Reviews by Stephanie K. (Glendale, AZ)

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A Land So Wide: A Novel
by Erin A. Craig
Far, Wide and Mistaken (6/28/2025)
"A Land So Wide" by Erin A. Craig is a dark and chilling fantasy concerning the deep wilderness village of Mistaken, Canada. The raw, emotional buildup to each plot point puts one's nerves on the cutting edge as the protagonist, Greer, holds nothing back in pursuing her love Ellis as well as the town's potential destroyers, the Bright-Eyed.

I enjoyed how Greer demonstrated mastery of the art of growing up where every person in town knows you. Despite having lost her mother in a mysterious and questionable manner and receiving nothing but criticism for simply living her life, Greer crashes through personal and social barriers bravely on her quest.

She finds, through a series of extremely trying and dangerous "tests," that she's ultimately the answer and the heroine she was seeking all along. Greer shows us that despite aching loss and many dead ends in life, we can still triumph--albeit much differently from what we ever assumed was possible.
Angelica: For Love and Country in a Time of Revolution
by Molly Beer
Angel of the American Revolution (6/5/2025)
"Angelica" by Molly Beer, written in the contexts of the American Revolution, the French and British War of 1790 and the French Revolution, relates an American woman's tale of survival of not simply one but three wars. Throughout, she manages to become the silent, true-life confidante of such political luminaries as John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, Ben Franklin and George Washington.

As women didn't have the vote and in general weren't even permitted to discuss politics in public without censure and possibly jail, Angelica Church was an anomaly and a leader among the women of her time. Those with a penchant for American history will learn much that they never had any idea of through Angelica's voluminous written correspondences.

Living in the American colonies/United States, England and France at various points, she was a diplomat's diplomat without ever having held an official post. Readers will enjoy the way she deftly combines law, finance and diplomacy and joins it with a healthy dollop of gossip at the highest levels to construct political relationships. She takes a women's tendency for building warm friendships and applies it to the chaotic times she was born into to produce her own unique take on history. You'll never again see American history in the same light after reading the educational and touching "Angelica."
The Whyte Python World Tour: A Novel
by Travis Kennedy
Charmed By Heavy Metal (4/3/2025)
The Whyte Python World Tour was an unusual read for me, being that I liked the music of such luminaries as the Who, Rush, Alice Cooper and Aerosmith--but I wasn't a follower or groupie of any of the bands. So, though familiar with some of the music, the heavy metal lifestyle was an education and an eye-opener. This story follows one 1980s band in particular as its members negotiate going from pizza-and-beer living in an abandoned warehouse to the champagne lifestyle of penthouse accommodations. They were boys not necessarily educated or popular who developed a worldwide, fanatic following, nonetheless. In the meantime, they shockingly become involved in clandestine intrigue with the FBI and CIA.

I think my main point is that even if you don't like that genre of music, you can identify with young people growing into adulthood under its influence. In many ways, the Whyte Python's band members' stories are very similar to those raised in other musical styles.

The book demonstrates simply but profoundly that everyone is basically the same inside, regardless of what art forms they admire or practice.
The Original Daughter: A Novel
by Jemimah Wei
Origins in the Original Daughter (3/8/2025)
The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei is a chronicle of a "first" child who has trouble reconciling with the second one, another daughter. Many will be able to identify with being the "original" (elder) child in the family until a usurper for the parents'/grandparents' affections comes along. In this novel, I appreciated the raw honesty of feelings between the Singaporean sisters.

Their uncertainties and jealousies provide the drama and impetus for the story as they each struggle in their own way to cope and succeed. Those readers with either a younger or older sister will both laugh and cry over the broad range of emotion displayed between the two girls. As with most families, the hurts and differences they have only expand, rather than contract, as they grow older.

