Susie's Review: The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch

The Hangman's Daughter is the 6th best-selling book for Kindle, and having just received a Kindle for Christmas this year I decided to give it a try! I wasn't disappointed. This book is definitely a read-in-one-sitting story, full of action and plot twists and mystery and intrigue. I loved it from the very first page.

Synopsis:

The mystery takes place in Schongau, a village in 1659 Bavaria (there was no German state yet). After a young boy is pulled from a river with fatal stab wounds, the people of the village discover a strange mark tattooed on his shoulder. The mark is considered to be a witches mark, and the village hangman is called upon to investigate whether witchcraft was the cause of the boys death. The town is haunted by the witch trials that plagued them just seventy years earlier, and hangman Kuisl is terrified that history may repeat itself and he may be forced to execute many innocent people. When more children disappear and an orphan boy is found dead--marked by the same tattoo--the village becomes frantic, and the hangman has to rush to find the truth before he is forced to shed innocent blood.

Kuisl, along with the help of his daughter, Magdalena, and Simon, the university-educated son of the town's physician, go on a search and discover that a devil is certainly running the streets in Schongau. They have to rush to solve the mystery while endangering their own lives in hopes that they can prevent further bloodshed.

My Thoughts:

I liked this book because the story has an unlikely hero. The very man in charge of torturing or perhaps killing the innocent people is the same one who is trying to set them free. His profession was chosen for him before his birth, but his true love is in nature and medicine and healing; not killing. He's a tortured soul tied down to his families profession by tradition; but using his intelligence and kindness to set himself apart from the small-minded town he's able to solve the mystery of the murdered children. It's these two sides of Kuisl that give the story humanity. In my opinion it really should have been called The Hangman because I felt the hangman's daughter, Magdalena, had a relatively minor part in the whole story.

Simon, the physician's son, is also a rebel of sorts to his trade. He sees flaws in the tradition of bleeding the sick, pouring oil into wounds, and other old remedies that had little healing effect. He longs to study plants and herbs, even though he faces ridicule by associating himself with the hangman, Jakob Kuisl. The town mocks him for his relationship with the hangman, and his ever growing love for the hangman's daughter, Magdalena. Hangmen's children marry other hangmen's children, they do not marry outside of their profession. The book is full of rebels and misfits, and that always appeals to me!

The mystery aspect is very intriguing, and the book has a rapid pace that never lulls for a moment. Time is short for the three heroes to discover what the cause of the murders is, and each day the hangman gets closer to having to execute the person he believes to be innocent. You'll keep turning pages to see what happens next!

My only complaint is that I felt that the characters came to solutions or found clues a little faster than is realistically possible. However, I tend to overanalyze how plausible every situation is in a book, so it may not bother most people.

If you enjoy historical fiction, mysteries, and strong characters I encourage you to pick up this book! I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Susie's Review: Room by Emma Donoghue

Room is a book that unavoidably makes its readers re-examine the world in which they live. While there are now huge selections of books written about abuse and rape, the thing that makes Room unique is its voice. The entire book is written from the perspective of Jack; a five-year-old boy who has spent his entire life in a twelve-foot-square room. He lives there with his 'Ma' who has been held captive there for seven years. Jack's mother has done everything in her power to construct a safe, enchanting world for Jack; reading him stories, singing songs, and never speaking of 'Old Nick', the man who comes at night while Jack sleeps in the wardrobe.

While the story is sometimes terrifying, author Emma Donoghue consistently de-emphasizes Old Nick, a strategy that reflects Jack's limited perspective but also demonstrates that she has no intention of exploiting sexual abuse for dramatic effect or trafficking in the sexual charge of abduction thrillers.

We learn that Jack doesn't think of his room as a prison, for it is all he knows of the world. His mother has done such a good job of hiding the horrors that keep her there, that he is surprised and disbelieving when about halfway through the book he realizes that there might be a bigger world outside of room.

The special thing about this book is that the reader learns as Jack learns. Many times we learn more than he can yet grasp, but as with most books narrated by children, the space between his understanding and ours is a territory of emotional power. I don't want to give very much away, because if you do choose to read this you will want to discover the details as they happen.

Once you've read Room, it's hard to look at the world or your children the same way again. It was amazing to see the world through the perspective of a child, to see all their innocence and wonder and steadfast love expressed in realistic five-year-old words. I found myself appreciating my own daughter more after reading Jack's story. You also will see the world as a vastly different place; although with that appreciation you'll also see the insufficiencies and flaws therein. It's an unsettling story, but well worth your time.

I give Room 5 out of 5 stars. Get it at your library!

Susie's Review: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffeneger

The synopsis: When Elspeth Noblin dies of cancer, she leaves her London apartment to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina. These two American girls never met their English aunt, only knew that their mother, too, was a twin, and Elspeth her sister.

