Working as a servant to help her family becomes unbearable when Li Jun’s lecherous master makes it clear he plans to take advantage of her. As a Chinese woman in the 1880s, Li Jun has few other options. She makes a daring escape by disguising herself as a boy and living as a street urchin. When she hears of an opportunity to travel to British Columbia to work on the railroad, she realizes this could be the chance she has longed for: to follow in her father’s footsteps and discover what has kept him from returning home.
As Little Tiger, Li Jun befriends James, the son of a railway tycoon, and promises to help him secure enough workers for the job. She proves to be an invaluable team member and a good friend to James, but the draw between them extends beyond the boundaries of work and friendship. Still, Li Jun can’t allow anything to prevent her from finding out where her father is, and what has happened to him, even if she has to confront his killer to do so.
Last fall my husband and I took a trip to Vancouver and Alaska for the first time. I’ve since fallen in love with the history of the area—places and people I had never known about before. Though this is a work of fiction, I enjoyed being able to glimpse the landscape of the 1880s and in particular, the development of the railroad in Canada. Li Jun is clever and brave, an easy heroine to admire, and the mystery of what has happened to her father pulls the story forward through the historical setting and kept me guessing all the way to the end.
At a little over two hundred pages, this novel was a quick read. I think I read it in one evening.
Language Content
Brief strong profanity.
Sexual Content Li Jun’s master gropes her in a dark garden. It’s clear he means to do more, and she’s afraid. Li Jun and James share a moment together in his room. She removes her top, and they fall into his bed, but she stops him from removing her pants.
Spiritual Content Some references to Chinese culture and beliefs concerning the souls of family members who’ve died. The bones or ashes of the dead must be returned home to China or else the person’s soul will wander forever.
Violence Dangerous men try to hurt James and Li Jun. Short description of mining accidents. There’s not a lot of gore or graphic explanation.
Drug Content
None.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
When news of Jo’s father’s sudden death rips her away from school, she returns home to her grieving family. Unable to accept the story that her father accidentally shot himself, she teams up with Eddie, a local reporter who worked for her father’s paper, to uncover the truth about his death. As each clue leads to more questions, Jo and Eddie quickly realize that the uncovering the truth could destroy everything her father once built. Jo also realizes she may be falling for the handsome reporter, but to surrender to her feelings would mean turning her back on her family.
I first fell in love with Donnelly’s writing in A Northern Light. More recently I’ve read the first three Waterfire Saga books, which are a lot lighter and geared for a bit of a younger audience. I enjoyed those books, too, but I have to say I’ve been craving the darker, more complex historical feel that first book contains, and These Shallow Graves absolutely delivered all that I hoped for and more.
The romance between Jo and Eddie had me flipping page after page. I loved the dynamics between them and also the way they each related to other characters in the story. I loved that the side characters had a lot of personality and many became significant to the story. Jo’s journey has a lot to do with answering the question of who’s valuable, and over and over Donnelly presents answers in the way these minor characters unexpectedly play significant roles in the way the story develops. I loved that message.
Readers looking for a murder-solving suspense, a taste of historical fiction, or a swoon-worthy romance will find these things and more in These Shallow Graves. If you liked A Northern Light, I suspect this one will be a sure win, too.
Language Content
Infrequent use of moderate profanity.
Sexual Content Girls briefly discuss curiosity about sex – no details. Jo learns of the existence of brothels and briefly visits the parlor of one. She spends the night in the company of a man, but only sleeping occurs.
Spiritual Content References to church attendance. A man claims regret over his past misdeeds causes him to have visions of Hell.
Violence This book contains a lot of suspenseful and intense moments featuring bad, violent men, who don’t hesitate to harm women and children. The description are often brief, but so sinister.
One of the characters is a student of forensic medicine. He relates information about causes of death to Jo and Eddie. His descriptions can be a bit graphic.
Drug Content
Brief reference to morphine addiction. Several scenes take place in a bar or show characters drinking alcohol.
