Book Review: The Moment by Claire Dyer

London, 9am. One morning during the chaos of the morning rush, Fern and Elliott spot each other across the concourse at Paddington Station. They have not seen each other in 25 years, not since that day when they parted on such dire terms.

Drawn to each other, they stand separated by the chasm of their break up and the marriages, children and divorces that happened in the meantime. Fern gives Elliott her phone number and knowing that they'll both need to pass through Paddington that evening, they agree to meet up again at the end of the day.

But there is no escaping that Fern and Elliott broke up for a reason, that it meant something at the time just as their lives mean something now. Yet as the day progresses, neither Fern nor Elliott can help but remember the past, replaying the magic moments when they met and the life they shared together. Could one day erase the biggest mistake that Elliott and Fern ever made?

The Moment is the debut novel from award winning poet and writer Claire Dyer. It is perhaps inevitable that it would be compared to David Nicholls’s One Day and not just because of the Louise Candlish quote on the cover declaring it to be ‘this year’s One Day’. It is a novel about what ifs and the passage of time, of two people whose lives and decisions remain intertwined despite the time they have spent apart.

Claire Dyer has written The Moment in a really interesting manner and she plays with the concept of the reliable narrator.  The book is written in the third person, alternating between Fern and Elliott’s point of view and up to a point, the reader would be excused for thinking they know exactly where the story is going. Yet as the day progresses and the initial surprise of meeting each other wears off, Fern and Elliott begin to see their relationship, break up and current lives in a different light. The Moment reflects life’s complexities and how emotions colour both our perceptions and actions.

One of the aspects I most appreciated in the book was the notion that Fern and Elliott might have matured in the years since they were together but certain personality traits remained the same. The Moment surprised me in the depth of character development and insight into the two protagonists which caused me to be more invested in the outcome of the story than I had anticipated.

Ultimately, the conclusion of The Moment was not one that I was expecting but it was one that I truly appreciated (if indeed my interpretation of the twist was correct). The Moment is an enjoyable read with loads of great pop culture references to the 80s and 90s. I would give the book four stars out of five and would recommend to fans of romantic fiction.

The Moment by Claire Dyer is available to purchase on Kindle at Amazon.com or on paperback and Kindle at Amazon.co.uk.

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Book Review: Putting Alice Back Together by Carol Marinelli

Alice Jameson had everything going for her: a glamorous job running classifieds at the local paper, a crush on her gay best friend, and a handy little habit of mixing alcohol and diazepam. Oh, and there is the small matter of that mountain of credit card debt that she can't afford to pay off.  It is little surprise then when she begins to experience panic attacks but is there something deeper at play here?

At first glance, Carol Marinelli's latest novel Putting Alice Back Together seems like a typical chick-lit book with lots of alcohol, random sex and a protagonist heading for a nervous breakdown. But just below the surface is a far deeper tale about redemption and self-acceptance after a lifetime of family secrets, sexual abuse, loss and addiction. 

Through a series of flashbacks, we learn about Alice's first sexual encounters and the ensuing sequence of events that prompted her to leave England at the age of 17. Set in Melbourne, Australia, Putting Alice Back Together begins when Alice experiences a series of panic attacks, seemingly brought about by the return of her best friend to England. In a haze of Valium and alcohol, Alice storms into a relationship with Hugh and begins therapy. As she begins to confront her past, Alice’s world begins to crash down around her when decade-long secrets rise to the surface and shatter her composure.

Putting Alice Back Together is quite a page turner but it was not what I expected.  I expected something light and shallow but this book is quite devastating in places.

What I most appreciated about the book was that Alice really developed as a character.  Written in the first person, I found Alice quite ignorant and almost offensive in the opening chapters as she attacked the people around her on the basis of their physical attributes or sexual preferences. 

I am happy to say that the character (and by extension, the author) was certainly redeemed by the end of the book.  Carol Marinelli avoids the temptation to wrap up the story with a neat ending and there are no quick and easy moral lessons to be learned here.  If anything, Alice gains an appreciation for the complexities of relationships and life experiences. 

With themes of sexual abuse and drug use, this book is recommended for adult readers only.  I really enjoyed this book and found it quite difficult to put down.  I would recommend it for fans of Carol Marinelli and other romance authors.  Putting Alice Back Together is published by Mira Books and is available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

I give Putting Alice Back Together 3.5 stars out of 5.

