jenbsbooks's Reviews (2.41k)

I think maybe this popped up as an ad in my FB feed and I checked it out - available in KindleUnlimited with audio and text. I figured I'd give it a go. It's been a while but I enjoyed Grishom law novels a while back. 

Right off, Utah connection ... I don't know if it made an inordinate amount of local references (names of many cities/counties, although is Hoover fictional? Schools like Skyline High, locations like Franklin Covey and a Bees game, KSL news, the Road Home shelter). Perhaps I was just more conscious of them because I recognized the names and places. This really did NOT give the usual "rosy" (religious, happy, Mormon) look ... instead our MC smokes/drinks/swears and broke up her marriage by cheating, and prefers defending the guilty and just hoping they are happy with a little less jail time than expected. Hubs and I have been watching "Better Call Saul" so there were some similar vibes there.  One one hand, the MC isn't very likeable (mentioned in several reviews) but she also IS ... going out of her way to help the homeless, holding off judgement on people, trying to give those a fair shake who might not get it otherwise. 

Which brings us to the main case in the story - Teddy, a 17-year old adopted black boy being charged with drug possession/dealing . Race/Racism is a big part of the story. Additionally, Teddy suffers from "severe intellectual disability" (Autism isn't brought up, but definite similarities). Per the writing and voiced narration, this seems very obvious (the word "retarded" is used several times by other teens describing him) - and yet, the case is being vigorously pursued by the prosecution, even charging him as an adult. 

I'm NOT at all an expert at law, but still had to wonder at some of the things happening here ... SPOILER

that Teddy's "parents" would be willing to find/hire a lawyer, giving up their savings ($6000), then turn around and abandon him almost immediately after. I realize there were some explanations ... that once he was 18, the mom worried about the Mr still using him now that penalties would be greater, that the costs of raising him had been so much more than they thought ... yet STILL, he had been their child for 17+ years! There had to have been some connection! It sounded like they had cared for him, to just dump him like that ... Then how the mental disability wasn't allowed. I know Dani mentions at one point that Teddy would have had to stay in jail while she arranged for a specialist, but still, that was HUGE, it would have come up, both sides would have had him examined, right? Hadn't the parents had testing earlier in life that could have been used by the defense? All then all the collusion. The police, the prosecutor, the judge ... it was all a little too much, and too discouraging that the legal system could be manipulated and used this way with so little regard to justice.

The author didn't seem to shy away from naming names (cities, places in Utah) and Legos and Spongebob ... but when they went to get french toast, they went to Feeders (was this supposed to be Kneaders?) I wondered why the name was changed for this one restaurant (the manager there did not have a good look, calling out Teddy's race and "retardation" and the "special treatment" "their kind" get ...) 

So I did get pulled into the action and the story. I cared about the characters. It was a little hard to get past the implausibility of several things, and all the Utah references were a bit disconcerting - but over all, this caught and kept my attention. Brought up some good points about race

There was some proFanity (x17) 

4.5 stars. Not quite the perfect 5* but I absolutely enjoyed this and was very glad I grabbed it (included in KindleUnlimited/audio included). 

Have you seen the Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel? I loved it, and while there isn't any stand-up comedy here, there's tons of Jewish talk, and match-making, and both our MCs (Ada and Marilyn) reminded me a bit of Midge, and there were quite a few similar situations, or ones I could imagine Midge being in ;) And while there wasn't stand-up comedy, there was a lot of humor here! Whereas there's a lot of proFanity in the TV series, there wasn't any in this book. Some sex, but it was closed door, nothing explicit. One funny line that had me laughing out loud (was sexual) ... As our characters go check out the Liberty Bell ... "It's bigger than I expected."  "May you say that on your wedding night" ... 

Set in the 60s, there was quite a bit of history - from the Kennedy fellow (who was pretty dreamy), several cameo appearances from famous peoples (Ada knows everyone! Even Frank Sinatra). There were lots of books mentioned, which was interesting to hear about. Some prejudices of the time (prohibition, racism, etc) had been experienced and were discussed. 

Thumbs up. 

