Little Syllables: The Blog
Review - The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
I received a free review copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I loved Steven Rowley’s The Guncle so much that as soon as I saw an opportunity to get an advance copy of The Celebrants, I jumped on it! This book did not disappoint.
The Celebrants is a character-driven story of five friends and their lifelong quest to be there for each other. After the death of their friend Alec, just before graduating from Berkeley, the group makes a pact to give each member a “funeral” while they’re still living, so they will know how loved they are and nothing will be left unsaid.
The others in the group—Naomi, Marielle, Craig, Jordan, and Jordy—go their separate ways, but return to each other whenever one of them needs it. We see each friend as they face life’s challenges over the years, and we see what drives them to invoke the pact and reunite with their friends.
This book spans decades in the lives of these characters, but it focuses mainly on husbands Jordan and Jordy (known collectively as “the Jordans”).
This time, it’s Jordan who has invoked the pact, and the group gathers once again to celebrate one of their own, to confront their grief, and to support each other.
I loved this book for its intimate portrayal of the human experience. These five friends go through the same losses and grief that we all do. They fall in love. They fall out of love. They make mistakes and they suffer the consequences. They feel betrayal, anger, frustration, sadness, hopelessness, and hope. This book is about the type of family that a person can choose to create for themselves. And it shows us that there is no one right way to live.
Sensitive readers should know that this book contains adult language, references to drug and alcohol abuse, incarceration, suicide and death, and sexual content.
The Celebrants by Steven Rowley comes out on May 30, 2023. I heartily recommend it!
Review - If We’re Being Honest by Cat Shook
I received a free copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
If We’re Being Honest is a week in the life of the large Williams family. It begins with Gerry’s funeral and a shocking revelation that his best friend reveals during the eulogy. What follows is a week with this family sorting through their feelings about Gerry, about each other, and about the future.
I Loved
I loved this book’s premise. I felt like the secrets and unspoken things were front and center for the Williams family. I also loved the title. This book is about secrets coming to light, and they’re revealed one at a time as the book progresses. This is a very ambitious book that tries to give each family member a voice, but that is where it may not be super successful.
Shook’s characters are diverse, but I felt there was not enough focus, so opportunities were missed to give a few characters a deeper look. I would have loved to see more from Ellen’s perspective as I felt she was one of the most interesting characters in the book, though she’s also very quiet and closed-off.
I Didn’t Love
My biggest problem with this book is that so many problems could have been solved with open communication. But perhaps that is the point. This bothered me the most in the Alice/Peter relationship. Yes, they’re in a complicated situation, but I felt too much time was spent on them when their problems could have easily been resolved in a single short conversation. The same is true of Jennifer and JJ.
Ultimately, I liked how this book shows the complexity of keeping secrets within family relationships, but also still being a good person. I think it’s worth a read.
Read It
If We’re Being Honest came out today!
Review - The Witch of Tin Mountain
I received a free advanced copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Set in Arkansas and spanning a century, The Witch of Tin Mountain is historical fiction with a paranormal twist. The story follows generations of women from a single family—women with powers that many others do not understand. The dual timelines follow Dierdre (in the late 1800s) and Gracie (in the 1930s) as they navigate the emergence of their powers and grow from teenagers into adults.
Each of their lives are upended with the arrival of a mysterious preacher who causes a stir in the town of Tin Mountain. While these preachers perform miracles within the community, they are not what they seem.
Gentry haunts Dierdre, even as she flees Tin Mountain to escape him. He ultimately lures her into a trap, and she makes a deal she will later regret. Bellflower has come to Tin Mountain to collect on Dierdre’s debt. Gracie is forced to rely on herself and her ancestors as she works to thwart Bellflower’s designs.
This book is a tangle of love and loss, power and sacrifice.
Ultimately, I felt this book is about the power of women. I thought the author did a great job with characterization and the overarching storyline. Things get a bit muddy because the stories of the various characters have so many similarities—at times the coincidences felt too contrived.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I think fans of the genre will enjoy it as well. Sensitive readers should know there are references to witchcraft, sexual assault, murder, suicide, and abortion in this novel.
The Witch of Tin Mountain came out yesterday, February 1!
Review - Less Is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer
I received a free advanced copy through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Less Is Lost is the sequel to Greer’s book Less, which came out in 2017. I read Less last year and enjoyed it enough that when I saw a follow-up, I snatched it up!
