Ripples Through Time by Lincoln Cole

Before I get into the book review, I need to do a huge huge disclaimer (which I will repeat at the end of the book). Not only did I get a free copy of this book, I also know the author AND I mega respect him as an author AND he really helped me with The Nutcracker King (in terms of copy-editing). So yes, I have a bias, although I really did enjoy the story.

Ripples Through Time is literary fiction, which as far as I understand, means you spend a lot of time with the characters. In fact, not much happens in the book - One old man (Calvin) wants to kill himself, and his son-in-law's brother (Edward), in an attempt to stop him, starts a conversation and they go down memory lane. The story isn't told in chronological order, and in fact, we get only bits and pieces of their lives. But what lives they have - I want to read long, thick novels about them. Actually, I want each character to have their own book.

I think one reason why I liked the book is because Calvin is a character that is incredibly likeable. He's this grumpy old man with a kind heart. That's not to say he's a saint, because he's not and he's made a lot of mistakes (Mellie, his wife, isn't a saint either, although in the middle of the book, she's seen as something very close to one). But he's tried his whole life, and you have to admire the way he wants to go out, even if you disagree with it (as I do).

The only thing that bugged me was that in one of the later chapters, Edward gets rather...what's the word, moralistic? I'm the type that's sensitive to messages in fiction, so characters going on about why they believe certain things, or how others believe is something that pulls me out of the story. But it's only one chapter, and I think it's because Edward is the whiny philosophical type anyway. We don't get that much time in his head, but that's my impression of him. Good man, just whiny.

Overall, this was an awesome story, and I believe I would say that even if I didn't know Lincoln. It's pretty different from the stuff that I've been reading lately, and I really welcomed the chance to slow down and get into the lives of these characters.

And I still want a second book. There are still many questions about the characters that I want answered.

Disclaimer (the second): I received this book free from the author, though no review request was made. I also happen to know the author personally, but I don't benefit from anything if he gets more sales.

This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

I was so happy when I started reading this book! I thought it was going to be something like Life on the Refrigerator Door (link to review), but instead of using notes, it would be done through email. But alas, most of the novel is written normally.

But, it's still a really good novel. This Is What Happy Looks Like (henceforth TIWHLL, oh forget it. I don't think I'll need to use the title again) follows Ellie O' Neil, a girl living in "Middle-of- Nowhere Maine", and ultra famous movie star Graham Larkin as they meet for the first time. Previously, they had only emailed one another, which started because of a misspelled email address. So it was really chance that brought them together.

And isn't chance sweet? Both of the characters are so lovable and make such a great pair. Despite being a huge star, Graham is still down-to-earth and is so sweet! (I prefer a nice guy over the misunderstood bad boy). Ellie is really a small-town girl, but she (and her mom) hide a fairly huge secret that blows up in the novel.

From that last sentence, you should be able to guess how the climax of the novel goes. I won't tell you anymore, but you should know that the plot is largely character driven. Personally, I think it really fits the story, but if you need a big plot  (taking over the world, defeating a secret society, etc) you might find this book too slow for your tastes.

This is a very sweet book and I highly recommend it!

The Chance by Karen Kingsbury

When one man's rash actions break up the life of his daughter, can she see past the hurt? And can the boy she left behind ever find her? That's what The Chance by Karen Kingsbury is about.

Ellie Tucker had to move suddenly, when her dad found out her mom was pregnant with another man's child and kicked her out. And ever since, she's felt rejected by her mom and enstranged from her father. Meanwhile, Nolan, who's always loved Ellie, is searching for her. The night before they left, they burried letters to each other, and now, as the clock ticks down to the deadline, will they meet again?

I thought it was very interesting how Ellie and Nolan responded to suffereing. Ellie more or less abandoned her faith, while Nolan's faith was strengthened. It really just goes to show that how you respond to a bad situation is the most important thing.

