Tag Archives: Book Review

What I’m Reading: The Painted Girls

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12991201From Goodreads.com:
Paris. 1878. Following their father’s sudden death, the van Goethem sisters find their lives upended. Without his wages, and with the small amount their laundress mother earns disappearing into the absinthe bottle, eviction from their lodgings seems imminent. With few options for work, Marie is dispatched to the Paris Opéra, where for a scant seventy francs a month, she will be trained to enter the famous ballet. Her older sister, Antoinette, finds work — and the love of a dangerous young man — as an extra in a stage adaptation of Émile Zola’s naturalist masterpiece L’Assommoir.

Marie throws herself into dance and is soon modelling in the studio of Edgar Degas, where her image will forever be immortalized as Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. Antoinette, meanwhile, descends lower and lower in society, and must make the choice between a life of honest labor and the more profitable avenues open to a young woman of the Parisian demimonde — that is, unless her love affair derails her completely.

Set at a moment of profound artistic, cultural, and societal change, The Painted Girls is a tale of two remarkable sisters rendered uniquely vulnerable to the darker impulses of “civilized society.”

My review:
The Painted Girls probably isn’t a book I would’ve picked up on my own as I totally judge books by their covers, but I was gifted the novel for my birthday and I always appreciate someone else’s recommendations! The book cover made The Painted Girls sound interesting enough, so I jumped into it to help pass the time while getting Norah down for her naps and bedtime.

Sadly, I found the book to be a little dull and lifeless; it wasn’t really a page turner for me. I understand that it’s based on real people, but the character development was slacking for me. Marie was very “ho-hum” and down on herself too much. And, while the book cover made it seem like Antoinette struggled with her own decisions, I never felt any kind of urgency or moral struggles from her. Antoinette was simply blinded by love and didn’t think twice about much.

What did I like about The Painted Girls? Well, it showed how young girls had to grow up perhaps a little too quickly. They are sent to the Opéra not because they want to dance, but because they need to earn money in order to pay the rent. It’s a reflection in general of how many people, even today, have to do things they don’t want to in order to pay the bills.

Overall, I was underwhelmed by The Painted Girls, so I’m giving it 2 stars out of 5.

What I’m Reading: Me Before You

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From Goodreads.com:
Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time.

My review:

I think I’m a few years late getting on the Jojo Moyes train, but after seeing this book pop up on my “Recommended Reads” list more than once I was delighted to receive it as a birthday gift! It took me longer to read because real books don’t come with backlights like ebooks do, but I found myself picking it up and chewing through it whenever I had the chance!

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading it, to be honest. Love story? Survival story? The subject matter is a touchy one, even four years after Moyes penned this book, but I think it was “handled” very well. It wasn’t tip-toed around, but it wasn’t in-your-face either.  I’m so glad that Lou & Will’s romantic feelings towards one another didn’t overshadow the “real” story of the book. As much as I wanted Lou & Will’s romantic storyline to develop more, I’m glad it wasn’t the main focus.

Is it obvious that I loved the characters? Lou’s free spirit balanced out Will’s (understandable) stubborn arse behaviour, and I enjoyed their friendly banter.

Honesty time: I never expected Lou to change Will’s mind. Did I want her to? Absolutely. As much as I believed that Lou could make Will unbelievably happy, I understand that there would always be something missing for Will. Will’s ultimate decision just goes to show that despite how “happy” a person may seem on the outside, you cannot deny how they actually feel on the inside – especially when they go through something as traumatic and life-altering as Will did. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to help a person see the brighter side of things, a part of them will always dwell on the life that’s no longer theirs. It hurts the heart, but a person’s choice. I will not judge Will one bit for the decision he made.

I’ve already added the sequel to me “To Read” list and I’m looking forward to reading more about Lou and her life after Will. I gave Me Before You 5 stars out of 5.

 

What I’m Reading: Where’d You Go, Bernadette

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13526165From Goodreads.com:
Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she’s a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she’s a disgrace; to design mavens, she’s a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.

Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette’s intensifying allergy to Seattle—and people in general—has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.

To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence—creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter’s role in an absurd world.

My review:
I really wanted to enjoy Where’d You Go, Bernadette after hearing so many rave reviews. I wouldn’t say I didn’t enjoy it, but I felt a little let down by it in the end.

The characters themselves were all great. I loved reading about Bernadette and all her craziness, although sometimes she seemed to be a little too crazy. Why her husband didn’t intervene earlier and try and get her help is beyond me, especially considering the state of their “house” and her agoraphobia.

The way the story was put together didn’t quite make the mark for me. When I read the book cover I thought the story would be more about Bee trying to figure out where her mother disappeared to. Instead, it was a little discombobulated and when Bernadette finally does disappear, the remainder of the story seems rushed and plot lines seem unfinished. (What about Soo-Lin? Audrey?) I was rapidly turning the pages to see what happens, only to feel a little let down.

(I’d also like to know what Bernadette has against us Canadians, haha!)

Still, Where’d You Go, Bernadette is still an OK read. There a hint of satire and sarcasm that really spoke to me, so I’m still going to give it 3.5 stars out of 5.