The Son-in-Law

The Son-in-Law by Charity Norman

Paperback, 304 pages

Expected publication: 4th July 2013 by Allen and Unwin UK

Shelves:  adult-fiction, books-i-own, favourites, lasting-impression, mental-health, read, read-in-2013, realistic-fiction, really-good

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

For three years Joseph Scott has been haunted by one moment-the moment that changed his life forever. Now he is starting over, and he wants his family back more than anything.
This is the story of Joseph and his wife, Zoe; of their children, Scarlet, Theo and Ben, for whom nothing will be the same; and of Zoe's parents, who can't forgive or understand.
A compelling, moving and ultimately optimistic story of one man who will do almost anything to be reunited with his children. And of the grandparents who are determined to stop him.

Wow. I read Charity Norman's After The Fall last year and loved it. This year, I was offered the chance to read an advance copy of The The Son-in-Law and I've just been blown away. I do love books and reading, but it takes a lot for me to say I love one book in particular, but I can honestly say that I really did love this one. 

To be honest, because I really enjoyed Norman's previous novel, I quickly accepted this book for review even before reading the blurb - I liked her writing and ideas enough last time to be sure enough that I would enjoy her latest release. After reading the blurb, I was even more excited as it definitely sounded like a book I would enjoy, even though the description was quite vague. The premise of this book is a compelling one, and I can't help but think of it turned into a serial-drama or short film. The descriptions were vivid - it was not at all difficult to imagine yourself there with the characters. Norman made a fantastic job of setting the different scenes and using them to add to the formation of an atmosphere surrounding the characters.

This is the story of a family which has been torn apart after the death of Zoe, a mother, a daughter and a wife. We follow Joseph after his release from a prison, where he was held for killing his wife. We also follow Hannah and Frederick, Zoe's parents and the main caregivers of Zoe and Joseph's children, Scarlet, Theo and Ben. We don't know the full story of Zoe's death from the beginning of the book, but as we progress in the book, we start to see what happened and why it happened. As always, not everything is as it first seems. As aforementioned, the book is written in two points of view, from Joseph and Hannah's thoughts, which are strongly in contrast. Nothing is clear-cut, everything has you thinking and wondering who you're most in support of - at no point did I know who I really supported, I almost continuously had conflicting emotions. Norman has done a wonderful job of getting two differing points across fairly and believably. 

The children play a very large part in this book, and I think that as a reader, Scarlet was probably easiest to connect with in the sense of conflict of thoughts and feelings - it often felt like the reader was also one of the children, being pushed and pulled by the two different sides. The children were vital in this book and they were so well written. Norman didn't hold anything back, and the kids felt so real, their thoughts and feelings often openly displayed, or painfully suppressed. The psychological aspect of the book was obviously very well thought through and did seem very real. I especially liked reading about Scarlet, the oldest child and a very visceral character. You could really sense the torment inside her and I could never really predict what she was going to do, how she would react to her father or her grandparents. 

Another relationship that I'd like to mention and praise, without giving any spoilers, is that of the two grandparents, Hannah and Frederick, which was truly heartbreaking at points. Their bond was incredible and the other issues they had to face at the same time as the release of Joseph Scott really did show their strength and courage.  This book is just packed with emotion and Norman has done a stellar job of portraying several struggles and portraying each individual's unique reactions to the issues. This author really has a way of getting through the paper and into both your head and heart.

Overall, I really loved this book and I would recommend it to anyone, especially fans of authors such as Jodi Picoult. I really hope that Norman gets the praise and recognition that she deserves for not only this book but for her writing in general. Her writing feels so natural and believable - I really can't fault her in any way. I thought that After the Fall was a huge hit, but I honestly think that this book is even better. This is her best release to date and it will definitely be one of the top books I read in 2013. I can't wait to see what Norman releases next!

Grace Grows

Grace Grows by Shelle Sumners

Hardback, 336 pages

Expected Publication: 1st March 2013 by Allen and Unwin UK

Shelves: adult-fiction, arc-or-review, better-than-expected, books-i-own, chick-lit, contemporary, kate-bush, read, read-in-2013, realistic-fiction

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

Like many young women, Grace Barnum's life is a precarious mix of sensible choices and uncomfortable compromise. She dutifully edits children's textbooks that she fears may be more harmful than helpful. She is engaged to a patent attorney with whom she has a reliable relationship. She's wary of her fascinating father, a renowned New York painter, and she prefers her mother slightly drunk.

Always organised, always a planner, Grace carries her life around in a handbag - that is, until the responsibility-challenged Tyler Wilkie shows up, with his warm eyes and a smile that makes Grace drop things. Worst of all, he writes tender, loving, devastating songs - about her.

Tyler reaches something in Grace, something she needs, but can't admit to. Something she wants, but won't succumb to. Falling in love with him would ruin everything. And yet...

Grace Grows is a book that I hadn't heard all that much about when I was given the opportunity to review it - I hadn't seen it around and so I hadn't read any reviews. However, I did like the premise and so decided to give it a go. I am so glad that I did as it was such a fun read.

Grace Grows is an adult chick-lit book, but will definitely appeal to young adult, contemporary fans too. The plot revolves around our protagonist, Grace, and a young man she meets, musician Tyler Wilkie. Personally, I thought that the plot sounded more young-adult than adult, but that's certainly not a bad thing. The story isn't too 'young' by any means - the writing is good, it isn't overly complex and so easy to just sit back and read. I'd imagine that Grace Grows would be a perfect holiday read - it has a relaxing pace and really does manage to hold your attention. The only slight issue I had with pacing was when Grace left her fiancé - I thought that all happened a little too quickly and without much repercussion, making it less realistic. However, that certainly wasn't a huge issue - I got over it pretty quickly as I was so eager to see if and how Grace and Tyler's relationship progressed.

