JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

The Art of Friendship by Lisa Ireland

We all expect our friendships from childhood to last forever…

Libby and Kit have been best friends ever since the day 11-year-old Kit bounded up to Libby’s bedroom window. They’ve seen each other through first kisses, bad break-ups and everything in-between. It’s almost 20 years since Libby moved to Sydney, but they’ve remained close, despite the distance and the different paths their lives have taken.

So when Libby announces she’s moving back to Melbourne, Kit is overjoyed. They’re best friends – practically family – so it doesn’t matter that she and Libby now have different…well, different everything, actually, or so it seems when they’re finally living in the same city again. Or does it?

The Art of Friendship by Lisa Ireland is a candid novel about the complexities of female friendship. This is a multi-layered story that also explores marriage, careers, parenting, domestic violence and relationships. All of the characters in the novel are flawed, just like people in the real world.

Libby’s life changed direction when she got married and had a son. Her painting has taken a backseat in her life, and her focus has been redirected towards her son Harry and his upbringing.

But now Harry is grown up and in high school, and her husband Cam has been offered a new job in Melbourne. Libby is hesitant about moving, but the perks of the job are impressive. And Cam is a persistent — and in my opinion, controlling — man. And so they move, and Libby is once again living in close proximity to her best friend Kit.

Libby struggles to fit in with the new neighbourhood of Arcadia Lakes — it’s got a very Stepford Wives feel. The men work and the women take care of the children and the home, and it’s hard for Libby to adjust to and it’s also hard for Kit to witness. She’s a bold, outspoken woman who is not afraid to tell Libby what she really thinks. This causes a lot of friction between the women, and cracks start to appear in their once-solid friendship.

This review copy came with a personal note from Lisa, explaining why she wrote the book. Essentially, it’s about what happens when childhood friends grow up.

Plenty of female readers will find the friendship between Libby and Kit incredibly relatable. I’ve got a couple of friends who I’ve known since childhood and we’re still really close today. But I often wonder, if I met them right now, would we be as close? We’re really different and our lives have taken different paths, so I think not. But we share that history together. Those personal jokes and hilarious stories. We have spent decades together, and even though we may not have as much in common anymore, that doesn’t mean we’re not still very close. Female friendship is a complicated beast, and Lisa Ireland captures it really well.

“Coming today had been a mistake. She’d thought spending the day with Libby would be fun. She’d thought it would take her mind off the fact that it was the first time in her life she would be completely without family on Christmas Day.”

I was concerned about the characterisation of Libby’s husband, Cam. In the first half of the novel, I hated him. I found him controlling and manipulative, not really wanting to listen to Libby’s opinion but completely talking over the top of her and dismissing her feelings as unnecessary. In fact, I thought that this novel would explore the breakdown of their marriage just because of how he was portrayed in the beginning of the novel.

“A jolt of anger flashed through her. No wonder things had been great between Cam and her this past month or so. He was getting everything he wanted. Now that she wanted something the pendulum was swinging back the other way.”

And then, rather quickly, Cam becomes a decent guy. He talks sense into Libby and he’s rational and understanding? This felt rather abrupt to me. He was so selfish in the beginning, and the guy in the second half of the novel seemed like a completely different character. Normally, this could be put down to character development, but the novel really isn’t about him. And his change in personality seems so abrupt that it’s not believable.

“Why the hell had she gone there? Even as the question formed in her mind she knew what the answer was. Because she’d wanted to hurt her, that was why. Kit’s words about Harry had stung and she’d retaliated with a barb designed to inflict as much pain as possible.”

This book will appeal to women who have reached a certain point in their lives — they’ve drifted away from old friends, they’ve made new ones, or perhaps they’re trying to do both and maybe it’s working and maybe it’s not. Sometimes you just can’t stay friends with the same people your entire life. You change. They change. It’s life. Anyone who knows what that’s like will really relate to the characters in The Art of Friendship.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Art of Friendship
Lisa Ireland
May 2018
Pan Macmillan Publishers Australia

A Shout in the Ruins by Kevin Powers

Following his hugely celebrated debut novel, The Yellow Birds, Kevin Powers returns to the battlefield and its aftermath, this time in his native Virginia, just before and during the Civil War and ninety years later.

