kelly will appreciate this as much as Lilac Girls.

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New Release Tuesday: First Comes Love, Emily Giffin

Title: First Comes Love, Emily Giffin

Print Length: 401 pages

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Publication Date: June 28, 2016

S Y N O P S I S

Emily Giffin is a master at writing stories about matters of the heart, they’re often times messy (did you read The One and Only?), honest and emotional – First Comes Love is no different. Ms. Giffin’s newest novel tackles the complexity of sibling relationships and family dynamics in a way that is heartfelt and relatable. Josie and Meredith are two very different sisters, they have difficulty finding common ground even in their adolescent years and especially in adulthood. In the aftermath of a devastating family tragedy, the two women find their relationship strained, their only common thread being the brother they lost. As each woman matures she finds herself struggling to come to terms with past decisions, happiness and future plans. Single Josie is in her late thirties and desperately wants a family of her own, while Meredith struggles to connect with her husband and live up to the illusion of marital bliss that she’s created. As the 15th anniversary of their brother’s death looms ahead, it forces each woman to acknowledge her own heart and where her past and present lie.

First Comes Love is a story about self-love, the choices we make and how healing, grace and forgiveness first come from loving and accepting oneself.

M Y  T A K E

Emily Giffin is one of my favorite authors. I’ve read all of her novels and loved each. First Comes Love ranks as one of my favorites that she’s written. She has a way of writing about family and friends that draws the reader into her stories. Her characters are highly identifiable, flawed and heartfelt – I find reading her books similar to a coffee date with an old friend; familiar and relatable. I felt as if I could be a friend of each woman, listening to her problems and watching on as she worked them out for herself. Is it strange that I find that I could possibly be a supporting character, sitting silently off the side, in all of her books?! I think that’s why I like them so much!

Character development aside, First Comes Love, is very well written and fast paced. I flew through this book in less than two days (as is often the case with work by this author) and really enjoyed the outcome. Giffin’s writing style is approachable and easily read, which makes this book suitable to a vast audience. I was satisfied with the ending and the paths each character took in her life. The only downside to finishing the book was that it ended!

You’ll most definitely want to pick this up for your summer reading enjoyment, and I highly recommend that you do!

First Comes Love is available today, June 28!

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A B O U T  T H E  A U T H O R

Emily Giffin is the author of seven internationally bestselling novels: Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, Love the One You’re With, Heart of the Matter, Where We Belong, and The One & Only. A graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law, she lives in Atlanta with her husband and three children.


*I was provided an advanced copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

Book Review: The Girls by Emma Cline

Title: The Girls, Emma Cline
Hardcover: 368 pages

Publisher: Random House

Rating: 4/5 Stars

S Y N O P S I S

It's the summer of '69 and Evie Boyd is bored and disenchanted with her life, family and friends. But then she sees them - the girls. A chance meeting with the carefree group of girls whose shabby dress and aura of reckless abandon draws her in to their unconventional lifestyle. Soon Evie finds herself at "The Ranch," a downtrodden plot of land hidden in the California hills whose inhabitants are as dingy and wild as the place they live, all following a charismatic and manipulative leader, Russell. As Evie forms a friendship with Suzanne, an enigmatic and sensuous older girl, she becomes more and more involved in a world that soon will be swallowed by the unthinkable actions of its inhabitants and the man they follow.

M Y  T A K E

The Girls was an engrossing novel from start to finish. Superb writing and provocative subject matter are the driving force in this coming of age tale about Evie and her misguided judgement during a critical time in her adolescence. Cline does an outstanding job developing her characters, making them believable and relatable in the most disturbing way. Evie's loneliness, insecurity, desire to be loved and wanted are all so well detailed, I felt I knew her. And I pitied her. I appreciated the intuition she displayed - but was disappointed in her apathy and ignorance of the people and situations that surrounded her. The girls were engaging and interesting, especially the character of Suzanne who was mysterious, dangerous and motherly. Traits that made her a complex character that I never felt I could trust but was bewitching all the same. And equally well developed was Russell, whose charismatic and manipulative nature made him the perfect maniacal leader.

Emma Cline's debut novel is dazzling, disturbing and heart wrenching at the same time. The content is gritty and dark, her prose at times causing small knots to form in my stomach. But the novel is so well developed and well written not to grant it four stars. Her attention to detail and imagery is bar none and executed in such a way that its grittiness was hard to shake, the desert dust cloying to my being. The ability to produce such vivid imagery and depth in characters is what Cline does so well, and that what made the novel work for me. I was enraptured to the end.

A B O U T  T H E  A U T H O R

Emma Cline is from California. Her fiction has appeared in Tin House and The Paris Review, and she was the winner of the 2014 Paris Review Plimpton Prize.                
Visit her website: http://www.emmacline.com





S I M I L A R  N O V E L S  &  R E C O M M E N D A T I O N

I believe The Girls could be compared to the likes of Janet Fitch's White Oleander and Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides. Both are outstanding coming of age novels with a way of twisting your gut into knots, if you enjoyed either - this is for you. Fans of Gillian Flynn and the psychological thriller/suspense genre will also appreciate this novel.

An advanced copy of The Girls was provided to me for an honest review by NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Girls is available for purchase on June 14, 2016.
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