First Lines Friday

First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.

• Grab your current read(s).
• Share the first line(s).
• Include the title and author.

"This is a story about a girl that went through a life changing experience known as Thyroid Cancer. It's not one of those dramatic 'based on a true story' cancer things, especially since Thyroid Cancer is not as bad as cancer. It's a story about me, Esther Earl, having a sickness that's pretty scary."

~ This Star Won't Go Out by Esther Earl with Lori and Wayne Earl

 

Fangirl

Reading the Simon Snow series, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, hanging out in discussion forums and dressing up like the characters is what got Cath and Wren through their mother leaving in their childhood. But when it is time to begin college, Wren flips the script. She doesn't want to be roommates and isn't interested in anything Simon Snow. Now Cath is left outside of her comfort zone with a surly roommate whose constantly smiling boyfriend is always hanging in their dorm room. It is time for Cath to be independent and live her own story.

I've gotten used to Rainbow Rowell's incomplete endings so I started reading Fangirl with the expectation that it would end on any note, damn near mid-conversation. With this in mind, I tried not to get too attached to the main characters. Welp, so much for that idea.

I immediately hearted Cath. She had similarities to me and brought back memories of my own freshman year of college: adjusting, developing new friendships and growing distant from long-term relationships. I knew Cath would be one of my fave fiction characters when she was faced with dealing with her father in a manic episode. The sensitive subject of mental illness was well written without overshadowing the main plot.

I notice small things like character names. Their parents weren't expecting twins so planned to name their baby girl Catherine. Their mother chose Cather and Wren as names for the twins. Brilliant choice on a whim!

Sharing a name and being identical is where the twins' similarities end. Cath is shy; Wren is outgoing. Cath is a homebody; Wren parties hard. Cath is a writer; Wren is a boy-chaser. The friends they choose to associate with in college run in different crowds. The way they handle college is quite different and very interesting to read. Fangirl is the perfect blend of first love in a coming-of-age story.

I'm just going to say it: Fangirl is better than Eleanor & Park. I didn't think that was possible. This novel is definitely one of the best books I've read this year. Rainbow Rowell, you have officially earned a spot in my top authors—incomplete endings and all. <3

Title: Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Published: September 2013
Pages: 433
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

 

The Vacationers

"The Posts were masters of self-delusion, all of them." ~ pg. 71

A two-week trip to Mallorca Island is a celebration for the Post family. Franny and Jim are observing their 35th wedding anniversary and daughter Sylvia's high school graduation. Also invited to the island vacation is son Bobby and his older girlfriend, Franny's best friend, Charles, and his (yes, his) husband.

The Post family is in the midst of change and secrets spill out all over the island. True selves are revealed during the trip.

The Vacationers has been on every recommended list in magazines that I subscribe to. My library copy was finally available so I dived in immediately only to keep asking in my best Whodini voice "When we gonna get to the good part?" It never came. The story fell flat. Pure disappointment. Uber overhyped.

Title: The Vacationers
Author: Emma Straub
Published: May 2014
Pages: 292
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: ♥♥

 

Big Little Lies

Entertainment Weekly calls Big Little Lies "a surefire hit." It is a New York Times bestseller. It was recommended in a few magazines. So I was happy to vote for it as a Chick Lit Book Club selection. A couple group members read it before me and there were mixed reviews. But of course, I had to read it for myself.

A murder. Arguing moms. Bully kids. School scandal.

Big Little Lies was a big waste of time. The nearly 500-page novel was like a literary form of Desperate Housewives meets 90210. It was a drag to read and I fought the urge to skip to the end. Bookhearts know I love a good mystery but it is best when unpredictable clues are revealed at a steady pace. I like mysteries that keep me frantically turning the pages, on the edge of my reading chair. Big Little Lies barely engaged me. This is the second book I read by author Liane Moriarty; I've come to the conclusion that her writing just isn't for me.

Title: Big Little Lies
Author: Liane Moriarty
Published: July 2014
Pages: 460
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: ♥♥

 

Series Sunday: Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth

(The Diaries #1)

Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.

• Read an installment of a series.
• Share your review/recommendation below.
• Include the title, author and series name.

"How do you lie in a diary?" ~ pg. 32

My Series Sunday pick is Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth, the first book in the Diaries series by V.C. Andrews. This is the series that doesn't end. It just goes on and on and on, my bookhearts. V.C. Andrews legacy won't let it go. Ghostwriter won't stop. Lifetime has joined the fold and started making movies of the famous Dollanganger series.