I'd read this, possibly/probably more than once years and years ago ... teen/high school age, or early married? I have a paperback copy that had survived my book purges through the years - yellowed with age and it does NOT have a "good" smell (as people always talk about how they love the smell of books). This was selected as a bookclub pick, so I grabbed the Kindle copy and audiobook from the library and went in for a re-read. At first I didn't really feel in the mood for this, but I soon got sucked in.

3rd person/past tense ... Mary is the main POV, but (especially at the start) there are several others the reader gets a peek through their perspective. Betty, various victims ... right up to their violent deaths, then Will. But 90% of the book is Mary. She feels older that 23, perhaps because of already being a mother for several years. 

The first few chapters, detailing the Indian attack, are quite brutal, as the settlers are killed and scalped (including a tiny baby). Some are taken prisoner, and we follow them as the Indians take them back to their village, where they must run the gauntlet and settle into new lives as slaves (or replaced family members). There trip to the village follows the river and Mary surmises "If there be a way to go somewhere, there must likewise be a way to return" and she "had an unspoiled eye and ear for pictures and sounds" and was actively trying to remember the route. 

This is based on a true story - although one wonders just how much liberty an author takes. There are author's notes addressing this, which actually bring into question if Mary was even pregnant when taken, as this story notes. In our bookclub, we wondered if a woman in such a situation would be thinking of sex quite as much as Mary was (memories of Will, wondering if the Indian Wildcat wanted her for his squaw).  At one point the text indicates her thinking "my poor bumfuzzled head! I'm starting to think like a concybine" and later "I wonder how many a woman spends the time I do athinkin' on her husband" ...

One of our bookclub members was adamant that there's no way she would have left her baby to attempt a trip back, that she would have stayed with the baby, other children, and tried to protect them and still raise them. Would she have been "taken" as wife? In the end, several of the kidnapped individuals were ransomed and returned ... what if's are always a question, what if she had stayed?

Listening to audio, I would try and stop and write down words that are a little less common ... pellucid caught my attention (I'd just heard it in [book:Into the Wild|1845]), some others were sonorous, unguent, desultory, turbid, turgid, opined, ambuscade(ambush), suppurating, sibilant, insouciantly.

Early in the book, and repeated a few times, was the idea that "made Mary, for the first time in her life, furious enough to kill" ... what would it take to make YOU angry/fearful enough that you could hurt/kill someone to protect yourself/others?

Listening to the audio - I was a little surprised it was a male narrator, given that 90% of the book was from a female POV. It was 3rd person, so it's not a deal-breaker (as it would be if in 1st person). I didn't love the narrator at first, especially with the Irish accents, especially the women ... it just sounded a little silly. But I got used to it. There was one spot where Mary sang a little song "ten by ten by ten" and the narrator sang it! As Mary singing it! And he had a nice voice!

The author's notes with follow-up (Tommy, being ransomed and then his own family being attacked by Indians) was sad. No mention if Mary married again after being widowed relatively young. Ironically, my mom read this the same month (not sure if she saw it on my currently reading or found it another way) and liked it, although was appalled by the brutality at the beginning. My dad, being into genealogy, looked her up on Family Search (https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LVD2-BPW) and we are related to Will Ingles (9th cousin four times removed). We had some genealogy fun then looking at our own relationship within the group :) 






Original Review -Read this back as a teenager. It was quite compelling (although long), captured by indians, escapes and makes the trek back. I always find "survivalist" tales interesting (I'm sure I'd just curl up and die) ...

I've been on a KindleUnlimited kick ... and it's been a little hit and miss. I was pleasantly surprised to really enjoy this one. I must have picked it up once earlier and stopped reading, I think it was because it was the same narrator as a recent read, and I just needed to space out the voice (good narration, just not two stories back to back). This was 3rd person/past tense, and shifted mainly between the POV of mother/daughter Dani/Bella. I almost wished there were two different narrators (would have NEEDED that if it had been 1st person) just to differentiate a little more (with all my stops and starts, WHO is the head I'm in now?) Each chapter was clearly marked so that was helpful. Instead of listening through the Audible app, it listened through the Kindle app, and had the text there available if I needed to refer to it. 

This was a simple story, dealing with death and illness, a new relationship, and mother/daughter relationship, starting fresh. It's marked as realistic, although there was a "ghost" ... a very small part that wasn't totally explained. I might have to ask about that.  There wasn't any proFanity, a little sex, nothing very explicit. 