The girls move to Elspeth's flat, which borders the historic Highgate Cemetery in London. They come to know the building's other residents. There is Martin, a brilliant and charming man suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Marjike, Martin's devoted but trapped wife; and Robert, Elspeth's lover, a scholar of the cemetery. As the girls become embroiled in the fraying lives of their aunt's neighbors, they also discover that much is still alive in Highgate, including - perhaps - their aunt, who can't seem to leave her old apartment and life behind.


I was very excited to pick up this book, as I'd thoroughly enjoyed Niffeneger's The Time Traveler's Wife. However, I was sadly disappointed. It kept me interested through the first half, and then I found myself having to try hard to ignore the glaring holes in logic. I have no problem with a ghost story; but it has to be well-crafted, and the ghost can't wander around magically wearing fancy clothes, when in fact the ghost is invisible and can't even lift a pencil on her own - much less change wardrobes. Yes, that really bothered me. The ghost can be invisible yes, but where is she getting these invisible ghost-clothes? Doesn't make sense! This, along with the fact that Elsbeth is a despicable character and the decisions made by the characters were completely absurd made this a book I didn't really enjoy; particularly after thinking about it months later.


What Niffeneger did do very well is provide one thoroughly realized, lovable character. The agoraphobic Martin was my favorite; an obsessive-compulsive hermit on a quest to win back the affections of his wife. That was the real love story to me in this novel. Sadly, his character plays a relatively minor role in the story and he isn't all that relevant to the main plot.

I give this a 2 out of 5 stars. I know Audrey Niffeneger can do way better, so I'm hoping her next book is more like her first!

Christina's Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

From Amazon: Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...

I've heard great things about this 10 year old book by Laurie Halse Anderson and finally Susie sent me a copy to read for myself. Seems like books without chapters in them (divided rather by day/content/event) are coming into style, and I'm follow suit with my upcoming book, Imaginary Lives. As for Speak, I enjoyed the lead character's style: very blunt and honest. The mood was portrayed perfectly, allowing us to only know the other people according to Melinda's view of them. Her teachers were referred to by nicknames rather than real names half the time. Her days were recorded only as important in her eyes and in the way people treated her due to the "incident" the previous summer.

The one thing I disliked about the book was Melinda's extreme negativity about the "incident" when i felt that she should have talked to people rather than keeping it a secret. I suppose this is an example of a typical teenager, who feels so strongly that no one will listen or understand that they decide its better to simply keep it quiet. However, this only pushed her further away from those around her, leaving Melinda hurt and disconnected all the time. I wish she'd learned faster how to cope. But I suppose that was the point of the book!

I know this is a brief description, but overall, I enjoyed the simple writing style and the mood setting. I loved the art teacher, although he was still a little one-dimensional. I did take the style of the book and apply it to my own story, so it wasn't all bad. I do, however, wish that Melinda and some of the other characters had a little more depth.

Overall, I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars.

Christina

Christina's Review: Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Synopsis from School Library Journal: In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old KatnissÆs young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining districtÆs female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

- - - - - - - -

I want to write like Suzanne Collins. This lady took an issue of which she is adamantly passionate (child violence) and wrote an amazing science fiction novel that reaches into your soul and twists around until you feel vehemently against war and famine. Written in first person, the story follows the journey of a young girl who-for the love of her little sister-decides to fight against 23 other teens in a battle to the death (chance of survival= 4%).

THE BAD

Hmmmmm, I don't like the ending. But don't worry, this isn't a spoiler; all I'm saying is that she shouldn't have left us not only dangling but gripping the rock at the top of a cliff with only our index and middle fingers still holding on and sliding precariously further down. I honestly can't think of anything else that bothered me in this book, although my brother complained that the writing was choppy and especially hated the first person present voice (which I thought intriguing).

THE GOOD

Everything. I loved the heroine, cleverly written with depth, personality, a good dose of bravery, and a girly love for nice clothes (but not enough to make us want to toss a dirty t-shirt at her). I loved Peeta, the guy that liked/didn't like? her throughout the book; whenever he started going flat, the author instantly threw another story into the mix to update his personality with a new flaw or endearing characteristic. And the story itself? Brilliant, deep, intense, thought provoking.

THE VERDICT: AWESOMENESS

Any book that makes me cry AND tremble with excitement within the FIRST CHAPTER deserves my highest rating; so for Suzanne Collin's Hunger Games, I hereby bestow a 5 out of 5 in hopes that a little of her brilliance will rub off on my own writings in the future. Thank you, Suzanne, for a wonderful read.

