milk and honey

milk and honey by Rupi Kaur

Age: Adult
Category: Poetry
Rating: 5 stars

Juliet Thinks: This book of poems is one that I had high expectations for because I had seen many people post about snippets of it on social media. There was something enticing about the simple drawings coupled with a short poem, so I decided to order it.

The book certainly deserves the accolade it has received from the public. Kaur's poems are harrowing and deeply relatable. What truly stood out about this collection of poems was the inclusion of drawings that were drawn by Kaur herself. I love the moments in which Kaur hits upon fundamental feelings of adolescence and womanhood. One of her short poems reads, "She was music, but he had his ears cut off." In milk and honey, Kaur paints a jarring image of what it is like to feel unloved, enamored, fundamentally disappointed, and human.

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit by Sloan Wilson

Age: Adult
Category: Historical
Rating: 4 stars

Juliet Thinks: This novel, published in 1955, captures the essence of the unspoken struggle of veterans with PTSD after World War II. Mental illness, including PTSD, was not a subject about which people spoke. During this period, veterans returned from war, immediately immersed in office life; it is this sharp transition that leaves the protagonist disconnected and aimless. Wilson, drawing on his own experiences, describes the life of Tom Rath after war:

“I really don’t know what I was looking for when I got back from the war, but it seemed as though all I could see was a lot of bright young men in gray flannel suits rushing around New York in a frantic parade to nowhere. They seemed to me to be pursuing neither ideals nor happiness – they were pursuing a routine. For a long while I thought I was on the sidelines watching that parade, and it was quite a shock to glance down and see that I too was wearing a gray flannel suit.”

Tom Rath grapples with flashbacks and guilt about what he did during the war. His wife, Betsy, can sense that something about him has changed since his return from combat, but he has made the decision to not speak of the war to anyone. Apart from struggling with his past, he worries deeply about the future. 1950s was also the period of booming suburbia in the United States, so he feels pressured to conform to those ideals.

I truly appreciated this book because of the autobiographical aspect of it. Wilson's words resonated with depth and torment, allowing me to imagine the immense problem many countries were faced with after the end of WWII-- men struggling silently with PTSD in a world in which mental illness was an uncomfortable subject. It also captured the unhappiness of the 1950s, contrasting with the typical image one may have of 1950s America (perfect domesticity, Leave it to Beaver-style families in beautiful suburban homes).

My True Love Gave to Me

My True Love Gave to Me by Holly Black, Ally Carter, Matt de la Pena, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White, and Stephanie Perkins (Editor)

Age: Young Adult / Adult
Category: Romance
Rating: 4 stars

Juliet Thinks: As you can tell from the header of this review, this book is an anthology of holiday-themed short stories with Stephanie Perkins (author of Anna and the French Kiss) as the editor. The names of the authors are certainly enough to draw the reader's attention-- Rainbow Rowell (author of Eleanor & Park), Laini Taylor (author of Daughter of Smoke & Bone).

My favorites among the stories were Rainbow Rowell's Midnight 
and Laini Taylor's The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer. There's something special about reading your favorite authors' writing under a specific setting. Also, the stories are all very quick reads, which I really appreciated because of the craziness of finals week.

This anthology will definitely get you into the holiday spirit with each of exquisitely written short stories.

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Age: Young Adult/Adult
Category: Classic; romance
Rating: 4.5 stars

Juliet Thinks: When Jane Eyre was first published in 1847, Charlotte Bronte did not use her real name. Instead, she published it under a male pseudonym, Currer Bell.

Narrated in first person, the novel begins in Jane's childhood as an orphan living with her cruel aunt and cousins. Later on, Jane attends an institution for orphaned girls, in which she is educated in several subjects. Then, she chooses to work as a governess for Thornfield Hall, Edward Rochester's great estate. One of the greatest elements of this novel is that of the uncanny and supernatural. Jane hears strange screams in the night and notices other Thornfield staff acting suspiciously, but she has no idea what is actually going on, all whilst falling for Mr. Rochester.

Jane Eyre was absolutely revolutionary in its feminist themes at the time it was published. One of its most spectacular quotes delineates the oppression of women and their desire to break out of prescribed gender roles:

"Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex."

