We'll Never Be Apart: Sister Trouble

We'll Never Be Apart
by Emiko Jean
Hardcover, 279 pages
HMH Books, October 6, 2015
2 stars

While committed to a mental institution, charged with a crime of which she claims she is innocent, seventeen-year-old Alice Monroe struggles to regain her memories of the night a fire killed her boyfriend. Convinced that her sister Cellie is actually responsible for the blaze and is being housed at the same facility, Alice decides to find her and put an end to their destructive relationship once and for all. 


                           ********************

"So where does a story that ends in fire and death begin? It begins in the snow on the coldest day of the coldest winter of the last fifty years on their sixth birthday in a silent house. It begins with a body."

Let me start by saying that I'm not generally a fan of YA novels.  This one had a good amount of buzz surrounding it, though, and it seemed to have an interesting premise. It's a debut novel, so I expected bumps. This novel, however. starts out dark and atmospheric and then starts to fade pretty quickly into a giant, predictable cliche. I am not exaggerating when I say that I guessed the "twist" ending from reading the epilogue. The foreshadowing in this book is about a subtle as a fire alarm. After giving away the farm in the first few pages, the book then manages to continue on for 270-odd pages about a character in a mental institution with zero insight into any kind of mental health issues. I can handle a bad "twist" if the book at least offers some kind of peek into mental illness or a unique look into issues like the ones facing the protagonists (and there were *so* many to choose from here). This book offered none of that, unfortunately. It relied almost entirely on the suspense building to the big reveal at the end, and, to be honest, even if the ending hadn't been so obvious from the start, the twist was so unoriginal that it would likely have been a disappointment anyway.

The plot also falls apart in several big ways. We're told from the start that Alice's goal is to regain her memories from the night of the fire and find her sister. A solid two-thirds of the book revolves around her budding romantic relationship with another boy at the hospital. It's an odd turn of events for someone who is supposedly so hellbent on finding her sister who she believes to be housed in the same facility. When given the opportunity to sneak around at night, she and her new guy end up on the roof chatting, in the kitchen fixing sandwiches, and wandering the grounds. Some of this gallivanting took place the night before Alice was to attend the funeral of her boyfriend, the love of her life, who had died a week or two earlier. For someone we're told is devastated by this loss, the speed of her new-found relationship is a big problem. Also, apparently this hospital has no security whatsoever because *none* of that is something two kids in a locked-down mental institution should be able to do. Razors were hidden in rooms, key cards easily lifted from several different staff members, locked rooms being broken into, patient files stolen...I mean, at this point that hospital should just be shut down for sheer incompetence in care.

I could go on but there's not much point. In the end, the book was a quick read with a not-terribly-complicated writing style. However, because of a weak, nonsensical plot, I can't recommend it to anyone. Hopefully Jean's subsequent work will be more well-constructed. I'm unlikely to read another.

My beverage recommendation for this book is a tequila shot or two. Our protagonist indulges in some during a party in her childhood and it could help make you care less about the plot holes you're wandering through.

My backlist bump for this book includes All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (a YA novel that actually explores mental health issues in teens, including depression and PTSD) or Shutter Island (a suspense/thriller also set in a mental institution that will keep you up at night with it's creepy plot and shocking ending). 

Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes

Hidden Bodies
by Caroline Kepnes
Hardcover, 448 pages
Atria, February 23, 2016
4.5 stars

After surviving his last, rather disastrous, relationship, Joe Goldberg thought he had at last found his soulmate in Amy.  However, when Amy turns out not to be the attentive and loving girlfriend Joe had hoped she would be, Joe decides to pick up stakes and relocate across the country NYC to L.A., partly because he desires a fresh start and partly because he's determined to track Amy down and make her pay. Once there he finds a place to stay, gets a job at another bookstore, creates a Facebook page, and begins hunting down the woman who broke his heart. In doing so, he realizes how hard it can be to move forward with your life when your past seems determined to come back to haunt you. 

********************

"The real horror of my life is not that I've killed some horrible people. The real horror is that the people I've loved didn't love me back." 

