This Charming Man By Marian Keyes

Published 2009                  885 Pages

Four very different women,

 One awfully charming man,

 And the dark secret that blinds them all.

 The charming man in the novel is politician Paddy de Courcy, his charm has taken over the whole country and, the four heroines he has encountered tell their different, yet similar stories that bring them together. First Lola – his girlfriend but not his fiancée – is devastated, Grace – a journalist – is intrigued, Marnie – his ex – spirals downwards and Alicia – his fiancée – finds herself caught in a media whirlwind.

It is not a typical Marian Keyes, I don’t think there is one laugh out loud moment, but it intrigues from the start as the truth slowly unfolds. As soon as you get interested in one woman’s story, the next begins, making it difficult to put down. (I read it in 5 days).

The portrayal of depression and alcoholism from Marnie’s perspective is heart wrenching and devastating, but still moving and frustrating as her life crumbles, she has no one to help her and won’t admit her own problems.

Lola’s piece is written in diary form, so very chatty with a lot of blunt, dry humour, it makes you see that we all feel the same when it comes to heartbreak, and is a refreshing writing style which breaks up the hefty book nicely. After having her heart broken she takes off to a small village and makes friends with locals and cross dressers, she even falls for one of them.

Grace is the journalist, and also Marnie’s twin sister, who carries a secret of her own whilst trying to contact Lola to get her story she also has to deal with her own boyfriend and her sister’s marriage that falls apart.

Alicia has to deal with the media day to day to show the world she loves him and will do anything for him, no matter how he treats her. The four join together and come to a shocking conclusion, and decide to bring Paddy down to his knees.

This is not your average chick-lit, it is far more creative than that, and, although it’s a long book, you really don’t realise.

This Charming Man, deals with domestic violence, alcoholism, cross dressing and much more. It’s not your typical beach read.

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Vanishing Acts By Jodi Picoult

Published 2005          417 Pages

It takes two people to make a lie work,

The person who tells it,

And the one who believes it.

The main question that needs to be asked whilst reading is what do you do when you find out your life is a lie?

Delia has to ask herself just that. Whilst planning her wedding in New Hampshire with her young daughter and widowed father, she can’t help but dream of a life she can’t recall.

She loves her job finding missing person’s and can’t wait for a life with her handsome fiancé. So when the police come knocking and arrest her father for kidnap, her entire world fractures into something unrecognisable.

And so begins a journey of shock and betrayal, as she travels to Arizona, the place where her father had kidnapped her from her own mother, someone whom she had believed her entire life had died in a car accident.

Picoult has clearly done her research, which is evident from the disturbing details told from within the prison. The story’s chapters are each told from a different characters perspective, Delia’s are bittersweet and confused, her fiancé Eric confused also as he struggles with alcoholism and is also Delia’s father’s lawyer. Delia and Eric’s best friend since school –Fitz- is also in the mix, having to deal with the emotions of his lifelong love for Delia and the fact that he is the journalist sent to cover the trial.

The main plot is enough to keep you reading, but just like any other Picoult book, it’s the relationships and connections that add the depth that most modern literature lacks. It deals with alcoholism, recovered memory, and begs the question, should all crimes really be punished?

Switching between past and present, Vanishing Acts explores the relationships we build, the things we remember and the things we’re better off forgetting. This novel not only flows really well, but keeps the reader thinking about it log after the final chapter.

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My Sister’s Keeper By Jodi Picoult

Published 2005                        448 Pages

If you use one of your children to save the life of another,

Are you being a good mother -

Or a very bad one?

Kate was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of two, now 16 she desperately needs a bone marrow transplant or she will die. Her brother, Jesse is no match, but her scientifically engineered sister Anna, 13, is perfect. Born to to donate bone marrow and stem cells, every time Kate is hospitalised, Anna is too. This means Anna can never lead a normal life of going to summer camp or even college.

Until now, Anna has never questioned her role in life, just always stepped up. But when Kate needs a kidney, Anna is told there is a 1 in 3,000 chance she will die on the operating table, and if she doesn’t she will be in hospital for 4 to 6 weeks. As much as she loves her sister, this is too much for her to bare, so Anna seeks out a lawyer so she can sue her parents for the rights to her own body.

