Wish by Barbara O'Connor

Title: Wish

Author: Barbara O’Connor

Published: 2016

Genre: Contemporary

Grade Level: 3^rd-5^th Grade

 

Blurb (from goodreads):

Eleven-year-old Charlie Reese has been making the same secret wish every day since fourth grade. She even has a list of all the ways there are to make the wish, such as cutting off the pointed end of a slice of pie and wishing on it as she takes the last bite. But when she is sent to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to live with family she barely knows, it seems unlikely that her wish will ever come true.

That is until she meets Wishbone, a skinny stray dog who captures her heart, and Howard, a neighbor boy who proves surprising in lots of ways. Suddenly, Charlie is in serious danger of discovering that what she thought she wanted may not be what she needs at all.

My Scores:

Writing Style: Solid

I loved the voice in this novel! It was unique, engrossing, and heartbreakingly realistic. The voice is also very county, I kept thinking there were typos in the book, but no that’s just their accent.

However, the transitions made throughout the novel weren’t as smooth as I would’ve liked.

 

Characters: Memorable

I’m really starting to adore sour-puss characters! If you fell in love with Ada Smith from The War that Saved My Life, then you will also loose your heart to Charlie, the MC.

 

Link to Book Review: https://www.krwardbookreview.com/2021/05/the-war-that-saved-my-life-by-kimberly.html

 

At such a young age Charlie has so much to deal with; a father in jail, a perfect sister, and a callous mother… it’s no wonder that she’s mad at the world. Despite all of her mistakes, I never stopped rooting for her.

I loved watching Charlie’s development change once she was placed in a stable environment, surrounded by good-natured friends, and given the unconditional love of a four-legged friend.

Harold was a lovely side character to meet. I just wish that the novel had been more specific about his physical disability since it plays such an important role in his POV.  

 

Plot: Absolute Page-Tuner

Aside from the bad transitions, I felt the novel was well paced. I wanted to know when Charlie’s perspective would change, how she would fix her mistakes, and whether her heart would learn to love.

 

Overall: Obsessed

I love this book! I think so many kids with broken homes can relate to Charlie, the MC. She’s full of bitterness and anger, but the reader wants nothing more for her than to love and be loved. The book really shows the healing power of a stable environment, good friends, and furry four-legged pets.

 

Goodreads Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Beyond Belief by Jenna Miscavige Hill

Title: Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape

Author: Jenna Miscavige Hill & Lisa Pulitzer

Published: 2013

Genre: Memoir

Grade Level: Adult

-Movie Rating: PG-13 for language

 

Audiobook:

Narrated by: Sandy Rustin

Length: 11hrs 57min

Recommend: Yes

 

Blurb (from goodreads):

Jenna Miscavige was raised to obey. As niece of the Church of Scientology's leader David Miscavige, she grew up at the center of this controversial organization. At 21, she made a break, risking everything she'd ever known and loved to leave Scientology once and for all. Now she speaks out about her life, the Church, her escape, going deep inside a religion that, for decades, has been the subject of fierce debate and speculation worldwide.

Disclaimer: My review of this memoir is not in any way a reflection upon the author or their life. I am a book reviewer, I review books… not people.

My Scores:

Writing Style: Good

I can imagine that it must have been rather overwhelming to explain all the important facets of Scientology to those unfamiliar with it. After all, the concepts were bizarre, the lifestyle seemed unnatural, and the amount of manipulation was hard to wrap my head around. However, I think it should have been shorter and more focused on the interpersonal elements than on defining Scientology jargon.

 

Characters: Full Developed

(I known they're real people. I’m referring to them as character’s anyway.)

I enjoyed getting to know Jenna Miscavige Hill. She was feisty, strong-willed, and compassionate. I hate that she was deprived of developing strong family ties, maintaining friendships, and keeping personal secrets about her dating life (or anything) to herself. The way she was treated for the sake of Scientology hurts my heart.

I do wish other characters were more fleshed out because we really only get to know Mrs. Hill. I wish other people in her life had given their POV, especially her parents and her husband.

 

Plot: Slow Burn

The novel does drag a bit here and there when it gets bogged down in Scientology culture, but there was plenty of suspense. I found certain aspects fascinating, like how this cult brain-washes people, pulls out false confessions, and gets away with separating family members.

