Favorite by Stephanie McQuestion
This book was all over the place. The premise was enticing, which is why I started reading it in the first place. Unfortunately, I think the author was a little unsure of what she was trying to accomplish.
The protagonist of this first person narrative, Angel Favorite, is sixteen years old during the events of Favorite, and her language is consistent with someone of that age. Her thoughts, though, are more of what I'd expect from someone who is nine or ten. There is some mild cussing, so I don't think Stephanie McQuestion intended this novel to be read by anyone younger than a young adult. However, I do not see how any young adult would feel this book was at his/her level.
Angel's thoughts are so juvenile they give Favorite the feel of a children's book. Her choices are consistently wrong; they exhibit questionable judgment at best and stupidity at worst. And she's a goody-two shoes. The entire plot of this novel is driven by these qualities. It is far from the only example, but all the events of Favorite are set in motion because Angel leaves her wallet on the seat of her unlocked car while she attempts to walk back into the dry cleaners to tell them they gave her back too much change for her transaction.
I've never read any of McQuestion's other works; I do not know her style. I do know that I don't like that she set up clairvoyance as a gun on the table that was never really used. It is mentioned in the first sentence of the novel. It is presented to us in such a way that we are to believe it will be a big deal in Favorite. It doesn't play a part at all except in such a haphazard way. It is nothing more than a throw-in. In my opinion, that is poor writing. I was very disappointed by that.
As I said earlier, the premise is promising. There is a lot there from which a great story can be crafted. The final product, I'm sorry to say, failed for me on nearly every level. At least it wasn't boring.
D-
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Prayers for Rain
Prayers for Rain by Dennis Lehane
I love the end--or, at least, what we thought was the end--of the Kenzie-Gennaro series. I love the way Lehane wrapped up the Patrick-Angie storyline. I love the case, rather, the issue, at hand.
Of what I've read thus far, this was Lehane's best work. I did not "Why" questions in my head after reading this one. Everything made sense. Although I loved the entire series, I had minor gripes with each of the first four novels. None this time around.
Only a great storyline and great writing could make me root for Bubba Rogowski. In Prayers for Rain, I rooted for that man from beginning to end. We saw depth to his character that had been building throughout the series, but hadn't been quite drawn all the way out. There was more to Bubba in this book than we'd previously witnessed.
I think Angie's familial ties were handled much better in Prayers for Rain than in Darkness, Take My Hand, which was the only other time they played a major part in the plot. It did not seem so contrived this time around.
In a way, I feel as though the first four books were written to set up this story. This was neither the most complicated nor the most emotional of the Kenzie-Gennaro plots, but it was the most intellectual. The plot of this novel was about life in the trenches, when every moment is a matter of life and death.
Prayers for Rain was about togetherness and teamwork. Its theme is family. It is about leaning, at the moment of truth, upon those who mean the most to you and seeing whether you stand united and live together or die separately. When you are walking into certain death, who is going to stand with you? If you fall, who is going to speak for you? Anyone? When you cry out, is anyone listening. That's what you think about when reading this book. Really, that is the common thread between all five of the novels.
A
I love the end--or, at least, what we thought was the end--of the Kenzie-Gennaro series. I love the way Lehane wrapped up the Patrick-Angie storyline. I love the case, rather, the issue, at hand.
Of what I've read thus far, this was Lehane's best work. I did not "Why" questions in my head after reading this one. Everything made sense. Although I loved the entire series, I had minor gripes with each of the first four novels. None this time around.
Only a great storyline and great writing could make me root for Bubba Rogowski. In Prayers for Rain, I rooted for that man from beginning to end. We saw depth to his character that had been building throughout the series, but hadn't been quite drawn all the way out. There was more to Bubba in this book than we'd previously witnessed.
I think Angie's familial ties were handled much better in Prayers for Rain than in Darkness, Take My Hand, which was the only other time they played a major part in the plot. It did not seem so contrived this time around.
In a way, I feel as though the first four books were written to set up this story. This was neither the most complicated nor the most emotional of the Kenzie-Gennaro plots, but it was the most intellectual. The plot of this novel was about life in the trenches, when every moment is a matter of life and death.
