Book Review: All This Time by Mikki Daughtry and Rachael Lippincott (2020)

Official Synopsis  

Kyle and Kimberly have been the perfect couple all through high school, but when Kimberly breaks up with him on the night of their graduation party, Kyle’s entire world upends—literally. Their car crashes and when he awakes, he has a brain injury. Kimberly is dead. And no one in his life could possibly understand. 

Until Marley. Marley is suffering from her own loss, a loss she thinks was her fault. And when their paths cross, Kyle sees in her all the unspoken things he’s feeling. 

As Kyle and Marley work to heal each other’s wounds, their feelings for each other grow stronger. But Kyle can’t shake the sense that he’s headed for another crashing moment that will blow up his life as soon as he’s started to put it back together. 

And he’s right.

When I first started this book, I thought I knew where it was going. Turns out I was at least a little bit wrong. I'm pretty good at guessing plot twists in YA fiction (so there were quite a few twists that didn't surprise me), but there were some that came up out of nowhere.

Let me just say that I'm relieved All This Time didn't just end on the path on which it started. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that I was starting to get bored. Things felt a little too idyllic, a little too perfect, a little too convenient if you know what I mean. Then a plot twist that I halfway hoped would come actually happened and the story became real again.

As for the characters, I like Kyle, mostly, although I dislike underage drinking. And he does have a foul mouth, something I also dislike in YA fiction. However, the kid has gone through a lot and goes through even more by the end of the story. He learns to be himself as an entity apart from his relationship with others, learns what he wants and what he needs, and learns to let others be who they need to be to grow in healthy ways. He learns not to push, not to control, and that's an important lesson for anyone. Overall, he's a pretty good kid. Marley is intriguing because she's essentially two different people so there is a small whiplash effect where she's concerned, but I love that she's a storyteller. I love how she never tells sad stories, and I love how her and Kyle's relationship is built off of her gifting as a storyteller. It's brilliant, and so Marley is actually my favorite character, tender, hesitant, but radiantly gifted.

There are a lot of feel-good moments in this book. There are some sad ones too, but just like my experience with Five Feet Apart (a book I never actually reviewed but probably should), I was never actually moved enough to cry. This is weird for me because I am usually rather emotional, but for some reason, I just can never work myself up into a good cry for these authors. There's just a little bit of stiffness to the writing perhaps, that keeps me from fully investing in the story, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it and didn't tear through it quickly.

One thing I would have changed is the one usage of 2020 as the year. Because the 2020 presented in All This Time is NOT the COVID saturated 2020 of our reality. So that was surreal in a way I'm sure the authors didn't intend. There's also the issue of what I like to call "staying power." Five years from now this book will be out of date. It's solely for the here-and-now crowd of young people. And that's a shame because it means All This Time missed the mark on being timeless.

It's remarkable to me how a book I was indifferent about managed to turn me into an engaged reader 100 pages from the end. Looking back now, it's a pretty clever little book. I know it's scheduled for a film so I hope that gets off the ground. I love the film version of Five Feet Apart, more than the novel which I wasn't super crazy about. Overall, I think All This Time, while not necessarily a superior story to Five Feet Apart, does have a superior writing style. I sense growth in the authors, so we'll see where it takes them.

All This Time

Authors: Mikki Daughtry and Rachael Lippincott

Year: 2020

My Rating:  ★★★

Goodreads | Amazon

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Book Review: Joy to the World: A Regency Christmas Collection (2020)

Joy to the World: A Regency Christmas Collection by Carolyn Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Go to my Christmas Fiction page to read more of my reviews!

Heaven and Nature Sing by Carolyn Miller

This novella is my least favorite of the collection. I've read about Regency house parties before and in ways that made them unique from each other. This one is merely the stereotypical house party. Throw into the mix two people suffering from the "he/she loves me, loves me not" syndrome, and I just completely lost interest. I can't stand that much miscommunication between romantic leads. It was almost like the stereotype of a stereotype. I would give this one 2 stars. They should have hired Camille Elliot to contribute instead.

