Review: ‘Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography’ by Neil Patrick Harris
Posted: September 1, 2015 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: GLTB, memoir, non-fiction, reviews Leave a commentToday at Aussie Owned and Read I reviewed one of my current favourite books of the year, Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography! I tried to reblog it over here so no one misses out on hearing what an excellent book this is, but for some reason I can’t get the reblog function to work.
I fail at internet today, people.
Still, click on the above link and check it out. Spoiler: I gave it five stars!
Review: ‘My Story’ by Julia Gillard
Posted: August 25, 2015 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: AWW, non-fiction, reviews Leave a comment
On Wednesday 23 June 2010, with the government in turmoil, Julia Gillard asked then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for a leadership ballot.
The next day, Julia Gillard became Australia’s 27th Prime Minister, and our first female leader. Australia was alive to the historic possibilities. Here was a new approach for a new time.
It was to last three extraordinary years.
This is Julia Gillard’s chronicle of that turbulent time – a strikingly candid self-portrait of a political leader seeking to realise her ideals. It is her story of what it was like – in the face of government in-fighting and often hostile media – to manage a hung parliament, build a diverse and robust economy, create an equitable and world-class education system, ensure a dignified future for Australians with disabilities, all while attending to our international obligations and building strategic alliances for our future. This is a politician driven by a sense of purpose – from campus days with the Australian Union of Students, to a career in the law, to her often gritty, occasionally glittering rise up the ranks of the Australian Labor Party.
Refreshingly honest, peppered with a wry humour and personal insights, Julia Gillard does not shy away from her mistakes, as well as detailing her political successes. Here is an account of what was hidden behind the resilience and dignified courage Gillard showed as prime minister, her view of the vicious hate campaigns directed against her, and a reflection on what it means – and what it takes – to be a woman leader in contemporary politics.
Here, in her own words, Julia Gillard reveals what life was really like as Australia’s first female prime minister.
This is the first non-fiction I’ve reviewed on this blog, and it’s overtly political. What could possibly go wrong…?
*dons flak jacket and face shield before continuing*
For those that don’t know, Julia Gillard was Australia’s first (and, to date, only) female prime minister. A member of the Labor party, our equivalent of the US Democrats, she came to power in controversial circumstances, replacing Kevin Rudd. Rudd seemed to present well interstate but here in Canberra, where the federal government is based, he had a reputation for being angry, disorganised and hell to work for. He did some good work with the GFC, but when he dropped the ball on environmental reform, his polling numbers tanked.
Consequently, I think Canberrans were among the least surprised when Gillard took his place as PM.
I was always fond of Gillard, especially when she was being fiery and speaking off the cuff (her canned speeches, on the other hand, were a cure for insomnia — sorry, Jules, but they were). Some of that was because her politics broadly align with mine. A lot of it was because of the abhorrent way she was treated by the conservative media and the lunatic fringe. I felt a certain girl power solidarity, you know?
So, with that huge disclaimer, what did I think of My Story?
Bits of it, especially the first third, were riveting. Bits of it were, as the blurb says, wryly funny. Bits of it — especially her insights into Rudd’s behaviour after he was ousted — filled me with righteous indignation. (Australia is in the grip of conservative government now, and it’s fair to say that Rudd is largely responsible for that. Thanks very bloody much, Kevin.)
But bits of My Story were kind of a cure for insomnia too.
This is the first political memoir I’ve read, and it makes sense that politicians in these kinds of books will be keen to establish their legacy, in their own words. And while I enjoyed the personal anecdotes and the insights into negotiations, I really zoned out during the talk of numbers and budgets and something about nominal growth? What? If I’d been reading the paperback, I would’ve skimmed the middle section, but because I was listening to the audiobook I slogged through the whole thing while cooking dinner and colouring in. (Adulting is hard.)
Maybe if I’d paid more attention, I would’ve gotten more out of it. :p
Still, Julia was gracious in acknowledging where others had done good work — even Rudd, in the early days. She was also honest about the places where the Labor government went wrong on certain policies and decisions, and accepted the blame where she had a role in those mistakes. I respect that, as well as her ferocious intellect and her resilience.
If you’re on the centre/left of Australian politics, this is worth a read.
Review: ‘Just Breathe’ by Tamara Mataya
Posted: August 4, 2015 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: new adult, reviews Leave a comment
Twenty-one-year-old Elle Granger’s boyfriend broke up with her like a coward. He moved to another city without so much as a kiss goodbye. Devastated and embarrassed, Elle told her friends the break-up was mutual and hid her heartache working long hours at the library. By night, she self medicated with pot. Weeks later, with her heart and lungs screaming for a break, Elle quits smoking and turns to her friends. But before she can let them in on Jason’s betrayal, her best friend moves to Spain, and her roommates start acting strangely.
