The Blackhope Enigma

  The Blackhope Enigma by Teresa Flavin fell flat.  While the premise was promising the writing and story were underwhelming.  The story chronicles Sunni, an art student, who goes to study a famous painting at the Blackhope Tower along with her sort-of-crush Blaise.  While there her little brother, Dean shows up and vanishes into the painting.  In a panic Sunni repeats the actions her brother took and finds herself inside the painting as well.  Blaise follows shortly after.  Once inside the painting the team must find each other, work together to move through the different layers of the painting, find their way home, and determine which of the fantastical characters they meet along the way are friend or foe.

  The idea of wandering through a painting is intriguing but Flavin lost me with the predictability of the storyline and underdeveloped characters.  At some points, I found myself wondering, "who cares"?  I suppose this book could have been saved if I had found myself more deeply invested in the characters, but I wasn't.  The writing, characters, and ending were all paper thin.  Hopefully Flavin's next book offers more to her readers than this one.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

There's always a much higher chance of disappointment when reading a New York Times Bestseller that has been getting as much press and rave reviews as Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. Expectation is high but Gone Girl only partially disappoints. The first half of the novel reads like a predictable, recycled thriller with a dull plot line and not much to keep a reader from continuing to turn the pages. But, sticking with it is entirely worth the wait.  At the point you are falling asleep, Flynn throws a few major twists into the story, making it a page turner until the end and making you forget you ever considered the novel predictable.  Though a few of the main characters seem a bit one dimensional at times, like the characters in Flynn's earlier novels, their disturbing quirks keep you guessing until the very bitter and creepy end.  While it will not be winning any literary awards, Gone Girl is pure entertainment and could be an ideal beach read for a sunny fall day.   

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Revolution is a surprisingly explosive historical fiction novel for teens.  The first third of the book is decidedly depressing as Donnelly explores the life of her main character - a teenage girl named Andi.  Andi's little brother was killed suddenly and the ripple effect of that incident leaves her parents divorced, Andi's mom struggling with debilitating mental illness, and Andi spiraling out of control.  Andi's father, tired of the direction Andi is taking, decides she should come with him to Paris during her break from school.  When Andi arrives she finds a long lost diary inside of a guitar case.  This diary recounts the story of Marie Antoinette and her son Louis-Charles during the french revolution.  Andi feels a strange connection to them and becomes increasingly transfixed by the diary.  Then, one fateful night in the catacombs under the streets of Paris changes everything.....Andi's strange connection to the royal family becomes clear.

The book was a riveting read, a real page turner, especially after the depressing introduction to Andi's reality.  The writing is vivid and brings life to a time in history that is decidedly more exciting than your average history class ever lets on.  This book is great for older/mature readers given the subject matter that is covered - death, drugs, and mental illness.  I am looking forward Jennifer Donnelly's next book especially if it's anything like this one!!

Brief Intro

I have some really great library workers.  As far as librarians go, these people are some of the best.  I'm proud to call them my own.  They read a lot of different stuff.  They also like to talk about what they read and they always seem to have an opinion to share.  So, since they work pretty hard to make me one of the best small public libraries EVER, I figured I'd let them use my blog to talk about what they've been reading. 

But, before I officially hand over this blog to the librarians, I'd like to just mention that I am still seeing an awful lot of the Fifty Shades of Grey series coming and going through my doors and I am ready for the next big series to emerge.  Truth be told, I might be a bit bored with Fifty Shades of Grey now.  Just look at that cover.  Boring.  I wonder what those books are about anyway?