Book Review: Uprooted

I did not want this book to end. And yet, it took me a month to finish it. Not because it was boring or uninteresting or I had better things to read.  I wanted it to last. Because this is a standalone, not a series, and there will be no more after.

I knew this going in, so I wanted to savor it. Like a plate of beef bourguignon straight from the hands of Julia Child. Because Naomi Novik is like the Julia Child of literature, creating a host of unequivocal pleasures and sensations in a single literary dish, enough to spoil my palate justthismuch into disappointment after tasting anything else.

Okay, I know I'm getting out of hand here people, but seriously - ALL TIME FAVORITES SHELF. Books don't just get added to it willy nilly. This is serious business.

I downloaded Uprooted onto my kindle the minute it was released, because bookshelf real estate is in high demand these days and the screening process is very unforgiving. About halfway through the second chapter, I knew I had to have the physical copy. I went to purchase it online, but somewhere along the way to amazon, I saw a different cover that made my eyes go starry and my mouth say, "Why didn't we get that cover?!?"

US Cover

UK Cover

It's sooooo pretty. So I ordered it from Amazon UK and didn't read another word until I held that little beauty in my own hands.

But even more beautiful than the cover is the story inside.

     The Dragon doesn't eat the girls he takes, no matter what

        stories they tell outside our valley.

So begins Agnieszka's story. The Dragon, we learn immediately after, is not a fire breathing reptile, but a man. A wizard. And one the villagers tolerate because he keeps the Wood away. Yes, the Wood is capitalized, because it is more than just a colony of thick trees sweeping down the mountainsides and into the valleys. It is a sentient being. An evil, malevolent one - intent on spreading ever further, eating whole villages alive in its path.

Agnieszka is chosen by the Dragon because she is capable of magic and he takes her back to his tower in the woods becoming her prickly, reluctant teacher. In this way, she becomes inextricably intertwined in the battle against the Wood, in the dangerous politics at the King's court, and in her budding relationship with the Dragon.

What I Loved:

Agnieszka: Our heroine is intuitive, resourceful, curious, naive, and stubborn. I loved how she came into her own throughout the novel. How she slowly conquered her fear and opened her heart. She experienced loss and failure, horror and sorrow, she was forced to make difficult decisions. Novik never made it easy on Nieszka. She developed in a beautiful arc over the entire course of the book.

Agnieszka and Kasia: Many times in books, especially in YA fiction, friendship is often swept aside in favor of developing romantic relationships. That was not the case in Uprooted where Nieszka's relationship with Kasia was just as important as her relationship with the dragon. Nieszka went where no man, not even the Dragon, would dare to go in order to rescue her friend from the Wood. And the experience changes both girls. I loved their friendship. It was one of my absolute favorite parts of the book.

Agnieszka and the Dragon: This romance was spot on for me. No insta-love present. Their path to romance was a subtle one, a slow, beautiful burn into eventual flames. Delayed gratification people. Anticipation. I loved every minute of it. And the amazing thing is, despite the wonderful way their romance progresses, it isn't even the center of this novel. Which I think made it all the  more special when it did happen.

The Wood: The Wood, in this novel, was akin to Jaws in the film adaptation. For the longest time, we don't really get to see it. We hear stories. We see the Wood at work, the evil spilling over and out in the form of various hideous things, but we don't actually see the heart of the Wood until the very end. So for the longest time, it is that fear of the unknown that sinks down into us. The Wood could be anywhere, in anyone, in anything. It reaches farther than we, or Nieszka, ever dare to imagine. I loved it's ominous presence and how it colored everything in Uprooted with complete uncertainty.

The Writing: Novik is among the best writers that I've ever read. Her descriptions of everything from the workings of magic to the machinations of battle to the subtlety of romance are vivid and creative. Word pictures: the only way I can think to describe what it felt like to read this book. I know, I know, that's what books essentially are, but this just takes it to a whole other level.

I also loved the pace of the story and how unpredictable it was. The whole time I was reading, I honestly could not have told you, with any amount of certainty, how this book would end. Many times I came to a place where I thought for certain that I was in the climax, only to discover that I had plenty more to go.

What I Disliked:

Standalone: Yep, that's pretty much it. This isn't a series. This is it. Once it's over, it's over. Honestly, Novik ends it in a way that doesn't leave anything open to a series. I don't feel like there are questions unanswered or subplots unresolved. It's meant to be a standalone. But that doesn't make me feel any better.


