Review: Tides

This is a blogoversary post, the review was originally posted on June 22, 2013. 

Tides by Betsy Cornwell is the story of Noah Gallagher and his sister Lo who are coming to the Isles of Shoals, off the coast of New Hampshire, to stay with their grandmother for the summer. Noah has taken an internship at the local marine research center, and Lo has been struggling with bulimia and is basically coming for a change of scenery and hopefully a new start. Their grandmother lives alone on the island although it quickly becomes apparent she has a relationship with another woman. That relationship is in many ways central to the story as the past and present come together.

This is really the story of Noah and Mara however. Mara is a selkie a seal who can take human form. Mara  seems more drawn to the land than many of her kind, and she likes to watch people from afar, like the guests on the lawn at the island hotel. She and Noah meet by accident, he is running one day and sees a girl who he thinks is drowning. He rescues her- or tries too, but quickly realizes she doesn’t need rescuing at all. Their relationship starts off a little rocky, but they soon discover a mutual attraction… and some surprising family links.

Mara feels early on that she can trust Noah, and doesn't really understand why. Their relationship is complicated by a lot of things, not least of which is the natural distrust the selkies feel towards humans. We learn more about the selkies and their ways, and also the complex relationship Noah's grandmother has with these ancient beings.

It was refreshing to read a story where the characters actually communicate with each other. So often in stories like this secrets are kept and the characters don’t know what’s going on for half the book, but here  people talk to each other. This book is instead about exploring the feelings bubbling under the surface, and I appreciated that. There’s a moment towards the end where Noah is in trouble and Mara is coming to help. She thinks "I’m coming” and it was a powerful moment. I loved it.

I was really taken with the love story  between Noah and Mara, it was sweet and virtuous and real. It didn’t feel cheap or rushed… their relationship evolved naturally. I also liked the sibling relationship between Noah and Lo- you could really feel her pain at times, and the way her feelings towards Noah changed. They grew closer through their shared experiences, and that felt natural too.

The only thing I didn’t like was the plotline regarding Aine. Early on we learn about Mara’s sister Aine and her disappearance but there is no indication that this will play an immediate role in the story- however it becomes clear that the disappearance is relevant when tragedy strikes again, and Noah and Mara must take action. The truth about Aine’s disappearance is somewhat horrific and provides the only action sequence in the book, but I thought it was too closely linked to Noah and his reason for being on the island in the first place. It just seemed a little too convenient for me.

The ending is bittersweet and pulled at the heartstrings a bit. It is however the only realistic ending- and it left me wanting a sequel. 

Review: Letters from Skye

This is a blogoversary re- post- this review was originally posted on July 23rd, 2013 and can be found here. Also see my interview with Jessica Brockmole here. 

Letters from Skye is a love story told in letters. It’s told from the alternating viewpoints of Elspeth Dunn, a published poet living on the Isle of Skye during World War I, and her daughter Margaret in the early days of World War II. Elspeth receives a fan letter from an American in 1912, and this leads to a correspondence that changes their lives forever. Through the seasons and the storm clouds of war Elspeth and "her American" get to know each other, and share their favorite books, their dreams, their hopes and desires.  

Margaret is in love with a gallant young RAF pilot in the early days of World War II. He proposes marriage, and Margaret isn’t sure what to do. She lives in Edinburgh with her mother, who counsels her to make no rash decisions in wartime. Then one day a bomb hits nearby, a wall collapses… and Margaret discovers the letters. The letters from twenty years ago, a lifetime ago. Letters to her mother from an American. The love stories of Elspeth and David, Margaret and Paul intertwine as events change their lives and make them question who they are, and what they care about most. 

This love story felt so real from the very beginning, from the tentative way David starts their correspondence to the increasing confidence the two of them feel as the months and years slip by, to the realization that they are, truly, in love. I’m sure most people can relate to that moment. Here we get a feel for that, as these characters admit to each other what they’ve known, deep down, for some time. It’s very well done.

I love how the story was told entirely in letters. I even found myself flipping back to see how many days had gone by between letters! Talk about being sucked into the story. 

I also enjoyed the humor in this story. David’s college pranks and Elspeth’s dry wit were a fun combination in the early going, and as the story progressed and got more serious, they kept their sense of humor and wit. There are twists and turns and a few surprises, but throughout it all these characters stay true to themselves. In this modern age, it was fascinating to see these lives and relationships develop through letters- subject to the vagaries of circumstance. A simple letter- so important to these people.