The novel pinpoints with unerring emotional depth the nature of random violence, the necessity of love and compassion, and the fragility and preciousness of life. It will endure as a stunning novel about what we leave behind, what a life is worth, what is said and unsaid, and the fact that ultimately what will survive of us is love.

Set in Virginia during the Civil War and a century beyond, A Shout in the Ruins by Kevin Powers is a novel about the brutal legacy of violence and exploitation in American society. At its core, the novel explores power and love.

There are two narrative threads in the novel. The first storyline is set in the 1860s before, during and after the American Civil War. It centres on the Beauvais Plantation and two slaves — Rawls and Nurse. They work for Lucy Reid and her husband Bob, and Rawls has already had his feet ‘docked’ by his previous owner. Rawls falls in love with Nurse, and when she is sold off to a cruel and volatile new owner, Rawls sets off to find her. This storyline then shifts and focuses on the marriage between Emily Reid and Antony Levallois. Their union is not passionate or filled with love. Instead, Emily is young and impressionable and Antony is cruel and unpredictable.

The second storyline is set one century later in 1956 and follows 90-year-old George Seldom — Nurse’s son — as he traces history in an effort to find out where he came from and what happened to his mother.

I don’t think the transition between the two storylines was seamless. At times, Kevin switches between each period so quickly that it jolts the reader and forces them to feel separated from the book.

“He did remember voices in the woods, a noise like rolls of thunder coming sharply and in quick succession. There were cries of pain, too, and a man who only called him ‘friend’ tucking him papooselike into a great gray overcoat against the cold.”

Kevin Power has real control of prose, writing poetic sentences and beautiful imagery and trapping the reader with his masterful use of words and dialogue. I fell in love with the way he weaved sentences together, overcome by how each paragraph flowed.

“He sat bolt upright, spat from the paralysed terror of the void back into a simple, remorseless summer night on earth. His breathing was out of control, shallow and quick. He tried to raise himself up out of the mud only to collapse back into it face-first.”

Unfortunately, I struggled to understand what the reader was supposed to take away from this novel. What are we supposed to feel? Understand? Know? Want to know? The writing was beautiful and the characters intriguing, but I couldn’t help but feel the overall message or purpose of the novel was lost to me.

“Of course Nurse knew. And she did not care what people said, except for the fact that new words being said can sometimes create a new record to measure deeds against.”

I recommend this to lovers of historical fiction — the kind of historical fiction that’s set in the deep south of America during periods of War, not the kind of historical fiction that’s about love or romance. Fans of Westerns will also love this style of storytelling, and the characters within the pages.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Shout in the Ruins
Kevin Powers
May 2018
Hachette Book Publishers

The Juliet Code by Christine Wells

1947. The war is over, but Juliet Barnard is hiding a secret. While her family believed she was helping the war effort from the safety of England, in truth Juliet was a trained wireless operator, dropped behind enemy lines in Paris to spy on the Germans. But the mission went critically wrong when Juliet was caught and imprisoned in a mansion in Paris’s Avenue Foch. Now she can’t – or won’t – relive the horrors that occurred there, and the people she betrayed…

The last thing Juliet wants is to return to France, but when ex-SAS officer Mac begs Juliet to help him find his sister, another British agent who is still missing, she can’t refuse. And in retracing her past, Juliet begins to realise that in wartime, the greatest enemy isn’t always the one that you’re expecting to fight.

The Juliet Code is a historical fiction novel set in the 1940s in Europe. Protagonist Juliet spends months training with the Special Operations Executive and then in 1943 she parachutes into Paris to spy on the Germans.

When the mission goes horribly wrong, she realises immediately how dangerous the situation is. She is captured by the Germans and subjected to months of physical and psychological torture in an effort to extract information from her about coding that would prove vitally important for the Germans.

The premise of the novel is very engaging and unique, drawing me in with the blurb and keeping me intrigued as I read on.

“In spite of my resolution to defy him, the knowledge that he meant me no immediate harm was an enormous relief. After the harsh, bleak horror of Fresnes, it was disorientating to be met with protective kindness.”

Like most historical fiction novels, the plot switches between past and present. In the present, Juliet has survived her captivity and is now free. But ex-SAS officer Mac begs Juliet to help him find his sister, and Juliet is forced to confront the past that she’s been desperately trying to suppress.

