Title: Totally Tangled
Author: Sandy Steen Bartholomew
ISBN: 157421671-6
Story Length: 50 pages
Genre: Arts & Crafts

Back Cover of Totally Tangled

Can’t draw? Stressed out? Even if you are an artist and feel perfectly calm…Zentangle is for you! Learn to focus, relax your mind and boost your creative confidence. No kidding!

Three Quick Points About Totally Tangled

• Point 1: Not for n00bs. The book doesn’t go into details about the Zentangle steps and the book assumes prior knowledge of tangle (i.e. pattern) creation.
• Point 2: Disorganized. The format doesn’t have a logical flow and had me skipping around from page to page.
• Point 3: Strays into the realm of “zendoodles”. After researching Zentangles I learned that a number of the book’s examples are Zendoodles or Zentangle-inspired art rather than actual Zentangles.

Short Synopsis of Totally Tangled

Outlines techniques for creating Zentangles and Zentangle-inspired art along with some basic tangle patterns.

My Thoughts on Totally Tangled

I’d stumbled across Zentangles by chance but didn’t want to invest in the “official” package because I already had the necessary art supplies; I only needed the instructions.

I decided on Totally Tangled because the description and reviews made it seem as though the book would be sufficient for beginners. As a beginner, my first read through (and attempted Zentangle) was a disaster.

Though it tells you the steps for creating a Zentangle:

“1. Dots- Using your pencil, make a dot in each corner of the tile. Connect the dots to form a border.
2. String- Draw the string.
3. Tangles- Switch to your pen and fill each section with tangles
4. Shading- Use your pencil to add shading and depth (see pg. 09)
5. Initials- As a final step, put your initials on the front of the tile, and sign and date the back.”

It doesn’t sufficiently elaborate on any of those steps. The book is strewn with “tips” which offer little extra insight and, as a whole, reads like a collection of disparate thoughts lacking cohesion and the reader must jump around from page to page making it difficult to focus on the task at hand. This was off-putting, to say the least.

In fact, after my first failed Zentangle I decided to set this book aside and leveraged the power of Google and YouTube for a better understanding of the process.

Once I had that understanding I was able to return to the book and use it for its patterns (i.e. tangles); that was this book’s saving grace–it’s nice having a handy tangle reference. Also, it’s inspirational if you want to branch out into Zendoodling (i.e. filling discernible pictures with a top and bottom, such as a fish or tree or person, with tangles).

So, while I wouldn’t recommend it for complete Zentangle beginners, it’s a good resource for tangles and creative inspiration.

*And before considering this book, I’d recommend viewing the following videos and websites:

• Zentangle Master Class Part A
• Zentangle Master Class Part B
• Julie Fei-Fan Balzer Shares Zentangle Tips
• Zentangle’s Betweed
• Tangle Patterns

Rating: Get It Used [C] (?)

Back Cover of Trapped

The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive.

Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn’t seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But the power goes out, and the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the day adds up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision…

Three Quick Points About Trapped

• Point 1: A smooth read. There was nothing difficult in the reading. One word flowed into the next, one sentence into the next, and one paragraph into the next.
• Point 2: Underwhelming characters. Each character seemed like a slightly varied stock template, from the bully who wasn’t so bad after all to the hormonally challenged teenage boy to the super hot blond.
• Point 3: A pressure cooker with too little pressure. The students’ situation was dire, no doubt about it, but there wasn’t enough character variation to spark true conflict.

Short Synopsis of Trapped

Seven different students are trapped in a high school when a freak snowstorm (a nor’easter) blows into town and they must fend for themselves for nearly a week and when it becomes too difficult to bear, find a means of escape.

My Thoughts on Trapped

I’ve always been a fan of the pressure cooker. That’s what I call stories where a group of diverse people are thrown into an unamenable situation together and the pressure increases until something finally goes snap. (Think Lord of the Flies or Alive.)

So, when I read the synopsis of Trapped my mind reeled from all the possibilities. I forsook all the other books on my TBR pile to read this one. And despite the commendable writing (very smooth, sometimes funny, and easy to digest prose), halfway through I began thinking that I probably shouldn’t have read it directly after watching Exam, a great low-budget example of a pressure cooker story.

Trapped started well enough with Scotty, the narrator, worried about the snow canceling his basketball game and deftly segued into the students being trapped in the school and how they came to be there. It began faltering, however, as time went on and not much happened by way of character development or action.

The cast included Scotty, the not your typical jock, Jason, the kid who seemed the most likely to have a sniper rifle in his locker, Pete, the typical teenage boy, Les, the big badass bully, Elijah, the not your typical goth, Krista, the super hot blond girl, and Julie, the super hot blond girl’s friend. Unfortunately, these characters weren’t fully developed and tried so hard not to be clichés that they became clichés.