Far as the Curse is Found by Amanda Barratt

Brilliant. This novella is brilliant, especially for fans of either The Phantom of the Opera, The Man in the Iron Mask or Beauty and the Beast. It's radiant from start to finish, the story of two inexorably broken souls who are yearning for wholeness. I found the faith elements in this one to be very genuine, especially when the hero, Dwight, surrenders all of his anguish and fear to the Lord. This one I rate 5 stars, hands down, and I intend to read it faithfully every year.

Wonders of His Love by Erica Vetsch

We have another winner! I haven't read many books about artists so it was interesting having the hero be an artist struggling to make his place in the world. Ms. Vetsch's imagery is strong. I could see the fabric, smell the pain, see the colors the way that Hamish did. Overbearing parents are a reality of any era, so I completely bought that Cilla would be overwhelmed by her deceased husband's mother. My one niggling complaint is that, in some ways, it felt more Edwardian than Regency, but since I also love the Edwardian era, it didn't really matter in the long run. This one is 4 stars.

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12 Delights of Christmas Tag

Better late than never, I suppose! Although it's still the actual Twelve Days of Christmas since that ends at Epiphany. So I guess this still counts. Many thanks to Heidi at Along the Brandywine for tagging me; so thoughtful of you!

I hope everyone has enjoyed a Merry Christmas. This year's holiday was a bit of a strain which is why I disappeared for almost an entire month. But I wanted to get one last post in before we ring out the old and ring in the new. Thankfully, this is the first time that my sister and I actually did Advent every day, so that was an enormous blessing in our lives. It helped keep some of the frantic worries at bay.

 1) A favorite Christmas tradition?

My family goes to the WWI memorial in a local cemetery on Christmas Eve to commemorate the Christmas Truce during the Great War. We play Silent Night in German on m phone (the version from the film Joyeux Noël), light candles, say a prayer, and leave a bouquet of flowers. It only takes us a couple of minutes, but it's important to remember those times when peace won out over war.

2) Say it snowed at your domicile, would you prefer to go out or stay curled up inside?

I'm more of the stay inside and read kinda girl. Although I do go ice fishing, so I guess it's a 50/50 chance.

3) Tea or hot chocolate?

Both! Although tea is healthier for me, so that's usually what I choose.

Our Christmas tree

4) Favorite Christmas colors (i.e. white, blue, silver, red and green etc)?

I've preferred the pastels of pinks and greens and silvers in the past, but this year I've enjoyed having a very Victorian Christmas tree in reds and greens and golds. I do have a shelf in my room with a Narnia flair so it's all white with some Jim Shore figurines from his White Woodland collection and I love it.

Date Nut Balls

5) Favorite kind of Christmas cookie?

Probably a recipe we make called Date Nut Balls. Loads of chocolate, dates, peanut butter, and walnuts. They're delicious.

6) How soon before Christmas do you decorate (more specifically, when does your tree go up)?

It's usually the day after Thanksgiving. My sister and I helped our parents decorate too so I don't remember which day, in particular, we decorated our apartment. Probably the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

My Narnia themed white shelf

7) Three favorite traditional Christmas carols?

Silent Night (sung in German), Once in Royal David's City (as sung by Michael Crawford), O Holy Night

8) A favorite Christmas song (i.e. something you might hear on the radio)?

Santa Claus is Coming to Town as sung by the Jackson Five

9) A favorite Christmas movie?

Mmm, probably The Apartment from 1960 with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. I know, I know, it's not really a Christmas movie, but I always watch it at Christmas. Otherwise, I love The Polar Express and both of the Home Alone movies.

10) Have you ever gone caroling?

Not so far, no.

11) Ice skating, sledding, skiing, or snowboarding?

Probably sledding since I loved that as a child. I haven't gone in years though, so sad.

12) Favorite Christmas feast dish?

The prime rib. So delectable!

 

Here are the questions if you choose to answer them on your own blog! Do let me know if you answer them and let Heidi know as well!

1) A favorite Christmas tradition?

2) Say it snowed at your domicile, would you prefer to go out or stay curled up inside?

3) Tea or hot chocolate?

4) Favorite Christmas colors (i.e. white, blue, silver, gold, red and green etc)?

5) Favorite kind of Christmas cookie?

