Book Review: The Dead Wife's Handbook by Hannah Beckerman.

Product details:
Publisher: Penguin.
Paperback, 477 pages.
Release date: February13th 2014.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Ages: Adult
Source: Received from publisher for review.

'Today is my death anniversary. A year ago today I was still alive.'

Rachel, Max and their daughter Ellie had the perfect life - until the night Rachel's heart stopped beating.

Now Max and Ellie are doing their best to adapt to life without Rachel, and just as her family can't forget her, Rachel can't quite let go of them either. Caught in a place between worlds, Rachel watches helplessly as she begins to fade from their lives. And when Max is persuaded by family and friends to start dating again, Rachel starts to understand that dying was just the beginning of her problems.

As Rachel grieves for the life she's lost and the life she'll never lead, she learns that sometimes the thing that breaks your heart might be the very thing you hope for.

Hannah Beckerman gives an unforgettable exploration of love and loss in her first novel, The Dead Wife's Handbook.

Thirty-something Rachel’s life was perfect. A good job and a happy home with her wonderful husband and beautiful daughter, she had it all.  And then, suddenly Rachel died.

The Dead Wife’s Handbook, Hannah Beckerman’s debut, narrates Rachel’s life from beyond the grave as she dips in and out of the lives of the family and friends she has left behind; seeing them move on with their lives and loves while she is stuck in a hazy afterlife while she processes her own grief for the life she to which she never got to say goodbye. Though the subject matter of The Dead Wife’s Handbook could easily verge on bleak, even depressing, it never does. Instead, Rachel’s story is one beautifully told with dashes of wit to lighten the load

We catch up with Rachel, her husband Max and her seven-year-old daughter Ellie on the first anniversary of her death.  Max is still lost in his grief, Ellie too, and yet, it is around this time that friends and family start suggesting that Max should start moving on with his life.  Rachel’s best friend Harriet even suggests that Max should try internet dating. Rachel doesn’t know what on earth Harriet is thinking, and she’s thankful that Max balks at the idea too. After all, it’s much too soon for him to even think about dating someone new. As far as Rachel’s concerned if Max never dated again, it would too soon.  But she knows she can trust Max to respect her memory. And she knows Max. She knows that it’s far too soon for him to start dating again.

Or is it?

The next time Rachel happens upon Max from her cloudy afterlife, he’s sitting in a bar. And he’s waiting for a woman. The date, with a dour vet called Dodie, doesn’t go well, but Rachel is appalled that Max ever considered such a thing. I mean, she’s only been dead just over a year.  Is she so easily replaceable?

Things are about to get far worse for Rachel. When, a little later, she happens on Max in a restaurant he’s on another date. And this date isn’t awkward. This date is no dour Dodie. This date is Eve. This is the first of many dates with Eve. This is the beginning of something new for Max; something good.  And it’s also the first time that Rachel has to witness her husband kiss another woman.

Can Rachel be happy that Max has found someone new? Someone who will love and cherish the family she left behind. Or will her afterlife forever be tinged with bitterness and regret? As Rachel moves through the stages of grief from shock to denial to depression, will she ever reach acceptance?

The Dead Wife’s Handbook will evoke emotions and provoke strong reactions, and it will be interesting to see from different readers what those reactions are. For me, though Rachel is dead, I was on her side from the start. I too thought it too soon for Max to start dating. I mean, a year, in the grand scheme of things, is nothing. Here, though, we’re mostly getting Rachel’s point of view. I had to stop, take a second, and put myself in Max’s shoes: he lost his wife in the blink of an eye; so now, he most probably feels like life is for the taking, not for the wasting. Still, Max is not perfect. He does his best, but he makes mistakes, and when embarking on his new relationship with Eve, he makes certain decisions that even surprise Rachel, the woman who thought she knew him best. Not to worry though, Max has Ellie to keep him in check.

Ah, Ellie. Welcoming another woman into the life that she still sees as her mother’s is not on the cards for Ellie. This little girl clings steadfastly to her mother’s memory. Mature beyond her years and with more memories of her mum than I thought possible for one so young, it is Ellie who questions everything,  who keeps her mum’s spirit alive, whose love for her mum is evident in every heart beat, on every page.

