Audiobook Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

I've wanted to read a book by V. E. Schwab for quite a while, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was a good first choice.

Addie is over 300 years old. At least for part of the story. It starts out when she is young and makes a deal with the devil. Of course, she doesn't understand the consequences. She will live forever (or until she chooses to let the devil take her soul) and never age. But, throughout her entire life, she will never be remembered by anyone. As soon as she walks out of sight, they will not remember her. Pretty difficult to build relationships. Or get and keep a job. 

Her life begins in the French countryside in the early 1700s, so after about 300 years, you can just take a moment and think about everything she's lived through. Wars, economic upheaval, changes in technology, slavery, environmental changes...

And then, all of a sudden, she meets a man in a bookstore, and he remembers her. How? Why? Well, those are questions that the second half of the book answers.

Schwab is a good writer, and I found the narrative interesting, if a bit lengthy. It takes a long time for Addie to meet Henry (when things get really interesting IMO.) The audio version of a story always makes me more patient, so that certainly helped.

Julia Whelan narrates the audiobook, and she is a favorite of mine (and of a lot of people). So if you are new to audiobooks, seek her out.

Even with the slow pace, I would still recommend The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. It's an interesting story and leaves you thinking about life. And what is important. And relationships.

Published by Tor, 2020.
Audiobook purchased from libro.fm
448 pages

Rating: 4/5

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Book Review: The Blue, by Nancy Bilyeau @Tudorscribe @EndeavourQuill

I thoroughly enjoyed Bilyeau's Johanna Stafford Series, so when I was offered the chance to read The Blue, it was an easy decision. I was not disappointed.

Genevieve Planché wants to be an artist. But in 18th century London, a woman artist can do nothing but paint on silk or "the most seductive of commodities," porcelain. When Genevieve makes a serious social blunder, her grandfather makes arrangements to send her away to a porcelain factory in Devon.

Her encounter with Sir Gabriel Courtenay changes everything. He promises her that if she will help him steal the formula for a new blue color from the porcelain factory, he will help her get to Venice where she can be tutored by real artists and pursue her dream.

Genevieve doesn't want to be a spy but agrees to the arrangement because she is so desperate to get out of this life she is being forced to lead. She has no idea what she is getting herself into.

You wouldn't think the pursuit of a new shade of blue would serve as such compelling reading. But Bilyeau manages to keep the tension mounting and the hopelessness sustained. Genevieve becomes a sympathetic character, mired deeper and deeper in what turns out to be much more than a theft of a formula for blue. And there is a believable romance which complicated the situation even more.

I was enlightened about the politics of the war between France and England (not sure which one--The French & Indian War?), the porcelain industry and its competitive nature, the difficulty in producing the color blue, and the plight of the Huguenot refugees, as Genevieve is one of them. All the while being connected to the characters and drawn into their plight.

I wish there had been a historical note included. I did some research on porcelain and the color blue after I finished The Blue. I wanted to know how much of the history was accurate. UPDATE: The author has informed me that historical notes will be included in the final copy. Yay!

Bilyeau is a given for me. And historical fiction is my fav...so...I was destined to enjoy The Blue. If you are a fan of 18th-century history, I'm sure you'll enjoy it too.

Published by Endeavour Quill, December 3, 2018
eARC obtained from the publisher
 430 pages

Rating: 4.5/5

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Audio Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

All the Light We Cannot See is a meandering, character driven story that is compelling because of its stunning prose.

The story takes place during WWII, and we follow two separate characters that end up crossing paths at a most desperate time for both of them. Marie-Laure lives in Paris with her father who works at the Museum of Natural History. She has been blind since she was six years old. Her father, a master at woodworking, makes her a model of the city to help her learn to navigate it herself. When Paris is invaded, they escape to the walled coastal town of Saint-Malo to take refuge with her father's reclusive uncle. Her father begins construction of a model of Saint-Malo for Marie-Laure. Her father has also brought what may be a priceless artifact from the museum for safekeeping. This diamond has a cursed legend to go with it, and will cause some additional problems for these characters. Marie-Laure's great uncle also has a secret radio that he shows her.