I enjoyed the audio - I think there would have been some sections that I would have highlighted and made notes about. The daughter Bella goes (unwillingly) to a "grief camp" to deal with the death of her father four months earlier. There are a bunch of kids there, all dealing with a death. There were some interesting discussions. Writing of a letter to one who has passed. This could be a good BookClub book, talking about how to deal, about when to reveal (illness ... the MC/Mother has eye issues that will result in her going blind).  It was interesting, given the artistic nature of the MC, how many different colors were mentioned (cerulean was said, along with cobalt, indigo, sapphire, olive, emerald, jade, avocado). Vibrant displays, exotic tints. 

There was some symbolism of the silos "beyond a very tight inner circle, I am closed. Just like the Silos. Perhaps I've never been fully open to anyone". 

It was perhaps a little too "after school special" at times, as everything works out (well, not medically, that's still to come but the book ends before it actually impacts things), but it was a feel good story and I enjoyed it. It's one I'd recommend although as of now, Amazon seems to be the only access (not available at libraries).

I've really enjoyed this author's HellDivers series ... so I went into this thinking I had another series on my hands. Alas, this one just didn't do it for me. It was 'free to me' included in KindleUnlimited with text and audio, but I'm not planning on continuing on with the series.

Lately when I start a new book and I have both the text and audio, I'll try to have the text up as I listen, just to help me concentrate as I begin. Then I mostly listen, but have the text to refer to as needed. Here, it started with the author's notes (and it looks like they'd been revised, as there were big portions skipped in audio, not matching up with the text). Then there was a foreword by a scientist ... I think both of these would have been better placed at the end, where people could listen if they wanted to, or not. I usually DO listen and appreciate author's notes, but these seemed off, a little political, the foreword a little too boring. I just wanted the story.

As for the story, there was just SO MUCH going on. Granted, that's bound to happen in an end of the world scenario. Just dealing with the loss of all the electronics is enough to make an interesting story, but no, there's also radiation and nuclear fallout (in my mind/previous reads, I'd thought an EMP was more JUST electronics, not nuclear). Add to that, there's a murder mystery -- the whole murder situation could have been its own story outside of the EMP. It started before, and much of what happened wasn't related to the EMP at all.  It was just too much, so many characters and storylines too. 

I've heard some grizzly murder stories - and this one was right up there. There were some Native American characters, and some of the background and mythology plays a big part. I thought the narrator did a good job at giving just that hint of an accent without it being overpowering or too stereotypical. That being said ... I really didn't like that whole storyline. That's not to say I think it was badly written, it was just too much for me SPOILER

starting with the murder of a little girl, followed by her body being burned, and compared to a BBQ. Cannibalism was in play. There were several victims and torture and a truly mental killer

. Honestly, I think I would have preferred a story focusing more on basic survival in these conditions than the whole murderer hunt.  

Getting in KindleUnlimited reads/listens while I have the subscription (3-months free promo for Prime). I've listened to a few others by this author. [book:The Wake Up|35122155] is the stand-out for me thus far. I'm not sure this will really stick in my memory. For having a dog featured on the cover, and the basis for the title, the dog wasn't really a main part ... it instigated bringing characters together (as happened in [book:The Happy Ever After Playlist|50208350]), but that was all. I didn't care for the name "Worthy"... 

I went with the audio (included in KU), and while 3rd person, shifts between Buddy/Jody and Veronica. At the start, Buddy is just four years old ... so the presentation felt very childlike. With the dog featured on the cover, I almost wondered if Buddy was the dog, and this was the dog's perspective, even when he "talked" (that could be a dog interpretation of barking). I did figure out that Buddy was a little boy. The narrator here used a childlike inflection ... twas a tad annoying. The female narrator had the slightest sound of a lisp sometimes. Both narrators shifted 20+ years as the first few chapters happen, then there is a time jump.

The story itself was fine - I had a bit of a connection with Jody when he was grown. Reminded me just a tad of my son (not really social, we wondered if he'd get a job or drive, he's doing both ;) While Jody hadn't been officially diagnosed with Autism, he'd been tested, and definitely had some tendencies. Same with my son, although it seems more obvious in the story here.