With all of this, there is also the story of wild child Jesse, he does drugs, plays with matches and steals a judge’s car. It is just acting out because he can’t be the one to help his dying sister, so therefore, lives his life virtually being unnoticed.

I won’t spoil the ending for you (which is much better and very different to the way the film ends) but you definitely do not see it coming! It is clear throughout the book that there are no right or wrong answers for any of the situations. Picoult has done a good job of presenting all of the dilemma’s and it really is thought provoking, no matter how ethical you might be.

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Twilight the Movie

When you can live forever,

What do you live for?

Produced 2008
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen)

Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart, Jumper, Panic Room) is the new kid in school when she moves from Phoenix, Arizona, to the small town of Forks, Washington, to be with her police chief dad.

On her first day at school Bella is soon established as clumsy and is very popular with the boys. With her pale skin and dark hair she is instantly drawn to a group of cool kids, who keep themselves to themselves, little does she know, they’re vampires.

Edward Cullen (Rob Pattinson, Harry Potter) is the lonely vampire with his step brothers and sisters, all of whom have soul mates apart from him. So when he sees the new girl, and is forced to sit with her, he can’t help but feel the need to get to know her, and want to drink her blood.

Then it turns into the typical good-girl bad-boy relationship, but much more of an impossible romance. The forbidden relationship carries on throughout the film, the sexual tension between the characters almost carrying it. Bella wants to spend forever with Edward, but he loves her too much to damn her to live in the vampires’ twilight for all eternity.

With all this as the primary story line, the secondary would be the rogue vampire coven James, Laurent and Victoria. They have been moving closer and closer to Forks, and now there are mysterious killings happening right in the town. Once they catch Bella’s scent, it’s her they want. And so comes the chase.

I think this is a fantastic teenage romance with a beautiful twist. A film which uses some of the original dialogue from the book and brings it to the big screen, the way films should be done. A definite must-see!

Click here for the Twilight Book Review

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Change of Heart By Jodi Picoult

Published 2008                      Pages 461

Your daughter needs a new heart.

The only match comes from a murderer.

What would you do?

June Nealon’s car is hit by a drunk driver, killing her husband. She later re-marries, and when expecting a baby with her new husband they hire a handy man to complete the nursery. Unfortunately for her, the handy man – Shay – kills her new husband and her four-year-old daughter. Now he’s on death row, and the baby she was pregnant with is an eleven year old who needs a heart transplant, and he wants to give it to her. I haven’t ruined anything for you, that’s just the first chapter.

Picoult knows how to get you hooked right from the beginning with this heart wrenching story, she manages to write emotionally gripping books that are still easy to read.

The story unfolds and is told from the various characters points of view, including those of the murderer on death row. You can see that some extensive research has gone in to this book, especially when we hear about the Gnostic Gospel, something which never made it in to the Bible.

It is fascinating to read about the miracles that Shay performs whilst he is in prison, including bringing a dead bird to life. It all comes back to religion and the Bible, and it is all about his heart, and how actually, he is very kind and gentle.

The story builds to a climax towards the end, but the ending is not the climax. The reasons behind why her husband and daughter were killed are not obvious until you are told, so it really does surprise you.

I don’t think this is one of her best, but it is still a good book for the beach or a rainy Sunday. It is her most thought provoking novel to date, even if you don’t believe in religion or the death penalty you cannot deny how powerful this book is.

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The Pact by Jodi Picoult

Published 2005                      Pages 480

Your son says they both meant to die.

But he lived.

What would you do?

This was the first Jodi Picoult book I ever read, and since then I have never looked back and have read most of her other books.

The story is about Chris Harte and girlfriend Emily Gold, who have grown up living next door to each other, and over the years developed a relationship which was encouraged by their parents, who are also the best of friends.

Aged just seventeen they make a suicide pact. Now Emily is dead from a gunshot wound to the head, and Chris is still living and breathing. The gun found at the scene, which had been stolen from Chris’ father, had one bullet still in it, supposedly meant for Chris, but he passed out from all the blood when Emily died, so he never got to kill himself, so he says.

