JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester


England, 1939 Talented pilot Skye Penrose joins the British war effort where she encounters her estranged sister, Liberty, and childhood soulmate Nicholas Crawford, now engaged to enigmatic Frenchwoman Margaux Jourdan.

Paris, 1947 Designer Christian Dior unveils his extravagant first collection to a world weary of war and grief. He names his debut fragrance, Miss Dior, in tribute to his sister, Catherine, who worked for the French Resistance.

Present day Australian fashion conservator Kat Jourdan discovers a secret wardrobe filled with priceless Dior gowns in her grandmother’s vacant cottage. As she delves into the mystery, Kat begins to doubt everything she thought she knew about her beloved grandmother.

An unspeakable betrayal will entwine all of their fates.

The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester is another historical fiction novel mostly set during World War II, this time introducing us to three incredible women whose lives are forever changed and bound by secrets.

The dominant storyline is the one set in 1939, where we meet sisters Skye and Liberty Penrose, Skye’s childhood friend Nicholas Crawford, and his fiancé Margaux Jourdan. We do briefly move between two other storylines — 1947 where Margaux is a model for fashion designer Christian Dior, and present day 2012, where Margaux’s granddaughter Kate starts to uncover all of her grandmother’s secrets during World War II — but every time we’re transported back to 1939, Skye’s storyline maintains for almost 100 pages.

Natasha always crafts characters who are engaging and interesting, drawing the reader in with their depth and their likability. Normally, I wouldn’t think Air Transport Auxiliary would be interesting enough to want to read about it, but Natasha bring us a multi-layered core cast of characters, and you can’t help but feel swept up in the storyline.

“Tonight’s mission was named Operation Peaceful; some wag at HQ obviously had a sense of humour. The operation was a double: he and O’Farrell would each fly a Lysander carrying one SOE agent and six hundred pounds of cargo — Sten guns, money, radios, pamphlets — to a tiny field in France and land on a flare path just one hundred and fifty yards long and lit by only four pocket torches.”

Having read most of Natasha’s previous novels, I noticed a vast difference in how she captured Skye and Liberty’s backstory in this latest book. More time was given to their past and their childhood, so by the time the pacing picked up and we were in the middle of World War II, you felt more understanding of the characters. I definitely felt like more attention was given to the characters, allowing the reader a closer connection with them as the chapters progressed.

The writing is polished and tight, but also emotional and full of character. Natasha always writes such realistic dialogue, gorgeous prose, and she always illustrates fantastic female characters and really engrossing romances. Sitting at almost 450 pages, this is one of Natasha’s lengthier works but it’s worth every page.

“What she’d seen on Margaux’s face after the bloodlessness passed was a terror so stark Kat never wanted to see it again. If was as if her grandmother had witnessed death itself, as if the dark angel had reached for Margaux with outstretched arms.”

Personally, Skye’s story was my favourite. She’s intelligent, confident and ballsy, and she fights for what she believes in. She’s estranged from her sister Liberty, who is malicious, conniving and manipulative, and she’s in love with her childhood friend Nicholas Crawford. He happens to be engaged to the mysterious but bold Frenchwoman Margaux Jourdan, and Skye feels torn by her feelings for Nicholas.

All of them work together in Air Transport, supporting the RAF during the war. Skye was part of a small group of women who transported planes around the UK. It was a stressful, trying time, with a lot of pain, death, and uncertainty. Skye was a pioneer for women in the British Auxiliary, and so there’s definitely a lot of feminist undertones in the novel. Women weren’t considered to be as talented or as valuable as men, and Skye worked to change that. She paved the way for female pilots.

“A Dior gown so sensational would certainly be featured in any book on the fashion house, would have been displayed proudly by any museum, would be almost as well known as the Bar Suit. But, as far as Kat was aware, nobody knew anything of this beautiful blue dress. Why?”

