Blog Tour Review: Weak At The Knees

Welcome to my stop on the Weak at the Knees blog tour, hosted by Pump Up Your Book

Title: Weak At the Knees

Author: Jo Kessel

Publisher: Createspace

Published: September 20, 2013

Add to Your Shelf: Goodreads

Format: Paperback

Pages: 285

Source: Received in exchange for an honest review

Mini Musing: 

My Rating: 2 Stars

Synopsis:

“We got so busy living life that we forgot to live our dreams.”

Danni Lewis has been playing it safe for twenty-six years, but her sheltered existence is making her feel old ahead of time. When a sudden death plunges her into a spiral of grief, she throws caution to the wind and runs away to France in search of a new beginning. 

The moment ski instructor Olivier du Pape enters her shattered world she falls hard, in more ways than one.

Their mutual desire is as powerful and seductive as the mountains around them. His dark gypsy looks and piercing blue eyes are irresistible.

Only she must resist, because he has a wife – and she’d made a pact to never get involved with a married man.

But how do you choose between keeping your word and being true to your soul? 

Weak at the Knees is Jo’s debut novel in the new adult, contemporary romance genre – a story about love, loss and relationships, set between London and the heart of the French Alps.

Melissa's Musings:

I have mixed feelings  about this book. In some sections, it feels like it tries too hard, in others not hard enough. My main issue is that I didn't feel any sort of real connection to Danni. All she seemed like to me was a whiny,unmotivated main character. She feels like she tries too hard to be something she isn't by trying to make drastic changes after Amber's death. In the beginning  of the story she seems to be someone who is more content to sit on the sidelines, and suddenly Amber's death is throwing her into a tailspin and she has to go and do something unusual. And that something unusual is trying to escape her depression by running off to be a ski instructor in France.

Since I wasn't able to connect with Danni on a basic level, I also had a difficult time really believing her grief over Amber's death. I didn't feel enough of the build up of their friendship for it to really matter. Yes, she told us how she was feeling regarding Amber's death, but I didn't truly see it in her actions. I felt like the fact that they were supposed to be best friends was implied rather than shown. Since they are supposed to be best friends, it felt like the reader was just instantly meant to feel the connection that their long time friendship would give them. I wish that there had been more time given to the development of their friendship and relationship. If there had been, I would have been more entrenched in Danni's journey to change her life.

One aspect of the book that I did enjoy was the setting. The settings and scenery of the story were beautiful, and I could see them in my head as I read. I wanted to be in theses same places, enjoying the sights and the snow right along with the characters.

 Anyone who has read my reviews for a long time also knows that I am a sucker for any type of baking and cooking within  stories, so I really enjoyed reading the scenes  where Danni or the group is enjoying different types of food and drink. I thought that the scene where Olivier is making hot chocolate for them is really well done, I could almost taste it when I read that part

The relationships in the book aside from Danni and Amber's are interesting, but they also feel underdeveloped. It felt to me as though the reader was left to their own assumptions a little too much, and that there needed to be more development throughout the story. There is an interesting web of romantic relationships in the story with Danni being in the middle. Her relationship with Hugo seems flat, boring, and played out, so when he takes a drastic measure of his own to try and win Danni back, it feels forced, and much too late. The relationship with Rod isn't really off too much significance either, I felt it could have been left out altogether.Then there's Michel, who's trying to win her over, but she's too focused on Olivier to notice. I have to admit I do feel the tiniest bit bad for Michel, but at the same time I don't, because of the lengths he went to to drive her away once he found out about her involvement with Olivier.

I did enjoy the arc between Danni and Olivier, and was rooting for them a little bit, despite their being together breaking the pact she and Amber made. But, despite the few wrenches thrown into their relationship, I felt let down by it too. It all wrapped up too neatly in the end, and felt unrealistic.


Overall, the story fell short for me, and I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I originally thought I would.This book has beautiful settings, and exquisite sounding food, so if those are things you like to read about this book's for you. 

Review: Ramblings in Ireland

Title: Ramblings in Ireland

Series: N/A

Author:  Kerry Dwyer

Publisher:  Someday Box

Published: August 15, 2012

Genre: Memoir

Format: Kindle

Pages: 179

Source: Received From Author

Read: March 7-9th 2013

My Rating: 4 Stars

Goodreads:  Add To Your TBR Shelf

Goodreads Synopsis:

This is not a book about rambling in Ireland.

It tells the tale of one particular walking trip and the memories and musings it inspired.

