The Wise Girl's Guide to Life. Robin Brande. 2015. Ryer Publishing. 109 pages. [Source: Review copy]
Did I enjoy reading Robin Brande's The Wise Girl's Guide to Life: 100 Tips for Increasing Your Confidence and Happiness? Yes. For the most part. Though perhaps written with tween or teen girls in mind, I think some of the advice is so good, so wise, that it will last you your whole life long. In other words, even if you don't "need" all 100 tips, there is a good chance that a handful of them will be just-right for you, no matter your age.
The Wise Girl's Guide to Life reads like a devotional. Most people probably tend to associate devotional books with faith or spirituality or Christianity to be exact. And that is not the impression I want to give you. It's not. The Wise Girl's Guide to Life isn't exactly about passing along spiritual wisdom to readers. (I would never classify the advice as "Christian advice.")
No, when I say devotional, I mean that it's a short passage with an inspirational, invitational, uplifting feel. Each of the 100 readings has a concise, often practical, nugget of wisdom that you can take with you and process throughout the day.
For example:
- You decide who you are.
- The only way to change is to change.
- Accept where you are, then go from there.
- Being who you are inspires others to do the same.
- Ask yourself questions.
- Tell yourself what you most need to hear.
I definitely liked this one. It's a good book.
© 2015 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
Beyond the Parallel. Robin Brande. 2015. Ryer Publishing. 348 pages. [Source: Review copy]
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Beyond the Parallel. I am slightly surprised by how MUCH I loved it. I'll start with the bad news. That's fair, right?! Beyond the Parallel is the fourth book in a series. The 'bad news' is that you 'have' to have read the first three books in the series in order to get this one. But is that really bad news?! You could easily see it as good news, right, ESPECIALLY since all the books in the series are available now. (And they are reasonably priced for the kindle as of right now). There are some benefits to waiting until the last book in a series is released before starting a series. The cliffhanger endings can't frustrate you if you've got the next book ready to go!
So. If you've read the first three books, I probably, don't need to convince you to pick up the last book. But in case you need a little extra convincing, I'll do my best. I will say that I found Beyond the Parallel to be satisfying and compelling to say the least. And that's keeping the gush out--so far.
So. What is Beyond the Parallel about? Audie, our heroine, is trapped--and not for the first time--in Halli Markham's body. She's been given a second chance of sorts. A chance to redo the last few days leading up to what *might* have been her death. There are a few things that Audie knows for certain, and oh-so-many things that she is uncertain of. On the one hand, Audie is trying to choose differently and avoid what she sees as mistakes from the time before. On the other hand, she's trying to be true to herself and follow her instincts. She doesn't want to over-think things and sit around doing nothing after all.
So Audie finds herself in Halli's body in London reunited with two of her closest friends: Daniel and Sarah. She'll be staying with that family. She's got a fuzzy plan: to find an Oxford professor who may be the only one to help her 'escape' this alternate reality and return to her own life/body. But she doesn't know his name or what school he's associated with. Fortunately, Daniel and Sarah (and their parents) are good at brainstorming. But even if all goes smoothly...there are other challenges to being in Halli's body. Namely Halli's horrible parents and their expectations and threats.
Much of the novel focuses on Daniel and Audie (in Halli's body) working with Dr. Venn. I happened to LOVE Dr. Venn. Those chapters, those conversations, well, I just LOVED the direction the story was going. It was just super-compelling and thought-provoking.
This is probably my favorite of the series perhaps because finally all things are resolved and many questions answered. I don't know that I had expectations on exactly how I wanted it to end, but, I was quite satisfied with everything!
I would definitely recommend all four books of course!
© 2015 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
The Good Lie. Robin Brande. 2014. Ryer Publishing. [Source: Review copy]
The Good Lie is a dark, haunting, compelling story of a broken family. While each member of the family might have their own story to tell, their own version of events, readers get Lizzie Aimes' story. Since Lizzie, at times, questions her interpretation of her family's MESS, it's only natural for readers to entertain a doubt or two as well. Lizzie, when we first meet her, is quite charming. Readers see her preparing for prom with her best friend, Posie. Her younger brother, Mikey, is hanging around. There is some teasing, some laughing. Things seemed so good, so normal. Lizzie's "big" problem is Jason. She really, really, really is falling for Jason, a boy who does not share her value system. In other words, he does not want a girlfriend. He wants lots of casual partners to hook up with. He would LOVE for Lizzie to be one of them. He would LOVE for Posie to be one of them. Lizzie is smart enough to know that feeling the way she does, Jason is just trouble. To be near him, to watch him with other girls, is painful and awkward because she wants it to be her, and, not be her at the same time. Jason, of course, knows that Lizzie has a tender spot for him.
That was her "big problem" before. She returns home from prom to a different situation entirely. Her mom is gone. She's left her husband and her two children. She has admitted that she's having an affair and is in love with another man. This is the catalyst for the BIG, BIG, BIG mess that follows.
Lizzie witnesses her family crumble. She sees her father change, in some ways very dramatically change. She sees the stress on her brother. She feels it herself. But it is her worry--her deep, deep worry for him--that leads Lizzie to ultimately make a life-changing decision.
Throughout the novel, their is a focus on justice, on doing the right thing even if its hard. That is what makes The Good Lie so thought-provoking in a way. Does Lizzie do the right thing? Do the ends justify the means? Can doing something morally wrong ever be the right thing to do? In other words, is there such a thing as A GOOD LIE. There are no easy questions to these questions.
The Good Lie definitely has adult situations in it, it is not a book for younger readers.
© 2014 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
