Book Review: The Winter Guest

Being a homeschool mom has many benefits, but one downside is my lack of solo time. I spend 24 hours a day with my kids…which is GREAT…but also often makes me wanna pull out all of my hair and hide in the pantry with a bag of chocolate chips. It also GREATLY limits my personal reading time. In the last year I have read LOTS of books aloud to Ethan about dragons and Camelot and talking mice. AND I have read Little House on the Prairie and Heidi again for the first time in YEARS. BUT at the end of the day, I was starting to feel the need for some MOM reading time. SOOO for the past month I have made it a priority again to build in some reading time of my own to recharge my mom batteries and feel more ME again and WOWZA…I have REALLY missed my books and writing a little mini book review for you!!!

Wanna know what books I finished??

The first book I picked up was The Winter Guest by Pam Jenoff, (who has MANY WWII books on my to-read list including The Woman With the Blue Star and The Orphan’s Tale) which I found based on the pretty cover in the airport during Spring Break. I read the first few chapters, but then returned home to reality and never dove in. THEN I decided it was time to jump back into reading, and of course my first thought was to start with my old reliable historical fiction:)

The first chapter of The Winter Guest starts with a HUGE cliffhanger as modern day investigators arrive at the door looking for information about unidentified bones found in Poland. Then we immediately go back in time to the Nowak family living in Poland during the Nazi occupation. Ruth and Helena Nowak are twin sisters attempting to raise their younger siblings on their own ALL while also surviving Poland during WWII. Then Helena finds a wounded American soldier in the woods by their home and uses some of the family’s meager supplies to help him stay alive. I felt at times that things got a bit disjointed and the story got a tad lost in the shuffle…especially when it came to the jealousy between Ruth and Helena (I wont spoil a pretty HUGE plot twist here), but I was drawn to the characters and their will to survive and the unique family dynamic and relationship between the twins/sisters. Even though there were times I wanted to throw this book against the wall, by the time the end came and the loose ends were all wrapped up, I was a fan again. I am a sucker for good writing, and this author KNOWS how to use her words…even if those words created characters who I REALLY had a hard time rooting for at times…I’m looking at YOU, Ruth!! I will for sure keep this author on my radar and read more from her soon.

As far as content to keep an eye on…this IS a WWII book, so war, death, danger, Jewish persecution, etc is of course a part of this book. But as far as inappropriate stuff…I think you are safe. This is a love story, and there IS a love scene hidden in the middle, but it is NOT a romance novel type scene (YOU know what I’m talking about) an is totally PG. I would feel comfortable passing this one along to Grandma Judy (aka my SUPER conservative momma) without worry.

If you want more of my favorite WWII books…you can find my reviews HERE, HERE, and HERE!!!

MOVING RIGHT ALONG…what am I reading NOW?!?!

I jumped RIGHT out of historical fiction into YA fantasy without looking back…BUT to be fair, this book is also DRIPPING with history on every page as well. Fawkes by Nadine Brandes is currently on my nightstand. I am about 65% done reading this book and will give you an update next week. Fawkes is a BIT of a historical novel as it delves into the story of Guy Fawkes and his attempt to blow up British Parliament and change history. You know the rhyme…REMEMBER, REMEMBER the 5th of November. The British still celebrate the failed attempt on Guy Fawkes Day with fireworks, bonfires, and burning effigies…which seems super weird to me…to celebrate NOT getting blown up…but whatever:) ANYWAY…FAWKES is about Thomas Fawkes, the son of Guy Fawkes, and takes place in a magical version of a plague ravaged London. In THIS London, people have color power, which is like a secret weapon a person has based on which color he controls. For example, if you have blue color power, you can control the water in the Thames, and ANYTHING else that is blue. BUT only those with a color mask, made by their father, can harness the power of colors. And poor Thomas, who is the son of the famous Guy Fawkes, does not have a color mask…his father refuses to make him one because he has the plague. Let’s talk about THIS plague versus the ACTUAL plague too. THIS magical plague turns people slowly to stone. I get it…that is a LOT of magic for one book. But somehow it all comes together and once you wrap your head around an alternate England…it all works. I actually had a VERY hard time buying into the whole COLOR MASKS thing until I googled Guy Fawkes and his face popped up…LET ME REMIND YOU…

Guy Fawkes is the man behind the V for Vendetta creepy white face, black mustache, wicked smile mask. SOOOOO that tied all of the loose magical ends up for me and I just jumped right on to the magical mask train. The combination of a HISTORICAL plot mixed with a magical twist is like my two worlds colliding…but in a good way. I will let you know my final thoughts on this book next week.

If you love a good YA novel, you can see a few of my favorites HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Okk…and what is NEXT on my to-read list??

Last year I started the American Royals series by Katharine McGee and chatted a bit about it over in THIS blog post…you can read about my thoughts on the first book and the main GIST of the series over THERE. I just saw that the third book in the series RIVALS just dropped, and I HAD to jump right in where book 2 left off. Royalty…America…I just cannot get enough of this premise!!! I will let you know if it lives up to my expectations. Check back for another book review next Wednesday.

Have you read any of these books…or have a recommendation for me…LEAVE it in the comments and LET’S CHAT SOON!! Jess

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