UnCovered Reviews | Atlantic County Library System

Amari and the Night Brothers

Mon, 10/24/2022 - 9:23am

UnCovered review by Nancy Wessler, Librarian, Mays Landing Branch

Thirteen-year-old Amari Peters has been struggling since her older brother disappeared. Despite being a high achiever who received scholarship offers to multiple Ivy League schools, he’s been written off as just another “lost” kid from the projects - something Amari refuses to accept. When she finds a mysterious ticking suitcase in her closet, she soon discovers that her brother was leading a double life as an agent for the secretive Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. And he’s left her an invitation to join their trainee program.

Now, finding her brother means competing to earn a spot at the Bureau, accepting that all the creatures from myth and legend are real, and going toe-to-toe with some of the most privileged kids in the country. She’ll also have to learn to master her own magic, a task complicated by the revelation that her powers are anything but ordinary–and not in a good way. But Amari will do anything to find her brother. And she most certainly will not back down from a fight.

AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS by B.B. Alston is a spectacular fantasy set in an immersive and enchanting world hidden within our own. It features a headstrong, steadfast protagonist and a plot filled with mystery and magic - and plenty of twists! It’s a story about friendship and family and the sacrifices we’re willing to make for love, for power, for belonging. The cast is diverse and memorable–from techie weredragons to snooty VanHelsings–and the setting is imaginative and well-formed. There are talking elevators (each with its own unique personality), underwater floors, bottomless pits, and levitating sneakers.

Also, forget wands and Houses; readers will have fun speculating, not just about which Department of the Bureau they’d like to join (Creature Control, Dreams & Nightmares) but also which level badge they would receive: gold or something lower like cardboard or aluminum foil? Truly, this book should be at the top of the list for anyone looking for something to read after or instead of HARRY POTTER.

Child of Light

Tue, 10/11/2022 - 9:53am

UnCovered review by Liz Sausto, ACLS Galloway Branch

I found Terry Brooks’ CHILD OF LIGHT to be an interesting if not problematic read. It is the story of a teenaged girl named Auris who, along with many other children, has been held captive by goblins in a horrible prison. When she and some of her friends make a daring escape, they are pursued and only Auris manages to evade her former captors. Stranded in the unforgiving wastelands, she is saved by Harrow - a member of a magical race known as the Fae. He takes Auris to his homeland, Viridian Deep, and surprises her by suggesting that she might be Fae as well. Although skeptical of this idea at first, Auris soon finds that Harrow might be right and explores her murky past in order to discover who - and what - she truly is.

e world-building in this novel, while not perfect, is quite intriguing. It might be a bit cliché, but I liked the idea that there is a hidden world of magical creatures that humans either do not believe exists or cannot enter easily. I also enjoyed the sinister plot point of humans actually working with goblins and allowing them to do unspeakable things to other humans. I also liked that the goblins didn’t have any dialogue, as if to point out that humans are the true monsters. This is made clear when the main antagonist turns out not only to be a man but the very definition of a mad scientist.

I found some of the writing to be a little rambling. Told in the first-person, Auris tends to overthink things and often repeats herself. I believe this is an attempt to put the reader on the right track of the story but Brooks tries a bit too hard here. I found myself put-off whenever Auris tried to put her thoughts together and often had to put the book down in order to shake off the monotony of it all.

Despite its flaws, I found CHILD OF LIGHT to be full of action, romance, and sorrow. It made for an unforgettable experience, and I look forward to the continuation of Auris’ journey of self-discovery in the sequel.

Rust in the Root

Mon, 10/03/2022 - 10:07am

UnCovered review by Nancy Wessler, Librarian, ACLS Mays Landing Branch

Rust In The Root is a spectacularly well-written historical fantasy set in an alternative version of 1930s America. In this universe, an event known as the Great Rust has blighted large swathes of the nation, leaving them uninhabitable and destroying their mechanical infrastructure. Uncontrolled magic use has been blamed, and the practice is now heavily regulated. Those who get to wield this power, those left begging for scraps, and those greeted with suspicion fall along America’s traditional fault lines–allowing for a brilliant, if not bleak, exploration of the ways in which Black bodies and talents have always been exploited and sacrificed in the name of American industry.

