Stories & Slices

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Victoria Jones hasn’t had an easy life. Left to grow up in the foster system and finding rejection at each turn has made it difficult for her to accept those that DO love her. It has burned bridges in the past but can Victoria learn how to mend these relationships and grow up? Or will she bury her head in the sand until the patient friends loose hope and walk away?

I really spent a good portion of the novel rooting for the protagonist. It seemed that she was just a broken spirit and that she needed to right circumstances to just snap out of it. I can’t really say how I felt when the character kept backsliding into her recluse patterns. Part of me wanted to swirling romance where everything magically gets better once a few positive people fell into her life; the other half of me loved how realistic this book was to what someone with trauma would ACTUALLY go through on a road to betterment. The writing is both captivating, and honest..and I really think that made this book so much better than others in the same genre.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has worked hard on their personal growth, or anyone who liked the movie White Oleander with Michelle Pfeiffer and Renée Zellweger.

Malia's Pizza Rating

An edible flower pizza with nasturtium flowers, squash blossoms, and broccoli raab flowers.

No Dukes Allowed by Grace Burrowes, Kelly Bowen, and Anna Harrington

Three young widowed women are summering together in Brighton for a break from their troubles back home. In three separate short stories, each woman is in for a surprising adventure in love when unexpected suitors throw their hats in the ring for their attention.

It took me awhile to realize it, but I really liked that all of these authors wrote separate stories, but that they all mingle together with the three protagonist women living in the same house over the summer. It was fun to see characters pop up in one another’s narratives. Each tale was charming and well written, which is not something I can always say with short stories. I found myself caught up in the drama of each Duchesses love entanglement and rooting for a happy ending. I also thought it was an interesting notion to make each women a widowed Dutches of the Victorian era so that the sex scenes with their newest lovers weren’t as socially unrealistic since they were all experienced women. Overall this was your basic romance novel, filled with turmoil, lust, and happy endings.

I would recommend this book if you liked Downton Abbey, or Pride and Prejudice.

Malia's Pizza Rating

Pizza fit for royalty

Chase Darkness with Me by Billy Jensen

Billy Jensen is a crime reporter who got sick of writing about the aftermath of these misdeeds and wanted to use his skills to track down the perpetrators. This is his autobiography of how he has spent decades using social media and his tenacity to make the world a safer place.

At first I was slightly disappointed with this book…but let me explain why. I have listened to the Murder Squad podcast (hosted be Billy Jensen and Paul Holes) since the first episode aired; and this book covers many of the same cases that have been released on the show. I felt like I was getting cheated by buying this book and then hearing the same cases being covered that I had already heard previously. There were also several times where I felt like the novel became monotonous with dead end case after dead end case being described. BUT, I think after listening to the entire book, I now see that the writing as a whole shows us how Billy’s obsession with sleuthing and bringing criminals to justice has lead to a new age of detective work. He is paving the way for a new age technique that is showing signs of being successful. All of the work he has put in has culminated in the Murder Squad podcast; it has driven this approach into the light of mainstream media and is catching on with others who are as motivated to track down the clues and gather the information that police departments don’t have the resources to accomplish on their own. I also really loved getting more personal background on someone who I listen to on a weekly basis…it was endearing to hear about Jensen’s relationship with his father, and how he interacts with his children.

I think this will be a great extension of information for those who already listen and love the Murder Squad, and I think it will be even more captivating to those who love true crime who don’t already listen to the podcast.

Malia's Pizza Rating

A double pepperoni from Disney’s Pizza Planet (since McDonald’s doesn’t serve pizza).

And the Ass Saw the Angel by Nick Cave

* NOTE: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART *

Euchrid has had a difficult life. Born to an alcoholic mother and an inbreed father, he is also mute and outcast by the exceptionally religious people of the town near by. This novel follows his childhood into his adult years as he watches and silently judges the citizens who have beaten him down. Believing himself to be on a mission from God, he is about to settle accounts on the Lord’s behalf.

The best word to describe this book is…dark. Nick Cave writes some incredibly poetic prose. Due to this style, this is a novel that isn’t a quick read because the writing is vivid and the imagery strikes at your soul. I had a hard time rating this book because it was so well written, and drew me into Euchrid’s poor life, but I also had a hard time rating a book so highly when I was often uncomfortable due to the abuse of humans and animals. All throughout the book I couldn’t help but have many questions and think this would have been a great read for a book club. I wondered how someone who didn’t seem to have any education could have such complex thoughts, or if the protagonist was schizophrenic or just beaten to the point of being irreparable? For the duration of the novel I kept thinking that the protagonist’s childhood could have been the back-story for Cormac McCarthy’s Chigurh from No Country for Old Men. The constant corruption and injustices served upon Euchrid can easily turn a person into a ruthless killer with his own set of twisted morals.

I stated above that this book is not for the faint of heart…but honestly, this book is really for a select audience. If you were fascinated with the twisted thoughts and childhood portion of the serial killer in The Cell with Jennifer Lopez, then this might be for you.

Malia's Pizza Rating

A pizza from the Roadkill Cafe

Seed by Michael Edelson

A soldier named Alex falls asleep after taking his friend to an infirmary after being wounded in the field. Alex wakes up in a bungalow on a tropical island only to find he is surrounded by 50 others who were also ripped away from their normal lives. There are deadly force fields keeping them captive and paper orders are left for a few who have been picked to be left in charge; now they must find out where they are, why they have been placed there, and who forced them into this situation?

I think this novel was captivating from the start and never got overly complicated to where you got lost on backstory. There have been other books written like this, but they are often trilogies and these series always lost favor with me once they got to the point of explaining, in long boring detail, why those in power decided to do what they did. This book has so much devoted to the discovery of where they are and also dealing with power struggles amongst their own captives, and only a small succinct portion to the why. I liked that, it’s not like the author leaves you not knowing…but he does it in a nice short manner. I read a few of the reviews before picking this one up, and I do agree (although not as passionately) that the author doesn’t do the greatest job with the way the male characters speak of women, but it was a small irritation that I didn’t notice too often.

This book often reminded me of the Maze Runner series….A LOT! If you like that set of books I would highly encourage you to pick up this more adult version.

Malia's Pizza Rating

A hot Hawaiian – Canadian bacon (I substitute pepperoni), pineapple, and jalapeños.