I could have forgiven the bland characters had something of consequence happened in the story, beyond the kids being cold and annoyed by having to pee in a literal can, but very little did happen. There was a fist fight and a death (not as a result of said fist fight, sorry). That’s pretty much it. It was like The Breakfast Club, but with less depth.

Despite the flat characters and lack of pressure, this was an enjoyable read. The writing had such forward momentum that it was almost impossible not to finish, plus it was a fast read. So, if you’re looking for something quick and mildly thrilling to pass a stormy afternoon, this would do the trick.

Rating: Get It Used [C+] (?)

The problem is that physicians are scared to practice medicine because a lawyer waits around every corner ready and available to sue.  So as Mr. Moret mentioned, physicians practice defensive medicine in case they have to defend themselves in a lawsuit.  The basis of the U.S. healthcare system as it stands today is the promotion of “sick care” vs promoting “wellcare”.

I loved the car analogy used in this book.  It really brings everything into prospective and drives home the point that we take better care of our car than we do ourselves.  Many of us maintain our car because we want to keep it running for a long time, but what we and most insurance plans fail to realize is that proper maintenance of our bodies is essential to having a healthier and longer life and therefore cuts the cost of healthcare.

It is shameful to see that the U.S. healthcare ranks 37th in the world health system. How is that possible when the hospitals across our nation promote their top of the line scanning systems? All the high cost “medically unnecessary” CT scans, X-rays and nuclear medicine scans that have skyrocketed over the past 20 years is leaving a buildup of radiation in the patient’s body. The American population doesn’t want to hear that a CT scan is harmful because “more is better.”  That is the American mentality isn’t it, that more and bigger is better? And no one wants to hear that these tests are very expensive.

It’s important to know that in this book Mr. Moret does not support the new health reform bill push by President Obama and the democrats in the House and Congress, because it does not address the growing cost of healthcare.  As a matter-of-fact the bill will increase the cost of healthcare over the long run.  The President’s plan also did not address the amount of waste in healthcare today and how to curb the waste in the future.

To fix the healthcare system in the U.S., as Mr. Moret pointed out in the book, will take years and will generate more controversy and debate.  The breakdown of the system did not happen yesterday and quite frankly there is a lot of revenue that will be lost.  The lawyers, the doctors, the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies are not interested in changes to the current system because it is not in their best interest.  Moret’s plan to improve U.S. Healthcare could very well work but motivating the doctors and their patient’s alike to take interest in a “wellcare” system may take an act of Congress.

Title: Rumor Has It
Author: Jill Mansell
ISBN: 978-1402237508
Story Length: 416 pages
Genre: Chick Lit

Back Cover of Rumor Has It

This man doesn’t seem to match his reputation…

Newly single Tilly Cole impulsively moves to a small town, only to find she’s arrived in a hotbed of gossip, intrigue, and rampant rivalry for the most desirable man–irresistible Jack Lucas, whose reputation is beyond bad. Tilly has no intention of becoming another notch on his bedpost. But the thoughtful, caring guy she comes to value as a friend doesn’t seem to fit the town’s playboy image. Tilly doesn’t know what to believe–and Jack’s not telling.

Three Quick Points About Rumor Has It

• Point 1: Somewhat predictable. It’s the nature of the beast with chick lit, but in the case of Tilly & Jack, it’s a bit more obvious than necessary.
• Point 2: Slow to start. The “good stuff” doesn’t begin to reveal itself until about the first five or six chapters in, but when it does it becomes a fun (and funny) romp.
• Point 3: Culture shock. I’ve read a bit of Brit chick lit, but this one seemed especially heavy on the Briticisms. It took quite some time to acclimate.

Short Synopsis of Rumor Has It

Tilly Cole arrives home one evening to find that her boyfriend has cleared out. She can’t afford her apartment on her own, so she takes a trip to visit her best friend Erin in the small town of Roxborough to drown her sorrows. But the small town dug its claws into Tilly and she ends up taking a job as a Girl Friday with one of its more prominent residents, Max Dineen and his teenage daughter Louisa.

Through her connection with Max, Tilly meets the most coveted bachelor, Jack Lucas. Unfortunately, his reputation precedes him and Tilly tries everything in her power not to fall for his charms.

While this is happening, there are a number of side stories: Erin is dating a separated, but not yet divorced man whose wife, Stella, is borderline nuts. And Kaye, Max’s ex-wife, accidentally runs over an important puppy in Hollywood and needs to escape back to her UK home to wait out the drama.

My Thoughts on Rumor Has It

I had to start this book a couple different times because it took a while to get into. It starts with a relative bang—Tilly coming home to a half cleaned out apartment—but I found Tilly to be a rather bland character. But around chapter five or six when the other characters and sub-stories were introduced, the pace and appeal of the book immediately picked up.

For me, Tilly was too plain Jane. Every once in a while she trips over something or says the wrong thing, but it all seemed random and misplaced. Then there’s Jack. Everyone is whispering that he’s a playboy and warning Tilly off of him. It all became too contrived, so I never really got into the blossoming of their relationship; I rolled my eyes more than not.