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An advance, electronic copy of this book was provided to me for the purposes of this review and all opinions contain herein are my own. This review contains affiliate links.

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Book Review: Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller

Outside the Ordinary World is the powerful debut novel by Dori Ostermiller. Spanning almost forty years of painter Sylvia Sandon's life, the novel has a watercolour quality as the author brings to life the burning landscapes of California during the 1970s brushfires, the sweeping beauty of forests in Oregon, and the wintry vistas of present day New England.  With her rich yet subtle style of writing, Ostermiller appeals to the reader’s senses as she describes the tastes, scents and tactile experiences of Sylvia’s childhood and adult life. 

Outside the Ordinary World begins with Sylvia frantically pacing the floor of a therapist’s waiting room as her daughter makes her case against her in the next room.  Some mistakes are destined to be repeated and as Sylvia's world falls apart around her, she recalls the events that tore her family asunder thirty years previously, leading ultimately to the death of her father. 

Sylvia was brought up as a Seventh Day Adventist but as her father distanced himself from the church in order to pursue his medical training and career, Sylvia’s mother Elaine turned to the arms of a lover.  Sylvia was burdened by the weight of her mother’s secret and terrorised by her father’s increasingly violent and abusive behaviour.  As she struggled to reconcile the chaos in her home with the teaching of the church, Sylvia swore that she would never become her mother.

Of course, Sylvia could not have known that the challenges of being a wife and mother would lead her to make the same mistakes and Sylvia soon finds herself walking that same illicit path towards temptation.

It is difficult to do justice to this beautiful story with just a couple of paragraphs.  This is an epic book that begins as the Sandon family drag a U-Haul across the United States in 1968 and leads right up to 2005, when Sylvia has a family of her own.  When I first picked up Outside the Ordinary World, I expected a light romance novel and was taken aback by the richness and complexity of this story. 

Using the technique of alternating chapters, Ostermiller weaves together the story of Sylvia’s troubled upbringing with the events taking place in the present day.  With expert skill, Ostermiller leads the reader to the point where the storylines collide and Syvia must make the choice between submitting to the weight of her past or choosing her own path.

Outside the Ordinary World is the type of book that you can truly immerse yourself in and I longed for the scenery of the novel for some time after I finished reading it.  I enjoyed the glimpse into the world of the Seventh Day Adventists but was pleased to find that this was not a religious novel, but rather a compelling commentary on religion, faith, betrayal and legacy.

I would recommend Outside the Ordinary World to anybody seeking to get lost in a novel and would give it 4.5 stars out of 5.

Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller is published by Mira Books.

You can purchase it at Amazon.co.uk ¦ Amazon.com

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Article first published as Book Review: Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller on Blogcritics.

A copy of this book was provided to me for the purposes of this review and all opinions contain herein are my own. This review contains affiliate links.

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Book Review: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

It is no secret that I have highly ambivalent feelings about the works of Stephenie Meyer.  Perhaps it is because I was the independent and headstrong girl who got involved with a psychopathic control-freak and was nearly destroyed by his madness. More likely though, it is the extreme feelings that the books evoked in me and the levels of obsession they inspired. Quite simply, I could not have felt such anger and disappointment in the way Bella was written had I not been so emotionally invested in the books.

Indeed, my issues with the books and my waning reviews had nothing to do with the stories as such, but with the idea that millions of young girls around the world were looking up to a heroine hell-bent on destroying herself in order to be with the object of her affections. The level of manipulation, emotional blackmail and co-dependency among the characters in Stephenie Meyer’s book was astounding.

When I read Twilight, I could not put it down.  It became known in our household as “that damned addictive book”.  I gave Twilight a 5-star rating which reduced to 4-stars with New Moon and 3-stars with Eclipse.  Always quick to pick up on a pattern, I could see where this was going and did not want to put myself through the misery of another Stephenie Meyer book.  Instead, I opted to read Cleolinda's hilarious summaries of Breaking Dawn and was thankful that I avoided Popsicle sex, scenes from Rosemary's Baby and the borderline-paedophile notions of grown men werewolves imprinting on new born babies.

Still, everybody said I should read Breaking Dawn, the final novel in the Twilight Saga, and feeling desperately in need of some light fiction on my recent holiday, I finally borrowed a friend's copy.