Enter into all of this: 17-year-old Laura Ann Langston, a small-town girl struggling to survive in the Big Apple. She came to the city to pursue her dream of gaining a license to practice magic so that she might establish her own magical bakery. Fate, however, has far greater plans for her. It’s not long before she’s caught up in the effort to mediate the effects of the Great Rust and begins to uncover the dark secret at the heart of the American Blight.

It must be said that Laura Ann makes for a wonderful chosen one–headstrong and resourceful, confident and forthright; she’s got all of the bravery of an archetypal hero but refreshingly lacks their tendency toward self-sacrificing. And her flaws only make her more engaging. She is surrounded by an excellent supporting cast, the majority of which are African American, and any romances to be found are queer.

There is quite a bit of world-building at the beginning of the book and a decent amount of jargon to assimilate. This may be off-putting for some readers, but after the first few chapters, the book moves at a nice pace. This is a fantasy, as has been said, and there is a certain delight that comes from seeing unicorns in Central Park; but there are also strong elements of horror and definitely some gore. Just as she did in Dread Nation and its sequel, Ireland proves herself very adept at creating a sense of creeping dread and inescapable wrongness. This is a dark story, make no mistake.

That said, the story is not without light. Indeed, this is ultimately the tale of a girl who looks into the darkness, sees all the horror, and says, “Enough. No more. I’m changing things.” It’s a joy to watch her fly.

Proving Ground: The Untold Story Of The Six Women Who Programmed The World’s First Modern Computer

Mon, 09/26/2022 - 10:14am

UnCovered review by Matt DiBella, ACLS Director

Proving Ground: The Untold Story Of The Six Women Who Programmed The World’s First Modern Computer is a history of six unknown women who worked on one of the top U.S. military projects after World War II. During the height of World War II, dozens of women “computers” were recruited to calculate ballistic trajectory charts for the war effort. Six of these women were selected to assist with the programming of the first “Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC).” Their contribution to the world of modern computing and programming had been lost for decades with only the two men who were the electrical engineers receiving credit for the success of the ENIAC. Author Kathy Kleiman brings the stories of these six brilliant woman to life and describes their lasting impact on the world of modern computing and programming.

The Honeys

Tue, 09/06/2022 - 10:23am

UnCovered Review by Samantha LeRoy, ACLS Mays Landing Branch

Ryan La Sala’s new book The Honeys follows in the footsteps of films such as Midsommar and the Witch, fitting nicely into this niche of “elevated horror,” horror defined by stylistic psychological twists, commentaries on society, and a dash of tasteful gore. The novel follows gender-fluid teen Mars Matthias in the aftermath of the traumatic death of his twin sister Caroline. Convinced her death has something to do with the Aspen Summer Academy, a summer camp designed for the kids of the hyper-wealthy and politically connected, Mars enrolls to investigate. There he finds the Honeys, a cabin full of enigmatic and powerful girls - the girls Caroline lived with during her time at Aspen. The closer Mars gets to the girls, and the more he blurs the binary divide of the camp, the more a sinister presence encloses around him.

The Honeys is a trippy analysis of gender, class, and grief. Throughout the book, Mars fights to find a place between the boys and the girls, torn between wanting to be embraced by the acceptance of the girls but also the respect of the boys, at the same time battling the demands of his high-maintenance, high-profile, wealthy parents. The horror itself is a slow burn, it keeps itself hidden until roughly 200+ pages in, and when it hits it hits hard (I don’t want to spoil it but it involves a horrible teenage boy, honey, and a basement). La Sala’s prose is also dreamy and poetic, however if you don’t have the patience for long-winded descriptions of bucolic imagery it may grow tiresome, but it was exactly how I prefer my novels.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

Tue, 08/30/2022 - 9:13am

UnCovered Review by Marina Smolens, ACLS Brigantine Branch

Encompassed in just one-hundred and fifty-two pages is the story of Sibling Dex and Mosscap, a monk and a robot in a futuristic land called Panga. In this utopian future, A Prayer For The Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers, robots gained consciousness and decided to peacefully part ways with humanity, retreating to the deep wilderness, rather than destroying or enslaving civilization, as is often imagined in more dystopian tales. Sibling Dex and Mosscap are the first to breach the gap between humans and robots in hu

In Chambers’ book preceding this one, A Psalm For The Wild-Built, Dex explores the wilderness with Mosscap, but in this sequel, it is Mosscap’s turn to explore an unknown terrain: humanity. With it, it brings a question in which it hopes to answer: what do humans need in a world where all their basic needs are met? You do not need to have read A PSALM FOR THE WILD-BUILT In order to enjoy A Prayer For The Crown-Shy. This story is one of friendship, love, and finding meaning. It’s also a refreshingly optimistic science fiction that still challenges the ideas of capitalism and corporate greed that are signature of the genre but in a more gentle and innocent way. It gives the reader hope for a better, kinder future, and allows us to imagine what this may look like, while at the same time, urges us to be more grounded in the present moment, to accept ourselves as we currently are.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Mon, 08/22/2022 - 10:27am

UnCovered review by Arlene Canale, ACLS Absecon Branch

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is the total package. It is the very best of classic Hollywood intrigue with a delicious twist. A glamorous romp through Hollywood in its heyday with a dazzling ambitious movie star who will break your heart.

Evelyn Hugo is a glamorous movie star, who is also a relentless fighter for what she wants. Her life story is heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. This novel will keep readers fascinated till the very end.

This novel was first released in 2017 and has just recently become the book that everyone wants to read. Pulling inspiration from the collective lives of Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, and Rita Haworth, you’ll want to put Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo on your TBR now too.

Year of the Hawk: America’s descent into Vietnam, 1965

Mon, 08/15/2022 - 9:43am

UnCovered Review by Matt DiBella, ACLS Director

Year Of The Hawk: America’s Descent Into Vietnam,1965 is an in-depth look into the early days of United States’ escalation of the Vietnam War under the Johnson Administration. After the Kennedy Assassination, President Lyndon Johnson inherited a foreign policy quagmire in South East Asia. Inexperienced in foreign policy, he sought advice from U.S. National Security Advisor, McGeorge Bundy and Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara. These two men would be the architects behind President Johnson’s decision to escalate the war in Vietnam.

The book offers readers an inside look into the first year of new “ground war” in Vietnam. From the battlefields at Ia Drang Valley to the skies during Operation Rolling Thunder, author James A. Warren provides readers with new insights on one of the biggest historical events of the late 20th century. Year Of The Hawk will leave readers with a new understanding of what motivated President Johnson to commit so many lives to the war in Vietnam.

Sparring Partners

Mon, 07/25/2022 - 9:28am

UnCovered review by Collette Jones, Manager, ACLS Egg Harbor City Branch

Sparring Partners is another in a long list of John Grisham classics. It’s an easy read on your summer vacation.

Fans and newcomers alike will not be disappointed by John Grisham’s first collection of novellas. In the title story, “Sparring Partners”, Bolton Malloy, disbarred from the firm he created, is in prison for killing his wife. That the main sentiment of the murder is that Bolton wasn’t careful enough in covering up the crime indicates how disagreeable the victim was, and from this partnership came Rusty and Kirk, two lawyer sons who detest each other. Because their father forced them to sign an agreement that would result in acute penalties were they to leave Malloy & Malloy, their bond is indissoluble and toxic. The only thing that could make their situation more poisonous would be for Bolton to rejoin the firm, and when their father comes up with a scheme to get out of prison, the boys devise a plan to keep him in place. Add a seemingly sympathetic office manager who turns out to be as thoroughly disagreeable and manipulative as the rest of the cast, and by the end of the tale you just want everyone to be destroyed. Both lawyers and non-lawyers will appreciate the layers found in the title story. Kirk and Rusty Malloy took over a thriving law firm run by their father, who is serving a prison term for murdering their mother. The antagonism between the brothers is destroying the firm, and as it crumbles before them, we wonder how they will survive.

“Homecoming,” the first of three stories that comprise the book, features one of the few characters who has appeared in multiple Grisham novels: Jake Brigance, a small-town practitioner with an office in Ford County, Mississippi. This time, Jake is asked to help an old friend, Mack Stafford, an attorney who found his life falling apart and elected to solve his dilemma by disappearing from town. This is a story of forgiveness, revenge, and friendship. Mack, living well in paradise, has buyer’s remorse and wants to reestablish a relationship with his two teenage daughters.

