Keep Fighting

The Women by Kristin Hannah brought me through a roller coaster of emotions.

Frankie is from a well off family living on Coronado island in California. Her upbringing included glorifying the veterans in her family. Her older brother Finley is about to follow the same path. He is leaving for Vietnam after graduating from the naval academy.

Frankie decides to use her recent nursing degree to enlist too. Shortly before she is scheduled to leave, her family receives the horrific news that Finley was killed. Now she is sent to Vietnam with her terrible grief and a drive to help men like her brother.

The story gives brutal detail about the horrors and loss of war. Frankie begins completely unprepared but after two years leaves as a strong, competent nurse.

Retuning home brings new challenges. Her parents refuse to acknowledge her time in Vietnam, Americans despise Vietnam veterans, and she is shunned by veteran groups because she’s a woman. Through love and loss, addiction and post traumatic stress, she has two fellow nurses that are her rocks.

It takes time, but she finds her way. This book kept me turning pages and appreciating friendship, and more importantly, our veterans.

No Trust

The Resort by Sara Ochs is a twisty murder mystery set on an island.

Cass and Brooke alternate chapters. Cass is one of the residents on the island in Thailand, and Brooke is a traveling social media influencer posting about her trip.

Cass is part of a group dubbed the Permanents. All found their way to the island to escape their pasts. Cass is engaged to Logan, one of the guys in their group. All should be great except for when a note appears threatening to reveal her past.

Brooke begins getting friendly with the Permanents, especially Cass. A tourist was murdered shortly before her arrival, and now another girl and guy are found dead.

Cass and Brooke both want to figure out who is responsible, but they’ll need to get over their own pasts and figure out who they can trust to accomplish this.

Undercover Game

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston is full of secrets and twists.

Lucca has spent years of her young adult life on various undercover missions for her unseen boss Mr. Smith. Her current job places her in a relationship with Ryan in order to get as much as intel as possible on his illegal trucking company. She realizes that Mr. Smith may be setting her up to make this her last job.

Events become a game of who can be the first to outsmart and build an arsenal of people to take down the other.

The author does a great job weaving the story by alternating between her present time with Ryan and flashing back to her missions from the past eight years.

This is a fast paced and highly interesting read that will appeal to anyone who loves a good spy/undercover type story.

Battle Lessons

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros is book two in the Empyrean series.

I usually have a tough time staying interested in a series, but this is not one of those times. Book two kept me just as interested as the first book (Fourth Wing).

Violet and her friends are now in year two. Her relationship with Xaden is put to the test now that he is stationed at a far outpost. They are only able to see each other once a week because of their bonded dragons. She is working with him to smuggle weapons as they figure out their own relationship amidst secrets and the presence of his ex-girlfriend.

The school has a new commandant who is determined to break Violet. She is pushed nearly to death. New enemies (and one old) are also introduced. Violet is working on honing her abilities while also further developing bonds with her dragons, Andarna and Tairn.

Ultimately, events build to another rebellion and a final battle amongst venin and wyvern. Riders and fliers will need to overlook their differences in order to fight together.

Truth Talks

The Little Liar by Mitch Albom follows events during and after World War 2, starting in Greece under Nazi invasion. Moments of absolute horror are graced by moments of kindness and courage.

There are four main characters and the narrator is Truth. Characters are brothers Sebastian and Nico, their friend Fannie, and Nazi Udo Graf. Their lives intersect and impact one another in different ways throughout the story.

Young Nico is separated from his family when he hides during their evacuation. Udo Graf is the ruthless Nazi in control who moves into Nico’s home. He uses Nico’s honesty to help his cause by having him assure his fellow Jewish people that boarding the trains (destined for concentration camps) will bring everyone back together to a safe, fresh start.

Sebastian resents his brother for staying behind. While on the train, he volunteers Fannie (his childhood crush) to be thrown off as an escape. This sets her on a completely different path.

Each character is in a unique but troubling situation. Sebastian is with his family (father and grandfather) at Auschwitz, Nico is constantly on the move and living a life of lies to survive, and Fannie finds refuge in unexpected ways.