I was kind of let down by the “harrowing escape” I was promised from the tag line, but I did enjoy it nonetheless.

 

Overall: Enjoyable

Overall, I’m glad books like this exist. It really shows how important certain freedoms really are (i.e., freedom of the press). Learning about the inner workings of this cult is frustrating to say the least. I’m so glad that Jenna Hill made it out, but what about everyone else?

 

Messaging: Kindness defeats brainwashing, not facts.

 

Goodreads Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Series: The War that Saved my Life (Book 2)

Link to Review of Book 1:
https://www.krwardbookreview.com/2021/05/the-war-that-saved-my-life-by-kimberly.html

Title: The War I Finally Won

Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Published: 2017

Genre: Historical Fiction

Grade Level: 6^th-8^th Grade

-Trigger Warning: Grief

-Features: Physical Disability

 

Audiobook:

Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle

Length: 8hrs 46min

Recommend: Yes!

 

Blurb (from goodreads):

Ada and her younger brother, Jamie, now have a permanent home with their loving legal guardian, Susan Smith. Although Jamie adapts more easily, Ada still struggles with the aftermath of her old life, and how to fit into her new life.

World War II continues, and forces the small community to come together and rely on one another. Ada has never been interested in getting to know her friend’s family—especially Maggie’s mother, the formidable Lady Thorton. However, circumstances bring them in close proximity along with other unexpected characters.

Ada comes face to face with another German! This time she isn’t sure what she should do. How can she help the ones she loves and keep them safe?

 

My Scores:

Writing Style: Top Notch

The writing style is just as fantastic as the first novel.

Characters: Memorable

Ada Smith has become one of my favorite female characters. I love how realistic she is in trying to deal with her traumatic childhood. Her anxiety, dissociations, and skepticism made her so relatable.  

 

Plot: Enjoyable

My favorite part of the book is the beginning. That’s where the novel had a complete hold over my emotions.

In the middle the plot slows down a bit, but I rather enjoyed it. This is where we meet new characters, learn more about previous characters, and have tense conversations about religion, race, and war.

I also enjoyed the heck out of the ending. I knew that resolutions would come about, but it’s always interesting to see how an author will arrange things to get it done.

Overall: Obsessed

I adore this duology! And I wish like crazy it was a trilogy, but it’s always good to leave your audience wanting more.

Messaging: “You can know something all you like, it doesn’t mean you believe it.”

 

Goodreads Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Restart by Gordan Korman

Title: Restart

Author: Gordon Korman

Published: 2017

Genre: Contemporary

Grade Level: 3^rd-5^th Grade

-Features: Amnesia

 

Audiobook:

Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross, Laura Knight Keating, and others

Length: 6hrs 51min

Recommend: Yes

 

Blurb (from goodreads):

Chase's memory just went out the window.

Chase doesn't remember falling off the roof. He doesn't remember hitting his head. He doesn't, in fact, remember anything. He wakes up in a hospital room and suddenly has to learn his whole life all over again . . . starting with his own name.

He knows he's Chase. But who is Chase? When he gets back to school, he sees that different kids have very different reactions to his return.

Some kids treat him like a hero. Some kids are clearly afraid of him.

One girl in particular is so angry with him that she pours her frozen yogurt on his head the first chance she gets.

Pretty soon, it's not only a question of who Chase is--it's a question of who he was . . . and who he's going to be.

My Scores:

Writing Style: Solid

This novel has a rather straight-forward, easy-to-read type of writing style, which of course works really well for his target audience. 

I scored it solid because each character in this multi-perspective novel was given a unique enough voice that I could tell who the ‘I’ persona had I not been told.

 

Characters: Memorable

I really enjoyed the dialogue sequences between the characters. It really helped build suspense and entailed a lot of comic relief.

I enjoyed the complex social dynamics presented in this novel. There are so many situations that bring up questions about identity, forgiveness, responsivity, and redemption.

The relationships created in this novel really shows the impact we have on one another, especially when it comes to parent-child relationships. The adult figures are really well-crafted in that they are so incredibly flawed. They don’t always have the best advice or represent the best example. What’s a kid to make of that?