It is Ellie who will make your heart crack, in the end.

The Dead Wife’s Handbook is a touching tale of love, loss and learning to love again. It teaches a lesson too in the art of letting go, moving on, and being thankful for what you have in this life.

 

Reviewed by Arianne: The Elites by Natasha Ngan.

Product details:
Publisher: Hot Key Books.
Paperback, 368 pages.
Release date: September 5th 2013.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Ages: 12+
Source: Purchased.
Reviewed by: Arianne.

‘There is a rumour that the Elites don’t bleed.’

Hundreds of years into the future, wars, riots, resource crises and rising sea-levels have destroyed the old civilisations. Only one city has survived: Neo-Babel, a city full of cultures – and racial tension.

Fifteen-year-old Silver is an Elite, a citizen of Neo-Babel chosen to guard the city due to her superior DNA. She’d never dream of leaving – but then she fails to prevent the assassination of Neo Babel’s president, setting off a chain of events more shocking and devastating than she could ever have imagined. Forced to flee the city with her best friend Butterfly (a boy with genetically-enhanced wings), Silver will have to fight to find her family, uncover the truth about Neo-Babel and come to terms with her complicated feelings for Butterfly.

Packed full of adventure, romance, exoticism and the power of friendship, The Elites is a highly compelling and beautifully written novel from a supremely talented debut author.

All you have to do is look at my Twitter feed to know how excited I was to read this book. It took months to track it down in a bookshop, but as far as little post-Christmas treats are concerned, it doesn't get much better than finally finding one of your most anticipated reads of the year! 

Silver is an Elite - or at least, an Elite in training. Plucked from the gene pool at a young age and earmarked for a life as one of her city's most important protectors, she's been surrounded by danger and privilege for as long as she can remember. But far from being revered, she's despised by most of her fellow Elites. Silver is a Red - an ethnic Chinese - and to many, she has no right to a place in Neo-Babel, let alone among the Elites.

On premise alone, I can't fault this book. Dystopia isn't seen as being typical UKYA, making this a great addition to its shelf. I admire the strength and tenacity with which Ngan builds her story: you can really feel how much she loves her characters with every word she writes. The book is told in third person, but switches viewpoints in a technique reminiscent of Rick Riordan's action-packed omnipresent style.

We find Silver mid-training, with sparse details on her background and even less on her future, building the suspense. We meet her cruel, vindictive mentor and the strangely suspicious Elite leaders. We meet Silver's peers and contemporaries. We even briefly encounter Neo-Babel's President Tanaka! It's Butterfly, Silver's best friend, however, who I grew to love most. Sweet, unselfconscious and loyal to the last, you can tell there's a romance waiting to blossom between these two.

Standing in the way of a blissful romance, of course, is the plot. From the opening scene - there is a rumour that Elites don't bleed - it's apparent that this is one author who isn't afraid to pile on the gore and death to give her world some edge. Unfortunately, so many characters die that the deaths begin to feel a little gratuitous. I don't want to spoil, but unless you manage to establish the connection with these characters that sadly evaded me, their losses will feel like little more than a drop in the ocean of YA violence.

Worse still, the writing within The Elites doesn't even read like YA. It's entirely middle-grade. The description is the fantastic, but the sentence structure, stylistic choices and the directness of the paragraphing cast a shadow of simplicity over the book that just doesn't belong. Everything's so easy for Silver and Butterfly. They don't make mistakes, the world does; they run into handy allies and escape clauses at every turn. The best thing about dystopian YA is the potential for unpredictability, but The Elites reads as if the concept raising the stakes has never even crossed the author's mind. If it weren't for the violence and a certain waterfall scene, I'd put this book straight onto the children's shelf; because on a children's shelf it would be awesome, but in a YA stack it seems tame.

That said one advantage of this innocent, straightforward storytelling is the emphasis on values. The need to feel like part of a family and the importance of independent choice feature heavily in Silver's thoughts, and often extend to driving her actions. While I didn't feel it was necessary to introduce so many lost family members (seriously, does everyone in Neo-Babel have secret/long-dead/reincarnated relatives they didn't know were alive?) I could see the intent behind these moral reflections. If only the attempt to explore racial discrimination hadn't been so one-dimensional. Silver is frequently called a 'Red', because she is descended from the 'Red Nations' of Asia, but apart from some cat-calling and grudge-holding, she doesn't suffer much more than anyone else in the novel. Neo-Babel's society is brilliantly multi-cultural, something we need to see more of, particularly in dystopia, but singling out one race in a sea of many for making 'planes fall out of the sky'? I just didn't buy it.

