The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

⭐⭐⭐/5

*Spoilers*

I wasn't too impressed with this one. Though it had some important concepts, and intense side plots, it was kind of slow building. But the writing was casual enough to keep me interested, like an old friend tell you a story about her past. 

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We begin with a college freshman, Greer Kadetsky. A reserved young woman trying to find her way through all the ins and outs of college life. She decides to show her face at a party, with her new friend Zee,  and along the way gets groped by the schools "main man." Rejecting him, this fraternity loser throws a temper tantrum and belittles her, making her feel about 2 inches tall. He gets a "slap on the wrist," of course 🙄.

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She mostly copes with her injustice in silence, until a "feminist hero," Faith Frank, comes to her school to give a talk. Greer listens in amazement to this strong icon for change and equality. She pipes in a question in a small meek voice, "What do we do about the unpunishable misogyny all around us?" Or something to that effect. And Faith basically tells her to never stop using your voice and never stop fighting for what's right.

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They, Greer and Zee, follow her into the bathroom after the speech and gush over her. Faith takes a liking to Greer and offers her to come in for an interview to work with her program. 

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Of course Zee gets jealous and asks Greer to give Faith a letter she has written, introducing her value to the program as well. But Greer wants this for herself. She never gives her the letter. 

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Important concept #1: What the fuck?! What is wrong with women?! Why are we constantly sabotaging opportunities for each other?!  Why couldn't they BOTH enjoy that job?! We should be rising each other up! Not knocking each other down. SHE SHOULD HAVE GIVEN FAITH THE LETTER. She does end up regretting that decision later. Which shows she does have SOME conscience. Anyway! Moving on. She then tells Faith about the letter, which she encourages Greer to do what she feels is best for GREER. Um! Yeah, you are a 60-something woman giving advice to a young girl in her 20's, this is when you are supposed to encourage her to GIVE YOU THE LETTER SO YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION ABOUT HIRING HER AND THAT GREER IS AN ASSHOLE EVEN CONSIDERING KEEPING IT TO HERSELF. UGH. 

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She has a high school boyfriend, Cory. Apparently, they were both accepted to ivy-league schools, but Greers parents half-assed (haphazardly) the financial aid forms and that was the end of that. Which, again, what the fuck, parents?! Your child is dreaming of even GOING to college in general, let alone YALE! WHY WOULD YOU NOT TAKE THE FINANCIAL FORMS SERIOUSLY?! Yeah, so she was forced to go to a lower-acclaimed college. BUT with a full ride scholarship, so 🤷, maybe it worked out. 

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INTENSE SIDE PLOT: While Cory gains momentum in his career, he gets a call from home. His mother accidently (obviously) ran over his little brother in the drive-way, when he was looking for his turtle. WHAT?! Brutal. His dad blames his mom and bolts. He abandons all his responsibilities at his dream job, to take care of his mom. 

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For fear of being insensitive, I hesitate to say... Kinda random. Greer and Cory's relationship was already kind of snagged due to the long distance... Why did you have to go and kill off a kid? 

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As I said, the whole thing is slow building, so all I really remember is the basics. Greer finds out that a new program Faith is running is a scam. Putting on the performance that they are doing something great for underprivileged foreign women, giving them the chance at life. Faith claims she was turning a blind eye. Greer stands up to Faith and quits her job. But before she leaves, Faith makes sure to give Greer one last jab, that she did the exact same thing to Zee. "Turned a blind eye." So... you didn't tell her to do the RIGHT thing so you could use it for ammo against her later? How very FEMINIST of you 🙄. 

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OKAY. So basically the ONLY good characters are Zee and Alby, Cory's dead little brother... Oh! And Slowy, the turtle. Faith and Greer both unlikable characters. Zee, first of all never annoyed me, she was always funny, cute, and chill. Then, secondly, Greer confesses she never gave her the letter, and though, disappointed, accepts Greers apology and says, "You made a mistake. And you learned from it. We were young." Yeah.... Best. Friend. Ever.

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Greer and Cory reconnect, get married, have a baby, and Greer writes a book. 

Anyway, that's that. 

When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

What cute, cute, cute, coming-of-age story. 

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Zelda is our protagonist. She is driven, outspoken, kind and so, so smart. She lives with her older brother, Gert, who struggles financially, and as we will see, goes to extravagant lengths to keep them afloat. She likes rules, rules keep things neat, organized and running smoothly. She has a healthy fixation on Old Norse culture and lore. So much so, that Gert surprises her with a Viking Impersonator for her birthday. There is one more thing that sets her apart from everyone else. She was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. An irreversible brain condition caused by exposure to alcohol while in the womb.

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She has a specific routine each week, and when it suddenly gets interrupted by a visit to a run down house of sketchy strangers, things start to spiral pretty quickly. 

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The story about sibling love, forgiveness, patience and persistence will make you laugh, mostly, but also, worry. You will get angry and your eyes will get a bit misty. The characters are likable, funny and real... The good characters, at least. The antagonists, not so much, obviously. 