“Strawberry Moon” is the book’s most poignant novella. Cody Wallace is a young man on death row who is only three hours away from being executed.

Enjoy it, and admire the skill of a truly great writer while pondering where his next book will take us.

Nettle & Bone

Mon, 07/18/2022 - 10:08am

UnCovered Review by Stephanie Baker, ACLS IT

Although later developed into Disney confection, the stories of Brothers Grimm, first published as Children’s and Household Tales, were arguably not suitable for their named audience. In Nettle & Bone , T. Kingfisher’s telling is a lot more like these tales of old and reminds us fairy tales can be for adults too.

More like the Grimms’ Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White, Kingfisher shows us the life of a princess isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be and sometimes the princess has to save herself and her family. In Nettle & Bone, we get a look beyond the surface of the mirror: there’s domestic abuse, torture, kidnapping, enslavement, forced nunnery, and even a touch of cannibalism. Princess Marra is not perfect, the prince has a past, the witch has a good side, the fairy godmother has a bad one, and instead of attendant mice, cue a dog made of bones and a demon chicken. But, if it doesn’t already intrigue you, don’t let any of the above dissuade you, the journey isn’t always easy or pretty but it is exciting, well-plotted, smartly written, and has a lot of heart.

Not all fairy tales can be wrapped up simply by slipping on a glass shoe but if you still believe in happy endings, no matter how you get there… then this is one for you.

Motherhood

Tue, 07/12/2022 - 10:50am

UnCovered review by Marina Smolens, ACLS Brigantine Branch

Motherhood by Sheila Heti is a contemplation on what it means to be a mother, a daughter, a lover, an artist, and in essence, a woman. The unnamed narrator shares with us her thought process through her final child-bearing years. She explores the idea of destiny versus fate: do we choose what happens to us or is it predetermined? And if we can choose, where do our desires come from? How can we know whether they are really ours, or if they belong to someone else? If you are a woman, or someone who has questioned which path to take in life, this book is for you. Heti’s curious and philosophical mind lends itself to an interesting journey through one of the biggest decisions a person could make in their life.

Motherhood is available as an audiobook on Hoopla.

Monstress

Tue, 07/05/2022 - 9:59am

UnCovered review by Samantha LeRoy, ACLS Mays Landing Branch

I’m not much of a high fantasy person (or even a graphic novel person for that matter), but the world of Monstress has consumed my every waking thought since I stumbled across it on Hoopla. With a story by Marjorie Liu and artwork by Sana Takeda, Monstress feels so fresh compared to so many other high fantasy/chosen one narratives.

Set in a magical, matriarchal society inspired by 20th century Asia, the story follows Maika Halfwolf, a 17-year-old with a murky, traumatic past and a literal god living inside her, as she risks life and limb to answer the questions her late mother left behind. I love morally-gray characters and the gruffness of Maika makes her so much more interesting than the traditional plucky, fish-out-of-water characters that typically become protagonists in stories like this. Maika does not face her fate with grace and acceptance, in fact she faces it with a lot of profanity and a fair bit of violence.

And Monstress truly is monstrous. Sana Takeda’s artwork is captivating and horrible. It’s fantastically gory and really taps into this cool phantasmagoric element with monsters straight out of H.P. Lovecraft. At the same time, Marjorie Liu infuses a sense of humor into her writing that softens the horror, and she constructs complex but engaging characters. Even when Maika/the ancient god living inside her cannibalizes her enemies, you still want to root for her.

Monstress is perfect for people who are into the “unhinged woman” subgenre (ex: Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn or Eileen by Otessa Moshfegh) but with a high fantasy twist.

*Graphic Novels are available on Hoopla with an ACLS card.