Prayers for Rain was about togetherness and teamwork. Its theme is family. It is about leaning, at the moment of truth, upon those who mean the most to you and seeing whether you stand united and live together or die separately. When you are walking into certain death, who is going to stand with you? If you fall, who is going to speak for you? Anyone? When you cry out, is anyone listening. That's what you think about when reading this book. Really, that is the common thread between all five of the novels.
A
Friday, April 2, 2010
Gone, Baby, Gone
Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane
Man, oh, man, what a wonderful book. What a full and complete, emotionally gripping story. There are so many levels to this thing.
First, there is the development of Patrick and Angie's relationship from where we last saw them at the end of Sacred. As Gone, Baby, Gone is the fourth book about the pair, it is as though we have known them their whole lives, but there is still much for us, and them, to learn. So often when two people get together, especially in fiction, they mesh into one personality. Lehane does an excellent job of maintaining Patrick and Angie's separate identities, of maintaining both their individual independence and each's faith and trust in the other's. Their's is a great relationship. There are no ultimatums; there is no coercion. All that exists between those two are love and understanding. But that doesn't mean it's pretty.
How far will cops go for each other? And how much pull does a civilian friendship have on a cop when other cops are in need? Gone, Baby, Gone, like the other Kenzie-Gennaro novels, is a story of relationships. No one person accomplishes anything on his/her own. Teamwork is at the core of all these stories, and this one moreso than the others. See, it's not Amanda McCready's disappearance that gets to you; instead, it's the heart and efforts of the people affected by it. Watching these men and women who have been broken many times over get back on their feet and keep walking into what they believe is certain darkness that got me fully invested.
The central question Gone, Baby, Gone asks is: WHAT IS RIGHT? Sometimes the answer is clear cut. Sometimes it is not. In this story, I don't think anything is. I'm convinced there is no right answer, just a bunch of wrong ones. At the end, you may ask yourself whose side you are on. I did. I'm on neither's side. Yeah, I'll be thinking about this one for a long, long time.
I saw the movie a year ago, so I already knew what happened. That did nothing to lessen my enjoyment of the book. I read it slowly, much more slowly than the previous three, because I enjoyed it so much I wanted to savor every word. As I said to my wife last night, I enjoyed it so much I put it down with fifty pages left because I wanted to make it last just a bit longer.
The only negative here was the five pages of Port Mesa, Texas at the beginning and the end. I realize what Lehane was attempting, but it didn't work for me. It only took away from an otherwise great novel.
A-
Man, oh, man, what a wonderful book. What a full and complete, emotionally gripping story. There are so many levels to this thing.
First, there is the development of Patrick and Angie's relationship from where we last saw them at the end of Sacred. As Gone, Baby, Gone is the fourth book about the pair, it is as though we have known them their whole lives, but there is still much for us, and them, to learn. So often when two people get together, especially in fiction, they mesh into one personality. Lehane does an excellent job of maintaining Patrick and Angie's separate identities, of maintaining both their individual independence and each's faith and trust in the other's. Their's is a great relationship. There are no ultimatums; there is no coercion. All that exists between those two are love and understanding. But that doesn't mean it's pretty.
How far will cops go for each other? And how much pull does a civilian friendship have on a cop when other cops are in need? Gone, Baby, Gone, like the other Kenzie-Gennaro novels, is a story of relationships. No one person accomplishes anything on his/her own. Teamwork is at the core of all these stories, and this one moreso than the others. See, it's not Amanda McCready's disappearance that gets to you; instead, it's the heart and efforts of the people affected by it. Watching these men and women who have been broken many times over get back on their feet and keep walking into what they believe is certain darkness that got me fully invested.
The central question Gone, Baby, Gone asks is: WHAT IS RIGHT? Sometimes the answer is clear cut. Sometimes it is not. In this story, I don't think anything is. I'm convinced there is no right answer, just a bunch of wrong ones. At the end, you may ask yourself whose side you are on. I did. I'm on neither's side. Yeah, I'll be thinking about this one for a long, long time.
I saw the movie a year ago, so I already knew what happened. That did nothing to lessen my enjoyment of the book. I read it slowly, much more slowly than the previous three, because I enjoyed it so much I wanted to savor every word. As I said to my wife last night, I enjoyed it so much I put it down with fifty pages left because I wanted to make it last just a bit longer.
The only negative here was the five pages of Port Mesa, Texas at the beginning and the end. I realize what Lehane was attempting, but it didn't work for me. It only took away from an otherwise great novel.
A-
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