A Madness So Discreet

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ 

Published: 6 October 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Mystery

Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

In this beautifully twisted historical thriller, Mindy McGinnis, acclaimed author of Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust, explores the fine line between sanity and insanity, good and evil—and the madness that exists in all of us.

This book was, well, odd. You would probably expect that from a book told from the view of a girl locked up in an insane asylum, but it was plain strange. It may have been that I was completely distracted while I was reading this, as I was stuck at my brother’s soccer teams party, but I didn’t feel any connection to the plot. I almost forgot I was reading a book. It was as if the words were escaping my brain as soon as I read them. 

A Madness so Discreet was very complex, to say the least. It had a lot going on, but wasn’t terribly interesting. The writing and the characters were beautiful, but other than that, it lacked substance. I wasn’t drawn to keep reading, yet I continued on because something about Grace fascinated me. She was locked up in an insane asylum that wasn’t at all conventional - they’d starve their patients just so they’d be less violent, put those who were acting badly in the basement in which the mud rose up to their ankles. Though she wasn’t insane in the first place, as she was placed there because she got pregnant, not by her own accords, I feel as if a place like that would’ve made her insane. 

“Grace had learned long ago that the true horror’s of this world were other people.”

Grace is just such a lovable character, I wanted to pick her up and shield her from everything bad that has happened to her. After a violent outbreak, she was sent down to the basement, where she met Falsteed, who helped her meet a man named Dr. Thornhollow who helps Grace stage her death so she can leave the asylum. This doesn’t happen that far into the book, and I was hoping that I would get more interested in the book, but it didn’t happen. Literally Grace is the only thing that saved this book for me, other than the writing itself and setting. 

“These are your friends now, Grace Mae.
A madman who eats cancer in the dark and another who searches for a different kind of killer, the kind that smiles at you in the light of day.
This is your new life. I hope you can stand it.”

In the end, the idea of the book was interesting, which is why I picked the book up in the first place, but I feel as if the author tried to fit too much into the novel. Once Grace took on a detective role with Dr. Thornhollow, helping to solve a murder case, it just made the book worse. It’s not really the fact that there were multiple genres in the book, but it just wasn’t done well. McGinnis really just touched on the details as must as she needed to, without going in depth - and that was the issue.

I would tell you to give it a shot - from what I’ve heard, the majority of people did enjoy it, I just didn’t. The writing is beautiful and the topics discussed are wonderful, as they touched on mental illness, rape, all with absolutely no romance. But if you’re more into books that you need a connection, then I’d skip it. The writing makes the reader very detached from the story and is a bit of a mess. Now, I gave it three stars because I truly enjoyed the story, I just didn’t like how it was presented.

Top 10 Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. This week's topic is Top Ten Book To Movie Adaptations I'm Most Looking Forward To or Still Need To Watch. Also, I know there's only 9, but I didn't know what else to put!

Hello? By Liza Wiemer

Hello? by Liza Wiemer

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 

Expected Publication: 10 November 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary

One HELLO? can change a life. One HELLO? can save a life.

Tricia: A girl struggling to find her way after her beloved grandma’s death.
Emerson: A guy who lives his life to fulfill promises, real and hypothetical.
Angie: A girl with secrets she can only express through poetry.
Brenda: An actress and screenplay writer afraid to confront her past.
Brian: A potter who sets aside his life for Tricia, to the detriment of both.

Linked and transformed by one phone call, Hello? weaves together these five Wisconsin teens’ stories into a compelling narrative of friendship and family, loss and love, heartbreak and healing, serendipity, and ultimately hope.

This book captivated me from the very start, as it threw me straight into a scene that broke my heart. I can’t seem to put everything that I’m thinking into words because this book was just fabulous, and coming from someone who hardly gives contemporary books more than four stars, I believe that this book broke my scale. It went above and beyond what I expected. I started this book during the commercial brake of one of my favorite TV shows, but I was unable to stop when the show returned. I knew from the very first chapter that it would be one of my favorite books this year, and I was right.

The story follows five teenagers, all connected in one way or another, on their journey throughout life. Each one bringing an absolutely unique story to the table that broke my heart over and over again. The story is written through alternating first-person point of views of the five main characters, which I absolutely adored as each brought their own style, adding depth to each character and allowing you to truly get to know the characters, watching the develop and grow.

Told from all five viewpoints: narration (Tricia), narration (Emerson), free verse poetry (Angie), screenplay format (Brenda), narration and drawings (Brian). 

Though I’ve never been a huge fan of reading free verse poetry when it comes to novels, the story itself was good enough that rather than skipping the parts I didn’t enjoy, it kept me going, and I’m glad. It wouldn’t have been that good of a novel if just a single part was left out, as the connections between the characters was an essential piece. The way that the stories intersect with each other are absolutely breathtaking. It just all seemed to fit into place, without any need to push or pull on stories to make sure they intersect. It felt as if it was supposed to end that way, and that is hard to do. Nothing seemed forced.