Enter sexy library patron Dominic, who sweeps Elle off her feet and into his Maserati. He makes her feel oh so good, and puts effort into coming up with dates that don’t set off her Synaesthesia. Just when Elle starts feeling whole again, Jason returns, determined to reunite. Elle rejects his effusive apologies and reasons for leaving — until she catches Dominic in a devastating lie.
Will his betrayal push her back into her suddenly attentive ex’s arms? Can she trust Jason not to break her heart again? The wrong choice and Elle’s happy ending could go up in smoke. But when your only choices are the devils you know, all you can do is JUST BREATHE.
I finished Just Breathe more than week ago, and it’s taken me this long to sit down and try to write a review. There are parts of this story I love so hard, and other parts I didn’t so much — but I am positive that the things I didn’t love are because this book is, at the end of the day, a romance. I know, I know! It’s published by Swoon Romance and yes, I’m a dummy. But I picked it up because I’ve seen Tamara on Twitter and love her. She is a librarian with synaesthesia, like her main character in this novel, and since I love libraries and wanted to learn more about that condition, this became a must-read for me.
Of course, my TBR pile being the rampaging hellbeast that it is, I bought Just Breathe last year and only just now read it…
Synaesthesia is a condition where a person, on experiencing one sensory input, gets hit with a second, involuntary one as well. The handling of Elle’s condition was far and away the best part of Just Breathe. In her case, the main thing is that when she hears sounds they trigger a tactile sensation. So some music is jarring and makes her want to flee, while other music fills her with a physical bliss. She also responds very strongly to fabrics; there is a sex scene in this book involving a set of satin sheets that made me totally jealous of her and her condition. It sounded divine!
(While I’m on the topic, Just Breathe does include some steamy sex scenes, and also — as the blurb makes clear — recreational marijuana use. Neither of those things bothered me, but YMMV.)
I quite enjoyed reading about Elle’s work at the library, although some of the details possibly went a little further than the story required. Still, the book recommendations were great! And as far as Jason and Dominic go … well, Dominic is basically TO DIE for, and Jason needs to be run over by a large vehicle. And then reversed over a couple of times.
Given all of that, why is this a 3.5 star review? I agonised over that, you guys, but in the end looked at the Goodreads scale (3 = I liked it; 4 = I really liked it) and figured I was somewhere in the middle. And the reason is that, although I love a romance sub-plot like nobody’s business, I’ve started to realise that pure romance doesn’t often do it for me. There’s a formula there that meant I was able to predict every plot twist (more or less exactly), so although I enjoyed going along for the ride, there weren’t any surprises there. I guess I just love my surprises too much.
Still, if you love romance and want to read about an unusual, creative and above all real character, who makes mistakes but slowly begins to see her self-worth (and about Dominic *swoon*) — then you should definitely give Just Breathe a go.
Mini-reviews: ‘Ensnared’ by A. G. Howard and ‘Hit’ by Delilah S. Dawson
Posted: June 19, 2015 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: delilah s. dawson, dystopian, reviews, urban fantasy 2 CommentsAfter writing like crazy during the week, I’d intended to write like crazy a little more on the weekend. But instead I sorta kinda read like crazy instead.
This weekend I finished:
- Black Magic Sanction (The Hollows #8) by Kim Harrison
- Ensnared (Splintered #3) by A. G. Howard
- Hit by Delilah S. Dawson
I say finished, because I started Ensnared over a month ago, and I’ve been listening to Black Magic Sanction as an audiobook for the last two weeks. I’m not going to review the latter, because it’s book eight in the series and I figure by this point you’re either committed to it or you’re not! I give it four stars, though. (I did review the first book in the series, Dead Witch Walking, here, if you’re curious. The series is a sexy adult urban fantasy with some awesome worldbuilding.)
Onto the other two…
Ensnared by A. G. Howard
I found the start of Ensnared a little hard to get into, but this might be a situation of “it’s not you, it’s me”. If you read my review of the previous book, Unhinged, you’ll know that I read it in 2013, in the hospital immediately before and after having surgery. In the intervening 18 months, I basically forgot the entire book. I’m not kidding — I could remember the events in the first story, but was really confused by the way the third one started, because it was like the second one never happened.
