After The Rain: Stories by Dina Sokal ; The Narrow by Dan Cornelious; The Love That Wouldn't Die by Anthony Biren; 200 Things Women Can Do After 50 by Permission Press

 

After The Rain: Stories by Dina Sokal

This is a summary of the review. The entire review can be found on LitPick.

This poignant and meaningful anthology focuses on emotional confrontations, secrets, trauma, memories, and how sometimes it takes adulthood and maturity to understand these experiences.

The best stories are:

“Henry and Sally”- Henry learns that his ailing wife, Sally, has secrets that he never knew.

This story is about how we never know everything about the people that we are around the most, spouses, children, and close friends and family. 

Henry cares for his wife through her dementia and finds out her secret on his own. He weighs his suspicion towards her and his guilt in bringing this outcome forward. He has to address the reality of his marriage, not his romantic rose tinted view.

 “The Ritual Committee Meeting”-Christy weighs religious devotion with her uncertainty about her committee leaders Jonathan and Rivka who are becoming quite authoritarian.

This story is only a few pages long but says a great deal about Christy and the other church members. Christy sees the tight hold that the couple have on the committee and when she disagrees with them, they let her know that she has fallen in their estimation. 

She wonders if they are there to lead others to worship God or themselves.

“Mother's Day”-An accident forces Val to evaluate her marriage, motherhood, faith, and behavior.

Val once held a superficial view of her life. She thought that it was an idyllic home as long as she existed on the surface and lived in benign contentment. 

Afterwards she has to weigh her love for her husband and family. She also has to look at her own troublesome behavior and seek to change it.

“After the Rain”- A woman has a magical encounter that forces her to confront her past.

Most of the story is surreal and yet meaningful as a strange box leads her to several human figures, particularly a baby that beckons her to follow it. They have a lot of symbolic touches concerning security, suppression, and confrontation.

The story’s climax is reached when she names the trauma that was done to her. She confronts her assailant and brings her pain to the forefront. Recognizing it gives her the first step towards healing.

 Sokal’s watercolor illustrations are winsome pleasant landscapes that bring a timeless dream-like quality to the stories and provide light to even the darkest moments.

The Narrow by Dan Cornelious 

This is a suspenseful Science Fiction Thriller that combines monster disasters, alien encounters, and conspiracy theories and does some clever unique things with the concepts.

After surviving an attack by a mysterious creature Eli Merritt investigates the encounter. He sees a sealed passage which leads him to a civilization of reptilians called the Zargata. He bonds with one named Ryznk. When a greater evil approaches Eli, Ryznk, and their human and reptilian allies have to work together to fight it.

Most of the book focuses on typical military science fiction thriller tropes. There are the military figures who try to keep the weird stuff under wraps as they fight against it. The scientists and doctors with the analytical questions, devotion to science, and arguments with the military. 

The salt of the Earth protagonist who stumbles on the strange new world but still kicks ass. The religious supporting character that quotes the Bible and fears the End Times. It's all familiar but also kind of fun as a good action novel read for the summer should be. 

One of the most interesting aspects of this book are the reptilians. Most Science Fiction novels that focus on conspiracy theories treat the reptilians as some unstoppable inhuman evil bent in conquest and destruction. Dan Cornelious however took great care to make the Zargata just as important and multi-faceted as the humans.

 Ryznk is actually a well written character more so than Eli, his human counterpart who is alright but stereotypical and cliched. Ryznk however is a proud member of the Zargata community but has enough intelligent curiosity and empathy towards the humans. He draws Eli and others  into their mutual struggles by sharing thoughts and emotions. It is an interesting touch in what might have been a typical Science Fiction Thriller.

The friendship that develops between Eli and Ryznk is the emotional core of the story as they fight against their isolation, assumptions, enemies both human and reptilian, and mental and emotional blockers to work together. It's a twist that elevates this book from ordinary to potentially exceptional.

The Love That Wouldn't Die by Anthony Biren 

This is a beautiful and sinister short novel about the love between parent and child that survives beyond death.

John is devoted to his daughter, Rocky. He is so devoted to her that his final thoughts before he dies in a traffic collision were to always be with her. After death, he watches Rocky as she becomes romantically involved with Derek, a dangerous stalker.

The horror and mystery aspects are well written. John's attempts to communicate with his daughter can be creepy as he speaks to her through her phone and flickers with lights. Also John's attachment to Rocky could affect his memory of her and human emotions leaving him as an angry vengeance seeking spirit.

Besides the supernatural horror, there is also human horror. It is particularly noticeable when John and Rocky are given a chilling vision of Derek's actions and motives. The lengths that Derek went through because he felt entitled to have Rocky are incredibly disturbing.

Above all, this is a strong story about the love between a father and daughter. The opening chapter features a charming moment between John and his then-toddler aged daughter as she watches butterflies. It symbolizes their relationship as Rocky is as beautiful and fragile as those butterflies and John tries hard to hold onto her until he learns to defend when necessary but also to let her go.