Thing is, I adored the side stories of Erin and Kaye. They were hilarious. Erin seemed far more real and affable than Tilly and Kaye was just off the wall wacky, reigned in when necessary, of course. Even Louisa, Kaye and Max’s teenage daughter, was just the right amount of quirky and watching her story unravel was quite pleasant. These would be the reasons I’d recommend reading this book and although the relationship between Tilly and Jack is supposed to be center stage, it felt more like a secondary story to me.

Also, if you aren’t used to reading British literature or watching the BBC, this book will take some getting used to. There are a number of slang terms used throughout; enough to make you raise an eyebrow and wonder what just happened. Once you get used to them, though, it’s smooth sailing.

Rating: Get It Used [C+] (?)

Title: The Devouring
Author: Simon Holt
ISBN: 978-0-316-03573-6
Story Length: 231 pages
Genre: Young Adult

Back Cover of The Devouring

When dark creeps in and eats the light.
Bury your fears on Sorry Night.
For in the winter’s blackest hours
Comes the feasting of the Vours.
No one can see it, the life they stole.
Your body’s here but not your soul…

Three Quick Points About The Devouring

• Point 1: A bit chilling. At least, the beginning was. What would you do if some dark creature offered to eat your fears?
• Point 2: Mmmm, cheesy cliché filling. The entire middle section of the book is devoted more to shock value than fear factor.
• Point 3: Curiosity inducing. If I didn’t know better, I’d say I’ve been brainwashed because I’m anxious to read the next installment.

My Thoughts on The Devouring

(Below are my thoughts on the book. If you want a full rundown of the story, you can read the story summary, but be warmed: it includes spoilers.)

Some parts were good, and some parts were lame, but something must have been done right because I have a burning desire to read the next book.

The story unfolded well. We get the back story on Regina and her family. Her mother left her along with her brother and father. No one knows what happened to her and their family hasn’t been the same since.

One way Regina copes is by drowning herself in scary stories and she’s managed to rope her little brother Henry into it by reading him scary bedtime stories. One of the stories was about entities called Vours.

Then, on Sorry Night, when Regina and Aaron, her best friend, decide to call a Vour, their plans go awry while Regina’s little brother is possessed.

I have to say, the unfolding of Henry’s devouring was downright chilling—that makes up the first quarter of the book. I was hoping the momentum would continue, but it petered out and the story became something straight out of a B horror movie.

Although Henry is acting differently (like people and pets dropping dead in his presence), neither Reggie nor Aaron wonder whether he’s possessed until well after any clear thinking person would have. But I was willing to forgive that.

What I had difficulty forgiving was the gore-for-scare effect filling out the story, some of the dialogue was pure cheesy cliché, and character development left much to be desired.

Call me jaded, but anyone who’s ever watched more than a few classic horror movies would see right through it—in fact, I laughed a couple times. I truly wish it had more of the creepy ominous effect displayed in the beginning, but if wishes were pennies, I’d be a millionaire.

But what has my panties in a bunch is the fact that I really, really want to read the next book. The Devouring ended at the beginning of a bigger mystery. It’s not to say that The Devouring wasn’t a full story in and of itself—it was—but the story left me wondering: Who is Eben really? What are the Vours? And what is their plot?

That’s why this book was so difficult to rate. On one hand, a chunk of the story I would consider lame in the horror department, relying more on gore than suspense with gore, but on the other hand, it did an amazing job of painting a larger story and piquing curiosity. So, with that in mind, I’m middle of the road.

Rating: Get It Used [solid C] (?)

Back Cover of Hannah

Hannah wants to be normal, but she’s not. The sea calls to her, and she can see a delicate tracing of scales on her legs. Billowing waves soothe her, but flat land makes her sick. She knows there’s something wild in her that’s different, wrong–and deeply thrilling.

Only one person seems to know who–or what–Hannah is. He’s a guest in the house where she works as a scullery girl, and his fascinated gaze follows her. She doesn’t understand his terrifying allure, or her longing. But even as the mystery deepens, Hannah is sure of one thing. A sea change is coming.

Three Quick Points About Hannah

• Point 1: Deus ex machinas abound! Hannah’s problems were all too easily resolved.
• Point 2: The intended audience must be precocious children or idyllic teens. In general, too superficial for an audience over 12 with words too laborious for an audience under 15.
• Point 3: It’s the book equivalent of Chinese food.

Full Review of Hannah

Before reading the full review, please note that there may be some spoilers. I tried to keep it vague enough not to spoil the entire story, but be warned. If you’d rather not take any chances, skip the synopsis and go straight to the final thoughts.

Hannah Synopsis

This entire book could easily be summarized in one sentence: Hannah Albury, a 15 year old orphan who is drawn to the sea, becomes a scullery made for a prominent Bostonian family and while summering with them on the Maine coast, discovers that she’s a mermaid.

That’s pretty much it.