Grace's character was very likeable, surprisingly funny and down to earth, someone that would make a fantastic friend, the perfect word to describe her would be, simply, 'lovely' - this was obviously very important for the book to work. However, for me, Tyler just totally stole the show... Tyler is in no way perfect, but that just makes him even more loveable! I'm finding it very difficult to describe Tyler, you do have to read the book to see what he's like. If I'm being honest, I didn't love Tyler straight away and some of his actions/reactions did confuse me, but I learned that was part of who he was and as we became familiarised, I did start to love his quirky personality. I can't say that I've read a book about a boy like Tyler before and so it was refreshing, a welcome change. This is another reason why I liked reading about Grace and Tyler's relationship - it wasn't instantaneous and it wasn't as typical as most other books. 

Okay, now it's time to fess up: I have to admit that I did become biased towards this book as soon as it mentioned Kate Bush. Anybody who knows me knows just how obsessed I am with Kate Bush (just check out my blog name!) and it came as a fantastic surprise to see her mentioned several times as one of Grace's favourite musicians. Tyler Wilkie, our moody fictional character sings his own version of 'Feel It' to his love interest, in front of a crowd and to say that I swooned was an understatement! So yes, I may have been won over by this, but still, as Kate would say, 'wow.'

To sum it up, Grace Grows was a fun, entertaining and charming read. I enjoyed the story from start to finish and was certainly left wanting more. Sumners is undoubtedly a talented writer and will most likely appeal to fans of authors such as Sophie Kinsella. I really hope that people pick this book up and it gets the popularity that it deserves!

Listen to one of the most mentioned songs in Grace Grows:

After the Fall

After the Fall by Charity Norman

Paperback, 366 pages

Expected publication: 3rd January 2013 by Allen & Unwin

My shelves: adult-fiction, arc-or-review, better-than-expected, comfort-novels, currently-reading, drink-and-drugs, mum-has, read-in-2012, realistic-fiction, really-good

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

In the quiet of a New Zealand winter's night, a rescue helicopter is sent to airlift a five-year-old boy with severe internal injuries. He's fallen from the upstairs veranda of an isolated farmhouse, and his condition is critical. At first, Finn's fall looks like a horrible accident; after all, he's prone to sleepwalking. Only his frantic mother, Martha McNamara, knows how it happened. And she isn't telling. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Tragedy isn't what the McNamara family expected when they moved to New Zealand. For Martha, it was an escape. For her artist husband Kit, it was a dream. For their small twin boys, it was an adventure. For fifteen-year-old Sacha, it was the start of a nightmare. They end up on the isolated east coast of the North Island, seemingly in the middle of a New Zealand tourism campaign. But their peaceful idyll is soon shattered as the choices Sacha makes lead the family down a path which threatens to destroy them all. Martha finds herself facing a series of impossible decisions, each with devastating consequences for her family.

Buy this book:

The Book Depository / Amazon (US/INT) / Amazon UK

My thanks go to Allen & Unwin for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

There are so many things that I would like to express about this book, but it is difficult. I'm writing this review quite some time after finishing it, yet the story and the characters still linger in my mind. I didn't have any expectations for this book - I hadn't read a book by this author before and hadn't read any reviews for her books. I read the blurb and it appealed to me, so I gave it a go. I had no idea that I would enjoy this one so much.

As you may know, I'm a huge Jodi Picoult fan and love the ideas behind her books. As soon as an author is compared to Picoult, I immediately do want to check them out, but I also have a sense of wariness - those are big boots to fill! Thankfully, Norman was one of those authors who certainly lived up to the comparison. The storyline of this book contains so many issues that are explored in a very interesting way. I also didn't find the book predictable - there were a lot of characters and so there could have been so many different outcomes. Though this book is aimed towards adults, I am sure that there will be a lot of young adult book readers will enjoy this one too.

The book mainly revolves around Martha, the mother of Finn, a boy who has been involved in a very serious accident at their home in the middle of the night. Only Martha knows what really happened - neither we nor the other characters in the book know what truly happened to cause the boy such severe injuries. After reading about the consequences of the accident, we learn more about how Finn came to be in that position.

The story moves back and forth in time, following the Martha, Finn and the rest of the McNamara family who have recently decided to move from England to New Zealand. I can't recall reading a book set in New Zealand, or at least not one that introduced me to some of the cultural Maori influences and traditions - I enjoyed discovering more about this culture which I previously didn't know all that much about. I was initially concerned that I would find all of the information a little tedious or overwhelming, but that wasn't the case at all. The story was mostly based around the characters and their emotions, which is what I really enjoyed.

The characters in this book were very complex and very real. I really came to like the characters, though I did feel suspicious of all of them at the beginning as I didn't know what had happened to Finn - like I've said, it is hard to predict what had happened or who to trust. There is such a history behind all of the characters, especially Martha's husband, Kit. Kit was one of those characters that just felt so solid and genuine - he was imperfect and this only added to his authenticity. Finn's twin brother was so sweet and did act like a true child - the bod between him and his brother was certainly something special. Finn's older sister, Sacha, is a feisty, troubled teenager and plays a huge role in this book, being the only member of the family who firmly dislikes her new home in New Zealand. Her emotions were very strong and came through fantasitcally well. The supporting characters were also fantastic, stabilising the story and adding an extra element to it.

Overall, I think that you can probably tell that I loved this book! A book that leaves you thinking about it for weeks afterwards is definitely an effective read. This is a perfect read for any time of the year, especially if you want something that isn't difficult but has a good amount of substance behind it. Perfect for Jodi Picoult fans. I absolutely can't wait to read more of Norman's work!