I liked that the author didn't try to hide or diminish the bad feelings between the sisters but brought them forward such that we nod our heads in recognition. This is certainly a universal tale in that we all move toward our siblings and then away, uneasy with both complete hatred or total love.
The Dream Hotel: A Novel
by Laila Lalami
Nightmares In the Dream Hotel (1/2/2025)
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami is a frightening glimpse into what terrors an authoritarian government could visit on its citizens. Its main protagonist Sara unwittingly falls into a waking nightmare when she's arrested for having a dream (which are monitored by the state) in which she tries to kill her husband. Readers who enjoy dystopian fantasies and alternative histories will find this novel intriguing as it follows Sara's attempts to understand what's happening and to escape the observation facility she's placed in. In a world where anything can and does happen, there are are shocks along the winding road that Sara travels in her mind.
The Bog Wife
by Kay Chronister
Bogged Down (8/9/2024)
The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister is a depressive chronicle of the twisted lives of the Haddesley family of West Virginia. After their father's death, the adult children attempt dysfunctional coping with one another and the outside world, much of it to little avail. How each deals with habit and habitation is the subject of this novel, which I believe would appeal to those who like dark, gothic fiction. The Haddesleys' sideways approaches to life and its silent terrors remind us all that we're more like them than not. The family cranberry bog seems to be a euphemism for what happens to everyone as they wend their way through life. Misunderstand or defy the bog and you risk not only your sanity but your very physical existence. This is what each family member has to endure and comprehend in his or her own way.
The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl
by Bart Yates
A Life Review in Twelve Chapters (5/4/2024)
The Very Long and Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl by Bart Yates was a very different and intriguing read for me. Normally not the type of book I'd select to read, I found it delightful the way the author began at age eight and concluded at ninety-six in revealing Isaac's unusual life. Although living an admittedly "ordinary life," he survives such traumas as an avalanche, naval battle, civil rights riot and earthquake to tell his tale of American family life. I couldn't help admiring someone--if only a character in a book--who was so resilient and steadfast no matter what life threw at him. Through each challenging event, Isaac remains humble and nonplussed, not considering himself a hero or even someone worthy of praise. Readers will certainly enjoy this tale, as I did, of an extraordinarily regular person shining during the very irregular occurrences of life.
The Funeral Cryer: A Novel
by Wenyan Lu
Mourning With the Mourner (2/12/2024)
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu is an intriguing and profound look into the life of a professional mourner in rural China. This unnamed person is shunned by most because of her unique profession and actual becomes an outcast of her own village. I found this novel to be very different in both its subject matter and its approach to life, death and grief. A friendship with a local barber demonstrates to her the static nature of her marriage but also the possible way she can break out of societal structure and discover personal happiness for the first time.