Damned general anaesthetic and awesome pain medication.
However, it did give me the chance to test A. G. Howard on her ability to seed back-story, and I can happily report that she included just enough that I didn’t get totally lost, without being over the top.
High fives?
Once I got party-way through — probably around about where Morpheus shows up, which I’m sure is a TOTAL coincidence — I really got back into the story and the world. At that point I finished the book in only a couple of days and really enjoyed it. Alyssa really comes into her own, Jeb finally redeems himself in my eyes, and Morpheus… Sigh. He’s Morpheus. ❤
Hit by Delilah S. Dawson
This beautiful little piece of book mail arrived a while ago and got bumped to the top of my to-read pile, because I have a bit of a crush on Dawson and her work. Her last book, Servants of the Storm, blew my mind with her writing and the WTF twist at the end. (I’m still hanging out for a sequel, BTW!)
Hit didn’t disappoint.
The genre is dystopian, but it’s the kind of dystopian we don’t often see except in zombie fiction — the kind where the world is just starting to collapse. The government has been taken over by an Evil Corporation (TM) and no one has realised yet. No one except Patsy, the main character … and presumably a bunch of other indentured assassins, although we don’t really get to see them.
Patsy is given five days to confront ten people who have defaulted on their debts with Valor Savings Bank. They have the choice between paying their debts (which they can’t), agreeing to be indentured assassins themselves, or being executed. The book has one chapter per victim, with the chapter title being their name. (I loved that touch so much.)
Of course, there’s even more going on than a seventeen-year-old girl being forced to shoot people and having a slow nervous breakdown, and the sense that there was a greater, overarching scheme takes this from The Hunger Games set in small-town USA to “can I guess the conspiracy theory” hijinks. (For the record, I guessed some of it.)
Like Servants of the Storm, Hit is a book in dire need of a sequel. I loved how it ended, but I need to know what happens next. NEED TO.
Review: ‘Wait!’ by Stacey Nash
Posted: May 8, 2015 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: aussie-owned, AWW, new adult, reviews Leave a comment
Jordan Hays knows just how precious life is; that’s why he has his own mapped out. He’ll work to pay his way through university while he studies hard, regardless of the constant distractions. Because when it comes to becoming a nurse, he’s deadly serious. He won’t fail to save someone again.
But Hex Penton is way too similar to the sister he lost, and even though the only thing more fun than stupid dares is the crazy girl who sets them, Jordan needs to make a choice. Hex believes every moment is important; every opportunity must be taken, because you never know when the world will be yanked out from underneath you. With the foundations he’s based his life on shaken, Jordan must discover what’s more important: making sure Hex’s life isn’t wasted, or remembering how to live his.
It’s time to play truth or dare.
***
Wait! is a story about acceptance, learning to trust and in turn love while facing life’s unexpected difficulties.
NB: This book is of a mild heat level, and contains no explicit sex scenes.
I think by now it’s no secret that I adore Stacey Nash. Not only is she a fabulous writer but she’s a wonderful human being. Still, you should all believe me when I say that if you want to read sweet new adult fiction (set in a university but without the usual semi-erotic trappings typical of the genre), you should get onto this series ASAP.
Scout’s honour.
Wait! is the sequel to Shh! (yes, the exclamation marks are part of the names). It is set about a year later, and focuses on Jordan Hays, younger brother of the yummy Logan from Shh!, and Jordan’s venture into university life. Jordan’s an interesting character; he’s grown up way before his time due to the death of his sister. In some ways I found him more serious than Logan, and he is definitely more guilt-ridden than Logan is. (I won’t go into the reasons, because spoilers, but it all makes sense.)
Don’t get me wrong, I liked Jordan — but if I were choosing a book boyfriend, I’d choose Logan any day. Probably because he struck me as more geeky and less sporty, and that’s just how I roll. 😉
Still, one of the things I enjoyed about Wait! was watching Hex, Jordan’s firecracker dorm-mate, teach him how to loosen up even as he manages to get her to see that there’s more to life than partying hard. Stacey did a great job of looking at binge drinking and alcoholism (not so much in Hex’s case but probably in her mother’s) without being preachy. Some of the characters were judgemental, but there was no authorial intrusion into it, which is a very tricky line to walk.
The other line that is tricky but that I think Stacey handled well was Jordan’s attraction to Hex even as he realised she reminded him of his sister. That could have been very icky, but it wasn’t, thank goodness!
