Book Review: When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

Hannah Payne’s life has been devoted to church and family. But after she’s convicted of murder, she awakens to a nightmarish new life. She finds herself lying on a table in a bare room, covered only by a paper gown, with cameras broadcasting her every move to millions at home, for whom observing new Chromes—criminals whose skin color has been genetically altered to match the class of their crime—is a sinister form of entertainment. Hannah is a Red for the crime of murder. The victim, says the State of Texas, was her unborn child, and Hannah is determined to protect the identity of the father, a public figure with whom she shared a fierce and forbidden love.

Pages: 352
Author: Hillary Jordan
Add It: Goodreads
Publisher: Algonquin
Rating: 2/5

How absolutely cool is the premise of this book? People's skin is genetically mutated a certain color to paint them as certain shades of criminal. Red skin means murderer. In this society, red skin also means someone who has had an abortion, a procedure that has been deemed illegal now that Roe V. Wade has been overturned. This novel had the potential to be as frightening as Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, a novel that didn't seem entirely far fetched, and still does not in a world where women still have to fight for their right to have complete control over their bodies. I think books of this nature are especially important given the current fight over birth control that has cropped up as candidates fight to challenge Obama in this year's election. People like Rush Limbaugh really exist. There are groups of people out there who want a world like this one to be the one we live in. Books like this one are almost realistic fiction when you think about it like that. Terrifying.

The novel starts out strong. Hannah Payne has recently been transformed to become a Chrome, her skin mutated Red, to represent her crime of abortion. She must live her days on camera inside of jail, where her every move is being broadcasted to people at home for their entertainment. Experiencing with Hannah her first moments as a Chrome, alone in solitary, is deeply intimate. Because of her perceived crime Hannah is subjected to humiliation and psychological torture. It was very interesting and painful to be inside of Hannah's head as she dealt with this experience.

Hannah is soon released and dropped off in a religious facility aimed at "curing" women chromes and bringing them back to the light of Jesus or whatever. This section of the book actually wasn't half bad. There were some definitely great points made using Hannah's experiences in that facility; even if perhaps Jordan should not have been so heavy handed with the message and allowed the "evil" characters to be humanized a bit. A particularly frightening thing about this facility was that Hannah and others were forced to create and carry around dolls that represented the "child" they aborted.

Once Hannah leaves the facility things get a little far fetched. She joins a sort of underground program put in place by those that oppose the new government and after that it is one unbelievable situation after another. Hannah's narrative is also a little weird. She still considers herself a murderer even if she doesn't believe she deserves all of the ways she's been treated, and that is never resolved. I also didn't buy her loyalty to the father of her baby, or why she would put entire groups of people at risk just to see him one last time. Also, there is a brief segue into lesbianism that would have had more meaning if it had, well, meant anything at all and didn't seem to be just a convenient plot point to represent Hannah's supposed awakening.

I think this book would have been far better served if it had focused on Hannah being made an outcast by society as a whole, and the treatment she would have received trying to live a normal life as a Red.

I'm mixed on whether or not I'd recommend this one. It was a fairly enjoyable read, the idea of chromes was fantastic, the feminist themes were important, but in the end it fell short of everything it was trying to accomplish. I'd much rather recommend The Handmaid's Tale instead.

Book Review: The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Finished: January 16, 2012

Pages: 336 (Ebook)

Author Kimberly Derting

Add It: Goodreads

Series: The Body Finder (#1)

Publisher: HarperTeen

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes that the dead leave behind in the world... and the imprints that attach to their killers. Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him. Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer... and becoming his prey herself.

Read an excerpt of The Body Finder

Quote: “Multihued light radiated up from beneath the water, centered among the reeds, and then diffusing outward as it reached the surface. Violet had never seen anything like it, and she knew that the spectrum of light was defying its very nature by behaving in that way.

It could only be one thing.

There was something dead down there.”

Cover Love: I do like the covers of this series. I think they are simple and creepy enough to match the book. I only wish the contents measured up.

