Book Review: You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Published Sept. 12th 2017
320 Pages

Five girls. Three generations. One great American love story.

Tara’s family has just immigrated to New York from India via London. Her beauty draws everyone’s eyes, but she doesn’t let anyone truly see her.

Her younger sister, Sonia, is falling in love with a boy her mother can’t accept, cutting a deep wound in the Das family.

The daughter of a Bollywood star, Anna is both brilliant and shy, like the Bengal tigers she fights to protect.

Chantal is as fierce a dancer as she is a friend, student, and athlete. But will her wealthy new boyfriend be able to thrive in her shadow?

And Ranee, the center that binds them all together, is beginning to unravel.

As each Das woman decides which Bengali traditions to uphold in America and which to leave behind, one hard truth remains: some scars take generations to heal.- Goodreads

This was an interesting read for me. I wasn’t expecting much (tbh) and its not because of the author or the hype but a lot of contemporary books try so hard to reach someone that the flow and empathy to an issue is often is missed. In this read that wasn’t the case exactly.

It was written with care, respect and empathy towards several issues; colourism, stereotypes, family relationships, death, being bi-racial, racism and being an immigrant. A lot is going on and you have to pay attention to have a open heart in order to see the obvious as well as the underline. The author did a really good job to not over complicate things but to make it known that these issues are part of life and as easy as the author fit it in it is common in the lives of some people.

I really loved Tara and Sunny’s section of the book. Anna and Chantal come off more entitled then I would have liked but their lives is completely different from Tara and Sunny.

If you are expecting this book to be fast pace it really isn’t but you get wrapped into the lives of these girls and you come to live them, want to support them, relate and understand them. It is detailed without feeling like it is being dragged and it is complex without feeling as if the author is doing too much.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, the second half lost its spark for me but I liked how the author tied up loose ends.

3 Pickles

NetGalley Review: The Reluctant Sacrifice by Kerr-Ann Dempster

Self Published
Published Aug. 7, 2015
263 Pages

The Aramith were once an immortal but because of a sibling rivalry, they were punished to become human and banished to Earth. But if a Shaw child was born on the 12th day of the 12th month offers her soul in a public sacrifice, all will be forgiven and welcomed home to Aramith.

Aubrey Shaw is not willing to die. By using her powers as a jumper, she is able to avoid this fate. However, with her former best friend, Joshua, hunting her, Aubrey isn’t sure if she can last much longer.

Will a stranger, who seems to know more about her past be able to save her or will her love for her best friend do the trick?

Let us be blunt. Aubrey was a crappy character. Her mother was crappy (understandable but crappy). Joshua was crappy. The only non-crappy character in this book, which to be honest was the only thing keeping me reading this book, was the stranger saving the day and his name was Coy.

Aubrey wasn’t the brightest person in the world. She held on to a love for Joshua, when he repeatedly showed he could careless for her as a friend or even love interest. He screwed up on every level and yet she was too for him still being around. He was a horrible person and Aubrey was an idiot. She also was extremely stubborn even when her life and others was at risk.

Coy was perfect and I have no idea why the author didn’t put that much love and care into her other characters. He was the perfect blend of down to earth, emotionally tormented character with a heart of gold. He handled business.

The character flaws was huge in this book and although Coy was the reason I kept reading, the author showed talent with the plot. It moved smoothly and it did blend the immediate danger and the I am a normal teenage girl pretty well. But it lacked some excitement and passion. Aubrey isn’t running for her life for much of the book and it didn’t feel like she was about to die for most of the book either.

I did however, appreciate the black female lead, even though it was a bit confusing if Aubrey was always black or was just black for the moment.

There wasn’t too much suspense or dire need to know what happened next. Those character issues was too huge to miss. Also the ending was too easy of a happy ending. I have no problem with a happy ending but it was just to “here you go” for me.

Overall, this could have been so much better because the concept is amazing and it is what drew me to the book.

2 Pickles