Waterfire Saga Giveaway
Don’t miss a chance to enter the giveaway for the first three books in the Waterfire Saga plus series-themed nail polish. Check it out here. (Giveaway ends 11/3/15)
Some Notes on What Happens in Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
Jean Louise returns to her home in a small southern town to visit her ailing, aged father and his protege, Henry, also her beau. During her visit she discovers that the man she’s admired and trusted all her life as the most fair and just man has somehow shifted into someone with whom she deeply disagrees. Her once peaceful town has become a place where races are deeply divided, and where respect for one another has evaporated. The change throws her into despair and agony, and she fights to be understood and to understand what has happened.
So the story goes something like this: Once upon a time, Harper Lee wrote a manuscript and handed it to a publisher. The editor encouraged her to rework the manuscript. The manuscript became the beloved To Kill a Mockingbird. It started as Go Set a Watchman.
Why I Read Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
There’s been controversy over the publication of the book since it was announced. I’m not going to get into that here, but this guy makes some great points. Whether or not I chose to read Go Set a Watchman, it was going to be published and going to be on the bestseller lists. I mean, it’s HARPER LEE. It’s more of her story world. How can we resist this?
I had to read it. Partly out of curiosity. Partly because I wanted more Maycomb and Atticus and all that. Partly because I wanted to see where the story began. I wanted to know if I agreed with the editor – that the real story, the story that deserved to be told – was the one that ultimately became To Kill a Mockingbird.
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my all-time favorite books. I knew looking at the history of this manuscript that it was not going to compare to the book that was ultimately published. These aren’t two separate stories. These are two versions of one story idea. Granted, each version plays out the story in very different ways, but to compare them in any other way than first draft to final draft really isn’t fair, and it really ignores the role that a good editor plays in the writing process.
Go Set a Watchman might, at first glance, seem like a sequel. It’s marketed as a separate story, a tale about Scout as an adult. Don’t buy that. I mean, yes, you get to see her a bit as a grown-up, but the heart and soul of the story are in Jean Louise’s childhood flashbacks. These are framed by her adult present life, but those scenes have so much less value without the past hinging them together and making us care.
Spoilers and Agonies
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus is the hero. He’s admirable and good. In Go Set a Watchman, Lee explores a coming-of-age moment in which Jean Louise realizes her father is flawed, in which she profoundly disagrees with him. In which he has embraced the company of some very racist men. It feels like the polar opposite of the character we see in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Side note: Yes, those two versions of Atticus don’t make sense, but it doesn’t have to make sense. There isn’t supposed to be continuity because these aren’t two separate stories. They are a first draft and a final draft.
I pretty much want to reject that idea of Atticus. I want to hug the editor who said, nope, let’s talk about when this guy saved the day! Thank you. Oh, thank you, thank you!
Again, I think it’s important to think of these stories as one-or-the-other. We were never intended to have both.
Imagine the story world where Atticus and Scout and Jem live without To Kill a Mockingbird. Imagine that the flawed, sad, old Atticus is the only one we get.
Okay, stop before that gets too depressing. Because it would be totally depressing!
Side note: Can I just say that I totally flipped out when I read the passage where she’s talking about how Henry came to be kind of a second son to Atticus, and there’s like one line, squeezed into the middle of a sentence where it says, “…Jean Louise’s brother dropped dead in his tracks one day…” and I was like wait, WHAT?!
I had to put the book down. I had to force myself to remember that when this was written, there was no Jem from To Kill a Mockingbird, that all those moments that I treasured and loved (after reading To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time, I took to referring to my brother Jeremy as Jem) didn’t exist when Harper Lee wrote this line.
It was the only way I could forgive her. (I realize that sounds ridiculous. Forgive her as a writer, not as a person.) And remember that ultimately, she could have rejected her editor’s comments and taken her manuscript elsewhere. Fortunately, she took on rewriting her manuscript and creating the beloved story we know her for today.
Why I Won’t Review Go Set a Watchman
The feedback from her editor, the decision to rewrite, those have all risen in value to me now. I think those were the right choices. Those gave us the right story. I think it’s okay to read Go Set a Watchman (or not, if you don’t want to) as long as you read it for what it is: a glimpse into the early part of a complex creative process. It’s not a finished work and it isn’t meant to be taken as such.