This book touches on many different themes, from longing and hope to regret and loss. One of the things that got me thinking was the relationship between Elspeth and Margaret. Parents and children can know each other so well, and yet at the same time know so little about each other. Parents have years of history before their kids come along, and the memories they take for granted- youth, high school, romances- their kids know nothing of. Brockmole touches on this. We learn so much about Elspeth, her loves and regrets, then we switch to Margaret and it’s amazing how little she knows of her mothers past.

Teaser Tuesday #25

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To participate you grab your current read, open to a random page and share (2) teaser sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INLUDE SPOILERS (Make sure what you share doesn't give too much away. You don't want to ruin the book for others). Share the title and author.

"Emilie was a little startled by his ready agreement, but he had already started down the hill. She caught up with him in a couple of steps and they walked together, the grass swishing at their pants legs."  

Emilie and the Sky World by Martha Wells 



This is the sequel to Emilie and the Hollow World, which I enjoyed last year. I'm looking forward to this one a lot. This will probably be my next read... 

Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past

I finally saw X-Men: Days of Future Past and thought it was okay- I think I liked First Class better, but it has its moments. The movie is based (very loosely) on the comic storyline of the same name. I liked the beginning a lot, we're shown a very grim, dystopian future and I thought it looked good on screen. Right off the bat we have X- Men fighting Sentinels- we finally get to see Colossus in action, we have Kitty phasing through things, and Blink's power was very cool- so I was liking the beginning a lot. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie didn't live up to the promising start.

The basic plot is the X-Men have to send someone's consciousness back in time to their earlier body, to avert an assassination that causes a grim future. In the comics they send Kitty Pryde back, but in the movie they send Wolverine back instead- some nonsense about only he could survive it. Blah blah. That's where the problems started for me. Wolverine feels overused and I think they should have stuck to the original story more. They should have sent Kitty back- maybe with Wolverine- hey a buddy flick! That would have been cool, and there is precedent in the comics for Wolvie to be sort of a mentor figure to Kitty.

As it is, Wolverine goes back to the 1970's to convince a younger Xavier and Magneto to stop Mystique from murdering the creator of the Sentinels. I have to say the whole 70's vibe worked for me- the hair, the shades, the whole thing- I enjoyed that a lot. It was fun. And let's talk about Mystique for a moment. Mystique has always been a favorite character of mine. A shapeshifting mutant with blue skin, she led the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants against the X-Men in the original story. I just don't like how they do her in the movies, though. Jennifer Lawrence is great, but the whole body paint thing- it's just not working for me. And I couldn't help thinking how cool it would be to have the X-Men against the Brotherhood, led by Mystique, on the big screen. A missed opportunity that could have maybe even topped Avengers!


There are other missed opportunities as well. The movie is way too talky, not enough action. We have Colossus and Kitty and they do almost nothing. Kitty's power is phasing but now she can apparently also send  someone back in time, so she spends the whole movie sitting by Wolverine as his consciousness is back in the 70's. Lame. They should have used Kitty and Colossus a lot more, and in the present too. The filmmakers of course claimed they couldn't send Kitty back because she wasn't born yet in the 70's- but this is a comic book movie, you can do whatever you want! Or set it in the 80's like the original story was. Whatever. They've done so many idiotic things in these movies that playing fast and loose with her age would hardly have been any worse.

Another missed opportunity- Rogue! She shows up at the end for about 3 seconds and that's it (apparently more of her will be on the DVD release). WTF? Rogue is awesome in the comics, and works well with Wolverine- and she even had a relationship with Magneto at one point- why not use her in the movie? Anna Paquin (Sooky!) was fabulous as Rogue in the earlier movies- and in the comics she has a complicated relationship with Mystique as well. See where this is going? Kitty, Wolverine and Rogue leading the way against Mystique and the evil mutants- that's the movie I would like to see! This is probably the biggest issue for me, and a complete waste of potential. It boggles my mind why they wouldn't use her a LOT in this movie.

Instead of Kitty, Rogue, Colossus, Nightcrawler (where was he?) we get... Beast. Totally lame. A guy who can turn into a blue, furry beast and... growl a lot. And jump around and be basically useless. I don't know why they even have the Beast in these movies, he doesn't do anything. And really, Wolverine doesn't do much in the movie either. He talks a lot, but not much else. Hugh Jackman is a great Wolverine, but they don't give him much to do. Another waste.

Some other quick observations. Quicksilver does steal every scene he's in, as some have said. He's a breath of fresh air in this movie, and that scene where he saves the day while a certain 70's song plays in the background might be one of the most inventive and quirky scenes I've seen in a superhero movie- but it works. I thought it was great. They needed to use him more- he disappears after that and is not used again.

