Review: Sunrise by Scott Abel

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Scott Abel’s recently published book Sunrise tells the story of a boy whose whole life is torn apart after a painful tragedy. We are introduced to a blood-chilling representation of human suffering. Guilt, unbearable pain and a sense of complete hopelessness set the overall mood of this book. 

As we enter its fictional world, we learn that this boy, Parker Austin, considers himself responsible for his sister’s death in a mass shooting that took place during a football game at his school. On the other hand, many consider him to be a hero. He had saved so many lives during the shooting. Yet, he had failed to save his sister. After all, his little sister died while he survives. A promising football player and team quarterback, Parker trains professionally on his high school team. He and his fellow teammates had been anticipating this game, the biggest one of the year, but, quite inexplicably, a tragedy had extinguished their excitement. For the remainder of the novel, Parker suffers from profound guilt. 

The book encourages readers to enter Parker’s consciousness and see the entire experience through his eyes. One character is, however, fighting to support him. An angel named Marie is Austin’s guardian and is dedicated to saving his fate no matter what. A dark nemesis covets his soul, and Faust-like, good and evil forces fight for it. The book offers a unique discussion of the battle between good and evil. 

With a nod to Milton’s Paradise Lost, it explores the deep recesses of the human conscience. We encounter a character at war with himself.

The boy could not have stopped all the bloodshed. While many characters throughout the novel keep telling him that he is not guilty, he still cannot stop blaming himself. What he may not realize is that he had already saved so many lives, and, in the end, there was nothing he could really do to help the situation. The book poignantly portrays the character’s battle with his conscience as we see him overwhelmingly depressed past the point where anyone’s sympathy could save him. 

In addition, as we read, we are encouraged to think more deeply about the themes it explores. After all, so many shootings on different campuses occur regularly. It is an ongoing struggle. The book effectively draws attention to pressing issues on campuses today. Mass shootings, violence, and hate crimes have taken so many lives. In fact, as many of us may be duly aware, it is often enough for one person to suddenly start shooting at people randomly. As soon as the individual finds a reason to despise humanity and to exterminate everyone in sight, then he or she would do it. 

The book shocks the reader. From beginning to end, we live through painful moments. We encounter characters who suffer and do not see the end of pain. Is there a saving grace like the hand of an angel that could help the situation, encourage Parker to get back to his life, and help his family live through this? There must be. Because if there is nothing that could help all these miserable characters, then the book offers no hope, no sense of victory, and, especially, no relief. And yet, it ends on a more redeeming note. At least, Parker is trying to move on. We get the sense that he might still live through it. After all, angels are on his side, this side of paradise.

Review: The Girl Who Could Read Hearts by Sherry Maysonave

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Kate Kindrick, the main character of “The Girl Who Could Read Hearts,” has a unique gift. At the age of six, the child possesses rare intuition. Incredibly observant like no ordinary child at this age, little Kate actively participates in the lives of her loved ones. Born with a special gift, she sees colors and images in people’s hearts. The child has a mystical connection to Etta Ebella – an angel doll given to her by her loving grandmother, Grandma Mer. With the help of this angel, Kate can acutely sense what people are thinking and thus has the special ability to influence their lives. Ultimately, Kate can prevent them from making mistakes and hence save them from potential tragedy. 

The novel hinges on the unique power of intuition. As we read, some of us could be motivated to listen more carefully to the heart. A closer look at the book moves us to realize that miracles can happen all around us no matter where we are, who we communicate to, or even what we do in life. In the end, we learn that we have the power to influence, even change, the reality we live in. What we should do is begin to believe in the living power of miracles.

At the beginning of the book, little Kate turns six. In the opening scene, a festive birthday party seems to promise a peaceful and happy life for Kate and her family. We get the sense that Kate is surrounded by love and constantly guided by her angel doll. No obstacles seem to prevent the innocent child from enjoying her life and learning new lessons every day. But when Etta Ebella’s wings are burned in a birthday cake accident, Kate’s uncle, Terrence Kindrick who is also a famous writer, appeals to Dr. Angelique Donahorn, an angel doctor. 

One glance at the doll leaves the doctor speechless. She has seen this doll in the past. Angelique and her two sisters crafted these angel dolls together. Etta Ebella was particularly precious to Angelique, because it was the first doll she made. Angelique then gave the angel to her mother who treasured her as if she was a real person. The book portrays the inevitability of death, the pain of loss, and the importance of timeliness. Angelique had failed to see her dying mother before her death and had felt guilty for years afterwards. She had not dared to disobey her mother’s request. Her mother had wanted Angelique to finish her education. After her mother died, however, to Angelique’s dismay, Etta Ebella had mysteriously disappeared. 