 

Plot: Absolute Page-Tuner

I can always trust Korman’s book to have an engaging plot. This book is extremely well-paced to the point of causing envy. Despite the simple plotline, I was completely sucked in. I thoroughly enjoyed the messaging, the themes, and the emotional impact of the ending.

 

Overall: Enjoyable

There’s nothing like an inspirational middle-grade novel to restore one’s faith in humanity. Restart was funny, original, and thought-provoking.

 

Goodreads Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Hannah Green

Title: I Never Promised You A Rose Garden

Author: Hannah Green, Joanne Greenberg

Published: 1964

Genre: General Fiction

Grade Level: Adult

-Trigger Warning: Suicidal thoughts / Suicidal attempts

-Movie Rating: PG-13

-Features: Schizophrenia

 

Blurb (from goodreads):

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is the story of a sixteen-year-old who retreats from reality into the bondage of a lushly imagined but threatening kingdom, and her slow and painful journey back to sanity.

Chronicles the three-year battle of a mentally ill, but perceptive, teenage girl against a world of her own creation, emphasizing her relationship with the doctor who gave her the ammunition of self-understanding with which to help herself.

"I wrote this novel, which is a fictionalized autobiography, to give a picture of what being schizophrenic feels like and what can be accomplished with a trusting relationship between a gifted therapist and a willing patient. It is not a case history or study. I like to think it is a hymn to reality." —Joanne Greenberg.

My Scores:

Writing Style: Solid

The writing style is very abstract. It’s more like poetry than a narrative. So, even though it’s a rather short book, it takes a lot of effort to interpret what’s going on.

I can’t say that I prefer this kind of writing style but having earned a bachelor’s in English I have certainly learned how to appreciate it. I almost wish I had read this in a college class because everyone will see something different and that always helps to bring about a fuller understanding of the novel.

The writing is similar to books like Nightwood by Djuna Barnes and Enchanted by Rene Denfled.

Link to review of Enchanted: https://www.krwardbookreview.com/2018/12/the-enchanted-by-rene-denfeld.html

 

Characters: Full Developed

I loved how many complex social dynamics there were in this novel.

-How mental illness effects the whole family

-How society treats the mentally ill

-How the mentally ill treat each other

-How easily the mentally ill become institutionalized

-How not every psychiatrist works for every patient

I also liked that the MC, Deborah, was so relatable. Her anxiety and depression are caused by the same things that most of use stress over. It’s simply her reactions to that stress that separate her, and that’s what she struggle’s with throughout the course of the novel.

 

Plot: Enjoyable

I felt the novel was well-paced. There weren’t any twists per say, but the plot was always interesting because I was invested in the MC. I was always in Deborah’s corner, one part rooting for her and two parts trying to reason with her like I was one of her parental figures. Most especially at the end did I want to take the girl by the shoulders and shake some sense into her!

It’s hard to talk about without giving too much away, but basically I found the ending to be quite odd. I felt more the midpoint of most other novels. I can come up with a few reasons why the author chose to end on such a weird note, but I still don’t have to like it.

 

Overall: Enjoyable

Overall, I’m glad to have read it. I didn’t enjoy the abstract nature of the writing style, but I did enjoy the subject matter which is the only reason why I was interested in the first place and the only reason why I stuck it out.

 

Messaging:

Insanity effects more than just the insane.

The world is not a “rose garden” but worth the work to be a part of it.

“My difference is not my sickness.”

 

Goodreads Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

 

Possible spoiler:

In the beginning there seemed to be an indication that the father had molested his daughter, Deborah. The language being the way it is, there was nothing conclusive. I hate that this was brought up in the beginning and then never mentioned again, especially during theory. Why hint at it in the first place if you’re not going to follow through?

The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Series: The War that Saved My Life (Book 1)

Title: The War that Saved My Life

Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Published: 2015

Genre: Historical Fiction

Grade Level: 6^th-8^th Grade

-Trigger Warning: Child neglect, Grief

-Features: Physical disability, Disassociation, Scapegoated child

 

Audiobook:

Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle

Length: 7hrs 38 min

Recommend: Yes!

 

Blurb (from goodreads):

Ten-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him.