I'm tired of Ian McKellen as Magneto- he's too old. And Michael Fassbender as the younger version is suitably intense- but he's almost too ruthless for me in this one. I think I'm just sick of Magneto- again, give me Mystique and the Brotherhood. Halle Berry as Storm continues to irritate- she's just never been Storm to me. One of the more powerful X-Men, I think she has one scene where she uses her lightning- such a waste. Storm should be kicking butt left and right- but it's Halle Berry, so I don't really care. Nothing against her- just don't like her as Storm.

Which brings us to the ending. Spoilers- as you know if you've seen the movie, or heard about it- Scott and Jean come back. The change to the timeline that happens in the movie is a convenient excuse to fix earlier mistakes. It was nice to see them back. Too bad they weren't in the whole movie- I think Wolverine plays best off of someone like Jean or Scott, a little friendly tension. So there's your reboot- we nix the ridiculous events of X-Men 2 and 3 and have Scott and Jean back. About time. Hopefully they'll do better by the characters in the future.

So this movie is a mixed bag for me. It has some great moments, but is way too talky and and could have been so much better. I think First Class was better, and this is no threat to Captain America: Winter Soldier or The Avengers as the best comic movies to date, in my opinion.

Sunday Post #48

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
It's Monday! What Are You Reading is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

This was a good week, got lots of reading done. I posted a couple reviews, and more on the way this week. I also hit the lakeshore for the first time, and had pizza at a favorite place on the water. It was a nice day, although it was nicer at home- it got cloudier near the lake. 

I mentioned a couple Sundays ago that my blogoversary was coming up- well, it's here. I started the blog in 2012 more or less, but really started posting regularly last June. I thought it would be fun to go back through some of my older reviews and see how they hold up. Some I kinda like,and others I just wince. So this week I'm going to re-post some of those older reviews- many of which have never been read I'm sure! :) Feel free to share your thoughts on them if you get a chance. I may also do a giveaway- haven't done one in a while. I'll have to look at the shelves and see what I've got... 




CURRENTLY READING: 



NEW/ COMING SOON: 



  

Review: Winter Soldier Black Widow Hunt

Winter Soldier: Black Widow Hunt is the third Winter Soldier story I've reviewed on the blog. I'm enjoying these modern forays into the Marvel universe as I normally review older, "classic" stories. After seeing the Captain America: Winter Soldier movie I thought it would be fun to see what the character has been up to in the comics. This story picks up where the previous one, Broken Arrow, left off (my review here). Leo Novokov, a Soviet sleeper agent trained by Winter Soldier himself, has awakened from stasis and has a grudge against Bucky. He managed to capture and brainwash the Black Widow into thinking she is still a Russian agent- and Bucky is desperately trying to find her, with little luck.

This volume is a little more fun because there are guest stars all over the place. Captain America, Hawkeye and Wolverine all play major roles in the story. The narration occasionally shifts so we get the perspectives of Cap and Wolverine as we go. Bucky becomes increasingly more desperate as the search continues and the stakes get higher- Novokov wants to hurt Bucky and win Natasha's love in his own twisted way, and it seems like the heroes are always a step behind.  When Bucky finally closes in he has to make a choice- allow himself to be implanted with a mission of Novokov's, or risk losing Natasha forever. He takes the implant, which returns him to his Winter Soldier days- now the heroes have to face Winter Soldier again, along with finding Novokov. This was fun as we get to see Buckly in badass Winter Soldier mode again- and Cap, Hawkeye and Wolverine have to see if they can stop him when he's not holding back. Fans of Winter soldier in the movie may enjoy this- I did.

I liked Wolverine's internal monologue when he realizes Winter Soldier in full assassin mode is a tough fight, and Hawkeye's surprise when he tries to get the drop on Winter Soldier and fails. It's fun too when Cap, the big kahuna, shows up. The ending though I have mixed feelings about. The showdown with a brainwashed Black Widow is good- it's nice to see her kick some butt too.

The biggest problem for me with the story is the art. It's not very good. It's murky and the story and action are hard to follow at times due to that. This would have been a better story with better art, but it has its moments. I don't know where Winter Soldier goes from here, but this is a bitter ending to his time with Black Widow. Looks like Winter Soldier is on his own again.

Teaser Tuesday #24

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To participate you grab your current read, open to a random page and share (2) teaser sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INLUDE SPOILERS (Make sure what you share doesn't give too much away. You don't want to ruin the book for others). Share the title and author.

"It doesn't look like much from the outside. But what you get outside is often like that. People, especially, can be so different from what you can see that you'd never guess what goes on in their secret places."

Shattered by Teri Terry 




This is book #3 in the Slated trilogy and so far does not disappoint. Kyla is a great heroine and we learned a lot of background info in the second book- I think it's all going to come to a head in this one and I'm looking forward to seeing what really happened to Kyla all those years ago.