Once tragedy strikes the peaceful lives of Kate and her family, the cheerful atmosphere of the book immediately changes. Readers are almost cruelly jolted out of this happy mood and returned to an abruptly changed and grim reality. Upset by the birthday cake accident, Kate sits in a tree and continuously blames herself for having let it happen. She then starts climbing higher up and falls out of the tree into the arms of her uncle, Terrence Kindrick, who runs to save her. At this point, one tragedy follows another. As she falls, Kate breaks her arm and scratches her face. Terrence who ends up saving her gets hit by a tree branch and suffers a very serious concussion. 

Kate’s loving grandmother, Grandma Mer, is paralyzed and regrets that she cannot guide the child in the right direction as well as teach her to use her gifts for the benefit of others. She is even able to telepathically sense that her granddaughter was falling from the tree but cannot communicate it to Terrence who arrives too late. Her silence makes her remarkable precognition futile. She can read hearts but has lost the power of speech. 

In the remaining part of the novel, the characters encounter more and more tragedies. Kate and her uncle both end up in the hospital. Terrence undergoes brain surgery, while Kate suffers from a broken arm. Suddenly, the lives of these initially happy characters turn into chaos. After Kate recovers, her parents go off to Hawaii to get a much-needed rest, while Kate stays with her aunt, uncle, and cousin. The long-suffering child is now tortured by her cruel uncle and cousin. 

At this point, the novel offers an interesting commentary on religion and people’s attitude to faith. Kate’s uncle Vaynem Moxsin is an important man of the church, but we soon learn that he practices Churchianity as opposed to Christianity. Ironically enough, this esteemed man of the church is a villain on the inside. Cruel and brutal to his wife and daughter, Vaynem is the very epitome of hypocrisy. 

The novel goads readers to look underneath the surface. No matter how powerfully we may be attracted to characters who seem deeply religious, the novel sends us a completely different message. Real Christians should focus on how they treat each other and not on flaunting their piety. As he is immeasurably fixated on his vanity, Vaynem becomes completely inhumane and tortures his wife, daughter and little niece. Is this, we might ask, remotely what we expect from a man of the church? No, but the character portrays corruption and shows how fixation on our vanity can ruin the best of our intentions and efforts.  

The flaw in the book, in my opinion, lies in the extreme focus on tragedy. We do not necessarily get the sense that we are liberated from suffering even after all the characters have healed and are celebrating Kate’s seventh birthday at the end of the book. A shroud of pain and sadness seems to weigh over these characters to such an extreme that I did not feel like they could ever get over the pain of all the tragic moments they lived through. And yet, the book ends on a strangely (to me) optimistic note. Life goes on… Kate turns seven. Her angel continues to guide and support her. Everything is back to normal. Or is it? Maybe the stamp of tragedy remains. Once planted, it seems hard to eradicate. In the end, however, the book teaches us many a valuable lesson. We learn, we grow with Kate, and we believe, so very strongly, in the power and existence of angels.

Review: The Hidden People by Allison Littlewood

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The Hidden People is a new, refreshing, but also highly invigorating trespass into the world of the Fair Folk. A topic that has been rarely grazed upon in contemporary lit got a new fire stoked in this fine tale and comes highly recommended.

Albert's cousin Lizzie is murdered by her husband, a man apparently delusional enough to believe his kind hearted, demure wife to be a changeling send by the fairies to hide her own disappearance. Albert is deeply hurt at this revelation, as he had had a very peculiarly charming one meeting with cousin and was taken aback by her, so he decides that he will handle the funeral preparations. The village is not anything like the modern London he knows intimately and finds that our very quickly.

Although the language can be extremely dense at times- which unfortunately made me slow to start on it- it is a lovely, plot powered tale that will no doubt engage readers of all kinds. Albert's infatuation with his cousin (after one meeting) is also fairly suspect and cringey, but it was historically apt, so I'll let it go.

Plunged into a very folklore entrenched environment and aghast by these villagers' mindless superstitions, Albert finds himself treading a fine line between reality and myth, and it's not a simple line to understand. Things end up really taking a turn. This tale is one of fancy, fear, and family. And maybe even fairies.

Review: Between the Wars by Philip Ziegler

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Summary

At the end of 1918 one prescient American historian began to write a history of the Great War. "What will you call it?" he was asked. "The First World War," was his bleak response.

In Between the Wars Philip Ziegler examines the major international turning points - cultural and social as well as political and military - that led the world from one war to another. His approach is panoramic, touching on all parts of the world where history was being made, examining Gandhi's March to the Sea and the Chaco War in South America alongside Hitler's rise to power.