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I do wish that there was more research done on the Norse culture for the writing of this novel. Some "facts" were filled with common misconceptions and a dash of stereotyping. The plot was cute enough for me to spare the nitty-gritty details, though 🙂. 

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

⭐⭐/5
OKAY, first of all, I want to say that I love dystopian novels. Dystopian is one of my favorite genres. But all that comes with dystopian is a lack of original material. It's always a post-apocalyptic disaster or a tyrannical government, right? Then a single hero or heroine that has "just had enough!" They stand up to said government! Go, fight, win! But... If Pierce Brown REALLY wanted to be a dick, he could TOTALLY have grounds to sue Red Queen for copyright infringement on Red Rising.

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I usually decide on my next read based on Goodreads ratings. Red Queen is sitting at a comfortable 4/5. I figured, "Meh! Why not?" Seemed interesting.
It was not AWFUL. Just... Sounded very familiar.
It is a watered down version of Red Rising.

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You have two houses, the reds and the silvers... like the reds and the... golds?
The reds are low class, and used as purely cruel entertainment and laboring for the snooty, royalty of the silvers. The silvers have "special abilities", alternatively, "evolutions." They use these to destroy reds at their most vulnerable. Case in point, the gladiator-esque executions.

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Anyone can be called to war to fund the silver regime. Which is the case for Mare, our main character. Our "heroine." She gets called to work right under the High Silvers' nose. And guess what? She's miraculously has powers, too! Whaaaaat?? OMGeeeeeeeeee!

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They start to groom her to be a princess to the crown. She revolts. Traitors are unmasked. She escapes. She gets mad and must have REVENGE. Yada, yada, yada.

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The end.
Wah, Wah, Wahhhhhh.
Definitely not catching that 4/5 hype. AND it was quite boring. Anyway, on to the next...

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Such a cute romance for the lgbtq+ community. It was very enjoyable, quirky, funny and sensual. I loved Alex and Henry's banter and relationship. There is a lot of likable characters which makes for a fun party! Modern communication references, film and tv references, dogs, the whole lot!

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Alex is the son of current, democratic, female President of the United States. Who is running for reelection soon, so it is, of course, imperative for everything to go according to plan and down to the exact letter, including NDAs on EVERY move him and the first family makes. 

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Henry is a British Prince heir. Closeted by the conservative standards of the British royal community. 

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Alex and the first family travel to the UK for a royal wedding. He meets Henry by accidently pushing him into the wedding cake. Which attracts media attention instantly, going off the rails about an international crisis in the making. The two families decide to eradicate the unfortunate incident, is to force them to spend a lot of time together, mend fences, become best friends. They have much trouble at first, insult after insult. But the more time they spend together the more the insults start to become playful teasing. 

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At a fancy-shmancy party, they walk off together and Henry plants a kiss on Alex. Alex struggles with his sexuality for a hot minute, then realizes events in his past leads him to accept he has been Bi-sexual all along. 

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And as the typical Rom-Com goes: they delve into this secret love affair. Things go... Left and Right... Heh. Get it? Nevermind. Twist and turns abound and they have to see if they can overcome the stigma and intolerance of same-sex relationships in a very public, influential and political enviroment. Will they get their happily, ever after? 

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I loved it. The only reason I gave this a 4/5 is because of the typical layout of predictible events in most Rom-Coms. But it was still very enjoyable. 

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
I loved this one! From start to finish. The absolute, pure, loving, real, hilarious relationship Elsa has with Granny gives me life.
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We have this incredibly well-read 7 year old, Elsa. She is fierce, independent, and raw. She has read all the Harry Potter books SEVERAL times. She is emphatically, grammatically correct. Her Granny is her superhero, she is witty, sly, mischievous, loud, eccentric and passionate. Elsa loves her mom, Ulrika, but she is "everything that Granny is not." She's structured, organized, tactful, patient, which makes it hard for Granny and Mom to agree on anything.
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Granny has created this mythical, fairy-tale world that Elsa has fully submerged herself into. A beautiful way to understand the things in life that are typically difficult to comprehend. Especially for a 7 year old.
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It's no secret that this feisty Granny, gets cancer and passes away very early in the book. She leaves Elsa to go on a grand adventure. A "treasure hunt." Granny has letters addressed to everyone she knew. Apologizing to them for all the petty annoyances and nasty things she did and said to them.
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A cute coming of age story for a very extraordinary "almost 8 year old." Elsa discovers the past of her Granny and learns how to move on toward a happy future.

The Speed of Falling Objects by Nancy Richardson Fischer

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

It was a little slow building, which is hard for me to stick to. If a book doesn't capture my attention in the first couple chapters, It's more than likely going to end up on my DNF (did not finish) shelf. CALL ME A MILLENNIAL! Whatever. 😉 I have a small attention span. 

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But as it continued, it did get better. 

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It starts out with young Danny, or Danger "Danny" Danielle Warren. A young girl, about to be 17, living with her single mom. She has a very little to no relationship with her famous, TV-Survivalist father, Cougar, an unlikable character. When he invites her to join him on his next TV adventure, she hesitantly accepts, in hopes this will ignite the relationship she has been searching for. 

