Book Review: The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner

In 1975, three thousand children were airlifted out of Saigon to be adopted into Western homes. When Mindy, one of those children, announces her plans to return to Vietnam to find her birth mother, her loving adoptive family is suddenly thrown back to the events surrounding her unconventional arrival into their lives.

Though her father supports Mindy's desire to meet her family of origin, he struggles privately with an unsettling fear that he'll lose the daughter he's poured his heart into. Mindy's mother undergoes the emotional roller coaster inherent in the adoption of a child from a war-torn country, discovering the joy hidden amid the difficulties. And Mindy's sister helps her sort through relics that whisper of the effect the trauma of war has had on their family--but also speak of the beauty of overcoming.

Told through three strong voices in three compelling timelines, The Nature of Small Birds is a hopeful story that explores the meaning of family far beyond genetic code.

My rating:

Honestly, this book was...a huge letdown. I was soooo excited for this new release by a recent favorite author. But, sadly, it fell completely short of my expectations.

I've read books before with dual timelines, but a triple timeline was completely new to me. In this case, it definitely wasn't a bad thing; it was easy to keep up with, and even though the timelines were from different points of view, the cast of characters remained the same, so I wasn't overrun with names to remember. That was really helpful.

1975. Linda doesn't get along with her mother-in-law, and no one has the guts to stand up to the cantankerous matriarch. Also the year that they adopt an adorable little child.

1988. Sonny is in her late teens, about to graduate high school, needing a new job.

2013. Bruce is enjoying his grandpa life, and wishes everyone could just get along.

Three different people. One family. Reading the story, I was pulled in to the lives of the characters, but I wasn't really connecting, y'know? Like, sure, I liked reading about their lives and stuff, but eventually I had to force myself to finish the book. And I couldn't figure out why...until I realized three things:

This book has almost no plot.

This book has no depth of character.

And this book felt like a waste of time once I finished. *hides*

*Sigh* Maybe I'm just tired as I write this, but I do know that this book was a major disappointment. I kept waiting for the characters to learn something, to mature, to actually do something worth noting...but they didn't. They were shallow, and it felt like I could've read a book about their neighbor down the road and not even miss them for as emotionally invested as I got in the story.

The plot carried the characters—not the other way around—and that, people, does not make for a story that I'll enjoy.

What did I like about the book? Well...I liked Ivan. I liked the setting. I liked the pop culture references (except that the people in this historical novel went to see Frozen in the theater and I feel so old). I appreciated the message, about how we're made to spread our wings and fly, but it just...fell flat.

All in all, not a book that I'll be rereading. But it was cool to learn some historical facts about the Vietnam war that I hadn't known before. ;)

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher for promotional purposes. All thoughts are my own.

Have you ever been disappointed by a book that didn't meet your expectations? 

Book Review: Ignite by Jenna Terese

"...Ignite is a must-read for fans of the Marvel universe.” 

— Sandra Fernandez Rhoads, YA author of Mortal Sight & Realms of Light

What if superhumans weren't considered heroes?

When Scarlett Marley is attacked by an illegal super with fire powers, she doesn’t get burned, but now she has a fire-like glow flickering in her eyes.

With superpowers criminalized, she has no choice but to turn herself over to the Superhuman Containment Facility, or risk hurting everyone she loves.

Her normal life seems lost forever, until she is selected to be one of the first to receive the experimental cure to destroy her powers. In exchange, she must first complete one mission:

Infiltrate and capture one of the largest gangs of supers in the remains of once-great Rapid City. 

With the cure and all her future at stake, Scarlett is prepared to do whatever it takes to bring these criminals to justice so she can return to her family. But this gang and their leader, Rez, aren’t what everyone says, and Scarlett begins to question everything she was ever told about the SCF and the fire flowing in her veins.

The cure is her only hope for returning her life to what it was before, but is that life worth returning to after all?

Series: Ignite, book 1

My rating:

Do you ever read certain books where you fully expect them to live up to the hype, but try not to keep your hopes up just in case it's not as good as you hoped, but it turns out to be everything you expected?

Yeah. Me too.

I've been 'friends' with Jenna on Instagram pretty much from the beginning, and being able to watch her journey from aspiring author to published author has been soooo gratifying. The way she talked about this story of hers, I could see how much it meant to her, and after reading Ignite, it's clear how hard she worked on this book.

Mmkay. Now that I've bragged a bit on Jenna as a debut author, let's dive into the story, shall we?

The beginning was a bit slow, to be honest, bordering on annoying with all the times it mentioned people scraping their paper cup to get the last bit of ice cream. But then it definitely picked up the pace when—gasp—Scarlett (the main character, in case you decided to skip the blurb) is attacked by a super.

A super. Not a superhero. Because people with superpowers are criminals.

At least...so says the government.

I adored Scarlett. Her struggles, her determination to do the right thing regardless of what it may mean for her...yes. And what I adored all the more was that it wasn't always clear what was right and what was wrong. Scarlett was so determined to make the right choice, the honest choice...but what happens when you can't see what is right and what is wrong? Do you stick with what you know, or do you explore the unknown? I really appreciated how Scarlett struggled to answer that question, and how she dealt with what followed, and how she chose to take responsibility for choices gone wrong.

Ares, Nadia, and Seth. *deep breath* So different. So unique. To be honest, they was almost allegorically symbolic of the different stages of spiritual growth, and I loved that so much.

But my favorite character? Rez. Always Rez. Having to decide whether or not it's worth doing wrong in order to protect the greater good and, ultimately, save lives. It was so obvious that he was under a lot of stress and pressure, but he still remained gentle and kind. I definitely need more of him in book 2.

The plot, as a whole, was different than I'm used to, but sooo good. My second superhero book, and so far we're 2 for 2! I can't wait to read Ignite's sequel!

*I received an e-copy of this book from the author for promotional purposes. All thoughts are my own.

What's your favorite superhero novel? If that's your thing (or even if it's not), definitely check this one out!