Tag Archives: B&N

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton (2018) – BR00167 (2019) – 🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
November 10 2019

Plot or Premise

A woman dumped by a guy tries to create the perfect life that will bring them back together, whether he wants it or not.

What I Liked

There is a revelation about 60% of the way through that explains some of her behaviour, a pseudo-rationale to her logic, but even it is really far-fetched. The initial incidents are just plausible enough to be believable, and the light touch that makes it feel almost like a Bridget Jones’ Diary- type storyline makes the story seem all the more creepy.

What I Didn’t Like

She got dumped, and she creates these elaborate plans that all seem to go off without a “WTF?” moment, as they take place entirely from her perspective. But the light touch the author uses to make it seem like a chic-lit romance is so inappropriate. If the protagonist was a man, everyone would see this book for what it is — some sort of stalker / revenge fantasy hybrid. But even within the storyline, there are two violent episodes (one with him in a bathroom, one with his new gf) that are completely ridiculous.

The Bottom Line

Revenge fantasy disguised as a light romance

The Ninja Daughter by Tori Eldridge (2019) – BR00166 (2019) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
November 10 2019

Plot or Premise

A Chinese-American woman trained as a ninja and now protects abused women in L.A.

What I Liked

The story works on three levels for me. First, there is a mystery to solve involving multiple bad guys, politics, and a new subway being constructed (the motive is obvious, the details are not). Second, she helps women get away from their abusers, and feels a bit in places like the Jane Whitefield novels by Thomas Perry. Third, she is choosing romantically between a nice guy and a danger guy, similar to the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich. I had a small sense of deja vu that I knew this storyline as it progressed.

What I Didn’t Like

As the first story in a series, there is a lot of exposition going on. Explaining Lily’s background, her mixed Norwegian / Chinese heritage, and even some of her relationship with her parents. Her angst with her mother is brought up about six or seven places in the novel, while 1-2 would have been fine. Equally, her father’s colloquialisms show up way too often, “doncha know”. Plus, she explains kunoichi about three times, as if we didn’t see it the first two times. The repetition was a bit heavy-handed. 

The Bottom Line

Good debut, look forward to the next story.

No Second Chance by Harlan Coben (2004) – BR00165 (2019) – 🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
November 9 2019

Plot or Premise

A surgeon wakes up in the hospital, an apparent victim of a home invasion that left him shot in the head, his wife dead, and his infant daughter missing.

What I Liked

There were a fair number of possible red herrings running around in the story, and everybody gets suspected of something. His lawyer friend, his dead wife, his sister, an ex-girlfriend, a scummy adoption lawyer, even the police investigating the crime…all of them are a little bit off.

What I Didn’t Like

There are a couple of scenes that are completely over the top, and the ending is ridiculous. All of the work to find his daughter, with lives at risk all the way along and him accused of murder, and someone he knows knew the truth all along. But he’s semi-forgiving. Ridiculous.

The Bottom Line

Over-the-top plotting in places, ridiculous relationships, and absurd ending.

The Enemy by Lee Child (2004) – BR00163 (2019) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
November 3 2019

Plot or Premise

Jack Reacher is still in the military and gets transferred out of Panama just before New Year’s Eve, 1989. The Berlin Wall is falling, Panama is heating up with Noriega, and Reacher is watching grass grow at his new post, until a General drops dead at a seedy motel.

What I Liked

The story gives more of Reacher’s back story, and it is interesting to see the “man alone” working within a command structure with others. And it is an interesting premise — what do you do in the military when the future looks like you’re about to become obsolete? The supporting characters were good, and it was nice to see Reacher with his brother and mother. At the end, there is a twist about an error Reacher makes early on that comes back to bite him, and it is a great element to keep. The aftermath is kind of abrupt, with who went where and what happened next, but hard to avoid in a “flashback” style story.

What I Didn’t Like

The premise for the story is a little far-fetched, but when they get to the final reveal, the real specific motive is ridiculous as the people involved would never have done what they did, at least not on paper, and not openly. Reacher stumbles around in the dark long past where certain lines of enquiry should have been obvious, particularly for the identity of a specific witness. And the killer.

The Bottom Line

Nice backstory, weak mystery.

Bear by Marian Engel (1976) – BR00162 (2019) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
July 11 2019

Plot or Premise

A historical librarian gets a chance to catalogue the books at a remote island home for a summer in Northern Ontario and encounters locals, free time to figure out her life, and a pet bear.

What I Liked

This book was given to me back in my teens, a gift of quality literature as it had just won the Governor General’s Award for fiction. I knew nothing about it as I started to read it. And I was relatively shocked to see “high literature” include bestiality and graphic descriptions of oral sex performed by the bear on the main character. The historical parts were awesome, as was the descriptions of the island and the passage of the summer.

What I Didn’t Like

I found the romanticization of the relationship with the bear a bit odd, as was the depersonalization of her other sexual partners during the summer. I also felt there were gaps in the ending — we saw what she intended to do, not what she actually did once she was back in Toronto.

The Bottom Line

Bestiality is a strange theme for an award-winner.