Sometimes, it did feel like the 1947 storyline wasn’t quite a natural fit in the novel. It was the glue between 1939 and 2012, but it felt a bit forced into the plot. There certainly wasn’t that much time dedicated to that POV in the novel, but it was a way for granddaughter Kat Jourdan to discover her grandmother’s hidden secrets. I wonder if there was a way to just have 1939 and 2012.

Recommended for fans of historical fiction, romance, and sweeping family sagas that span across generations.

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

The Paris Secret
Natasha Lester
April 2020
Hachette Book Publishers

Deep Water by Sarah Epstein

A gripping mystery about a missing boy and a group of teenagers, one of whom knows something but isn’t telling.

HENRY WEAVER IS MISSING
Three months ago, thirteen-year-old Henry disappeared from The Shallows during a violent storm, leaving behind his muddy mountain bike at the train station.

MASON WEAVER IS TRAPPED
While Mason doesn’t know who he is or what he’s capable of, he knows the one thing binding him to this suffocating small town is his younger brother, Henry.

CHLOE BAXTER WANTS ANSWERS
Why would Henry run away without telling her? One of Chloe’s friends knows something and she’s determined to find out the truth.

As Chloe wades into dangerous waters and Mason’s past emerges, a chilling question ripples to the surface: how far would you go to keep a secret?

Sarah Epstein’s Deep Water is a young adult thriller novel set within a small town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. The residents are reticent, the past is full of secrets, and the truth about a young boy’s disappearance is about to come out.

Deep Water captures a claustrophobic setting. Set in The Shallows NSW, the atmosphere of this small town is incredibly crowded and confined, making you feel like you’re trapped along with the characters. Stylistically, this helps build tension throughout the book, because there is nothing you can do but wait for secrets to reveal themselves.

Structurally, the book shifts between character POVs but also between ‘before’ Henry went missing, and the present. Over time, we come to understand just how hard life was — and is — for Mason and his younger brother. Their mother Ivy is an alcoholic, and she’s often violent, and Mason is left to pick up the pieces.

Deep Water illustrates the notion that you never really know what’s happening behind closed doors. People suspect, but no one in The Shallows really knows how violent Ivy is when she’s alone with Mason and Henry.

“Where the hell was Henry? Surely he’d heard their mother throwing her guts up. Would it kill him to attempt the clean-up himself for once? It’s not like he hadn’t watched Mason do it a hundred times.”

When I compare this with Sarah’s previous novel, YA thriller Small Spaces, I recognise an incredible difference in how Sarah reveals clues and red herrings. When reading Small Spaces, I felt there was too much foreshadowing and the plot was a bit predictable, but with Deep Water, I felt surprised and expectant the entire length of the novel. I had theories that all turned out wrong, I had suspicions that weren’t plausible, and when I came to the ending I genuinely felt satisfied with how the storyline was wrapped up.

Sarah implements the unreliable narrator incredibly well in her novels, particularly in Deep Water with the characters Mason and Chloe. Both are very different — Mason is the rebellious, misunderstood brother of Henry who Chloe suspects might’ve had something to do with Henry’s disappearance. Chloe is stubborn, relentless and refuses to let the mystery fade from people’s minds. Truthfully, she’s kind of annoying, but she’s meant to be. She doesn’t want Henry’s disappearance to remain unsolved for any longer. She hunts down clues until she discovers the truth about what happened the night that Henry went missing.

“Both of Tom’s parents were still around back then, before the court case and his dad’s prison sentence, before his mum fled to Queensland, promising to move her son up with her when she was in a position to do so. That never happened.”

The storm, and the constant mention of water, is symbolic of the pacing in the novel. Everything happens fast, quick and without pause. As the reader, you almost feel like you’ve been taken on a ride and there’s no chance of getting off before the end.

Identity and purpose are strong themes in the book. How well do these teenagers really know their friends, or even themselves? Some of them feel stuck in The Shallows, with no way out of the town. Some feel indebted to others, forced to stay to help their family or their friends. Each character has to learn to understand where they want their life to lead, and that can be a really hard thing to do when you’re also trying to solve a disappearance.

