Sweet Read Review - Unexpected Serendipity

This is not the sort of book I usually enjoy. I don't really go in for contemporary family drama such as Jodie Picoult, Cecilia Ahearn, etc. However, Kylie Ladd has simply blown me away with this book.

I selected it as the Feb Sweet Read book almost purely for the cover and thinking it would appeal to many of our subscribers but not necessarily me. I read it mainly because we received an extra copy from the publisher.

I could not put it down.

"Three years after the death of their beloved brother, all Daniel's sisters have left of him are their memories. They know he's helped others by donating his organs, but as miracles come true for the recipients, his own family are struggling with their devastating loss.When Clare suggests that they find the people Daniel's death saved, her sisters have their doubts. Will meeting them help to bring the sisters back together, or will old tensions and surfacing secrets splinter the fragile family ties forever?"

I was genuinely involved in every one of the characters' stories from the start. Each sister and even the deceased Daniel are so very different, each has their own unique struggle or tragedy. Each sister misses Daniel equally and he seemed to be the gel that bound their separate orbits together. I actually teared up at the end, which says a lot. 

I designed the bookmark before reading the book and I’m inordinately chuffed that it turned out to be so appropriate: "Sisters are different flowers from the same garden."

Classic Review - Obernewtyn

I'm so glad I finally made myself read this. It is a wonderfully written YA post-apocalyptic book with very strong fantasy vibes but with an unexpected depth. 

Before Guinevere and I took over NovelTea, I was a subscriber. I remember the bittersweet feelings of receiving my last parcel in the mail. On the one hand, I would miss the joy of opening the envelope and all the discovering the delights within. On the other, I am now the one giving that joy to others.

Obernewtyn was the April 2022 Classic book and the theme was “Misfits”. I didn’t understand how apt that was until I read the book. Granted it’s taken me almost a year to actually read it. #betterlatethannever

Elspeth Gordie and her brother Jes are orphans after the Council convict their parents of heresy and burn them. They share a fate with many other adolescents and are condemned to a life of servitude with the constant fear of being discovered to be a "misfit", someone with a mutation as a result of the Great White event that killed many and contaminated a large part of the land. When Elspeth is denounced as a misft and sent to the dreaded Obernewtyn, she will need to overcome her fears to find the secret behind the mysterious misfit enclave.

I love the story of Carmody's journey with this book which she began writing at 14! Given that it is written from Elspeth's POV, it sounds so much more mature than you would expect. 

There's not much back story in this and you have to guess at what the "Great White" was, probably a nuclear-like event. I also like that the "mutation" that results is in the mind rather than in the body. Given that many of these teenagers lost their parents at a young age, they don't have as clear an understanding of right and wrong as you would expect and I loved how Elspeth formulated her own morals and ethics by interacting with others. I loved all the characters including the villains. The mystery of the "Beforetimers", their monstrous machine and the shadowy council builds the perfect base for the first installment of a series and makes me want to keep reading.  - Angela

Elspeth Gordie and her brother Jes are orphans after the Council convict their parents of heresy and burn them. They share a fate with many other adolescents and are condemned to a life of servitude with the constant fear of being discovered to be a "misfit", someone with a mutation as a result of the Great White event that killed many and contaminated a large part of the land. When Elspeth is denounced as a misft and sent to the dreaded Obernewtyn, she will need to overcome her fears to find the secret behind the mysterious misfit enclave.

I love the story of Carmody's journey with this book which she began writing at 14! Given that it is written from Elspeth's POV, it sounds so much more mature than you would expect. 

There's not much back story in this and you have to guess at what the "Great White" was, probably a nuclear-like event. I also like that the "mutation" that results is in the mind rather than in the body. Given that many of these teenagers lost their parents at a young age, they don't have as clear an understanding of right and wrong as you would expect and I loved how Elspeth formulated her own morals and ethics by interacting with others. I loved all the characters including the villains. The mystery of the "Beforetimers", their monstrous machine and the shadowy council builds the perfect base for the first installment of a series and makes me want to keep reading.  - Angela

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Sweet Read Review - The Lovers

This isn't like any other book. It's more like abstract poetry. There is no plot, the characters are hazy except in their relationship, which is dissected minutely by each party. It is like a modern fable set in a nondescript Middle Eastern country and each short chapter is like a line of the poem. 