Uprooted is a story about friendship and love, past and future, destiny and magic. It is a classic good vs evil story, but utterly unique and wholeheartedly original. An instant favorite. This gets the highest stamp of approval I can possibly give.

Book Review: Flight Behavior

This was my first Barbara Kingsolver book, and I'm thinking I might should have started with a different one.

I was really torn throughout the book, finding myself either thoroughly engrossed, or hurriedly skimming over entire pages just to get to something interesting.

The premise is fascinating - a young Appalachian housewife discovers a colony of countless millions of monarch butterflies nesting in the forest above her house. They should be in Mexico, riding out the colder months in a decidedly milder climate, but instead, they have made their winter home in the mountains of Tennessee. 

Soon, Dellarobia Turnbow is an international figure and the butterflies themselves attract unwanted publicity and strife within her family - specifically between her and her husband Cub.

A scientist appears, Dr. Ovid Byron, an expert in the field of monarch butterflies wishing to study the phenomenon. Soon Dellarobia is caught up in the plight of the fragile creatures and begins to draw comparisons between them and her own life.

Kingsolver obviously had a very specific message she wished to convey through her book. Mostly climate change and its effect on our environment. Because of this, the text could get a bit preachy, and those were the parts that lost my interest. Most readers would have gotten the gist just seeing the story unfold through Dellarobia's eyes, but Kingsolver used her trusty scientist as an environmental bullhorn a few too many times and the results left me feeling talked down to and a bit patronized in many parts.

On the whole, Flight Behavior was earnest and full of heart, and I'll be revisiting Kingsolver in The Poisonwood Bible, of which I've heard countless wonderful things.

Book Review: At the Water's Edge

Water for Elephants, set in Scotland, with the Loch Ness Monster instead of Rosie the Elephant.

WARNING: - THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD

 I will just go ahead and tell you right now, that this book opens with three of the most unlikeable characters you can possibly imagine. You might even ask yourself why you would want to continue reading several hundred pages about the vapid lives of a bunch of over privileged American brats. In response I say, just go with it. The story gets better. Maddie, her husband Ellis, and their best friend Hank, publicly disgrace themselves at a New Years Eve party in the upper crust of Philadelphia society and embarrass their family to the point of being cut off financially. In order to win back their money and their place among society's elite, they travel to Scotland, amid the horrors and dangers of WWII, in order to capture photographic evidence of the famed Loch Ness Monster. (There is a backstory that validates this move, I promise). Once in Scotland however, and ensconced in a local inn, Maddie's relationship with Ellis begins to change as colors start to fly true under the weight of an uncertain future.

  What I loved: Scotland: - I'm a total sucker for this country. Any story, set in any time period in Scotland, is guaranteed to catch my interest. Holding it is another thing for sure, but I felt like Gruen populated her story with interesting local characters and folklore.

  Local Characters: - Yes, the Scots outshone their American expats in leaps and bounds when it came to integrity, honor, and love. Meg and Angus were my favorites.

  Folklore and Superstition: - I'm a sucker for this stuff too. I don't mind a bit of the fantastical in my stories as long as it isn't too heavy handed, and I really thought this was handled very nicely.

 What I disliked: Romance: - Just to clarify - I do not dislike romance in general. I just wasn't too happy with the way it was handled in this book. I read another review that said the latter half of this book read like a paperback romance novel and I laughed out loud because Yes. That really is exactly how felt. The back half of the book was so very different from the first part. Only, I don't feel like the development was all there. It was like suddenly, halfway through the book, these characters realized they loved each other. There was hardly any buildup and I would have liked to have seen more development before hand.

  WWII: - I just didn't feel like the elements of war were blended into the story very well. There were periodic air raids and rationing of food and supplies, but we would go for lengths of time without any mention of war and then come to a chapter where a load of facts and info were suddenly dropped into our laps - how many Jews had been liberated at a concentration camp, how many German soldiers annihilated by the Russian army, refugees and fallen cities, and horrific tales of Nazi cruelty - usually gleaned from radio broadcasts or the local paper. I kind of think the war was touching the character's lives enough already and we could have done without the surplus information.

  Ellis & Maddie & Angus: 

**Here's where I gets really spoilery.**

 **Seriously...YOU"VE BEEN WARNED!!!**

 As I was reading along I thought to myself, hmmmmmm...where have I seen this before...

 The answer? Water for Elephants of course.

