Wolf Season

Wolf Season was given to me as a Christmas gift by a close friend. It is not a novel I would have chosen for myself but I am glad it was given to me since it broadened my horizons in literary experience.

It took me a long time to get interested in Wolf Season and when I was finally to the point where I could not wait to see what happened to everyone the novel ended. Which was frustrating in it's own right but looking back I see why Helen Benedict stopped when she did.

Rin just wants to be left alone to live with her shadowy demons that haunt her every movement. Tormented with PTS to the point where she can barely function Rin struggles to realize she is no longer in the war or that everyone is out to get her or her blind daughter Juney.

Naema works hard to become a doctor in the US and take care of her son who lost a leg in Iraq. Determined to give her son as normal a life as possible Naema gets a job working at the local veterans hospital until a devastating storm hits that lands her in the hospital.

Beth has it all or so it would seem, the picture perfect girl in high school married to the school jock. While her husband is busy being a war hero Beth is busy hitting the bottle. Torn up every time her husband comes home and is more and more a stranger Beth has no idea what to do about her destructive husband or her ever delinquent son.

All three of these women have very different back stories and different problems but they all want a better life for their child. It becomes very clear as the story progresses that any of them will do anything to keep their child safe and well cared for, the love they posses for themselves may be in short supply but it never dwindles for their child.

The writing took a long time to grab me. It felt like I could not make a connection with the character and I am not sure if that was due to the characters all being so reserved or if it was due to the writing not pulling me in. Like I said earlier just as I really started to get into the story it ended. I do wish a few more details had been shared and while it does say novel Naema is in another novel by Helen so maybe these characters will appear again. I do not think I would seek out anything else by Helen but if I happened to see it at the library I would most likely check it out, the story is one that I cannot stop thinking about it and parts of it haunt me.

The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett

I am not sure what I was really expecting from The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett and even after reading it I am not really sure what to say about the story beyond it was strange. I randomly chose The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett from the library while I was stocking up on reading material to keep my occupied while on a vacation from work.

Right away the book came off as strange to me and I was not sure what was really going on however since I wanted to know what happened to Lizzie Lovett I read until the end.

Hawthorn is not a normal character and I do admire Chelsea Sedoti for that, writing characters with interesting quirks and personalities is not easy. In no way does Hawthorn come off as cookie cutter anything she is a teenager who desperately wants to fit in with everyone at school while maintaining her uniqueness. I really do not feel like I can do Hawthorn justice in a review.

The writing was not something that screamed amazing at me while I read the story but looking back I see how complex of a character Hawthorn is. I am not sure I would ever actively seek out anymore of Chelsea Sedoti's work but I would not shun it either.