#booksof2019

The Magdalen Girls by V.S. Alexander

In 1960s Dublin, families have sent their "troublesome" daughters to a strict reformation-based convent to work in a laundry in hopes of saving their lives and souls. Teagan is there because she caused impure thoughts in a new young priest at her church, causing her parents to think she was taking untoward actions and corrupting a man of Christ. Nora tried to run away with her boyfriend to escape her family and living conditions. Both of them now find themselves stripped of their names, lives, and dignity. As they are dehumanized and worked to the bone, they wonder how women of God could think this would bring them to the light and struggle to be individuals in this life of anonymity. They find solace in the favored Lea, who seems to have done no wrong and spends her days in a dreamy world where she claims to see Jesus surrounded by young children in a corner of the yard. Teagan and Nora come to know her better, and in turn Lea helps them understand life. After a few failed rebellion (and escape) attempts, heavy truths come to light following tragedy and unexpected situations.

I really enjoyed this novel. It was a pretty quick read, and it wasn't as dark as it sounds. It was heavy enough to be dramatic, but not overly-drawn out or overdone. The descriptions of punishments for the girls were intense but not frightening and the girls in the novel were compelling and realistic. This novel explores the relationship between religion and punishment and there are a few huge plot twists at the end that you absolutely will never see coming.

Trigger warnings for religion, punishment, pregnancy, character death/injury, fire, family conflict/drama/secrets, smoking, and abuse of power by authority figures.

The Dead Ladies Project, Jessa Crispin, 2015

Este fue el primer libro que leí en 2019. Estaba en la playa y lo devoré. Doblé casi todas sus páginas aunque no fuera del todo mío. Este libro me recordó mi intención de viajar, de irme lejos y perderme, sola, con un computador y libros qué leer.

El libro está compuesto por capítulos. Cada uno es sobre un personaje que vivió en una de las ciudades de Europa que Crispín visita. Así, el libro se construye como una autobiografía/biografía de viajes. No había leído un libro parecido, por lo que me enganchó fuertemente.

La traducción de Elvira Herrera Fontalba parece hecha a toda carrera, con errores de sintaxis, o de tipeo, donde la traducción se ve como una costura imperfecta. Este último puede deberse no a la traducción pero a la línea de producción del libro en Alpha Decay.

Por lo demás, es un libro muy interesante ya que propone una lectura vital de la literatura y de los espacios geográficos habitados por escritores y escritoras. Todo en el mundo es un texto.

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

This was a very odd book. I think (?) I enjoyed it but it was so bizarre it was a little hard to tell. Basically, two teenagers are left behind for a year or so while their parents 'go on vacation' or something to that extent, and they are left in the care of a mysterious man they come to refer to as The Moth. The Moth has a variety of friends and compatriots, each stranger than the last. Though Nathaniel and Rachel's parents say they'll only be in Singapore for a year, the time stretches longer. But then their mother returns with even fewer answers to the questions they have.It's almost a coming of age story for Nathaniel, as he comes into contact with new people and new experiences under the watchful - but unconcerned - eye of The Moth.This was such an odd novel, but weirdly interesting. The people that come in and out of their house are diverse in personality, relationships, and the impact they have on Nathaniel. The story also shows how Rachel is changing and the problems she runs into throughout the novel, as well as her brother's response. When their mother returns, Nathaniel struggles to connect with her and the end of the book deals with their redefined relationship. It didn't feel as strange reading it, but now looking back on it I realize it was kinda weird.

Trigger warnings for war (takes place at the end of WWII), descriptions of seizures, family drama, mentions of sex, mentions of death/violence, and possibly more that I'm not remembering things.

This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Damn I love me some F. Scott Fitzgerald. I don't know that I enjoyed this one quite as much as The Great Gatsby but it was still a good read for sure. The style is really interesting, as it switches from narrative into a play format halfway through the novel. Fitzgerald's prose is, as always, what gets me the most, but the plotline was interesting as well. This Side of Paradise follows the young adult life of Amory Blaine, a Princeton boy with grand ideas about life, philosophy, religion, relationships, and his own future. He sees everything as romantic and beautiful, and his progression and development throughout the novel is fascinating. Amory has to examine his own morality and personality in the years leading up to and directly following World War I.

Honestly Amory was kind of an asshole but I really liked him anyways. He reminded me of a friend I used to have, in that he thought he was superior to everyone and was just so aesthetic and intelligent and philosophical all the time. Comparing This Side of Paradise to The Great Gatsby is really interesting because they take place roughly in the same time (Great Gatsby is a little later than Paradise) but they cover really different issues, especially considering Amory's age. I guess he's a little younger than Nick or Gatsby but they had the potential to be really similar characters and as much as they seem like they are on person they really aren't that similar at all.

Overall, I enjoyed this one pretty well and I'm glad I read more Fitzgerald.

Trigger warnings for drinking, relationships, mentions of war, and mentions of religion.

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

This was a little bit of a weird book. I have an odd relationship with Jodi Picoult books because they're outside of what I typically read (in that they're usually romance-type novels with maybe some drama or courtroom thrown in for good measure), but also because they tend to have supernatural elements thrown in where they aren't really needed. I'm happy to report The Pact did not have any random supernatural events/occurrences, because it would have been very out of place.

** I usually put trigger warnings at the ends of my reviews but I think I'd like to start with them this time because they feature so heavily in the summary and review. Trigger warnings for suicide mentions/plans/suicide, character death, blood, mentions of murder, courtroom situations/lawyers, arguments, family drama/dynamics, and mentions of sex. If I missed something, I apologize deeply; it's been a few months since I read this one since I'm nearly 20 behind on these reviews so please just read with caution if topics such as the aforementioned affect you.**

The Pact follows two teens from longtime friends, the Harte family and the Gold family. The two have lived next door to each other for nearly twenty years and their children are all very close, so both sets of parents were thrilled when Chris Harte and Emily Gold began dating in high school. Now the two are seniors and have known each other for so long its often difficult to separate one personality from another. Chris is an all-star swimmer for the school team and Emily is a blooming artist. They have their entire lives ahead of them. Together. A late-night ER call brings both families in at the same time to face horrifying news: Emily is dead from a bullet wound to the head and Chris is holding his father's gun. The Pact switches back and forth between childhood and the present as both families consider how well they thought they knew their children and the consequences of being so close to someone. Was this a double suicide gone wrong or did Chris really shoot his best friend and girlfriend at the cusp of their lives?

This was a really interesting book, especially because it doesn't just go between young childhood with Emily and Chris and the present and after-effects; the reader gets to see everything that happened before, leading up to, and during Emily's last moments and the impact everything had after. The Golds can't stand to face the Hartes anymore, destroyed with the thought that Chris could have killed their daughter and unable to fathom that she could have been suicidal. The Hartes have to change their whole lives as Chris waits in jail for his court dates and has to struggle to remember what happened in those moments. Picoult loves her courtroom drama, so there was plenty of that. Temporary amnesia is also one of her trademarks and there it was. On the one hand this book was a little typical for me and not the best thing ever, but on the other hand I read it as a book for the beach so I wasn't looking for a literary masterpiece.

This is definitely a dark novel and deals with heavy themes so read with caution, but it was also an interesting romance novel that explores the dynamics between families that have been so close for so long and have come to depend on one another, as well as the difficulties that hide beneath the surface of these relationships and how difficult it is to know who you are and what you want when you've been with the same person for so long.