Both characters were really well written. There was a bunch of other characters (like Ellie's family), but I was pretty much caught up in the story of the two of them. As the story progresses, you can just see the hand of God moving to bring Ellie back to him, and to bring Ellie and Nolan together. Ellie is very hurt, but through her daughter, she's slowly learning to forgive. Nolan is a famous NBA player, which is why Ellie feels like she's not good enough for him. But Nolan has been searching for her all this time. This is when I swoon over the romance. It's really sweet.

Apart from this, there is also the story of forgiveness. Ellie has to forgive her father. Her father and mother must forgive each other.

Another sub-topic was faith and celebrity. Nolan's a famous NBA player, and he uses that show others the good news of Christ. In one segment, a few commentors were talking about him, and one of them mentioned that someone so famous should keep his faith to himself. I really like the reply to that, so I'm just going to quote it, and leave out the description of the commentor while he was talking:

"People don't have to follow Nolan Cook. That's their choice. You follow a celebrity in today's world because you want an inside look at his life, his feelings. A deeper look at what drives him and motivates him. [...] Nolan, you go right ahead and tweet about God. This is America. [...] Last  I checked, freedom of speech was still our right. If it's our right, then it's Nolan Cook's right too."

Literally, an un-putdownable read. I loved it!

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

The Enchanted Truth by Kym Petrie (ARC)

This book was subtitled - A Modern Fairy Tale for Grown Up Girls. Of course, I had to try and read it, after all, it's about fairy-tales. This book is really short (less than 50 pages) so I'll sum it up in one sentence for you - it's sweet but kind of insipid.

The whole motive of this story is that we shouldn't depend on a guy to make us happy. It's a moral that I certainly agree with, but I think you could make a more entertaining story by making this more like a chic-lit book than by writing it like a traditional fairy tale. Why? Because there's very little conflict (there's self-discovery, but it comes with little to no conflict), and that makes the book fairly boring.

In addition, the world building was confused. Is this the traditional fairy tale? But then there are elements of the modern world. Is it a mix of the two? Well, it's not very clearly said, although I suspect that it's meant to be a fairy-tale world with echos of ours, but it did confuse me a little bit.

To sum it up, I would say that this book is one you read when you really need to hammer in the message that "I don't need a guy to make me complete". If you're looking for something light to read, then well, there are other books.

Disclaimer: I got this book free from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

Tangi's Teardrops by Liz Grace Davis (Blog Tour)

So this is my third blog tour! Here, I'm particpating with a review (I always review! It's so fun!) of Tangi's Teardrops by Liz Grace Davis.

Tangi's Tear drops follows the titular character Tangi, who's never felt at home here. She's bullied by her sisters, and after her dad dies, by the maids in her uncle's house. But she has the three bottles that her dad gave her, and from here, she reaches her true home, the magical land of Rosevine. But the land is dying and Tangi is the only one that can save it.

I actually enjoyed this book most of the time, but there was one fairly big problem - it was too 'lukewarm'. When Tangi suffers, I don't feel as though she suffers very much (while this is a good thing in real life, it doesn't make for exciting reading). And when she reaches her fairy-tale kingdom, the "hardships" she has to go through barely register. After that, she has a fairly easy life, where her biggest problem is falling in love (really, that's it).

For example, she was supposed to be an outcast in our world right? But even as she's being abused, one of the maids softens and ends up helping her. Even though this makes for very flat characters, I would actually prefer for the villains to be villians to the end. This is because the book doesn't develope the characters enough, which means that I can't come to understand them. In that case, I prefer stock villians that I can go "aha!" and dislike.

While I really liked how the romance was slow and steady (on the part of Tangi at least), I wasn't altogether convinced of it by the end. I think that the book could have spent some time to create an event to bond them together.

But Tangi is a well-crafted character. Well, her willingness to love was what made me root for her anyway. She was actually to do some things that would make her unhappy in order to save Rosevine from destruction. She wasn't actually called upon to make this sacrifice, but her willingness to do so was enough for me.

