Book Mail – Book Rambler

Mini Review: The DNA of You & Me & The Confessions of Frannie Langton

Hi everyone! I’ve been lax with writing up reviews and this is me trying to make up for it. This is my mini- review post featuring The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins and The DNA Of You and Me by Andrea Rothman. They are both debuts but belong to completely different genres.

1. The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins(3.5/5 stars)

BOOK DEPOSITORY ADD ON GOODREADS WORDERY

Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: 4th April , 2019
Paperback(ARC): 384 Pages

Review: The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins is a wonderful debut and I have officially put Sara Collins on my debut authors to watch list. The premise is intriguing: Frannie, a mulatto is brought by her master to England and ‘given’ to another master; later she falls in love with her new master’s wife. The Confessions is told entirely from Frannie’s point-of-view which she wrote while she’s in Newgate Prison awaiting trial in Old Bailey for the murder of her new master’s and mistress.

The Confessions is described as a black woman’s love story inspired by the popular gothic romance Jane Eyre. The author loved reading Austen but never saw a woman of color as a protagonist in those stories instead she read stories a woman of color was the victim. With Frannie Langton, author Sara Collins wanted to write a black woman’s love story and not of her suffering. However, through Frannie’s words we come face-to-face with her love and her suffering as well.

The writing is flawless but the plot is unforgivingly slow. The ending kind of smacks you in the face but in a good way because my boredom turned to interest: interest in finding out if Frannie is guilty of double murder or not? Overall, I would recommend it if you love reading historical fiction set during the Victorian era and if this mini review intrigues you so.

2. The DNA of You & Me by Andrea Rothman (3/5 stars)

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Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: 12 March , 2019
Paperback(ARC): 242 Pages

Review: I loved the unique story of The DNA of You and Me but it’s not for everyone’s taste. Emily was raised by her father and due to a childhood allergy, she was accustomed to spending most of her childhood indoors. This would’ve put a damper on her socializing with other kids but as she grew up, Emily realized that she preferred the company of herself rather than others. Her personal experience eventually left her to research new genes responsible for guiding olfactory neurons to their targets. (Olfactory: the sense of smell) During this research, she meets another academic Aeden and after a series of long arguments, their relationship goes to another level. However, there’ll come a time when Emily has to make a choice: Her career or a life with Aiden?

I loved it but as I said before that this book isn’t for everyone. Most of the book is filled with genomic sciences jargon that took the story a little to much to the non-fictional side. There’s romance if you skim the scientific stuff but it’s an easy read. The sex is almost clinical in the beginning and that may be because it’s told from the POV of the narrator. However, there’s a scene when Emily says ‘no’ but Aeden still goes ahead and that left a bitter note in the entire story. I’m ashamed to say that I even forgot about this scene until I read another Goodreads review. The ending left me emotional but happy and hopeful for Emily. It did give me Eleanor Oliphant vibes but this one has way too many scientific jargon for a reader to enjoy.

However, considering this is a debut and the fact that I liked the writing, I’d definitely look forward to reading her upcoming books.

Thanks to the publishers for providing me ARCs in exchange for an honest review.

Do you think you’ll read The DNA of You and Me or The Confessions of Frannie Langton? Do you prefer reading mini-reviews or full reviews? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Top Ten Tuesday – Books On My Spring 2019 TBR

Hi everyone! I’m back with my fourth Top Ten Tuesday post and this week’s prompt is to list the Books On My Spring 2019 TBR. Thankfully, I have a big list and I’ve narrowed it down for you in here.

Top Ten Tuesday graphic — Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Most of the books listed are review copies gifted by their publishers and some aren’t. While Spring is not my favorite season but I love the books releasing this Spring and here they are:

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley: The Hunting Party is the author’s first crime novel and is described as combining elements of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I’m a huge sucker for thrillers so me being “excited” is an understatement.

2. Finale(Caraval #3) by Stephanie Garber: I liked Caraval but not so much as I did Legendary and the ending made me thirsty for Finale, the third and final book in the trilogy.

