The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid LindgrenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
When we went to Junibacken (in Stockholm) in February, we saw a short presentation of the plot of this book and it absolutely captivated me. The book was no different - here we have something a little like CS Lewis' Narnia, but I liked it even more. It's darker and smarter and packs more of an emotional punch (=I totally cried). I was never a huge Pippi Longstocking fan, but I see Lindgren's genius in this book for sure.
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The Rose & the Dagger by Renee AhdiehMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Not as enigmatic as the first book, but a pretty solid read nonetheless. I really enjoyed this (two-book) series! Hooray for an author only writing as many books as she had story to fill.
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A School for Brides by Patrice KindlMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I read this on the airplane - perfectly charming and made me laugh out loud a few times. I suspect I will forget it almost immediately (that's what Keeping the Castle was like for me) but all the better for a second reading next time I'm on an airplane.
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Longbourn by Jo BakerMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Ultimately, I didn't really like any of the characters in this book. I found their motivations confusing and their actions sometimes nonsensical. The story went to darker places than I expected when I picked up a book about a maid working at Longbourn, too - it was unsettling.
The worst part was when I thought I was having flashbacks to The House at Tyneford (a book where an Austrian Jewish housemaid gets a job in England to escape WW2 but then does such a crap job she's in danger of being sent back to Naziland) - Sarah, against the very sound and practical advice of her employers, quits her awesome job at Pemberley to go in search of James, you know, for love. SARAH. LOVE WILL MEAN NOTHING WHEN YOU ARE LYING IN A DITCH DYING OF STARVATION AND PROBABLY ALSO CHOLERA.
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Glass Sword by Victoria AveyardMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
15% and I'm calling it a DNF. I just don't care about any of the people in this book and I can't take any of the plot points as seriously as the book wants me to.
Also I can't really remember what happened in book 1, and what I read of book 2 did not inspire me to go back and refresh my memory.
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The Crown by Kiera CassMy rating: 1 of 5 stars
Probably this year's best hate-read (one can only hope). But let's get into this a little.
This is a book-world where in the far-off future (but not too far), Scandinavia has melded into one country and it's called - wait for it- Swendway. What language do they speak in Swendway? FINNISH. This makes no sense. It goes beyond standard post-apocalyptic belief-suspending ridiculousness. If Scandinavia/Nordic countries ever decided to unite, literally the last language they would choose as their common one is Finnish. They would choose Swedish or Norwegian, which are already extremely close to being the same language. If they didn't choose Swedish or Norwegian, they would choose English. It was a very strange choice by the author to have their language be Finnish, and like many things in this book, I can't tell if it's because she doesn't know any better, or if she does know better and just doesn't care (see also: all the other stupid parts of this book).
So there's that level of implausibility. But it's compounded by the fact that Henri, the book's native Swendian, acts less like a second-language learner of English and more like someone with, at best, a learning disability, and at worst, actual brain damage. It's insulting. The book acts like one of those Americans who thinks that if they just repeat the same words louder, that foreigner might eventually understand. Meanwhile, he takes way too long to learn even basic English. It's so unrealistic. When he does speak English, it doesn't even sound like believable non-native English. It's so cringe-y.
And then there's Henri's interpreter, who thinks a great idea for a "basic Finnish lesson" that will help everyone at court communicate better is...numbers. Let's learn numbers. All our conversational goals will be furthered by numbers. WHAT.
I am all for books that are fun to read and let us put our brains on a shelf for a spell. Heck, book one of this same series was that kind of book for me! But there is no excuse for this level of dumb. It's maddening, not entertaining.
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