This book isn't an exciting fairytale. It's quite tame, but it's a sweet story. There's not much danger or even much hardship, but Tangi grows on you and by the end of the book, I was happy for her that she got her fairytale ending.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

I remember reading this series a few years ago. But like my re-reading habits, I had the urge to read it, and couldn't stop until I finished the whole book. To sum everything up, this is a really fun read, for when you want to escape to a whole different world.

Here, the focus is on teen spies. You might think "Alex Rider", but there's none of the danger in the Alex Rider books here. Instead, it's focused on the training of these (very smart) teen girls. In short, it's more fun than action.

Cammie, the protagonist, happens to be the headmistress's daughter. And through a series of events, she meets -gasp- a normal boy. But seeing as she doesn't know how to deal with boys (having lived in an all-girls school from young), she and her friends (with some help from the new girl Macey), apply their spy skills to helping develope their relationship.

To me, it's pretty ingenious how the spy concept was used to amplify and parody the actions of girls when they have a crush. To Cammie and her friends, going through his trash (after learning about it in Covert Operations class) to find out more about him is normal. As the reader, we're inclined to think this is over-the-top. But it not only shows how clueless they are, it reminds me of how girls will use anything as evidence to analyse a guy (something which I've been helping my friends do since I came here :D ). The actions might be exagerated, but the feelings aren't (I am, however, keeping this book away from my friend in case she gets inspired by their actions).

Characterwise, they have a bunch of predictable but entertaining characters. I especially love Liz, the genius girl (who is sometimes a bit blur). The dynamics in the group work really well. (As a side note, I realise most books have the same type of characters, but it's this that makes the book entertaining. It'd be boring for books to contain the same types of characters).

Plot-wise, it's ok. Not exciting, more of the teenage drama stuff (with a twist). I can't say that the romance felt very believable (Cammie is inclined to gush too much), but it was, at the very least, cute. I preferred to read about the world of a secret spy school more than the developing romance between Cammie and Josh.

Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

I love love love C. S. Lewis. And not just for the Narnia Chronicles, I love almost all his books, especially The Great Divorce and Mere Christianity. So when I first heard of this book on IntoTheBook, I knew that I had to read it. And when I saw this at the Christian Bookstore at Ochanomizu, the price tag wasn't even a consideration (but for the record, it's the most expensive book I've bought, and the only one I paid full price for, since coming to Japan).

Till We Have Faces is a retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth. In the original story, the two sisters of Psyche are evil and jealous. But like Wicked, C. S. Lewis shines a different light on one of the oldest sisters - Orual (or so he calls her).

Orual grew up ugly and unloved. But when Psyche is born (and her mother dies as a result), Orual transfers all her love to the beautiful Psyche. Eventually, this love is twisted into hate after Psyche's "sacrifice" to the Shadowbrute.

Bred on a mixture of Glom (the country where Till We Have Faces is set) superstition and Greek logic (courtesy of the Greek Slave The Fox/Grandfather), Orual is conflicted inside. Indeed, after she becomes Queen of Glom (a very capable queen I might add), she's still tormented by what she did to Psyche by convincing her to betray her husband. So what she does is to push Orual inside her and let the Queen take her place. In this way, she becomes numb.

It is only after she hears the twisted version of Cupid and Psyche (or to the reader, the conventional version), is she inspired to pen her version (or the 'true' version) of the story as a complaint to the gods. But when she is truly heard, she sees that her complaint was very different from the tale she told. Her complaint is one of bitterness, that she could not wholly possess the love of her sister.

The writing in this book is marvellous. I really do wonder why it's not more popular. C. S. Lewis has spun a marvellous story and got me to look at the original myth in a whole new light. It felt as though it was an ancient myth, but it also felt modern at the same time. The language is easy to understand and very absorbing.

In short, this is an excellent book (I love how I've been finding a lot of excellent books since coming to Japan). It's not only an entertaining tale, it's also a story about love, what it is, and what it is not.