The Pact: a love story by Jodi PicoultI've read some of her work before, and what I find the most interesting is how much she writes about subjects that might make you uncomfortable. She will write about a topic with such force that you can't help but look within yourself and think about what she's writing. You can't help knowing what is going on. You want to look away but you can't because you need to find out what happened. That is how I felt about this book.
In The Pact we are transported to small town anywhere, because the location doesn't really mean anything to the ultimate story. It could be about any two kids who have grown up together and loved each other. Heck, it could've been about me. Perhaps that is what makes it uncomfortable. It makes you look inside yourself.
Back to the story, the plot revolves around two young lovers who make a suicide pact and those around them who are trying to understand what and why this has happened when one of the two lives, and the other doesn't. It makes you look at how well people really know each other, especially their own children. The story is heavy. It will take you places you may not have wanted to go but find yourself completely there - you are in that small town, in those houses. You are walking the streets and going to the same stores. You are walking through the high school and you are trying to figure out the "why" all through the story.
It's a shocking read but a touching one. I really recommend it, some tissues and peace and quiet. I also recommend having two books on the ready to help clear your mind of all the heavy stuff when you are done. (But maybe that's just me.) Either way, I really do recommend reading this book. If you want to know more from the author's website - go here.
Per my husband's scale of books I would like: This book essentially has murder, sexy time and in a way, Christmas. It does not have religion so therefore he would not agree that this would be a good book for me. I tend to disagree.
The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand
If we start with my husband's scale, this book had it all, even though it was light on religion and Christmas. This was fine with me since in reality I never even read the cover and wanted the book solely for the cover. Seriously - look at that gorgeous scene. Could they have picked a more inviting cover for a beach read?
This book was a little bit lighter than the last book, but was still a little heavy in the way the story unfolded. Very quickly into the book two of the key characters die in a boat during high winds. Could be an accident, but so many points lead to something else. The rest of the book unravels everything else that was going around during the time of their death and the months leading up to it.
I started reading this book by my parents pool on a very hot June day when the temperatures felt more like August than a spring day. It was the perfect scene to get lost into something that my mother said was an easy read. The writing flowed really well and before you knew it you were a few more pages into the story and invested with the characters. I liked the way the plot jumped throughout the people in the story. It was always revealing a little more. I felt almost like I was watching a movie instead of reading a book.
I really do recommend this book as it does truly have it all. Great summer read.
The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici - By Jeanne KalogridisBy all accounts, I should've been the most uncomfortable with this story. A women who undergoes hardships and rises to be a queen by touching on the occult and surrounding herself with murder and evil things. But there is something about this story being set well before my time that didn't make it so. Maybe I'm a fan of the macabre and curious about the occult.
So let's look at my husband's scale - Religious - check, Murder - double check, Christmas - it was mentioned, Sexy Time - check. And so that makes it so. The book was good and I enjoyed it. I know it isn't to everyone's taste in not everyone likes to read stories based in the 1500's. I, on the other hand, like to escape a little. I like to think of walking down castle halls, through hidden passages. I like to image the fine fabrics and the clothing when you touch it. I like to feel like I am transported to another time and place.
This review should be about the book and not me so I'll carry on.
The fact that this book was based on a real life person and historical events wasn't lost on me. The writing flowed fairly well, even if the story seemed a little disjointed. I think the writer was trying to fit in the historical aspects into her story and may have jumped forward faster than should have happened. However, I'm not sure how I could've done better given the circumstances.
The way the story was written, I felt like I was standing quietly beside Queen Catherine. I was with her in a deplorable cell in Spain. I was with her in the pope's chambers. I was there at her wedding, and in the room for her wedding night. An innocent bystander you could say to the story of a woman who did everything she did for her family and for their survival.
The book is alright. Not really sure I'd read it again, when I would definitely read the other two books I read in the past couple weeks. It was a good book to finally clean my palate with regards to The Pact. The Pact is a book that had so much resonance with me that it will be a long time before it's out of my system.
So with these three I have completed 19 of my #26in2011. I'm on a roll folks!
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