New location, same crazy. It's still hard to dislike Joe (despite his being a murderous psychopath) because he really does have some great insights on life and relationships. Sure, he murders people, but the people he murders are insufferable assholes. He even shows tremendous self restraint in not murdering some people despite there being compelling evidence that they might deserve it. His observations about LA life were spot-on, too.  Joe unfortunately doesn't adjust well to LA – people are just too loud, to open, and too casual for Joe's liking. They start to get on his nerves and, like Joe says, "It's the little things that make you want to kill someone." Kepnes did a brilliant job (again) in making me nervous for Joe – not because I wanted to stop him from committing these heinous crimes, but rather because I was worried he'd get caught.

I also appreciated how unpredictable the plot was, despite being a sequel. Every new death (or non-death) was a surprise and the strange circumstances Joe continually found himself in added an element of unpredictability for the reader. The plot dragged a bit in the middle but the development of Joe as a character, with a good side that complimented his bad side, made up for the uneven pacing. Another surprise was the cliff-hanger ending Kepnes chose to close this installment with. You could have ended where it did and been a brilliant stand-alone novel. Hidden Bodies ends in such a way that I'm now eagerly anticipating the next installment. Joe had just begun what could be the start of a redemption arc so it will be interesting to see how that gets carried through to the next novel.

Overall this book wasn't quite as good as the first book but I think part of that is because Joe's personality and behavior aren't new to the reader anymore, which was part of the charm of You.  On the bright side, the new environment, new characters, new revenge angle, and new love interest all worked to create a reading experience that managed to be familiar and fresh all at the same time. I can't wait for the next book! 

Backlist Bump: Again, any book from the Ripley series by Patricia Highsmith is good here. If you want to try something new, though, and are looking for a book with a character you're not sure you're supposed to like, The Good Girl by Mary Kubica is a good option. 

What to Drink: My drink recommendation for this is the Moscow Mule. Joe may be in the land of the Mai Tai but he's an NYC man at heart, and what's more NYC than this? 

Moscow Mule 

2 oz vodka 

1 oz fresh lime juice 

Ginger beer 

Lime wedge for garnish 

Pour the vodka and lime juice into your glass, over ice cubes. To be traditional, this should be a copper mug. Top off with the ginger beer and add your garnish if desired. 

You: Stalking in the Second Person

You
by Caroline Kepnes
Hardcover, 422 pages
Atria, September 30, 2014

When Guinevere Beck walks through the doors of Joe's bookstore, he knows instantly that there's something special about her. She's beautiful, clever, and an aspiring writer. After looking her up online he easily finds her Facebook and Twitter accounts and has no problem finding out all about her - what she's doing, where she's meeting her friends, who she's dating, and where she lives. After orchestrating an encounter at a bar he tracks her down at, he's sure she's the one for him. Now he just has to convince her of that.

********************

"...the bullshit thing is, if someone saw the three of us, well, most people would think I'm the weird one just because I followed you here. And that's the problem with this world..." 

Holy crap. This was a twisted novel about stalking, obsession, and psychopathy. It touched in on the use of social media in interesting ways - whether we overshare, how safe it is, and whether we're fully experiencing life if we're so concerned with constantly sharing updates. The second-person narration was a unique and especially effective method of showing the world from Joe's perspective. It upped the creepiness factor substantially, since Joe was speaking right to you...as Beck. This point of view also allowed for an interesting examination of the games people play when in relationships, even when they're not crazy stalkers trying to manipulate their prey...I mean, significant others. <ahem> Along those same lines, Beck's online presence highlighted how easy stalking is in the current digital age, where a quick Google search can bring up any number of personal social media accounts, addresses, telephone numbers, education and employment history, all from the comfort of your own home.  

For a completely nut job, Joe, our narrator, is surprisingly charming and witty. His observations on daily life sometimes had me nodding along, which led to uncomfortable discussions with myself about how I could possibly be agreeing with someone so unstable. I'd go chapters before I'd be jarred back to the reality of what a creepy psycho he was...usually around the time he was stealing Beck's cell phone or panties or something. 

This book works great as a stand-alone novel, but I'm glad it's the first in a trilogy because I look forward to seeing what Joe's future holds. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's creepy and likely illegal.

