Book Review: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Libby Day's family was brutally murdered when she was a child. The only survivors are Libby and her brother, Ben, who is currently in prison for the crime. 

Libby, now 31, has been living off her trust fund - funded by donations of those who were moved when hearing her story - since she was 18, but now the funds are gone. She is a month away from being completely broke.

In an act of serendipity, Libby receives a letter in the mail, offering to pay her to speak to a group. She accepts the offer and speaks to a "Kill Club", which is a group of folks completely fascinated with the slaughter. The group immediately starts interrogating her. They believe that Ben is innocent. 

Libby knows that Ben killed her family. He was the only person that fit, but she didn't see him commit the crime. 

Fueled by a need for peace and the money that the Kill Club is offering. She begins to trek through her past and interview all parties that may have been in any way involved in the death of her family.

The fantastic part of this is that Flynn has constructed the narrative to switch between current day Libby and her mother Patty's and Ben's actions on the day leading up to and of the murders. It's great because we as the audience can know that Ben is lying or her father is lying, but she doesn't know. She is experiencing first hand.

Gillian's publisher has released Dark Places and Sharp Objects to match the style of her book Gone Girl, so as if you need another reason to buy books... but if you want a matching set, they are available now. 

Amazing quote: 

"I was raised feral, and I mostly stayed that way."

​Happy Reading!

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Book Review: Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist

While out one night to pick mushrooms, Lennart finds a baby in a plastic bag. He opens the bag and her cry has a perfect pitch. He knows ... he's a failed musician.

Lennart brings the baby home to his wife, Laila, whom he has a horrible relationship with, and notifies her that he will be keeping the baby and that by no means will he notify the authorities. 

He calls the baby, Little One. He won't let his wife spend time with the child other than to feed her. He wants the baby to stay in the basement. While Lennart was out of town on business for the day, Laila took the baby outside, and decided that she loved her. 

The couple hide the child from everyone, including their adult son. Until one day, while Laila was sneaking outside with Little One, she falls and her son, Jerry, finds her and the secret is out.

Jerry has had a rough life. His life is full of "could have beens". But what he is, is a kid who got into trouble and let that trouble destroy his life. He lives off welfare, his parents money, and whatever illegal activity he can get an in on. Surprisingly, Jerry seems to like his new little "sister". He calls her Theres (which drove me nuts). He played guitar with her while she sang. 

Theres was not a normal child. Other than singing, she made no sound. She doesn't cry. She doesn't talk. She refuses to eat anything besides baby food. She will not look at people. Theres does start to become curious and then suddenly talks, like she knew how to the entire time but didn't feel the need. Laila decides she wants to teach the girl to read and write so that she has hope of adapting to the world. 

Lennart tells Theres that she must stay inside always because the big people outside want to eat her. Theres accepts this. This is the factor that sets who she becomes. 

When a tragedy occurs and Threse has to live with Jerry, he tries to undo the harm that Lennart has done to the her. She doesn't understand lying, she doesn't understand that Lennart was lying to keep her hidden. 

Threse and Jerry move to Stockholm and find an opportunity that will allow the world to hear Threse sing. However, it may be what finally breaks them apart. 

To me this book is about choices, Jerry's life is what is is do to choices made when he was young. The same can be said of Threse, what happened in the end, would never have occurred if Lennart didn't make the decision thaat he did, to in effect, kidnap Theres. 

The first 400 pages of this book moved in a great flow, 400 - 481 was a bit slow and confusing. Lingvist usually deals in supernatural situations. I guess he never fully explains his creatures.. but I wish I knew what Theres was. How did she get in the plastic bag as a baby? Why is she the way she is? There's no real closure here. 

​You may know Lindqvist from Let Me In and Handling the Undead, I wouldn't say that this novel was as good as Let Me In but its on par with Handling the Undead. In my opinion, worth the read if you love horror and don't mind gore.

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FREE STUFFS!! Shadow of Night Paperback Giveaway!!!!

In honor of the paperback release of Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness, Deborah's publisher has offered a iamjanesheart.com reader a free paperback copy of Shadow of Night as well as some adorable buttons. 

​Awesome buttons!

The first reader to leave a comment for this post on iamjanesheart.com will win the book/buttons. Please note that the publisher will only send to the continental US. ​ 

No need to leave your address in the comments, I will follow-up directly with you to protect your privacy. ​

​Click here for my review of the novels. 

​Also, Deborah will be in conversation with Book Talk Nation, reserve your space and personalized book today! 

Happy Pub Day!!!!!

To Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris. The FINAL book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I have a feeling that many Sookie fans are glad to see this wrapped up. The last 3 or 4 books have had poor reviews. Hopefully, Charlaine will give us a sweet goodbye to Ms Stackhouse. 

Book Review: The Story of O by Pauline Réage

When I made the decision to review all of the books that I've read this year, I considered just holding off on finishing the Story of O until next year, just to skip it.  Back when Fifty Shades of Grey first became a thing, critics said, well at least its not as bad as The Story of O, which of course meant that I had to jump an read it.

​OMG you guys, I just realized that a chick wrote this book. My mind is blown.

BLOWN.

Ok, back on topic. O is a fashion photographer in Paris. Her lover Rene' drops her off at a place called Roissy, she is dropped off completely naked in the streets of Paris to go knock on a strange door. Roissy is a place that men bring women to be conditioned to be a submissive. She is beaten and "taken" by men. She is to give herself to anyone at anytime upon their request. Her permission is requested repeatedly, it's clear that she is there of her own will.