Exploring the West of Ireland is a time for meditation, spiritual reflection and strengthening the bonds of life. More practically the ability to read a map might have proved helpful. The tourist office in Ireland has all their paths clearly marked. You can’t go wrong if you follow that little yellow man. Or can you?

As British ex-patriate Kerry Dwyer leads Bertrand, her trusting French husband, astray once more, they reminisce and reflect upon accents and accidents, family and friends, love and what it means to be alive. Bertrand doesn’t mind getting lost – he loves Kerry all the more for going off the beaten track.

This is a book about ramblings in Ireland. Walk with Kerry and Bertrand and follow where your thoughts lead you.

Melissa's Musings:

This is a very easygoing read, just like the title might suggest. The reader follows Kerry and her husband Bertrand on their walking trip through Ireland. In addition to great scenery, you get little snippets of their personal life with different stories that are mixed in throughout the chapters.

This is the kind of book that I love because it intersperses personal anecdotes with information. You get to learn about the great sights of Ireland, but at the same time you get to know more about the author on a personal level. Sometimes with non-fiction pieces I often get the feeling of informality, but not here.

I really enjoyed the author's comparisons of the differences between aspects of French and English (British) cultures. I really related to this given that my boyfriend is Canadian. Having had the chance to live in both Canada and the US, I definitely know what it's like to be of one culture and experiencing another, and the differences that you can encounter.

One of the examples that Dwyer uses is a reference to idle chit chat. Britons like to chat with people, to ask how they are doing, etc. whereas the French are more direct and don't tend to chit chat with one another. Dwyer's husband was also very excited by the fact that in Ireland the houses are all painted unique combinations of bright, cheerful colors. In France, house colors must fall within a range that has been approved by the French government.

One thing I noticed is that at times, the interactions described in the book do seem somewhat stiff, even formal. Most of these are the interactions between Kerry and her husband. I'm just wondering if some of that is... I'm not even sure how to put this, language interspersment issues? Since Dwyer knows both French and English, but lives in France, where my guess would be she mainly uses French, maybe some of the formality of the French language is coming through in the writing?

There's an element of fun, easygoingness to this book in the fact that Kerry and her husband do get lost from time to time. They have as much fun getting lost as they do when they aren't, which is enjoyable to see.

This is an excellent travel memoir that will give you a glimpse of the scenery of Ireland just as if you were walking the journey yourself.

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling.

Title: The Casual Vacancy

Author: J.K. Rowling

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Published: September 27, 2012

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 503

Source:  Library

Read: November 1-4, 2012

In A Few Words: Disappointing and Depressing

My Rating: 2 Stars

Goodreads: Add this to your TBR Shelf

Goodreads Synopsis:

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.

Melissa's Musings:

I want to preface this review by saying, I love J.K. Rowling. Really, I do. But, I most certainly did not love this book.

When I first saw the cover for this book I thought, "That's it? What a boring, bland cover."

Now, it makes perfect sense. A boring cover to go with a bland book. I'm usually a quick reader, but I truly struggled in making my way through this book. I had to coach myself through each hundred pages. I strongly considered calling it "DNF" at one point, but I soldiered on. I can't honestly say that I'm happy I finished it. 

The first fifty pages is interesting, because we're all trying to figure out what's going to happen to the town now that Barry Fairbrother is dead. There are a lot of unkind, even vindictive  thoughts at his death, which initially, are intriguing. What these thoughts end up being are a precursor to all the pettiness and jealousy that the townspeople have for one another. After that initial 50 pages, it feels like the rest of the book just descends into pettiness and jealousy with teenage angst thrown in.

There are a lot of different issues thrown into this book, and sometimes it feels like it's just too much altogether. There's the politics of course, but then there are subjects like rape, incest, drug use, suicide, cutting, adoption, relationship issues, drinking, etc, the list goes on. It almost felt like Rowling was trying to cram every negative subject that she couldn't talk about in the world of Harry Potter into this book. 

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There's also a lot of swearing in the book. I have absolutely no problem with swearing in adult novels. Even in Young Adult novels, mild-moderate swearing is fine with me. I've read a few reviews where readers have a problem with the fact that there's any swearing at all, which I don't really understand given that this is an adult book. The swearing itself doesn't bother me, but it again feels like Rowling was just trying too hard. There's a lot of it, to the point of bordering on slightly excessive, and it just feels unnecessary in some spots.