Final Thoughts On Hannah

Eager was I to read this book. I polished it off in an afternoon. It was rather enjoyable, but I had trouble deciphering the intended audience.

The story was overly simplified—think Saturday morning cartoons where we see that the evildoer is defeated by a laser beam and the hero exclaims, “Haha! I have defeated the evildoer with my laser beam!” and then the evildoer cries out, “Oh no, I’ve been defeated by a laser beam!”

In the first two chapters, Hannah explains that she feels ill if she even thinks about moving away from the sea, then to reinforce the image, she’s sent to Kansas by the headmistress of the orphanage, becomes deathly ill, and is sent back to Boston. When she arrives back in Boston, the headmistress is mysteriously gone and replaced with a sweetheart who sees Hannah’s potential and sets her up with a prominent Bostonian family. Anyone over the age of twelve would have recognized that deus ex machina, cementing my belief the book was intended for young readers.

What gave me pause was the audacious use of vocabulary—words such as lugubrious, conflagration, chiaroscuro, and gewgaw to name only a few. These are words one is more likely to find handed out to high school sophomores and juniors. It felt incongruous with the simple storyline.

I’d have believed the older teen/young adult target audience if the story had more depth of emotion and more developed sub-plots. For instance, the profound affection that Hannah and Stannish Wheeler have for one another stretches the imagination when all they’ve shared were a few flirtatious glances and a couple ambiguous discussions. It hinted that Hannah and Stannish were possibly connected in another life together, but it was never elaborated in the story and resulted in the emotional impact falling flat.

Another thread that seemed frayed was Lila Hawley, the eldest daughter, and her macabre connection to Jade, evil kitty minion. I loved the development there. Lila and her cat were effectively creepy and actually, I found myself wanting to know more about Lila than Hannah. But by the end of the story, I wondered what her purpose was in the overall story, other than to antagonize Hannah (and when she became too problematic, Lila was shipped away). I get the feeling we’ll see more of her in a later book, but it’s not a certainty.

This is a trend I’ve been seeing more of lately—books withholding logical closure or keeping the key relationships superficial in order to promote future installments of a series. A trend possibly due to the success of Harry Potter, Twilight, Percy Jackson, and others.

With those particular series, however, each book is a fully self-contained story where there is a strong plot set up, climax, and conclusion with a lead in to the next story designed to pique curiosity. I didn’t get that with Hannah. Barring her self-discovery at the end (which most people going into the story already know), nothing of substantial consequence happened—no strong plot set up, climax, or conclusion.

Hannah is not overtly bad—the writing is good, it presented a great overview of nineteenth century American aristocratic life, and breezed along nicely—but it was the book equivalent of Chinese food—tastes good going down, but an hour later, you’re hungry again.

Rating: Get it used [B-/C+] (?)

Hannah (Daughters of the Sea, Book 1) available on Amazon

Back Cover of Dark Places

I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ.

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—famously testifying that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details, she hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings…and maybe admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.

As Libby’s search takes her across the Midwest, the narrative flashes back to the events of that day, replayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members—including Ben, a loner who’d recently begun a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.

Three Quick Points About Dark Places

• Point 1: Multiple personality disorder. The book alternates between three different perspectives, the main character Libby Day (in first person), and Patty and Ben Day (in third person).
• Point 2: A twisted Jerry Springer episode. None of the characters had any redeeming qualities, but on some level, they were truly human. And the situation, as it unfolded, was truly out there but on some level you have to wonder could this possibly happen?
• Point 3: Smartly written. I am surprised and delighted at Flynn’s smart and fluid writing style.

Full Review of Dark Places

Before reading the full review, please note that there may be some spoilers. I tried to keep it vague enough not to spoil the entire story, but be warned. If you’d rather not take any chances, skip the synopsis and go straight to the final thoughts.

Dark Places Synopsis

The Days were not a wealthy family. In fact, money problems plagued the single mother of four and their vagrant father was little help—he was usually part of the problem. Patty Day was left to manage a family and a failing farm by herself. And that is the bleak setting for this story.

Twenty five years after her mother and two sisters were slaughtered, Libby Day finds herself nearly penniless. Since she feels she’s far too messed up to find legitimate work, she’s easily swayed into dredging up her past by the offer of quick and easy cash.

Back in early January 1985, when the unthinkable occurred, Libby’s brother Ben had been accused, arrested, and convicted of the murders—partly due to Libby’s own testimony. But as Libby starts looking at the actual events of the day, she realizes that her memories of the night might not have been accurate.

With the help of a group of Ben-lovers, Libby begins to investigate her path in order to find the truth and reconnect, on some level, with her brother.

As Libby puts the pieces of the puzzle together, working from the present to the past, we the readers get to see the events unfolding from the past to the present through Patty and Ben Day’s perspectives beginning on that fateful morning.

