Book 183: The Doll Funeral by Kate Hamer (Review requested by Faber&Faber)

When I was asked by Kate Hamer's publicist to review an advanced copy of The Doll Funeral as part of an international book blog tour, I was psyched. I've never participated in a blog tour before, but it's brilliant publicity for Hamer, and I always try to support my fellow writers. One day I intend to publish my own book, and I hope to have the same support from my fellow bloggers.

Onto the review.

The Doll Funeral is written in two eras: the 1970s and the 1980s, and jumps back and forth between the two. It's set in England, in the Forest of Dean, which seems to me like a place that is real and not real at the same time. If it were a person, you might say the Forest has one foot in the grave.

The first story is that of Ruby, an orphan who - as the story opens - occupies her own living hell. She has an abusive foster father and a weak, enabling foster mother. When things begin to spin out of control, Ruby embarks on a journey that propels her toward her birth parents, for better or for worse. In the end, everything Ruby thought she knew about her life is turned upside down. She finally understands she is equipped with everything she needs to find her way home, which isn't what she expected, either.

It is also the story of Anna, an unwed pregnant teenager who decides to keep her child despite all her family's arguing for the contrary. She is plagued by problems of both the internal and external variety which lead to her demise. I'm only telling you this because anyone with an eye can see from the start that Anna's life is on a collision course with tragedy. And that's all I can tell you about Anna without ruining the story. 😉

The Doll Funeral was a little slow at first, but I knew Hamer was building up to something big. As soon as I realized there was a supernatural aspect to the story, I was hooked. I was invested in Ruby's fate. Shadow's every appearance piqued my curiosity. The strange characters of Crispin, Elizabeth, and Tom had me guessing about their importance to the plot of this story since they seemed to come out of nowhere. And by the way, I was confused for just about the entire book, but I knew Hamer intended to keep me that way as long as possible so that when she revealed the truth, I'd eat it up. And I did.

The Doll Funeral was a masterpiece of hidden suspense. I'm interested in reading it a second time to see what I missed the first time through. I'd definitely recommend it.

As most of my followers know, I'm more of a nonfiction gal, but I enjoyed The Doll Funeral and I look forward to reading more of Kate Hamer's stories. Follow @kate_hamer on Twitter or visit https://www.katehamer.co.uk/ to learn more about her work. You can buy The Doll Funeral on Amazon.

Great job, Kate!

❤❤❤

P.S. Here are the other bloggers slated to review The Doll Funeral in January 2018. Please visit each of them and enjoy!

Book 171: What Happened by Hillary Clinton (Unfinished)

I wanted to finish this book, but I lost momentum halfway through, then my library loan ended, and I wasn't going to buy a $15 digital copy for my Kindle so I could finish it. Truth be told, this book is just too long to read in a few days, so I'm moving on.

Still, this is what I have to say about it.

Whether you love her or hate her, it's difficult to deny that Hillary Clinton has incredible resilience. No one wants to talk about their own failures (and some people ignore them completely), but through this book, Hillary explored her own to understand how and why they happened. She admitted her own shock and humiliation at losing the 2016 election and kept on going. She wrote about her mistakes before and during the campaign and the lessons she's learned because of them. She also wrote about what she did right. For her, I think writing this book was therapeutic. It was also very smart, because the book sold like crazy when it was published.

If you decide to pick this up, give yourself ample time to read it. You'll also need an open mind.

Book 165: All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner (Audiobook) Read by Tracee Chimo

Another audiobook on loan from my coworker Sherry! This was a good one.

In Jennifer Weiner's book All Fall Down, Allison Weiss was a busy wife, mom, and blogger. She also had a little problem that was quickly ballooning out of control: an addiction to painkillers.

Through the character Allison Weiss, the author made it clear that anyone and everyone can be susceptible to addiction. In the parts where Allison's addiction is snowballing downhill, wide swaths of the story are missing, because Allison doesn't remember them. We - as the reader - are clued in later about the reasons some things happened the way they did. And we find out that not everything is not always what it seems.

I was in familiar territory as I immersed myself in this book. Not with addiction (though I do know it well, but not firsthand), but with the challenges of being a working mother, feeling like things are spinning out of control. I know the feeling of having deadlines to meet while children are begging for attention and a spouse or partner is mentally or emotionally checking out. I grew up in Philadelphia, I knew the landmarks embedded in the story's setting.

I loved this book through and through. The audiobook version, read by Tracee Chimo, was excellent.

And now, I'm caught up.