Friday 24 September 2021

BOOK REVIEW: CHASING THE TAILLIGHTS BY KATE LARKINDALE

 



CHASING THE TAILLIGHTS

Lucy and Tony share nothing except genes. Tony’s the champion diver destined for greatness. Lucy’s biggest concern is getting Cute Guy from the burger joint to ask her out.

After an accident kills their parents, the siblings are forced to rely on one another—and decide whether to reveal their secrets.

Lucy can’t tell Tony what she knows about the accident for fear of destroying the tentative bond between them. If she doesn’t confess, she might lose her mind. If she does, she might lose the only person she has left who loves her.

Tony has problems too. Between diving practice, classes and concealing the crush he has on his best friend Jake, Tony needs to find room in his life for his sister, but his own stability dwindles with every passing day.

As the siblings struggle to overcome a lifetime of past conflicts and jealousies, they discover they might have more in common than a love of rock music.


PublisherEvernight Teen


My Thoughts 

An emotional rollercoaster is how I will describe Kate Larkindale's "Chasing The Taillights". 

Lucy and Tony were siblings in the prime of their youth having to deal with the loss of their parents in an accident. The loss of parents at any age is painful, but when they die suddenly it is even more devastating. The book was written from both the perspective of Lucy the teenager, who survived the accident with her parents and Tony the older, athletic, college student brother who, overnight had to take up the responsibility of his younger sister, who he knew very little about personality wise.

When I was reading the book, I was thinking about people in general going through loss. What I found interesting was that neither of the siblings did not seek counselling. I am not sure if this was deliberate, but the way these two were struggling especially Lucy really said to me that young people in similar situations should seek help. The downward spiral that Lucy went through was testament to that. It was really heart wrenching to read about when she finally remembered the details of the accident, the guilt, the shame, and the recklessness wow it was really real to me.

What I liked about Tony, was that although he was grappling with college life, diving and personal life, he still stepped up to care for his teenage sister. I really liked too how this author through Tony gave me a different take on dealing with loss. The ending was really wonderful as well.

Much thanks to Ms. Larkindale for sending this book for review. 

I really enjoyed this book.


About The Author

Having spent a lifetime travelling the globe, Kate Larkindale settled in Wellington, New Zealand fifteen years ago.  A film marketing executive and mother to two sons, she’s surprised she finds any time to write, but doesn’t sleep much.  As a result, she can usually be found hanging out by the nearest espresso machine.

She is the author of contemporary YA novels Chasing The TaillightsThe Sidewalk’s RegretsAn Unstill Life and Stumped along with several others that no one is allowed to see. Yet. She has also written one very bad historical romance, which will likely never see the light of day. She is working on several more YA novels that may or may not ever be finished.

Her short stories have appeared in Halfway Down The Stairs, A Fly in Amber, Daily Flash Anthology, The Barrier Islands Review, Everyday Fiction, Death Rattle, Kissed Anthology, Just Me Anthology, Drastic Measures, Cutlass & Musket and Residential Aliens, among others.





Read an Excerpt:

And then he’s there.

He steps into the room, his huge frame filling the doorway. He starts toward the bed then stops, his lips pressing together into a thin, white line. He drops his brilliant blue-eyed gaze to the floor for a moment and swallows hard before he looks up again. The scruffy beginnings of a beard shadow his chin.

“Hey, Lucy.” He tries to smile as he crosses to the bed, but his lips tremble too hard for it to be convincing. A muscle jumps in his jaw like a tiny fish trying to escape. “Thank you for being here, Peter.”

“I wish I didn’t have to be.” Peter gets up and gives Tony a brief hug. My brother’s arms don’t move, just hang stiffly at his sides, hands clenched into fists. 

Peter lets go and moves aside to let Tony sit next to me. “I’m going to get some coffee. I’ll be back soon.”

Tony watches him go, not turning back to me until Peter’s tall, lean figure has vanished into the hallway. When he does, his eyes are red-rimmed and exhausted. Purple crescents lie beneath them. He looks like shit, but something about the way he’s studying me makes me certain I look worse.

“Oh, Jesus, Lucy.” He shakes his head, a pleading expression on his face. “I have no clue what I’m supposed to say right now.”

I blink up at him. I need him to tell me what happened. I need him to explain it to me. I try to form the words, but they won’t come. My mouth, stitched up like a quilt, won’t shape what I need to say.

“Dad?” I manage after a long battle. “…Mom’s…” I can’t say it. If I speak it aloud it’ll be true.

I’m holding my breath. My chest aches and I let it out in a gasp. The pain is back, sharp and stabbing at my side, a dull throb in my neck and shoulder. Tony reaches out and touches the side of my face. I flinch, hating myself for it when his fingers are as gentle as rain.

“They’re dead, Lucy. They’re both dead.” His eyes lock onto mine and I know he’s telling the truth. The bleak, stunned look on his face tells me more than any words could. A sob escapes him and he starts to turn away.



Monday 13 September 2021

BOOK REVIEW: PATSY by NICOLE DENNIS-BENN


 Synopsis:

When Patsy gets her long-coveted visa to America, it comes after years of yearning to leave Pennyfield, the beautiful but impoverished Jamaican town where she was raised. More than anything, Patsy wishes to be reunited with her oldest friend, Cicely, whose letters arrive from New York steeped in the promise of a happier life and the possible rekindling of their young love. But Patsy’s plans don’t include her overzealous, evangelical mother―or even her five-year-old daughter, Tru.

