Play! By Sephora April 2017

Play! By Sephora is a monthly subscription box by Sephora. It costs $10 a month and you received 5 beauty and skincare samples plus a perfume sample each month. Previously, you needed to put yourself onto a wait-list and wait to receive an email before you could subscribe, as they were rolling it out to limited quantities.

In addition to the products, Sephora includes a booklet that includes information about the product, the brand, and then tips of how to use the products. Also at the back of the book is a Play! PASS. This Pass gives you a complimentary one-on-one session with a Sephora artist as well as an extra 50 Beauty Insider points when you scan the pass at the register with any purchase. If you have the Sephora app, you can also scan the images of the products to learn more about them.

When the subscription first started, it seemed as though everyone received the same box. Lately, it seems as though they have a handful of box varieties that everyone receives based on the survey you fill out at the beginning and their theme. This month’s theme is Step It Up.

As a heads up, the boxes are a little bit larger and will not fit into a small apartment sized mailbox. For reference, a Birchbox box is able to fit almost perfectly into my mailbox, but this one has no chance. Therefore, I’ve started having it shipped to my parent’s house so I don’t have to go to the Post Office.

The product I received this month were as follows:

Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Cream (Full-Size $52)

I love getting moisturizers in these boxes! It’s so much fun to try different formulas. This one is lightweight and is said to provide deep hydration as well as lock in moisture. It claims to lock in moisture for up to 72 hours which will be interesting. It doesn’t have a scent, which I like but it’s a bit of that silicone texture so we’ll see how that works. I typically prefer cream moisturizers but I’m looking forward to trying this one.

Philosophy Purity Made Simple Face Cleanser (Full-Size $24)

The only other Philosophy product I’ve used is the Hope moisturizer. I didn’t mind it but my husband hated the scent. Like, without prompting, gave me a kiss on the cheek and visibly reacted to the scent asking what the heck I had on my face. I’m not super crazy about the scent of this cleanser, but we’ll give it a try. Sometimes the scents don’t linger and it is meant to be gentle and soothing, so I will give it a chance.

Smashbox Iconic Photo Finish Foundation Primer (Full-Size $36)

Ugh… I don’t need any more primers! I feel like these boxes have been heavy on the primers lately and I just don’t use them. While I appreciate that primers help your makeup to stay on longer and apply smoothly, I don’t like the silicone texture. It also tends to break out my skin, so I avoid them. I’m sure that if there is a good primer then it is one make by Smashbox. Unfortunately I will be passing this one on.

Makeup Forever Aqua XL Eye Pencil (Full-Size $21)

Waterproof black eye pencils are always nice to have! This is a great staple for summer and I’m excited to try it. Only weird thing is that I cannot get the cap off of my sample to try it. I will have to play around with it and if I cannot get the cap off, I will have to contact customer service and see if they can help me.

Sephora Collection Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover (Full-Size $11)

This is one of those separated oil based eye makeup removers that you’re supposed to shake before using. While I find them effective, they often irritate my eyes. This one also claims to strengthen lashes with olive wood extracts, so that should be interesting. It also states that the cornflower extract is meant to soothe lashes, so we’ll see if my eyes are irritated by this remover or not. 

Miu Miu L'Eau Bleue (Full-Size $90)

The notes of this perfume sample are lily of the valley, wild rose, and akigalawood. It's an interesting scent. I don't think I'm crazy about it. I feel like I'm learning that I'm pickier about scents than I first ever thought that I was. It has a sharpness to it that I don't really like (I think maybe from the rose?). It could end up being a good scent to layer with another one. I think a lot of people will like this one, but it's just not my thing.

The Whole Thing Together

By: Ann Brashares
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 304

Amazon Barnes & Noble

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Summer for Sasha and Ray means the sprawling old house on Long Island. Since they were children, they’ve shared almost everything—reading the same books, running down the same sandy footpaths to the beach, eating peaches from the same market, laughing around the same sun-soaked dining table. Even sleeping in the same bed, on the very same worn cotton sheets. But they’ve never met.

Sasha’s dad was once married to Ray’s mom, and together they had three daughters: Emma, the perfectionist; Mattie, the beauty; and Quinn, the favorite. But the marriage crumbled and the bitterness lingered. Now there are two new families—and neither one will give up the beach house that holds the memories, happy and sad, of summers past.