The Hazel Wood Duology

Mon, 06/27/2022 - 9:30am

UnCovered review by Samantha LeRoy, ACLS Mays Landing Branch

The Hazel Wood follows jaded and worldly teenager Alice, the granddaughter of famed writer Althea Proserpine, who published a collection of fairy tales, Tales Of The Hinterland, which has achieved fervent cult status. Upon the death of Althea, Alice and her mother Ella, feel like they’ve finally outrun the bad luck that has been chasing them for sixteen years. Just as Alice begins to let herself relax into her more static and stable life, it’s brutally disrupted by the abduction of Ella. Her only clue to where her mother may be - Hazel Wood, her grandmother’s estate. The problem is that no one, especially not Alice, knows where Hazel Wood is. Alice’s one rule throughout her life was to avoid fans of her grandmother’s. Althea Proserpine fans are weird and obsessive and, on one occasion, have even abducted her, but in her desperation, she feels she has no choice but to team up with super-fan Ellery Finch, a wealthy classmate. Together the two find out that Alice’s grandmother’s stories may be more real than fiction. Although many have likened this to be an Alice In Wonderland retelling, I find the similarities end at the protagonists’ name. Melissa Albert weaves a dark, original tale about the magic of stories and the power authors have. It also explores the depth of fandom and the passion we have for the things we love.

While I really enjoyed The Hazel Wood, I absolutely loved its follow-up, The Night Country. The Night Country follows Alice three months after the events of The Hazel Wood as she tries to come to terms with who she is and where she fits in between the normal, real-world and the fairy tale world from which she broke out. The reader follows Alice’s struggle with finding community with characters from the Hinterland while also trying to establish a new dynamic with her mother (who may or may not be her actual mother). At the same time, the novel follows Ellery as he treks through a fairy tale universe on his own and his struggle to see Alice again. I find Melissa Albert is much stronger at urban fantasy and magical realism than she is at hard and fast fairy tales. The issue with The Hazel Wood is, once it stopped being a road trip mystery with magical elements and started being an actual fantasy, it became hard to follow. The Night Country has much tighter storytelling and the majority of it, apart from Ellery’s chapters, are set in a more contained and relatable space. It also further expands the theme of the power of stories in a much more effective, if a bit on-the-nose, way.

The Hazel Wood duology by Melissa Albert will never be made into a Disney movie, little children will not dress up as the characters, and Barbie will never have a Hazel Wood line of dolls. And that’s what I love about it.

Seasonal Work

Mon, 05/23/2022 - 9:26am

unCovered review by Rachel Simmons, Librarian, ACLS Hammonton Branch

Seasonal Work by Laura Lippman is a collection of short stories written in Lippman’s style of mystery suspense fiction. It is written in four parts with three short stories in each part. The title story “Seasonal Work” focuses on a father and his children surviving poverty and evoking sympathy from strangers for their misfortunes, but are the misfortunes real or staged? Tess Monaghan, PI, is on the case. Part two focuses upon women getting the best of their male abusers. In “Snowflake Time,” (one of my favorites), a news reporter from 2016 is a victim of the #metoo movement and is forced to quit his job. He then writes a popular cozy mystery series that goes awry in a darkly humorous way involving cats. Part three contains three coming of age stories. In “Five Fires,” a young adult narrates her experience one summer during a time five fires occur pointing to arson. Can we rely on her narrative or is she delusional? Finally, part four highlights stories involving couples and the secret lives they live. In “Slow Burner” a wife’s husband, previously caught cheating, is at it again with a new burner phone. Is it right for her to eavesdrop on his text messages to the mistress? What can she do? Read it to find out. This novel is available in hardback, CD and eBook. Recommended.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mon, 05/16/2022 - 10:20am

UnCovered review by Collette Jones, Branch Manager, Egg Harbor City Branch

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which was published in Colliers magazine in 1922 and later anthologized in Fitzgerald’s short story collection, Tales of the Jazz Age. The story describes events in the life of Benjamin Button, who is born in Baltimore in 1860 as an aged man, who proceeds to age backwards over the course of the story. It remains one of Fitzgerald’s better-known short stories and was adapted in 2008 into a feature film starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The story illustrates that a good book is worth reading 100 years later. It is a quick, fantastical read.

We learn that a child was born in 1918, the same year the clockmaker created his clock for the train station. The child, though only an infant, appeared as an elderly man and was abandoned by his father on a doorstep after the mother passed away while giving birth to him. The child is found by a woman named Queenie and a Mr. Weathers who work at the nursing home where the infant was abandoned. Queenie chooses to raise the child, and with the years passing, the young man, Benjamin grows up with the mentality of a child in an old man’s body. At his youthful age, he appears as if he is as old as every person in the nursing home. He struggles with his hearing and his eyesight and understanding. When Benjamin is 12 he meets a young girl, age 7, named Daisy, and they become very close friends.