3. Small Town Hearts by Lillie Vale: I was provided a review copy for a blog tour and I’m so “hungry” to read it. Get it? Apparently, It has lots of mentions of food *salivating right now*

4. The Winter of the Witch(Winternight Trilogy #3) by Katherine Arden: If you’ve been following my last posts, you might’ve noticed how much I loved Vasya and I’ve been holding back on reading the final book in the trilogy.

5. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid: I loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and I was so frickin’ happy to get a review copy of Daisy Jones & The Six !

6. The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal: The Doll Factory is a debut novel by Elizabeth Macneal and is described as an intoxicating story of art, obsession and possession. Sign me up!

7. The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins: This is giving me spooky vibes the likes of The Corset and The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell.

8. A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer: Another underrated -but highly recommended by some bookstagrammers- series that I’ve added to my cart and on my Goodreads TBR but I’ve never checked it out.

9. The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty: The City of Brass has been on my TBR for a while now and this is the perfect time to read both the books in the Daevabad Trilogy.

10. In the Full Light of the Sun by Clare Clark: This is a historical fiction based on a true story and follows the fortunes of three Berliners caught up in an art scandal—involving newly discovered van Goghs—that rocks Germany amidst the Nazis’ rise to power.

That’s a wrap on today’s Top Ten Tuesday post featuring Books On My Spring 2019 TBR.

What books are you looking forward to reading in the spring? Have you read of the books I’ve listed above ? If you have,then what’s your favourite among them all? If you haven’t, then are any of them on your TBR? Let me know in the comments below!

WWW Wednesday #3: Weekly Reading Update

Hi everyone! Happy Wednesday and welcome to my weekly reading update post or the WWW Wednesdays. WWW Wednesday is a meme formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking On a World of Words.

WWW Wednesday takes place every Wednesday, where bloggers discuss their 3 Ws:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

WWW Wednesday #1 : Weekly reading update

I received this review copy of The Cold is in her Bones from the publisher and I was so excited to get this because this is a Medusa retelling. Hopefully, I’ll love it and I will know today because it’s a short read and I’m almost done.

Synopsis: Milla knows two things to be true: Demons are real, and fear will keep her safe.

Milla’s whole world is her family’s farm. She is never allowed to travel to the village and her only friend is her beloved older brother, Niklas. When a bright-eyed girl named Iris comes to stay, Milla hopes her loneliness might finally be coming to an end. But Iris has a secret she’s forbidden to share: The village is cursed by a demon who possesses girls at random, and the townspeople live in terror of who it will come for next.

Now, it seems, the demon has come for Iris. When Iris is captured and imprisoned with other possessed girls, Milla leaves home to rescue her and break the curse forever. Her only company on the journey is a terrible new secret of her own: Milla is changing, too, and may soon be a demon herself.

I finished reading The Glass Woman recently and I’ll publish a review for it this week.

Synopsis: 1686, ICELAND. AN ISOLATED, WINDSWEPT LAND HAUNTED BY WITCH TRIALS AND STEEPED IN THE ANCIENT SAGAS.

Betrothed unexpectedly to Jón Eiríksson, Rósa is sent to join her new husband in the remote village of Stykkishólmur. Here, the villagers are wary of outsiders.
But Rósa harbours her own suspicions. Her husband buried his first wife alone in the dead of night. He will not talk of it. Instead he gives her a small glass figurine. She does not know what it signifies.
The villagers mistrust them both. Dark threats are whispered. There is an evil here – Rósa can feel it. Is it her husband, the villagers – or the land itself?
Alone and far from home, Rósa sees the darkness coming. She fears she will be its next victim . . .

I want to finish reading The Dollmaker by Nina Allan next, to be followed by The Hunting Party and then The Doll Factory. All of these are review copies that hve been gifted to me by their publishers and I really want to publish my review before the release of The Dollmaker and The Doll Factory.

What are you currently reading or finished reading? Have you read any of the titles I’ve listed? If not, do you want to read any of them? Let me know in the comments!