 Let me explain: Maddie is married to Ellis. Ellis turns out to be a lying coward of a douchebag who fakes being color blind so he can avoid the draft. (He also "won" her in a coin toss with his best friend) He is an alcoholic and an addict who steals Maddie's "nerve" pills and pops them hand over fist all day long, chasing them with whiskey or beer or whatever the hell else he can get his hands on. He has no clue how to please her sexually and is verbally and emotionally abusive as hell when he's wasted - which is pretty much all the time. He actually wants to have her lobotomized and tries to gaslight her by convincing her that she really is paranoid and crazy. In short - he's an abusive ass. Enter Angus - an ex war hero with a tragic past. He's lost his entire family. He now runs the inn that Maddie finds herself staying in, mostly by herself as Ellis and Hank leave for days on end for "research". Maddie finds out about Angus's past and the wife who drowned herself in Loch Ness when she got a telegram that told her Angus had died in battle (he hadn't, obviously, the information was incorrect). When Maddie goes down to the Loch herself thinking about suicide, a force of some kind comes out of the water and knocks her back. We get the indication that this force is Angus's dead wife, whose body was never found. She essentially becomes the mythical creature in Loch Ness for the sake of this story. Angus and Maddie begin to develop a relationship and when Ellis finds out, he tries to get Angus arrested for poaching - a sentence that would carry a two year prison term. When Maddie finds out what Ellis has done, she confronts him and he tries to kill her. Only Angus rescues her, and when the police go to arrest Ellis for attempted murder, he's found drowned at the edge of Loch Ness in less than two inches of water.

  So here we go: Water for Elephants/At Water's Edge

  Marlena/Maddie: Both are girls who were born into less than fortunate circumstances in different ways and were raised up to higher levels by dubious men in their lives who only want to use them for their own personal gain.

  August/Ellis: Both complete asses. Both very controlling of everything about their wives. Both abuse their wives verbally, mentally, emotionally and physically. Both attempt to have their rivals removed from the situation in dastardly ways. There is a lot at stake for both men to lose - and their wives are not at the top of that list. Both die at the end by the hands of something not human: August by Rosie the Elephant. Ellis by the "Loch Ness Monster".

  Jacob/Angus: Both men lose their entire families. Both men fall in love with the fragile women that are forbidden to them. Both men show these women more love than their own husbands ever have. Both men succeed and get the girls after their rivals have died.

  Rosie/Nessie: Both are the creatures around which our characters gather and develop. Both have incredible effects on revealing the true natures of certain characters and tearing one couple apart while bringing together another. Both are responsible for the deaths of the most reprehensible characters.

 So there you have it. At Water's Edge is essentially Water for Elephants, set in Scotland, with the Loch Ness Monster instead of Rosie the Elephant. Don't get me wrong. It was an enjoyable story, though I rate Water for Elephants much higher. I just hope that Sara Gruen will find herself a new formula before her readers catch on, because I do think she's a talented and creative writer and hopefully not a one trick pony.

Contest!

I have been quiet lately over the summer and into the fall, but that's only because I've been hard at work on my novel. I always think about posting here, and I'll even begin writing a new entry now and again, but then the pull of my novel begins to become more and more insistent and my unfinished posts are left to languish in my draft folder.

If you want to know the truth, I think my novel is a little jealous of my blog.

And that's ok. Because I'm the mother and my novel is still breast-feeding (forgive the metaphor, but it's what I'm dealing with here) so my world revolves around her right now. It's very exhausting, but also rather exciting - seeing her really begin to take shape. (Yes, my novel has a female gender. Just like boats and cars and the Starship Enterprise.)

This past September I even traveled to New York with her. Baby's first outing. I attended the New York Pitch conference had had the opportunity to discuss my book with five big time editors in the Big Apple.

In the next few weeks I'll discuss everything at length with you and tell you about my trip in detail. It was really life-changing - in regards to my novel.

In the meantime, I also went to the Decatur Book Festival this past September with fellow writer Dale Spencer and we stood in long lines in the heat and the rain just to get author signatures on three major titles. And now we are offering them to you!

The titles up for grabs are:

The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancy

Reboot by Amy Tintera

And
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

 You can also find the contest on Dale Spencer's website.
Enter the contest below and Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Short History of Wedding Traditions

This past weekend, one of my dearest friends tied the knot. She and her now husband have an absolutely beautiful story and it was wonderful to watch them both fall in love.

