Cast Aside, Book Review: Cast Me Gently

If this book came with a soundtrack it would be on cassette tape. So grab your boom box and get ready to enter the world of Magnum, P.I. television, rotary telephones, and soon-to-be Reagan politics. Cast Me Gently is set in 1980s Pittsburgh where due to the numerous steel mill layoffs, the homeless and hungry are plentiful. However, author Caren Werlinger provides us with a love story despite the hardships and bleak outlook of the city.

Even though the main character, Teresa Benedetto, is 34 this is very much a coming-of-age story. She lives at home and works as a pharmacist for her parents’ store, making the presence of family in her life both paramount and smothering. One day Teresa meets Ellie Ryan and the two embark on a relatively normal friendship that eventually leads to much more.

It’s a basic and simplistic girl-meets-girl story-line that is as common as the acid-washed mom jeans the characters undoubtedly wear. The monotonous atmosphere left me wanting for something with a little more profundity, but these two characters are nice enough that you are genuinely happy for them.

Werlinger does an exemplary job describing the various settings throughout the book. She is extraordinary at placing the reader directly on the streets with the destitute, on a couch in a one-room apartment, upon a stool at a favorite restaurant, or behind the counter in the quaint store where Teresa works.

                                                                                              

In the book’s first paragraph we are welcomed to the front door of the Benedetto shop. The author wonderfully illustrates Teresa opening the store at dawn, and you almost feel like you’re a customer waiting to pick up a few items. I give full kudos to Werlinger for a strong and beautifully written beginning.

Unfortunately, this is where my praise for the novel ends because it is by paragraph two, that the author’s writing starts to become static. A pattern begins to emerge in the text where words and phrases are overused and repeated continuously.

In this particular segment, it is the word grit that is triplicated in quick succession. Dirt, sand, or specks of gravel are just three of many synonyms that could have been used, yet grit finds its way onto the page over and over again. Later on we see repetitiveness with words such as lit, moan, moonlight, and goose bumps. In another section of the book, almost 25% of a 149-word passage was made up of the same two nouns.

Welinger can absolutely immerse the reader into a scene, but without using a variety of words her talent seems diluted. I think this could have been a simple fix if only the writer or beta reader had pulled out a thesaurus.

Other examples of the lackadaisical writing include weak dialogue and careless transitions.

It appeared that every time something of great importance needed to be said, an interruption would occur. A waiter would arrive, a telephone would ring, a customer would come in, etc… I can understand the importance of a good cliffhanger, but to never pick these unsaid words back up was a major disappointment. I craved for a finished, meaningful conversation to actually happen.

This novel is told from a combination of viewpoints and in several instances, the lack of precise segues made it difficult to find a point of reference or understand exactly where you were at in the story. Ellie comes with an intricate and complicated history, therefore often she reflects on her past. In addition, a lot of this novel is told from snippets of Teresa’s perspective and internal dialogue. So in order to create a world where these two visions can exist, clear and concise transitions are a must.

One of the most beautiful things I read was finding out that Teresa was a size 16. Finally, we can imagine a character who is not all just about physical appearance. But my joy was short-lived when I realized the author did nothing but fat-shame the character for her size. For me the absolute worst thing about this book was degrading its main character.

The author may have been trying to show us a “real” woman with insecurities, but the execution failed miserably. Werlinger kept bringing up Teresa’s size as a negative. I don’t need to hear about how Teresa knocks stuff over with her behind because it's big. Nor do I need to hear about how she is concerned with the weight limit on elevators or how she is afraid she will break Santa’s lap if she sits on him. It’s appalling, demeaning, and cliché.

Initially, I thought maybe Werlinger was going to write some sort of arc where Teresa finds out that she can be both large and beautiful. But as the book kept going and the remarks kept showing up, it almost seemed like she was on a subliminal message of fat hate.

 Allowing a character to continuously make self deprecating comments without anyone opposing such thoughts is alarming and beyond disheartening. I questioned the author’s use of a larger character as it seemed her appearance was only a gateway for insults.