I mean, the manuscript has a beginning, middle and ending. It doesn’t leave off mid-scene or anything. But I can’t ignore the fact that only one part of the process had been complete: Lee had written a manuscript. To leave out the role the editor played in the shaping of her story, to act like that doesn’t matter and that the manuscript should be judged as is the same way an edited, published novel is seems like a grossly ignorant choice to me.
Your thoughts are most welcome.
Did you read To Kill a Mockingbird? Are you planning to or have you read Go Set a Watchman? Share your thoughts on why or why not. I’m really curious to know what you think.
Eighteen year old Rose Justice volunteers as a civilian pilot in England during World War II. She works alongside Maddie and other young female pilots transporting planes and personnel to assist military forces. When an enemy aircraft draws Rose off course during one of her transport flights, Rose finds herself captured in enemy territory. Her troubles have only begun. Soon after German forces arrest her, she is sent to Ravensbruck, a German concentration camp. Rose faces brutal treatment at the hands of her captors. Her love for poetry and bonds with other prisoners challenge her to survive.
Readers of Wein’s novel Code Name Verity will recognize Maddie and Jamie. Their story continues in Rose Under Fire, though neither are main characters. The use of poetry and song quoted throughout the story add even more beauty to what is already a poignant, rich tale. The poetry Rose shares as a prisoner of Ravensbruck offers an intense contrast: the beauty of the words and the stark horror of the concentration camp.
Wein’s cast of characters evoke both wonder and grief. Yet again readers will find themselves wrapped up in a moving tale that educates about a lesser known group of people during World War II. This time Wein introduces characters representing young Polish girls whom the Nazis used for medical experiments. Through this story, we are again reminded of the value and beauty of each human life. I loved that Rose wasn’t perfect, and neither were the other prisoners. Each character bore deep complexities.
I kept hoping for more connection between Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire, particularly through some other minor characters appearing in both stories. It’s been so long since I read Code Name Verity that there really could be more overlap than I noticed. I’d be interested to know if other readers have made additional connections between the two stories. Over all, I really enjoyed this story. I’d like to learn more about the Polish girls imprisoned at Ravensbruck, and I look forward to more fiction from Elizabeth Wein.
Language Content
The first half-ish of the book is pretty clean, profanity-wise. Then Rose meets a saucy young Polish girl who has quite a foul mouth. Extreme profanity with mild frequency through the second half of the story.
Sexual Content Brief reference to Maddie’s wedding night. Not at all explicit.
Spiritual Content None.
Violence Rose is captured by German soldiers and transferred to Ravensbruck where she and other prisoners are brutally mistreated. Brief descriptions of violent treatment and humiliation appear throughout this portion of the story.
Grave Mercy Robin LaFevers
HMH Books for Young Readers
A strange birthmark spares Ismae from an arranged marriage with a cruel man, but thrusts her into the power of the sisters at the convent of St. Mortain. There, Ismae discovers she’s been gifted with great power. To understand her potential, she must embrace the training offered by the mysterious sisters. If Ismae agrees, they will teach her the arts of murder and seduction, so that she can be sent out into the world to bring the justice of an old god: Mortain, the god of death. When an opportunity arrives for Ismae to serve the young duchess of Brittany who faces an arranged marriage of her own, Ismae can’t help but accept, remembering her own past.
Determined to prove herself through this important assignment, Ismae soon finds herself overwhelmed by a court steeped in plots and betrayal. Unexpected feelings for her prime suspect complicate matters further. But more than Ismae’s devotion to her god is at stake. If she chooses the wrong allies, her mission will fail, and the young duchess will die.
I read this book without really knowing much about it. Marissa Meyer recommended it, and I love her books (Cinder, Scarlet and Cress) so I decided to give it a go. I spent most of the first part of the story waiting for the shoe to drop and for the god of Death to turn out to be evil, since that’s usually the way things seem to go. Instead, and I’ll try not to give too much away, Ismae learns that her understanding of the god’s will is not always perfect, but that he does indeed have a just plan for humanity.
