Mother's Day Review Special: After Birth by Elisa Albert

PURCHASE/GOODREADS

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine This: You are the mother of a bouncing baby boy. Except you are not all so happy and really thrilled about this motherhood thing because it’s not happening the way they sold it out to be. Because

a)      You had him under a knife.

b)      You are going through the world’s worst Post-partum disorder.

Your husband cannot help because, he has no clue as always. He rather expects you to bounce back and go on living like you didn’t go through any mean feat, like your life could ever be the same with a baby yelling you up awake and screeching before your alarm clock goes.

You are really pissed at the world, the co-op of mothers for not voicing how they really feel and pretending all is roses and soft cheeks. Fuck them all! While at cussing at them, let’s begin to hate TV Commercials, Doctors that speak against breast-feeding the child and opting for formula. Let’s talk about how medical practitioners prescribe unhealthy ‘miracle’ fertility drugs to aid fecundation. Let’s fucking talk about how women are just supposed to pretend all is well, and never fathom any thoughts this could all go wrong. And while at that too, let’s talk about all the fucked up things that have happened in your childhood, your mum who’s moods were unpredictable, all the female friends in your life who’ve been nothing but friends and a lot like females.

Let’s talk about Mina who’s moved a couple of blocks nearby, who’s had a rough past and is as femininely-opinionated as you. Mina you plan to help get around the ropes of this new birth thing. Mina who happens to be strong and made out of the fire she’s experienced throughout her life. Mina who offers some silver-lining in the hostile terrain called motherhood.

There’s also that dissertation you have to write for you doctorate degree in women studies. And the hot carpenter who if your stupid, ancient house doesn’t stop falling apart you might just have to fuck…

Ari’s hellish life summarized for your delight…

MY REVIEW

What a book!

Elisa Alberts has moved into my ranks of authors who do not give a fuck the sensitivity of her topic and isn’t afraid to lay it bare as it is. A beautiful book about giving birth and c-sections, breastfeeding and respecting your body as a pregnant woman, Post-partum depression, and all the other insides about birth you are never, ever told. A star to this amazing storyline.—★

I love the language. It’s literary fiction at its finest. I’ve decided when I begin writing anything (serious) I want to write like Elisa Albert! She doesn’t quite consider the huge barrier separating poetry from prose  (much like how she doesn’t care about laying on her subject matter and her themes easily). She criscrosses between the two to achieve this rhythmic, pulsating composition that astounds and is very highly literary. Yet she infuses a commercial spin to this writing by injecting blasts of humour. What amazing writing!—★★

The main character, Ari, is fucking adorable! She’s smart, she’s feminist, she’s strong, she’s peculiar. She’s well-developed! Her voice is breath-taking. A character to contend with. Her opinions are enlightening and very… controversial! She’s the embodiment of a true feminist, although in this book she states what kind of feminist she is (the smart one who’s not an activist in a group of women that are going to breakdown anyway because you can’t have all such toxicity in one group). A star.—★★★

Other characters I loved are Mina, the ex-drummer of a band that didn’t quite make it who’s been a prostitute, a writer and everything in between. There’s Paul, Ari’s husband who does tolerate her too much. There’s Wil, the hot carpenter who listens and understands our lead. There’s Molly, there’s Jess, there’s a whole cast of all Ari’s old friends who are fascinating because our lead wouldn’t go for the ordinary. There’s Sheryl, our lead’s stepmother who she blanks out most of the time because of her stern Jewish values (“You really have to circumcise this child!”). A star to all these characters.—★★★★

(I FEEL I NEED TO ADD THIS :) I had this book since last year, and I was afraid to dive into it because of the reviews on Goodreads. But come on, which reader who actually loved a book ever had time to go put up their reviews on Goodreads. I’ve come to realize Goodreads is the biggest anti-feminist review-site out there so please if you’d go get a brilliant feminism book like this, don’t you dare be influenced by all that happens on that site. It would be nice to form your own opinions. (If you don’t believe me, see Courting Trouble by Kathy Lette, see Dietland by Sarai Walker, all great books really). I’m really learning, thanks to Elisa Albert, to say fuck you Goodreads, never ever would you influence my choice of reading!

My rating is definitely a five out of five stars.

Elisa Albert’s After Birth is available on Amazon. 