“Henry confided in me. I knew all about the accidents and the arguments, the lean weeks when they could barely afford milk and bread. I was aware of the smashed glassware and missed birthdays, how their power was cut the same week Ivy bought a fancy display cabinet for her collectable plates.”

Admittedly, there are a lot of characters to keep up with in this town. And it’s not just the characters, but their families and their relations and as the truth starts to unravel and you realise just how people are connected to the truth, I’ll admit it got a little confusing. Sometimes it felt like there should’ve been a smaller core cast of characters to allow for a more cohesive plot.

Gripping, suspenseful, engrossing and chilling, Deep Water will have you hooked from the first chapter. Recommended for readers aged 14+

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

Deep Water
Sarah Epstein
April 2020
Allen and Unwin Book Publishers

Chain of Gold: The Last Hours Book One by Cassandra Clare

Cordelia Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, a warrior trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime, she and her brother travel to Edwardian London in hopes of preventing the family’s ruin.

Cordelia’s mother wants to marry her off, but Cordelia is determined to be a hero rather than a bride. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn into their world of glittering ballrooms, secret assignations, and supernatural salons, where vampires and warlocks mingle with mermaids and magicians. All the while, she must hide her secret love for James, who is sworn to marry someone else. But Cordelia’s new life is blown apart when a shocking series of demon attacks devastate London.

Trapped in the city, Cordelia and her friends discover that a dark legacy has gifted them with incredible powers – and a brutal choice that will reveal the true cruel price of being a hero.

Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare is the first instalment in The Last Hours trilogy, a new fantasy series for adult and young readers. Apparently, it’s a sequel to The Internal Devices trilogy, and a prequel to the Mortal Instruments series, but that doesn’t matter to me. I’ve only read one book from the Mortal Instruments series, and I know nothing about any of the other series. I went in blind to this (I imagine other readers will too).

Above all else, this book explores friendship, identity, legacy and love. There are many things in this book that readers will not be able to relate to — demon attacks, warlocks, ghosts etc — but the teenagers in this book experience things that all readers can understand. They go through love and heartbreak, heartache and deception, betrayal, and they uncover shock secrets from within their own family.

“Cordelia couldn’t understand why she was so worried about Lucie. Several withdrawing rooms had been opened up, and Lucie could have wandered off to any of those, or returned to her own bedroom. She really could be anywhere in the Institute.”

Set in the early 1900s, the book is approximately 600 pages. Does it need to be 600 pages? No it doesn’t. The pacing in the first half of the book is so slow, it’ll make you feel like you’re never going to get through it. It feels like a walking marathon. Once you pass the halfway mark and the demon attacks start ramping up, that’s when events start to get interesting.

Chain of Gold is told through the perspective of Cordelia, a brave, strong-willed Shadowhunter. She’s a complex character, but she’s also confident, self-assured and defiant to those who underestimate her. Over the course of the novel, the reader witnesses Cordelia at her best but also her most vulnerable.

Cassandra Clare has a way of capturing the entirety of a character, delving deep into their emotions and actions so the reader walks away feeling like they truly understood that protagonist.

“He looked away from Grace for the first time and searched the floor for Cordelia. He found her in moments — she was easy to spot. No one else had hair that colour, a deep dark red, like fire shining through blood.”

Chain of Gold features a large cast of core characters, and Cassandra takes the time to really illustrate them all (to be expected when the book is 600 pages). We come to understand motives, doubts, fears, and each character’s biggest desire. Sure, there are plenty of things left unsaid (this is a trilogy after all, we have two more books to go), but the ending to this book felt satisfactory. I’m intrigued to read the sequel.

Admittedly, there are so many teenagers and kids in this book it was easy to get confused about how they were related. Who were siblings? Who were just friends? Who were extended family? Sometimes it was easy to forget. Whilst the core characters were crafted with depth, sometimes it did feel like there were too many of them and perhaps…there didn’t need to be as many kids and teenagers?