I quite liked Hex, although her personal decisions weren’t ones I’d have necessarily made myself. (It may surprise you to know, dear reader, that I wasn’t a massive binge drinker even at that age.) I sympathised with her enough that I shared her indignation at Jordan judging her behaviour.
My only quibble (and it’s so minor it’s barely worth mentioning, but I wouldn’t want you to think I was sugar-coating this review!) is that there’s very little swearing in this book. Not that I require swears, you understand, but both Hex and Jordan tend to think words like “darn” rather than more sweary examples, which didn’t quite seem to fit with either one very well. I only recall seeing one of them drop the f-bomb once. It was an appropriate f-bomb, sure, but there were a handful of other times that a curse would’ve fit too.
See, I told you it was minor. 🙂
Review: ‘The Intern’ by Gabrielle Tozer
Posted: April 20, 2015 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: AWW, new adult, reviews, young adult 1 Comment
Josie Browning dreams of having it all.
A stellar academic record, an amazing career in journalism – and for her current crush to realise she actually exists. The only problem? Josie can’t get through twenty-four hours without embarrassing her sister Kat or her best friend Angel, let alone herself.
Josie’s luck changes though when she lands an internship at the glossy fashion magazine Sash. A coveted columnist job is up for grabs, but Josie’s got some tough competition in the form of two other interns. Battle lines are drawn and Josie quickly learns that the magazine industry is far from easy, especially under the reign of powerful editor, Rae Swanson.
From the lows of coffee-fetching and working 10-hour days, to the highs of mingling with celebrities, scoring endless free beauty products (plus falling for her cousin’s seriously gorgeous flatmate James) this is one year Josie will never forget.
The Intern was an enjoyable book by an Aussie writer who you can tell has worked in the fashion magazine industry before — she had all those little details right. Or at least she was able to fake it. I can’t exactly claim to be an expert, as I don’t actually read them. I think it was my lack of interest in fashion and gossip magazines that meant I found the story a little hard to get into at first…
But then Josie won me over, with her wonderful, quirky personality. She was nerdy, naive and clumsy — but not in a Bella Swan, not-really-clumsy-except-very-rarely kind of way. Josie was really clumsy (as someone with poor vision I can relate to that), and it often got her in trouble. She also had exactly no verbal filter, meaning that the first time she meets a cute boy she tells him all sorts of embarrassing stories, including about how that one time she pooed her pants…
Yeah, I cringed a little too.
Still, I loved her passion for writing and her desire to be a journalist. During the course of the story, she learns that she can actually find stories and write about things she cares about, even if she’s working for a “light” magazine like Sash. I really liked that about her — that she made the best of a less-than-ideal situation. (I guess by then she’d had a lot of practice!)
I loved some of the other characters, including her fellow intern, Steph; sister, Kat; and of course the cute boy in question, James (he was genuinely a nice guy, which is so great to see!). I was less sold on Josie’s best friend, Angel — she seemed to be rather selfish, to be honest, and I don’t think she was in the story enough to redeem herself or really win me over. Still, since one of the elements of the story was Josie and Angel (who were high school best friends) struggling to maintain their friendship after graduation, it did fit.
There aren’t any really “bad” characters in The Intern, except for a few bit characters who just pass through. Everyone who is looked at in any depth at all is revealed to just be a regular person, with good and bad aspects, including the stereotypical “cold boss”, Rae, and the “mean girl” intern, Ava. I kind of liked that, actually; it gave the book more of a happy vibe, when it could’ve been really catty and enraging.
I felt really awful for Josie’s mother, who is struggling after the recent failure of her marriage to the girls’ father. I hope that in the sequel we get to see her thrive. (If she reunites with her ex I will throw things through the wall.)
The Intern is a fun read that touches on some serious subjects but still manages to retain its lighter tone. Given Josie’s age you could consider it new adult, but it doesn’t have any of the traditional new adult subject matter (raunchy sex or drug use) and would be suitable for younger teens.
Review: ‘Half-Blood’ by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Posted: April 11, 2015 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: reviews, urban fantasy, young adult Leave a commentToday over at Aussie Owned and Read, I’m reviewing “Half-Blood” by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I liked it, but didn’t love it — click here to find out why: Review: ‘Half-Blood’ by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
Review: ‘Last Will and Testament’ by Dahlia Adler
Posted: April 6, 2015 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: new adult, reviews Leave a comment
Lizzie Brandt was valedictorian of her high school class, but at Radleigh University, all she’s acing are partying and hooking up with the wrong guys. But all that changes when her parents are killed in a tragic accident, making her guardian to her two younger brothers. To keep them out of foster care, she’ll have to fix up her image, her life, and her GPA—fast. Too bad the only person on campus she can go to for help is her humorless, pedantic Byzantine History TA, Connor Lawson, who isn’t exactly Lizzie’s biggest fan.