And the answer to the mystery is not necessarily what you think…

Final Thoughts On Dark Places

I’m still debating whether I really liked Dark Places. Actually, I know I liked the prose and flow and was enthralled by the execution, but I don’t much care for or about any of the characters. I didn’t connect to any one of them on an emotional level, nor did I sympathize.

Flynn has this way with words that just tugs at your physical senses, and she deftly handled switching between the various points of view (Libby, then Patty, then Libby, then Ben, and so forth). One problem, however, was that it became difficult to connect with the characters. Right when I thought I was finally connecting with Libby on some level, bam I’m thrown into Patty’s or Ben’s story and vice versa.

Some of the switching also provided lulls in the story right when the action from one character’s perspective began to pick up, so it was constantly building tension then dropping like a stone.

That said, it could have much more to do with the actual people themselves as opposed to Flynn’s shifting between characters. Libby is a bitter kleptomaniac who’s deeply troubled, partly due to what happened to her family and partly because that’s who she is.

Patty, though I hate to admit it, is probably a good reflection of most struggling mothers and of the three characters, I connected the most with her (despite not being a mother myself). Her stress was understandable and her motives are clear. She was real.

Ben was just twisted in ways that I’m still trying to piece together. How much can be blamed on just being a teenage boy with a sucky life and just plain having a screw loose isn’t exactly clear. Either way, I couldn’t connect with him at all. He may very well reflect some teenage boys (actually, I’m certain he does), but he was just too incongruous.

Then there’s the Ben after he’s all grown up. Him I actually relate to and was glad to see that he’d learned much from his youth (spent mostly in prison).

One section of the book completely took me out of the story. Unfortunately, I can’t say much else because it would be a HUGE spoiler. Let’s just say that a chapter just randomly appeared out of nowhere from a different perspective and it left me scratching my head and wondering WTF?

And I never did quite figure out Lyle’s entire role in the story, besides being the catalyst for Libby to learn the truth about her family’s slaughter. While on the subject of Lyle and the Kill Club, from the description, I had expected a whole lot more money to be changing hands. It just seemed odd that Libby would be so desperate for cash that she would trudge through those old memories for a few hundred dollars here and there, but I guess in Libby’s world, that’s par for course.

At the end of the day, this story needed at least one redeeming character to provide some level of balance. Lyle came close, but not quite. It would also have helped had the momentum and tension of each character’s story built upon each other. (Not to say every chapter was jarring, but a few toward the middle and end were.)

Aside from the characters, I also loved the common thread throughout the book: Money (or the lack thereof). It was interesting to watch how the desperation caused by a lack of money could destroy the lives of everyone involved and leave those in its wake an empty shell of a human.

I fluctuated between really liking and just liking this book. I loved the writing and the story, but unfortunately, the characters and the balance just left too much to be desired.

Rating: Get It Used (?)

If you enjoy dark psychological thrillers, then this may be up your alley. There’s a good chance you’ll love it, but you may be rubbed the wrong way by the characters. You’ve been warned.

Get Dark Places at Amazon

Back Cover of The Forest of Hands and Teeth

In Mary’s world, there are simple truths.

The Sisterhood always knows best.

The Guardians will protect and serve.

The Unconsecrated will never relent.

And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village. The fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power. And, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.

Now she must choose between her village and her future, between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?

Three Quick Points About The Forest of Hands and Teeth

• Point 1: Love square surrounded by zombies. You’d think there would be plenty of drama when you have two guys in love with the same girl and another girl being in love with those two guys without throwing zombies into the mix, but you’d be surprised.
• Point 2: Storytelling lost to the ages. One thread throughout the book was the stories Mary’s mother told her, yet we the readers aren’t told these stories, only their synopses.
• Point 3: So many unanswered questions. Such is life. You’re presented with a question, but you become sidetracked and you don’t realize you never received an answer until it’s too late.

Full Review of The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Before reading the full review, please note that there may be some spoilers. I tried to keep it vague enough not to spoil the entire story, but be warned. If you’d rather not take any chances, skip the synopsis and go straight to the final thoughts.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth Synopsis

Mary lives in a gated community surrounded by The Forest of Hands and Teeth and in that forest live the Unconsecrated (flesh eating zombies, in other words). It’s the only life she’s ever known.

When her father is bitten by one of the Unconsecrated, Mary and her brother Jed decide to start keeping a closer eye on their mother because they’re not certain she can be trusted to remain sane in the wake of losing her husband.

It doesn’t work, however, because Mary is distracted by a childhood friend, Harry, who declares his desire to court her and lingers with him a little too long allowing her mother to get too close to the fence.

As Mary watches her mother turn and sent out into the forest to join the other zombies, her world comes crashing down around her. She loses her faith in God. She’s being courted by a boy she does not love and the one she does love (his brother) is courting her best friend. Her brother Jed is angry about their mother and refuses to allow Mary back into their home, so she’s forced to live with and join the Sisterhood and that means good-bye freedom.