6) How soon before Christmas do you decorate (more specifically, when does your tree go up)?

7) Three favorite traditional Christmas carols?

8) A favorite Christmas song (i.e. something you might hear on the radio)?

9) A favorite Christmas movie?

10) Have you ever gone caroling?

11) Ice skating, sledding, skiing, or snow boarding?

12) Favorite Christmas feast dish?

 

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A Christmas Blessing

Dear Readers, you know what kind of year this has been in the United States. It's been rife with emotional ups and downs, with health challenges, with fear, and with courage, with rebellion and obedience, and with social and political unrest.

My heart and spirit grow weary more easily now, especially as Christmas draws closer. So many plans and traditions have been canceled. There are no craft fairs this year, no Lutefisk dinner, no Christmas tea with the ladies at Sons of Norway, and no opportunity to attend the German Christmas Market or the St. Lucia Day celebration in Denver.

When I'm troubled, I tend to clean. Yesterday I rummaged through my nightstand, stacking papers in the shred or throw-away piles, and I found a book that I suspect is going to be a blessing during this December. A very dear friend of mine gave me a copy of When God Calls the Heart at Christmas by Brian Bird & Michelle Cox, a series of devotions from Hope Valley, based on the Hallmark television program When Calls the Heart.

I actually stopped watching this show maybe 2 or 3 years ago for various reasons, but my friend gifted me this little book in Christmas 2018 and I just never got around to reading it, the fate of many books, unfortunately. That is until my cleaning frenzy unearthed it from the depths of my nightstand.

When God Calls the Heart at Christmas has devotions for the 25 days of December leading up to and including Christmas. What are the chances that I would find this book on December 1st? That's what I like to call a Godthing. Instead of simply putting it aside because I don't watch the show anymore, I decided to sit down and spend time reading the devotion for December 1st.

There's nothing quite like being whacked over the head with profound truths that are relevant to how I'm feeling emotionally and to what the world is currently going through with Covid. It was called What is Your Unexpected Storm? and reminded me that that troubled times "can prove difficult, but they can also be blessings in disguise because they cause us to lean on God in ways we wouldn't otherwise." 

Even the prayer was pinpoint accurate, beginning with Dear Lord, I don't like disappointments and difficult circumstances - especially at Christmas. Even though my heart is heavy, remind me of why we celebrate this time each year, of the joy of your amazing gift of ultimate love and redemption for the world.

This little book is truly blessing my heart. I even dragged out my journal so that I could journal out my responses to the two questions asked in each daily devotion. 

I guess what I'm saying is that even though Christmas looks different this year, God is still faithful. And he still works in providential ways. Like my finding this book and the very first devotion being so timely. That's providence.

Maybe I'll even watch When Call the Heart again after being so deeply touched by this little devotional. Thanks, Brian and Michelle, so very much, for this Christmas blessing.

Merry Christmas,

Carissa

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The Classics Club #25 Spin Results

The spin # is 14 and I have until January 30, 2021 to read Phantastes: A Faerie Romance by George MacDonald.

I've never read this one before so I'm quite excited about it!

Happy reading to all the participants!

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Book Review: The Number of Love by Roseanna M. White (2019)

The Number of Love

Series: The Codebreakers #1

Author: Roseanna M. White

Year: 2019

My Rating:  ★★

Goodreads | Amazon

Official Synopsis

Three years into the Great War, England's greatest asset is their intelligence network--field agents risking their lives to gather information, and codebreakers able to crack every German telegram. Margot De Wilde thrives in the environment of the secretive Room 40, where she spends her days deciphering intercepted messages. But when her world is turned upside down by an unexpected loss, for the first time in her life numbers aren't enough.

Drake Elton returns wounded from the field, followed by an enemy who just won't give up. He's smitten quickly by the intelligent Margot, but how can he convince a girl who lives entirely in her mind that sometimes life's answers lie in the heart?

Amid biological warfare, encrypted letters, and a German spy who wants to destroy not just them but others they love, Margot and Drake will have to work together to save themselves from the very secrets that brought them together.

Go to my Historic Fiction page to find all my Christian historic fiction reviews!

