TBR Challenge: Aly Martinez - Fighting Silence

I've always been a fighter. With parents who barely managed to stay out of jail and two little brothers who narrowly avoided foster care, I became skilled at dodging the punches life threw at me. Growing up, I didn’t have anything I could call my own, but from the moment I met Eliza Reynolds, she was always mine. I became utterly addicted to her and the escape from reality we provided each other. Throughout the years, she had boyfriends and I had girlfriends, but there wasn't a single night that I didn’t hear her voice.
You see, meeting the love of my life at age thirteen was never part of my plan. However, neither was gradually going deaf at the age of twenty-one.
They both happened anyway.
Now, I'm on the ropes during the toughest battles of my life.
Fighting for my career. Fighting the impending silence. Fighting for her.
Every night, just before falling asleep, she sighs as a final conscious breath leaves her.
I think that's the sound I'll miss the most.

Comment: Time flies and here we are again, with another TBR challenge book. This month the theme is new-to-you-author and, as always, this is one of the easiest themes for me because I do have many books to read by unknown authors. This book is the first in the On the Ropes trilogy, it was also a recommendation and has a good average score on Goodreads. I thought it would be a good read for me, even more because it features a hero that would go deaf. I really wanted to see that play out. But in the end the story ended up a bit meh for me.

In this story we meet quite the cast of characters, being the main one Till Page, a kid that has grown up in an unloving house, he took care of his younger brothers and his only escape was an abandoned apartment he went in through a window One day, he finds there a young girl, Eliza, also running from her uncaring parents. That turns into their personal heaven and they become friends but at school they never talk and Till pretends Eliza doesn't exist. As years go by, we see these two grow up and all the challenges they face, both physical and financially, and all things that help them, namely Till's love for boxing and the doors it opens up for him and how working for happiness is the lesson to learn...

Sometimes amazing recommendations and opinions and even some elements that we recognize as almost spot on to our personal tastes don't really make a perfect read. I liked some things about this book but it only went as far as average to me, especially because I can't not focus on the things I liked less. Maybe I let my opinion be colored by my tastes but it's still an opinion.

I'm not exactly a fan of NA, mostly because characters tend to act as teenagers anyway and that has become super annoying to me. In this book we have characters going through so many domestic situations they would grow up very fast and in some situations, that was shown, but in others not so much. I guess everyone has weak moments and less than stellar performances but... I found the investment in their mature personalities and behavior not always as consistent as that.

Another thing that was super, super annoying to me, at least, was the continuous change in time. We have some chapters, some parts of the story with them as children, then time moves on, then some more scenes, then another six months, then one year later, then five years, then some more months...I mean, we get glimpses of what they are doing and feeling in a specific moment but we don't stay there. I get it that we learn interesting things this way but it feels so unsettled, it's difficult to pinpoint the key scenes that matter if you have to focus on something else again. Each step has a purpose, I know it, but...it made me lose focus and removed some of the angst I'm sure was part of the author's point here.

I liked some situations and I specifically liked how Till got his head straight because he had a passion and good manners and he worked hard to impress his boss who became a friend as well. The working relationship between Till and Slate and the secondary characters were probably what I liked the most. I also liked some emotional elements we learn from almost every character, even at a small scale and it's obvious the author has thought about all things but the structure just didn't win me over.

This book also shows a character that fights going deaf. I really expected most of the book to be focusing on that but no. It's something we see, it's dealt with but mostly towards the end. All those pages dedicated to the guy's childhood and teenage years can have interest but surely removed attention from we are supposed to get and to me, this was a pity.

The romance...well I don't have any special opinion on this, I think we have many scenes with them to know they love each other but honestly I never felt I was reading about Eliza the way I was about Till. He is clearly the focus and she almost looks like a sidekick. Besides the fact she is nice, they like her, she is an artist who worked accountant and hated it, she wasn't as well developed.

We also have Eliza and Till as the narrators throughout the book. This allows us to get a reading on them but I admit I usually prefer a third person narrator.

The next stories in the trilogy feature Till's brothers but I've peeked at some reviews and some of the issues I had seem to happen again in those books (namely in terms of writing and narrative structure). I'm still debating if I want to go through it all again. I feel some interest in the next one, considering the things we saw at the end of this book but...

Overall, this had interesting, good elements but some things in it didn't appeal to me and I'm sure it can to other readers but it just didn't make me want to keep reading and some parts also seemed a bit repetitive. It's not exactly bad but it wasn't the marvel I expected..or maybe I just didn't get into it well.

Grade: 5/10

TBR Challenge: Madeline Hunter - An Interrupted Tapestry

"New York Times "bestselling author Madeline Hunter weaves passion and adventure into this exquisite love story. A noblewoman, beset by her brother's creditors, offers a cherished tapestry to a wealthy London merchant--who has more on his mind than settling her debts...
Originally published in the anthology "Tapestry"

Comment: And here we are, with the first post of the TBR Challenge for 2017. As it's tradition, the january post is usually dedicated to a short story, a novella, something not too big. Yes, all choices are exactly that, a choice, so readers can pick whatever they want but personally, the fun part is to try to meet the theme.

This novella was originally published in the Tapestry anthology. 

It's the story of Giselle, a woman living in medieval England and how she is down on her luck, her house and all her things might be taken from her because her missing brother hasn't been able to pay his debts. The only valuable thing Giselle has is her virtue so when Andreas, a now wealthy family friend, she makes a joke saying that would help but he doesn't laugh. Giselle also tries to sell the tapestry she has hanging in a room, something she was told was valuable. But can Andreas take advantage? Can Giselle's brother be found?

The author is Madeline Hunter, a writer whose work I'm familiar with so it wasn't difficult to be interested in reading this. I was recommended this to read years ago, probably because I was chatting about the author's books. I got this novella but it has been in the pile for years! This year I thought it would suit the january theme quite well.

This was a short story but it has several details that make it feel more complex. I liked it but I must confess medieval plots aren't as interesting for me nowadays as they used to so I wasn't particularly eager to be in such a set. Like most short stories, we also have a rushed end and situations and that doesn't allow time for characters to fully develop. The protagonists have never been involved but they aren't strangers and it's always very difficult to maintain the balance between familiarity and sudden feelings...something I think wasn't completely well done here.

Giselle is a sweet woman and she isn't aware of her brother's true careless personality and how he doesn't worry about her or their house. I think it's not that far fetched to imagine but in such a short amount of time obviously the things that should happen, her growing up as a character and how she deals with finding her brother's issues and flaws wasn't done with the proper time for it to be believable or complex. So it just felt too quickly done.

Andreas is an intriguing character, I wish we could have seen more of him. He is wealthy but of course he isn't God so he can't do everything he wishes for. He does help Giselle but at the end there is one price for his help. It's cute but sadly, the short amount of time isn't enough to structure such a complex cast and situations well enough, in my opinion.

The romance is quick, as you can imagine. Both Andreas and Giselle have doubts, have things they wish they could say but HEA apart, their relationship just doesn't have enough time to settle well. I know it's difficult to structure a romantic relationship properly without time but then why pushing things just to say there was a romance? Authors can always give that idea, even presenting the HEA notion without creating so much unanswered situations that only make the plot feel weaker. I'm glad the author didn't use the friends to lovers or the lovers reunited tropes because Giselle and Andreas were sort of friends but haven't been equals so it didn't feel like he had to help her. He did because he liked her but honestly I don't think this is true love between them. We just don't have enough scenes leading to it.

I was more interested in the little details included, like the message behind the tapestry presence in the story, what it meant, also the brother's character, we could read a lot between the lines just by having him say a few things or the secondary stuff we learn from others. I liked the author used time to make the main characters act and look for Giselle's brother, looking for answers. Some details about the plot, the environment and the medieval society were also very interesting but just not as good as they could to bring my grade up. Novellas are tricky, there's a certain balance to be achieved but it's possible and even it less pages that this one.

I just think this one focused on one or two things that were unnecessary and not on what would have made it very good.

All things considered, this was a positive story, has interesting elements and characters but isn't solid enough for me in terms of romance and resolution.

Grade: 6/10