Thoughts: The Body Finder is an unfortunate example of wasted potential. I am sad to say that, because I feel that Kimberly Derting throws out some great ideas, ones that could have been amazing, but inevitably fell short and got buried under a nauseating romantic plot and a sea of characters who were nothing more than stereotypes.

I loved the beginning of the novel. We start off with a young Violet finding the body of a dead child. If the whole story had followed in the footsteps of the prologue/first chapter I would have loved it. Violet's ability to find dead bodies isn't exactly a new concept but I thought the way in which she did it was very neat. Dead bodies came to Violet as an echo. The echo represented their life and death. It could attack any one of Violet's senses. She might hear the sound of fireworks, smell strong coffee or feel the touch of downy feathers on her skin. She could also sense death on others as an imprint. It was difficult for Violet to even be around her cat; since he carried the imprints of the creatures he'd killed.

I also found the murder investigation to be entertaining despite being a bit predictable. I read the majority of this novel in one sitting and was completely engrossed by the chapters in which Violet uses her ability to try to catch a killer. I also liked the included chapters from the killer's perspective. Unfortunately, I envisioned several endings that would have been more shocking than where the story actually went. I also didn't like the attempts to trick the reader into thinking something, because it was rather obvious that it was being done, so I didn't suspect it was true. I think that if these risks were actually taken with the story (specifically a trick played near the end) it would have made for a more gripping read.

My main gripe with this novel is the relationship between Violet and Jay. Honestly, they did not have personalities outside of each other. It was yet another situation in which the lead male is being fawned all over by every girl in his vicinity, but of course he only has eyes for our awkward heroine who couldn't possibly understand what he could see in her. Not only was it annoying that all of the other female characters in the novel apparently lost all sense of themselves when Jay was in the room and only cared about fighting other girls for his affections (ugh); it was also annoying that Violet inwardly mocked these girls and then turned around and did the exact same thing herself. She was constantly thinking about melting and how hot/sexy/attractive Jay had gotten since going through the apparently magical process of puberty.

In connection with this, I also didn't appreciate the treatment of Lissie Adams in this story. She is Violet's "competition" for Jay. She is referred to as "shallow and boring" and "just another brainless cheerleader" and given no depth beyond being the obvious bitch stereotype ready to claw Violet's eyes out to get to Jay. Is this really all we want women characters to amount to in novels? It's also said that she is a "slut" and she "gives it up to all the guys" and goes by the nickname "kneepads". This is a conversation being had at a table of girls. Was this necessary? I don't agree with slut shaming and I don't see what purpose this cattyness served for the novel. Jay, of course, can just cast this girl aside very rudely for Violet and it's viewed as ok, romantic even, because she is a bitch/slut/walking talking bag of evil. He even says that he was using her to make Violet jealous so she would realize he liked her. Um, couldn't he have just... I don't know... told her he liked her? Too simple, Jay? Too direct? Not enough casualties involved?

There is also a "friend" of Violet's whose only purpose is to be the "stupid" friend who never gets anyone's jokes and doesn't understand anything. At one point another "friend" of Violet's jokes to the girl that she must ride the short bus. Nothing like a good dose of ableism on top of all of that slut shaming. There was also a situation where one girl was to said to like to play the "bi-curious card" even though she was like SO TOTALLY STRAIGHT (as if it would be weird if she weren't) and all of the other girls would yell "Gross!" in response to her fake advances. One of the girls is even said to be homophobic. The only reason this book is getting rated a two by me is because I enjoyed the serial killer plot, and I thought the idea of echos and imprints was very original. Too bad the rest of the novel brought such an interesting concept down to its level in the dumpster of stereotypes and offensive tropes.

Recommendation: I would not recommend this book to others. In my opinion there are better offerings in the YA genre that are worth more notice and less offensive. If you like something darker you might try My Soul to Take (also guilty of a few offenses mentioned here but not to the degree of The Body Finder) or Fracture.

Rating:

Two out of Five Coffees

The Body Finder is on sale now in paperback. You can purchase it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository and other retailers. The sequel, Desires of the Dead, is also on sale now. The third book in the series, The Last Echo, will be released April 17, 2012.