ONE thing that I'll remember about this book was an odd phrase regarding the word "sit" ... the first time it happened was in chapter 8/Veronica ... she "plunked into a sit" ... I double checked the text and yes, the narrator had mispronounced, it was seat. Okay. Then, in chapter 17/Jody, he "dropped into a sit in the hard waiting room chair" ... this was the male narrator this time, he couldn't possibly have made the exact same mistake? I checked the text, this time, it was written that way. I mean technically it's not wrong, but I do NOT ever hear it phrased that way. But again, and again, and again, throughout the book ... He sank into a sit. Then he sand back down into a sit again. She slid down into a sit.  Sank into a sit.  Once, it said "He sank into a squat" ... and I have heard the term "pop a squat"  ... but honestly, I've just never heard anything phrased "sit" the way it was in this novel. Every time it happened I wanted to rip my earbud out. I'm not sure why it annoyed me so much, but to have never heard a term, and then to have it said SO many times ...

This had the basic problem of "the reader knows" before the characters. It gets annoying when things are SO very obvious to the reader, and yet the characters are oblivious (actually Veronica isn't, she wonders but then is shot down when it IS true). It was irritating here.

So - not really a fan. Clean though, no proFanity or sex.

Text included in KindleUnlimited, audio from the library (Hoopla) - so free for me, and I'm still not sure it was worth it ;)  It seemed similar to [book:Just One Damned Thing After Another|29661618] -The Chronicles of St Mary's. which others have raved over, but were just "ehh" for me. As this was. 

I adored the accents in the audiobook! From the moment it started, as the narrator gave the title, and the author (EEEvaSonjin). There was Alpha and Beta (pronounced Baytah in my mind, but Behtuh here) - the two different earths. 

So there were these two dimensions, as well as time travel (I probably shouldn't have read a second time travel book this month, having read [book:Glitch|53066406] a little earlier). The basic premise also was reminiscent of another YA series, [book:Found|1675216] - saving children right before death, rather than objects before destruction as in this book.

The chapters switched mainly between Neith (told in first person/past tense) and Julius (3rd person/ past tense) -but then there were a few other POVs, Charles, Sam, Ramin (all 3rd person, read by the male narrator). Then there were several "interludes" little random tidbits, from "we don't know who" just adding a little mystery, we know something bad is going on, that someone is thwarting the plans ...

I'm not sure if I was distracted while listening ... I never fully got immersed in the story or really cared about the characters or what they were doing. The two different Earths were interesting, and I might have liked reading on my own (but then I would have missed out on the accents) to make some notes about the differences between Alpha/Beta (our Earth is Beta). I remember religion wasn't something embraced on Alpha. Wars hadn't happened "Adolf and Hitler were perfectly bland names over on Alpha ..."

I wasn't positive where the characters were from (accents/names were unique) ...  the main setup in Alpha was in Northern Africa, and they had some travels all over. In Beta, Julius was at Cambridge, as was much of the story. 

I was about halfway through when I had an AudiobookOOPS and bumped things and ended up who knows where. Honestly, I almost just shrugged and said "ok, I'm just gonna be done" rather than attempt to find where I was. I had access to the Kindle text though, but as I started flipping through, I just wasn't even sure I had actually been following the story. I happened to remember a small tidbit (something about being intimate with ... Paul I think it was). Anyway, "intimate" was a decent word to search (wasn't used too many times), and with that, I was able to find my place and continue on. For what that was worth. I distinctly remember a similar moment in The Chronicles of St. Mary's (again, had to do with two of the characters getting together, and I realized I had no idea who one of them was and what was going on with the story). 

I finished ... I think I have a basic idea of what happened, although ... don't ask me to give a recap ;) I'm not planning on continuing on with the series. I do think I'll remember that I read this, and the basic premise.

Content - there was some proFanity (x16), while some sex happened, it was nothing explicit. Some violence but nothing gratuitous.  