Werner is a German orphan boy who lives in a home for these children with his younger sister. He becomes fascinated with radios and when his expert skills are discovered by the Germans, he is sent to one of Hitler's schools for young boys where they are educated and trained to be everything a Nazi should be. After he leaves the school, his assignment is to seek out resistance fighters who have secret radios. Throughout the entire book, Werner feels guilty about what he is forced to do and the consequences of his actions. But he sees no way out.

The different settings come alive as they are described, as do the characters. Eventually Werner and Marie-Laure's paths cross, but the story isn't over yet. The way the relationships are woven together is fascinating. Doerr does a great job of wrapping up all the different threads, actually ending the story in the present.

As I said, what makes the story is the writing. The audio narrator (Zach Appelman) does an excellent job and has a neutral voice that is easy to listen to. The story is written in the third person without much dialog, so the voice was always the same. I think it takes a lot of skill to narrate a story like this without it becoming monotonous. And this wasn't.

One really picky complaint is that at least three of the main characters' names start with the "V" sound (W in German, I guess.) I'm bad about keeping track of names, so this similarity kept confusing me. There are also changes in time periods, but in big blocks of chapters that are well identified, so it didn't confuse me.

All the Light We Cannot See won't be a book for everyone, but it has great appeal for those who enjoy literary, character-driven, historical novels. Most teens would not fall in this category, but I have a select few who may enjoy this.

Published by Scribner, Simon & Schuster audio, 2014
Audiobook obtained from the library
531 pages

Rating: 4.5/5

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Audio Book Review: The Swan Thieves, by Elizabeth Kostova

The characters in The Swan Thieves are what set it apart. The plot, while interesting, moves very slowly.

Robert Oliver has attacked a painting with a knife at a museum and is under the psychiatric care of Andrew Marlow, our main character and one of the narrators of The Swan Thieves. Other than initially speaking a few sentences when he checked into the hospital, Oliver hasn't spoken or even paid much attention to Marlow since that first day. Oliver did tell Marlow that he could speak to anyone he wanted.

Marlow gives the impression that this was a unique case for him and that he may feel there was some impropriety in his treatment of Oliver. Oliver himself is a fairly successful artist, and Marlow also paints so they have this in common. Not that it helps. Oliver obsessively paints the same woman over and over. Who is she?

Marlow ends up interviewing Kate, Oliver's ex wife. And also Mary, who I'm not really going to tell you about. These two characters are also narrators of the story. There's also a narration from the past -- 1889 -- which takes place in France and is based on some letters that Oliver possess, written in French, about a woman named Beatrice, also a painter, and a man who becomes her lover.

As you can see there are multiple layers to the story. What at first seems superfluous information ends up being relevant, so the reader must be patient while Marlow weeds through bits and pieces of information at a painstakingly slow pace.

Each character's story is told completely and serves to connect the reader to their story. The way everything comes together at the end is very clever and surprising (and worth the wait.)

I was a bit confused at times about the French portion of the narration. It starts out as just the letters that Oliver gave Marlow to read, but ends up telling a romantic story between two people. This divergence from the letters is subtle. I became confused because the reader is learning things that Marlow doesn't know, and it's hard to keep track of what is a letter (that Marlow knows about) and what is the rest of the story (that he doesn't). While not essential to understanding what is going on, it did bother me a bit.

I learned a lot about the life of artists--painters in particular. Their daily routine was something I've never thought about. And how one breaks into the art world and gets their work exposed was explored a bit too.

As I often say about audiobooks, I'm very patient. This is another one of those books that I'm not sure I would have had the patience to finish if not for the audio format. The narrators were spot on. The multiple narrations were read by different people which helped a great deal.

If you like epic, character driven stories that contain some sweet romance(es) and some surprises, you will enjoy The Swan Thieves. I highly recommend the audio version.

Published by Little, Brown & Company, (Hachette Audio) 2010
Audiobook obtained from the library
800 pages

Rating: 4/5

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Book Review: The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah

I adored this poignant and chilling novel about two sisters in France during WWII, each fighting the war in their own way. Hannah has brought this time in history back to life in The Nightingale.

After Vianne's father came back from the war (the first world war) he wasn't the same. After her mother died, her father took Vianne and her sister, Isabelle to a small town in France and left them with a strange and cruel woman. Vianne has an easier time forgetting and falls in love and settles down and gives birth to a daughter, Sophie. Isabelle is sent to boarding school after boarding school, each of which she escapes from. As much as she longs for her father's love, he won't take her in.

