Book Review: Reunion

Sometimes in your reading life you just need first person narration. I needed all of Kate's "I's". Sometimes you also need a dysfunctional family... Reunion delivered that, too. And Pittard did a great job of pulling you in with the opening line:

"On June 16, at roughly eight thirty in the morning, I get the phone call that my father is dead."

Well, you have to keep reading after that. At least I did.

Kate's life is pretty well in shambles before she finds out about her father's suicide and before her siblings tell her she has to travel to Atlanta for the funeral -- which will also involve coming face-to-face with her four stepmothers and many half-siblings. As Kate haphazardly deals with her distastrous life, she also comes to terms with her relationship with her father.

This is a quick read and a good one for discussion. There's sibling relationships, adultery, childhood issues, and so much more. It's kind of the less-funny, more serious version of This is Where I Leave You. And check out Pittard's previous novel, The Fates Will Find Their Way. - Melissa (Downtown)

Book Review: Queen of the Tearling

Queen of the Tearling opens with Kelsea Raleigh Glynn saying goodbye to her foster parents on her 19th birthday. She is being whisked away (in secret) to New London by the Queen's Guard to take her spot on the throne. Her husband has been hanging out there for about twenty years and he's really a terrible Regent.

Of course, Kelsea doesn't know much about the current situation in the Tearling and she knows nothing about her mother's reign. So as she heads to New London surrounded by the Queen's Guard, she learns bits and pieces, but still not everything -- of course, the Queen's Guard has been sworn to secrecy so they aren't telling her much. That's part of what drives this book: the secrets. I kept reading because I wanted to know what Kelsea didn't.

I found this book to be a mix of Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games, and The Lunar Chronicles. It's got violence, a strong heroine, no love triangle, a magic queen, and lots of smart thoughts on censorship, responsibilities of those in power, and so much more. - Melissa (Downtown)