This book does not earn a one star rating simply for the above issues. Cast Me Gently is filled with numerous amounts of plot holes and inconceivable notions. If you choose to read further, know that there are some spoilers- but I could not in good conscious give this book such a low rating without explicitly explaining why.

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1. Best Friend Bungle

Secondary character, Bernie, is quite possibly one of the most annoying women I have ever read about. Her personality is surrounded by a cloud of racism, adultery, and profanity. She is a teacher who works in a rough neighborhood and shortly into the book, Bernie uses a handful of stereo types in regards to the poor African American families that live there.

As someone who has both taught in low-income neighborhoods and worked for HUD, I can attest that not every family is black, nor is every child there the product of a crack whore mama and absent father.

Additionally, I found Bernie’s ignorant, expletive-laced dialogue hugely uninteresting. I'm no prude but she says so many fucks, shits, and goddamns that it has me as an atheist wanting to go to confession. Her foul language was nonsensical and terribly absurd.

 Overall, Bernie was just not a believable best friend for overly-sheltered Teresa.

2. Preposterous Plot Hole

Early on we learn Ellie's parents are dead and that her older brother, Daniel, went off to fight in Vietnam but returned as a homeless vet. For the past seven years, she has been frantically searching for him on the streets. Often, she places herself in life threatening situations- one of which also becomes a major plot-hole-ish scene later on.

Concurrently, Teresa befriends a homeless gentleman (Dogman) fitting the description of Ellie’s missing brother. (Ellie also shows Teresa a picture of her brother). So even though Teresa knows of Ellie’s desperate attempts to locate Daniel, she never once introduces them to one another. It isn’t until the last page of Chapter 29 that Teresa even thinks to ask Dogman if his real name is Daniel. The last page of Chapter 29!

Um, your girlfriend has been in total despair over her brother’s disappearance and you don’t think to make a serious effort in mentioning this man to her other than in passing? The dude even has an Army bag.

It is all very aggravating since Daniel takes up such a large chunk of Ellie’s narrative and because Dogman plays such a pivotal role in Teresa’s story line.

3. Outlandish Outing

Teresa has been spending the night and time in general with Ellie but tells her mom (Sylvia) that she's been spending all of that time at Bernie's. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for Teresa to lie about hanging out with Ellie. Everyone knows they have become fast friends so it wouldn't be weird for them to be spending large amounts of time together.

Teresa invites Bernie and Bernie's mom (Angela) over for a Sunday meal when it comes out that Teresa hasn’t been hanging out with Bernie after all. So, from that statement alone, and only that, Sylvia now knows that Teresa and Ellie are a couple. What? How? There have been no context clues given to Teresa’s family for them to ever even assume that their daughter was gay. Yet, in one sentence she is outed.

This then leads to a very overly-dramatic seemingly Dynasty-inspired slapping scene that I’m still not over.

4. Ludicrous Love Scenes

Teresa is a virgin and the first time she has ever really been kissed was by Ellie on Christmas Day. But when she uses the terminology “down there” for her anatomy, I rolled my yes.

It could have been believable because of her inexperience, however she’s a pharmacist. I think she knows the word vagina. Teresa probably fills prescriptions for women’s vaginas every day. So “down there” was really odd and ridiculous.

When it comes to the actual lovemaking scene, Teresa, who has had nothing but terrible things to say about her appearance, just disrobes without hindrance or hesitation. If she has such a poor outlook in regards to her presence, then it stands to reason she would be worried about what she looks like at her most vulnerable especially when Ellie has been written as lithe and thin. 

Actual excerpt: Ellie stepped closer and, with more dexterity than Teresa, unhooked Teresa’s bra and let it slide to the floor, freeing her breasts. She placed her hands under the soft weight of them. The nipples didn’t harden like Ellie’s did, but that didn’t stop Teresa from gasping when Ellie bent to take one in her mouth.

