Little Bee: A Difficult Review to Write

This is a hard book review to write because I don’t want to give too much away. The back of the book actually warns the reader not to reveal the plot once they are done. While honestly, that’s mostly for promotion of the book, it does make sense. The book is written as a sort of mystery. The characters know what happened that one day on the Nigerian beach, but the reader learns bits and pieces until all is finally revealed. Without ruining the mystery, I will try to pique your interest.

Little Bee is a Nigerian girl who meets with an English couple on a Nigerian beach. There, the couple is forced to make a decision that is the beginning of the undoing of their marriage. Through a series of events, Little Bee arrives at the couple’s house in England only to arrive on the day of the English man’s funeral. Author Chris Cleave writes from the perspectives of both Little Bee and the English woman and weaves their stories together. The prose is absolutely wonderful, but don’t let my writing deceive you- this is not a happy book. Many of the events are very horrible and brutal. Cleave’s humor lightens the mood somewhat, but it is decidedly dark.

All in all, it is an excellent read, and one of my current favorites. It’s hard to believe that this is only Cleave’s second book. I’m planning on reading his first book, Incendiary, soon.
As a final note: Little Bee is titled The Other Hand outside of the US.

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Set during the French revolution, The Scarlet Pimpernel tells the story of a brave band of men who rescue French aristocrats out of the revolutionaries’ clutches. These seemingly impossibly escapes make the man whose code name is the Scarlet Pimpernel an English legend and a thorn in France’s side. M. Chauvelin, an agent of the French government, arrives in an English pub in the opening scene of the book. He discovers information about the band and the activities of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Among this information is an incriminating letter showing Armand St. Just to be working with the Scarlet Pimpernel. Chauvelin shows this letter to his sister, Marguerite Blakeney, “the cleverest woman in Europe” and the leader of fashion and society in England. In exchange for information about the Scarlet Pimpernel, he will turn over the letter to her, and her brother will not be harmed. Through his spying at the pub, Chauvelin knows that the Scarlet Pimpernel will be visiting a party that Marguerite will be at. She finds out that the Scarlet Pimpernel will be in the dining room at one, information that she passes on to Chauvelin. In a twist of events, she regrets her decision to inform on the Scarlet Pimpernel and begins a mad chase in France trying to prevent his seemingly inevitably capture.

While I enjoyed this exciting story very much, I did anticipate all of the plot twists, which was kind of disappointing. However, this story is still entertaining, and in some places, more enjoyable, if you know something the other characters don’t. The ending did leave me with many questions as to the future of the characters now that their identities were exposed and a few other loose ends were never quite tied up. All in all, though, it was an entertaining, quick read.

The Spellman Files

The Spellman Files is the first book in a wonderful, hilarious set of four books written by Lisa Lutz. The star of the book is Izzy Spellman, the stubborn daughter of private investigator parents. The entire family, quirky father Albert, beautiful mother Olivia, Izzy, lawyer David, sugar addict Rae, and alcoholic Uncle Ray, are an extremely dysfunctional family, but not in the way you might think. They think nothing of spying on each other to discover secrets, and one family member in particular is no stranger to blackmail. Isabel narrates the book through smooth storytelling and lists from her files. She documents her former boyfriends with the same care she would a  suspect, and in the end, she inevitably scares them off. She quits working for the family business when she finds out her family has been paying Rae to tail her, but when Rae goes missing, will it bring them all together again?

Just as a warning, there is alcohol and drug use and brief strong language used in the books. Some of the subplots revolve around these issues. Also, when you read this book on a Kindle, some of the humor is lost because the footnotes are placed at the end of the e-book. However you can download them from http://lisalutz.com/spellman-files to reference when reading the book. I wish I knew this before I read the books.  It’s not billed as a “teen” book, but I’m sure it’s something all teens can enjoy.

Fading Twilight

What team are you on? Team Edward? Team Jacob? Or as many call themselves, Team Potter? For those who have not read the books, no, Harry Potter does not make a surprise appearance. Although, honestly, it might have improved the plot.

The book series revolves around a girl named Bella Swan who has recently moved to a little town named Forks in Seattle. Through a series of events, she meets a family of vampires and falls in love with one of them, Edward. Vampires from around the world become involved in their love story, whether for the challenge of hunting Bella or because they believe that it is not safe for a human to know too much of their world. Whether or not Bella will become a vampire herself to solve these problems is a conflict in the earlier books. Edward refuses to let her at first. He sees vampires as soulless creatures who are inherently evil. He also wants her to truly experience life as a human, something he thinks she will regret missing if she was turned. And then there’s Jacob. Bella has to decide between him and Edward. Who does she truly love?

First, positives. I read all the books in one night. Well, not the fourth; it wasn’t out yet. They are surprisingly entrancing. As extremely light reading, I liked them. If you think too much about them, well, I’ll cover that when I talk about the negatives. They are fast-paced for the most part, except for New Moon. I found the vampires’ back stories (I believe they are all found in Eclipse.) incredibly interesting, and they are probably my favorite part of the series.

Now, negatives. Well, I have to start out with the fact that these books have no real message to them. If anything, it presents bad role models to teenagers. Bella is a consistently depressed teenage girl who almost literally cannot live with her boyfriend. Edward is insanely jealous and protective of Bella. He hardly lets her out of his sight. Also, there is the creepy part where he sneaks into her room to watch her sleep at night. If you don’t just take the book at face value, you start to notice how weird the characters are, and no matter how sweetly Stephenie Meyers writes it, their behavior is not healthy, New Moon. One of my least favorite books ever. Most of the book was focused on how depressed Bella was because Edward was gone. Insanely boring! I skimmed through so many chapters.

Team Potter.