The main reason I enjoyed this book so much was because the suspense of ‘did he, didn’t he?’ carries on throughout the whole book. It is very well written and I like how it jumps backwards and forward from the initial relationship starting, to the courtroom drama. Although, I think the first chapter is difficult to get in to, but once you have passed that it is very difficult to put the book down.

It gets easier to understand the character of Emily and why, at seventeen, she would want to kill herself. The trauma she goes through whilst growing up, along with being a hormonal teenager, was enough for her to want to end her life.

Chris is the main character throughout the book, and you learn to like his character even though at times he becomes very frustrating. It makes you feel like you want to tell him to share all the secrets he knows, and you empathise with him when you learn about the ones he had no idea about.

My favourite part of the book is towards the end, when in the courtroom, he himself takes the stand, and he tells the court he doesn’t know if he killed her. His own lawyer then asks him how he can plead guilty if he doesn’t know what happened. It is quite lengthy, but nail-bitingly suspenseful.

A very good read, which got turned in to a very unfortunate film. The courtroom and the flashbacks are what really makes the story such a compelling read, and is an absolute page turner.

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Breaking Dawn By Stephenie Meyer

Published 2008                    754 pages

This moment was so perfect, so right, there was no way to doubt it.
It felt like every nerve ending in my body was a live wire.

‘Forever,’ he agreed.

***Spoiler alert!!!

Breaking Dawn is the fourth and final book in the Twilight saga, and beautifully crafted to tie up the loose ends left in Eclipse.

For anyone who has not read any of these books (and I doubt there are many of you left) you should read Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse first, and in that order. The author goes straight in to where the story left off in Eclipse, so you really should read them to fully understand, and they do make a good read!

For those who have read Stephenie Meyer’s previous novels, Breaking Dawn is the long awaited end to the love story and impossible romance of vampire Edward Cullen and hopeless human Bella Swan. The beginning of this saga, Twilight, started off the series with the modern day and heart stopping, teenage romance between the two characters. New Moon dealt with Bella and Edwards’ separation and inevitable reunion, heartache and confusion, and ended with an incredible climax. Although, New Moon is more of an end to the romantic and sexual tension that makes the reader want to carry on, it still tells a compelling story between Edward, Bella and Jacob.

As a result of this, the third novel, Eclipse, is very different to the previous two. It is quite clear from the beginning that no matter what happens; nothing will separate Bella and Edward.

In Breaking Dawn, the strength of Stephenie Meyers writing lies in the exploration of the different relationships between the characters, mother and child, father and child, husband and wife, and the bonds of friendship.

The story starts with the wedding which is just days away and continues into a honeymoon on a beautiful and secluded island. The newlyweds soon consummate their marriage, and just like the rest of his kind, Edward gets a bit wild and breaks headboards, shreds sheets, and, unknown to Bella, leaves her body covered from head to toe in bruises.

This is the first novel where we really see Bella think for herself, the previous three have shown how much she relies on Edward, and doesn’t really have an opinion of her own. When she realises she is pregnant with a half vampire half human baby, it is the only decision she makes by herself, and against Edwards will, to keep it.

The pregnancy and birth are incredibly descriptive so you can really see how the writing has come on since Twilight. I like how the conflict with the Volturi continues through this novel, and the inevitable win by the Cullens and what feels like every vampire on the planet, and then there is the unprecedented stand that the wolves take, and they’re on the side of the vampires.

The end of Breaking Dawn finishes the saga off nicely, and leaves no questions unanswered. However, I don’t like how in the end Bella got her own way for everything. That was the only disappointing thing for me really, she got a pregnancy, marriage, and finished school properly and still has Jacob running around after her. Although, remembering this is a vampire story, I can’t really compare Bella to an actual human. All in all, a good read and I can’t wait for the movie.

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Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Published 2005                   434 pages

“About three things I was absolutely positive.

First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him -
and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be -
that thirsted for my blood,

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably
in love with him.”

***Spoiler alert!!!

Twilight is a story about the developing romance between Bella and Edward and is nothing like any other vampire book you have read before. The sexual tension between the two characters, and the mystery of Edwards’ whole being, makes the book a must-read for both teenagers and adults alike.

The story, told from Bella’s point of view, slowly unfolds when Bella moves to Forks to live with her father. Meaning you only know what she knows. So when she learns about the Cullen family, the questions that you are thinking are the same as her. Who are these people? Why are they so perfect? Who, or what, is Edward Cullen?