So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?

This masterful work of historical fiction is equal parts adventure and a moving tale of family and identity—a classic in the making.

My Scores:

Writing Style: Top Notch

This novel had me hooked the moment I learned it featured a physical disability, but I never expected it to be this amazing.

The voice of the MC, Ada Smith, is absolutely stunning. I felt all the pain of being a scapegoated child, all the joy of horseback riding, all the anxiety that caused disassociations, and all the complexity of being loved unconditionally.

I’m telling you, it’s as emotionally raw as a memoir about childhood trauma, and it is gut-wrenchingly accurate.

It was written in the UK English style, but I'm so used to it by now I almost forgot to mention it.

 

Characters: Absolutely Amazing

These characters are so complex they feel like real people. I love them so incredibly much that it hurts to realize that they’re fictional.

Ada Smith is a fantastic MC! I love her tenacious, gritty, and guarded personality. Her development is one of the most realistic, inspirational, and heart-warming transitions that I have ever read.  

The antagonist, Ada’s mother, is equally fantastic. I hated her with a passion typically reserved for the Nazis, Satan, and my ex-boyfriends. I personally felt the sting of every word she said, and it hurts my heart to know that there are actually people like her out there in the world.  

 

Plot: Absolute Page-Tuner

The plotline felt so original, despite it being set in WWII, because it was so focused on the wonderfully complex characters. There was never a dull moment and I never knew where the plot was headed, all I knew was that I was so excited that it’s a series!

 

Overall: Totally Obsessed

This book has become my new obsession! I agree whole-heartedly that it is “a classic in the making.” The characters are so complex they feel like genuine people, the plot is beyond engaging, and the writing style is gorgeous, emotionally raw, and absolutely brilliant.  

 

Messaging: Pro LGBTQ

Goodreads Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

 

Broken by Jenny Lawson

Title: Broken (in the best possible way)

Author: Jenny Lawson

Published: 2021

Genre: Memoir

Grade Level: Adult

-Movie Rating: R, vulgar language, other adult content

-Features: Depression, Anxiety

 

Audiobook:

Narrated by: Jenny Lawson

Length: 8hrs 18min

Recommend: Yes

 

Blurb (from goodreads):

As Jenny Lawson’s hundreds of thousands of fans know, she suffers from depression. In Broken, Jenny brings readers along on her mental and physical health journey, offering heartbreaking and hilarious anecdotes along the way.

With people experiencing anxiety and depression now more than ever, Jenny humanizes what we all face in an all-too-real way, reassuring us that we’re not alone and making us laugh while doing it. And of course, Jenny’s long-suffering husband Victor―the Ricky to Jenny’s Lucille Ball―is present throughout.

A treat for Jenny Lawson’s already existing fans, and destined to convert new ones, Broken is a beacon of hope and a wellspring of laughter when we all need it most.

 

Disclaimer: My review of this memoir is not in any way a reflection upon the author or their life. I am a book reviewer, I review books… not people. 

 

My Scores:

Writing Style: Solid

The best way I can describe Lawson’s writing style is wonderfully bizarre. It’s wonderful because of her incredibly personal messages of encouragement and understanding. And it’s bizarre because of her wacky, way-out-of-left-field humor.

I personally love it! I don’t know of anyone else that thinks, even remotely, like Jenny Lawson (and I can imagine it’s one of the reasons Victor loves her). However, it also means that I can’t compare her to anyone and say “if you like so-and-so, then you’ll like her too.” You’ll just have to find out for yourself.  

 

Characters: Memorable

(I known they're real people. I’m referring to them as character’s anyway.)

One of the funniest aspects of this book is the dialogue sequences between Jenny Lawson and her husband Victor. He will try to give her rational and reasonable advice and she seems to interpret it with the logic of an Alice and Wonderland character, which makes for great fun to hear about from a distance.

 

Overall: Obsessed

Lawson’s work is priceless. She took her pain and used it to fuel her creative voice to spread humor and encouragement to as many people as possible. While I will admit that her humor is rather bizarre, she is relatable, and that is what makes her so endearing.  

Messaging: Depression lies.

 

Goodreads Rating: 4 out of 5 stars