Unfortunately, The Number of Love failed. I loved the first half and then spent the last half in deep-rooted confusion and frustration. The heroine, Margot, is presented as an asexual character who values academia but ends up falling in love. I know an asexual woman and that's not how it works so that aspect of the character troubled me. She should have either been designed differently or allowed to not fall in love. It's not that I disliked the hero, Drake. I do like him, quite a lot, but their romance felt awkward the moment it began heating up and I just could not force myself to believe it. There was no suspension of disbelief whatsoever.

There is also a serious character age issue. Apparently, Margot is seventeen, but she has the personality of a much older woman, at least in her mid-twenties. Having her be a teenager did not work, not even for a WWI era novel.

And finally, the use of Catholic characters but accidental (or intentional) misrepresentation of the rosary frustrated not only me but also a Catholic Goodreads friend of mine who was deeply upset.

On a positive note, the romance between Drake's sister Dot and Red is darling. I'm so proud of Dot for forcing herself outside her comfort zone. That can be a challenge for people who suffer from anxiety. Red is a very sweet and kind war veteran missing one of his feet. I appreciated his introduction and then how he became a secondary character when I wasn't actually expecting that of him. He and Dot are an ideal match, and I wish the book had focused on their relationship instead of on Drake and Margot.

The faith elements are also strong. Margot undergoes a bit of a crisis of faith due to the death of a loved one. God has always spoken to her in patterns of numbers, and she finds His voice has gone silent. So she has to work through her own rage and resentment before she's able to reconnect with God. Drake also spends quite a bit of time praying, although I did experience more of a disconnect with his faith when his romantic interest in Margot triggered and the topic of his prayers began changing.

In the end, I rated the book two stars, one for the character of Margot who I love when she's not implausibly in love, and one for the writing style, which continues to be exemplary.

I may or may not read book two in The Codebreaker series since I disliked Philip Camden in this book and he will be the male lead in the sequel.

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Book Review: The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill (2018)

The Lost Girl of Astor Street

Author: Stephanie Morrill

Genre: Christian Historic

Year: 2018

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 

Goodreads | Amazon

Official Synopsis 

Lydia has vanished.

Lydia, who’s never broken any rules, except falling in love with the wrong boy. Lydia, who’s been Piper’s best friend since they were children. Lydia, who never even said good-bye.

Convinced the police are looking in all the wrong places, eighteen-year-old Piper Sail begins her own investigation in an attempt to solve the mystery of Lydia’s disappearance. With the reluctant help of a handsome young detective, Piper goes searching for answers in the dark underbelly of 1924 Chicago, determined to find Lydia at any cost.

When Piper discovers those answers might stem from the corruption strangling the city—and quite possibly lead back to the doors of her affluent neighborhood—she must decide how deep she’s willing to dig, how much she should reveal, and if she’s willing to risk her life of privilege for the sake of the truth.

Go to my Historic Fiction page to find all my Christian historic fiction reviews!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I'm a bit of an odd duck because I love culturally diverse romantic relationships so I love that our heroine falls in love with an Italian police officer. It just made my heart happy and I really felt their attraction for one another.

Having the setting be the middle of the roaring Twenties and in Chicago no less was brilliant. It just has this intense mysterious vibe while still maintaining a bit of that historical feel that I love and appreciate from my favorite authors. Piper is a strong female character, and she does make some fairly stupid mistakes, but I actually liked her, and I usually dislike the absurdly foolish, headstrong heroines so prevalent in Christian fiction nowadays. She might have been foolish, but she was also observant and made some pretty snappy choices at crucial moments.

This book also SURPRISED me, which almost never happens. There are two things that surprised me. First, that Piper fell for the Italian cop because that never happens. In most Christian fiction she would have fallen for the boy she grew up with, but nope, so that was refreshing. And second, well, I can't say for fear of serious spoilers.

On the whole, this is a pretty terrific book that I'm so glad I read. I know I'll be buying and I'm absurdly excited about her next novel, Within These Lines, which tells the story of an Italian/American girl falling in love with the son of Japanese immigrants to America during WWII. I hope I haven't set my expectations too high for this one, but I expect to LOVE it, hands' down, no holds' barred. 

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