“James had never seen the infirmary like this before. Of course he’d heard stories from his mother and father about the aftermath of the Clockwork War, the dead and the wounded, but during his lifetime there had rarely ever been more than one or two patients in the sickroom.”

Recommended for fans of fantasy fiction and young adult literature. 14+

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

The Last Hours Book One: Chain of Gold
Cassandra Clare
March 2020
Walker Books Australia

Everything Isn’t Terrible by Kathleen Smith

Licensed therapist and respected mental health writer Dr. Kathleen Smith offers a smart, practical antidote to our anxiety-ridden times. Everything Isn’t Terrible is an informative, and fun guide – featuring a healthy dose of humour – for people who want to become beacons of calmness in our anxious world.

Like Sarah Knight’s No F*cks Given guides and You Are a Badass, Everything Isn’t Terrible will inspire readers to confront their anxious selves, take charge of their anxiety, and increase their own capacity to choose how they respond to it. Comprised of short chapters containing anecdotal examples from Smith’s personal experience as well as those of her clients, in addition to engaging, actionable exercises for readers, Everything Isn’t Terrible will give anyone suffering from anxiety all the tools they need to finally … calm … down. Ultimately, living a calmer, less anxious life – one that, in other words, isn’t terrible – is possible, and with this book Smith will show you how to do it.

Everything Isn’t Terrible by Kathleen Smith is designed to help readers conquer their anxieties and their anxious habits, and discover ways to move forward without as much stress and worry.

Kathleen Smith works as a therapist and in each chapter, she gives an example of a patient she’s met whose anxiety was negatively impacting their life in some way. We meet Monica, whose strained relationship with her mother and brother was causing issues between her and her father. We meet Richard, who was worried about introducing his boyfriend of two years to his family.

The structure of the book allows for an easy and quick read — each chapter is relatively short and focuses on a different example. A different type of anxiety.

“I can’t overstate how important observation is when it comes to lowering anxiety in your family. Often people will try to jump in and change themselves (or others!) without getting a good sense of how their family functions.”

Katherine Smith is interested in a particular type of anxiety, and she follows Bowen Theory to guide her patients to a calmer, healthier life. Bowen Theory believes that our anxieties stem from our relationships, and that if we study the relationships in our lives and work to manage them better, it’ll have a natural flow-on effect towards our anxious minds.

Because we meet different patients and scenarios in each chapter, there’ll be parts of this book that you won’t feel connected to, and parts of the book that you read and think ‘yes, I recognise this in my own life’. I’m guilty of skipping a couple of chapters because I felt no connection or similarity with the anxious issue that was being discussed.

“Dr. Bowen taught that if anxiety is generated in our relationships, then it can also be fixed in our relationships. Therefore, long-term change doesn’t happen in isolation, or even on a therapist’s couch. It happens when we’re willing to work on being our best selves in our most difficult relationships.”

If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I read a lot of these kinds of books. I’m an anxious over-thinker who stresses too much. I wouldn’t say books like these are going to ‘fix’ that — at least not instantly — but they’re helpful in making you feel like you’re not alone. Books like Everything Isn’t Terrible pass along useful knowledge, insights and advice for people who spend too much time worrying about things they can’t change, and stressing over things they can change but don’t know how to.

Kathleen’s writing is insightful, instructive and clear. Readers will find her advice realistic and easy to follow, and this book feels like a hands-on approach, and the perfect companion to any bookshelf.

Everything isn’t Terrible teaches us that we can’t always change the situation — or relationship — we’re in, but we can adapt how we react or respond to that relationship. People tend to act a certain way when they’re stressed or anxious, and Kathleen allows us to take a step back and observe the situation from afar with fresh eyes. This may help readers confront a part of their lives that has been bringing them worry.

“When you go into relationships and try to do something different, people usually aren’t going to like it. Your family or office doesn’t want you to upset the balance they’ve cultivated to keep things calm. So when you change, there will be a temporary increase of anxiety in the system.”

