I came across After the Flood on my library's main page as the "big read" for October. I thought it sounded interesting so I checked it out (and ended up having to set my kindle to airplane mode in order to finish it.) Ocean waters rise at an alarming rate, flooding the world as we know it. The only land left belongs to the tops of mountains. Seven years earlier, Myra's husband abandoned her and fled with their daughter. Myra, who was pregnant at the time, has since given birth and lives on her own with her young daughter on a small boat, surviving by trading fish she has caught. After learning that her oldest daughter is still alive and being held captive, she will risk everything to find her.
Sometimes the library big read selections are a bit odd but I really enjoyed this one. As you know, I like books with an apocalyptic theme and I'd say this one fell into that category. After the Flood was fast paced and with so much going on, it never dragged for me. There was a lot of depth when it came to details regarding emotions. I would have loved more detail for physical descriptions of places but I can see why the author wrote it the way she did. To add more detail would have made this book much longer. I didn't dislike the ending but I was hoping for more. With the way it is now, there could actually be a sequel.
If you're looking for something different to read, give this one a look.
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I have nothing but high praise for Margaret Atwood's sequel to The Handmaid's Tale. If you've read The Handmaid's Tale and want to know more, this will satisfy your curiosity. The Testaments is told from the perspective of three females - the highest ranking Aunt and two girls, one who grew up in Gilead and one from Canada.
If you want to read this, do yourself a favor and don't read anything about the book. Nothing. There are spoilers all over the place. I happened across a monthly book review by another blogger shortly after I had started reading The Testaments and I was a bit disappointed when she gave away some plot lines I had suspected, but aren't revealed into later in the book. So I'm not going to say much more so as to not give anything away, but I thought this was an excellent book. I'm really a big Atwood fan.
I do find it interesting how there are a ton of negative reviews out there and while I am typically a tough judge of books, I really don't see why people are furiously throwing out one and two star reviews. We're all entitled to our opinion but people seem to be so angry over this book.
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You guys know how much I enjoy reading suspense, even when the plot is a bit of a stretch, but The Au Pair was not that good. After giving birth to twins Seraphine and Danny, Ruth Mayes jumps from a cliff behind her family's estate. The au pair leaves that very night and returns to London while dark rumors circulate through the nearby village. Twenty-five years later, after their father dies in a tragic accident, Seraphine begins to question who she really is. As she digs up the past, lives are threatened. Are her parents really her parents and who doesn't want her to know the truth?
After reading the first chapter, I couldn't figure out how this could be a full length book. I thought there was a lot of filler and while it didn't necessarily drag on, I wasn't a fan of how this was written. Some of the character interactions just seemed awkward. Also, there's the fact that I figured out almost all of the plot twists very early on in the book. There were just too many coincidences for me. If you're a fan of suspense, I unfortunately would not recommend this one.
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Gah! I have such mixed feelings for Fleishman Is in Trouble. I think the author is a brilliant writer but I didn't love everything about this book. Toby Fleishman, an early-40s doctor, awakens to discover that his newly separated wife has dropped off their children early to his apartment. She communicates that she is traveling to a yoga retreat for the weekend and needed to leave the children with him earlier than the agreed upon Friday night transfer of parental duties. She refuses to answer her phone or respond to any text messages over the weekend and then fails to pick up the children Sunday night. Why did his soon-to-be ex-wife abandon her children and what really happened to their marriage?
At first, I thought there was going to be some type of mystery aspect here. There really is not. Well, there is in the sense of what happened with these characters, but this is not a page-turner. And that's fine, it doesn't need to be a page-turner. The author hits on so many relevant topics: social status, motherhood, money, marriage, independence, working moms. I really think she did an outstanding job with that. I could relate to a lot of what was written here and I appreciated the depth of emotion, but there was a very slight drag. Mostly with the fact that days went on forever because they were filled with back stories.
I did not like the rated R writing. In a way, I wonder if it was included as a shock factor. For me, it took away from the writing. I also did not "laugh out loud." Trust me, I appreciated the comedic aspect, such as all the moms wearing tanks and tees with statements like "but first, coffee" but I wasn't laughing. I do admit to having an odd sense of humor though.
In my opinion, this had the potential for a five star review, but it just missed the mark. And I hate to say that because I really did love what she was writing about.
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Kin is an IT specialist who lives in San Francisco with his wife and daughter. In his previous life, he was a time traveler from the year 2142 who became stuck in current time 1996 after he was seriously injured during a mission. What happens when a rescue team arrives after 18 years have passed to return him to 2142? What about his wife and daughter? What about the forgotten family and life he left behind in the future? And what happens when he learns his daughter's life is in danger? What will he risk in order to save her?
I really, really enjoyed reading Here and Now and Then. It was fast-paced and moved along without ever dragging. Even though I did crave some more details, that would have made for a very different, much longer book so I can't fault the author for his decision to write this as such. I thought the plot was excellent and gave the reader much to ponder. You don't need to be a sci-fi fan (I'm mostly not) to like this book. Really, I'd recommend it to anyone.
To read my other book reviews, click here for all the links!
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