"The Soulmate Equation" by Christina Lauren

This is my sixth novel from the writing duo that goes by the pen name of Christina Lauren. They mostly right in the romance genre, although granted, several of their books veer more heavily towards women's fiction. In fact, some romance readers feel that their books are not steamy enough. I think I am on the opposite end of this. I tend to like their more emotional, grounded in life stories better. Out of the 6 books I read, four were five star reads, and two I rated at 3 stars. The Soulmate Equation is by far my favorite from them. In fact, this is the book that kept me up reading till 3AM on a Monday morning. And yes, I had no regrets even though I only got 3 hours of sleep and had a pretty tough workday ahead of me.

The Soulmate Equation is about two people who unexpectedly get matched via a new dating app that uses DNA as the basis for matching applicants. Jess is a single mother struggling to keep up with the bills, and River is the founder of the company and the brains behind this new genetic matching app. As I mentioned, I found the story hard to put down. The characters in this book are amazing and so relatable. There is something very cozy and heartwarming about Jess's relationship with her grandparents and her daughter. Her relationship with River is super intense and is in equal part hate to love and instant attraction. I think this is a perfect book for getting out of a reading slump. And for readers who are like me and prefer more complex, grounded in life romance stories, this one will not disappoint. 5 out of 5 stars.

An e-ARC was provided by NetGalley.com

"The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh" by Molly Greeley

This book will be of interest to Pride and Prejudice fans. The focus of this novel is Anne de Bourgh, the sickly daughter of Lady Catherine, and the intended betrothed (at least in Lady Catherine's mind) of Mr. Darcy. The book follows Anne through her entire life: from infancy to death, and provides a comprehensive take on her childhood, coming of age and adulthood. In Pride and Prejudice we see Anne through the eyes of Elizabeth Bennett. She gets very little description other than a sickly young woman, with no personality, conversation or any sort of participation in the outside world. 

Fans of Pride and Prejudice often wonder what disease Anne had. Austen assigns no name to her ailment; and given the state of medicine in the Regency era, it is fair to assume that she was ill due to whatever "treatments" might have been fashionable at the time. The author of The Heiress opines that Anne was a fussy child and was given daily doses of laudanum from infancy all the way into her late 20s. Laudanum kept her not only subdued and drowsy, but also had a negative impact on her appearance and health. Simply put, Anne de Bourgh was addicted to opium based on the recommendation of the family physician and with the full blessing of Lady Catherine. 

Anne de Bourgh throughout the book goes through an incredible transformation. At the age of 29, she makes the decision to stop taking laudanum and escapes the smothering care of her domineering mother by traveling alone to London. There, she stays with her cousin Col. Fitzwilliam and his wife. Col. Fitzwilliam has always been one of my favorite characters in the book and I was really happy to see him in this novel. In London, Anne also finds romance and eventually happiness. The highlight of the novel for me was Anne's taking place as the rightful owner of Rosings Park. To do that, she had to stand up to her own mother, whose unbending will and controlling nature have long acquired a legendary status. 

In addition, to a wonderful plot and well-developed and interesting characters, this book is beautifully written. If you were disappointed by some other P&P variations, give this one a chance. It is well worth your time. 4 out of 5 stars. I will definitely be reading the book about Charlotte Lucas by the same author.

"Hyperion" by Dan Simmons

Hyperion was a recent choice by the Sci-Fi and Fantasy book club that I am a member of. I was pretty excited to dive into such an iconic (and now probably classic) Sci-Fi novel. I would caution readers right of the bat: Hyperion is the first installment in a tetralogy, and book 1 ends on a major cliffhanger. So unless you are prepared to commit to the series, I would not read this book. 

The novel mirrors the structure of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales - we have a group of pilgrims traveling to the time tombs, a mysterious place on a distant planet called Hyperion, and each chapter in the book represents a story of one of the pilgrims, and includes an account of their connection to Hyperion and the Shrike - a deadly creature inhabiting the area around the time tombs, and also the main figure worshipped by the Shrike cult.

Each story is different and I did enjoy most of them. Each story also reveals some new aspect about Hyperion and the Shrike. But overall, as I already mentioned, the book does not have a self-contained conclusion. This was a big disappointment for me. Even though I am glad I read this novel, it is far from being a favorite. It is too long and convoluted. The author just drops you in the middle of the story without proper explanation of any terminology. You basically learn about the world as you go along and sort of guess what various terms mean. I also think parts of it are quite dull and slow-moving. So overall, 3 out of 5 stars and now I need to decide whether I am curious enough to continue with book 2...

"Klara and the Sun" by Kazuo Ishiguro

Klara and the Sun is the latest work by the Nobel Prize winning author Kazuo Ishiguro. This is a Sci-Fi novel set in not such a distant future, where one can go to a store and purchase an Artificial Friend (AF) for one's child. In fact, the entire novel is written from the point of view of an AF called Klara. We first meet her in the store, where she, along with other AFs, is waiting to be chosen by someone's child. We then follow her, as she is taken into a home of a teenage girl named Josie, who lives with her mom and a housekeeper outside the city. 

