[Review] The Book of Speculation--Erika Swyler

This is a fantastic read. Although it started out very slow for me and I was very tempted in the first quarter of the book to give up, I’m honestly glad that I didn’t. The story alternates between a modern day setting and a traveling carnival in post-Revolutionary war America. In present day, emotionally scarred brother and sister Simon and Enola ponder the fate of their crumbling family home 10 years after their mother, a breathholder, drowned herself in the ocean. Laid off from his librarian job and concerned about his sister’s erratic behavior, Simon becomes obsessed by the appearance of a mysterious book kept by the carnival’s owner, which contains a notation about his grandmother. Delving into the story, he is pulled closer to the truth about the women in his family who all drowned on the same date, and their connection to the carnival people in the book: Amos the mute fortune teller, his mentor/pseudo-mother Madame Ryzkhova, and his love Evangaline, the carnival’s mermaid.

Little sketches in the book add a nice touch, especially the one of the horseshoe crab. If you to read this at the beach keep your eyes open for invasions of those guys. Also, I grew up in Burlington, NJ, where a major plot point occurs, so that was fun and unexpected.

My actual rating is 3.5, but since half stars aren’t available and 3 is insufficient, I went with 4. My main issue throughout the book was that I wasn’t able to connect with any of the main characters on an emotional level. They are just not likable. I cared about the story and reached a point where I had to know how it ended, but I found myself not really caring if Enola drowned herself or not. It could have been so much greater if we had known more about Enola and what she thought.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and will look for more from Erika Swyler in the future. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for another great read!

[Review] The Mermaid's Sister--Carrie Anne Noble

It seems that carnivals and circuses are a big theme in fiction lately and I have to say, I like it! The Mermaid's Sister is beautifully written and has a half real, half fairy tale feeling throughout. The story focuses on sisters Clara and Maren, who are delivered to their aunt as babies by stork and seashell. As Maren begins to grow the scales of a mermaid, Clara and the sister's best friend O'Neill set off to take her to the sea and end up on an epic adventure involving evil carnival people, fantasy creatures and a curse.

To me this story is a good example of why fantasy YA fiction is so popular right now, not just with teens, but with middle aged moms like myself. This book will lift you out of the everyday and transport you to someplace safe yet "other," at least for a little while. Thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Children's for this ARC.

[Review] The Golem and The Jinni--Helene Wecker

This was recommended to me by several people and I’m glad I finally found time to fit it into my burgeoning book queue. It's truly one of those novels that sweeps you away and before you know it you have forgotten to pick your child up from school (oops!). The story centers on a clay woman known as a golem, who is created in Europe to be a bride to a creepy little guy who packs her into a wooden box and takes her to New York as steerage on a ship. During the voyage the man becomes ill but can’t resist “awakening” his golem since the old man has provided instructions for both how to awaken and how to destroy her if necessary. The golem's husband does not survive the trip and the newly awake and nameless clay woman is left to fend for herself with no idea of where to go or what to do. To escape the ship she jumps into the Hudson River as it pulls into NY and walks along the bottom of the river to the shore. Eventually she meets a kind Rabbi who is one of the few people able to sense her true nature. The rabbi becomes her mentor, her first friend, and her protector, eventually bestowing on her a name, Chava, meaning life. Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, a metalsmith named Arbeely accidentally uncorks a jinni who has been trapped for a 1,000 years by a wizard who imprisoned him. 

This long but glorious read tells the story of how Chava and the jinni Ahmad meet and form an uneasy relationship that changes both of them and the people they come into contact with forever. I can’t say enough about how this story and these characters captivated me. Every time I put the book down I found myself thinking about them and wondering what would happen next. The potential exists for a sequel, but I think in this case maybe it’s best to leave well enough alone.