While in the Sisterhood’s charge, Mary discovers they’ve been keeping secrets, but becomes distracted when her true love, Travis, is brought in with a badly broken leg. Each night she visits with him and tells him stories of the ocean and eventually, their love for one another grows.

By some miracle, Harry decides to go to the Sisterhood and claim Mary. In doing so, she’s no longer required to join the Sisterhood. Unfortunately, Mary’s heart belongs to another and to make things worse, that other belongs to Cassandra, her best friend. Let’s just say things get extremely muddled from there and will not properly render in a synopsis.

Then there’s a breach of the fence. The village is overrun by slow moving zombies and a fast one, which they aptly call The Fast One. Before leaving the Sisterhood, Mary had a brief interaction with The Fast One and discovered her name was Gabrielle and the Sisters had something to do with her turning.

In all the chaos, Mary, Harry, Travis, Cassandra, Jacob, a young boy, Jed, and Beth, his wife and Harry and Travis’s sister, are all forced into the maze of fences that lead into the unknown.

Final Thoughts On The Forest of Hands and Teeth

I have to start off by saying I truly didn’t care for Mary. I didn’t connect to her emotionally and had no idea why she thought the things she thought or did the things she did half the time.

Her mother’s Return was a pivotal time in her life because it seemed as though she was close to her mother, however, we’re not shown the extent of that closeness. Told? Yes. Shown? No.

For instance, Mary’s mother always told her stories of a time before the Return, but we’re not drawn into the stories. Instead, we’re offered synopses of these stories and as a result, we don’t get to see that bonding between mother and daughter. It would have simply been nice to hear the words coming from Mary’s mother’s mouth as a beautiful memory.

Since I didn’t get that emotional bonding, I had to go on blind faith how guilty Mary truly felt about not getting to her mother before she wandered too close to the fence.

As the book progressed, I began wondering what was so captivating about Mary that would make two guys strive for her love as Harry and Travis, two brothers, did. From my point of view, she seemed a little too flighty and a bit whiney for my liking. Of course, that doesn’t make Mary a bad person, just someone I didn’t connect with.

Another area of contention was Cassandra. We’re told how she is, or how she was, by Mary, but never shown this. No flashbacks of moments where she and Cass were being carefree or laughing over Mary’s stories or anything of that nature. All we’re shown is the current Cass who seems somewhat unreasonable and selfish, until the end when my respect for her grew.

All of that notwithstanding, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. The narrative was smartly written. It was the story and the mystery surrounding the Sisterhood, the forest, and the fences that made the book compelling. Frankly, I would have been just as fine if the whole love square thing were hacked right out of it and we were left with five people, a child, and a dog trying to figure out the puzzle.

Their society, in light of events, became ultra-religious and honoured constancy above love. Marriage was one of convenience and survival rather than for love. It was about keeping the bloodlines clean (I assume, of inbreeding) and elaborate binding rituals were created to see that traditions were upheld.

The Sisterhood controlled their secrets and they apparently had many, even from the Guardians and The Guild who were tasked with keeping the village safe and the fences strong.

It’s hinted at multiple times that The Sisterhood has some knowledge of where the Unconsecrated came from and what lied beyond the forest, but in their lust for power and domination, those secrets were fiercely guarded. Mary’s desire to figure it all out is the driving force behind the book.

At the end, Mary does get her answer, but we readers are still left with plenty of unanswered questions. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. And though it may sound a little masochistic, I actually like the not knowing. It gave me some hope.

Rating: Get It Used [B-/C+] (?)

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*On a completely unrelated note, I have to warn you that the word scrabble is used at least one too many times in this book. Every time my eyes landed on it, I had to sigh and wonder why.

Back Cover of The Lady Flees Her Lord

She’s desperate for peace and safety…

Lucinda, Lady Denbigh, is running from a husband who physically and emotionally abuses her because she is unfashionably plump and has failed to produce an heir. Posing as a widow, she seeks refuge in the quiet countryside…

He’s returned from the wars, wounded and tormented…

Lord Hugo Wanstead, with a wound that won’t heal, and his mother’s and Spanish wife’s deaths on his conscience, finds his estate impoverished, his sleep torn by nightmares, and brand his only solace. When he meets Lucinda, he finds her beautiful—body and soul—and thinks she just might give him something to live for…

Together they can begin to heal, but not until she is free from her violent past…

Three Quick Points About The Lady Flees Her Lord

• Point 1: The descriptions were lush and beautiful. I felt as though I were in the 19^th century countryside along with them and experiencing everything they were experiencing.
• Point 2: There were huge flaws in the character development. Lucinda (Lady Denbigh) is an intelligent and strong-willed woman who somehow manages not to do the first thing most intelligent and strong-willed women would do after fleeing Lord Denbigh and it rang false. Hugo has the weakest “fear” that rang even more false than Lucinda’s actions.
• Point 3: This book was written and edited in stages. As I was reading, I’d go through long stretches without a single noticeable grammatical or spelling error, then I’d come to a patch where there was literally one every other page. It was quite easy to figure out which sections were done at different times.