Extras: Want to check out some different perspectives on The Body Finder? Find other reviews at Novel Novice and Words Like Silver.

Book Review: Chime by Franny Billingsley

Finished: December 30, 2011

Pages: 362 (Ebook)

Author Franny Billingsley

Add It: Goodreads

Publisher: DIAL (Penguin)

Source: Purchased

Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it's become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out, even as she believes she deserves the worst kind of punishment. Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and mane of tawny hair. He's as natural as the sun, and treats her as if she's extraordinary. And everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know.

Read an excerpt of Chime at Franny Billingsley's website.

Quote: “If you say a word, it leaps out and becomes the truth. I love you. I believe it. I believe I am loveable. How can something as fragile as a word build a whole world?”

Cover Love: I am not in love with the cover but I think it's a good idea of what Briony might look like.

Thoughts: Chime came highly recommended to me by the wonderful Anna at Ya in the Second City. So it is while begging her forgiveness that I say I just didn't like it. Hear me out! Let me explain! Anna, put down that torch! Just a moment...

Franny Billingsly can write circles around a great many YA authors. This woman can write. I saved many passages from the book just because I enjoyed them so much. She has a way of making words come to life that not many authors are capable of. She says things in new ways instead of relying on standard sentences. This I appreciate. Here are some examples:

"I want the soft-pillow feeling that I associate with memories of being ill when I was younger, soft pillows and fresh linens and satin-edged blankets and hot chocolate. It's not so much the comfort itself as knowing there's someone who wants to take care of you."

"He reached through the window, his beautiful hand, his five beautiful fingers outspread. If I were a poet, I'd write about hands, nothing but hands. I touched the whorled petals of my fingertips to his; our hands made the roof of a house."

"Now a kiss, deep and soft, and deeper still. Eldric was never hard and crushing; he was only soft and deep. Only that. Time flew by on fringed moth wings. I was blooming, petals unfurling, soft as cream. Those silk-and-butter lips slid down my neck, traced the margin of my neckline. Only that."

"If there were such a thing as a vampire-puppy-dog, it would be Cecil. Big pleading eyes, asking for an ear-scratch and a nice warm bowl of blood."

Pretty, no? While we're talking up the positives I'd like to also commend Franny Billingsly on crafting a very original story. I am also very pleased with where the story ended up. The subject of emotional abuse from a parent, and fighting the resulting self-hatred that inevitably stems from being told you are terrible over and over at such a young age, is something that I am unfortunately intimately familiar with. I felt that Briony's inner thoughts and actions made sense and were an entirely accurate representation of what the lasting effects of emotional abuse can do to a person. This is not something I've seen approached much in the books I've read, and I enjoyed seeing it here, because it happens more often than you'd like to think it would.

So why didn't I like this book? Don't get me wrong, I did really like some things (as you can see above) but overall, I just didn't enjoy the story. It felt like torture to read and I had to push myself forward. This was largely in part due to the voice the novel is written in. The language was odd, to say the least, and I often found myself confused. There were two instances in this novel where someone's hand was either mangled or lost and I still couldn't tell you how or why it happened. Perhaps Franny just assumed her audience would be familiar with certain terms and ideas that she presented, so she did not need to be clear and elaborate on certain things, or maybe it was just part of the quirky thing she was going for. I'm not sure, but I do know that she lost me as a reader. I think it's important to make your book accessible. What about a new young reader who might stumble upon this book? I mean, I had a very high reading level in school. I know because I toted around those books with the AR sticker that declared my "college reading level" like a badge of honor in middle school. I mean, when I wasn't busy sneaking copies of Nancy Drew. I did very well on reading comprehension tests, I swear! Yet, I was entirely lost here. I generally love quirky but this book was just too much. I wouldn't recommend it to others because I know several of my friends would likely be just as lost as me, and I honestly did not really enjoy it at all, so how could I recommend it?

So, to sum it up: Great writing. Wonderful approach to the subject of emotional abuse. Weird plot and pacing and dialogue and everything else. Just too weird for me. Maybe not for you?

Recommendation: Not from me, dear.

