"Dear Edward" by Ann Napolitano

Dear Edward is so far the first 5-star read of 2023. I was a bit apprehensive about this book. It deals with an airplane crash (this is not a spoiler, you read about this right on the book jacket).  For an anxious flyer like myself who travels a lot, there seemed to be no perfect time to read this. So I picked it up right after coming back from a trip and knowing that I wouldn't need to fly for a while. I definitely do not recommend bringing this book with your on the plane! In the book we follow 12-year old Eddie, who along with his mom, dad and older brother is moving from New York to Los Angeles. The narrative alternates between the chapters on board of the plane and chapters focused on Eddie's recovery and life after the crash. It is definitely a heart-wrenching story, but one that is so masterfully written, you can't help but fall in love with it. After I finished the book, I looked up Ann Napolitano's interviews and apparently the book was inspired by a true story. I highly recommend this book, but be aware of the emotional triggers: grief, loss of family, survivor's guilt to name a few. 5 out of 5 stars. 

"A Dowry of Blood" by S.T. Gibson

A Dowry of Blood has been quite popular recently. It is basically a vampire romance, but the vampires are akin to those you find in Dracula or Interview with the Vampire. I have never read the former and I was not a fan of the latter. There is something about vampires that deeply disgusts me. I guess I do not find blood drinking or playing with victims to be attractive or sensual. The book is beautifully written. It is written as a letter from a female vampire to her sire/husband. Because many passages are so reverent, the language is often almost biblical. Overall, I definitely agree with those who consider this to be a beautifully written story. However, I am not fan of the characters, the plot or the subject matter. 3 out of 5 stars.

First Read of the Year: "The Prison Healer" - what a disappointment

I started 2023 with a YA fantasy novel called The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni. I must preface this by saying that this book (or rather trilogy) was not on my radar at all. I had seen the book around but had no intention of reading it. However, going through my bookshelves at home, I discovered that I owned a special edition of book 3 in this trilogy and rather than get rid of it, I decided to first give this series a chance.

This book embodies pretty much everything I do not like about young adult fantasy books. First of all, as far as the setting, you can tell from the title that our heroine is a prison healer. She was imprisoned along with her father when she was just seven years old. Right off the bat, I felt that the author was not giving us all the background information needed. Because the reader feels the need to find out what happened, they are compelled to keep reading.

Secondly, the pacing of the narrative is awful. There are pages filled with the main character's indecisive inner monologue when literally nothing happens. This monologue also repeats itself every few pages - I ended up skim reading towards the end.

Finally, and this is my biggest gripe with this book, crucial information about the main character is withheld from the reader until the very end. Mind you, the book is written from one point of view, we are literally in this character's head the entire 400+ pages and yet critical information about this character that explains her motives is disclosed on the last page. Perhaps, younger, less experienced readers are wowed by such a revelation, but I felt cheated by the author. This was a cheap literary trick that I did not appreciate, in fact, it frustrated me to no end.

As you can tell, at that point, I already firmly decided I would not continue with the series, however, I did look up the reviews of books 2 and 3 and they follow a predictable story arc of a YA fantasy romance - lots of self-doubt, angst and poor communication until the very happy end. What an utter disappointment 1 star (and I almost never give such low ratings to books).