Review: All Fall Down by Megan Hart

Title: All Fall Down
Author: Megan Hart
Publication date: December 27th 2011
Publisher: MiraBooks (an imprint of Harlequin)
Age group: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Cover rating: 3/5
Content rating: 4/5
Buy: Amazon

Description via Goodreads: 

Liesel Albright always dreamed of starting a family. She never bargained on getting one already in progress. Or one so deeply damaged. When police foil a planned mass suicide at a nearby cult compound, Liesel and her husband, Chris, are transfixed by the evening news. Led by a dangerously charismatic man called Joyful, the Family of Superior Bliss plotted their own deaths to thwart a long-foretold apocalypse. Among the survivors is Sunshine, the daughter stolen from Chris’s life years before. His tragic secret… now his legal charge.
Now, instead of raising a baby of her own, Liesel must play mother to Sunshine and Sunshine’s three small children while Chris retreats into guilt and denial. But a lifetime’s twisted teachings are not easily unlearned—Sunshine hears Joyful’s ominous catechism like a malignant drumbeat in her troubled mind: devastation without salvation. It’s a powerful mantra that’s drowning out Liesel’s loving overtures, and driving her new stepdaughter to finally save them all... in Joyful fashion.

My thoughts: 

I was very torn about how many stars to give this one. Four seems too little but it doesn't quite reach five for me. All Fall Down is a stunning story about cults, religion, family and choice. I was drawn into this lovely book from the first page and could hardly force myself to look away.

This book follows the lives of Sunshine (and her children, Happy, Peace and Bliss), Christopher and Liesel. Sunshine and her kids have just escaped from a cult, moments before the rest of the members commit suicide. Sunshine turns up at the door of her father's house, and he and his wife don't hesitate in taking her in. She is scared and vulnerable and it shows so well. The emotions in this book are so well written I had no problem empathising with the characters. By the end of this book, I was completely invested emotionally and willing everything to go right for the characters.

There are many heart-racing moments in this book. Naturally, Sunshine and her children have a difficult time adjusting to the world outside and being around ''blemished'' people. They have to relearn social norms and forget everything they've been told before. I thought Christopher and Liesel did a wonderful job of being supportive and caring even though it clearly would not have been easy.

This book really makes you think about the dangerous situations people find themselves drawn into it. There are some crazy ideas in that sanctuary that Sunshine came from and it was fascinating watching her trying to separate what was real from what she had been lied to about. I would certainly recommend this to anyone who enjoys adult literature with a focus on family and I look forward to reading more from this author!

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Title: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Author: Lisa See

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing 

Publication date: January 1st 2005 

Age group: Adult 

Genre: Historical Fiction 

Cover rating: 3/5

Content rating:  5/5

Description via Goodreads: 

In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, old same, in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of foot-binding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

My thoughts:

This book is set in China, during a time when a woman's worth is based solely on the size of her feet, which is determined by footbinding. If she has small feet, she will marry well. If the footbinding goes wrong, or doesn't happen at all, the girl will be subjected to a life of slavery. The process of footbinding was horrific, and I found it very difficult to read about. The story follows two girls- Lily and Snow Flower- who are bound to each other from the age of seven. We see them grow up together, and face all the challenges woman of that time faced. The women in this book had no freedom, and were seen as nothing more than a means of producing sons. At times, I found the culture hard to grasp, and found myself disliking a lot of the characters for the way they acted- but that was just the way it was. Overall, I found the book compelling, and extremely interesting.   

Goodreads Choice Awards 2011: WINNERS!

Today Goodreads announced the winners of their Goodreads Choice Awards. The books were voted for by Goodreads members over the past few weeks. The winners are as follows!

Young Adult Fiction winner is Where She Went by Gayle Forman:

Favourite book of 2011 is Divergent by Veronica Roth : 

The winner of the Fiction category is  1Q84 by Haruki Murakami :

Mystery and Thriller winner is Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich:

Historical Fiction winner is The Paris Wife by Paula McLain:

Fantasy Winner is A Dance With Dragons by George R.R Martin:

Paranormal Fantasy winner is Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

Science Fiction winner is 11/22/63 by Stephen King 

Horror winner is Graveminder by Melissa Marr

Other categories:

Romance Winner is Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward

Humour Winner is Bossypants by Tina Fey

Nonfiction Winner is The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth by Alexandra Robbins

History and Biography winner is Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Memoir and Autobiography winner is Two Kisses for Maddy by Matthew Logelin 

Food and Cooking Winner is My Father's Daughter by Gwenyth Paltrow 

Travel and Outdoors winner is Little Princes by Conor Grennan

Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction winner is Divergent by Veronica Roth

Middlegrade and Children's winner is The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

Picture Books winner is When I Grow Up by Al Yankovic

Graphic Novels and Comics winner is Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead 

Poetry Winner is Horoscopes for the Dead by Billy Collins

And the Goodreads Author of the year is...

Cassandra Clare 

Unfortunately the only book I've read from the list is Divergent and Cassandra Clare's books! I was really hoping A Monster Calls would win in the Middle Grace category and I'm quite disappointed that it didn't! How about you?  

Room

Room by Emma Donoghue 

Published August 20th 2010

402 pages

Genre: Adult contemporary fiction

Stars: 5/5

Description:

This is the story of a mother, her son, a locked room and the outside world. Jack is five and, like any little boy, excited at the prospect of presents and cake. He's looking forward to telling his friends it's his birthday, too. But although Jack is a normal child in many ways - loving, funny, bright, full of energy and questions - his upbringing is far from ordinary: Jack's entire life has been spent in a single room that measures just 12 feet by 12 feet; as far as he's concerned, Room is the entire world. He shares this world with his mother, with Plant, and tiny Mouse (though Ma isn't a fan and throws a book at Mouse when she sees him). There's TV too, of course - and the cartoon characters he thinks of as his friends - but Jack knows that nothing else he sees on the screen is real. Old Nick, on the other hand, is all too real, but only visits at night - like a bat - when Jack is meant to be asleep and hidden safely in Wardrobe. And only Old Nick has the code to Door, which is otherwise locked...

My thoughts:


Absolutely fascinating. I found the very start difficult to get into because of the writing style, but after a few pages it fell into a nice rhythm. I literally couldn't put this book down- I read it from cover to cover in one night. It had me laughing out loud at parts, and close to tears at others. I don't really know how to describe this book because I think it's something you have to experience for yourself. It's very thought-provoking, and makes the reader think "What would I do?" I loved it from start to finish, and would recommend it to anyone.