This was just okay for me ... I think some of it was the way it was set up. I listened to the audio (included in KindleUnlimited, Read and Listen for free) and while the narrators were really good, all the jumping around in time, and the fact that the chapters in the audio weren't labeled and didn't match up to the text copy was an annoyance (as I'd sometimes attempt to shift between reading and listening). IF I'd listened from the Kindle App itself (you can have the text up, download the audio and then follow along) it would have been better and I should have switched to that, but that doesn't give you Audible options (changing the speed, timer, etc.) In the text copy, the "past" parts were written in different fonts (representing the kids writing, letters/journals) and while the narrators did a decent job of changing their voices from the "older" selves to the "younger" selves, it was still a little hard to keep track of. There was also the tense ... the current day was (logically) in present tense, while the "then" chapters and random memories in the "current day"  were past tense

It starts with a prologue (then ... the past), then "six months ago" (so "present day" but ... six months ago. A newspaper article about a physical attack on a movie star). Then a "Current Day" heading, then Chapter 1 (Phoebe POV), Chapter 2 (Suz POV), Chapter 3 (Phoebe POV) 

... then a THEN heading "You've Got a Friend" ... then a Phoebe POV, not listed as a chapter (memory, then, the start of the writing/letters/journals). As the letters were started there was a date given (first one was August 29, 19--) While the letters were cute, and I've enjoyed journals/letters in books before, the lack of an actual year listed annoyed me to no end (especially as it repeated so many times on every letter). Is the author just attempting to make this more flexible in it's time setting by not committing to a particular date/decade?  It was especially jarring in audio ... just "ninteen" left hanging.

Examining the Table of Contents, I can now see that the THEN (with a Chapter Heading) sections were between chapters, and the letters/journals section. I'm just not sure why it wasn't just all kept within chapters, instead of spaced between chapters (like most dual-timeline books). It just made the TOC look weird (of course the Audible TOC was useless, just chapters listed, and they didn't line up -- if you go to Chapter17 in Audible, it's "Current Day/Phoebe - Chapter 11". 

Anyway - all the jumping around in time was a little hard to keep track of. Even though the narrator's voices were different, I had a little trouble telling them apart (who is speaking??) It was 1st person, changing perspectives. In addition to Phoebe and Suz, we get a little Joel too (just in the past, in letters).  I don't know why, but I was struggling to keep things straight possible SPOILERS

... Phoebe, artist, had a daughter, now grand-daughter, had to leave when young to live with parents in Portland, was rich growing up, has grandmother/Amma, now involved with Ben ... Suz, beautiful but hard childhood, father preacher, successful actress later in life, attacked, no children (well ... forced to give up daughter for adoption), reunited with Joel. I think I'd checked out a little by the end, so when Suz and her daughter were reunited I was like "um, wait, what, how/when did this happen?"

Honestly - I just got a little tired of both these girls/women and their troubles and their love/jealousy toward each other.  Phoebe iterates at one point "just because you don't have the worst problem in the world doesn't mean it isn't a real problem to you" which IS a profound truth, but still, I was annoyed with Phoebe much of the time for all her complaining, both in the past and present. The attacks on Suz seemed a little forced, added to move the story along. 

The letters/journals appeared in different fonts in the Kindle copy read on a Kindle or in the app on phone/tablet, but NOT in the Kindle Cloud Reader (which is what I pull up when writing reviews and such).

Covid is in this book - talk of the pandemic and isolation, people having been affected (knowing people who died). Not really a main theme, I think it could have been written without it (that dates things). It will be interesting to see how Covid is handled, left out of stories, featured, a mention but not a main point ... ironically Hubs and #4 tested positive while I was reading this book (their first time, here in 2023, happily things are not nearly as stressful, even though isolation and missing work isn't ideal, neither that sick). 

Title-tie in ... The Starfish Sisters is a "trio of sea stacks - offers habitat for birds and seals" and Phoebe writes/illustrates a book about "two girls who love the tide pools" ... but I never REALLY felt the connection. I guess the fact that they aren't "sisters" IRL but have that close a connection and conflicts. Not sure there is a better title, but I love it when it totally clicks!

Content - some proFanity (x5), some sex - nothing too explicit.