The choices we make come back to haunt us; the effect on our destinies ripples out of our control…or does it? This summer, the lives of Sasha, Ray, and their siblings intersect in ways none of them ever dreamed, in a novel about family relationships, keeping secrets, and most of all, love.

                                                                                  First Impressions

Yay! I am such a huge fan of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, so I was excited to see a new book by Brashares. Her name coupled with the cover caught my eye on Netgalley and I knew immediately that I needed to read this book.

                                                                                     What I thought

Uhhhhhh…..?

This is the story of a family. A very confusing and complicated family. Lila and Robert used to be married. Together they had three daughters, Emma, Quinn, and Mattie. Now divorced, Lila is married to Adam with whom she had Ray and Robert is married to Evie with whom he had Sasha. Ray and Sasha were born weeks apart and have lived seemingly parallel lives. While some divorces are amicable, this one was anything but. Lila and Robert live completely separate lives; so much so that Ray and Sasha have never met. Each family shares a summer home in the Hamptons on a weekly rotation. Ray and Sasha have shared the same bedroom for their entire lives, only knowing each other through what they left in the room.

I liked the idea of the story, but the execution was lacking. There was also a shocking moment that occurred about 80% of the way through the book that to me, felt cheap and unnecessary. This book could have been so much more interesting if it hadn’t fallen into some overdone tropes.

I also struggled with the switches in perspective. Now, I did have an Advanced Reviewer’s Copy, so I’m hoping that part of the difficulty was due to the formatting. It seemed to switch from person to person with no warning and a little too often for my tastes. I also felt like we didn’t need all of the perspectives. I think it takes a lot to make a book with 5 perspectives to work, and unfortunately this one just missed the mark for me. The thing that I think bums me out the most is that Brashares can do a multiple setting story so much better than this. Sisterhood had 4 rotating perspectives but they were much more developed and separate which made them work.

Ray and Sasha share sisters but are not related, and like I mentioned, have never met. I liked the uniqueness of their relationship, but felt like the romantic twist it took was lost within all of the other storylines. If the book had just been from their perspectives and focused on building their relationship, I would have loved it. However, it becomes such a side story that it ends up not making sense. I also got a bit confused between which thoughts were from which person. I liked that the point was that they were so similar even though they were so different, but they were too (unrealistically) similar.

My final straw with this book was the ending. Again, I’m hoping this is an ARC issue, but it seemed like the story just ended. I kept pressing the screen to see if another page would appear but nope, that was the ending.

I rated this three stars on Goodreads, because I didn’t mind reading it. But then as I wrote my review, I realized I wouldn’t really recommend this book, unless a lot of changes have been made between the ARC and the final copy. Overall, the idea just seemed underdeveloped and not well executed. Maybe my expectations were too high, but something about it was just a miss for me.
 

After the Fall

By: Kate Hart
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Pages: 336

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Seventeen-year-old Raychel is sleeping with two boys: her overachieving best friend Matt…and his slacker brother, Andrew. Raychel sneaks into Matt’s bed after nightmares, but nothing ever happens. He doesn’t even seem to realize she’s a girl, except when he decides she needs rescuing. But Raychel doesn't want to be his girl anyway. She just needs his support as she deals with the classmate who assaulted her, the constant threat of her family’s eviction, and the dream of college slipping quickly out of reach. Matt tries to help, but he doesn’t really get it… and he’d never understand why she’s fallen into a secret relationship with his brother. The friendships are a precarious balance, and when tragedy strikes, everything falls apart. Raychel has to decide which pieces she can pick up – and which ones are worth putting back together.

First Impressions

This cover reminded me a bit of The Love that Split the World, so it caught my eye. The summary made me a bit iffy, but it would count towards the Debut Author’s Challenge, hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. So regardless of my apprehension, I decided to give this one a chance.

What I thought

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book!

Raychel and Matt are best friends and have been pretty much their whole lives. Andrew is Matthew’s tagalong younger brother, although he’s only younger by a year. During their senior year, Matt starts to realize that he has more than just friendship feelings for Raychel, while Raychel realizes that she has more than just friendship feelings for Andrew. In addition to the love triangle, Raychel deals with assault, slut shaming, and bullying. Then even more tragedy strikes and everyone’s world is turned upside down.

Even though I am not one for love triangles, I did enjoy the relationship between Matthew, Andrew, and Raychel. I think I liked that there were parts I didn’t like. Matt is pretty much everything I hate in male friends. He and Raychel have been best friends but now all of a sudden he realizes that he wants to be more. Of course this leads him to thinking that he deserves to be more than just friends because he has always been there for Raychel. This whole thought pattern is the basis of the friendzone which I don’t believe is anything more than an excuse males make for the fact that they can’t handle the idea that any woman out in the world wouldn’t want to sleep with them.

The other issue I had with the relationship between Raychel and Andrew is her feelings seemed to get very intense quickly. She didn’t show any interest prior to their first kiss and then it was like “I love you!” Although, I guess that’s how teenage hormones work?

In general, this book is nothing but heartbreak. It was difficult to get through because of all of the heavy subject matter. Before the book even begins, Raychel is sexually assaulted. In addition to that, she has already been labeled the school slut for years so she has to deal with slut shaming. Pile on top of that notes of discussion about women’s equality, racism, and classism, and you have a lot on your plate. I do think I would have appreciated if it had been toned back as it can get to be a bit much. While it was a bit packed with serious subject matter, I think that for the most part it was handled well and realistically.

Overall, there may be some issues with the story but it was a really compelling read. I couldn’t put this book down even though every minute of it was heart wrenching. It’s not an easy read, so if you’re not ok with books that deal with controversial subject matter I wouldn’t recommend this book. If you like young adult novels that are a bit more serious, I would definitely recommend checking this out! I think I will be keeping an eye out for author’s sophomore novel.
 

The Night the Lights Went Out

By: Karen White
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Berkley Books
Pages: 418

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Recently divorced, Merilee Talbot Dunlap moves with her two children to the Atlanta suburb of Sweet Apple, Georgia. It s not her first time starting over, but her efforts at a new beginning aren't helped by an anonymous local blog that dishes about the scandalous events that caused her marriage to fail. 

Merilee finds some measure of peace in the cottage she is renting from town matriarch Sugar Prescott. Though stubborn and irascible, Sugar sees something of herself in Merilee something that allows her to open up about her own colorful past. 

Sugar's stories give Merilee a different perspective on the town and its wealthy school moms in their tennis whites and shiny SUVs, and even on her new friendship with Heather Blackford. Merilee is charmed by the glamorous young mother's seemingly perfect life and finds herself drawn into Heather's world. 

In a town like Sweet Apple, where sins and secrets are as likely to be found behind the walls of gated mansions as in the dark woods surrounding Merilee's house, appearance is everything. But just how dangerous that deception can be will shock all three women....

                                                              First Impressions

This cover is so cute! It looks like a book I would pick up for a summer beach/pool read. The summary also sounded cute and I knew I had to read this one. I’m a bit of a sucker for southern stories.

                                                                What I thought

I’m a bit torn on my thoughts for this one!

The story starts with Merilee Dunlap divorcing her husband after he cheated on her. She and their two children move into a small cabin on the property of Sugar Prescott, a 93 year old woman. Sugar’s family pretty much owned the entire town of Sweet Apple Georgia at one point in time, but over the years her brothers sold of acre by acre. Both women have difficult pasts with secrets that they hold close, yet this is exactly what brings them together.

I don’t know what’s been going on, but lately every book I read has a twist super late in the book that completely changes the type of book I thought I was reading. Because of that, I think my reaction to this book might have been a bit more negative than if I had read this after a few different types of books.

The first 75% of the book is a nice, light story of a recently divorced woman trying to find her way, and an elderly woman finding herself again. In amongst that, there is also an anonymous blogger who is commenting on the behaviors of the community. After the divorce, Merilee enrolled her children at a new school and because of that, begins to make new friends with some of the parents. Of course, there is one Queen Bee of the mother’s and that is Heather. I did have issues with this storyline. It was very obvious that while Heather seemed so nice, it was going to come and bite Merilee in the butt. Because of that, I felt anxious the entire time I was reading and that was not enjoyable.

I also really liked Sugar, Wade, and Merilee’s children. Really, the only characters I didn’t like were the ones we weren’t supposed to. Sugar’s own story that slowly unfurled as the book went on was interesting. I liked getting to know what made Sugar who she was and how her problems were similar to ones that Merilee dealt with.

At about the three quarter mark, the tone of this novel totally changes. I thought that I had picked up a book that was a contemporary novel or a “women’s fiction” but it then changed to a thriller. I had a bit of whiplash from the change that the book made. This is the part that makes me torn. While I enjoyed both parts of the story, they just didn’t make much sense together. It was a drastic change and I’m still recovering from it.

One final thing I liked about this book was the overall message that it gave. The entire novel touched on the subject of bullying in different ways. I liked that while there was an overarching theme with a positive message, it didn’t feel preachy or like it was shoved down my throat.

This book is definitely a 3.5 for me. I can’t pick between rating it a 3 or a 4 and I have even changed my rating on Goodreads a few times because of that. The story was very enjoyable and I finished it quickly because of that. I loved the setting and the characters and I would recommend it to anyone who likes Southern family stories with a bit of romance. But the final quarter of the book just threw me for a bit of a loop. I kind of felt like the rug was pulled out from under me and I wasn’t crazy about it. Like I mentioned, it might be because the past 3 books I’ve read have done that to me as well, but it didn’t leave me with a good taste in my mouth. In the end though, I would recommend this book and I look forward to continuing to read White’s books. 

The Bear & The Nightingale

By: Katherine Arden
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Del Rey
Pages: 322

Amazon Barnes & Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales.
                         
                                                            First Impressions

While looking through some of the Debut Author books for this year to complete the challenge, this cover immediately stood out to me. I think that the cover looks so warm and cozy yet mysterious and therefore maybe a little nerve wracking. When I read the summary I was immediately intrigued. I have never read a book like this one before, so I knew this was going to be added to be one of the debut books I read for my challenge.

                                                              What I thought

This book is so beautifully written.

Vasya is a young child in old Russia with the gift of sight. She is able to see the spirits that guard her house and the woods and doesn’t really think anything of it. Her new step-mother also has the sight and is convinced that she is mad and is seeing demons. Since Vasya can also see these demons, the step-mother is convinced that Vasya is a demon as well. When a new priest comes to the town, he takes it upon himself to save the village from these “demons.” However, when the villagers stop sacrificing to the old spirits, things start going wrong.

Arden does such a great job at writing about old Russia. The world is so vivid and I really felt as though I was a part of it. Like old school Russian authors, the book is very heavily written, but not in a bad way. It just took me a while to get through because it’s not a book that is packed with action on every page, but every page is interesting.

I do think there were parts where the book moved a bit slowly and I wished that it had gotten more to the point, but every part of the book was written so well that it didn’t irritate me. I was a bit annoyed at the fact that two of Vasya’s siblings were a big part of the early book and then pretty much completely disappeared. I thought we would get more of them back as she grew up, but they were barely mentioned.

Interestingly enough, my brother and I had a conversation while I was reading this book (that didn’t come up because I was reading this book) about what if the reason the world is falling apart is because people stopped praying to the Greek Gods, for example. This book is the perfect look into that theory and because of that, I found it even more interesting. 

If you are looking for a unique young adult novel that is not about romance or friendship, this would be it. While it has a bit of a fantasy element to it, it is done in an old school fairy tale kind of way. This isn’t about a bold heroine that is trying to save the world, but she ends up having to kind of do that anyway. It is unlike any book that I’ve read before, and it was so good. I will warn that it is a bit slow, so I wouldn’t be discouraged if you feel like it’s taking you a while to read. I am looking forward to more novels by Arden for sure!
 

My Last Lament

By: James William Brown
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Berley Books
Pages: 352

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

Amazon Barnes & Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): A poignant and evocative novel of one Greek woman's story of her own and her nation's epic struggle in the aftermath of World War II.

Aliki is one of the last of her kind, a lamenter who mourns and celebrates the passing of life. She is part of an evolving Greece, one moving steadily away from its rural traditions. To capture the fading folk art of lamenting, an American researcher asks Aliki to record her laments, but in response, Aliki sings her own story...

It begins in a village in northeast Greece, where Aliki witnesses the occupying Nazi soldiers execute her father for stealing squash. Taken in by her friend Takis's mother, Aliki is joined by a Jewish refugee and her son, Stelios. When the village is torched and its people massacred, Aliki, Takis and Stelios are able to escape just as the war is ending.

Fleeing across the chaotic landscape of a post-war Greece, the three become a makeshift family. They are bound by friendship and grief, but torn apart by betrayal, madness and heartbreak.

Through Aliki's powerful voice, an unforgettable one that blends light and dark with wry humor, My Last Lament delivers a fitting eulogy to a way of life and provides a vivid portrait of a timeless Greek woman, whose story of love and loss is an eternal one.

                                                  First Impressions

The line in the description that compared this book to All the Light We Cannot See was what sold me on it. I loved All the Light and have also found myself really enjoying WW2 historical fiction so I was looking forward to this book. Also, the cover is beautiful! Definitely one I would’ve picked up off the shelf based on cover alone.

                                                    What I thought

This book was so interesting!

The story of My Last Lament is told by Aliki from present day. She is an old woman who is the last lamenter in her village (a lamenter being someone who sings special songs when people die) and she was contacted by a university student about her laments. Instead of using the cassettes to record her laments, she decides to record her life story during the end of WW2 and the beginning of the Greek civil war.

The beginning of this book was a little bit hard to get into just based on the writing style. I didn’t like that Aliki was very obviously talking into a cassette. I almost felt as though I was reading a transcript of a recording and it took me out of the story. Luckily, this doesn’t happen often so I was able to get over it.

A lot of the books that I’ve read that have taken place during WW2 have been in the US, the UK, and a few in France. I was curious when I found that this one was going to take place in Greece, not just because I haven’t read a WW2 novel that’s taken place in Greece, but I don’t think I’ve read any novels set in Greece. It was a bit of a history lesson as well, since the story starts towards the end of WW2 but there is still so much war occurring. I didn’t realize that they had a civil war immediately following WW2. It was really interesting to learn more about what was happening in Greece during the late 1940s.

The three main characters, Aliki, Takis, and Stelios were very interesting. I liked the way that they interacted with each other and how they each had their own problems, even though the only point of view we received was from Aliki. Three young adults/children are thrust into the world thanks to the war and the story follows them through their ups and downs as they try to find their place. This story is a bit unique in two respects; the first being that the main characters are so young and the second being that it mostly takes place in post WW2 but in a country still war torn.

The writing for this book is really nice. I felt like I was reading a bit of a classic story but not in an overly complicated way. I think that it was more the style of the writing than the writing itself that gave me his feeling. I finished this book relatively quickly because I really wanted to know where it was going. While it wasn’t a “can’t put down” because of mystery or suspense, I couldn’t put it down because I was invested in the story.
 

This is a really nice story. I would definitely recommend it to fans of WW2 historical fiction. It is unique both in setting and in character and is very well done. The only thing that was missing a little for me was that the story is more about the journey than the events. I tend to enjoy books that are more event based or center around one specific event (hence my enjoyment of thrillers) and this one isn’t about getting to one event or the other. If you’re looking for a new historical fiction, I would highly recommend looking into this one. 
 

Where the Dead Lie

By: C.S Harris
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 352

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): London, 1813. Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is no stranger to the dark side of the city, but he's never seen anything like this: the brutalized body of a 15-year-old boy dumped into a makeshift grave on the grounds of an abandoned factory. One of London's many homeless children, Benji Thatcher was abducted and tortured before his murder—and his younger sister is still missing. Few in authority care about a street urchin's fate, but Sebastian refuses to let this killer go unpunished. Uncovering a disturbing pattern of missing children, Sebastian is drawn into a shadowy, sadistic world. As he follows a grim trail that leads from the writings of the debauched Marquis de Sade to the city's most notorious brothels, he comes to a horrifying realization: Someone from society's upper echelon is preying upon the city's most vulnerable. And though dark, powerful forces are moving against him, Sebastian will risk his reputation and his life to keep more innocents from harm.

First Impressions

One of the first books I received for review was the 11th book in this series, When Falcons Fall. I enjoyed it and liked that it was a bit different from other mysteries that I had read. When I was asked if I wanted to review the next book, I was looking forward to it. Based on covers alone, however, I would not have started this series. My friend and I often refer to them as vampire romance novel covers.

What I thought

In this novel, Sebastian St. Cyr is back in London and gets involved in finding the murderer of the poor children of the streets. While it starts out with a single murder, he soon finds out that this has been going on for years and they uncover multiple bodies.

One for the differences between this book and the last one is that there are a lot more established characters. I haven’t read books 1-10, so I don’t really know anything about those established characters. I think that book 11 was easier to read without the other books than this one. There are a lot of characters in these novels and with all of their old and regal names it makes it a little difficult to keep track of who’s who.

I liked that the mystery was following a serial killer and that it was of poor kids who no one really cared about until Sebastian St Cyr cared about them. I’m not crazy about his technique for investigation. It seemed like he was wandering around aimlessly and any time that someone suggested a suspect he would go running to that person and accuse them. He didn’t often wait to find evidence and then question his suspect. I was also disappointed by the lack of action on Hero’s part in this story.

In the last novel, Hero was a big help in the investigation and I liked that there was a strong woman in a novel that took place in the 1800s. Sebastian used Hero as a partner and sounding board and her opinion mattered in the last investigation. In this one, she had her own story and wasn’t really involved with the murders at all.

I definitely preferred the last novel to this one. After the last book I wanted to go back and read the other ones, but my curiosity isn’t as piqued now. Maybe that’s because I haven’t read the previous novels and there is a lot more history in this one. If you enjoy the other books in the series, then you will enjoy this one.

Book Club April 2017

By: Roxana Robinson
Published Year: 2008
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Pages: 416

Amazon Barnes & Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): When Julia Lambert, an art professor, settles into her idyllic Maine house for the summer, she plans to spend the time tending her fragile relationships with her father, a repressive neurosurgeon, and her gentle mother, who is descending into Alzheimer's. But a shattering revelation intrudes: Julia's son Jack has spiraled into heroin addiction.

In an attempt to save him, Julia marshals help from her looseknit clan: elderly parents; remarried ex-husband; removed sister; and combative eldest son. Ultimately, heroin courses through the characters' lives with an impersonal and devastating energy, sweeping the family into a world in which deceit, crime, and fear are part of daily life.

                                                     What I thought

Cost follows a dysfunctional family’s struggle with addiction. The story is mostly told from the point of view of Julia, who is the mother of Jack who is the heroin addict. While that is the largest family issue, Katharine, the grandmother is fighting the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, Harriet and Julia are dealing with long seeded sister issues, and Edward, the grandfather is dealing with old age and decisions he made when he was young.

The story of Jack’s heroin addiction and how it effects his family was fascinating. I’ve never read a story that dealt so realistically with addiction. The story itself jumps from perspective to perspective, so the reader gets a chance to see how Jack’s actions effect each and every person in his family. The majority of the perspectives alternates between Jack, Edward, and Julia.

While I did overall enjoy the story, I had some issues with the writing. I felt like this book could’ve been half the length because so much of it was unnecessary to the story. For example, Harriet, Julia’s sister, has a few chapters. While the first one is interesting because it provides insight into her relationship with Julia and the rest of her family, I completely skipped some of the other parts from her perspective. They just talked about her everyday life and how it is working with animals as a veterinarian. This in no way shape or form influences the rest of the story. Those chapters really irritated me. Just way too much excess that I skipped through. I also felt this way with the story of Edward and Katharine. I enjoyed learning about Edward’s life and career, but it was a totally different story. It had nothing to do with Jack and his addicition (with the exception of explaining the family dynamics with him and his daughter), and there was so much of it. I bet there could have been a second book just focused on Edward’s and Katharine. Especially since their story didn’t even feel conclusive in this book.

Another writing issue that I had was the length of descriptions. There were pages upon pages of descriptions that, again, had no real point in moving the story forward. Again, I skipped over these parts. The final writing issue I had was that there were certain phrases that were used over, and over, and over again. This repetition was irritating and often pulled me out of the story.

Overall, I think that the way this book deals with heroin addiction and how it impacts the family members of the addict is interesting and that in and of itself makes it worth reading. The writing (or maybe the editing?) is average at times and I will not be checking out more books from Robinson in the future.
           
                                                  What Book Club Thought


Book Club did NOT like this book. I guess the one positive is that those types of books always provide good discussion? I was actually the one who had the least amount of dislike towards the book. Two of the members didn't even finish because they didn't like it. A lot of the complaints were similar to what I listed above. The writing was a big issue for all of us. I think the general consensus was that we wanted this story to be so much more and it was just a lot of extra that didn't contribute to the core of the story. Basically, this book would not be recommended by our book club. The summary made us feel like it had such good intentions but it really missed the mark. 

Next Book Club Book
All the Missing Girls By: Megan Miranda
Amazon