I found Jane Eyre to be a likable character because of her feminist tendencies. As shown in the passage above, Jane often thought deeply about how she wants to be more than an object of male affection. She chose the paths that would lead to her autonomy; she refused to be dependent on the financial support of anyone. In the 19th century, this was a very radical notion for women to have. It's for this reason that many critics were taken aback by Bronte's novel. One critic said, "We do not hesitate to say that the tone of mind and thought which has overthrown authority and violated every code human and divine abroad," regarding Jane's departure from Victorian femininity.

Landline

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Age: Adult
Category: Contemporary; romance
Rating: 4 stars

Juliet Thinks: Landline, the second adult novel Rowell has published since the beginning of her writing career in 2011, has all the right elements for a contemporary romance novel: witty, sweet, and personal. It features Georgie McCool, a comedy show writer, who prioritizes work above all of the other elements in her life. As a result, her marriage suffers. It’s Christmas week, and Georgie last-minute cancels her plans with her family to work on a career opportunity instead.

This book gives a realistic sense of the difficulty of relationships and friendships. Above all, it centers around what it means to actually mean something to someone. Rowell’s writing has a special place in my heart because of how natural and captivating it is: “Wasn't that the point of life? To find someone to share it with? And if you got that part right, how far wrong could you go? If you were standing next to the person you loved more than everything else, wasn't everything else just scenery?”

Each character struck me as someone I already know, or could know, because of the impeccable characterization. Georgie’s own family is particularly unique-- her mother’s second husband is Georgie’s age, Georgie’s younger sister is only sixteen, and they use Georgie’s old room as a trophy room for their pregnant pug. The flashbacks to Georgie’s college days (and therefore, her husband’s, too) gave the novel another dimension-- one reminiscent of Rowell’s other written romances. Lastly, Landline surprised me in Rowell’s use of magical realism. All of her previously published books, whether young adult or adult, have been in the contemporary fiction genre. The fantasy element in this book caught me off-guard; I had not heard anything about it beforehand. It added a sweet, mystical element to the novel without being tacky.

Overall, I truly enjoyed Landline and would highly recommend it as a read for the holiday season.

Isla and the Happily Ever After

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Age: Young Adult
Category: Romance; contemporary
Rating: 3 stars

Juliet Thinks: It is hard to forget Stephanie Perkins’ debut novel, Anna and the French Kiss, because of all of the praise it received from the YA community. Followed by Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After, these standalone novels are tied together with cameos from the different main characters of the books. I have to say that this book was my least favorite of the series, but I enjoyed it all the same.

Isla and the Happily Ever After centers around Isla, a studious hopeless romantic in her final year at the School of America in Paris. And then there’s Josh, the son of an American senator with a rebellious streak and artistic talent. Upon having an actual conversation for the first time, their romance escalates rather quickly with a love story that is very bold and rampant. With cameos from Anna, Etienne, Lola, and Cricket, and mentions of the Olympics, the novel grants the reader a sense of continuity and closure.

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We Were Liars

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Age: Young Adult
Category: Contemporary
Rating: 5 stars

“We are liars. We are beautiful and privileged. We are cracked and broken.”

Juliet Thinks: Simply put, We Were Liars will leave you reeling. Once you reach the last page and close the book, you will be breathless for a moment. It is that kind of book. I had been anticipating this book for quite some time--all the big authors in YA (John Green, Sarah Dessen, etc) had been raving about their ARCs. Released in May 2014, it did not disappoint at all.

The book opens with a map of a private island and a family tree of the Sinclairs. The island is Beechwood Island, the one in which Cadence Sinclair sojourns every summer with the other Sinclairs. Though they are seemingly flawless, their values are questionable. Cadence, as the eldest grandchild, has an immense amount of pressure resting upon her shoulders. Johnny, Mirren, and Gat are her fellow ‘Liars’. They are inseparable. Cadence also struggles with amnesia and migraines, having suffered from a horrific accident. The storyline revolves upon her desperate attempts to piece together what she cannot remember.

As you read, you will sense that something is off. It doesn’t strike you as peppy. It carries a sense of underlying tragedy. Something is deeply wrong. If you’ve read any of Lockhart’s previous books, you will note that this deviates from her usual. Her books typically center on spunky female protagonists in a high school setting. Speckled with dark twists on fairy tales, We Were Liars’ chapters build spectacularly to the aura of unease surrounding Cadence. Lockhart’s prose is jarring. Class and race issues are also significant underlying themes.

If none of this praise has drawn you to reading the book yet, perhaps it’d be interesting to know that its film rights were sold within two weeks of its release. We Were Liars will haunt you long after you read it in the best possible way.