Eventually, Benjamin leaves Queenie and what he has known as home and joins a tugboat crew, as the Captain believes him to be far older than he is truthfully. Benjamin is constantly mistaken as being an older man as his body grows and he seems to become more and more youthful. Benjamin volunteers to join the Captain in salvage work and survives the crew, including the Captain, as he continues to get younger and stronger in body, mind, and spirit.

Benjamin then returns to his home in New Orleans and to his adopted mother, Queenie, and also reunites with Daisy shortly after. And, finally, Benjamin learns the identity of his father, Thomas, whom he meets as while suffering a terminal illness. He learns that Thomas has a button factory, which is bequeathed to Benjamin, as is his estate.

Two years pass, and Benjamin strikes out to New York City where Daisy lives as a dancer in the ballet, but he learns that she has fallen for another man and is crushed. It isn’t until years later that the two meet again after Daisy has been injured in Paris ending her dancing career, but she demands he not stay around, as she is devastated by her injury. Eventually, Daisy returns to New Orleans and they begins a love affair resulting in marriage and a daughter.

Benjamin fears that his reverse-aging will not allow him to be a good father and decides to leave his new family, leaving behind a bank book so that they will always be taken care of financially. Ten years later, Benjamin arrives back in Daisy’s life, but she is remarried and their daughter is much older. Daisy hides Benjamin’s true identity from everyone and admits that he made the right choice to leave. They have a final night of romance before Benjamin leaves this time for good.

Their paths would cross one final time as Daisy, whose name was found in Benjamin’s diary, is called by a social worker who has found a young Benjamin displaying early signs of dementia, though he looks as young as 12. Daisy cares for Benjamin until his death. He is an old man in an infant’s body. His death comes one year after the clock in the train station, which had been running in reverse since 1918 was replaced. Daisy has told this story to her daughter so she would finally know the true identity of her father. Even though this story is 100-years-old it is a good story that deserves to be read all over again.

Grow

Thu, 05/12/2022 - 9:25am

unCovered review by Beth Bliss, Manager, ACLS Brigantine Branch

It’s a wonderful coincidence that this beautiful book is illustrated by someone named “Meadows,” given its delightful examples of various vegetables, fruits, and other plants. GROW by Riz Reyes, is a large-format picture book that introduces its readers to 15 plant families, ranging from mints to mushrooms to apples, and beyond.

Kids and their grownups can enjoy this book together, delving into how each plant family has its own tastes, textures, and visual delights. There is a perfect balance in this book of information and art – a guaranteed hit for families looking to learn about plant varieties, pollination, culinary inspiration – and what to plant for the coming gardening season.

The Library: A Fragile History

Mon, 05/02/2022 - 9:16am

UnCovered review by Matt DiBella, ACLS Library Director

The Library: A Fragile History by Andrew Pettegree is an extensive history of the library as an institution: from the infamous Alexandria Library of the ancient world to today’s modern public and academic libraries. This history of the written and printed word covers how libraries have evolved from the private collections of monasteries and monarchs to the great public institutions of today. It covers the history of how mankind has kept written records of history, language, and science through papyrus scrolls, to the printing press, and into digital age. This historical account of libraries shows how these great institutions have been able to endure through natural disasters, the Fall of the Roman Empire, World Wars, and modern political divisions.

Vespertine

Mon, 04/25/2022 - 10:05am

unCovered review by Liz Sausto, ACLS Galloway Township Branch

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson was an interesting and enjoyable read. Taking place in a land ravaged by vengeful spirits, Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who purifies the bodies of the deceased lest their spirits rise and attack the living. Although gifted with powers far beyond those of an ordinary nun, memories of a traumatic past cause Artemisia to long for a quiet and mundane life that seems to elude her thanks to rumors about that very past and her introverted personality.

Artemisia’s hopes for a peaceful life are shattered when possessed soldiers attack her convent and she defends it by allowing herself to be possessed by a powerful spirit known as a revenant. Forced to flee her home, Artemisia realizes that someone is forcing spirits to attack and takes it upon herself to not only solve this mystery but protect the innocent as well. But she must do all this while also fighting off the revenant, which could overtake her the moment she drops her defenses.