Full Review of The Lady Flees Her Lord

Before reading the full review, please note that there may be some spoilers. I tried to keep it vague enough not to spoil the entire story, but be warned. If you’d rather not take any chances, skip the synopsis and go straight to the final thoughts.

The Lady Flees Her Lord Synopsis

The Lady Flees Her Lord, set in 19th century England starts in London and then shifts to the countryside, when Lucinda (Lady Denbigh) escapes from her physically and emotionally abusive husband before she’s made into a prostitute at a party.

While waiting for transportation, a child is abandoned in her care. After some thought, she realizes that Lord Denbigh would likely be looking for a woman traveling alone and decides to keep the child.

Before long, she finds herself leasing a home on Lord Wanstead’s property. When he returns from the war, he’s a grumpy man laden with guilt (to put it mildly), but he’s instantly attracted to Lucinda’s strong carriage. Since he doesn’t want to find himself involved with another woman, he does everything he can to have her removed from his property. Unfortunately, his affairs and finances are in such disarray that kicking her out, along with her money, is not an option.

Lucinda, having become a fixture in the community, begins to help Wanstead turn his finances and estate around by reorganizing his books and even volunteering to help put together a fete. Over time, as the two get to know each other better, their attraction to each other increases until they end up enjoying spicy carnal pleasures with one another.

And since bliss rarely lasts forever, theirs comes to an abrupt end when Wanstead inadvertently finds out Lucinda’s secret. Since Wanstead had a wound on his thigh that refused to heal, he needed to make a trip to a surgeon in London to have it looked after. While gambling, he sees Lucinda’s painting and finds out that she’s the runaway Lady Denbigh. Knowing that Lord Denbigh is searching for her, Wanstead sends Lucinda away and as she’s trying to get her affairs in order to flee, Denbigh finds her.

After some interesting altercation, and the Denbigh situation solved, Lucinda shares with Wanstead that she is with child. That’s when his painful secret comes out into the open and Lucinda is faced with a difficult decision.

Final Thoughts On The Lady Flees Her Lord

The Lady Flees Her Lord started out smoothly. It starts out with Lucinda trying to flee her home and being thwarted only to find that she needs to leave right away and needing to come up with a spur of the moment plan.

During the set up, we’re shown what type of woman Lucinda is and that’s a strong-willed woman who is a little self-conscious because of the continued verbal and physical abuse issued by her husband, Lord Denbigh.

The descriptions were lush; it rendered the scene so clearly that you could almost feel the grass between your toes and the cool country air blowing across your face.

No, the descriptions and prose are not what I had a problem with at all. My gripes arose due to ponderous character flaws in the two main characters.

Lucinda admittedly came from a happy, healthy family who loved and cared about her. Yet, when she fled Denbigh, she didn’t try to get in contact with them. The question kept nagging at me: Why not? Based on the information given, they would certainly have helped her had she gone to them, and Lucinda is not a weak-willed or stupid woman. She’s painted as a strong woman who can hold her own in games of skill and strategy. Aside from this, her character was well developed. I liked her, but I would have liked her more if she had tried to contact her family. (It would have been more plausible had she tried to contact her family and failed.)

Hugo (who may have been Hugh at some point—at least according to the Freudian slip made on page 216), having returned from the war was feeling incredibly guilty about the deaths of his mother and his Spanish wife. Constantly he’s talking about how guilty and bad he feels. The first couple of times he eluded to it, it sparked curiosity, but as it continued on it became annoying. At one point (about 200 pages in), I actually opened my mouth and told him to either spill the beans or shut up about his having “killed” these two woman (not to sound insensitive or anything). Then, when his big secret is revealed, I truly wanted to fling the book against the wall. Rather than beat up an otherwise good book, I decided to roll my eyes and sigh instead.

Barring those two transgressions, the book was a quick and entertaining read. The language and prose are delightful and it’s definitely a nice way to pass the time while sipping on a glass of wine and enjoying some chocolate delights. (As the dedication implies.)

Completely random: It’s obvious from reading the book that the gentleman on the cover is not Wanstead. How do I know this? In the book, Wanstead has a lot more chest hair goin’ on.