Our protagonist, Arthur Less, is awkward, quirky, and unsure of himself. He is a moderately successful writer who is regularly mistaken for another author with the same name. In the first book, Arthur is facing both his 50th birthday and the marriage of his ex-partner Freddy, so he decides to fill his calendar with all the invitations he would have otherwise rejected. He leaves on a whirlwind trip around the world—all to avoid facing his problems.
The second book presents Arthur with different, but familiar, problems and he finds himself on a road trip across the US in an old conversion van. Arthur travels to try to raise money to save the home he shares with his partner, and along the way, he faces heartbreak and grief as well as hilarious misunderstandings, ridiculous situations, and his own demons.
I liked Less is Lost even more than the first book! I felt a kinship with Arthur as he sets out to find himself and figure out what he wants in his life, all while dealing with a variety of troubles. This book is about identity, resilience, and choosing to love.
I rated this book at 4 stars!
Less Is Lost is set for release on September 20, 2022.
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Review - The Other Mother by Rachel M. Harper
I received a digital review copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Rachel M. Harper’s The Other Mother is a story of family relationships, racial and sexual identity, and loss. It follows a young man named Jenry, an up-and-coming pianist, as he begins to discover the truth of his past that has been kept from him by his single mother and his maternal grandparents. Jenry enters college and seeks out information about the man he has been told was his father. Once Jenry sets out to discover the truth about his parentage, the reader sees the story from the perspective of the other characters as well. We get to know each of Jenry’s parents and grandparents, their stories interwoven through past and present.
This book is intricate and complex. The reader is apprised to the truth long before characters within the book are. We learn about Jenry’s true parentage, and get to know his true family. There have been a lot of lies and secrets, and most of them are unraveled before the story ends.
Ultimately, I felt this book was about how we create our own family based on who we let in, who we keep out, and who we choose to be every day. This is a book that makes the reader consider what they would do if they were in each character’s shoes and consider a variety of perspectives on the same events.
Overall, I liked this book. It has well-written characters and a strong sense of time and place.
The Other Mother is available now!
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Review - The People We Keep by Allison Larkin
I received a free advanced copy through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I was excited to get an advanced copy of The People We Keep after I saw that it was one of the Book of the Month Club selections for July. It tells the story of April, a teenage singer/songwriter, as she leaves home to build her own life. The book follows April over the course of several years as she tries to find somewhere to call home.
I got a slow start on this book. It took me a while to get to know April and to start to care about her problems and her life. But once I did, I couldn’t put the book down. This book is told from April’s perspective as a teenager from a troubled home. She is immature and frustrating. She makes terrible choices and finds herself in impossible situations. Ultimately, the book shows how she grows up, how she learns to love and trust, and how she eventually finds a family of her own.
I loved the character development in this story, not just of April, but of those she encounters. Although this story takes place in many different settings, it’s really about the people and relationships—good and bad. And while some of those relationships didn’t turn out the way I hoped, readers are left with hope for April’s future at the end.
The People We Keep comes out August 3, 2021. Check it out!
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Review - The Recent East by Thomas Grattan
I received a free galley of this book through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I wanted to like this book. I tried to like this book.
I’m very interested in historical fiction, especially when it is set in a time period that isn’t commonly written about. This one is set in Germany after the fall of the Berlin wall. I also tend to like books about family relationships and finding identity. This book had all of those elements, but it left me wanting.
This story centers around a recently divorced mother, Beate, who moves back to her childhood home in East Germany after the Berlin wall came down. Her two children, Michael and Adela, go with her. Beate appears to suffer from depression, Michael is exploring his sexual identity, and Adela is filled with fear and loneliness. They all struggle in different ways to adjust to their new home.
There are some things that I really liked about this book. I feel that it was well-written. The settings were vividly described and seemed very realistic. The story flows well. I enjoyed reading about the themes of complex family relationships, identity, and loss.
But I disliked almost all of the characters in this book. I didn’t feel like I could identify with any of them, except for Peter, who shows up near the end. Their communication styles are dense and confusing, or absent. As I read and read, I just kept thinking that if these characters would just have a straightforward conversation, most of the problems would be solved. But they never do. It was incredibly frustrating.
No matter how much I struggle with a book, I strive to finish it. I did finish this one and I am glad I did, as the ending provided some hope for the future. And really, Peter’s character nearly redeemed the story for me. I think this could be a great book for a group discussion because of the complex relationships and themes. If you read it, come back and comment, and tell me your thoughts about it!
The Recent East by Thomas Grattan will be available March 8, 2021.