Book Reviews
by Jenn • May 6, 2012 • 0 Comments
Lost December by Richard Paul Evans
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was not my favorite RPE novel. The good thing about his books is that they can be read in no more than a day or two, so the misery ended quickly.
This is a modern-day re-telling of the Prodigal Son, so it made sense to me that the main character, Luke, behaved so poorly, but it really grated on my nerves for the first half of the book. I wanted to shout, “REALLY?!? HOW STUPID ARE YOU?”….and then he would go on and do something even more stupid.
Once Luke screwed his head on straight, the story was more enjoyable for me. I suppose that, once in a while, I like books that wrap themselves up in pretty little package and Lost December eventually did just that. Am I glad I read it? Of course….what kind of a RPE fan would I be If I didn’t? Will I read it again? Probably not.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
For as long as it took me to get through this book, you’d think I hated it. Truth was, I just wasn’t in the mood to read much. But once I finally committed to finish it, I sailed through.
While the premise of the book is a pretty big downer (murder), the path that the author takes you down to uncover the truth of what happened was really intriguing to me. I liked the way that it was written from one sister to the other and the way the mystery slowly unfolded.
I did figure out who the culprit was before it was divulged, but I did not see the big twist coming at the end…it was as though I had a bunch of puzzle pieces in my hands that I knew would fit together, but the picture they would create didn’t come into clear view until the last piece was in place.
If you can handle the dark subject matter, and enjoy a little literary sluething, this one is worth picking up.
Heaven Is Here: An incredible story of hope, triumph, and everyday joy by Stephanie Nielson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I picked this book up to read while travelling to visit my sister in Washington DC. Then, I decided maybe it wasn’t the best choice, as I have a bit of anxiety over flying and this book involves a plane crash. Thankfully I was able to put that aside and continue reading because this book was wonderful. I’ve read Nie’s blog for years, so I already knew much of the story, but she goes into the deeper emotions and pain that she experienced while recovering from her injuries and it’s simply heartbreaking…..and then triumphant as you see her rise from the depression and make the choice to embrace the life she’s been given. I loved this book!
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Matched is another of those young adult novels that I’ve heard about at every turn and figured I needed to see what all the fuss was about. The hold list at the library has been long for quite some time, so I was surprised when I found a copy on the shelf last week. I didn’t even read the summary on the dust jacket, so I really had no idea what it was about and just dived in. Turns out, the society in which the characters live is straight out of Lois Lowry’s The Giver, and the love story is awfully reminiscent of Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series. Since I enjoyed both of those books, I won’t necessarily say that’s a bad thing, just not very original. There’s really not much substance in Matched, but it’s an easy read worthy of being deemed a somewhat enjoyable time-waster.












