Being a little socially awkward myself, I was able to relate to Artemisia very well. She prefers to be alone and being around large groups of people scares her to the point where she has a large amount of anxiety. I’ve sometimes read books where the protagonist is cut off from the world, but not to the point where Artemisia is. While our reasons cannot be more different, I found it very easy to sympathize with her.

I was also intrigued by Artemisia’s relationship with the revenant. Although it is supposed to be an evil spirit, it certainly doesn’t act that way. While the two are antagonistic towards each other at first, they form a rapport that is not too dissimilar to friendship. Because Artemisia tends to push herself to the point of exhaustion, the revenant repeatedly reminds her to take care of herself. At first, this was because Artemisia’s life was tied to that of the revenant, but it soon becomes apparent that it has grudgingly started to care for her. Their conversations were one of the best parts of the story, as the revenant’s dry humor adds some much needed levity.

Vespertine was without a doubt an intriguing story that pulled me in from start to finish. I enjoyed it so much that I will be looking into Rogerson’s other novels as well as anything she will write in the future.

PURE COLOR

Mon, 04/18/2022 - 9:57am

Uncovered review by Marina Smolens, ACLS Brigantine Branch

Sheila Heti’s Pure Colour is a philosophical endeavor that tells the story of Mira, a woman who goes to school to be an art critic. While attending, she meets a woman named Annie, to whom she is very drawn. The story centers around her relationship to Annie, as well as to her father, who dies during the course of the novel. After his death, Mira falls into a leaf, and is only able to escape it through Annie’s care for her. The title Pure Colour seems apt due to the fact that this book is built mostly on emotion, rather than an abundance of details or images. A green blob is seen on the cover of the book, and this book indeed “feels” very green and abstract. The abstractness of it allows space for the reader to imagine themselves in this world she has created (am I a bird, a fish, or a bear?), and green is the color of the heart, of love, of nature, of serenity. Heti captures all of this in a somewhat surreal fashion. Using Mira as our guide, we are led to question the meaning of art, culture, death, love, and our relationships to both people and things.

Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder and the Trial that Changed America

Mon, 04/11/2022 - 9:53am

UnCovered review by Frank Tomasello, ACLS Mays Landing Branch

As an amateur Civil War historian of over two decades, I thought I knew all there was to know about a pre- Civil War scandal involving Major General Daniel E. Sickles. Conventional history records that Sickles’ beautiful young wife Theresa had an affair with U.S. Attorney General, Philip Barton Key, son of Francis Scott Key of National Anthem fame, which led to then New York Congressman, Sickles shooting Key in broad day light, on a public street, in Washington, D.C. He was then acquitted at trial in one of the earliest successful insanity defenses, represented by future Secretary of War under Abraham Lincoln, Edward Stanton.

In Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder and The Trial That Changed America, author Chris DeRose has exhaustively reviewed newspaper accounts, personal diaries and letters, and trial testimony, to paint a truer picture of the events of the early spring of 1859. What emerges is a record that is so similar to today’s 24-hour news cycle that it begs belief. It had it all: a sex scandal involving high society elites/celebrities; homicide; press leaks; trial by media; anonymous letters; accusations of evidence tampering; show boating attorneys; political intrigue; and the list goes on.

The facts were never in dispute. The affair was admitted, as well as the shooting of Key by Sickles. The incident quickly evolved into a trial that would focus the attention of the world. In 1859, the telegraph was cutting edge technology. Newspapers at the time felt that its expense was not justified since there could never be any news that people would not be content in waiting a few days to learn. The Sickles trial shattered that notion, and the press became ravenous for news from the young Nation’s capital. Sordid details about the affair, the brazen way it was conducted, and the “roguish” character of Key filled columns of the newspapers of the day. Sickles was seen sympathetically as a victim and yet clearly culpable as a murderer. After a trial that lasted nearly two weeks, he was acquitted. His legal team, of which Edwin Stanton was but one member, had indeed argued “temporary insanity,” but the verdict would more accurately be labeled as “Justifiable Homicide” or what today is known as “Jury Nullification”.

DeRose is not wrong when he says that the Sickles trial changed America. It single-handedly created what we now call the aforementioned 24-hour news cycle, and also the “Unwritten Law” which would acquit homicidal jealous lovers for decades thereafter. It is an excellent work that sheds much light on a largely misunderstood event of much historical importance.

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