Rating: Get it used (?) 3.5/5 stars

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Back Cover of Dating da Vinci

A gorgeous young Italian, with nowhere to go…

His name just happens to be Leonardo da Vinci. When he walks into Ramona Elise’s English class, he’s a twenty-five-year-old immigrant, struggling to forge a new life in America—but he’s lonely, has nowhere to live, and barely speaks English…

She knows she shouldn’t take him home…

Picking up the pieces of her life after the death of her beloved husband, linguist and teacher Ramona Elise can’t help but be charmed by her gorgeous new student. And when he calls her “Mona Lisa” she just about loses her heart…

Three Quick Points About Dating da Vinci

• Point 1: Leonardo da Vinci is hot. Really hot. I have to admit that his character was well-crafted to make the ladies (and possibly some men) drool. Drool like a rabid mangy mongrel and make no apologies for it. Up until he peed the bed.
• Point 2: Unfortunately, the remaining characters (except a few) had trouble finding their voices. For the most part, they’d be traveling along quite nicely when a piece of stray dialog that rang absolutely false for the character would present itself.
• Point 3: Feel good at its finest. Despite the ending being highly predictable, it still elicits that warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

Full Review of Dating da Vinci

Before reading the full review, please note that there may be some spoilers. I tried to keep it vague enough not to spoil the entire story, but be warned. If you’d rather not take any chances, skip the synopsis and go straight to the final thoughts.

Dating da Vinci Synopsis

Ramona Elise Griffen was a grieving young widow (aged 36) when Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian immigrant 11 years her junior, walked into her ESL classroom. Knowing only a few words of English, having even less money, and no friends created a soft spot in Ramona’s heart (plus, it didn’t hurt that he was excruciatingly hot) and she decided to bring him home and allow him to stay in the studio behind her house. This was unusual for Ramona and this spontaneous act was the catalyst to her healing process.

Over time, da Vinci became a fixture in her family and helped her learn to live again by attending her children’s extracurricular activities with her, going out on dates (though she was initially unwilling to use that word), jogging in the mornings, and eventually having lots of passionate sex.

As the How Stella Got Her Groove Back-esque romance continued, Ramona began realizing there were a number of emotions and unanswered questions that she needed to confront if she truly could move on. The biggest one of all was that of her husband’s fidelity.

Before Joel Griffen died, Ramona had confronted him about his relationship with Monica, the previous love of his life which left him a week before he and Monica were to be married. She had made an appearance back in his life just before Joel’s life ended and her incredible beauty coupled with Joel’s feelings for her brought out Ramona’s insecurities full force and it had lead to one of the last arguments she’d had with him.

As if adjusting to the first romance since her husband passed away and trying to confront her husband’s ex-fiancee weren’t enough, another man tumbles into Ramona’s life and she happens to be developing feelings–real feelings–for him. Dr. Cortland Andrews was older, more mature and stable than da Vinci, plus he was a handsome doctor (which I’m sure helped greatly). There was just one major problem to overcome: Cortland was dating Ramona’s sister.

Though I’ll spare you the ending, I’ll venture to say that it’s rather predictable, but it will still leave you with a warm gushy feeling.

Final Thoughts On Dating da Vinci

Where to begin? Starting the book I was hooked. Then halfway through the second chapter, I wanted to set the book down and not really pick it up again. Seriously. Reading through that second (and halfway through the third) chapter was excruciating. But, all in all, I’m glad I pressed through it–more on why in a minute. Let me back up and explain the hitch.

In the first chapter, we’re introduced to Ramona and her plight, then we have the glorious da Vinci thrust upon us with as much surprise and zeal as he was thrust upon Ramona. Then, we’re no longer nowhere near the same scene, da Vinci is nowhere to be found, and we’re listening to Ramona’s incredibly depressing internal dialog as she cleans out the pantry with her friend Anh. The transition was a bit jarring to put it mildly. Luckily, it recovered at the end of the third chapter going into the fourth.

The novel did have a few other shortcomings with the character development. With the exceptions of Ramona and da Vinci, the remaining characters seemed conveniently two-dimensional. Even her two young boys seemed incredibly well-adjusted to the death of their father and their mother’s dating. A little too well-adjusted. (This is coming from experience.) The remaining characters, even Ramona’s arrogant and borderline evil sister Rachel, was too tame for the character being painted.

That aside, those shortcomings weren’t enough to make this novel a bad one. The novel’s redeeming qualities were found in the well-painted descriptions and the vague passage of time throughout the story. You knew that months were floating by and, the clunky transition in the second chapter notwithstanding, it complimented the murkiness of the emotions being experienced.

Also, the great message cannot be overlooked either. I’m sure that anyone who’s ever lost someone close to them can relate to Ramona’s grief, if not her character. The feelings and emotions were poignantly illustrated and I often found myself nodding in agreement. And just when you think it’s too heavy to bear any longer, a bit of humor is injected to disperse the tension. By the end of the book, you’ll believe in miracles again (or, at least, you’ll want to).

Finally, I found it rather clever that language and the langue d’amour (language of love) was a common thread throughout the story. Some chapters began with quotes, others with a word and its definition, and some with sections from Ramona’s dissertation (The Language of Love).

This book would be especially good for those who enjoy academic discussions on language or language in general and although I did wonder about the slick product placements in a couple places (who works priceline.com nonchalantly into conversation?), it was a nice quick feel good read. Perfect for a rainy day afternoon curled up under the covers with a mug of hot chocolate. And if for no other reason, read it to fall in love (or lust, take your pick) with da Vinci.

Rating: Get it used (?)

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