I don't know if it's fair to just give this when it might have been a 5* read if I'd gone with the text copy instead of the audio. Although I think sometimes that's a gut reaction ... "I can't NOT give a 911 book 5*, I can't criticize the "story" when it's real ... but was there wonderful organization and presentation? Of all the information out there, what was chosen to be included and why. It was pretty good, but some things were hard to keep track of, seemed random and didn't flow.

While the audio isn't bad per se ... it's abridged. There is no un-abridged option I could find. I didn't realize the audio edition was abridged when I started it. I'm a Kindle copy girl too and I had SO many frustrations looking between the text and the audio, that it affected my overall feelings toward the book. That being said, the book felt a little political, blame/shaming ... it's always easy to look back and point fingers and say "they should have done this or that"

Audio vs text ... the Table of Contents is completely different, always a pet peeve for me with text vs audio. I'm sure I'm not the only person who has both copies and attempts to move between them.  The audio starts with the Author's Note ... which is included at the end of the text copy. This first section then includes the prologue. I for one would appreciate rather than seeing "Harper Audio presents" ... as the heading for this first section, that it show "Author's Notes" and "Prologue: 8:30 am North Tower" and have them be separate sections! So frustrating not to have this set up in audio as separate chapters with the info about them! No transition that the Author's Notes have ended and the "story" has begun, that this is a prologue ... the audio "chapters" were so random. I'd have to latch onto a specific, somewhat unusual word to then search in the kindle copy to attempt to even find out where I was in the text. I'd follow along for a bit just to see HOW MUCH was missing, and skimming those sections ... information that was then lacking. There were also some illustrations that of course don't convert to audio, but I just can't understand WHY this was abridged, and why the audio was set up as it was (not matching the chapters, although admittedly it's not the first book to differ in TOC from print to audio). Still here, it was felt completely random, with changes within chapters, annoying music ... grrrrrrrr.  Honestly, if I hadn't been attempting to follow along a little with the text, I probably wouldn't have been as annoyed. 

There were a few (x4) f-bombs in the text ... I don't know that there were any in the audio (abridged and all that).  A little repetitive in spots (and LITERALLY repetitive in my library/Libby audio edition, which was 7+ hours, compared to the 6 hours listed other locations. I THOUGH perhaps I'd snagged an unabridged copy but no, it just repeated the last chapter. Literally had it on there twice) ... but some of the references to the bombing in 1993, and Titanic, and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire started to disrupt the flow of THIS event. 

I have so much more EAR time than EYE time ... but this would have been better read than listened to, the way the audio was set up. Still, I did feel like I learned more about the day in history and some of the stories of the survivors and more details about that buildings themselves than I did before.

Honestly, this was almost a DNF for me. It was a very slow start, a bit unlikeable (as our MC had been in a marriage for 62 years, with a man she doesn't seem to really care about much). As the story began to build a bit, it seemed a little too similar  to a recent read I really liked [book:Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting|59836844] ... both feature an older woman who gets involved in the lives of several other characters, changing their life and her own. Even the title, with the woman's full name and SPOILER

the fact that she's in love with a woman. Here, it's a very slow reveal and an intricate part of the whole storyline, whereas in Iona's case, it's just a simple fact. Even the names of their others, B, Bea and here, D (Dot)

Both very British too. I just really enjoyed Iona's story, and Iona herself, while this dragged a bit. One could say [book:Britt-Marie Was Here|27406704] had some of the same similarities too (another one I LOVED). I guess this just had some stiff competition to live up to ... or not.

But I'm glad I didn't give up on it ... it was interesting how it all came together, especially at the very end. Included in KindleUnlimited, with text, but the audio was available on Hoopla. I went with the audio edition and the narrator was wonderful ... exactly the voice I would have expected for Mabel. It was almost shocking how well the narrator could switch and do Patricia's voice (American accent, younger sounding). 

Nothing really made me want to stop and mark anything in the Kindle copy. I'm not sure if this one will stick in my memory, one of the reasons why I have to record here on GoodReads, to check if I've already read a book, and remember how I felt about it. As always, these types of books, where an older woman ends up making such an impact, always leave me feeling a little judged ... like unless I do something and connect with people and change lives, then why am I even here. It's a personal problem, but it can affect my enjoyment. 

No proFanity. No sex. Talk/acceptance of homosexuality and a lot of discussion of a life without children. First person/present tense.