“The Paris of 1947 was very different from the Paris of 1943. It seemed determinedly gay, almost in defiance of what the city went through during occupation.”

I respect the stereotypical role reversal in the book. British code-breaker Felix has to watch the woman he loves leave on a mission that she likely won’t survive, and then he is heartbroken when she is captured by the Germans. It’s very different from the usual male-female roles you hear about from World War II, and I found it to be a refreshing twist on the gender construct.

The Juliet Code is quite a long novel, and I think it could’ve been trimmed down. The plot – whilst interesting – is a little slow to start, and the pacing lulls in the middle.

Christine has captured Juliet’s emotions well — her fear and her pain, but also her determination and her resilience. I have to admit, Juliet isn’t an overly memorable character, and she doesn’t inspire confidence. I think in an effort to paint the character as a reluctant hero, the author has actually constructed a hero who falls a little flat. She’s a little bland, her internal thoughts just skimming the surface and doing little to reveal a strong, authentic voice.

“I said it over and over as he sat sipping wine, gently probing for information, apparently in no hurry to be served. Strasser was unperturbed by my refusal to converse.”

Setting is one of the strengths of this book — Christine captures the fear and tension of World War II set against the backdrop of Paris. These spies possess such strength and determination, despite the risks involved.

I recommend this to fans of historical fiction, particularly anyone with a strong interest in stories set during World War II.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Juliet Code
Christine Wells
May 2018
Penguin Random House

The Greek Escape by Karen Swan

Working at a luxury concierge company, Chloe Marston makes other people’s lives run perfectly, even if her own has ground to a halt. But a terrible accident forces her to step into a new role, up close and personal with the company’s most esteemed and powerful clients.

Charismatic Joe Lincoln is one of them and his every wish is her command, so when he asks her to find him a secluded holiday home in the Greek Islands, she sets about sourcing the perfect retreat.

But when Tom, her ex, unexpectedly shows up in Manhattan and the stability of her new life is thrown off-balance again, she jumps at the chance to help Joe inspect the holiday house; escaping to Greece will give her the time and space to decide where her future truly lies.

Tom is the man she has loved for so long but he has hurt her before – can she give him another chance? And as she draws closer to Joe, does she even want to? As magnetic as he is mysterious, there’s an undeniable chemistry between them that she can’t resist.

But whatever her heart is telling her, she’s in over her head – another client’s wife has mysteriously disappeared and seriously allegations about Joe threaten more than just her happiness. Who can she trust? And will Chloe uncover the truth in time?

The Greek Escape by Karen Swan is a thoroughly enjoyable novel — the protagonist is a young British girl who has escaped to New York in an effort to leave her toxic relationship behind. She’s there for a fresh start. But when her colleague and friend Poppy is injured in a car accident, Chloe’s life takes a dangerous turn.

There is so much inside this novel. It’s not just the romance that the cover suggests. There’s mystery, adventure, drama and plenty of sexual tension.

Chloe steps up when Poppy is hospitalised; she takes on Poppy’s five clients and keeps her focus on her work. But when a sixth client shows up wanting Chloe to find him a secluded getaway in the Greek Islands, it forces her to reevaluate her life and tackle what she really wants in a relationship.

“Didn’t Jack tell you? The CCTV shows the driver deliberately swerving.” Rosalind shook her head, as though baffled, mystified, the words not making sense. “How could anybody do that?” she whispered. “To my little girl?”

This is my favourite Karen Swan novel so far. The whole scenario felt so unique and different to fiction that I’d normally read. I really did feel like I was reading something from another world — are there people out there who actually have Chloe’s job? Is it exactly like it reads in the book?

Karen Swan has captured the sexual tension between Chloe and her client Joe incredibly well. I kept reading because I felt so invested in their connection, but I was also desperate to solve the mystery of Poppy’s accident and how that fed into the disappearance of another client’s wife. The plot is a convoluted one, but it’s also incredibly satisfying.

Chloe closed her eyes, trying to push him from her thoughts. Blah, blah, blah, the same old story. He’d been giving her this patter for the last four years and she knew only too well about Lucy’s problems.

I have to admit, I picked the twist at the end because there was a bit too much foreshadowing throughout the novel. The Greek Escape is quite long, and so by the time I got to the concluding chapters, I had a pretty confident guess about what was going to happen.