It's 1939 and Vianne's husband, Antoine, gets called to serve in the French army, and is promptly captured by the Germans as they invade. Isabelle tries to escape Paris, but ends up on a long, deadly march with hundreds of thousands of people. On this march she meets Gaetan and completely and totally falls in love. She finally makes it to Vianne, is abandonded by Gaetan, and they try to scrape out a living as things get worse and worse. A German soldier is billeted with them which is awkward, but actually helpful since he brings them food when no one else has any.

This is a many faceted story. Vianne's best friend, whose husband is also captured, is Jewish. So you know that's not going to end well.

Isabelle can't keep her mouth shut and cannot stand by and do nothing, so she secretly joins the resistance and eventually goes to Paris. Her escapades get more and more dangerous. Gaetan is also in the resistance, but they rarely see each other.

While the first German soldier to live with Vianne is nice, the second one is a member of the Gestapo and, well, he mistreats Vianne in every way you can imagine.

Isabelle ends up being captured and is sent to Ravensbrock concentration camp. If you've read Rose Under Fire, this should sound familiar.

I cannot explain the hunger and cold and the general cruelty of the Germans, but Hannah had me shivering. What really stands out is the bravery of these women. Each in their own way. The sisters are very different and don't have a very good relationship. When Isabelle threatens Vianne's safety, she cannot understand. She thinks Isabelle is impetuous and immature. But eventually Vianne realizes that at some point you have to say "no." You have to stand up for something, even if you are putting yourself and those you love at risk.

I tend to think I'd be like Vianne. Be quiet and don't make waves. Accept your fate and just try to muddle through. But I hope, like Vianne, that I would reach a limit to my need for self-preservation and do something to stand up for what is right. I know it's difficult to predict how one would react in those exceptional circumstances.

It's a beautiful story that had me tearing up a few times. There is a present-day narrator (I won't say who) that is going to a reunion in France for those that were part of the resistance. She has never told her son, who is going with her, anything about her past.

The Nightingale is an adult book, but I would, as you can probably tell, recommend this book to anyone. I've read many of Hannah's books, but The Nightingale is by far the best. (Not that I haven't enjoyed her other novels.) If you enjoyed Rose Under Fire, or Carnegie Medal winner Tamar, I would recommend The Nightingale. And alternatively, if you're looking for something after reading The Nightingale, consider those books.

Published by St. Martin's Press, February 3, 2015
eARC obtained from NetGalley
448 pages

Rating: 5/5

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Book Review: The Care and Management of Lies, by Jacqueline Winspear

I'm a huge historical fiction fan, and there seems to be a dearth of books about World War I, so when I saw The Care and Management of Lies, written by a well-known author, I couldn't pass it up. For the most part, I really enjoyed the book

Kezia and Thea are best friends. Well, at least they were all through school. But now Kezia is  going to marry Tom, Thea's brother, and move to the family farm to become a farm wife. Thea is enjoying her job as a teacher in London, so the girls have grown apart.

It is surprising how well Kezia takes to farm life. She is a society girl, and knows nothing about cooking or running a household. But she works hard and she and Tom have a great relationship. Shortly after they are married, World War I breaks out, and Tom enlists. Kezia must now run the entire farm, with the help of a few men who for various reasons can't fight in the war.

Thea, always a suffragette, is now protesting the war, and when she is in danger of being arrested for sedition, she has a change of heart and joins a medical team and runs an ambulance transporting wounded from the front lines to the hospital.

The Care and Management of Lies does a good job of describing life in the trenches for the soldiers, as well as the changes in the lives of those left behind in England. Not a lot happens, but Kezia is a wonderful character, and I enjoyed reading the letters she wrote to Tom, and seeing her become such a strong woman. Ultimately, The Care and Management of Lies is a book about surviving a world turned upside down and holding true to what is important.

Winspear writes very beautifully, and The Care and Management of Lies will be enjoyed by those who want to know more about life during the war. The characters are memorable and while the book is heartbreaking, it's also heartwarming.