Susie's Review - The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

When two young girls disappear from their homes one early morning, the answers to their disappearance lie in the secrets of their past. The Weight of Silence is a book that really starts off with a bang. It was one of those books I picked up and just had to finish as soon as possible so I could know what was going to happen. However I didn't reach the end and think 'wow, that was just incredible', I reached the end and thought it was just pretty good.

The book is definitely suspenseful, although I felt the author took an easy route writing from the different people's perspectives. One chapter will be from the mother's perspective, the next one will be from the detectives perspective, etc,...
I wouldn't have minded so much if the author had given each of the characters different voices. They are all so varied, in age and upbringing, yet there is no variation in voice or writing style. I felt like, at times, the writing was very amateurish. I also found a few of the characters really disappointing. However, the three children featured in this book; Calli, Petra, and Ben are all fascinating and you'll keep flipping pages so you can find out what happens to them.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars, and I hope that Gudenkauf will continue to write great stories, only next time I hope her writing is a little improved.

Christina's Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Synopsis from Publisher's Weekly:

The last normal moment that Mia, a talented cellist, can remember is being in the car with her family. Then she is standing outside her body beside their mangled Buick and her parents' corpses, watching herself and her little brother being tended by paramedics. As she ponders her state (Am I dead? I actually have to ask myself this), Mia is whisked away to a hospital, where, her body in a coma, she reflects on the past and tries to decide whether to fight to live. Via Mia's thoughts and flashbacks, Forman (Sisters in Sanity) expertly explores the teenager's life, her passion for classical music and her strong relationships with her family, friends and boyfriend, Adam. Mia's singular perspective (which will recall Alice Sebold's adult novel, The Lovely Bones) also allows for powerful portraits of her friends and family as they cope: Please don't die. If you die, there's going to be one of those cheesy Princess Diana memorials at school, prays Mia's friend Kim. I know you'd hate that kind of thing. Intensely moving, the novel will force readers to take stock of their lives and the people and things that make them worth living.

Overall . . .

This story was more of a "lemme sit you down and tell ya what happened last week" story than an organized novel. There are no chapters in this book, just a continual flow of dialog broken periodically by time references that held no meaning for me (i.e. 7:35AM) because I didn't really care how long she had been in a coma; I more just wanted to know what would happen next, who would be visiting her in the upcoming section, and what we would learn about her past. From the beginning, I was intrigued by the plot: within a few pages her entire family is out on a snowy bank, covered in blood, with the car on its side a few feet away. Definitely a quick start.

The Bad . . .

A few things really bugged me. First, everyone in her family seemed a little too "good." Even her friend, Kim, fit into a little box of "bitchy yet sweet" or something like that. And although I liked the vignettes about various people, I was sometimes bored as if wondering "have I heard this already?" because by about halfway through the book, I could have told you the story. Let's see, Mia is going to have another Cello experience, Adam will show how cool and collected he is, Kim will blow off steam on someone, her mom will be unusually punk rockish for a woman with two kids, and her dad will be overcoming his rocker past.

The other thing that bothered me was the ending. Not to give away any spoilers, but despite the fact that Mia seemed perfectly set on her decision to stay/leave (not giving that away here!), it was very obvious she had no real explanation as to why. There was no surprise in the end when she at the last minute changed her mind. Because of that, I did not cry at all in the book, more just rolled my eyes and said "c'mon already, we know what you're actually going to do, Mia."

Finally, although this won't bother a lot of readers, I was a little miffed by some of the sexual content in the book. I would have loved to suggest this book to teens I know because of the thought-provoking ideas in the book, but I wouldn't want to give a young girl a book that encourages high school aged sex with guys you have just met. So that was definitely a negative to me. (If this book was not in the Young Adult section, I would not even mention this.)

The Good . . .

Despite my negativity above, I will say that there were many good things in this book. I like Forman's idea to show a young girl at the brink of womanhood suddenly finding herself in an out-of-body experience where she has in an instant lost so many things she holds dear. And at first, I truly wondered what she would do in the end, seeing that staying in her life without her family would be very painful. I love the coma-victims-can-see-whats-going-on idea. Very clever and eye-opening.

Secondly, Forman's voice was super fun and quirky. Mia has a lot of spunk. I especially love that she is obsessed with the cello. I love music and I wish that I could play the cello and date a rocker and all of that. Very cool. I also really liked Adam, her boyfriend. He had more depth than some of the other characters; you're never quite sure what he's going to say and that's how it should be I think.

Finally, although her characters weren't immensely complex, they were very fun and lovable. And I will confess I walked around the house, cooked meals, fed the baby and worked in the church nursery while reading the If I Stay. And I don't do that unless I'm really enjoying a book.

Summary . . .

Gayle Forman's If I Stay was fun, quirky and filled with intriguing stories and thought-provoking topics, but because of the predictable ending, I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars.