Once Every Spring by Janell Michaels/Lisa Logan | ARC | A Book Review

This is my first time to read a Janell Michaels or a Lisa Logan. I got this as an ARC. Thank you again, Janell Michaels for the copy.

This story was not what I have expected. It is surreal. A really good magical realism. It's a very good take on parallelism. If there is ever a parallel universe or an alternate reality, I would gladly take this one. This is way way too good to pass up. It's the perfect alternate universe, if ever there is one. It is a reality where it makes you whole and a totally different person. A better or the best version of yourself in this reality and I too would be just like Adam, I would be loathe to leave the place.

This story seemed like a modern fairytale because of the touch of magic in it. I don't know what a jacaranda tree is and I am not sure if one even grows in the Philippines. The name itself sounds magical. So, I can't blame the author when she saw one and came up with this magical story. It sounds very Anne-of-Green-Gables-ish when I read how the author came to write this. Yes, we all want to channel that Anne of Green Gables in each of us, if only to make this world a little less wearying that it is.

If there ever is Spring here in my country, it would be my favorite season. I love to see flowers everywhere and even more--trees overburden with very beautiful violet flowers. I googled what a jacaranda looks like and even in the pictures it looks so so beautiful and I imagine being surrounded by it. Just like in the story, I can't help but feel beautiful and bask in its presence and beauty. As it turned out, there are actually jacaranda trees here in the Philippines. I may not have actually seen one around here in my city but I think I have seen one in St. Louis when I was there for a training years ago. I thought it was a cherry blossom but now I think it may just be a jacaranda in full bloom in spring with pink flowers. Whether the tree I saw was a cherry blossom or a jacaranda it was still magical and beautiful. Jacaranda flowers do not just come in pretty pinks or vibrant violets but they also come in yummy yellows and in refreshing reds.

If this story ever happens to me just once in every spring, I would blissfully endure all the other awful seasons just knowing that I could have one season or a year in the alternate universe to live joyfully and carelessly--devoid of any worries. It would be the reason for having the strength to continue just like Adam. The one break in the monotonous and the uneventful story of my existence. I will trade anything for it. I will trade this life for that "once in every spring" phenomena.

It's not obvious that I can relate to the characters, especially Adam. Like him, I too felt that and have asked if there is anything more to this life. In some way, I may have an advantage over Adam because I still have full control over my body but that does not mean that I have full control of my life and the events that happened to me. I have felt like or I still sometimes feel like I am floating in a limbo. I am still unsure what I want to do. It feels like everything I want to put my energy into is not working out for me. And if I get the same kind of magical chance like Adam and Dana did, I would surely take it with without blinking. I think I would take anything, at this point just to get out of this place where I am in.

I give the book 5/5 jacaranda trees. This story made me want to look for a jacaranda tree right now and hope that it would also bestow its magic on me and take me to a better reality than what I have right now. Yes, a better place, a better me and a better life. This is not a sad story but a very hopeful one. A kind where when you think you have reached a dead end in your work or life in general, this will make you pause and look at your surroundings differently. Just like Anne of Green Gables, you can't stop seeing the magic in things just because you are beset with problems from all corners. The beauty of nature will always surprise you. I for one, feel better just looking at flowers and a stretch of green.

Yeah, well, don't let it go to your head. The last thing I need is a delusion with delusions of grandeur.

- Janell Michaels, Once Every Spring - 

The Mercy of the Tide by Keith Rosson | A Book Review

I got this from Library Thing. Every month, the site offers books for review. You only need to sign up for them. Mostly, they have at least 20 copies for each book. Some books are only available to some countries. Depending on where you live, you will be eligible to review a number of books. I gotten about 50 books from them but haven't been able to read and review everything.

Mercy of the Tide is about four people trying to deal with their own grief. Sam, a senior high school student who is dealing with the death of his mother. Trina, his deaf nine-year old sister who fantasizes about a nuclear explosion as a way to avoid her grief. Sheriff Dobbs, who lost his wife to a drunk-driving accident. His wife was the victim. Officer Nick Hayslip, painstakingly dealing with his demons. These four people will be thrown in together because of the unusual happenings in their town. Will they be meaner than their demons or are they going to be eaten alive?

I never expected that this story will turn out to be a mixture of suspense, myth and folklore and an exploration of human frailties. This is a sad and dark story. Full of sorrow. I think, the one word that could describe this as a whole is Sorrow. The whole story revolves around it, in all its forms. The mythology and folk tale part of it was added into the story with great skill that it becomes an essential part for the whole narrative to be cohesive. I like myths and legends and how one was played out and unraveled in this story was very amazing. 

What I did not like about the story was how it started. It was a bit slow and I felt like it was not so essential. I understand the need for the characters to be introduced and how their personalities and deficiencies also needed to be divulge but I think it was done too much. I guess, it also contributed to the build up of the suspense which was really needed to make the story work. I just hoped it was not so dull. Honestly, I rested a bit before I decided to move on with the rest of the story. 

I was thankful that the story came full circle and how these four characters are in a way connected to each other was a very fitting ending to the story. Some surprises were revealed and finally secrets were out. As I said, the best thing is the folklore. I loved it. I think it was a very good Native American lore that somehow explains why people die of sorrow. 

I give the book 3/5 kiddie slides. This story spoke of how each person may at some point and in one way or another are connected. Like all the characters in this story, their sorrows connected them and that the careless action of one had cause the suffering of the rest. The takeaway here is to always be conscious of our actions. To always make sure to not cause hurt to another person. We always have a choice and that choice along with forethought spells a big difference.

...teenagers, after all--impervious to harm, bulletproof, demigods, and perhaps, because their proximity to childhood, even more powerful than the grownups were.

- Keith Rosson, The Mercy of the Tide - 

Thank you again, Library Thing and Keith Rosson for the review copy.