The Magician's Lie by Greer Macallister

Review based on ARC.

It really wasn't what I was expecting.  The Amazing Arden is the most famous illusionist... illusionist. Right. I get that. But then that word "magic" kept appearing everywhere (reviews, descriptions). And it's not really that kind of book.  Not that there isn't a magic, per se, but this is no fantasy.

So what is it? It's a murder-mystery, a love story, a story about a woman learning about her strengths, and her weaknesses (and of both, she has many). It's a tale, and you (or, rather, Virgil Holt, small-town officer) must decide where there is truth, and where there is illusion.

It starts with murder. It begins with a spectacular show, where the Amazing Arden uses an Ax to cut a man in half. And then voila! He's whole again. It commences with a couple of police-friends enjoying the Amazing Arden's show and then some drinks afterwards.. something to help ease the pain.

And then, once the show is over, one officer is called to investigate the murder of the Amazing Arden's husband. And the other, tiny-town officer Virgil Hold, heads off toward home.

Stopping for a brief bite, Holt suddenly finds himself with the Amazing Arden in his hands---the prime suspect for the murder his pal was called to investigate. And she appears to be fleeing. So Holt takes her in to his office. It is now up to Holt to decide whether and to what extent Arden is innocent, and so the tale begins.

Arden insists on not skipping to the end. She insists on telling of her origin, her loves, her losses, her lessons. And as her tale unfolds, Holt must decide---is she telling the truth? How far does her illusion extend? What can she do for him? What must he do for her?

To say more is to give away too much. It reads quickly enough--dragging only a little toward the middle. Macallister has created at least one great character (Ray), a couple of pretty darn good characters (Miss Bates and Holt), and several additional characters to fill the pages and move the story along. While I didn't particularly like Clyde (though I imagine some will love him!), and I thought a few of the characters were rather two-dimensional, I don't think I *needed* to like Clyde or those other characters. They simply aren't the point.

And the magic? Well, perhaps there's magic. Or perhaps it's an illusion of magic. Or perhaps we'll never know...

FOUR of five stars.

The Swiss Affair by Emylia Hall

Review based on ARC.

I was intrigued by this book because of the description:  "For Hadley Dunn, life has been predictable and uneventful. But that is before she spends her second year of college abroad in Lausanne, a glamorous Swiss city on the shores of Lake Geneva. Lausanne is imbued with the boundless sense of freedom Hadley has been seeking, and it is here she meets Kristina, a beautiful but mysterious Danish girl. The two bond quickly, but as the first snows of winter arrive, tragedy strikes." (from BookReporter.com)

So, Switzerland, new perspective and adventure, friendship, and then a mystery.  Sounds great!

And, you know? It was.  Hall did a really impressive job of bringing her characters to life - every one of them.  From sweet and innocent Hadley to brash and fun Kristina to deep and brooding Joel to all the peripheral characters.  SO much brought to life, in fact, that when the tragedy did strike, I was actually affected by it.  My husband asked why I was so sad... I had to explain about the book. ;)

Hadley is a simple girl, living with her parents still, in a smallish town in England.  She decides to apply for a study abroad program and goes to Lausanne, Switzerland to spend her 2nd year of college (University).  There, she meets the exotic and full-of-life Kristina, who quickly becomes Hadley's best friend.  She also meets Joel, her American Literature professor, a charismatic and dark personality that she is drawn to.  And she meets Hugo, an elderly man who frequents a fancy hotel cafe and who imparts love, hope, and wisdom onto Hadley.

And then, yes, tragedy strikes (and heck no, I won't ruin it by stating what the tragedy is).  And Hadley sets out to discover the truth about what happened, how, and about herself.  It's a sort of growing-up novel, a sort of love affair novel, and a sort of mystery novel, all neatly wrapped into one.

In my opinion, the biggest downside to the novel (and it's not such a big downside :)) is that the romantic tension and lovey-dovey portion were a little run-of-the-mill in the midst of the rest of the excitement.  Hall did such an impressive job bringing Lausanne to live, bringing her characters to life, bringing Hadley's obsession to life... and yet the romance was flat and uninteresting (to me).  It served a purpose to moving certain aspects of the plot forward, but mostly I was just eager to get back to the real story.  As I said, it's not such a big downside -- I appreciated Hall's tact in her presentation of the love affair (not "affair" in that sense -- I just mean "a happening"), that she didn't resort to cheap tricks in the bedroom, and the scenes were soft and romantic... just wasn't my favorite part of the book.

