The Truth of the Matter by Andrew Klavan: This is the third book in the Homelanders series. You can read the second book without reading the first but to read the third, you have to read the second. In the first book (no spoilers), Charlie West does not remember anything about his life. He learns that the police are on his trail to arrest him for murdering his best friend. But the bad guys are after him too and he’s clueless why. In the second book he finds some answers but he doesn’t really remember a lot from his past year. In this book he remembers almost everything and seriously what a bizarre one year it was for him. I mean, the plot is unbelievable. I rolled my eyes almost throughout the book. There is only so much that can happen to an 18-year-old. But Charlie West is an extraordinary human being obviously. This book made me laugh so many times, not because the book was funny but because the plot was so unbelievable. But there is this un-putdownable quality in this book. I just couldn’t stop reading. It’s a good continuation to the series. This book doesn’t end here though. There is a fourth book in this series. And you know what? I want to read that too. 3 out of 5 stars.
The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecilia Galante: A nice book which would have its own post if I had reviewed it on time. But I didn’t and now the details are a bit hazy. It’s a story about two 14-year-old girls Honey and Agnes set in Mount Blessing religious commune. Agnes is devoted to her faith and believes everything that is told to her by her parents and their religious leader. Honey is an orphan who is a little wild at heart and difficult to tie down. As she has no parents to teach her the ways of their religion all the time, she grows up reluctant to follow it blindly. She wants to move out of the commune and experience normal life. There are also things going on in the commune that she knows are wrong. When Agnes’s grandmother takes the kids and runs away from the commune, Honey and Agnes have to learn to live their life all over again with a completely new set of rules and beliefs. I loved how opposite the two characters are and I liked both the girls. I liked how they both struggled with what was right and wrong and what was taught to them. In spite of a serious subject it’s a pretty light and quick read. I enjoyed reading it and will definitely recommend it. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
On a normal library day I can borrow either 6 books or 4 books and 2 AV material. But libraries here are awesome at doing promotional things often enough. This time I could borrow 12 library items till January end. Obviously I have been taking advantage of that. Unfortunately I saw the promotional announcement just recently so that doesn’t give me a lot of days to take advantage of it.
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On the flip side, the writing was very amateurish. I could tell this was the authors first book. It was also not properly structured and the narrative kept jumping from one person to another. I think the author wanted to include everything that she learned about the North Korean lives while she was working with the refugees in China. It reads more like a page turning memoir than a novel.
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