Review: Lost in Hollywood

I recently finished Hollywood Boulevard by Janyce Stefan-Cole. This novel was released in April, though my copy was an uncorrected proof provided for review. The cover is a befittingly poolside picture, replete with palm trees:

Hollywood Boulevard is broken down into two parts, and is a very meandering, introspective look at retired actress Ardennes Thrush - who retired before achieving her full potential.

Ardennes Thrush is a literate, intelligent individual who hasn't really been doing much of anything since she retired from acting. As far as exactly why she retired is something that remains unclear - by the end of the novel, it seems like she lost herself during a nervous breakdown because of the dissipation of her first marriage. (That is my interpretation, however, and there are certainly others that can be made.) Ardennes loves acting, the craft of it, the ability to lose herself in a character - and from the remarks of other characters, it is clear that she is good at it.

To be honest, the novel is a little boring - but it's possible this is on purpose. Here is this glamorous former movie star, hanging out in her hotel room and spying on her neighbors. People who are trying to be invisible, even when they're quietly suffering a nervous breakdown, are often kind of boring.

Then, she gets a stalker, which makes things slightly more interesting. And she commits adultery, which is kind of surprising. And her husband betrays her, which has been glaringly obvious for awhile, and is therefore no surprise at all.

Then, she gets kidnapped, which makes things slightly more interesting. And due to her slight craziness, it is interesting to see what other character is actually even more crazy. (I won't say who, because that takes half of the fun out of the novel.)

The end of the novel is perhaps the best part, with its' did-she-or-didn't-she-find-herself ending.

Despite the slight tedium of the novel, I did enjoy many aspects of it. In particular, it is obvious that the writer is herself a huge fan of reading. Reading the words of someone else who is a fan of literature can often be a beautiful experience, and reading this novel does sometimes inspire the reader to devour great works of literature.

It is difficult for me to make a recommendation for this novel, because with its' slightly boring tone, it is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. I was told I should rate my reviews, though, so reading this novel falls somewhere between enforced reading for school and laughing dinosaurs (which sounds kind of creepy, but think of friendly, animated dinosaurs, like in Land of the Lost).

Book Review: Bedlam...Or Not

I received The Bedlam Detective as an uncorrected proof awhile ago. It became available for sale February 7, 2012.

The cover:

Written by Stephen Gallagher, this book has a great title and an interesting premise. Essentially, the title refers to Sebastian Becker, a former Pinkerton detective who is now barely making ends meet in a destitute section of London. His current job is to meet with rich people whose sanity has been questioned, reporting information to a superior who ultimately decides whether these rich people will be allowed to continue living on their own and making their own decisions, or placed in a cushy asylum.

While investigating a gentleman named Sir Owain in a small England town, Sebastian stumbles across the disappearance (which is ultimately discovered to be the murder) of two little girls. The little girls were violated on the moor in a manner that resembles the previous treatment of two little girls years before.

The story line is pretty interesting, but the writing is not. The author tried too hard to make the characters likable and full fleshed, and ultimately ended up adding many scenes and much information that was not necessary. I also felt as though the author tried to make the novel historically accurate, yet failed; the novel feels inauthentic.

I also did not like that Sebastian does a lot of investigating in the novel, but ultimately, I did not feel that the solution to the mystery was something the reader could figure out. There simply were not enough clues that were relevant to the murder itself.

Overall, I'm not sure what the author's intent in writing this novel was. It's not a horrible novel; it's just not very good.

The Beautiful Cover Lies

I recently received an advance uncorrected proof of Jenna Black's Glimmerglass. Here's a picture of the cover, which is gorgeous:

Glimmerglass is the first book in a young adult fantasy series. Chronicling the adventures of a teenage girl named Dana, this book follows her from whining about her alcoholic mother to whining about being in Avalon to whining about her father to whining about missing her alcoholic mother to whining about more stuff.

As you might be able to tell, I was not a big fan of this book. The plot was okay -- the plot actually dealt with some pretty interesting ideas. What I came across was something I come across a lot in fantasy: I didn't care about the characters. I've written before about the importance of caring about a character, for me. In the case of this book, I do not feel that the characters take a background to the story and the world-building, however.

I feel like most of the writing is simply not as sympathetic as the author wants it to be.

Having an alcoholic mother and constantly being on the move is hard. Not knowing a parent is hard. Running away is a stupid action that usually doesn't turn out the way a teenager thinks it will.

But I just felt like Dana was whining.

I feel like the writing needs to be refined, like this book should have been further revised.

Then again, I wasn't a huge fan of Twilight, either, and that's a bestselling series. And Twilight has a teenage protagonist who is insecure and annoying and boring, but people love it. And Twilight is a fantasy novel with an interesting plot that could stand to be revised. I do think Twilight is slightly better written. The Glimmerglass plot moves along quickly, but it's not effective due to the way it was written - it feels hurried. There's a lot that happens, but it all feels too fast.

The cover's awesome, but I recommend a pass on buying this book. I think Jenna Black is going to refine her writing. This book has a lot of good elements, but it's not all put together well yet.

The Title Alludes to SEX (Kind of, sort of, maybe)

The Book: The Lovers

The Author: Vendela Vida

The Cover (at least, of my uncorrected proof):

The link (to the publisher page w/ information about the book and pre-ordering)

The thoughts:

The Lovers is the tale of a woman named Yvonne and her trip to Turkey.

Yvonne is alone. Literally, she has no traveling companion. On a related note, as the novel progresses, her relationships with family, friends & acquaintances are examined, as well as the idea of relationships, in general.

While in Turkey, Yvonne befriends a young boy who sells shells on the beach (thus the picture on the cover of the book). This friendship is at one point compared to two people in a romantic relationship - an observation by a character in the book, not by the narrator. This passing remark sticks with the reader, both because of the book's title and the fact that numerous romantic relationships in the book have been mentioned. Yvonne and her young friend, while in no way romantically involved, get along in a way that none of the romantic relationships in the book do, but in a way that many romantic relationships are portrayed in the media.

I adored this book. The writing was concise - Vida utilizes her words beautifully. She writes simply about complicated manners, and the result is a poignant novel that stays with you after you've finished the last word. I love that this book makes the reader think and that it's well written - and I think you'll love that about this book, too.

The Release Date: July, 2010