Ok, I'm sorry, but it's New Year’s night in Pittsburgh in 1981. It was 30 degrees that evening (I googled it on weatherchannel.com) thus Teresa’s nipples and everyone else’s would be hard whether they wanted them to be or not. And whose nipples don't harden? This is Teresa's first time of ever being touched and it's by someone she is crazy about. Please.  

These may seem like small, insignificant details. But for me, excellent writing does not include distractions that can pull you away from the story. I do not want my brain saying “Wait, what?” when it can be saying, “Oh, yes.”

***************

These are only a handful of the questionable aspects presented within this work, but if I wrote about all of them my review would be longer than the book itself.

This is my first Werlinger read, but it is the author’s eighth published novel. I would have surmised that the content would be of a much higher caliber and that it would have resembled a more experienced style. I have seen some of the most eloquent posts on Facebook by this author, and I have read lovely prose in her blogs, but I am befuddled by the writing and dissatisfying quality of this book.

NOTE: This book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of a review.

Extra! Extra! Read All About This: The Red Files

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.” 
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

But it happened with The Red Files.

Lee Winter has breathed new life into the lesfic genre with her smashing debut novel. It is so perfectly written that I find it hard to fathom the world does not already have a bookshelf full of her titles.

For years the majority of lesbian fiction has been inundated with dreadfully substandard story lines containing one-dimensional characters and fallacious clichés. In comparison to mainstream fiction, the overall quality of this genre has been second-rate at best. However, The Red Files has restored my hope and renewed my interest for lesbian literature.

This author wastes no time in grabbing your attention, and with a solid, humorous beginning, we are immediately thrown into the hangover and humiliation of protagonist Lauren King. She is a reporter on the Hollywood junket with dreams and ambitions bigger than the tears Barbara Walters can create.

Lauren is clawing her way up through the ranks at L.A.’s Daily Sentinel until she can write the stories she believes in. Her only competition besides the male hierarchy of the newspaper, is colleague and arch rival Catherine Ayers who has the nickname, The Caustic Queen. Her cutthroat words and air of sophistication make up the foundation of the seemingly impenetrable walls she has built around her unapproachable persona. Once a Washington, D.C. political insider in charge of her own bureau, she is now forced to work on the same frivolous reporting as King due to a professional fall from grace. As a bonus, we are treated to a mysterious subplot involving Ayers’ past that when revealed, is as rich as the threads of her Armani suit.

Both are paying their dues, covering an A-lister business launch, when their investigative skill- sets place them on a 250 page journey of connivance, conspiracy, and corruption. It is an intriguing plot that challenges how we view the overabundance and intrusiveness allowed by technology and the susceptibility in which we live.

Our main characters are tenacious in their pursuit of the truth, dodging everything from secret agents to squealing tires. Trust between the ladies becomes paramount when thrust into a labyrinth of diabolical deceit involving prostitutes and pink champagne.

The commitment King and Ayers put into solving this mystery is undoubtedly a true reflection of the intimate diligence Winter has poured onto the page. Her real-life journalistic skills shine and validate any and all accolades her personal career has afforded. 

  

In addition, the author continuously proves throughout the novel that her ability to write innovative and complex dialogue is beyond compare. The polished snark of Ayers is as piercing as her glare and the down-home dialect of King works as the perfect conduit to their electrifying conversational showdowns. It makes me wish Winter wrote the words I spoke every day. I would sound so much cooler in real life tbh.

The varying scenic locations and supporting characters are just as engaging from start to finish. Winter’s use of colorful imagery and creative descriptors captivate every page. Her writing overall is intelligent with a fast-paced tone and immersion into the story is immediate and without hindrance.

This novel tells two very impressive stories: The story of Lauren and Catherine’s adventure and the story of Lee Winter’s remarkable talent.

I do not flippantly hand out 5-star reviews. The lesfic world is small and I believe that friends allow their adoration for one another to supersede their love for the written word. I tried very hard to find something, really anything, negative about this book so it would not look as if I were being biased or unfair. But I simply could not. My only complaint would be that the story had to end. However, Winter has gifted us with a free bonus chapter entitled Flashbang that is available here: http://ylva-publishing.co.uk/product/flashbang-by-lee-winter/  

So see, even that attempt at a criticism is futile.