Clearly Flowers in the Attic was not the whole story. Umpteen years later and V.C. Andrews fans get to finally read Christopher's side of the story, mostly in his own words from a diary that seventeen-year-old Kristin Masterwood finds. Kristin is a distant relative of the Foxworths. Specifically, her mother had been Malcolm Foxworth's third cousin.

Kristin was curious to see the twice-burned Foxworth property so she tagged along when her father's construction company was hired to inspect it for a prospective buyer. The mansion and legend of the four Dollanganger children locked in an attic fascinates Kristin. During the inspection, her father finds a leather-bound book which turns out to be Christopher Dollanganger's diary. The yellowed pages are filled with his account of what happened during those three long years locked in an attic. Prisoners/victims of their mother's inheritance scheme. Kristin devours the diary as it feeds her obsession with the children called flowers in the attic.

"A diary written by a kid locked in an attic of a nuthouse for more than three years." ~ pg. 48

Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth begins in the first days, pre-Attic life. Right away, readers can gauge his impression of sister Cathy (very dramatic) and his momma Corrine (greedy). At the same time, he gains the trust of readers by sharing his love of reading. Avid readers unite!

"Books can get wet and crinkle, and old book pages can turn yellow, but the words don't disappear for a very long time." ~ pg. 44

I stopped reading V.C. Andrews series when they became heavily recycled. Same incestuous or orphan story, different character names. I suspect the fan base has dropped over time. Perhaps this is why ghostwriter Andrew Neiderman decided to return to the moneymaker of V.C. Andrews library. I picked up Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth with a heavy side-eye. Hours later, I put it down with a smile. Yes, I enjoyed it so much that I spent an entire day reading it. I am looking forward to the second book of The Diaries and hope it is just as, if not more, interesting.

Title: Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth
Author: V.C. Andrews
Published: October 2014
Pages: 339
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: ♥♥♥♥

The Broken String / The Silent Sister

The Broken String is the prequel to The Silent Sister. This e-short story introduces us to main character Riley McPherson. It begins on a sad note. Riley's brother/protector/best friend is injured in Iraq. She hops on a plane and rushes to his side. But years later, family secrets have caused a rift between the two siblings. Will they ever be close again?

I can appreciate back story and often like prequels. But The Broken String wasn't necessary. I only bothered to finish because it was less than 35 pages.

Title: The Broken String
Author: Diane Chamberlain
Published: August 2014
Pages: 35
Edition: eBook
Rating: ♥

Although the e-short story was disappointing, I kept an unbiased mind when I started reading The Silent Sister. Diane Chamberlain's novels are the best family drama. I am guaran-damn-teed to get lost in a story with so many layers that it helps me escape the real world for days. The Silent Sister held up to the high standard.

Riley McPherson was always told that her older sister Lisa committed suicide as a teenager. Twenty years later, Riley is cleaning out her father's house after he passes away. She finds evidence to make her doubt Lisa really committed suicide. Is she possibly alive? Riley works hard to uncover the truth and what happened two decades ago. Family secrets from the past pour into her future, making The Silent Sister a very hard mystery to put down until you've read the last word.

Title: The Silent Sister
Author: Diane Chamberlain
Published: October 2014
Pages: 352
Edition: eBook
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

 

Before We Met

"Whatever he was doing, wherever he was, it was a mystery to her." ~ pg. 83

Hannah went from being wary of commitment to being married within months. She moved back to London, resigned from her job to be with fellow Brit, Mark. He frequently traveled back and forth between London and New York. So when he wasn't at the airport at the scheduled time, Hannah wasn't too concerned thinking she mixed up the days or that her husband's schedule changed last minute.

Sure enough, Mark called to explain why he missed the flight and why his return home would be delayed. "A farce," he called it. But women's intuition kicks in and a voice keeps telling Hannah something isn't right. When Mark's assistant and business partner both contradict his whereabouts, Hannah really starts questioning where Mark is and uncovers secrets. Why was the mortgage extended? Why has Hannah's bank account been emptied? Who was her husband before they met?

"She was sweating, she realised, her armpits were wet, and a string of adjectives was running through her head: stuck, screwed, powerless. Fucked." ~ pg. 57

I added Before We Met to my reading list after seeing it on a couple recommended reading lists. This is my first novel read by England-born/New York resident Lucie Whitehouse. Good first impression. While the book was good, I think it would be even better on screen. There were some parts where I would've liked to really see Hannah's reaction. Instead I played my own version of the scenes in my head as I read along. Don't you just love books that let your imagination go where the words take you? This is all the more reason for me to recommend reading Before We Met to mystery bookhearts.

Title: Before We Met
Author: Lucie Whitehouse
Published: January 2014
Pages: 276
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: ♥♥♥♥