The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian

Reading this novel was like watching a plane plunging to earth from 30,000 feet. There is a little time to process that the end won't be good, but there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. I really liked Richard - and I really disliked Philip - and I completely despised Spencer. Don't get me wrong, Richard made some mistakes - and demonstrated some incredibly hurtful behavior - but he was honest about it afterward. He could have lied to Kristin, but he chose not to without even thinking about it. I was so happy that he refused to be blackmailed by Spencer! And what was up with his lawyer, telling him to just pay Spencer the money?? Do lawyers actually recommend things like that to their clients? Spencer was a scumbag and he would have always come back for more. I was hoping that the Russians would take him down so that everyone around him would be done with his unlawful and immoral behavior. Philip was so immature and selfish and untrustworthy. I was thrilled that Nicole came to her senses. Ick! Richard's first mistake was offering to host Philip's bachelor party. I understood the logic of him having it at home, thinking it would be "tamer" than at a strip club or something, but Richard definitely underestimated Philip's friends.

The story of Alexandra/Anahit was incredibly sad. The use of children in the sex trade is evil. Do these people who exploit children like this not have their own children? Do they treat their own children as property too? Would they sell their own children? My heart breaks when I think of the young girls and boys who are used by men for sex. Anahit was a beautiful girl who wanted to dance. She had a grandmother who loved her and friends who shared her love of dance. All of her hopes and dreams were smashed up against a brick wall. What a tragedy. I was wondering at one point if Richard & Kristin would end up adopting Anahit at the end of the novel. Kristin did not disappoint by forgiving Richard and moving on with their marriage. She also did not disappoint as she rushed over to save Anahit's life. I knew she had that forgiveness and kindness in her, so I was just hoping that together, they would "save" Anahit.

This was not an easy read, due to the subject matter and my fear that the ending would not be happy. I was indeed not happy with the ending, so I was right about that. But maybe a happy ending would have taken away from the grim facts of the sex slave trade. In addition to that, sometimes other people's actions have dire consequences and you still have to be the best person you can be despite the potential of it all ending badly.

Wendy's Rating: ****

Eeny Meeny by MJ Arlidge

This is the first book in a mystery series, introducing us to Helen Grace, a detective inspector in England. I love mysteries, and detective stories and thrillers. I don't know why I don't read them more often. Helen is a strong, independent, authoritative female detective. She also has baggage, which no one in her current life knows about - or would even suspect. The book is a page-turner and a quick read. Helen can be quick to judge, and some of her past actions have a significant impact on the people in her life at the time. But she is a strong character, especially for someone who had a troubling personal life.

The serial killer most definitely had a well-thought-out and executed plan. Excruciatingly so. It was painful to read about her victims dying of hunger and thirst, and in Mark's case, a raging infection. Each abducted "couple" reacted differently to the proposition put in front of them: kill the other person and you go free. Both lives are ruined regardless. I DO wonder how she knew when one person died though. It's not like she had cameras stationed inside all of the various abandoned sites. It's not like she could open a door and check on them. 

In my mind, I thought that Helen and Mark would be a couple - or at least a "non-couple" or a secret couple - in the books to follow. I thought they could help each other fight their individual demons. I have to say that I was not happy with how their relationship ended! I am happy that Helen found her serial killer, but I was sad about Mark. Even though the killer did despicable things to people, I was also sad about her life as well. She spent a long time in prison for trying to protect her sister - and then was pretty much shut out of her sister's life. Why was a child sentenced to 25 years in prison anyway? Maybe things are different in England than America when it comes to charging children with murder...? Maybe it was because she murdered two people instead of just the one harming her. I don't know, but she certainly had some awful things happen to her.

I want to read the next book in the series now. I am curious about which characters from this book will be carried over to the next.

Wendy's Rating: ****

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

I absolutely loved this book! It was very well written. Despite the changing narrators and the jumps back and forth in time, this 700+ page novel flowed. Great character development. Since the characters were so well developed, I was emotionally invested in them, especially Jude, William and Harold. Sometimes I smiled while reading, occasionally laughed out loud, but more often than not, the emotion I felt was sadness. My sadness ran the gamut between being teary-eyed (merely blotting with a tissue) to openly and audibly weeping (tissue after tissue). This book was an emotional journey for me.

Since I work with people who have mental health issues - and try to support them as they attempt to manage their various mental health symptoms - I found Jude's trials in life intriguing, eye-opening and heartbreaking. I feel frustrated at times at my job because I just want to shake people and say, "You just need to ________!" I could insert a lot of words/phrases into that blank, like "take your meds"; "stop relying on your meds and actually WORK on managing your mental health"; "tell your doctor/therapist the truth"; "exercise"; "eat healthier"; "go to your job before you lose it". I could go on and on and on. This book allowed me to see inside Jude's head - and you could almost feel his pain. It was heart wrenching.

There is no one I loved more than William, although Andy and Harold were close seconds. Can you imagine supporting and loving someone like Jude all those years? They just absolutely never gave up on him. What really gave me food for thought though is Jude doing things for other people, even when he didn't want to, even when he hated it. Usually in life we know we have to compromise with people we love - meet them half way - or "gift them" with things/actions that make them happy just because it makes them happy, even though we don't feel like it or it doesn't interest us. When Jude did this however, it just made me sad. Jude felt such self-hatred, and he was so conditioned in childhood to "obey", that he did things because he felt he had to, not because he wanted to "give" something to someone else. I detested Brother Luke. Brother Luke was the only person who showed Jude any sort of love, yet it was such a twisted love. Brother Luke ignited Jude's intelligence and told him he was beautiful, yet he made him do such horrible things. I think Jude would have been better off with someone who just treated him as a prostitute working for his pimp, rather than a "lover". That's what messed Jude up so much.

Usually I talk about everything I want to in my blogs, not worrying about spoiling anything for other readers since I mention that there are spoilers in my reviews anyway. But I love this book so much that I am not going to talk about the part(s) that left me weeping. It's better that people just read it and "live it" like I did. This book will be joining my favorite books of all time list.

Wendy's Rating: *****