Ylva Publishing has discovered a true wordsmith wonder in Lee Winter, and if I were them I would handcuff her to a typewriter.

 The Red Files is an imaginative, cloak and dagger thriller filled with suspense, perplexity, and tension. Furthermore, there is a compelling cast of characters whose unbelievable dialogue contains sagacity and wit unparalleled to most. The skill with which Lee Winter has masterfully woven this tale has left me with a newfound appreciation for those who choose to put the story first.

 There’s an anonymous saying that states: “A good book makes you want to live in the story. A great book gives you no choice.”

Well, be prepared to have no choice.

Purchase The Red Files by Lee Winter here:

http://ylva-publishing.co.uk/product/the-red-files-by-lee-winter/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3955333302?keywords=lee%20winter&qid=1455080653&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1

Sugar Free, Book Review: Getting Back

It’s the 70’s. You are experiencing college life, all of the freedoms it affords, and you fall in love for the first time. Life is amazing, liberating, and beautiful among the backdrop of Cat Stevens, Laugh-In, and bell bottoms. But over the course of one summer semester, the girl of your dreams breaks up with you to marry a man.

Getting Back tells the story of successful CEO Elizabeth Morrison and how thirty years later, she is faced with meeting Ruth Abramson- the one that ‘got away’ or rather ‘walked away’ all of those years ago.

The book opens in the year 2008, and continues to hop back and forth between the 70’s and 08. Typically this form of storytelling can cause reader whiplash, however author Cindy Rizzo was able to transport me through the decades seamlessly. Initially, I found it an oddity that the author chose to present the story in the year 2008. I wondered if it was because by then the characters were already in their fifties and if she placed them in present day 2015, it would make them roughly 60ish? Anyone that knows me also knows about my undying love for Meryl Streep, who is currently 66, and I find her by far the sexiest woman alive. So I would have no problem reading about older women, but who knows?

We are introduced to Elizabeth Morrison as the main character. She is a successful business woman, CEO of one of the most lucrative publishing companies in the industry, and repetitively identifies as ‘Queen Elizabeth’- not the monarch, just a moniker she calls herself. This is the character I should have been drawn to. (Give me an older powerful woman wearing a business suit, and I am complete putty). This is the character I was supposed to empathize with and whose heart I wanted to mend. But honestly, I could never seem to care about her. The author continues to say that Elizabeth has the persona of ‘Queen’, but I believe you have to actually write the character that way. For example, the author needs to give her snarky dialogue, ruthless business sense, a signature glare, a clipped tone, or something/anything resembling a superior personality would be great really.

Instead I found Elizabeth to be extremely boring and pathetic in her actions. In the opening chapter, we discover Elizabeth has kept a makeshift scrapbook of sorts that contains articles and pictures of Ruth’s accomplishments from the last thirty years. For me, it was a little stalker-ish, but some may view this as romantic. And I found Elizabeth’s behavior towards a secondary character, Tracy Patterson, creepy and disrespectful.

Elizabeth’s one redeeming quality is that she is generous to the cleaning staff and anyone else beneath her in the ranks of the corporate world. It reminds me of the famous quote by Albert Einstein, “I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” So standing ovation to Rizzo for at least giving Elizabeth that character trait.

I suppose another reason I could not feel for Elizabeth was because I could not get behind the emotional torment she had regarding Ruth. I felt Rizzo didn't make me feel the anxiety Elizabeth was supposedly experiencing over knowing she would see Ruth after 30yrs. Once again, all the author did was state that Elizabeth couldn't concentrate, focus, sleep, etc... I wanted the author to describe the turmoil, place me in the disheveled suit, put the weight of the bags under Elizabeth's eyes onto my own shoulders. But the author didn't even mention rumpled clothes or heavy eyes. Rizzo just states over and over how Elizabeth can't sleep until she takes ambien. I might as well have been on ambien while reading it because her anxiety wasn't memorable. There was such a lack of emotional pull when it should have been paramount. Just the thought of seeing Ruth after all of these years is a major plot point and could have been fleshed out much more effectively. 

