just the surface

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Genre: historical fiction

Review: If asked, I wonder which aspect of  Marjorie Post's magnificent lives Allison Pataki would name as more meaningful: her 4 marriages (and 4 divorces), her astounding wealth, her philanthropy, or her ability to design, build, and inhabit multiple luxurious properties.  Because as far as I can tell from this hagiography, Pataki doesn't think there's much else to say about her (aside from a bit about her refusal to be subservient to any man).

Somehow, Pataki has managed to fill up 400 pages with descriptions of jewels and houses and travel and marriages going down the drain.  To be fair, there's also a lot about Post's drive to give back, to make her wealth useful not just to herself, but to her country.  But all of it, from Fabergé to feminism, is given only the most surface treatment, which is a shame, because the worthiness of Post as a subject comes through loud and clear.  I think I'll have to read one of the biographies recommended at the end if I want to get anything like a real sense of the woman, though.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

tastes like cardboard

Rosie Colored Glasses by Brianna Wolfson
Rating: 2 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Review:  Willow's parents are complete opposites.  Rosie is a free-spirit who believes in the power of colors, the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and not keeping to a schedule, and seems to exist solely on Pixie Stix, cream soda, and pizza.  Rex is firm and regimented and believes in balanced dinners and to-do lists.  Opposites may attract, but they can also explode.  And what happens to the kids when the attraction ends?  Willow can tell you, but it's not pretty.

This book had the potential to be an interesting exploration of a child's experience of navigating divorced parents. Unfortunately, Rex and Rosie are both such complete caricatures of their types that it felt like reading about cardboard cut-outs.  They are almost exclusively written to type, except when they do something so wholly out of character that it's nearly inexplicable.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

Sabrina with a twist

Bras & Broomsticks by Sarah Mlynowski
Rating: 2 stars (out of 5)
Genre: YA
Challenge: A-Z (title)
Review: The only thing that gets this book two stars is that, rather than sticking to the done-before theme of teenager-suddenly-finds-out-she's-a-witch, Mlynowski switches things up a bit and gives us teenager-suddenly-finds-out-that-her-younger-sister-(and her mother)-is-a-witch.

Why did the magical powers skip Rachel, and go straight to her younger sister, Miri? Her mother explains that it could be because Miri is more mature than her older sister. Rachel demonstrates her lack of maturity throughout the book, making us all glad that she did not, in fact, get magical powers. Not that, in the end, Miri does much better, repeatedly bending to Rachel's ideas of how to use the powers. Predictable catastrophe ensues, with only a hint that Rachel has learned any of the predictable lessons about true friendship or family or the like. Maybe that's what the sequels are for, but I don't think that I care enough to read them.