Rating:

Chime is on sale now in hardcover. You can purchase it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository and other retailers.

Extras: Want to check out some different perspectives on Chime? Find other reviews at Bibliomantics and The Library of Minds.

Book Review: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Finished: December 24, 2011

Pages: 320 (Paperback)

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Add It: Goodreads

Series: The Chemical Garden (#1)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Source: Purchased

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home. But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she trusts, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

Read the first chapter of Wither at Simon & Schuster's website.

Quote: “There's nothing here to say good-bye to. There's no dancing girl. No mischievous smile. She's gone, off with her sisters, broken free, escaped. And if she were here now, she would say, "Go.”

Cover Love?: As soon as the cover art was released, my interest in this novel was piqued. Call me superficial, but I love some good cover art. I think that the cover really captures the feel of the novel, of the blanket of glamour that has been thrown over Rhine's horrible world, to hide all that is beneath. I also really love the purple coloring.

Thoughts: I wanted to like Wither. Considering the fact that I eat up Dystopia novels the same way I eat a tray of cookies placed anywhere in my vicinity, I was fully expecting to love this. I sat down with the beautiful purple book and went forward with no hesitation. Unfortunately, once I got to Linden's mansion, I began experiencing a strange feeling. We'll call it frustration.

For me, it was completely unrealistic to see Rhine expressing any sort of emotion toward Linden. Were we supposed to feel sorry for this character as we watched him bed hop between three different girls? One of them being a thirteen year old? Were we supposed to believe that Linden was so naive to his father's cruel plans despite the fact that he begins the novel by selecting his brides from a line up? If this was the author's intention, then for me as a reader, she failed to make me believe. I've included a bit of a spoiler after this sentence in white text: Are we also supposed to see Rhine as virtuous compared to her sister brides? When Gabriel comes into her room to see her with Linden in her bed, he begins to act cold to her, but why? Are we to think that if Rhine was intimate with Linden it would be her fault? I thought Rhine being chosen as the favorite, but keeping her virginity intact, did a disservice to the novel. It was completely unrealistic given the world Rhine was living in, and I think in an effort to keep Linden seen to the reader as a somewhat naive blundering idiot, he was kept a bit more gentle in scenes with Rhine, than he might have been with her sister brides. We are given only glimpses of the things he is doing to them behind closed doors.

I also thought the world building was more than a bit off. One of the biggest questions I ask myself when reading dystopia is "Do I believe this can really happen?" and here, the answer is no. While the novel does evoke a Handmaid's Tale vibe (a book that was an example of an extremely believable and horrific dystopia to me) this novel seems to try too hard to make itself alarming. A Handmaid's Tale scenario would make sense and would have been just as horrendous, without adding this strange killing disease to the mix. It might have been a cool idea if the disease had made a bit more sense, but males and females dying mysteriously at exact ages? That seems too far fetched. The five year age difference between the deaths of females and males felt like a convenient plot detail.

One thing I did really love about this book was the relationship between the sister wives. I've never seen something like that explored before, and it was completely fascinating to watch three very different girls thrust into a precarious situation, and watch them form such deep bonds to one another. I found their scenes together, particularly those toward the end, to be extremely heartwarming. In my opinion, this is one book that might have benefited from multiple perspectives. I would have loved a perspective from Jenna.

Another thing that was clear to me from reading is the fact that Lauren DeStefano is, in fact, a very good writer. The world Rhine was pushed into was described in beautiful detail. I could easily imagine the grand dresses and delicious floral baths. They jumped from the pages and pulled me in. 

I haven't decided yet if I will continue with the series. 

Recommendation: Extremely loyal dystopia fans. Those who aren't bothered by a bit of far fetched world building. Those who don't mind a small case of InstaLove.

Rating:

  

Two out of Five Coffees

Wither is on sale now in paperback. You can purchase it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository and other retailers. The sequel, Fever, will be released February 21, 2012.

Extras: Want to check out some other perspectives on Wither? Find other reviews at Fantastic Book Review & Makeshift Bookmark.

Looking for other books similar to this one? You might also like The Handmaid's Tale, Delirium & Bumped.