On the flip-side, I found the character of Ruth extremely refreshing. Her back story was simply fascinating and rich in historical significance. Rizzo made Ruth’s character likeable, interesting, and completely endearing during her collegiate years.

I'd almost believe that the author herself is a Jewish immigrant from how well she writes the perspective of someone who has traveled that path and tries to fit in once they arrive in America. We see Ruth struggle with understanding little things like her friend’s lingo to major issues such as frugality and the apparent waste us Americans are so terribly fond of.

I do wish I could have read things more from Ruth’s perspective, especially when we see her in the later years. I believe whole-heartedly that if the book were told from Ruth’s point-of-view, then I would have had a much more meaningful experience over all. 

The time span covers many important historical events such as the holocaust, feminist/early gay movement, 9/11, and even the original outcome of Proposition 8. Therefore, the historical part is heavy in content, importance, and grief. And then it's paired with thirty years of extreme pinning and missed opportunities. I think this book comes with hard liquor if you purchase the paperback.

SPOILER: The ending is entirely unromantic (don’t worry the ladies end up together). But the ending even managed to be depressing by focusing on how in 2008 Prop 8 was approved. So, we have the holocaust, 9/11, thirty years of angst, and now let's incorporate more misery into the characters' lives with Prop 8. Could Rizzo not at least have ended the story in 2010 when Prop 8 was overruled? Why end the novel with an outdated version of Prop 8? I could understand it if the book had been published in 2009, but for a 2015 book it seemed odd. Remember how I found it peculiar that the story was told in 2008? Well, I guess this was why. END OF SPOILER.

In addition, I found the story line was filled with too many inconceivable notions. Take for instance, Ruth’s son Mark. He favors Elizabeth in appearance, even down to the patrician nose, which isn’t too far of a stretch- god knows my brother doesn’t look anything like our parents. But then it gets completely ridiculous when Mark even carries the same traits, tastes, and mannerisms of Elizabeth. Mark dreams of working in publishing, and his love of Casablanca and Thomas Hardy just happened to be the topics of Elizabeth’s senior thesis some thirty years ago- I mean come on. That’s just too much. For a moment, I thought maybe Ruth had sought out a sperm donor that resembled Elizabeth in order to explain the similarities because at least that would have been believable, but no.  

Another concern I had about this book was how it goes from 3rd person to 1st person, sometimes in the same paragraph. I am uncertain if the fault should lie with the author or the editor on that? It is one thing to tell a chapter in one narrative and then to tell the next in another, but to do it in the same paragraph seemed grammatically incorrect, awkward, and disruptive of the flow. 

Don't get me wrong, there are some great things about this book.

1-It's not the typical lesbian story.

2- I love that the characters are older women.

3- It has great historical references throughout that the history nerd in me enjoys.

4- I like that it tackles the issue of what happens when the woman you fall for gives into society or familial pressures instead of being true to themselves. (God knows that one hit me right in the gut, making me think of my own first love). 

I am grateful Rizzo did not follow the typical formulaic tale that we normally get with lesfic. This story is not mushy, sappy, or so ridiculously sweet that you get a toothache reading it. Seriously, sugar-free. And I especially appreciate that I haven't had to read about how sparks or tingles or butterflies erupt all over the two main characters every time they look at each other. Rizzo most definitely owns a thesaurus and chooses her descriptors carefully and beautifully.

It is also profusely apparent that months of research went into the physical aspects of this story. The reader will have no problem visualizing every setting, room, or article of clothing the character is wearing. Rizzo does an impeccable job of creating scenes- so much, that I truly felt as if I were along with Elizabeth and Ruth during their walks through Riverside Park.

When I saw the premise of this novel, I couldn’t get my hands on it quick enough. However, overall I felt disappointed with this book due to its continued angst, heaviness, and implausible content. I will give Ms. Rizzo a second chance and read other works of hers as I have no doubt she is a gifted writer. This book had the framework to be phenomenal, but instead it fell flat for me.