Overall, I really liked this book. In many places, Ishiguro just hints at things. We might be guessing what is going on, but (a) we see the world through the eyes of an AF, and (b) nothing is truly spilled out. We do not know the specifics of the geopolitical/economic/social landscape. We get hints that come through bits of conversations heard by Klara. She does not read or listen to the news, and most of the information comes to us from interactions with and around her. Ishiguro leaves a lot of things to the reader's imagination. 

It's a great book to read with a book club or a group of friends and discuss. It touches upon things like: what makes us human, what is friendship, human attachment, how we deal with grief. One thing that struck me in this book was how socially awkward all the characters are (except for possibly Rick and Josie's father, who are by no means "the normal people" in this society). Gene editing is a reality already, and in this fictional society, majority of children get some sort of gene editing procedure - what are the moral/ethical issues that go along with that?

I did really enjoy this book and I am looking forward to discussing it with my book club. 5 out of 5 stars. 

"Circe" by Madeline Miller

Circe would appeal to anyone interested in Greek mythology and reimagining or giving a story to some of lesser known characters. Circe was the witch that turned Odysseus' crew into pigs and kept him on her island for a year. That is pretty much all we learn about her from Homer. Miller masterfully creates the story that is Circe' own. Not only does she give her a voice, she skillfully shows how stories written by men traditionally marginalize or vilify strong female characters. One thing that struck me in this book was how horrible all the gods (even minor ones) are. You sort of get that impression from reading myths, but in this book it was particularly jarring. I guess being immortal and having powers does terrible things to one's personality and erodes the ability to empathize or care about anything but oneself.

Even though I really liked the story, the writing style did not work very well for me. It took me longer than usual to read this book, and some portions were extremely slow. This might be just my personal impression as I know plenty of people who flew through this novel and had no issues with the pacing or the style. Overall, I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars, and will definitely read the author's other books.

Thoughts on Epic Fantasy and S.A. Chakraborty's Daevabad Trilogy

Last year, The City of Brass, book 1 in S.A. Chakraborty's Daevabad Trilogy was one of the best books I read in 2020. I just recently finished book 2 The Kingdom of Copper, and must say that this trilogy is quickly becoming my favorite epic fantasy.

I am usually not a huge fan of epic fantasy series and I definitely try to avoid reading chunky books as (1) I tend to lose interest, and (2) they take me a while to get through as I am not that fast of reader. This particular trilogy, however, has just the right mix of interesting characters, unpredictable plotlines and a fascinating world that manages to keep my interest. I have always liked Middle Eastern folklore and fairy tales, and Chakraborty draws heavily on that region's mythology. There are also very interesting political machinations and moral dilemmas. Daevabad is a diverse and highly complex jinn society where centuries of conflict between various ethnic groups have sown mutual distrust and volatility. It does not help that the ruling family does everything to keep that distrust simmering and closely adheres to the ancient wisdom of "divide and conquer". 

Since this is book 2, it is hard to talk about the plot. I will just say that this trilogy is a very good entry point into reading epic fantasy. Compared to some other famous series, the books are manageable in size (the first was just over 500 pages, and the second one - just over 600), There are no extensive battle scenes or any kind of military subplot. The story revolves largely around the political and societal conflicts and a struggle for power. I do highly recommend this trilogy, and will be picking up book 3 very soon.

"The Lost Apothecary" by Sarah Penner

The Lost Apothecary will appeal to the readers who like historical fiction and enjoy solving old mysteries. In this book we follow two different timelines. The first one follows Nella, a rogue apothecary who owns a hidden shop in London and dispenses poisons to women who wish to do away with their husbands, brothers, or other men in their lives. The second timeline is set in present-day London. Caroline travels to the UK from Ohio on what was supposed to be her tenth wedding anniversary trip with husband. However, just a few days before the trip, she discovered that her husband had had an affair and she thus boarded the plane alone.

While in London, Caroline goes on a mud-larking tour - looking for objects in the riverbed of Thames hoping to find something interesting from the bygone days. She discovers a small glass container that looks like it could have been an apothecary vial. And thus her journey to unraveling Nella's story begins.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Some aspects of the story I thought were a bit far-fetched. After all, piecing together a story that occurred 200 years prior is no easy fit. Yet, Caroline is able to find the shop and newspaper articles dated back to the time and mentioning the pertinent events in a matter of days.

However, if you can suspend your disbelief and just go with the story, you are in for a treat. At its core it's a story of self-discovery, of following your dreams and getting back to what you used to love, but somehow let life get in the way. As I get older, I too tend to think a lot about my career choices and sometimes wonder if a different choice would have led me somewhere else. 

4 out 5 stars. I hope Sarah Penner keeps writing more books. This was her debut novel and I would gladly pick up her next book.

An e-ARC was provide by NetGalley.com