This book does deal with a very specific type of issue, and it asks the reader to examine the relationships in their life. I think the title, cover and blurb implies a much broader focus, so some readers may be misguided and not find what they need inside these pages.

Helpful, insightful and a welcome addition to the family bookshelf. Recommended.

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

Everything Isn’t Terrible
Kathleen Smith
February 2020
Hachette Book Publishers

The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita Montimore

What if you lived every year of your life in the wrong order?

Brooklyn, 1982. Oona Lockhart is about to celebrate her 19th birthday and ring in the New Year. But at the stroke of midnight, she is torn from her friends and boyfriend, finding herself in her fifty-one-year-old body, thirty-two years into the future.

Greeted by a friendly stranger, Oona learns that on every birthday she will enter a different year of her adult life at random. Still a young woman on the inside, but ever changing on the outside, who will she be next year? Wealthy philanthropist? Nineties Club Kid? World traveller? Wife to a man she’s never met?

As she struggles between fighting her fate and accepting it, Oona must learn to navigate a life that’s out of order – but is it broken?

The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita Montimore is a time-travelling novel that explores the power of being alive, and the importance of living life to its fullest at every moment.

Oona jumps to a different point in her life every year on New Years’ Day. The pattern is random and there’s no way to tell what age she’ll be after her 12 months are up.

Whilst time travel is not a new concept, the premise of this book feels fresh and unique, taking readers on a journey through different eras — from the 1980s to 2017.

“Oona came to with a long gasp, as if breathing the surface after being trapped underwater, left to drown. A second earlier, she’d been surrounded by people and light and noise and warmth. Now she lay on a plush carpet in a dark room lit by a fireplace, silent but for the crackle of flames heating the drafty space.”

The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart is charming and sweet — the perfect beachside read or airport purchase.

The novel explores the conflict of knowing your future. If Oona knows where her life is headed, should she change what she’s doing in the present? What kind of effect will that have on her future life?

Oona faces this dilemma multiple times in the novel, each time questioning the reasons behind living the life she’s expected to live. If she knows where the next 12 months will lead her, how is this living? How is this fun? She should be allowed to make her own decisions and live her life spontaneously.

“Kenzie joined her when he didn’t have calls or errands, and she picked his brain about the modern world. She brimmed with endless questions like a hyper curious child, only instead of asking why the sky was blue or where babies came from, she asked why 9/11 happened and where society’s progressive attitude came from, still in awe that a black man was president and gay marriage was legal.”

Upon reflection, I feel that there isn’t much tension in this book. Sure, it’s disorientating and confusing for Oona whenever she jumps to another year in her life, because she’s never really sure where she’ll end up. But, she’s got an incredibly secure life and so there’s never a time where you truly worry for her.

Firstly, she’s rich. In every single year of her life. She never even has to work or find a job. Secondly, she has her mother’s help and guidance every time. Thirdly, there’s a letter waiting for her that gives her an update on her life, and an indication of how she should live the next one.

To be honest, Oona’s life is relatively easy. I never once worried for her. Or felt concern for her.

“Deep breath in, deep breath out. Oona tried to check the time, but found she wasn’t wearing a watch. A flash of colour on the inside of her wrist made her pull up her sleeve. She gasped and revealed a tattoo: an hourglass with swirls of galaxies in place of sand, a ribbon across its space spelling out M.D.C.R.”

Characterisation is one of the biggest strengths in this novel. Margarita captures Oona’s conflict incredibly well, but also her grief, her despair, and her doubts. Time travel would have its benefits but it would also be devastating knowing how your life ends up, without ever having the chance to experience that yourself. Oona’s internal dialogue is filled with depth, understanding, maturity, but also raw human emotion.

Recommend for fans of literary fiction, and women’s literature. The unique premise will draw you in and keep you engaged until the final chapter.

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

The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart
Margarita Montimore
March 2020
Hachette Book Publishers