Before the wedding, she asked me to do some research on wedding traditions. She was looking for information to include in the wedding program for the guests, wanting it to read more like a playbill rather than a mundane series of events (i.e. "The Seating of the Grandmothers, The Lighting of the Unity Candle, etc.).

There was info on the bridesmaids and groomsmen including how they met and knew the bride and groom and the important roles they played or would play in the couples lives. It was really beautifully done as was the wedding itself, full of meaning instead of feeling like a formality.

The research itself, for me, was incredibly interesting and I wanted to share some of my findings with you, from the origins of the oldest of wedding traditions to their evolution into modern day ceremonies. Of course, wedding traditions and ceremonies vary vastly according to different countries, religions, and cultures. My research mostly pertained to western Christian traditions.

Attendants

Best Man

          In earlier times, the groom often kidnapped his bride. He always held her on his left side to keep his sword hand free to fight off rival suitors or enraged relatives. To this day, the groom still stands to the right of the bride.

If the groom needed help with the kidnapping or the ensuing fight, he would choose a best man.

In later centuries, on the day of the wedding, it was the job of the best man to ensure that the groom didn’t turn back for any reason once he had set out to meet his bride.  He was also responsible for giving the groom a small good luck charm to carry in his pocket, which later translated into a small sum of money to pay to the church minister.

Maid of Honor

            The Maid of Honor is a relatively recent development. Historically, the wedding party only consisted of a bride and a groom. In more recent years, when much more planning and effort were put forth, the bride would ask her closest friend for advice and assistance, which then developed into the maid of honor role, who was traditionally an unmarried woman and carried the title of chief attendant.

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen

          Beginning in the 17^th century, it was thought that weddings were attended by evil and malevolent spirits who wanted to harm the bride and groom. Because of this, the closest friends and family would stand with the couple and dress like them in order to confuse the spirits. The tradition continues with bridesmaids typically wearing the same dress and/or colors at the wedding.

Ceremonial Traditions

Are you with the Bride or Groom?

          Feuding families often arranged marriages in order to end wars between clans or factions. In order to avoid bloodshed at the weddings, the best man made sure that the families sat on opposite sides of the room or church.

Who gives this woman to be married?

            Women were the property of their fathers up until the time of their marriage. In ancient times, the giving of the bride usually included her dowry and other property and goods.

Tying the Knot

          The phrase refers to the ancient marriage tradition of handfasting, where the hands of the bride and groom were bound together as a symbol of their unity.

Honeymoon

            Long ago the honeymoon often preceded the marriage! This began happening when the grooms would kidnap their brides. They would then go into hiding for a period of thirty days, or a moon cycle. During this time, the drink of choice was honeyed wine. Hence the term honeymoon.

The Bridal Veil

          The Bridal Veil has a wide and varied history.

            Ancient Greeks and Romans believed that if the bride wore a veil, she would be protected from evil spirits.

            Medieval traditions also saw the bride wearing a veil in order to confuse evil spirits. It was believed that the bride appealed to evil spirits because of her happiness, thus her face was covered in order to conceal her joy from the spirits.

            The veil was also used in arranged marriages particularly because the groom might back out if the bride was thought to be plain. By wearing the veil the groom was kept committed and the veil was also seen as a symbol of the obedience or submission of the bride to the groom.

In later traditions, the white veil represented purity. The bride traditionally wore the veil over her face throughout the ceremony and it was only lifted at the end. If the groom lifted the veil, it was a symbol of his dominance, but if the bride lifted the veil, it was a symbol of her independence.

To Christians, the veil was and is a symbol of modesty and sexual purity. The veil was also a symbol of inner beauty and the groom married the bride with the veil on to symbolize that beauty may fade, but love is eternal.

            

The Bouquet

      Flowers have been around at weddings as early as the ancient Greeks who used to wear them in garland wreaths around their head, a la Julius Caesar. They often contained bulbs of garlic as well, for the smell was thought to ward off evil spirits. 

      The use of garlic and herbs for protection was carried on for many centuries before being abandoned for more fragrant florals. In medeival times, it was customary to bathe only twice a year. Bath times usually fell before Christmas and during summer. Since it was considered fortuitous to wed in the Spring, most brides and grooms weren't at their freshest, so flowers were carried and herbs were sewn into dresses and pockets to make the ceremony more enjoyable for all involved. 

     In later centuries, flowers are still carried for luck, protection, fertility, and symbols of love and womanhood in bloom. 