Review: Ash by Malinda Lo

Finished: November 20, 2011

Synopsis: In the wake of her father’s death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted. The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King’s Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash’s capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

Thoughts: LESBIANS! BEARS!* HUNTERS! OH MY! Please, someone inform the government. We have a retelling of Cinderella on our hands that includes lesbians. The world must be ending. It must be 2011. This is more terrifying than Y2k.

Other reviews I’ve seen claim the problem with this book is the fact that our Cinderella is Bisexual. This is not the issue with this book and that sort of response makes me horribly depressed. We need more heroines like this. We need more heroines who aren’t heteronormative in YA. Maybe, just maybe, that young girl who is afraid to come out and tell people who she really is, will read this book and feel that’s it’s just a little less impossible. That sounds worth it, don’t you think?

I truly applaud Malinda Lo for the idea she has presented here. For the modern Cinderella. May Belle, Aurora, Snow White and others go down the same path. However, I wish I could end this review here with this praise, but I cannot. We must go forward.

This book had all of the potential in the world. Unfortunately, I don’t feel that it met the expectations I had upon picking it up. I enjoyed the beginning, where we learned of Ash’s tragic childhood, and all that she lost. As Ash grew older and began her interactions with the fairy, I lost interest in the story. When Kaisa arrived, I was expecting a love story to rival that of Bennet and Darcy, but what I got was more along the lines of… well, some other boring couple who lacked passion and chemistry, so much so that I have forgotten them.

Perhaps I felt disconnected from Ash’s relationship with Kaisa because she does not enter the story until the second half of the book. Once she does appear in the story, my interest did increase, but not enough to save this novel for me. Their relationship progressed quickly and seemingly without much development. I never felt that Kaisa and Ash’s relationship was given the time to shine or develop. I wanted to root for them so badly, but I just couldn’t see it. When I closed the book, I closed it feeling detached and unaffected, which is something I hate to feel in response to literature. When I feel it, it’s with regret.

Rating:

Two out of Five Coffees

Read More: For another perspective on Ash you should check out The Library of Minds’ review here.

You can purchase Ash now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository and other retailers.

 * There were no bears in this book. That was a lie too.

Review: Enclave by Ann Aguirre

Finished: November 10, 2011

Synopsis: In Deuce’s world, people earn the right to a name only if they survive their first fifteen years. By that point, each unnamed ‘brat’ has trained into one of three groups–Breeders, Builders, or Hunters, identifiable by the number of scars they bear on their arms. Deuce has wanted to be a Huntress for as long as she can remember. As a Huntress, her purpose is clear—to brave the dangerous tunnels outside the enclave and bring back meat to feed the group while evading ferocious monsters known as Freaks. She’s worked toward this goal her whole life, and nothing’s going to stop her, not even a beautiful, brooding Hunter named Fade. When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce’s troubles are just beginning… 

Quote: “There were different kinds of strength. I knew that now. It didn’t always come from a knife or a willingness to fight. Sometimes it came from endurance. Where the well ran deep and quiet. Sometimes it came from compassion and forgiveness.” 

Thoughts: Zombies! Enclave is just one offering of many in the YA Dystopia genre these days, but the difference between Enclave and a lot of these books, is that Enclave actually has something that feels original to offer. On the surface Enclave is much like a lot of the other Dystopia offerings out there. It’s the end of the world as we know it and we’ve got a heroine who intends to fight the system, the oppressive one put in place by those left behind, who only feels beautiful when she’s fighting.

“I never felt beautiful unless I was fighting, and even then it was something that went beyond skin and bone into the kinetic joy of successive movements.”

One difference here is that Deuce does not start out as a rebel. This is a large part of her struggle throughout the novel, and adds a nice depth to her character. Despite the kindness in her heart, Deuce agrees with the leaders and believes in the necessity of making hard decisions for the better of the people, even if it may mean hurting one person.

Another thing worth mentioning is the writing itself. I found myself writing down various sentences because they were just so lovely. Aguirre succeeds here, not only with her characters and story, but also with her distinctive writing style.

