Review: Virgin River

Virgin River by Robyn Carr

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



An entertaining bit of fluff that wants to be more Virgin River is the sort of book that you turn to when you want something with a little more depth than your average romance but no real distress. One of my former coworkers at Waldenbooks was crazy about this series, and after having read the first one, I can understand why.

Mel, our widowed heroine, is a strong, intelligent woman. Her love interest, Jack, is a physically powerful and kind retired Marine. Their romance develops out of their respect and admiration (as well as some physical attraction) for each other. I would say that this is a mature romance--despite the steaminess of some of the sex scenes (and they were rather descriptive), the genuine attraction this story holds is that it is about adults falling in love with each other. Jack has been through wars. He has physical and mental scars, but he's OK 95% of the time. Mel is barely holding herself together after her husband's sudden death. It isn't until she's begun to heal and build a new life for herself that she can see how wonderful Jack is.

The town of Virgin River is idealized, although Carr does try to make it look gritty by including some people living in extreme poverty and some pot growers. Unfortunately, they don't really disrupt the town so much because none of them become characters. They might have been there forever, but they're outsiders in the eyes of the town and don't change its daily life much at all.

Will I read other books in this series? Yes. Will I expect much of them? No. Sometimes you just need a comfortable old friend of a book, and I think these might fit that bill nicely.



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Review: Girl in the Arena

Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



Years ago, one of my goodreads friends gave this book an amazing review, and it's been on my radar ever since.

When I saw a few days ago that my library had an ebook copy available to lend, I snatched it up with glee. Now all that I can say is that I'm glad I didn't pay the $5 to buy it.

There are many things that I did not like about this book; in fact, there are so many things that I find it difficult to number them all. Therefore, I will stick to the biggest complaint: I could not suspend by disbelief for the setting.

Haines' idea of gladatorial combat to the death aired on live tv seemed like a fascinating combination of reality tv and our society's love affair with violence. However, I simply could not buy into the Gladiator ("Glad") culture and its inherent lack of respect for life. Quite simply, the Death Race movies (even the one from the 1970s) seemed more believable. Part of the problem may be the fact that I was watching the WWF pay-per-view event when Owen Hart fell from the arena ceiling and died. I saw how a modern arena responded to the death of a beloved athlete, and Haines' attempt to combine Roman attitudes with modern tech simply didn't gel.



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Review: Blood Wounds

Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Wow. What an amazing book.

Pfeffer has a gift. She can take readers to the dark places in our souls and back out again. We're changed by the journey, tempered, and drained. Her fiction explores what it means to be a family, to have others to rely on or that rely upon you. And she explores what it means when you are alone and don't have that support. Finally, she shows the moments when kids see their parents as real, as flawed, as loving and as hateful.

Someday, I hope that I will be able to write with one tenth of Pfeffer's power.



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Review: The Hunger Games Trilogy

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I'm late to the party with this one, so I won't bother to write a full review.

I read the whole trilogy after seeing the first movie. (I am, of course, assuming that they will make the others.) After seeing the movie, I knew much of what to expect in the book, although I have to say that it was nice to see some of the things I'd inferred from the action of the movie laid out explicitly in the book. In particular, I was glad to see that I was right about Katniss' relationship with Peeta in the first Games--that she was uncertain about her feelings but knew she needed to manipulate the sponsors.

If I hadn't read the full trilogy all at one go, I might have stopped after the first book. It was good, but seeing the movie first (as well as the sheer predictability of it) weakened the emotional intensity of it for me. However, I did have the full trilogy, and the second book sucked me in completely.

I understand there is some debate in fan circles about the last book. I will put myself in the camp of those that loved it. It was brutal and exactly what it needed to be.



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