Although the foreign nature of its premise made it difficult at first to get into, The Funeral Cryer provided a look into an alternative culture that most Americans don't get to see. I'm glad I had the chance to.
Help Wanted: A Novel
by Adelle Waldman
Selling Retail Lives (12/30/2023)
In "Help Wanted," Adelle Waldman cuts close to the quick in detailing the struggles of retail workers in a big box store. As a former retailer myself, I identified with many of the emotions the characters were attempting to work through. This novel gave me a mild case of the "cold dreads" as I vicariously faced what each of the workers were facing in their personal and professional lives. It was a good take on the realities of life in retail, which at times can be like trying to run through mud.
The Stone Home: A Novel
by Crystal Hana Kim
Hidden Horrors Brought to Light (11/11/2023)
Crystal Hana Kim's the Stone Home is a poignant fictional account of "reformatory school" atrocities committed in 1980s South Korea. The novel resonates deeply with today's hot-button topics of child abuse and wartime brutality. Anyone with an interest in hidden history and its resolution, not to mention finding solutions to human trafficking and forced birth, will find it both truthful and horrifying in its implications. Although written about a time long ago, the feelings and issues presented are timeless in nature. The book demonstrates, above all, that people are people, no matter what their circumstances, ethnicity or history.
Above the Salt: A Novel
by Katherine Vaz
Above the Ordinary Novel (9/8/2023)
Above the Salt by Katherine Vaz acquaints us with Madeirans John Alves and Mary Freitas, two refugees from the Catholic and Protestant conflicts who flee to the U.S. This lyrical, poignant story relates in touching detail how John and Mary are separated time and time again yet reunite several times. Set during the time of Abraham Lincoln's ascent to the Presidency and the Civil War, it ties in the suffering of two individuals with the angst of an entire nation. Readers will laugh and cry at the humanity and the depravity of the characters in this story.
Devil Makes Three: A Novel
by Ben Fountain
The Devil's In the Details (8/21/2023)
Devil Makes Three by Ben Fountain is an impressive and rich novel largely centering around Matt Amaker, an American scuba entrepreneur. Matt has the great misfortune of being right in the center of a Haitian coup that displaces Aristide as President. When his livelihood is stolen by the rebels and he's beaten senseless, Matt is forced to look elsewhere for sustenance. While treasure hunting with his best friend Alix could net him a fortune, it could plunge him into the depths of trouble with the new government, the rebels, and a greedy and vicious cartel also looking for treasure.
Digging Stars: A Novel
by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma
A Young Woman Searches for Her Father and Herself (7/9/2023)
From bespangled Saharan nights to frozen Manhattan days, Rosa's life is, in essence, a search for her father. While she does indeed know his real identity and goes to visit him, his life with a new wife and son is a mystery to her. In the midst of devoting herself to her father's beloved Bantu geometries and Indigenous astronomies as her life's work, she encounters obstacles in dealing with his puzzling current life and personality. Rosa comes to understand herself first, and only much later--after his death--does she truly comprehend what her father's career and life actually encompassed. As with all of us, she discovers the good and bad, positive and negative, in her family's history and in herself, learning and evolving along the way even when she doesn't mean to. A coming-of-age novel, it demonstrates the tricks and traps of growing up between two very distinct cultures and families.
Panther Gap: A Novel
by James A. McLaughlin
Panther Spirit and Drug Cartel Violence (3/14/2023)
Panther Gap by James A. McLaughlin is a wild ride to a deceptively quiet, remote Colorado ranch. Hippie-spirit Bowman and his academic-track sister Summer grow up knowing there's more than what meets the eye in their idyllic existence. Behind the scenes, their family has amassed shocking wealth, and their secret inheritance brings a frightening array of suspicious characters and cartel operatives into their young lives. Bowman utilizes psychedelic rites and Summer ecological knowhow in an attempt to rescue their ranch from a selloff. What the siblings fail to realize is that several powerful drug cartels in the area are far more interested in offshore funds, at the expense of Summer's and Bowman's lives. Their story becomes more involving and fascinating as the chapters roll on, and the last few contain more than a couple of nail-biters. The author ties up the many loose ends very effectively at the conclusion and he has us genuinely caring for the welfare of his well-drawn characters.
The Critic's Daughter: A Memoir
by Priscilla Gilman
The Function in Dysfunctional Family Love (1/9/2023)
Ms. Gilman's work efficiently and sensitively categorizes the rise and fall in a family's fortunes, both in the literal and metaphorical sense, through the eyes of the eldest daughter, Cil. As well as taking us through her family's chronological history, it was more satisfying yet to wend our way through their emotional history. Anyone at all interested in Broadway or specifically musical theater will find this biography a charming accompaniment to a trip to the theater.
Ghost Season: A Novel
by Fatin Abbas
Heartbreaker That Goes Soul Deep (11/16/2022)
Ghost Season will grab you immediately with its five main sympathetic characters, four of them Black and one white, who eke out their lives in Sudan. I loved it for its raw honesty and grit in relating how each, though very different, intersects with the others in a dance of both hatred and love. The conclusion was unexpected and jarring, yet it was a fitting finale for these humble but shining characters. This book provides complete immersion with its unique setting and unusual cast.
In the Time of Our History
by Susanne Pari
This Book Appeals to Anyone With a Family (9/1/2022)
The Jahani family, exiles from the Ayatollah's Iran truly is Every Family, foreign-born or not. This would be an excellent novel for book clubs to discuss, and simply for individual readers to ponder, how we end up and stay in or leave the families we originate in. I didn't want to leave the Jahanis but instead wanted to keep on reading about their many adventures and misadventures. They represent not only Iranians trying to make their way in life, but all of us as we bumble through indelicately. The Jahanis demonstrate that we are all exiles in one way or another, but we march on regardless.
The Family Izquierdo: A Novel
by Rubén Degollado
Family That Could Be Yours (7/31/2022)
The Family Izquierdo relates the story of how a curse put on them by a jealous neighbor both divides and unites the family members. Each chapter is a piece of the puzzle told by a different Izquierdo and encompassing a different period in the family's history. The chapters are both intriguing and even shocking, and you'll hate leaving the Izquierdos when the book ends.
Fruiting Bodies: Stories
by Kathryn Harlan
Fruitful and Lush (5/8/2022)
I'd definitely recommend this book to read and discuss, particularly for any book club interested in diversity and inclusivity. Fruiting Bodies is a unique and stunning collection of stories so cohesive it reads like a novel. Though each chapter tells an entirely different coming-of-age tale, the reader is left wanting more of the individual stories and their vivid characters. I hated to have the book end, and I haven't felt that way in a long time! I've read lots of short story anthologies, and it's rare as a reader to enjoy all of them so thoroughly.
Some of It Was Real
by Nan Fischer
Belief and Doubt in a Psychic's World (2/18/2022)
Sylvie Young's doubt that she's a "real" psychic gives Thomas Holmes plenty of salacious fodder for his next journalist effort which "has" to be spectacular, or he's fired. Their background traumas form a strange admixture with their career clashes and personal agendas as they both fight yet give into romantic love. In Thomas' mind, she's a psychic vampire, much like the so-called "medium" who fleeced his mother into bankruptcy. Is Sylvie just another phony or the real deal? As Sylvie tries desperately to reassure herself and the world of her integrity, Thomas does all he can to tear her down. Who or what will triumph in this war of the wills?
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