An enthralling thriller that kept me in its grip until the very end, the only issue found within Enclave for me was it’s use of the dreaded Love Triangle™. Second only to Instalove™ in the “Biggest Romance Cliche An Author Can Ruin Their Novel With” list (a list I just made up perhaps) the Love Triangle™ has ruined many an original novel with its ability to ruin characters in an instant and detract from any originality found within the rest of the story. While I will concede that the Love Triangle™ made a little more sense here than in other books, given the fact that it represented Deuce’s inner struggle of Kindness vs. Survival Instinct, it still pulled me away from characters I was otherwise coming to care about.

I hope that the sequel to Enclave packs the same punch and can deliver to us more depth to the story that Aguirre has started here. I would recommend this to anyone who devours Dystopia novels with the same fervor as I do. 

Edit: A few different reviews now have made me consider this book in a new light. One review belonging specifically to one of my favorite reviewers: Ms. Library. Toward the end of the book there is use of the Bad Boy Trope that I tend to find so abhorrent, but at the time it didn't bother me, because from my perspective the author didn't seem to be romanticizing this character. In fact, I thought he was just being used to further Deuce's development as she struggled with choosing between her survivalist side, and the side of her that needed to realize every person counted, and she needed to think of more than herself. I thought, and still think, that he was being used to show that the attitude Deuce was raised with was wrong. So as unnerved as I was by Deuce not exactly rejecting his affections, that didn't bother me.

One thing that does bother me though, that others have mentioned, is the detached way that the author handles a character who was raped. While I understand that the author was trying to show us a horrific world in which characters had to make these hard choices to survive, I do think in retrospect that she could have dealt with the subject of rape in a more compassionate manner. In fact, Ceilidh's Review points out that at one point Deuce thinks to herself that if the character were stronger, the rape wouldn't have happened. I must have missed that part, because I find that absolutely appalling. Rape is never the victim's fault. EVER. So despite really enjoying this book when I read it and feeling like it was one of the better dystopian offerings out there, I will be bumping this down from four stars to two.

Rating:

Two out of Five Coffees

Review: The Way by Kristen Wolf

Finished: September 8, 2011

Synopsis: “Anna is a fiery tomboy living in ancient Palestine whose androgynous appearance provokes ridicule from the people around her and doubt within her own heart. When tragedy strikes her family, and Anna’s father—disguising her as a boy—sells her to a band of shepherds, she is captured by a mystical and secret society of women hiding in the desert. At first Anna is tempted to escape, but she soon finds that the sisterhood’s teachings and healing abilities, wrapped in an ancient philosophy they call “The Way,” have unleashed an unexpected power within her.” [from goodreads]

Thoughts: First, I would like to thank the publisher, author and Goodreads for sending me this book for review. You can purchase it July 12, 2011 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other retailers. 

When I picked up The Way it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I don’t feel the synopsis really lets the reader know what they are in for. The Way is the story of Jesus told as if he were actually a female. I’ve never been religious. My family didn’t go to church when I was a child and I never had religion forced on me. Other than a brief time in high-school, when I attended youth group with friends, I really have no experience with religion. For this reason it was hard for me to rate this book, because religion isn’t really something I am interested in. While I found certain sections of the story to be enjoyable, the religious aspect of it just kept taking away from the story for me.

I quite enjoyed Anna’s character. I love the beginning of her story and the writer’s focus on the way women are seen as below men in certain religions, and just how wrong that is, and how it affects all involved. I loved Anna’s time with the sisters of The Way and her exploration of her womanhood and her connection to the Earth. The parts that lost me were the parts of Anna’s journey that she spent as Jesus. I’d find myself momentarily forgetting that Anna and Jesus were the same character.

At times I found the writing to be a bit preachy and heavy-handed. I also didn’t like the very short chapters. It felt like the story jumped around a lot and lost its focus. There were certain things I enjoyed, and perhaps if the book were written a bit differently I could have more easily moved past my disinterest in the subject matter, but I just don’t feel like it was the book for me.

Rating: 

Two out of Five Coffees