I was not surprised at how readable and addictive the book was; after all, I had found all of Stephenie Meyer's books to be impossible to put down.  Any concerns I had held about reading a 720-page book were also dispelled as I read late into the night and ploughed through the book in a couple of days.

What did surprise me is that I enjoyed every single page of Breaking Dawn and I was absolutely engrossed in the story. The parts that I had thought would be icky and, well, just plain wrong were actually handled really well. Well, except for the imprinting thing which still smacked of grooming to me.  I certainly don't make a habit if reading up on the entire plot of a book before reading the book itself but in this case I had and yet there were still sufficient surprises and revelations to keep me interested.

As always, I enjoyed the parts about vampire history, the legend of the Volturis and the challenge that a vampire-human hybrid such as Renesmee might present. Hey, after a while, even the name Renesmee began to grate less on my nerves and felt less like a literary version of nails scratching down a chalk board.

Of course, there were the obligatory cringe-worthy moments in the book.  Having a baby that grows at a rate of a couple of months per week and magically projects her thoughts might be every mother's dream but it felt extremely contrived and more than a little convenient.

The best parts, as always, were those involving the Volturi, my favourite characters in both the books and films (and possibly the only characters with an ounce of depth).  While their existence and imminent arrival was prominent in the latter part of Breaking Dawn, it is a pity that they were mostly relegated to the battle at the end.

In Breaking Dawn, all of the loose ends are tied and the story is brought to a grand, if not highly convenient, conclusion. If you're one of the few Stephenie Meyer fans or readers that have not yet read the book, I would certainly recommend it. The book is not without faults, including the Mary Sue characterisation and too-perfect ending but it is light, fun and addictive and certainly worth the read. I'd give Breaking Dawn 3.5 stars.

Buy Breaking Dawn at Amazon.co.uk¦ Amazon.com

Article first published as Book Review: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer on Blogcritics.

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Book Review: Size 14 Is Not Fat Either - Meg Cabot

Light, shallow, with a nice sprinkling of unrequited love.

I'm not going to make too much of a fuss about this book or write too long a review; but when you're looking for something light, Meg Cabot really does hit the spot.

Size 14 Is Not Fat Either is a Heather Wells mystery and is the sequel to Size 12 Is Not Fat which I reviewed earlier this year. Heather Wells is a former child pop star who is now living a life of obscurity and working as a resident hall assistant director. She obviously has a touch of the Jessica Fletcher charm because people seem to get killed around her and she is the one left to solve the murders.

The book was a lot of fun and I enjoyed reading it in a week when I had too much serious stuff on my mind to enjoy anything else. I'm definitely going to get the next book in the series to read the next time my brain goes all scatty and month-end deadlines are rushing by.

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Book Review: Size 12 Is Not Fat - Meg Cabot

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, this was officially the first chick-lit murder mystery book I had read. Second, I absolutely had to know who had committed the crimes. And third, I wanted nothing more than for the heroine to get the hero by the end of the book.

While we were travelling around the countryside on our road trip, I noticed a Meg Cabot omnibus for £3 comprised of Size 12 is Not Fat and Size 14 is Not Fat Either. I had never heard of Meg Cabot nor had I read a book of the chick-lit genre before but I needed some light reading after all of that travelling and on account of my flu.

The thinly disguised comment at the beginning of this post has to do with my dawning realisation, very early on in this book, that Twilight by Stephenie Meyer was in fact nothing other than a chick-lit novel with a vampire lead male. Except that the leading women in chick-lit novels usually develop some self-esteem or sense of self-worth by the end of the first book (or at least the sequel!) and Meyer was quite happy keeping Bella at the vacuous, oblivious stage throughout most of the series.

With that massive tangent out of the way, I'll just say that Size 12 is Not Fat delivered. I needed something light and entertaining and that is what I got. A lot of readers found certain aspects of the book annoying, for example the lead character Heather keeps saying "dorm - I mean residence hall". Having read the Amazon reviews before digging into the book however, I was prepared for this and basically ignored it.

The book was good enough that I'm going to dig straight into the sequel (seeing as it is part of the same omnibus). I can't envisage reading too many of these books and will probably be gagging for something less vanilla after that but yes, perfect for now.

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