Review: "HEART", and an extract from "How to Get Your Heart Broken" by Rose Fall.

OK so the next book I agreed to review was actually a group of short stories called HEART, followed by an extract of a novel “How to get your heart broken”, both by writer Rose Fall.

I was initially sceptical about the whole short story concept, because I don’t think I’ve read a collection of short stories since I was a child (even though I write them all the time) but I ended

up quite liking it.  It gives you a nice little snapshot of the story and the characters, which is both refreshing and thought provoking.

You have to be prepared for it to just completely leave you on a cliff hanger, and I think for some people this is hard. But by the second story I was really getting into it - it allows you to see one moment, or a few, from these character’s lives instead of having to digest an entire novel. One story includes a university student with a passion for writing, who instead of listening in lectures writes about her main character, Mia – I have been working on a novel for the past five years and one of my main characters is called Mia, so I could definitely relate.  They are all written in a way that a chick flick or rom com novel would be written which shouldn’t be deep, but I felt these “deepness” manage to seep through somehow, and I marvelled at it.

There are typos in all of the stories, which did bother me a little, because that is perhaps the first rule of writing – always check your work (or perhaps the second, with the first being write something worth reading, which Fall has accomplished.) But even this has a slight charm, as though you have stumbled across Fall’s secret collection of scrawled down stories which she never meant for anyone to read. My favourite was when one of the characters “hoped” off the pavement – I mean I presume he hopped, but who knows? 

Each story is accompanied by a song, with the idea being that you listen to the song whilst reading the story. I was not organised enough to sync myself up the music and the writing simultaneously, as I often read on the train, but the idea is there, and I think personally that it is a good one. Music makes the mood. I also greatly enjoyed the personal bit from Fall herself at the end of the stories – I related to this as well, and I would compare her sense of occasional hopelessness to what I convey in some of my own stuff – www.therantyshorts.blogspot.co.uk .

The novel extract included seems fun and I got pretty hooked.  It starts with a girl who gets her heart broken by her boyfriend Ryan at the start of the summer, and her friend, along with another, more reluctant friend, sets out on a mission to cheer her up and to get revenge on all of mankind. They conclude that they will all compete to try and make the tanned, muscular, cocky boy who lives next door to fall in love with them – and you can just see that this is going to end in complete disaster. It reminded me of the film John Tucker Must Die, if anyone has seen that – it seems to be that kind of idea, and as that is a great film, I think “How to get your heart broken” seems both funny and as thought provoking as the shorts!

Review: Sleep Peacefully, by NC Marshall

I've had a busy couple of weeks, but I finally found time to finish this book. I am in that partially lost state now when you've finished reading the pages and the words, but you are still with the characters and wrapped up in the story, thinking over what happened and how you feel about it. You can't shake the book from you, you know? Perhaps this is only just me.

Anyway, Sleeping Peacefully is about a woman named Natalie (or Nat) who lives in the UK with her husband and her five year old son, Josh. It is focused around the death of her sister, Jess, and it ends up being a dual narrative with her as the other narrator describing the events before she died.  I suppose it's like a detective novel, in a way, except the ones investigating Jess' death and the circumstances that surrounded it are Nat and her family; there are no police involved. I would find it very hard to categorise, but an uncategorisable book equals a unique one, and one of interest to someone who has read a lot of books.

The book at first is quite descriptive, going into detail about Nat and her life in the present day. You can tell Marshall has had this character a long time and really knows her; she writes from her point of view easily, as if Natalie is a real person and she is just simply telling her story. For some this beginning may be a little slow, but her detail is necessary to the essence of the tale; it sets the scene, as it were. You are propelled forward by the gaps in your knowledge - and hell, there are lot of gaps your brain will want filled. I am a self proclaimed impatient book reader, and when I got into this book and fell into the story, I felt rewarded for waiting; suddenly, you want to know how and why Jess died. You want to know her secrets, what she has been keeping from her family, and what is going on with Nat. With this book, you get that thirst.

I have to commend the supernatural aspect of this novel, because in a sense I didn't even feel like it were supernatural at all. Jess' presence through Nat seems almost normal in the context of things; Marshall writes it as if she were writing about something entirely day to day and earthly. This I really love, because, you know, I've read a lot of books where ghosts are scary, dramatic and angry - but Jess is just Nat's sister, and of course she is none of these things. Although Nat is uneasy and terrified, I never felt threatened by Jess, and her attempts to reach earth are almost heartwarming; she is seeking peace not only for herself but also for her family. No one can hate on a love motive, even from someone on the other side.

I should probably wrap this up before I reveal too much, but basically this book is like a shoe with a lot of loose ended laces, and there is something extremely satisfying about the way they all tie together when it concludes. You start with questions, and through Nat's pursuit you pass secrets, lies, dramatic revelations and a wisp of mortal danger, you arrive with your answers...or do you? NC Marshall deserves credit for her well thought out and thought provoking tale, and I suggest you all go read it and discover whether Jess ever does manage to Sleep Peacefully...

"The boundaries which divide life and death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and the other begins?" - Edgar Allen Poe

Review: The art of being normal, by Lisa Williamson

So, I wanted to start my reviews off with this one as it is a book that came out this year, and I really support the awareness it is promoting.  I have read very few LGBTQ books, (unless Dracula and The Picture of Dorian Gray count, which, you know what, they definitely should) so in terms of comparing it to others like it I'm probably not going to be very useful. But, it is in itself a great book, so I can at least tell you that much.

 The art of being normal is about being transgender, and it is a dual narrative set in the modern day. The two narrators David and Leo are both fourteen and go to the same school. The plot unfolds delicately, and we learn more about these two characters, their families, their past and their futures. They are the sort of characters you get attached to, and by the end of the novel I didn't want to leave them. They came alive, and I think that is always the sign of a good book.

I must say, it is not an action packed novel, but that is a critique on the genre and not on the book itself - the fact I still like it despite of this means it must be pretty good. You see, this book still picks you up and takes you on a journey, even if it is not a conventional one. It might not be the stereotypical page turner I most favour, but I found myself sucked in just the same, and then I couldn't put it down.  I am not transgender, but the beauty is you don't need to be - it puts you into the shoes of someone who IS transgender, so you can feel the pain, the restriction and also the freedom that comes with their self discovery. It is an emotional novel, one which will leave you wanting to fix the society around you, but also smiling in hope of the shining equality we are starting to see.

It is a book about unique friendships, family ties, love and fear - it shows how imperfections, differences and bad circumstances interwoven with good intent and resilience can still lead to happiness if this is what is most desired. It leaves the reader on an open ended cliff hanger, which I think shows almost how the story cannot be continued, because the future of all the characters depends on the current reactions of the society around them. As it is set in the modern day, it is like we have come up to speed - as they progress, we progress, so what happens to them next will be heavily effected by the way society and acceptance evolves. In a way, Williamson has almost left her characters to the fate of humanity.

So, all in all, I've never quite read a book like it, and I respect Williamson so much with her #whatisnormal campaign. With shows like Orange is the new black, and the revelation of Caitlyn Jenner, I think society is definitely starting to move in the right direction regarding its acceptance of transgender people, but we still have quite a long way to go yet. This book sets the bar regarding novels exploring issues of this kind, and really gets you to think of things from their point of view.  I would recommend this book to anyone, especially if you are outside the LGBTQ spectrum - you will love it too, I promise!

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view ... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." - Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird