The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

This is the thread where you can submit reviews for the Best Review contest. The thread is open for submissions and will close at Midnight EST on August 20, 2016. Voting will start the next day and run until the end of the GR day on August 31. The person whose review gets the most votes will get to design a 20 point task for the Fall Challenge.

To be eligible for this task opportunity you must have achieved at least 100 points on the Readerboard by Midnight EST on August 19, 2016.

Just a reminder that each person can only submit one review - but you can make edits to your review up until the end. The review does not have to be any particular length and doesn't have to be a positive one (i.e. you can choose to review a book you didn't like).
Please include your Readerboard Name.

PLEASE DO NOT comment on people's reviews in this thread - this is for submissions only - you will be able to comment when voting begins.

SPOILER ALERT!- These reviews may include spoilers.

Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson

Reviewed by trishhartuk - five stars

I usually only read hard Science Fiction in the run up to the Hugo Awards, when I try to read the nominees in the major categories, which is why I ended up reading Seveneves (nominated for “best novel”). Prior to this, the only Neal Stephenson book I’d read was Snow Crash, which I really liked, but was a very different kind of book, so I had no idea what to expect from Seveneves.

The first line, however, pretty much reached out and grabbed me: “The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason. It was waxing, only one day short of full. The time was 05:03:12 UTC. Later it would be designated A+0.0.0, or simply Zero.”

First thought. Had Stephenson had been reading Douglas Adams, given the The HHGTTG description of plutonium rock band Disaster Area’s music catalogue and decided to run with it. After all, the first few chapters really do follow the pattern of “Their songs are on the whole very simple and mostly follow the familiar theme of boy-being meets girl-being beneath silvery moon, which then explodes for no adequately explored reason.”

Whether or not that’s really what happened (I’d like to think it was!), he ran with it very well. From that first line onwards, I was hooked.

Seveneves is huge in scope. It is split into three main parts. The first two cover the lead up to the end of the world as we know it and the fate of the survivors who managed to get off-planet, both of which explore the pioneer spirit and the struggle for survival, often in spite of human nature. The third is very much a ‘first contact’ story about what happens when their descendants finally return to Earth, five thousand years later.

However, at the same time, it focuses on a handful of characters throughout (albeit it’s a different handful in part three), and draws you into their story. So much so that despite knowing from very early in the book that that the world is doomed, it’s still gut-wrenching when it actually happens, which I believe is a testament to Stephenson’s ability to weave a story. An added bonus is that the high proportion of major female characters also means that it passes the Bechdel Test with flying colours.

There was also a nice touch that in the third part, the story of the first two is looked back on as an Epic, akin to the Iliad or the Odyssey, and that the first set of characters become heroes (and villains) for their descendants.

On the downside, it does suffer slightly from stereotype villains (scheming politicians, inevitable traitors and a space borne version of the Donner Party). Also, the ‘bad’ guys ending up being called Reds, and quite how the ‘good’ guy Blues didn’t figure out what the Reds in the third part were doing is a bit of a suspension of disbelief moment. I also sometimes stumbled over the astrophysics, which got a little tricky in places for a non-scientist like myself. However, the ‘downsides’ certainly didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the novel, although, I will admit, I would have liked to find out why the moon actually did explode. Perhaps that just furthered the homage to Disaster Area.

It’s a big book at 880pg, but it didn’t feel like it. What it did do was take up most of my free time over the course of the four days it took me to read it. It also left me hoping that Stephenson revisits the world he’s created in Seveneves in the future. While the novel is it is complete in itself, there’s certainly scope to do so, given the five-thousand year jump in the middle, as well as the two alternative survival scenarios that you learn about in the final part of the novel.

In the meantime, I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good, meaty novel with a lot of ambitious scope.

Hidden Wives by Claire Avery.

Reviewed by witchygal - five stars.

I decided to review "Hidden Wives" for the Seasonal Reading Challenge because I heard about the book through Goodreads and would never have read it if I had not rekindled my relationship with the website. I thoroughly enjoyed the book (as reflected by my five star rating) and am thankful to goodreads for the recommendation.

I will start my review with a caveat to highlight that I am an Australian so I didn't really know much about the Latter Day Saints (LDS) prior to reading books about the topic. I also consider myself a feminist. I find the religious dogma and religious thinking of the Fundamentalist LDS extremely interesting, however, (as with most things) I'm intrigued by the role of the women in the community.

"Hidden Wives" is a fictional story centered around Sara and her beautiful half sister Rachel. The sisters live with their father, four mothers and a number of brothers and sisters. They are a part of the "Blood of the Lamb" community in Utah and identify as Latter Day Saints. At the opening of the book, we discover that Rachel (16 years old) and Sara (15 years old) are being taken to visit the Prophet to receive information about who they are to marry. Alas Sara is advised that her uncle (Sara's father's half brother) has received testimony from God that Sara is to be his bride. Sara is crushed by the news concerned about the incestuous nature of the relationship. The Prophet is confused about Rachel's placement as sixteen men have received testimonies that God supports their marriage to beautiful, sweet Rachel. The Prophet decides that he wil pray for the answer to this dilemma.

As the story continues, the narrator of the story switches from Sara to Rachel. The girls are due to start back at school, however are dealt a nasty surpise that they will no longer attent the local public school and will attend a school run by the "Blood of the Lamb" community. Sara is particularly devastated as she accurately predicts that the school will focus on religious dogma and she will lose access to secular books and novels. The sisters strike up a friendship with Luke, a young man who has not been raised in the community. Luke's father has recently begun to believe in the Principle and has moved his family to the community. Luke raises confronting questions about daily life of the "Blood of the Lamb. Where are all the teenage boys? Why don't women have a choice in who they marry? Rachel and Luke quickly fall in love with each other and slowly Rachel starts questioning the beliefs she has been raised with. Meanwhile Sara is horrified by the thought that her destiny is to wed and have babies with her uncle. She is desperate for an escape from her life and devours any and all books that give her a window into life outside the community. After many searching questions about her life and a violent near death experience, she decides that she and Rachel must leave the community. Together Sara and Luke attempt to convince Rachel to run away.

I found the story to be immensely moving and was heatened by the sense of loyalty and love that Rachel and Sara had for eachother. I felt that the authors did a great job of differentiating the characters. I found it quite easy to determine which sister was talking without needing to double check the first page. In a book where the dominant belief of the community is that women are only useful for their reproductive systems - as "vessels" to create more "saints"- I think the authors were able to show the personality and strength of many female characters.

I would also like to make a note of my favourite part of the book and one of the reasons that I rated it five stars. (view spoiler)[The book does not end once the girls escape the community. The book talks about their struggles with homelessness and employment difficulties. It talks about the sister's occasional doubt as to whether they should have left and their love for sisters and brothers who remain. It talks about the ongoing effect of their trauma- nightmares, post traumatic stress disorder, suicidal ideation and psychosis. I loved this because it spoke to the fact that while "leaving" is the first step to recovery, it is not the last.


I really enjoyed this book and am impressed by the author's understanding of trauma and cult life. I would highly recommend this book to others. I hope that you too are able to enter tbe lives of Sara and Rachel and walk with them through their emotional journey. (hide spoiler)]

by Rosalie Knecht

If you are looking for a great summer read that is plot driven and told with a great sense of character and place, look no further than this little gem, which is the author's debut novel. This book is perfect if you're looking for something to read in the last days of challenge; a full and satisfying reading experience in less than 300 pages. Bonus points for the beautiful cover.

Relief Map is the story of the week that a small, rural Pennsylvania town goes on lockdown when the subject of an international manhunt, a Georgian fugitive wanted for (view spoiler)[his role in a bombing (hide spoiler)], is thought to be hiding there. (view spoiler)[He is. (hide spoiler)] The town is experiencing a heatwave and when the electricity is cut as the lockdown begins, the residents are stifled by both the extreme heat and the inability to get real information about just exactly what is happening. In this post 9/11 small American town, the local authorities are clearly in over their heads and the townspeople are driven to terrible actions by mistrust and fear of the unknown.

While told mainly from the point of view of 16 year-old Livy, we also hear from the fugitive, Revaz. Their feelings of isolation and fear as well as their struggles with figuring out where they belong and where they are going, make the teenaged American girl and the middle-aged Georgian man really more alike than their obvious differences would suggest. The author does an outstanding job of drawing subtle yet significant parallels between them.

As we learn the backstory of Revaz and the decisions that led him from being an ordinary journalist (with a questionable but not necessarily criminal sideline-at least not the kind that would lead to this massive international effort to find and apprehend him) we see how those decisions, and sometimes his own ignorance, willful and not, led to him being in the position he is in. Likewise, we see Livy making a cascade of bad decisions that lead to completely unintended, but nonetheless seriously criminal results. While I wanted to shake both of them many times for their choices, none of those choices seemed unreal or preposterous to me. Both were real people making real people mistakes. And both suffer real consequences.

In addition to Livy and Revaz, we are introduced to other people in the town, who also make bad choices during this crisis. As with the main two characters, we are given enough backstory to make sense of why they did the things they did. Not even Livy's seemingly average parents escape unscathed; their own past decisions are threatened to be revealed not only to their daughter but to the community and beyond, potentially causing more than just the typical rift between a teenager and her parents.

Fast-paced with beautifully drawn characters and setting, Relief Map is a book that will appeal to lovers of literary fiction as well as readers who are looking for a great story told in an engaging way. Highly recommend.

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

If you’re like me, you found yourself pushing a little extra-hard on the back of the closet, hoping it led to Narnia, or being just a bit more clumsy than usual, wondering if a knock on the head would transport you back in time to King Arthur’s Court. Maybe you looked for white rabbits to follow, or peered outside during thunderstorms in case Mrs. Whatsit happened by to take you to Camazotz. I am still slightly disappointed that I never developed magical powers or visited a hidden land.

But what I never thought about was what happened when those kids came back home – after Alice’s sister woke her from the nap, or when the kids who went to Narnia had to go back to post-war London. It’s a horrifying thought, actually – who could go back to regular life, unchanged? Would you tell anyone? Would anyone believe you?

Enter Seanan McGuire’s beautiful new release, Every Heart a Doorway. Here, kids who return from fantastical lands have a home with Eleanor West, who herself returned from another world and now runs a sort of half-way house boarding school for others like her.

Nancy arrives at the home, fresh from her own fantasy world, dropped off by parents who are worried about the changes in their daughter. And soon after Nancy’s arrival, things get dark in the one safe harbor for these kids. Suspicions abound and their home is threatened.

Seanan McGuire writes gorgeously and has created a thrilling, unique plot. The story is compelling and emotionally powerful, even as it raises fascinating questions about what it is to be different, to experience the world differently, and to be a part of a community built around similar, but not identical, experiences.

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
4 Stars

Following his previous successes, business is booming for private investigator Cormoran Strike. That is until his assistant, Robin Ellacott, is sent a severed leg in the post. With the police focusing on the most unlikely suspect, Strike and Robin decide to investigate three other men from Strike's past with both the motive and brutality necessary to commit the crime. As the two close in on the culprit, he may just be closing in on them…

An intense and exciting installment in the series. There is no doubt that Robert Galbraith aka J. K. Rowing is one of the most talented writers of our times. She certainly knows how to ratchet up the tension as she slowly but surely leads the reader down the garden path with red herrings and misdirection only to deliver an exciting twist and satisfying resolution.

New and fascinating details concerning Strike and Robin's pasts emerge to enthrall the reader and pull them even deeper into the developing relationship between these two captivating characters. Robin has always been an intelligent and independent woman, but the tremendous strength of her will is even more apparent in this installment. Likewise, the insights into Strike's former life are engrossing.

The secondary characters ranging from Matthew, Robin's obnoxious fiancé, to Shanker, Strike's amoral friend, to the sadistic and perverted killer are all fleshed out well and contribute to the gripping effect of the story.

All in all, a spine tingling thriller with incredible characters that will keep you coming back for more.

This thread closed at Midnight Eastern Time on August 20, 2016.