Booksparks 2014 Summer Reading Challenge- Colleen Oakes' Queen of Hearts: The Wonder

My final book review for the Booksparks 2014 Summer Reading Challenge is The Wonder, which is the second  book in Colleen Oakes' Queen of Hearts series. I have to confess that this was the book in the challenge that I was least excited to read. When I saw the cover and read the synopsis, I pushed it into the category of "not my cup of tea". Although, wanting to finish the challenge, I tried to keep an open mind when starting Oakes' novel.

I don't like to read series books out of order and I had not read the first in the series. Since I was anticipating the book to be a chore, I didn't bother reading the first one, I just dove in. Oakes does a good job at filling in the gaps for the reader who may have not read the first book. I felt like she gave me enough of a recap, without being tedious and after a few chapters, I could easily follow along.

Initially there was some confusion over Oakes' reimagining of Lewis Carroll's iconic Wonderland. In Oakes' Wonderland, Dinah is our heroine. This was my initial confusion, as I always thought of Dinah as a cat and not a girl. In this story, Dinah is the rightful Queen of Hearts, who is wanted for treason and is on the run. She must stay alive long enough to figure out a way to reclaim her throne. It took me a bit to suss out the differences in Oakes's Wonderland. For example, the Cheshire Cat, isn't a cat, he is just a devious man. The cards are soldiers. They are men, not actual cards. The only tie with cards, is the name, cards suites symbolize their order in the King's guard. Once I began to understand Oakes' version of Wonderland, I could begin to allow myself to get swept away by the story.

Oakes is a solid writer. Against my preconceived notion, I actually did enjoy the story and much of that owes to Oakes ability as a writer. The subject matter didn't catch my interest, but she managed to draw me in with her storytelling abilities and quick pacing. This is a bloody story that is filled with vivid imagery and loads of creativity.  Let's face it, Wonderland has been done to death and although Oakes had her own spin on the story, I spent most of the book wondering if it wouldn't have been stronger, if Oakes had set the story in her own imagined realm. As far as I can tell with the second book, it didn't actually need to be set in Wonderland. 

I like Oakes as a writer and although my interest in the Queen of Hearts series ends here, I would definitely check out her other books. I think that this series would have appeal to those who love fantasy stories and Lewis Carroll fans. 

Participating in the Booksparks 2014 Summer Reading Challenge has been a lot of fun. I loved the exposure to new authors and the diversity in the offerings. As a reader, I was often placed outside of my comfort zone with reading stories that I would never have otherwise encountered. 

Booksparks 2014 Summer Reading Challenge - Paul Hoppe's The Curse of Van Gogh

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In The Curse of Van Gogh, Tyler Sears, an art thief who has been recently released from federal prison, is trying to turn his life around, when he is blackmailed into doing one more heist. This last job is grander than any of Sear's previous jobs and involves stealing several of the most valuable paintings from a tightly guarded exhibit in Washington D.C.. Sears has strong misgivings, but as a powerful mobster is threatening the lives of his family, he is compelled to follow through with the crime. 

With author Paul Hoppe's snappy prose and compelling plot, the novel gets off to a strong start. I bought into the premise and I wanted to see how Sears was going to pull off the seemingly impossible heist. Hoppe has a nice way of doling out small bits of information to keep the reader wanting more.

Unfortunately, the story begins to fall apart mid-way through. Hoppe has plotted a lot of action, but I didn't feel like much of it was plausible. For example, Sears is on parole, but he seems to be able to easily travel throughout the United States without really worrying about his parole officer. He has an easy time obtaining a impressive arsenal of high tech weapons and gadgets. A lot happens in the story and some of it happens too easily.

The action is not balanced by character development. I require character development to enjoy a story. There is a good set up for emotion and drama, especially with Sears trying to protect a mentally unstable brother and flighty mother. This could have led to some really wonderful moments in the story, but they were never developed. Instead, Sears is given a fast-tracked romantic relationship which didn't fit with the story. I kept thinking that less would have been more with this story.

I didn't completely dislike Hoppe's debut novel, I was just left feeling like it was a draft, rather than a completed story. I was left wanting more, left seeing potential that wasn't developed. I thought that the reference to the title was interesting. I'm not sure if Hoppe made it up or if the "Van Gogh Curse" is a known thing, but I liked the extra drama that it brought to the heist and I found it to be entertaining.

The Curse of Van Gogh is in the same vein of a Dan Brown novel and would probably appeal to fans of action-thrillers. 

Booksparks 2014 Summer Reading Challenge - Kris Radish's Gravel on the Side of the Road

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I enjoy non-fiction personal short stories and after several weeks of reading Young Adult Fiction, I was excited to see something a little more my speed in the Book Sparks Summer Reading Challenge line-up. 

I'd never heard of Kris Radish, but after reading her collection, Gravel on the Side of the Road,   I'm left feeling impressed with the life that she has been leading. It seems like Radish has done it all. She has worked as a war journalist, she survived a harrowing plane crash landing and an equally harrowing white water rafting journey, she has reported from murder scenes...she has a wealth of experiences make her intriguing.

However, the best stories in this collection come from quieter moments, like when she writes about helping her daughter shop for a prom dress or helping her children cope with their father, her ex-husband, imminent death. It's in these moments, that Radish's experiences become more universal. I became less amazed at all that she has experienced, as I could begin to see her experiences in my own and in people that I know. This is the magic in Radish's writing.

An interesting aspect of this collection is something that Radish addresses in her forward, the quality of her writing. The collection is not arranged chronologically by event or order in which she wrote it and the writing spans her entire career. From a craft perspective, I found this very interesting, as it is easy to see the growth in Radish's writing, in particular, I can see her "writers voice" emerging. It makes for an occasionally uneven read and had I not read the forward, I probably wouldn't have been so forgiving with this review. Some of the stories have a style that's fussy and overdone, which I felt must have been earlier pieces. The strongest pieces are the ones where Radish has a direct tone and cuts to the core of the story. When she was direct with her writing, she was often her most venerable, not hiding behind the flowery prose. I really connected with these stories. 

This is a strong collection from an apt writer. Radish's stories are engaging and run the gamut of emotions. I felt exhausted just reading about all that she has accomplished in her life and if anything, I was left feeling motivated to raise the bar in my own life.