The prose is incredibly polished, the language evocative. The characters all seemed so real and relatable, that I found myself really invested in their storylines and their futures.

When she rounded the corner onto Perry Street and saw him sitting on the steps of her building, it wasn’t surprise that she felt. Deep down, she had known he would come looking for her, just as he had probably known that she wouldn’t go to the drinks. They knew each other too well.

The Greek Escape is so much more than the cover implies. The story is full of mystery and intrigue, and the characters will have you flicking through the pages desperate to get to the end. At times the pace seems to lull, but Karen manages to keep the reader’s attention all the way to the very end.

I recommend this to readers who love romance, mysteries and exotic locations — The Greek Escape is the perfect blend of all three.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Greek Escape
Karen Swan
May 2018
Pan Macmillan Publishers

One Way by S.J. Morden

A murder mystery set on the frozen red wastes of Mars.
Eight astronauts. One killer. No way home.

WE STAND AT THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA

Frank Kittridge is serving life for murdering his son’s drug dealer. So when he’s offered a deal by Xenosystems Operations – the company that runs the prison – he takes it, even though it means swapping one life sentence for another.

THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO BE ALIVE

He’s been selected to help build the first permanent base on Mars. Unfortunately, his crewmates are just as guilty of their crimes as he is – and he’ll have to learn to trust them if they’re to succeed.

THE FUTURE OF SPACE TRAVEL IS IN SAFE HANDS

As the convicts set to work on the frozen wastes of Mars, the accidents multiply. Until Frank begins to suspect they might not be accidents at all . . .

XENOSYSTEMS OPERATIONS: MAKING DREAMS A REALITY

There’s a murderer amongst them, and everyone’s a suspect.

One Way by SJ Morden is a murder mystery science fiction novel set on Mars. Protagonist Frank Kitteridge has two options: journey to Mars to help build a base for scientists, or remain in prison with a life sentence. What would you choose if you were him?

This may be science fiction, but it’s also a thriller. Frank is sent to Mars among other convicted criminals, and as people start dying, Frank realises that they’ve been murdered. He must find out who is killing and why, before they come for him.

“He checked his air. Twenty per cent. That gave him nominally…OK, that wasn’t a good sign. He should have been able to just come up with a number. He was good with numbers, calculating quantities and part-loads in his head and getting it right. An hour and forty-five.”

The novel is too predictable, unfortunately. It followed a fairly standard plot — one by one people start dying and then right at the end we find out who did it. Additionally, it was quite obvious early on who the murderer was. I didn’t find the ending surprising or shocking.

The pacing was a little uneven; the story took too long to get started. And the pacing was jolted by the need for technical jargon and logistics thrown into the story. There was a lot of set up needed, and I wondered if S.J Morden could’ve begun the novel at a different point to make it more intriguing for the reader.

I found myself skim reading a lot of the book because of all the technical detail. Yes, most of it needed to be there but I do think some of the specific information could’ve been cut. Unless you’re a scientist or astronaut, you’re going to struggle to understand a lot of it and then your interest might wane.

“Frank unplugged it from the RTG, and removed the hoses that fed oxygen to the ship, and he and Zeus — mainly Zeus — lifted it onto a trailer. They coiled up the power lead and the hoses, put them in an empty drum, and collected the empty reserve tanks: big, black, lightweight cylinders made of carbon fibre.”

Frank is a great protagonist. He’s three dimensional and the reader really sympathises for him. He murdered his son’s drug dealer and ever since being convicted and sent to jail, his wife and son have seemingly abandoned him. He’s alone, and he accepts this mission because he wants his son to be proud of him.

I don’t think the other criminals are as layered as Frank. In fact, they felt a little like cardboard cut outs who were only in the story so they could get murdered and further the plot. They could’ve been further developed — particularly their backstories — so that the reader felt something when they died.

As a result, it is hard for the reader to feel the suspense or the tension as the novel progresses. I found myself reading the book to get to the end, but I wasn’t particularly hooked and I think I could’ve stopped reading the book and it wouldn’t have bothered me.

I would recommend this to people who love science fiction, because the technical terminology and the space logistics will really interest them. I don’t think this is best targeted at fans of mysteries or thrillers, because I think the ending is too predictable and you’ll see the twist coming quite early on.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

One Way
S.J. Morden
April 2018
Hachette Book Publishers

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