It is the tragic story of a world determined that the horrors of the First World War would never be repeated, yet committed to a path which in hindsight was inevitably destined to end in a second, even more devastating conflict.

Each chapter bears the unmistakable stamp of Ziegler's scholarship: a keen eye for the telling anecdote, elegant and fluid prose, and calm and fair judgments. In a world that grows ever more uncertain, its perspective on how hopes of peace can dissolve into the promise of war becomes more relevant with each passing day.

Review

I have always been deeply interested in history, with all things considered it can be both great insight into the future and into the past, and so I think that it's great for folks to delve into it to better understand our world and the troubles we face. Between the Wars is a book, one of considerable ambition and enthusiasm, that delves into the years following the First World War and ending before the Second, giving historical readers a great overview of a time that has been highly overshadowed by the times before and after.

Between The Wars, in my opinion, is an absolutely great primer for learning more about the early 20th century. The author does a stellar job at trying to point out ways in which these events inevitably had an effect on the following World War. Another truly wonderful thing you can get out of this book is a list of events, people, and things to look more in depth at at your own leisure. The chapter on James Joyce was especially interesting to me as someone interested in literature, because it raises the theory that art reflects society and Ulysses was certainly a book of disorder.

Of course with these sorts of books, events and whatnot must be picked by the discretion of the writer and I am not in anyway an in-depth historical buff, so it is difficult for me to say if he picks out the most pertinent points. I will say that from my perspective as someone casually interested in history, the book was a very intriguing read and really helped shed some bright light on a time period that's always been deeply overshadowed.

Review: Night Ringing by Laura Foley

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This is a collection of poetry so quiet that it rings in your ears for a couple hours after. This collection is very personal, using situations most likely autobiographical, but still entirely relatable in feeling to the reader.

If you come from a dicey background when it comes to family, you will especially relate, as there are moments of cruelty and moments of love, which serves as a dire reminder of the implacable nature of family; so much pain but also a genuine acceptance. Her parents are both shown in equally unfortunate and loving lights and this  is as honest as family life can get.

The writing style and diction of this poetry was at times biting, but mostly floated along on a gentle breeze. It was incredibly familiar and conjured up strong feelings, strong images of life, ones that are precious when you take the time to look at them.

There's a strong theme of love and losing sight of love throughout the collection and the author's many different excursions with the many different people really goes to show the weight of all these experiences growing overtime, as the poems progress through time.

Overall, I thought it genially touching read and I especially enjoyed the rhythm of her prose poems. This is an excellent collection to read on a quiet day with an open heart.

Review: Collecting the Constellations by Emily Steers

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About the Book

Charlotte Daly is goal-oriented, inquisitive, and tireless— everything one needs to be a successful researcher at a prestigious museum. She is well-known amongst her colleagues as an up-and-coming talent. She just wasn’t expecting her most intriguing find to come from her great aunt’s basement.

Charlotte’s befuddled by the new treasure—a dagger as long as her hand made entirely of blue sapphire, flawless except for a few specks in the handle. With an unstoppable desire to get the to bottom of her mystery, Charlotte convinces her boss to let her re-trace her aunt’s travels to its source– with the company of longtime friend and co-worker, Rory Hobbs.

Charlotte’s clues take them to Kathmandu, where they discover Charlotte’s aunt may not have been the noble adventurer she imagined. Conspicuous wealth, violent attacks, and grand myths plague the pair as they jump into a world of secret societies and treasure hunters they never knew existed.

Review

Charlotte is particular, pragmatic, and thoroughly organized. She is Wiley inquisitive and a self appointed history detective. And this book is about her getting down to the nitty gritty of her great aunt's maybe not so clean past.

It all starts out with a dagger and unravels gracefully from there. I found the book intriguing and overall I thought the writing style matched Charlotte's way of particularity. There were quite a few times where I felt overwhelmed by the monotony of description, it began to feel almost obsessive at some points, but at the same time I thought it added a unique aspect to what I expected to be a fairly straight forward mystery novel.

At times the dialogue was clunky but mostly had a natural flow to it as you hope for in these kinds of settings. I felt an almost Sherlock Holmes vibe to the novel, with the intense pragmatism and overall theme and pacing of it.

It's hard for me to fully describe my experience reading this novel, which is strange, considering its genre and first person narrative, but I think mostly it was a positive one. There was something very endearing and relatable about Charlotte although I felt there could've been more said about her personally, but alas. Overall, I thought it was a fine novel, one that does actually stick out among other mysteries for reasons I just can't put my finger on.