The romance thread was nicely done. I found it refreshing that Gavriel was not the bad-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold type that’s so prevalent in current fiction, but that he was a gentleman who resents the implications about his relationship with Ismae and doesn’t take advantage of her or attempt to seduce her himself. That respect for her totally won me over.
Packed with intrigue, the plot really takes some big twists and turns. I love that it’s based on historical events. LaFevers definitely stirred my curiosity about Brittany and the young duchess and the real story of how the events unfolded.
Because I’ve read a little bit about the other books in the series now, I can see how this first story set the stage for the second and third ones. I’m curious enough about Sybella’s (one of Ismae’s fellow assassins-in-training) story to consider continuing the series, but it’s not sitting at the top of my list. I think I expected to like it as much as I loved Cinder, which admittedly isn’t fair to the author, and while I enjoyed it, I just have a hard time really getting into the whole “god of death as a good guy” type of story. It may be that the topic of corruption within the religious organization simply hits too close to home for me as I wrestle with some of my own issues about my own recent church experiences.
Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.
Sexual Content Ismae’s new husband treats her roughly and makes it clear that their marriage bed will be one in which he treats her like an object. His behavior is ugly, but he’s stopped before having sex with her.
The servants of the convent of St. Mortain are taught all the ways of seduction, but readers are left to fill in the blanks on all that entails. Ismae’s past experience with men leaves her mistrustful and loathe to give herself to a man, even in service of her god. She makes a couple of brief suggestive comments. She lies naked against a man at one point, but not in the interest of having sex with him.
Spiritual Content During the time period of the story, the Christian church had replaced many of the older traditions and belief systems in Brittany and referred to the old gods as saints. (There is apparently a lot of historical truth to this – I’ve not researched it myself, but you can read the author’s notes on the topic here.) Mortain, one of the old gods (a fictional one), still maintains a following largely through a convent of servants, trained as assassins and sent out to do his will, i.e., kill those the god has marked for death.
Ismae struggles with the morality of her tasks. What if someone has committed some wrong that earns Mortain’s judgement, but repents of the evil and finds a way to atone for it? Is there an alternate path for her to take rather than simply being an assassin? Ultimately she earns the god’s blessing for her mercy.
Violence Several people fall victim to assassins, through means like poison, falling from a height, small arrows, etc. Brief battle scenes are described. Ismae walks through a field of dead soldiers looking for survivors. Descriptions are not overly detailed.
Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol – mead, wine, etc – at parties and taverns.
Reformed jewel thief Remy Brunel tries to live the quiet life of a stage performer in a busy London theater. Thaddeus Rec, a detective with the London police force, wants to believe Remy has given up her old ways. When one of Remy’s old friends shows up in town, he can’t help but wonder if this man is connected to a string of impossible robberies he is responsible to solve.
As Thaddeus investigates further, he uncovers hints of a much larger, more sinister plot. Before he can warn her, Remy disappears with her old friend, gone back to France to track down the circus in which both had once performed.
Packed with action from page one, The Ruby Airship is an intense, exciting story. The historic settings – London and the French countryside – add even more sense of adventure and a bit of romance as well. The central characters are complex, funny and endearing. Claudette, Remy’s old circus friend, seemed the least consistent to me. I couldn’t always get why she did some of the things she did. But those were small moments and really didn’t ruin the story for me. There were some plot details (characters proximity to lava) that probably just are not possible, but again, it’s fiction and it didn’t distract me enough to take away entertainment value.
Note:The Ruby Airship is a sequel to The Diamond Thief, which I have not read. There are references to events from the first book (a professor who creates some powerful weaponry for instance.) I didn’t always grasp the full significance of those references but this novel includes enough information and backstory that I was able to enjoy it without having read its predecessor.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Very mild profanity used very infrequently. (hellfire, hellcat, etc.)
Sexual Content Brief kissing.
Spiritual Content A young man hypnotizes others to control them.
Violence A young girl is imprisoned in some pretty terrible conditions (not much description.) In one scene, the good guy and bad guy face off. Swords, fires and excitement but no gore.
Drug Content
None.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