I recommend this book to anybody who wants to think as well as laugh. Anyone who wants something on the subject of feminism. You want something literary? Well, this is high, high form of literary. This book is highly recommended to all (young) mothers and all plain adults. Books like this mould!

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Amazon as well as Goodreads.

Fall Book Review: We That Are Left by Clare Clark.

Purchase|Goodreads 

Blurb: Two sisters, born into privilege, are forced to make their way in a world turned upside down by war. One man transforms them both. 

1910. Jessica and Phyllis Melville have grown up at Ellinghurst, a family estate fraught with secrets. A headstrong beauty, Jessica longs for London — the glitter and glamour of debutante life — while bookish Phyllis dreams in vain of attending university. Into their midst walks Oskar Grunewald, a frequent visitor fascinated by the house but alternately tormented and ignored by the Melville children. Oskar seeks refuge in Ellinghurst’s enormous library.  Meanwhile Theo, the adored Melville brother, eclipses everyone around him.
 
The Great War arrives to devastate and reshape their world. In a country unrecognizable from the idylls of their youth, the Melville sisters struggle to forge new paths without the guidance of the old rules. But Oskar’s life has become entwined with theirs once again, in ways—both immediate and unimaginable-- that will change all of their futures.

My Review. 

Beautiful Storyline! Downton Abbey meets... spectacular storytelling. Imagine a world of your favorite series where the estate is now Ellinghurst. War has torn through and muddled the lives of the upper-crust of society. All the characters are marred in some way by the war, and after it's all over, there's a torrential affair between two sisters and one eligible bachelor. A star!──★ 

You would love the main characters! The story is told in the points of view Jessica Melville, a somewhat spoilt mischievous adventurous heiress to the estate and Oscar, a science progidy soon to be an Einstein in his time. Their two points of views are entertaining and engaging. There's no chapter you'd find yourself rolling your eyes to be over and done with (because one character happens to be too boring). A star!──★★ 

Other characters are also fantastic! You'd love Tom Mellvile, Jessica's brother who's the apple of his mother's eye and overshadows the presence of all his siblings when he walks into the room. You'd also love Phyllis, the sister who likes to tuck herself away in a book and go contrary to societal expectations. There's also Jessica's self-obtained lothario who introduces her to the darker areas of London. Lots and lots of amazing characters who aren't redundant in any way!──★★★

Another feature of this book you'd quite adore is its pacy, clever dialogue laden with quick-wit and undertones of sarcasm. All the characters speak in that enigmatically appealing and audacious way of the people of Old England. I felt I was in a time-warp enjoying the company of these amazing characters with their luring conversations and elegant social events.──★★★★

The love triangle between some of the main characters is also an intriguing feature of the novel. Lots of surprising, OMG moments as well.──★★★★★

From start-to-finish, childhood to adulthood, this book was a delight! Not the kind of literature you wish all the characters would just grow up so you get on to reading the "good stuff". This novel develops on a surprisingly pacy plot despite its length. You wouldn't be able to shut an eye!──★★★★★★

My rating: Five/Five stars.

We That Are Left by Clare Clark is available on Amazon! Go get it!!

I recommend this book to anyone who loves storylines evolving with a background of the Wars fought in history. Anyone who wants literature that's so just Downton Abbey must race for this. Plus you know most historicals are never lacking a blend of enigmatic, entertaining and bold characters, and I'm sure this is your kind of book if you are looking for these... characteristics. 

My work not done here! Off to post my review on Amazon and Goodreads!

Summer Book Review: Dietland by Sarai Walker

                                                                

PURCHASE| GOODREADS

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine This: You are overweight, obese, huge, big. But never fat. Anyone could call you anything but fat.

You are tired of people poking fingers at you, mothers using you as an example to ward their little girls off ice cream, no guy would ever want to marry you, or fuck you, or kiss you. To the world, you existence is unnecessary. And for so long you have begun to believe it. All the nasty things people and the media refer to you as. It doesn’t help that you work for a glamorous teen magazine. Your life has been one big (literally) criticism after another.

But all this is going to end.  Soon enough. Because in a few months you are going to do the surgery to transform you from being overweight, obese, huge, big (—anything but fat!). And soon, you’d be what society approves of every woman to be!