    Starting in the Victorian Era, most flowers began to have special meanings attributed to each one and were carried as messages to one another. Tulips and Roses meant Love, Violets represented Faithfulness, Daisy's were Innocence, and Carnations meant Fascination. You can find a lengthy list of flower meanings here.

     As for the famous bouquet toss, the Victorian bride would give her flowers to her friend to pass on protection and wish her luck. The tradition has since evolved in a toss where the lucky woman who catches it will be the next one to wed.

Engagement Rings

            The tradition was born in 1215, when the pope issued a mandatory waiting period in between the engagement and the marriage. The wealthier classes began giving engagement rings at this time. The pope also issued a law stating that all marriages must take place in a church and that an exchange of rings would symbolize the union.  The rings are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because it was believed that that finger contained a vein that led directly to the heart.

Something Old, Something New…

          The traditional saying goes:

Something old, something new

Something borrowed, something blue

And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

            The tradition dates back to Victorian England and each trinket carried or worn by the bride was thought to bring good luck and good fortune to her marriage.

          Something Old – Thought to be a symbol of the bride’s past and the life she is leaving behind as well and her desire to stay connected to her family even as she begins her own.

            Something New – A symbol of optimism and hope and of the new union being created by the bride and groom.

            Something Borrowed – Thought to be a symbol of borrowing happiness from a happily married woman so that her happiness will carry over to the new bride. It is also thought to symbolize the love and adoration the bride has for the person that she borrowed from.  

            Something Blue – The color blue symbolizes fidelity, loyalty, modesty, purity, and love and has been associated with weddings for centuries.

            Sixpence – A sixpence is a coin made in England from the 16^th-20^th centuries. It was made of silver and worth six pennies. The wedding tradition dates back to Victorian England but borrows from an earlier Scottish tradition where the groom placed a silver coin in his shoe for luck. The bride usually wears the coin in her left shoe and it is thought to represent wealth and financial security.

Unity Candle

          The lighting of the Unity Candle is one of the most recent wedding traditions with roots beginning in the early 1900’s. The bride and groom light a single candle from two separate individual candles to symbolize the union of two families and two souls.

Throwing Rice

            This may be the oldest wedding tradition, dating back to the ancient Egyptians and Hebrews who threw rice at the newly married couple as a symbol of fertility. Over the years the rice has given way to bird seed, bubbles, and sparklers.

You May Now Kiss the Bride

          In ancient Rome, Christians used the wedding kiss as a symbolism of the scriptures saying that two souls have now become one flesh. Early Christians also believed that clinking glass at the wedding or the reception would scare off the devil. The couple would then exchange a joyful kiss.

            Ancient Romans used the wedding kiss as a binding of the wedding contract, hence the saying, sealed with a kiss.

            Either way, the wedding kiss is one of the longest standing wedding traditions still in existence today. 

So there you have it. The act of marriage has long been one of religious symbolism, secular  tradition, and all around superstition. And maybe next time you attend a wedding, you'll have something to break the ice with when you're seated with a group of complete strangers.

What have been some of the strangest or most interesting wedding traditions you've witnessed?

Writing Vacation

You know you are a struggling writer when you look forward to vacation because you know you'll finally have time to actually write.

 The trappings of everyday life usually suck all of the motivation and creativity right out of me. But vacations, specifically beach vacations, are a really revitalizing time.

They are usually so low-key and relaxing - no agendas or schedules to adhere to - so I can just read, write, and relax to my heart's content.

 I'm planning to write some new chapters, revise some old ones, and do a massive overhaul on a major character while I'm enjoying the sun, sand, and surf.

Of course, I'll be reading as well. I always feel like vacation time is catching up on my reading time and I love going to the bookstore that first day and browsing the shelves for the perfect beach reads.

I may have been a bit ambitious with my stack of books this year, but I know I'll get to them eventually.I'm starting with Shadow of Night and Life After Life.

Do you write more or less when you are on vacation?

ARC Giveaway's

The lovely book muses over at The Midnight Garden are holding ARC giveaways of two amazing summer books.

The first is of Siege and Storm, the second book in author Leigh Bardugo's wildly popular Grisha Trilogy. Enter to win.

 The second is The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancy, an edge of your seat post-apocalyptic novel that some are already touting as the next Hunger Games.

Head on over and enter to win, and give them some much deserved praise, not only for their generous offer, but for being such a wonderful literary source to all of us book lovers.

Good luck!