Why should you read The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton |Spoiler-ish Review

The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton by Anstey Harris

Synopsis: GRACE ATHERTON HAS FALLEN OUT OF LOVE … AND INTO LIFE

Between the simple melody of running her violin shop and the full-blown orchestra of her romantic interludes in Paris with David, her devoted partner of eight years, Grace Atherton has always set her life to music.

Her world revolves entirely around David, for Grace’s own secrets have kept everyone else at bay. Until, suddenly and shockingly, one act tips Grace’s life upside down, and the music seems to stop.

It takes a vivacious old man and a straight-talking teenager to kickstart a new chapter for Grace. In the process, she learns that she is not as alone in the world as she had once thought, that no mistake is insurmountable, and that the quiet moments in life can be something to shout about …

For fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and The Keeper of Lost Things, The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton is the story of a woman who has her heart broken, but then puts it back together again in the most uplifting and exquisite way.

Buy on Amazon | Book Depository||Add it on Goodreads

REVIEW | WHY SHOULD YOU READ THIS BOOK ?

I hate it when books have cheating (among other things) and of course, this book had it #spoileralert . This is not mentioned until after you read a couple of pages so I was outraged and wanted to stop reading it.

However, I am glad I didn’t.

Let me tell you a bit about this book. You might have guessed from the title of the book, our protagonist is Grace Atherton. Grace is a violin maker and her entire life revolves around her partner of eight years, David (besides her violin shop).

Grace continues her affair with David knowing that he is married and hoping that one day he will divorce his wife and marry her. This is where I almost stopped reading this book. Then I realized, this is one of Grace’s Truths.

She can’t be without David, he is the only person who Grace thinks is her family. There are a number of things Grace went through especially during her time at college and I will not spoil that for you.

While I was playing the blaming game, I forgot to mention David, who is the real scumbag and I kept banging my head at what could Grace have seen in this man. Again, you’ll have to read it for yourself.

I got off track for a bit. So, what happens is Grace is also preparing for a violin showcase in Italy, where one violin will win an award called the tone prize. This award show is extremely prestigious and Grace is unnerved because she also has to perform a symphony there. Grace has tried therapy but it was to avail. Finally, Grace triumphs will the help of her two friends – a teenage girl named Nadia and an eighty years old man named Mr. williams.

The writing was synonymous with a symphony. It’s ironic of course because violins play a major part in the lives of Grace, Nadia, and Mr. Williams. I had to skim the parts where words related to violin making were used but I loved Anstey Harris’ writing which reminded me a bit of the book Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

Grace is a heavily flawed but immensely relatable character. Her character development within the novel gave me such joy and the ending made me emotional but also satisfied.

‘You have to grasp life by the balls,Grace,’ he says, ‘and don’t bloody let go until you have to.’

Overall, I would highly recommend it. This book was previously released under the title Goodbye Paris and I had no idea until I looked it up on Goodreads. The author has also included a Grace’s Listening List which lists two of my favorite symphonies which are Astor Piazzolla’s Libertango and Vivaldi : La Follia

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Verdict: 5 out of 5 stars

Author: Connect with Author Anstey Harris on Goodreads.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: 10 January 2019
Hardcover(ARC): 352 Pages

Let me know if you’re planning to read The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton or if you’re planning to read it. If you loved reading my review, let me know !

Review of The Dreamers | “The Sleeping Beauty” – a prince + an entire town

Synopsis: One night in an isolated college town in the hills of Southern California, a first-year student stumbles into her dorm room, falls asleep—and doesn’t wake up. She sleeps through the morning, into the evening. Her roommate, Mei, cannot rouse her. Neither can the paramedics, nor the perplexed doctors at the hospital. When a second girl falls asleep, and then a third, Mei finds herself thrust together with an eccentric classmate as panic takes hold of the college and spreads to the town. A young couple tries to protect their newborn baby as the once-quiet streets descend into chaos. Two sisters turn to each other for comfort as their survivalist father prepares for disaster.

Those affected by the illness, doctors discover, are displaying unusual levels of brain activity, higher than has ever been recorded before. They are dreaming heightened dreams—but of what?

Written in luminous prose, The Dreamers is a breathtaking and beautiful novel, startling and provocative, about the possibilities contained within a human life—if only we are awakened to them.