Backlist Bump: The Talented Mr. Ripley (another psychopathic protagonist you'll find yourself rooting for against your better judgment).  

What to Drink: Reading this book and it's discussions about club soda put me in the mood for a vodka and soda - a simple but refreshing drink. This book, however, needed something a bit more pretentious than that, which is why I ended up with a St. Germain Cocktail. Still refreshing but highbrow enough to have maybe made an appearance at one of Peach's parties.

The St-Germain Cocktail

2 parts Champagne

1.5 parts St-Germain

2 parts club soda

Fill a tall Collins glass with ice and add ingredients in order. Stir completely and garnish with a twist of lemon. Enjoy...with the lights on.

Rest in peace, Pat Conroy

The world lost a great storyteller last week, when Pat Conroy died at the age of 70.  His books are among some of my all time favorites, and I'm sure I'll be spending some time in the coming months re-reading old favorites and reading those that I haven't yet.

The first book I read by Mr. Conroy was The Prince of Tides - and I read it back in high school, shortly after it was made into a movie.  I was around 14, and not old enough to understand the story, and the people, so when I received Beach Music as a gift nearly 20 years later, I didn't rush to read it.  I didn't realize my lens of memory was flawed by immaturity and that I was postponing reading one of the most beautiful books of my life.

I love books of drama, family and good friends.  I'm especially drawn to books with depictions of beautiful, complex friendships, and both Beach Music and South of Broad have characters whose friendships are life altering, and which define the characters their entire lives.

In his work The Great Santini, Conroy thinly fictionalizes his own teenage years and exposes a life with a beautiful mother, an abusive father, and a family who struggles through loving him and hating him.  It's so easy to be charmed by this handsome man in the story - and then you're picking yourself up off the floor along with the characters when his temper flares and his fists fly.

There are still several books I need to read...I think because Conroy was not as prolific as some authors, I've paced myself rather than devouring everything at once.  I'm thankful for the beauty, joy and pain that he so masterfully illustrated.  I look forward to enjoying his writing again and again.

God Speed, Mr. Conroy.

The Passenger: Girl on the Run

The Passenger
by Lisa Lutz
Hardcover, 304 pages
Simon & Schuster, March 1, 2006
4 stars

Tanya Dubois is on the run. After finding her husband, Frank, dead at the foot of the stairs in their home, she has a drink, packs a suitcase, dyes her hair, and drives into the night. After securing a new identity from a voice on the phone she moves from place to place, assuming and abandoning new identities along the way. Eventually her problems - and the problems her new identities come with - begin to catch up to her and she finds herself headed home to face her past.

                        ********************


"You can never see anything clearly when you're running."

Holy smokes - this book is a page-turner! It was such a fun read, twisty and turny, with surprises along the way that didn't feel contrived or forced. I loved the balance between the action-packed suspense of her present with teases to a backstory through email (though the identity of the senders of these emails remains a mystery until the end). The book is broken up into sections based on the alias in use at that time, which I very much enjoyed. It helped frame Tanya's journey and experiences in a way that she herself must have felt a she shed identity after identity. I loved her voice, too. It was unique and raw and felt really honest, even as she lied through her teeth to everyone else.

Once we finally got some answers, though, the plot started to fall apart. It's hard to go into too much detail without spoiling the story, but there were times when the reason behind the actions of the characters either don't make sense or they're just not enough to justify their behavior. Also disappointing was the fact that, by the end of the book, I never felt as though I knew Tanya or understood her choices. Whether this is a result of her constantly changing identity or poor character development, I don't know, but I would have liked to have gotten a better idea of who she was as a character. A weird, romantic story-line was kind of tucked in here and there along the way that was completely unbelievable and nonsensical. As I was reading I found myself wondering what was wrong with this guy. I can't say more but, if you read it, you'll know what I mean. Thankfully, this was a small part of the overall story.

This book was a lot of fun with great pacing and a unique voice. I'd definitely give Lutz another chance. This was her first foray into suspense and I think it was an overall success.

My drink pairing for this book is a generous shot of whiskey - well or top shelf, whatever you're feeling like. Maybe change it up, try something new, in the spirit of Tanya Debois, our girl on the run.

Cheers,
Tanya

(Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)