But then an encounter with a girl you realize has been stalking you changes your life forever. It all happens too fast. Next thing you know, you are hanging out with a group of interesting women who wake up every morning and show a finger to what society expects them to be, and be anything they want to be! By their daring lifestyles and their influences on your own life, you are persuaded to take on some challenges that would deem you ‘beautiful’.

Except no one told you these challenges would be difficult. No one told you you’d be waking up one morning putting on make-up, wearing knee-length dresses at the risk of society perusing your bulbous thighs, no one told you you’d be going out on blind dates, getting yourself mocked by everyone. How on earth could this way of living make you feel beautiful?

As if all the above is not enough, you find yourself entangled in a messy plot involving a guerrilla group of women terrorizing female-offenders. You can’t afford to have the FBI breathing down your neck. You need this surgery more than a feminist group or prison.

Plum Kettle’s ridiculed, complicated and soon-to-be-dangerous life summarised for your delight.

MY REVIEW

I loved, loved this book! So you know in my review I’d be yelling in your face to go buy this book and, in the process, get your own kind of beachbody this summer!

First of all, This is a debut? This is a debut!? What the….── ★

The storyline is off the hook! It’s just one storyline with so many layers that would surprise and intrigue you! Every section (mind you, not chapter) of this book is divided into a new story line that you never saw coming! So Girl working for a teen magazine is FAT, unlike all her glamorous colleagues who whizz by! Girl wants to have surgery to transform into the kind of woman women hate and men want to fuck. Girl is made to undertake a series of challenges that would make her consider herself ‘beautiful’. But can she stand the lure of becoming the girl society wants to be?── ★★

That above is not all the book is made of. The writer pushes real boundaries. Expressing admirable feminism that would change your perception of society’s view of women, the porn industry, the beauty industry. This book is the kind of book that transforms the reader (it did me!), men, women! I believe this book should be a staple of every home! The kind of book Lady Bug should make into a classic fairytale to teach girls from a younger age they should be everything they want to be (and not what society expects them to be)!── ★★★

Plum, the main character is my kind of girl! (Oh, don’t worry, I do share). You might not understand her reasons for wanting to undergo surgery unless you have experienced the predicament she’s going through—only if you’ve been in her shoes can you relate. But really, Sarai Walker does a good job to make you, the reader, be in her (Plum’s) shoes, feel her pain, know her wants. I wouldn’t say she’s the kind of character for a certain kind of woman—by just being a woman you’d love her! Even I am not a woman so making that statement surely means Plum Kettle has the tendency to win every reader over! Her development is so stunning you would want to rush to Brooklyn to hug her. That said, she felt so real!  A star to her.── ★★★★

Other characters in this book are also amazing! I was so in love with Verena, the woman responsible for our character’s change. You’d love Marlowe the ex-American sweetheart who walked out of Hollywood and decided to never go back (because really, a Hollywood career ends when girls do not want to be you and no man wants to fuck you). All the women in Calliope House—the house filled with the women who leave on their own terms—would be much-loved mostly for their individual projects to change the world’s view objectification of women! Leeta, the stalking girl would also be a favourite and a major reader-interest in the novel. There’s also Julia, the secretive Beauty Editor. Other minor characters representing figures of society that mock women who are not considered ‘beautiful’ enough would be adored(?) A star to all the characters in the book, none were redundant!

The writer’s style is amazing! I love how she reported the attacks of misogynistic characters in this novel by the Guerrilla Group (I even loved the font she used! Yes, I am weird). This part of the story held my interest so much. It’s one of the parts responsible for transforming me.── ★★★★★

A star goes to the humour—wouldn’t call it hilarious, but it’s funny.  The mystery, the suspense! Marketers of this book link this book to getting beach bodies, but I worry what beach body you’d get when spending majority of the time knitting your brows together(!) focused on this book! So engaging!── ★★★★★

My rating: Six/Five stars (6/5 stars). (Not mathematically possible, I know. But I run this blog).

It’s a debut to go get on amazon. It’s a debut to go buy this instant!

I recommend this book to anyone who wants a piece of the new age of debut writers who are breaking bounds! Anyone who wants a book that would change their idea about a lot of things and inform so much on a lot of things too. Anyone who wants something to keep them glued to their sun loungers should go get this book—no need for fake tans, please.

I entered this book not expecting anything other than entertainment, but boy do I feel transformed. That’s why my work doesn’t end here. Running over to goodreads and amazon to spread the Hashtag Dietland fabulousity!