Published by Harper, July 1, 2014
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
336 pages

Rating: 4/5

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Book Review: Rose Under Fire, by Elizabeth Wein

I can't believe how much I loved Rose Under Fire. You see, I really didn't like Code Name Verity at all.

Rose Under Fire is a companion novel, so it isn't necessary to have read Verity. One of the characters in Rose is a friend of one of the characters in Verity.

Rose is a U.S. civilian pilot in England, ferrying planes around for the Air Transport Auxiliary. She would love to be flying in combat, but in WWII, of course that isn't possible. The beginning of Rose Under Fire gives us the feel of the war in Europe. Although there is always the danger of the flying bombs, Rose's life is pretty exciting but mostly safe. Rose wants nothing more than to fly to Paris.

Her Uncle Roger, who got her this job because he's high up in the Royal Engineers, gives Rose her chance. He manages to get her assigned to fly him to Paris. On her way back, Rose runs into trouble, ends up in enemy territory and is captured by the Germans. She is sent to a concentration camp -- Ravensbrück, and that's where the story takes off.

Ravensbrück is where many young Polish women were experimented on by crazy doctors. They would deliberately infect them with gangrene, cut out muscle and bone, and do all sorts of other horrible things. These women were called "rabbits" and Rose became friends and somewhat of a protector to some of these women.

Life in the camp was horrible -- I'm not going to spend a lot of time on those details, but it's a special kind of society that you really need to read about. These women made so many sacrifices for each other, and plotted and schemed to save each other and really to keep their sanity. Rose recites and writes poetry. Another lady in the compound makes paper airplanes. Getting the paper was not an easy challenge! Rose Under Fire is such a multilayered story, it's impossible to explain everything in a review.

Rose Under Fire is written in a diary format, which works well for the subject. Rose is a hero, but there are many heroes in this story. The story is not totally linear, but is very easy to follow (unlike the experience I had with the disjointed narration in Verity.)

I would recommend Rose Under Fire to anyone, teen or adult, who is interested in women in the war, concentration camps, and just the resiliency of the human spirit. The book ends on a more upbeat note, and does include the Nuremberg trials of these horrible doctors.

Reading over this review, I just really didn't do this book justice. But I don't want to say more, because you have to read it to understand. Wein does a lot better job of writing than I do (hah!  Big surprise!) This book should be added to the WWII/Holocaust book lists at all of your libraries.

Published by Miramax, September 10, 2013
eARC obtained from NetGalley
368 pages

Rating: 5/5

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Book Review: Scarlet, by Marissa Meyer @marissa_meyer

It seems I've read several amazing "2nd books in the series" lately -- and Scarlet is no exception.

Scarlet is a pilot and farms with her grandmother, who has been missing for a few weeks. When the police give up on the case, Scarlet decides she will try to find out what happened on her own. She meets a guy named Wolf at a restaurant where she is delivering her vegetables and develops a strange attraction to him.

Crazy things happen, and Scarlet and Wolf end up on an adventure to find her grandmother, but Wolf is hiding things and Scarlet doesn't know if she can trust him.

Cinder escapes from prison, and brings a pilot along with her. They escape in a stolen ship and seem to be safe orbiting the Earth, but Cinder is desperate to figure out just how she came to be who she is.

That's a really bare-bones explanation of a really exciting adventure. The new characters are great -- and the old ones continue to develop. Yes, we do see what is going on with Kai, but he's on his own trying to appease the Lunar queen. She continues to be one of the most villainous villains I've come across. I really WANT the good guys to prevail here, but I'm entertained by the path to get to that point. Cinder and Scarlet's paths do cross in the end and Meyer's plotting is brilliant.

The main setting in Scarlet is France, and some of it is in Paris. It is interesting how Meyer has created this new world, but really it's based on the world we are familiar with.

The ending is satisfying because the battle is over, but the war has only just begun. We know what Cinder's plans are, and I can't wait to see how it all works out in the next book.

You could probably read Scarlet without reading Cinder, but why would you want to? I highly recommend this series to my teens, and I know many of them that are anxiously awaiting Scarlet. They won't be disappointed.

Published by Feiwel & Friends, February 5, 2013
ARC obtained from Around the World ARC Tours
452 pages

Rating: 5/5

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