There's definite potential for more from this world and from this author, though - especially if Ngan ever tries her luck in the children's market. Her books would do phenomenally there, although I wouldn't rule out picking up her YA follow-ups, either.

In short: this book gets 4 stars because while I was a little let down by The Elites, I generally liked the focus on story and the book at all times felt as if it was moving forward, lending itself to an enjoyable, one-sitting read.

 

--Arianne.

Book Review: Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse.

Product details:
Publisher: Bloomsbury.
Hardcover, 256 pages.
Release date: January 16th 2014.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Ages: Adult
Source: Received from publisher for review.

A whirlwind romance. A picture-perfect marriage. Hannah Reilly has seized her chance at happiness. Until the day her husband fails to come home...

The more questions Hannah asks, the fewer answers she finds. But are the secrets that Mark has been keeping designed to protect him or protect her? And can you ever really know what happened before you met

Meet Hannah, a thirty-something New York City dwelling career girl and complete commitment-phobe. At least that was the old Hannah, the Hannah before she met Mark Reilly. Nowadays Hannah lives in a beautiful London townhouse where her days consist of jogging and job-hunting. But Hannah is happy. She’s married to Mark. Yes, their relationship and subsequent marriage may have been a complete whirlwind, and she may have had to give up her job and relocate because of it, but Hannah is certain she made the right choice.

She’s certain that Mark is the man she’ll spend the rest of her life with. Hannah is certain that Mark is the only man for her.  But how well does Hannah really know Mark?

When we pick up the story, Hannah is on her way to Heathrow to surprise Mark who has been away on one of his many business trips to New York. As successful as he is dashing and charismatic, Mark is the director of his own company.  Hannah reaches the airport, and waits and waits, but there is no sign of Mark. He’s not on his scheduled flight, and, though Hannah waits for hours, Mark doesn’t show. Furthermore, he’s not answering his phone. Refusing to panic, pragmatic Hannah returns home. But when Mark still hasn’t returned the next morning, Hannah decides to take action. Mark’s PA –the woman who practically runs his life- has no knowledge of a business trip to New York. In fact, she thinks that Mark and Hannah are enjoying a romantic weekend in Rome. When Mark does eventually call, he offers personally reasonable explanations for his absence and non-contact. But Hannah knows in her heart that something is not quite right. And though she’s reluctant to jump to conclusions, ever-conscious of how her own paranoid mother drove away her husband with constant slights and accusations, it’s pretty clear to Hannah that Mark is lying. All signs point to an affair.  Has Mark taken someone else, his mistress, off to Rome for the weekend?  Hannah is not quite sure what’s going on. But she knows one thing: she no longer trusts Mark.  And she’s determined to find out the truth.

Billed as a psychological thriller in the vein of, you guessed it, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, Before We Metby Lucie Whitehouse is a story of lies, ambition and past secrets buried deep. The comparisons with Gone Girl are inevitable, I guess, since this is a story of secrets within a marriage and, just like Flynn’s bestseller, it poses the question of how well anyone really knows the person they marry. Because everybody has their secrets, right? Hannah has hers; Mark certainly has his, and the race to find out what exactly he’s playing at makes Before We Met a gripping page-turner. I love books of this type, but I think the Gone Girl comparisons are overdone. Sure –comparing a book to a multi-million bestseller will up its exposure and sales, but it also raises expectations. Here, I needed more shocks. Before We Met is a really good read, but the twists were overall a little too predictable, and the ending just a little too neat for my liking.

That said, Before We Met is one of the better psychological thrillers I’ve read lately, and this one has certainly compelled me to check out more of Whitehouse’s books. Her previous novel The Bed I Made is on my list, as is her debut, the eerily-titled The House at Midnight. In Whitehouse, I think I’ve found one of those authors who can make me pick up a book and not put it down until I’m done and have devoured every little twist and turn. And that can only be a good thing.