I realised this early on and read it as such, so I enjoyed it more than other reviewers seem to have. It's more about the feeling it gives you. I liked the use of a friend's stories to show how others see the couple. I also liked that the writer of the letters in the letter section is ambiguous and could be either Amir or Jamila. I liked that the ending was unclear. They could have parted forever or they could have reunited. It depends on how you feel - tragic or hopeful.

It was, admittedly, a bit ambitious and perhaps too long for what it was. However, the short chapters made it easy to read, which with this kind of writing, is very important. - Angela

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Motherhood - Mullumbimby and Pride and Prejudice

Lucashenko’s critically acclaimed book Mullumbimby begins with a reference to the iconic opening quote from Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: “it is a truth universally acknowledged …” There are many core differences between these two books; one a regency-era English text centering on the lives of the upper class, the other a contemporary Indigenous-Australian text about a Goorie single mother running her farm and getting unwillingly caught up in local politics and a native title land dispute. There are also core similarities: both texts explore themes of motherhood, class, and financial strain in different but equally humorous and complex ways.

In both cases, it can be said that this opening line reflects the underlying theme of motherhood. In Pride and Prejudice, the mother is desperate to see her daughters married. In Mullumbimby, Jo just wants her daughter to stop being a pain in the neck by drawing all over her cousins skin with a Nikko pen.

Mrs Bennet is in many ways a caricature of an embarrassing  parent to her gently bred daughters. Loud, vulgar, and rude, with a selfish streak a mile wide. While her desire to see her children settled is in many ways reasonable when considering the context, it quickly becomes clear that this goal overtakes any concerns about her children’s happiness and well-being. She puts Jane in danger, she threatens to disown Lizzie over refusing Mr Collins, and she celebrates the marriage of her favourite child to a man who lead her into social ruin. For children of narcissists, the closing lines of Pride and Prejudice represent absolute freedom: those who once ran your life are now a minor irritation, instead you now have the power to surround yourself with  those loved-ones who treat you with mutual respect.

Jo is not a narcissist, but on a superficial level she shares some of Mrs Bennet’s struggles. Mrs Bennet wants to see her daughters married in a world where marriage is their only chance at security and social standing. Jo, on the other hand, wants her and her daughter to reclaim part of their rightful land, giving her daughter share in something of deep on-going significance.  However, to do this she must go directly against her daughters’ current wishes. The pit-falls of parenting are explored throughout the book, giving life to a complex and realistic mother-daughter relationship that stays a strong, constant backdrop to all the events that unfold.

Mrs Bennet’s love is conditional, Jo’s love for her daughter is a strong and constant force. It allows her to become “as massive as a mountain, as heavy and immovable as Chincogan or Bottlebrush.” The love and protection she feels for her  and daughter is as much a part of her cultural heritage as the land she has reclaimed. Mrs Bennet and Jo both seemingly have goals that tie directly into building fulfilling lives for their children, but only in Jo’s case is this true. She has unconditional love and a protective drive where Mrs Bennet only has selfishness.

Despite this, Ellen still gets hurt. This is a moment of painful realism, confronting Jo again with the sad truth that you can’t always protect your children. Sometimes you’ll do everything you can to protect your daughter, and the fear will creep up behind you and get her anyway. Sometimes the choices you make for your family will hurt them in the short term, and you just have to hope that they’ll grow to appreciate it. These things are harder to face when you don’t just blame the people around you for not falling in line with your vision, but Jo’s success as a mother lies in her ability to see people as they are, herself and Ellen included.

 Mullumbimby ends with a second and final reference to that iconic opening line. While Pride and Prejudice ends with the tacit acknowledgement that Elizabeth’s mother is someone she’ll always be a little ashamed of, Mullumbimby’s final thoughts on motherhood are very different.

It is a fact universally acknowledged … that a teenager armed with a Nikko pen is a wonder to behold, a precious, precious thing that we all must keep close to our hearts, and protect by any means necessary.

It’s clear that through every tough decision, argument, and upheaval, Jo will always be proud of Ellen.