200 Things Women Can Finally Do at 50 by Permission Press

If you are approaching 50, don't look at it as old age or think that it is an end to life. Think of it as a potential start to do new things. This is a funny and uplifting book that suggests that women can find fulfillment by living for themselves.

This book covers various areas like social life, beauty standards, work, family, health, tech, and a bucket list. The items suggest similar messages like “It's okay to opt out.” “It's okay to be less than perfect” “It's okay to practice self care.” “It's okay for others to take care of you.” “It's okay to be behind the times.” “It's okay to meet long term goals that were put off by life situations.” “It's okay to be yourself.”

The suggestions are humorous and heartfelt to remind readers that they should make time for themselves. For example in the social life chapter, one suggestion is “Unfriend the Energy Vampire. We all have that one friend. She only calls to complain about her ex, her boss, or the rash on her leg. You have listened to the same loop for 15 years because you are loyal. You are not a therapist, and you are not a garbage can for your emotional refuse. It is okay to outgrow people who only take. Hit ‘Block’ or ‘Mute’ to lift that weight off your shoulders immediately. Rebel Rule: Protect your peace like it is a limited-edition handbag.”

Aliza in Naziland by Elyse Hoffman; Thought Provoking Graphic Holocaust Dark Fantasy Draws The Line Between Vengeance and Justice

 Aliza in Naziland by Elyse Hoffman; Thought Provoking Graphic WWII Dark Fantasy About Hatred, Revenge, and Drawing The Line Between Vengeance and Justice

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Elyse Hoffman’s previous books like The Book of Uriel weave the stark graphic reality of the Holocaust with fantastic elements borrowed from Old Testament scripture, Jewish folklore, and European myths and legends. These books use these fantastic and dark elements to comment on the challenging themes of mortality, prejudice, Antisemitism, courage, sacrifice, faith, maturity, despair, rebellion, anger, and hatred.

In what is probably her darkest volume yet, Aliza in Naziland, Hoffman takes that combination of Holocaust reality and dark fantasy up to eleven with a novel that asks questions about hatred, revenge, retribution, and punishment.

16 year old Aliza Aueman is a Holocaust survivor living in 1950’s Beth-Hadassa, Maryland with her adopted father and sisters. The family is trying to adjust to living in America and dealing with school, interests, and family dilemmas while also suffering from PTSD, Anxiety, and other problems manifested from their time in Europe. They also have to deal with hateful organizations like the Anti-Semitic Black Sun Brotherhood planning a demonstration. Aliza likes her new life better than the old one, but she still has problems with obeying authority, restraining herself from getting into fights, and feeling powerless. 

One day she receives a mysterious note and a visit from a suspicious looking stranger. He says that his name is Ha-Satan and he is “the Heavenly Prosecutor.” He has a proposition for Aliza. Because Hell has grown too big and there are way too many souls to punish, he has decided to separate Hell into different sections, called Zones, and has appointed random mortals to punish the souls within them. There are specific zones called Naziland. 

Aliza is appointed Master over Zone N-1, the most coveted Zone because it contains the souls of prominent Nazis like Herman Goring, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, and Hitler himself! All Aliza has to do is order something to happen to them, no matter how humiliating, torturous, painful, or destructive.The punishment is temporary and all she has to do is return every day to inflict it again. 

Aliza gets a thrill out of this chance to inflict pain on her one-time torturers and takes full advantage of this opportunity. But what starts out as fun and games, albeit violent fun and games, becomes more serious when other people get involved and the hatred of the outside world in Maryland bleeds into the inside world of Zone N-1. 

Aliza in Naziland is an interesting premise that asks a lot of tough questions. Questions like how far is too far when you want to seek vengeance? What is the line between justice and revenge? Do the truly hateful deserve everlasting torment and what gives one the right to inflict it? At what point does the victim and survivor become just as heartless and ruthless as their one time persecutor? 

This book doesn’t provide any easy answers so much that it asks the Readers to investigate their own feelings about the matter, and imagine what they would do if they were in this situation. It provides a scenario of what this traumatized troubled outspoken young girl did as she inflicts punishment but also weighs the consequences of that punishment to herself, her own psyche, her family, her community, and her victims.

Aliza is written as someone who has deeply suffered by the hands of the Nazis, of that there is no doubt. Her birth parents were murdered and she was sent to a concentration camp called Fox Farm. She had been tortured, abused, malnourished, and assaulted. Her memories of her birth parents diminished and were replaced by those of Nazis shouting, beating, and shooting prisoners. She can't even remember her life before the Holocaust because it seems so far away and remote. 

The only positive in Aliza’s life since then had been her new family. Her adopted father, Amos smuggled Jewish orphans out of Europe and adopted four girls, including Aliza, who lost their families. Amos looks after his young charges with firmness, kindness, humor, and strength becoming the father figure that they desperately needed. Aliza also formed a family with her newly adopted sisters, Ute, the quirky animal expert, Shaina the dedicated athlete, and Heidi the sweet tempered beauty with Aliza as the outspoken tomboy. 

