Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade (★★☆☆☆)
I continue to be annoyed at 400+ page romance novels. A romance novel does not need to be that long! There is no reason for it. And there was no reason for this romance novel to be as long as it was. This slow-burn romance is about two actors, Maria and Peter, who have a one-night stand the day before they are both cast on the same television series together. Oops! The story takes place during the six years they filmed on location on a desolate island in Ireland, where they learn more about each other but promise to not make things awkward by dating or hooking up. It’s only afterward, when they have to do press about their final season, that they finally give in to their burning chemistry. What I liked about this novel is that it featured fat protagonists (both the female and male!) and it was fun to get some insights into what it’s like to act and produce on a television show. What I didn’t like about this novel is that it was so damn long! And the pacing just didn’t work for me – there was a point about 300ish pages in that seemed like a natural stopping point for the book and I was astonished to realize I had 100 pages left! What the hell? I think a tighter edit could have made this book so much better.
The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers (★★★☆☆)
This historical novel is our February pick for book club, and I am really looking forward to discussing it with everyone because I had a weird experience reading it. This book is about Maddie, a 15-year-old girl who is spending the summer with her aunt and helping out with her aunt’s sewing business. Her aunt is the seamstress for the Tobacco Wives, a group of society women who are married to the men who run Bright Leaf Tobacco. It is 1946 so everyone smokes and doctors tell their patients that tobacco is good for them (even pregnant women). Through a series of events, Maddie becomes the main seamstress for the wives and is working on all the dresses these women will be wearing for a big party at the end of the summer. In the midst of all that, Maddie uncovers evidence about the real health risks of tobacco and how some Bright Leaf executives are trying to cover up the story. There’s a lot going on in this novel, and while some of it was really interesting to me (mainly about tobacco farming, the wives of these powerful executives, and how smoking was such a normal part of everyday life at this time), I just don’t feel as if the book was well-executed. There was so many other things happening in the periphery that it felt like the real story of the novel didn’t have enough time to shine. Would I recommend it? I think it could be interesting for people who enjoy historical fiction and want to learn more about the world of Big Tobacco. But it’s not a book I’m giving my stamp of approval. YMMV, though.
Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon (★★★★★)
This story was so amazing! It’s a fictional retelling of a real woman’s life, and I am just so in awe of this woman and everything she did for the Resistance during WWII. I know we’re all a little tired of reading books about WWII (I know I am, at least), but this novel definitely brought me into a part of the war that I haven’t read much about, which is resistance fighters and spies who were fighting against the Nazis. Helene is the code name for Nancy Wake, a woman who becomes one of the leaders of the French Resistance and who ends up commanding hundreds of men during her time. She is an incredible woman and this story was such a beautiful one. It drifts between two timelines: 1944 where Nancy is leading the French resistance and 1936 where Nancy is an intrepid freelance reporter and falling in love with Henri Fiocca. Both storylines were strong and impactful, which is not something I can often say in these historical novels and go back and forth in time. But it was so interesting to see how Nancy came to who she is today. This is a novel I wholeheartedly recommend, especially if you love a good WWII novel.
What are you reading?
1) I read the first book in the Spoiler Alert series (well, I listened as an audiobook) and I thought it was dreadful, so I’m not sure I’m willing to dive in to more of that series. I agree with you that the fat representation is nice, but I’m not sure Dade is going to be the author for me to fulfill that niche.
2) We had to do a ban on WWII books for our book club, but we haven’t read one in a long, long time. Maybe I’ll suggest this one next time.
I love the fat representation in Dade’s books but agree with you! Also, I just CANNOT with all of the fanfiction inserts. At least they’re easy to skip over, but it has got to stop.
I haven’t read a WWII book in a long time and was a little apprehensive to pick this one up, but it was so worth it. An incredible story!
” I know we’re all a little tired of reading books about WWII” YEP! Ha! Wasn’t it funny when that came up on the Popcast? This book does sound like an interesting perspective though!
I would have been so annoyed that romance was so long too! I really wonder why books like that don’t get edited!
I am reading The Cat Who Saved Books.
So funny when that topic came up on The Popcast and it’s sooo true. Why are ALL historical fiction novels (or so it seems) about WWII? There are so many other parts of history we can learn about! Argh.
I was thinking about you because I read Mary Jane! What a lovely little book! It was very sweet to read. I loved the way she acknowledged her mother and her mother’s housewifery gifts as something to be valued, because I feel that is something that is often looked down upon. What a nice book about family and chosen family. I didn’t love the dialogue half the time but I did really enjoy the book. Oh, and it was SO funny how she thought she was a “sex addict.” That was a nice bit of humour!
Right now I’m reading, wait, I can’t recall the name. Oh yes, Navigating the Messy Middle, about women in midlife. It’s by a prominent Canadian parenting author, and it’s fine, but it’s not life-changing. It’s kind of like reading a lot of magazine articles, if that makes sense.
I am so glad you liked Mary Jane! The title character is so dear to me. I looooved how she thought she was a sex addict because she thought about sex from time to time. We talked about that at book club!
I LOVED Code Name Helene! That might be my all-time favorite WWII book. I’ve taken a break from reading WWII books but this is one I’d tell someone to read even if they felt burnt out on the genre. I loved that it was based on a real person. The end notes were so fascinating to read!
I’m just about done with “In a NY Minute” which has been a really fun, delightful read. I’m on a string of romance reads right now because I read some really really heavy books recently. I think this is the best of the romance books I’ve read recently. I love NYC so much so having the city as a backdrop makes it extra delightful for me. Next up is “The Bandit Queens” which will be my first 2023 read of the year. And then I’m reading “More Than You’ll Ever Know.” I was debating reading it and then was sold on it after the author interview on Sarah’s bookshelves live!
Oh my: your favorite WWII book EVER? That’s a high standard, but I can absolutely see how it would get such a high review from you. It was excellent and I just love that it was a) based on a real woman and b) she was such a badass! What a cool woman.
You are the second person I know who has loved “In a New York Minute” so I think I need to add it to my list!
Code name Helene sounds like something I would read. But I agree so many WWII historical fiction novels. I read one about Cuba last month “Next year in Havanna” which I found was a good change.
Oh, I loved Next Year in Havana! We read that for book club a few years ago. It was really, really good and gave me a new historical perspective.