While I absolutely can appreciate what Rizzo wrote, this one is a bookend.

NOTE: This book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of a review.
http://ylva-publishing.co.uk/product/getting-back-by-cindy-rizzo/

Heads May Roll, Book Review: The Secret of Sleepy Hollow

Just in time for Halloween, I read Andi Marquette’s latest offering, The Secret of Sleepy Hollow.

Main character Tabitha “Abby” Crane, is a doctoral student working on her thesis involving the history, significance, and importance the Legend of Sleepy Hollow has on a township. She is also looking for clues into her own ancestral roots, as she is a direct descendant from none other than Ichabod Crane who mysteriously disappeared indefinitely some 200 years ago.

 She travels to the quaint town of Tarrytown, aka Sleepy Hollow, to embark on a week of research. Immediately we are drawn right up to the Historical Society building, anticipating what century old secrets lie await inside.

Marquette masterly paints the small town vibe with its rows of salt-box style homes, Victorian lampposts, and tree lined streets that are synonymous with the New England feel. Her ability to describe the town so perfectly, made me want to visit and to spend time venturing out into the glens looking for the headless horseman myself.

We are treated to hours of Abby deep in her research, scouring the documentation and letters from long past. And it is here, that I would have loved to have seen extensive excerpts from the pieces Abby was studying, because I believe Marquette’s imagination would have flourished in doing so. She has a real talent for catapulting the reader centuries back which is most evident in the dream sequences Abby’s character succumbs to during her stay.

 I found myself immersed fully into the lore of Sleepy Hollow, and in wanting to hypothesize along with Abby and the secondary characters as to what happened to Ichabod Crane- so massive accolades all around to Marquette for creating a fantastical and intriguing version of events.

My only real issue with this novel is just as it is with most all of lesfic writing- capturing the relationship between the two women love interests. Author after author in the lesfic world seems to believe that when the women characters get near each other or breathe near each other or even barely brush hands together, a lightning bolt of electricity erupts throughout their bodies and thighs?? 

I actually have electricity running through my body 24/7 due to my spinal stimulator and it does not feel like love. Or lust. It's an aggravating tingling sensation like when you hit your elbow. And if I have to see the words "sparks" One. More. Time. Just for the record, I have blown up a microwave by standing too close to it. Those are sparks.

I felt the continuous use of “sparks” and “trembling of spine” did a huge disservice to the work that Marquette so beautifully wrote elsewhere throughout the novel. I almost felt like she had someone else write the romance part of the story line because it severely lacked the unbelievable prose found throughout the meat of the of plot.

Also, while I have a generic dark-haired Katie character as said love interest for Abby, I have no idea as to what Abby herself looked like. I don’t have to be able to personally identify with a character, but I would like to be able to identify them in a line-up if needed. When Marquette wrote of Ichabod, Katrina, and Brom Bones from the past, I had no problem picturing their faces, stature, or mannerisms. But in comparison, with the Abby and Katie characters, I could never get an idealized version of them. Luckily, they both had plenty of personality to carry them through, but it would have been nice to have been able to envision them in a physical sense.

It is abundantly clear that Marquette is an expert on the workings of Irving Washington’s original folklore and it is that knowledge I found to be the true masterpiece within this story. She is clever in portraying a unique spin on the events and giving us a plausible explanation as to who exactly Ichabod Crane was. Heads may even roll over this theory.

Bottom line- this one is a Bookmark. I believe with just a few adjustments in the romance department, this could be an epic take on Sleepy Hollow. Read it for the twist and completely fresh insight on what the Legend could be about. And read it for the nerd in you that loves history. But allow the romance between Abby and Katie to be a side of mushy filler. I think with those expectations, you’ll be quite pleased with it.

NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review.
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Sleepy-Hollow-Andi-Marquette/dp/3955335151/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1446340875&sr=8-1&keywords=andi+marquette