Overall, I definitely recommend to readers -- those who want to visit Lausanne, if only in their minds, those who have romantic notions about life and love, those who want to venture with Hadley as she discovers "the truth."

Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole

Review based on ARC

I've started this review, scratched it, thought about it, re-started...

It's a difficult review for me because I felt so strongly about the mediocrity of the book.  It's definitely not bad.  It's not badly written, it's not badly plotted, it's not badly character driven... but it's not good either.  I was very disappointed only because what I had read going in led me to believe this would be something special.  I was very excited to be picked for this book, but unfortunately the excitement ended then.

What's good:  the book is a very quick read, and there are characters or moments where you really care.  The mystery-aspect of the book is intriguing and I definitely needed to know "what next."  It was easy to read the prose, and I flew through the pages quickly.

What's not:  the book is altogether unconvincing.  It is unconvincing as a history novel, it is unconvincing as a love story, and it is unconvincing as a tale about the bonds of family.  The book is written in letters primarily between "Sue" and Davey and between Margaret and Mother.  The "voices" of each of the characters, however, were not distinct from each other (or, not enough to matter).  The only way you got a sense of things was in the narrators' description of someone else -- i.e., I didn't learn as much about _____'s personality from their OWN letter as I did from a letter by someone else writing about _____.  It was only by descriptions of others that personalities emerged.

Also, the letters employed overly-obvious and unrealistic conversation -- i.e., if my sister were to call me and I said "oh! hello big sister who lives in Chicago! It's so nice to hear from you again after just a week!"  No one talks like that.  There were several moments like that in the book, where there was over-explanation and no subtlety.

Additionally, the complete lack of self-awareness of ALL of the writers, combined with the complete obliviousness of each of the characters was infuriating and not particularly believable.  Perhaps a character or two in a situation would have that complete lack of self-awareness or awareness of others... but every single character? Oh, of course with the exception of the all-wise grandmother/mother or the good-for-nuthin' brother, who play disappointingly minor roles.

What I disliked the most, however, is something that probably won't bother as many people as it did me.  [SPOILER (highlight)] The infidelity with no apologies, excusing the behavior with self-righteous, childish "I want it" mentality.  It felt like the author was living out an internal fantasy.  [END SPOILER]

All in all... it was disappointing, but it had a bit of intrigue.  As I said, there were aspects of the book that I cared about; it was a quick read; there were minor portions of the familial relationships that were interesting; and it was not a flop.

So, THREE of five stars.  Recommended for people who particularly enjoy long-distance romances and historical romances.

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler

Review based on ARC.

I was so excited when I won this book.  And then I was even more excited when I read the first 10 pages and realized it.  was gonna be.  awesome.

I was so excited, in fact, that I told anyone who would listen what I was reading, what it was about, and what I thought about it.

Many of my friends said they couldn't wait to read it, and a fair number of those even finished first.
That was the worst part about my experience with this book -- I got SO busy between reading those first 10 pages and reading the last 10 pages that I couldn't just SIT and absorb it all at once.

But that's also one of the things that was so impressive about the book.  During my absences, Zelda and Scott's lives would merely pause, waiting for me to return.  And upon my return, we picked right back up, as if we had not lost any time.. just as you would with an old friend.

This is an impressive historical fiction piece.  Fowler clearly did her research, but so much more impressive is the absolutely believable, perfectly flawed, larger than life and exactly every day life, enraging and endearing characters that Fowler lifted out of the pages of history and put to life, dancing and fighting, drinking and arguing, laughing and crying, right on the pages in front of you.

Not only were the characters fresh and alive and warm and cold and just so tangible, but the writing was insightful as well.  Perhaps Fowler got it wrong.  Maybe Z was more casebook schizophrenic.  Maybe she was straight-up crazy.  Maybe Scott was brilliant and Z just brought him down.  But it didn't matter.  Fowler's story is believable and complete.  Maybe it's not 100% accurate -- I don't believe any of us knows.  But Fowler's story is one that I can accept, that I can believe.  And it certainly felt more likely, more feasible, and more real than other renditions I've heard or read over the years.  In the end, Fowler admits that it's a novelization, but as I walked away from the book, I thought that just maybe, Fowler did actually get it 100% right.  Just maybe...

The only reason this book isn't a 5 star is that there were a few places that dragged.  The story slowed down, and it felt more biographical in a few places than like the telling of a great story.  But overall, I highly recommend. I recommend to people interested in history, in biography, in drama, in Gatsby, in crazy, in feminism, in masochism, in love, in tragedy, and in wonder.  This book has it all.

FOUR AND A HALF of five stars.