Book Review- Robyn Hardings' The Party

Thank You to Gallery, Threshold, and Pocket Books for providing me with an advance copy of Robyn Harding's novel, The Party, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT - Kim and Jeff Sanders are doing everything possible to raise their children right. Despite their Silicon Valley wealth, they throw a simple sleepover for their daughter Hannah's Sweet Sixteen. Hannah has invited over a few friends and the girls are going to have pizza and watch PG-13 movies in the basement. Hannah's parents have been very clear with the rules = No drinking, no drugs, and no boys. 

Hannah's parents trust the girls and go to bed. They are awoken in the middle of the night to learn that one of the teenagers in their care has fallen through a glass coffee table, and is seriously hurt. This accident will change the Sander's family forever.

LIKE- The Party is a page-turner. Harding does a fabulous job at teasing out information that kept me turning the page. For example, early in the story we learn that Jeff's younger colleague has turned him on to microdosing LSD, a new trend in Silicon Valley that is supposed to foster alertness and creativity. This is something that Jeff has done a handful of times and although he does not have a drug problem and this has nothing to do with the accident that occurred at the birthday party, this decision will continue to haunt him. The Party is filled with little decisions, seemingly innocuous decisions, that will have a negative impact. It's about the fine line between perceptions and the truth. It will make you consider your own decisions. It's quite maddening!

Harding's characters are rich and memorable. A large chunk of The Party deals with popularity and bullying, both with teenagers and adults. It's cynical, but also rings true. A theme of The Party is kindness, which seems to be in short supply with many of the characters. 

The Party is reminiscent of one of my favorite films, American Beauty, with regard to tone and themes.

DISLIKE- I'm torn about the ending. Although I felt it was a realistic scenario, it didn't sit well that an accident turned into a punishment/reward scenario. The very last scene was a shock. It made me want to shake the character involved. Was nothing learned? 

RECOMMEND- Yes! The Party is fast-paced and thought-provoking. This is my first time reading Harding and I will definitely check-out her other novels. 

Book Review- Daniel Riley's Fly Me

Thank You to Little, Brown and Company for providing me with an advance copy of Daniel Riley's novel, Fly Me, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- The year is 1972, Suzy Whitman has just graduated from a prestigious college and is planning her next move. Grace, her older sister, is loving her life working as a stewardess and  living in the beach community of Sela Del Mar. Suzy decides to join her sister in California and applies to be a stewardess at Grand Pacific Airlines. At first, her new career and city seem exciting and glamorous, but then she meets Billy. Billy is charming, slick, and a drug dealer. He tricks Suzy into trafficking drugs on her flights to New York. Quickly, Suzy finds herself caught up in a world that she never asked to be a part of and one that she is finding it increasingly difficult to leave. Can she get out before she gets caught?

LIKE- The strongest aspect of Fly Me is the setting. Riley has clearly done his research to recreate the era when commercial air travel was still glamorous. As we now live in a time where flying is a necessarily evil, rather than a pleasure, there is a longing for the way thing used to be. This evident with television shows like Pan Am and attractions like The Pan Am Experience in Los Angeles, where you can experience a vintage mock flight, that includes menus of the era. Riley has written a glimpse into that world. Additionally, I'm from Los Angeles, so I loved the local references and beach city setting. Fly Me is rich with historical and geographical details.

The ending is outrageous and not necessarily believable, but I was happy that Riley tied together some seeds that he had been planting throughout the story. I had been worried that certain elements wouldn't pay-off, but they did. 

The title is great, it's a play on a vintage aviation advertisement for National Airlines. It's a sexist ad, but something straight from the era. Suzy is a strong female character, who bucks tradition, and when she is asked to participate in the campaign, she's appropriately appalled. 

DISLIKE- I felt a lack of urgency, even though Suzy is experiencing issues (might be caught trafficking, father with cancer, et) that should create a natural tension in the story. Even thought situationally, the stakes are sky-high, I never felt that Suzy was overly worried. I just watched an episode of Better Call Saul, where there was a scene with a lower-level drug dealer who has stolen his bosses pills and has replaced the medication with aspirin. The scene in which he has to make the switch with the pills was so intense that my stomach knotted up. It was hard to watch. The tension in Fly Me, should have been like this scene.

I didn't understand the relationship between Suzy and Billy. They hang-out a lot, even though he is slimy and continues to put her in a dangerous situation. He isn't quite charming or attractive enough for that to be a solid reason for Suzy to keep coming back. For goodness sakes, he's an adult who lives in his parent's basement!

RECOMMEND- Riley is a solid writer and this story is well-researched, but I didn't love Fly Me. I'd be inclined to check-out Riley's future novels, but unless you're very interested in the era or aviation, I can't recommend this book. 

Book Review- Hideo Furukawa's Slow Boat

Thank you to Pushkin Press for providing me with an advance copy of Hideo Furukawa's novella, Slow Boat, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- Furukawa's novella Slow Boat is translated from the original Japanese by David Boyd. This dream-like story follows a young man named Boku and his desire to escape is native Tokyo, along with his disastrous relationships with women, who share his desire to escape. 

LIKE- I read this story in a single sitting, taking me about ninety-minutes. As much as I love novels, I also enjoy reading shorter works where I can wholly immerse myself for the duration of a story, without breaks.

Furukawa's story isn't linear, it drifts around with regard to both content and style: for example, there are a few sections written as a newspaper article. My favorite character was a teenage sushi chef. She is bold and sassy, eventually becoming the girlfriend of Boku. Boku realizes that she will have a bigger life outside of Japan and lets her go to pursue an international internship. 

DISLIKE- Furukawa mentions that he was inspired by a short story of Haruki Murakami; a story that I have not read. I feel like I may have missed the magic of Slow Boat, by not having read the Murakami story. As it stands, I was not overly impressed with Slow Boat. It was often tedious and slow. I didn't connect with Boku, which made me resistant to care about his journey.

 I'm not sure why, but throughout the novella, letters were missing, making it difficult to read. If memory serves, " T H & F" were missing in words that contained those letters. I wasn't sure if this was a stylist choice or perhaps because I had received an ARC. In any case, it was very distracting and served to slow down the pace in which I read Slow Boat.

RECOMMEND- No. I did not enjoy Slow Boat enough to recommend it.