There are also too many characters in this novel. There are too many relationships to navigate through. My guess is that Rowling was trying to underscore the point that everyone, especially in small towns is connected, and that something like a death can have a ripple effect and affect many people in a variety of different ways. I completely understand that. I don't feel it was necessary to use quite so many characters/families to make this point.

One character that I did feel drawn to, in a way, was Fats. He has this idea of being his genuine, true self, no matter what that means. I found this to be an odd concept, for a teenager that is. The teen years, and into one's 20's  are meant for finding out who you truly want to be and who you really are, and it appears that Fats has done that. It is explained that he has spent a lot of time inside his own head, getting to know himself and the layers of his own personality. He doesn't completely follow through with this personal ideology of his throughout the book, but for the most part, he sticks to it. It's nice to see someone taking charge of themselves and their actions, especially a character as young as he is.

As I mentioned before, the first 50 pages of the book are great. But then as you slog through the rest, it's just depressing, vindictive, and somewhat boring. I didn't feel anything emotional at the end of the book. I won't spoil what happens, but lets just say it leaves you feeling somewhat depressed. It left me thinking "What was the point of even reading this?"

The only thing that saved this book from getting a 1 star rating was the quality of the writing. As usual, Rowling is able to compose intense, descriptive passages. For example:

"Disgust rose in Samantha like vomit. She wanted to seize the overwarm cluttered room and mash it between her hands, until the royal china, and the gas fire, and the gilt-framed pictures of Miles broke into jagged pieces; then, with the wizened and painted Maureen trapped and squalling inside the wreckage, she wanted to heave it, like a celestial shot-putter, away into the sunset. The crushed lounge and the doomed crone inside it, soared in her imagination through the heavens, plunging into the limitless ocean, leaving Samantha alone in the endless stillness of the universe." (Rowling, pg. 275)

 I could see that in my mind, as I read it. Unfortunately, the writing wasn't quite enough to make me truly  like this book.

I'll admit, there had to have been some expectations that filtered into my reading of this novel. I don't think there couldn't have been. But, overall, this just falls flat on it's own, J.K Rowling or not. Maybe if she had published other adult works between the Harry Potter books her readers would be more used to this serious side of her, and understand her adult works a bit more. Since the Harry Potter world was her sole focus for so long, though, I think it may be slightly too difficult for us as readers to disentangle ourselves and look at a book that contrasts so starkly with HP. It might have also helped to not have your very first book center on something as serious as politics.

Overall, I would say that this book is very well written, if boring. I would recommend checking it out from the library or borrowing it from a friend rather than buying it, though.

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

Title: Demonglass (Hex Hall #2)

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Publisher: Hyperion Book CH

Published: March 22 2011

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 359

Source: Library

Read: September 15-16 2012

In A Few Words: 

My Rating: 5 Stars

Goodreads: Add this to your TBR shelf

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch.

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.

Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?

Melissa's Musings:

A few days ago, I posted my review of Hex Hall. Let me just say that Demonglass is just as good. I was so involved in the story that I didn't quite see all the twists and turns that come up in this book, so I was nicely surprised there.

There is a love triangle, but to be honest I really kind of enjoy this one. I know that I've said in the past that some love triangles are horrible, but this one is really well done. The dynamics that Sophie has with each of the guys are really different, so they're easy to differentiate, and she really has different feelings for each one. It's kind of a forced love triangle in a way since Cal is betrothed to her, but it still works well. I feel for Cal, he's so nice and it's clear that he cares for her a lot, so it's a shame that she doesn't feel the same way. Although judging by some actions toward the end of the book this may change, it'll be interesting to see what happens between them in the next book.

There's a lot of action in this book, and a lot more magic and spells. A lot more dark magic, of course, now that Sophie knows she's a demon. There's cool teleportation, Sophie's bound to a ghost, people are trying to kill her, it really is jam packed. But, the laugh out loud humor is still there, which is awesome. I loved it in the last book and I loved it in this one too.

The progression of the relationship between Sophie and her father is really great to watch too. At first, she's unsure, and doesn't trust him. I wouldn't either, if he'd been gone from my life for 17 years. But then as she starts to trust him a little more, she grows to care for him. It's clear that she wants to make him proud, and that she recognizes that he has a lot that he can teach her. 

The story leaves you wanting so much more. I don't want to put in any spoilers but let me just say that I'm so disappointed that my library doesn't have the third book, I'll have to get it ASAP so that I can find out what happens.