Fannie and Sebastian find each other after the war. Eventually, all characters become reunited during a day meant to commemorate the Jewish people from Greece who lost their lives. Of course, I’m skipping the numerous moments that transpire between for the sake of keeping this brief.

This book reminded me a bit of one of my all-time favorite books, The Book Thief, due to having an omniscient narrator, strong characters and powerful messages about life/survival.

Dragon Riders

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is first in a fantasy series that I am hooked on! A student recommended this book, and it was a perfect read during the December break.

Violet is the youngest of three (sister Mira and deceased brother Brennan). Her father was a scribe, and Violet was happy to follow the same path in his memory. Instead her mother, General Sorrengail, forces her into the Riders Squadrant (same as her sister Mira). This is almost certain death considering her fragile body. Riders are given death defying stunts in preparation to become dragon riders and lethal fighters.

The tests are difficult enough for Violet, added to the fact that multiple students would love to kill her for her perceived weakness or as retaliation against her mother for authorizing the death of anyone involved in the rebellion against their kingdom.

The story tells how Violet manages to survive and become a fierce rider, as well as how she becomes aware of secrets being kept by those in charge.

While I am not normally a fantasy fan, this book had so much to keep my interest, including plenty of magic, action, romance, and of course, there are dragons.

Amazement Park

Hide by Kiersten White brings fourteen unassuming twenty-somethings into a twisted game. They’ll need to hide in order to survive seven days in an old, abandoned amusement park.

Each character is unique and brings his/her own baggage. Mack is the main character. She feels confident about her chances to win considering that she survived her father’s murderous rampage against her family. She didn’t expect to get close to a few of the other contestants, especially one in particular.

The players come to realize that there is a creature hunting them down two per day. This happens every four years due to a curse upon the town’s founding members. By sacrificing some of their own, they can bring continued prosperity to their families.

But Mack and the few remaining players plan to outsmart the game in order to save their lives. This is a decent read with some creepy parts.

Live Well

The Measure by Nikki Erlick delves into a life in which everyone has the ability to know exactly when they’ll die. All people twenty two years old and up receive a box containing a string. The string’s length determines their life span.

Several characters’ experiences are explored in the aftermath of this life-changing event. Many of their tales intertwine in varying degrees.

String length becomes a divisive element in the world. One presidential candidate begins to campaign that short stringers shouldn’t hold certain jobs (military, president). There are many other situations also at stake, familial, romantic and friendships. Some choose to open their box while others don’t and the way they treat each other ranges too.

The main theme is that life is precious and its length doesn’t change the impact a person can have. This book will appeal to those who like emotional, thoughtful stories that explore multiple characters.

Power Trip

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell tells the downfall of a wealthy family due to some crazy houseguests. David, his wife and two kids along with another couple slowly infiltrate and eventually take over all aspects of the house.

The book is told from multiple perspectives. Henry is the wealthy son who narrates the past events including the decline and eventual death of his parents and David. Lucy is his sister. She has been living in France since leaving the house. She has two kids from different marriages, and they’ve been scraping by. Now she is trying to get back to London to see the baby. The baby, Libby, is the final perspective. She was born just about a year before everything came to an end in the house. She is now twenty five, and has inherited the huge house along the Thames. Her birthday is bringing the now grown children back for a reunion of sorts.

This is an engaging read with plenty of surprises and crazy situations.

Writerly Life

Bunny by Mona Awad has a very trippy Mean Girls/Heathers meets Frankenstein vibe.

Samantha is part of an exclusive creative writing program in which she is the sole outcast of a clique of women. They refer to each other as Bunny. At the beginning of a new semester, Samantha is invited to become part of their group.

She falls out of touch with her only friend Ava, and spends several drug/alcohol filled months with the Bunnies. Their purpose is to turn actual rabbits into men while maintaining several odd routines both in and out of class.

Samantha finally creates her own man, and this is when everything starts to unravel between her two worlds.

I’m not sure I really understand what actually transpired, but I love that I’m still thinking about it. It’s a creepy, twisted and strangely satisfying read.