But Connor surprises her. Not only is he a great tutor, but he’s also a pretty great babysitter. And chauffeur. And listener. And he understands exactly what it’s like to be on your own before you’re ready. Before long, Lizzie realizes having a responsible-adult type around has its perks… and that she’d like to do some rather irresponsible (but considerably adult) things with him as well. Good thing he’s not the kind of guy who’d ever reciprocate.
Until he does.
Until they turn into far more than teacher and student.
Until the relationship that helped put their lives back together threatens everything they both have left.
Last Will and Testament is the second of Dahlia Adler’s books that I’ve read. The first was a young adult and was light as fairy floss in comparison to this (note: it wasn’t that light). Some of that is because LWaT is new adult rather than young adult, but some of it is that the story starts in a much darker place.
I admit I found Lizzie’s initial circumstances quite confronting, and if the story had stayed in that space I doubt it’d have been much more than a three-star read for me despite the stellar writing. Lizzie sleeps with whoever takes her fancy (which I don’t have a problem with), including someone else’s boyfriend (which I do, although the blame sits more with him than her as far as I’m concerned). She smokes, drinks too much, and parties all weekend so that she’s barely maintaining a passing grade.
When her parents die and she realises she needs to get her life together for her brothers’ sake, she grits her teeth and gets on with it. Over time, she grows up enough to see that she did the wrong thing by helping Trevor cheat on his girlfriend. But she doesn’t start to look down on her former partying lifestyle or those friends of hers who still take part in it. For that reason, I’m hesitant to describe LWaT as a redemption tale, because that suggests it might be sanctimonious. It definitely isn’t that. And I liked that it didn’t inadvertently slut shame Lizzie or Lizzie’s friends.
Lizzie has a lot of trouble adjusting to being a newfound single parent to two boys. I felt her pain – I only have the one child, and he’s not a tween yet, but I know how much of a scramble life can be when you’re dealing with it on your own. Adler definitely nailed that side of things. I was a little disappointed at the solution to her problems at the end, but at the same time I can see that it was the only way that things could resolve themselves under the circumstances.
Far and away the stand out thing for me about LWaT was the writing, and that’s what elevates the book from a four- to a five-star read. Adler’s snarky sense of humour comes through; Lizzie’s dialogue is a scream and had me actually laughing out loud several times. (I rarely laugh out loud when I’m reading. Usually the best a book gets is a heh in my head. I’m such a robot!)
The supporting characters are fleshed out, and I could see why Lizzie developed such a massive crush on Connor. He’s a history nerd from Canada who wears daggy clothes; I was on board with that crush before she was! I also loved her two female friends, especially the wildly flamboyant and unashamedly “pansexual” Frankie. I was disappointed that the next book in the series is about the more serious Cait rather than Frankie, to be honest!
This is definitely worth your time to take a look.
Review: ‘Life in Outer Space’ by Melissa Keil
Posted: March 26, 2015 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: AWW, geekery, GLTB, reviews, young adult Leave a comment
Sam Kinnison is a geek, and he’s totally fine with that. He has his horror movies, his nerdy friends, World of Warcraft – and until Princess Leia turns up in his bedroom, he doesn’t have to worry about girls.
Then Sam meets Camilla. She’s beautiful, friendly and completely irrelevant to his life. Sam is determined to ignore her, except that Camilla has a life of her own – and she’s decided that he’s going to be part of it.
Sam believes that everything he needs to know he can learn from the movies … but now it looks like he’s been watching the wrong ones
This book, you guys. I wish it had been around when I was at school, because I really could’ve used a story about Australian nerds suffering through high school and falling in love. It was so ADORABLE, and it spoke to me.
The first thing to mention about Life in Outer Space is the voice. It’s told from Sam’s perspective, and he has a distinctive narrative style. He’s always making “objective” observations about his world, and doing things like noticing exactly how many seconds it takes for something to happen. But at the same time he was so awkward and oblivious to social cues. (Seriously, I knew people exactly like this when I was at school.) I’m not a movie buff, so some of his references were lost on me, but he definitely could’ve been a young version of some of my nerdy, adult male friends.
