Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

I really enjoyed so many things about this book, beginning with the pacing of this book, a slow meandering through the disastrous consequences befalling Feyre for killing a faerie. Feyre is a compelling character. She drew me in with her haunting voice already replete with despair from the beginning. But she is a survivor, and survive she does. And the supporting cast of characters, Tamlin, Lucien, Rhysand, are deliciously complex with a villain worthy of the title. This story reminds me so much of the Beauty and the Beast tale, which I'm a sucker for.

However, I am less thrilled with the graphic and explicit sex scenes, few though they are. I know, I know: many find them titillating. I find them tedious and unnecessary. I'm of the opinion that less is more: I'd rather leave such intimacies to the participants than to be a voyeur. And disappointingly, this seems to be a trend in the YA genre, one that I'm not a fan of to be honest. I realize that "adult" is explicit in the YA moniker, but I'm finding I can recommend fewer and fewer books to my teen students (who are NOT adults yet) despite them being drawn to the topics and writers who produce these books. Admittedly, I'm old-school and lean toward the modest. Is there no place for we who favor modesty anymore?

I am hooked, though. I will and look forward to reading the next two books in the series.

Book Review: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Book Review: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

I'd been staring at this book for months on my If you liked..., then you'll love... suggestions from Goodreads and Audible. And, this book came highly recommended by a professor colleague, so...I finally read it. And, from the first few pages, I was hooked.

Katherine Danielle Clark, Kya, lives a life impossibly impoverished: abandoned by her mother and older siblings, abused by her alcoholic father, starving due to lack of income, lacking any kind of formal education, left to survive on her own in the marshes of North Carolina, Kya defies the odds stacked against her survival and thrives. Kya's coming-of-age story is heightened when she is arrested and tried for the murder of Chase Andrews, the local hero, who coincidentally was Kya's lover until he, too, became abusive.

Owens creates in Kya Clark a character so at odds with society and at home with nature, so simultaneously vulnerable and strong, that I couldn't help falling in love with Kya. This abandoned and shunned precious and precocious child of the North Carolina marshland in the 1960s burrowed into my heart, especially when she explains that she didn't have trouble understanding why everyone left, but only why nobody took her with them.

Owens prose is lyrical, possibly the most beautiful writing I have seen in some time, and Kya's ability to be completely in tune with nature and out of tune with human society is captivating. And, Owens delivers a poetically just ending for Kya that left me cheering and pondering the meaning of justice.

If you're looking for a beautiful, rich, unexpected story, this one will not disappoint.