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Things don't go as planned, of course, and the plane crashes in the middle of an unknown jungle. Tragedies happen, poisonous crawlers are encountered, and a little touch of romance with one of the other passengers. However, she soon realizes that her father is not exactly who she thought him to be. She then has to decide if she wants anything to do with him after they leave this place... IF they leave this place. 

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Without going into any spoilers, I thought it was a breath of fresh air... (Ha. Get it?) It's a YA book that doesn't focus on a PLETHORA of teenage angst, breaking a nail, romantic drama or vampire infatuations 🙄. It was much more important than that. It was about her desperate longing to get to know her dad, and learning that sometimes things are better left unknown. Having my own daddy issues, I sympathized with Danny in many areas.

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Thank you, Nancy for this giveaway! I did enjoy it! 😊

The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up by Jacob M. Appel

My first #bookreview ! 

⭐️⭐️/5

Jumping right in...

Also. #Spoilers !

📍The first quarter of the book had a lot of promise. I had high hopes for the interesting plot. But as it went on, the story drifted from satire to complete nonsense. I understand satirical humor, but this jumped around way too much and ended up being completely counterproductive and just an excuse to go too crazy with plot. 

📍The book starts out with Arnold, a grumpy botanist,  unwillingly sitting in at a baseball stadium with his nephew. When the crowd stands for God Bless America for all lost in 9/11, he refuses to stand. The stadium camera catches this one man in a crowd of thousands standing, and he sticks his tongue out in protest. 

📍This affects his home life. Protesters, journalists, priests are all storming his home. His relationship with his wife, Judith,  deteriorates as he refuses to apologize. This whole debacle sheds some new light on what his wife really wants…Children. In which Arnold had always had the understanding that kids was just a narcissistic dance humanity played and wanted no part of it. Judith admits that she told herself this to make her feel better about being infertile. 

📍One persistent journalist, Cassandra, sticks out to him and he starts getting romantic feelings for her. 

📍Now, this is where things get wonky. 

📍Apparently, Arnold gets in tiff with his new “mistress”, for some reason I couldn’t even follow. So in a mad rage she destroys his garden. Which he finds a complete deal breaker and unforgivable. He leaves. 

Randomly, there is some kind of “Bare-ass Bandit” that has been terrorizing the community. He demands victims to hand over all their clothes at gunpoint. 

I guess?

📍Arnold befriends the felon. 

📍Arnold decides to get revenge on all that made his life miserable during this charade. He teams up with the bandit and then becomes a felon himself. 

📍Toward the end, he burns the bridges of the bandit too, and has nowhere to go, except to just go back home…

📍It ends with Arnold daydreaming about having kids with wife and living their new life together…

📍That’s it.

📍The end.

📍ALL OF THAT. JUST 👏🏻 TO 👏🏻 APOLOGIZE?! You made all this fuss with all your bullshit theories and beliefs for protest, and now you just throw it all away and apologize … 

ALSO! Do you not realize? FELONS CAN’T ADOPT CHILDREN. 

📍I’ve seen that a lot of readers didn’t like the formatting of the book… That was least of my complaints. I actually liked the double spacing and the rest of the formatting decisions. 

All the characters in this book are dull. No one, anyone should strive to be. 

📍I’m giving this book a 2/5 simply because the first quarter had potential, I liked the different plot line, and I liked the different formatting.

📍Anyway. That’s my two cents… ON to the next. 

📝 Note: I won this book in a #librarything #giveaway in exchange for my HONEST review. 

I'm Baaaack

Guess who's baaaaaack?

Another 2 years passed!
Lots has happened!
Burke is now 6 years old! Charlie is 3!

I have left my job to school my girls! Why do I unschool? I feel like the environment I live in is very religious. I feel like if they went to public school, they would be introduced to ideas that i don't agree with. I remember being bullied for missing one week of church. I couldn't imagine the backlash they would get not going at all.
Also, public school has sugar coated everything we think we know about our history.  WhiteWashed, if you will. I would prefer they know what really happened in history. And how the world works.
Then you have the dangers in school these days. All the shootings, all the bullying, and all the sexual abuse. Not going to risk it.

I have revisited the love I have for books!

My hubby has opened his own barber shop and is doing incredibly well!

And we have delved into our passion for our heritage. A few years ago, I found the love and power of Wicca, and that lead me to my path of all other pagan beliefs. We are Norse Pagan and could not have found a more perfect fit!

Also! As of 1 year ago. I OFFICIALLY removed my name from the LDS church. I am happy, I am strong, I am independent, I am loving, I am fluffy, I am goofy, I am outspoken, I am allowed,  and I am a BADASS.

That's about it! There is my quick overview of what has happened in the last few years!
I'll be using this blog to review books, hopefully continue to keep life updated. This blog is mostly for me. But those who choose to read it, welcome.
Old posts are old. Lots of ideas have adapted and evolved, lots are the same.

Stay Colorful

Purple Psyche

aka PickledPsyche