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In February I planned on reading four books, one of which is 600 pages. I finished my last January book (see my January reads here), The Vanishing Half, one week into February. With a slow start and a short month, I ended up getting to two of the books I’d originally planned.
Despite it being a slow reading month, I’d say overall it was great in terms of content. The Vanishing Half, a contemporary fiction novel, kicked off February with a strong start. Both Reckless Girls and A Slow Fire Burning were quick and fun thrillers, and I’m surprised by how much I liked them both.
Read on for mini reviews!
Table of contents
The Vanishing Half
Synopsis
Desiree and Stella Vignes are black and, like their whole small town in Louisiana, are so light they could pass for white. Desiree never wanted to stay in the small town, and Stella never wanted to leave. At 16, they run away together to New Orleans. Years later, Desiree returns to the small town with her daughter, who inherited the dark skin of her father. Stella disappeared from her old life, passing for white in a California town, her daughter blonde and violet-eyed. Years later, Desire and Stella’s daughters’ paths converge.
Review
The writing in The Vanishing Half is impeccable, and I’d honestly recommend reading it based on that alone. While this book is about race, at its core it’s about identity.
Touching on themes of race, abusive relationships, and transgenderism, it’s an exploration of the struggle of knowing who you are and accepting who you are. What happens when you don’t have all the pieces of who you might be? What happens if you deny a part of yourself? How does that affect other people, your children?
Bennet does an incredible job of crafting the focus characters. They felt real and raw. I especially love that we get to know two generations of women, from the ’60’s to the ’90’s. The varied time periods kept my interest, and the multiple generations allowed for a deep dive into the effects of identity on other people in our lives.
Overall, a fantastic novel you shouldn’t sleep on. I rated this 4/5 stars. Minus one star because it was a slow-paced read for me.
Rating
Reckless Girls
Synopsis
In Agatha Christie style with a cast of guilty characters, Reckless Girls tells what happens when 7 twenty-somethings end up on an island alone for 3 weeks straight. There’s drinking, flirting, cheating. And a dead body? With no radios and only the open sea around them, these characters are left to fend for themselves.
Review
First off, the setting of Reckless Girls was everything. I felt like I was in Hawaii, which is just what this Minnesotan needed in February!
The story is broken up into two perspectives: Before and Now. They’re mixed up and interspersed, both perspectives slowly feeding the reader information about who these characters really are. I was able to piece the information together fairly quickly and had most of the book figured out early on. But the interwoven perspectives built suspense and I felt they contributed to the fast pace.
Though the book is fast-paced, it at times feels a little uneventful. The first body isn’t found until over halfway through the book. BUT that didn’t stop me from plowing through this read. I wouldn’t say it is un-put-downable, but I did want to find out more about the characters, and confirm if my guesses were correct (which they mostly were).
I love a cast of guilty characters, and we’re given just that in Reckless Girls. They are all, for the most part, pretty terrible people. It just makes this even more of an enjoyable read. There’s nothing like a thriller with characters that you dislike. I think this is the part that’s modeled after Agatha Christie, though it doesn’t compare to the queen herself.
Even though I guessed mostly everything, there was a twist at the end that I enjoyed and actually didn’t see coming.
There were things I didn’t love (i.e.: no one died until 3/4 in, I guessed almost everything, it wasn’t groundbreaking) BUT despite all of that, I ultimately really enjoyed this one! If you’re in the need of a quick and entertaining read, I recommend picking this one up. It might not blow you away, but it’s fun and who doesn’t love a book set on a tropical island (especially in winter)?
Rating
A Slow Fire Burning
Synopsis
Miriam finds Daniel Sutherlands body on his boat, soaked in his own blood. The police immediately suspect Laura, the twenty-five year old with a temper and little self control. Miriam likes the girl though, and sees a bit of herself in her, which is why she takes it upon herself to intervene as is the nosy neighbor’s duty. Carla, Daniel’s aunt, is beside herself. The loss of Daniel so soon after the loss of his mother Angela, her sister, sends her running to her ex-husband for comfort. Irene misses Angela greatly and wishes people like Carla would treat her like a human being, not just ‘old.’ That’s why she likes when Laura comes around, the one person who understands that she is still capable and smart.
Review
This is the only book I’ve read by Paula Hawkins, but this is by the same author who wrote The Girl on The Train. I enjoyed this one and now want to read that title, which was incredibly popular in its time.
A Slow Fire Burning is…a slow burn thriller. It took a few chapters for me to really get into it, but eventually I hit my stride and truly enjoyed the story. It’s unlike so many thrillers I’ve read before in the best ways. It’s not quick or fast-paced, but it is suspenseful with a few surprising twists.
Along the way, I came to know and love some of the characters which is what I love most about this book. Usually, thrillers are purely plot driven. That’s what makes them quick, suspenseful, and un-put-downable. This one, however, is purely character driven. By the end of the book, the reader is able to fully understand what drives each character, why they are the way they are. Knowing the characters makes the thriller that much more enjoyable.
Of all the characters, I adored Irene the most. Her backstory creates a sense of empathy. Her experience with aging is endearing and at times saddening. She has wit and sense, and at the end of the day just wants to be treated like a human. To be honest, I wouldn’t mind being a little bit like her when I grow up.
Empathy drives this novel. It creates uncertain feelings in the reader, especially at the end when everything is revealed.
Rating
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Kelliemarie Mash 