The mystery of the Cullen family unfolds throughout the story, along with the inevitable attraction that Bella has for Edward. It is thought provoking and almost unbelievable to watch the love story continue throughout the whole book. The romance between them is both touching and compelling, and neither of the characters gives up hope that the relationship might be doomed before it has even started.

Being the new kid in school means that the whole town knows Isabella Swan (Bella) is coming. She is made out to be plain and boring, and everything is always over-thought.

Bella’s character is portrayed to be shy and nervous, even though she is the centre of attention. The idea of standing out in a crowd makes her feel sick. The idea of living in such a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business is enough to make Bella want to go home.

You are made to feel uncomfortable when she is around Edward, the instant spark which neither of them address, can be quite frustrating throughout, which goes with the theme of teenage angst and sexual tension.

The climax of the book is where the race to keep Bella alive and away from rogue vampires Laurent, James and Victoria comes to a dramatic end. These characters, along with best friend Jacob Black, make an appearance in the following novel New Moon.

Twilight has been described as a vampire story for people that don’t like vampire stories. It is beautifully crafted in to a delicate story of love, lust and want, but still holds the dark side of the unknown.

Considering it is a young adult book, it is quite long; however, it really is a page turner so you’ll never notice! The ending makes you want to know the history behind the Cullen family, although briefly touched upon; it really makes you need to read more.

Click here for my Twilight Movie Review

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Eclipse By Stephenie Meyer

Published 2007                             628 pages

His kiss frightened me. There was too much tension,

too strong an edge to the way his lips crushed mine -

like he was afraid we had only so much time left to us.

***Spoiler alert!!!

The third in the quadrilogy, following the international bestsellers Twilight and New Moon, this follows the love story of Edward and Bella as they try to stop mysterious killings that are heading closer and closer towards Forks, and to Bella.

If you haven’t, you should read Twilight and New Moon first, as the author doesn’t spend much time going over what has already happened. The reader is basically dropped in to the story where New Moon left off, so don’t finish one book without having the next one at hand, the waiting to know what happens next is unbearable.

Throughout the novel, Bella is portrayed to be too dependent on Edward, which may not set a good example for young, impressionable minds, however it is fantasy, so enjoy it!

The novel starts with Bella’s graduation approaching and so she will be leaving Forks forever to go to college – or so the mortals will be lead to believe – when the actual plan is for her to become a vampire, and live for eternity with Edward and his family. Bella will be unable to return to Forks, as the bloodlust of becoming a ‘newborn’ vampire will take over her life for a few years, making it difficult to be around anyone she cares about.

The reader, however, is not taken that far into the story, we get to graduation but then the vampires from Seattle come to Forks, and this dominates the rest of the story.

The killings are all over the papers and now they need to be stopped; only Edward and his family can stop the revenge killings by the ‘newborns’, who are lead by Victoria [who is still seeking revenge from Edward, because he killed her soul mate James, in Twilight] The initial scene where the newborns come into it and fight are very graphic and help the reader to feel how Bella feels, inferior to these creatures that are so much more beautiful than plain old Bella.

This is only one element to the story though, keeping in with Twilight and New Moon, Eclipse still carries the romance and lust between Bella and Edward. The angst and want for each other again ties in with the teenage feeling of sexual tension, but still manages to be a thrilling tale.

The love triangle between Jacob, Edward and Bella is still very much present throughout the novel, however, unlike New Moon, where you feel almost sorry for Jacob, Eclipse has him to be an emotional blackmailer, something that is very unattractive. The way Jacob’s character becomes more arrogant is brilliantly portrayed by the author, the reader almost hates him, but not quite.

For those already hooked on the saga, Eclipse is a fantastic third instalment of dreamy prose. Adults may not be so taken by it as the teenage relationship angst is a solid theme throughout, however still brilliantly written.

The whole story is built to a climax that leads to Jacobs’s disappearance, something which you do not really see coming, however it leaves an open ending for the forth book, Breaking Dawn. It is very intriguing to see where Stephenie Meyer takes the characters next, so make sure you have Breaking Dawn at the ready.

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