Beating with the pulse of a long-withheld confession, Patsy gives voice to a woman who looks to America for the opportunity to choose herself first―not to give a better life to her family back home. Patsy leaves Tru behind in a defiant act of self-preservation, hoping for a new start where she can be, and love, whomever she wants. But when Patsy arrives in Brooklyn, America is not as Cicely’s treasured letters described; to survive as an undocumented immigrant, she is forced to work as a bathroom attendant and nanny. Meanwhile, Tru builds a faltering relationship with her father back in Jamaica, grappling with her own questions of identity and sexuality, and trying desperately to empathize with her mother’s decision.

Expertly evoking the jittery streets of New York and the languid rhythms of Jamaica, Patsy weaves between the lives of Patsy and Tru in vignettes spanning more than a decade as mother and daughter ultimately find a way back to one another.


My Thoughts:

This has to go down as one of my all time favourite books written by a Caribbean author. I heard many people saying that this book was good and they were right. This book spoke to the issue of migration. Many West Indians in the past and even now are still seeking the American dream and although the story spoke to the Jamaican experience as a Trinidadian I can relate to this.

Patsy was a young woman with a dream and hers was a life better than what she had in Jamaica living with her over religious mother "MAMA G" and her five year old daughter Tru. Living in the United States promised an escape and a chance of happiness with her childhood friend Cicely who migrated to the US years before and also who she loves dearly. Upon receiving a VISA, Patsy left everything behind including her daughter and set off to live her life. However, upon reaching America everything is not easy street, instead she meets a life of hardship and pain. 

Meanwhile in Jamaica, Tru had to live with her father Roy (who she had little relationship with), his wife Marva and her brothers. Tru's path was very interesting. In the West Indies we talk about children whose parents left them for the US as "barrel children". In Tru's case however, she wasn't even that because Patsy had no communication with her after leaving Jamaica. As Tru struggled with her sexuality and finding herself, we were told of Patsy's struggles to survive in a foreign land.

Patsy's experience was well written and I loved this book for that, because at many parts I could have related her experiences to people I know. This book also highlighted the myriad of social problems that existed and still to some extent exist in Jamaican society. I especially like how the issue of sexuality was written because you really got a deeper understanding of what occurs.

The case of characters were all important in their own way and each had a main significance in the book. very often when books have many characters like this one there is sometimes a disconnect but it worked well in this book.

In all this was a great work of West Indian fiction. I highly recommend it. Very enjoyable indeed,




Tuesday 7 September 2021

BOOK TOUR AND GIVEAWAY: THE LIGHT THROUGH THE POURING RAIN BY JAMES RUVALCABA

 



Write Now Literary is pleased to be organizing a two-month book tour and $50 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway for The Light Through the Pouring Rain by James Ruvalcaba. 

The book tour will run August 2- Sept 30, 2021.  

 Genre: Nonfiction 
 ISBN-13: 979-8575160397 

Before he started writing romance stories, James worked with the special need’s population for 10 Years. He devoted his life giving back to the population. From school's to agencies and everything in between James has worked almost every job within the community. After that, during the pandemic James decided to start writing to pass the time, but to come through on his promise he made years earlier. He devoted his life to giving back, now he devotes his life to telling his stories.  


      

A remarkable love story that pulls on your heartstrings and leaves you inspired. A page turner that gives a first-hand look into the lives of a young couple madly in love and eager to start their lives together, only to have it all halted by a cancer diagnosis. With no clear road map on how to navigate their new normal, James and Anabel proceed into uncharted territory, hand-in-hand, with the love of their families and their faith in God to guide them.  

1. Why do you write the kind of books you do? I write romance, love & loss, and inspirational books.

2. Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life? My happiest day was the day my book got published because it meant I came through on the promise I made to my Fiancé.

3. How has being published changed your life? It gave me the confidence to know that I was meant to write.

 
4. What are you reading right now? I am currently reading “Can’t hurt me” by David Goggins

 
5. What is your current work in progress? I am writing my next installment in my book series.
 
6. What would be your dream vacation? I don’t have a particular area, but somewhere by the water so I can hear the waves at night and enjoy the over atmosphere of peace being around. 
 
7. How do you choose your settings for each book? I only write non-fiction books, so I pick locations within the stories, but as far as the timelines go , I think of the moments that should be relieved.

8. If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why? I’d say Tyler perry. I’d love to pick his brain about why he continued to push forward to overcome the obstacles that were placed in his life. 

 

9. What three things about you would surprise readers?

I'm not very much into materialistic items

I have a phobia of holes

I enjoy listening to all types of music.. For example, I listened to Katy Perry's “ Teenage Dream” for most of my high school tenure. 
 
10. What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading? I enjoy going to the Gym before and after writing and I enjoy being by the beach. 
 

   


 

Sunday 5 September 2021

AUGUST WRAP UP AND READING PLANS FOR THE REST OF 2021!!


AUGUST WRAP UP AND READING PLANS FOR THE REST OF 2021!!

In August I read eight books!!! I thought I would have gotten through a lot more since I was on vacation from work. I guess I was too busy sleeping and watching Netflix. Anyway here are the books that I have read. and in case you want to read the reviews I have placed them below.

Some great books indeed!!!



LUSTER BY RAVEN LEILANI

THE BLACK MARKETER"S DAUGHTER BY SUMAN MALLICK

THE LONELY LONDONERS BY SAMUEL SELVON

WATCH FOR ME BY MARTIN BODENHAM

HOW THE ONE ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE BY CHERIE JONES

AFFIRMATIONS OF A MENTOR

EDUCATED BY TARA WESTOVER

THE GIRL WHO STOLE J.E.B. STUART BY PAUL FERRANTE 


For the month of September and for the balance of the year, I am planning to highlight ARCs from Netgalley and books sent to me by authors and publishers (I hope I can get through a lot of them). So look out for that especially if you sent me your book to review!!!

Looking forward to an exciting few months!!!

Cheers!!!