The other characters are just memorable. The dearest to my heart is Camilla. She’s moved around a lot (and has the benefit of having a famous dad), so she’s a veteran at making friends and fitting in. But she’s not a sheep — her philosophy on high school can be summed up by this quote: “You can rock the boat, but you better make sure you have a very safe seat first.” Despite being instantly popular, she’s a music nerd and likes World of Warcraft. She’s the sort of girl every geeky female wants to be: quirky without being weird, and able to tame the bullies — not just for herself but for the other nerdy kids too. (Or maybe it’s just me who wished I was like that?)
I also loved Sam’s other friends. There’s Allison; I would devour a book about her if one were to become available (hint hint!). I couldn’t shake the mental image of her looking like a young Willow from Buffy, only in anime t-shirts rather than daggy clothes picked out by her mother. She had that same awkward earnestness. Mike, Sam’s best friend, is a taciturn and increasingly aloof black belt in karate who is partially out-of-the-closet. And Adrian is a scruffy nerd who is utterly tactless and enthusiastic about life.
I won’t talk too much about the plot, except to say that it was so wonderful to see a relationship built on friendship, hardship and mutual understanding rather than the typical “love at first sight” fare. The pacing was quick enough to keep me interested, and though there weren’t any surprising plot twists or anything, the story had a lot of heart and kept me entranced to the last page.
Review: ‘The Problem With Heartache’ by Lauren K. McKellar
Posted: March 14, 2015 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: aussie-owned, AWW, reviews Leave a comment
The problem with heartache is that there’s no one-size-fits-all relief package. You can go to classes; you can try to embrace change. But when you wake up at two in the morning, a smile on your face because you’ve dreamt about the could have—the should have—nothing will console you.
Because seconds later, you remember.
And remembering can rip you apart.
Kate will do anything for her family. It’s why she took the job with Lee. It’s why she’s attempting to forget her pain. But it’s hard to forget, when you’re desperate to hold on. Even if Lee Collins is the perfect package.
Lee will do anything for the ones he cares about. It’s why he hired Kate.
It’s why he keeps his secrets; and it’s why he cannot, will not fall in love. Not with Kate—not with anyone.
Ever.
Note that this review by default contains some spoilers for The Problem With Crazy. If you haven’t read that heartbreaking story yet, go. Buy it and a box of tissues, and come back to me later.
I’ve been hanging out for this book since I read the first in the Crazy in Love series, The Problem With Crazy, which was one of my favourite 2014 reads. (You can read my review of that here.) The second book in the series, Eleven Weeks, covers the same period of time as the first, but looks at what Stacey, one of the supporting characters from the first book, is going through.
In Heartache, we finally get back to Kate, our leading lady from the first book. It’s six months after the tragic events in the first book, and Kate is still overwhelmed by the pain of Lachlan’s death. When Lee-freaking-Collins, lead singer of Coal, offers her a job in a clear attempt to bypass her “no charity” rule and help her ill father, she finds she grows increasingly attracted to him. But she doesn’t want to be, because she feels like she’s being unfaithful to Lachlan, or that she’ll lose him all over again if she lets his memory go. Poor girl. I wanted to make her a hot chocolate and give her the biggest hug.
Then there’s Lee, whose story is the main focus of Heartache. Ah, Lee. I liked him, I wanted to punch him in the nose, I wanted to throw him down on the bed and — um, never mind. He’s got a whopper of a dark secret in his past, and his own fair share of tragedy, and he’s decided as a result that he doesn’t deserve love and can’t have a relationship. I alternated between feeling bad for him and wanting him to stop being so damn melodramatic about everything. I’m so mean! :p
But still, Lee isn’t a typical bad boy. He’s actually a genuinely nice person who, when he’s not feeling guilty about his past, is a caring employer and family man. He’s also protective, which can result in some bad rockstar behaviour, but I forgave him for that.
My favourite thing about Heartache, far and away, is the storytelling. It’s dual point-of-view, and the voice was so clear for Kate (Aussie female) and Lee (American male) that it was easy to tell whose chapter we were in at any given time. Lee’s chapters often contained a flashback as well as some present-day narration, which slowly let us see the events in his past. Also, McKellar makes very cute use of letter-writing; Kate and Lee write to each other throughout the story, and are often able to tell each other things on paper that they never would be able to face to face.
One supporting character I was very ambivalent about was Lottie, Coal‘s stylist and mother of super-cute preschooler Jay. There was something off about her for me. But I’m pleased to say that it all made sense by the end.
I stayed up way past my bedtime, bingeing on the second half of Heartache; it’s definitely worth your time and the lack of sleep to do the same!
Cassandra Page 