After she leaves Roissy, she continues to be in a relationship with Rene until he GIVES her to his step-brother Sir Stephen. Stephen kinds amps up the whips and torture. Eventually Rene looses interest in O and takes up with a girl with whom O has a current sexual relationship. Sir Stephen takes O to a friend of his for further training. She is whipped, branded, and her labia is pierced with a ring and chain long enough to hang a third of the way down her thigh.

Yeah.

So the apex of the story, is that O is taken to a party that is from midnight to dawn. She is naked except for an Owl mask and she is on display to those attending the party. She is very proud of her scars and burns and piercings and it seems that the folks at the party were impressed as well.

There was so much insane in this book. O isn't allowed to wear underwear or cross her legs. She is taken by any man at any time then whipped by Sir Stephen for having sex with them. It's beyond S&M in my opinion because it's her entire life. At the end of the  book even Sir Stephen, who has branded his name on her, leaves her at Roissy. It's so sad.

Holy fuck there is a sequel. I will probably read this.

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Bookish Stuff You Should Know (vol 3)

If you put any weight into book lists, then you may be aware of the GQ list of Book that Every Man Should Read. And if you put any weight into book lists you may be interested in knowing that GQ has updated their list to add 21st century books. So if book lists hold weight in your option, check it out here.

Photograph: Action Press/Rex Features

​Next, something crazy exciting for me. Last month, I read Horns by Joe Hill and (spoiler) I completely loved it. Joe recently tweeted out an article from The Guardian which talks about Daniel Radcliffe playing the lead character in Horns. It took me at least an hour to calm down. 

Free Comic Book Day!!

Hopefully everyone had an assume FCBD! I know I did.

Book Review: Are You My Mother by Alison Bechdel

Alison Bechdel brings her childhood back to life in this graphic novel which serves as a follow-up to her earlier work, Fun Home. Fun Home focused on the relationship between Alison and her father. In her current work, she focuses on the relationship with her mother, or specifically her feelings about her relationship with her mother. We follow Alison while she goes through years of psychoanalytical therapy to heal from her interesting childhood. 

What I find so interesting about this work is that its completely personal to Alison, however, it remains interesting to the reader (or at least to this reader). I do wonder if this would translate well to a text only book. The comic portion give such life to the story, that I doubt it would work in a different medium.

I think this a great read for those that enjoy reading about psychology and maybe those who have some issues with mom (I would fall into both categories).

Favorite quotes:

Donald Winnicott quote, "So the man that falls in love with beauty is quite different from the man who loves a girl and feels she is beautiful and can see what is beautiful about her."

Dorothy Gallagher quote, "The writer's business is to find the shape in unruly life and to serve her story. Not, you may note, to serve her family, or to serve the truth, but to serve the story."

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Bookish Stuff You Should Know (vol 2)

First, Happy World Book Night! If you see book lovers wandering about handing out books, do not fear! They are giving away 20 books that mean something special to them, and they want to share it with you! I'm very excited/honored to hand out The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (lucky the WBN folks are considerate and will allow me to hand my books out when I get back from this trip. Atwood is a fantastic author. This was the first dystopian novel that I've read. I read it in my third year of college, in a class that was both listed in Literature and Women's Studies. I don't recall the reactions of my classmates, but I do know this book shook me. My grade school education existed in the halls of private Christian schools. When I moved onto a non-religious college, I was a bit sheltered. There was so much that I didn't understand of the world. Let's just say, I would not be friends with my college freshman self. I began to reject my upbringing and jumped at any opportunity for reading material that would help open my mind. Enter The Handmaid's Tale, this novel was decades before its time. The book is set in a very strict dystopian future, where women's rights are completely stripped from them. I applied to distribute this book because the timing seems so right after the craziness of the last election. Specifically regarding: Planned Parenthood, "legitimate rape," the ability for women to have birth control covered by their insurance, etc. This book is so important to me, and I hope that whomever receives my copies will allow this book to have a lasting effect on them. 

Second, it's pub day for David Sedaris's latests book Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, I'm so excited to have my copy! I had to catch transit to the local mall to pick up this copy. I got there so early that they books were still on the shelving cart. I'm just glad that I didn't have to beat up an old lady to get to this Mostly because I would beat up an old lady to get a copy. 

Book Review Quickie: I Can Barely Take Care of Myself by Jen Kirkman

Fifty years ago it was mind-boggling to think of a married couple not wanting to have children. Though the decision to abstain from child-rearing has become more common the shock of society seems to not have lifted at all. This is the subject of Kirkman's work.

You may recognize Jen Kirkman from the roundtable of Chelsea Lately or even from her Drunken History videos. She is her mid-thirties and quite happy to be child-free. However, complete strangers cannot grasp this, and since Jen does speak about not having children in her stand-up act, these strangers feel ok to corner Kirkman and try to get her to change her mind. Jen tells several stories of being cornered by women who feel the need to get her to change her decision. 

I have experienced the situations that Jen describes in her book. It was nice to have someone voice my frustrations with the situation. When a stranger says that "oh, you'll change your mind," I am flabbergasted. Why does this person think that they know me more than I know me? My hope is that more women (and men) will be outspoken about their reproduction choice so that the decision will loose its taboo status. 

As far at the book, I felt it to be entertaining but a bit repetitive. I think this would be better delivered an as audiobook. 

I Can Barely Take Care of Myself was released this week. Visit your favorite indie store (or mine) to purchase this book. ​

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