It’s a true tale of friendship, love, hope and loss. One of the reasons that I enjoyed it so much was because it was such a character driven novel. As I mentioned before, it was easy to see the characters develop and grow, making me fall in love with them more and more every page. There was Tricia, who I connected with right away, making me want to hug her and never let go until she was okay. Then Angie, though not the kindest character ever, somehow I felt for her. Brian, Brenda, Emerson, they’re all beautiful characters I fell in love with. Their arcs are so well written and I honestly want to befriend them all.

This is a wonderful, heartbreaking book that nearly brought me to tears. The writing is outstanding and I hope to see more in the future from her, as it’s easy to tell she’s a magnificent writer. The stories were so authentic and really made you think, as it emphasized the butterfly effect and how one decision of a single person can truly affect others. 

*eARC received from the publisher via netgalley, but this doesn’t affect my opinion or my review

Your Future Book Tag

Hello my lovelies! Alright, I didn't officially get tagged for this, but as I was stalking Josie's lovely blog, I thought it would be incredibly fun to do. So, basically, you pick out five books and for every question or two, you answer the question using the books. Sounds fun, right? I can't wait to see what my future ends up being. Now, I'm going to be tagging all of you!

The order of course, was completely random - it's honestly just how I picked up the books. xD I have read the questions, so though it may have influenced my deep down thoughts to why I picked them in this order, I honestly doubt it. Some were on one side of the room and others on the other, so I basically picked them up that way. Anyways, the books are:

• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
• Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
• Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan
• The Rose Society by Marie Lu (I unfortunately don't own the first novel)
• Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (I just got this, so I thought I'd put it to good use!)

Underrated Contemporary Books of 2015

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There are a lot of books out there that just aren't well known, so I've compiled a list of my favorite contemporary books of 2015 that don't come to everyone's mind right away. Of course, a few might be more popular than others - but overall, they need to be read more often!

A Darker Shade of Magic

 

Following is my review of the wonderful A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab, bought by myself for a school book club. Hope you enjoy!




A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Published: 24 February 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

And so Kell—inspired by the lost city known to all as Black London—
had given each remaining capital a color.
Grey for the magic-less city.
Red, for the healthy empire.
White, for the starving world.

I debated whether or not to give this book four or five stars, as though it was one of my favorite books I’ve read this year, it took me awhile to get into. The first hundred pages or so felt as if they stretched on forever, almost too slow. Yet, the rest of the book made up for it, especially with Schwab’s fabulous writing, thus the reasoning behind why I gave it five rather than four.

Now, before I get into the specifics of the book itself, Schwab has been one of my favorite authors for quite a time now. Her writing is just so powerful and her characterization is always on point. She actually makes me truly care for the characters, and that is something that rarely happens to me. She’s always bringing a new outlook to everything, thus making everything she writes incredibly unique. 

A Darker Shade of Magic is just as beautiful as it is on the inside as it is on the outside. It’s magical, sensational and absolutely breath-taking. It’s an incredibly mix of world-building, beautiful language and wonderful characters that you love to hate. The story follows the idea that there are three different Londons, which used to be four before Black London crumbled on itself, the magic destroying the city. Due to this, the doors that were once open between the worlds for people to pass on through closed and everyone was stuck in their own London. Now, only the Antari have the ability to move in between the different worlds. 

“He was, after all, Antari.
And Antari could speak to blood. To life. To magic itself. The first and final element, the one that lived in all and was of none.“ 

Kell is an Antari who works for the royal family in Red London, delivering messages between the different royal families. Currently, there are only two known Antari’s, Kell being one of them, as well as Rolland, who works for White London (who, may I add, is a wonderful character even though he may not be the nicest guy). Along his travels, Kell meets the wonderful and ever so dashing Delilah Bard, who is a cross dressing girl who wishes to be a pirate. Which is hella cool, like who wouldn’t want to be a pirate? She’s hands down one of my favorite characters in the novel, but to be fair, I pretty much love them all. She’s a very determined, strong clever girl who masquerades around as a boy, wanting to be free and set sail on the sea. 

“The Shadow Thief, they called her. They’d drawn her even taller and thinner than she actually was, stretched her into a wraith, black-clad and fearsome. The stuff of fairy tales. And legends.”

Basically she’s pretty awesome, and is so far from being a damsel in distress. I just hope that she’s more present in the second novel! It was also nice that there wasn’t much of a romance. Of course, there were hints here and there, but the book focused more on the adventure part, making the book almost completely devoid of romance. Now, even the villains seem to have this attractiveness to them, they were insane, ruthless and absolutely brilliant. I think I may have said “He needs to die!,” once or twice out loud and gotten strange looks.

The world building in the novel is far ahead of most books I read nowadays. Especially since there are three different worlds, it’s hard for an author to truly keep each one unique and interesting with a lot of depth. Yet, Schwab clearly did so. Each world has its own customs, culture, language and even it’s own smell. At one point, it was even stated that each London had different tints of color. I absolutely loved how each London had different amounts of magic, making them incredibly interesting to learn more about.

All in all though, this book is superb. It’s full of magic and adventure, everything that you could wish for. I’ve heard a few other people state that the beginning was slow as well for them, but I think it’s worth it to just keep reading. I read this book in a single day and didn’t regret a single moment of it. Everyone really needs to give this book a chance. After all, you can’t go wrong with a story that includes parallel Londons.