Aliza and Heidi's relationship is particularly notable throughout the book. Unlike the other three girls who came from Jewish families and suffered persecution, Heidi's father was a Nazi. Her mother and sister were members of a resistance group and were arrested for treason. Heidi became a prisoner in Fox Farm abused by one time colleagues of her father's. While in Fox Farm, Aliza and Heidi bonded and declared themselves sisters even before Amos found them and made their relationship official. 

Heidi refuses to acknowledge her original family and identifies as Jewish, since she converted but there are many in the neighborhood who won't let her forget where she came from.

The abuse in Aliza's past, the anxieties and trauma that the Aueman family still have to live with, the bullying that Heidi receives, and the arrival of Holocaust denying hate groups would make even the most devout pacifistic milquetoast person want to punish those who wronged them especially if they were truly as soulless and hateful as the Nazis. 

At first the punishment chapters are humorous in a dark comic way. Aliza tells the Nazis to shut up and their mouths are sealed. She makes Goebbels bite his tongue. Himmler holds his breath until he suffocates. Goring hangs himself by piano wire. Hitler bashes his head to the ground and breaks every bone in his body and Heydrich carves out his own heart with his knife. 

From this first example alone, we see Aliza has a dark twisted outlook and doesn't mind inflicting it on the Nazis that she is put in charge of. The more time that she spends in Zone N-1 the more grotesque, graphic, and painful the punishments become. She soon acquires a sadistic delight in torturing the men who caused great suffering and whose actions made her miserable after all these years. 

However, Aliza’s conscience gets the better of her at times. She dials back on punishments concerning the Nazi’s families. She doesn't want to put their children through that mental anguish because they had terrible fathers and were often too young, brainwashed, or victimized to fight back. She remembers Heidi's past and doesn't want them to suffer guilt by association.

Aliza begins to question her role in Hell when a classmate reveals that they are also a Zone Master and their punishments are too severe even for her to contemplate. The turning point occurs when she learns that there is a personal connection between one of the tortured Nazis and her own family. Suddenly, things like humanity, compassion, remorse, and real justice occur as she has to weigh the consequences of their actions and her own.

It is important to note that this character evolution is granted to Aliza and not the Nazis themselves. They made their choices in life and are now simmering in their own vile hatred. They are incapable of change becoming vile and pathetic as they cling to their racist and Antisemitic views. They are the defeated bullies who can't do anything else but whine in retreat and insist that they were right.

Aliza herself has to go through this change. She has to know when enough is enough. She is the one in danger of losing herself to hatred and revenge. She has to remember her own humanity and to emerge as a better person who doesn't get swallowed up by the hatred that poisoned her enemies. 

New Book Alert: blue:season by Chris Lombardi; Disturbing But Meaningful Look Into Mental Illness and Academic Obsession

 

New Book Alert: blue:season by Chris Lombardi; Disturbing But Meaningful Look Into Mental Illness and Academic Obsession

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Chris Lombardi's novel blue:season is a disturbing book because many academic geniuses who also have mental illnesses might understand, even relate to this book. They may recognize the point when their research becomes an obsession and takes over their life. They feel at one with their pursuit of that specific knowledge and have a hard time separating their life from their work. In this particular case, that obsession has terrifying results.

Molly O'Donnell comes from a very intellectual family. Her father was fascinated with James Joyce. So much so that he named his children after various Joycean characters: Molly, Emma, Anna, Leopold, Stephen. Unfortunately, he died of an aneurysm sending his widow to dissolve into an alcoholic daze. 

Molly, who was very close to her late father, deeply feels his loss. She decides to do her postgraduate thesis on Joyce and Finnegan's Wake. However, she becomes fascinated with the story of Lucia Joyce, James' daughter who trained as a dancer, had various unhappy relationships, suffered a mental breakdown, and spent forty years of her life in and out of mental institutions before she died in 1982. Her research into Lucia's life is so compelling that Molly begins to think of her, even seeing her. She has trouble separating herself from Lucia to the point that she ends up in a psychiatric hospital convinced that she is Joyce's daughter.

blue:season captures the voice of someone who is very brilliant, but clearly going through psychological turmoil. Lombardi handles the intelligence and fragility of such a character rather well. Molly's first person narration is full of literary references, quotes from songs and plays, and a stream of conscious thoughts where she rambles on and on, sometimes repeating herself. The writing style can be a difficult chore to read but it helps to characterize her thought process. 

Of course this style is meant to echo the work of other writers like Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, and Joyce himself who often wrote about troubled characters and had psychological and emotional illnesses themselves. These writers and Lombardi were very interested in the human psyche and how the mind flickers about from one subject to another, how thoughts can be both vivid and confusing. 

Molly's story alternates with that of her siblings and friends that want to discover why Molly turned out the way she did. Why would a brilliant vibrant woman suddenly require hospitalization? What happened to her to cause this? The discovery is somewhat pat and easy to guess especially since the narrative drops obvious clues beforehand. It also answers some questions about why Molly was so driven by the story of James and Lucia Joyce and how they echoed into her own life and led her down this unfortunate path.

blue:season offers a perspective of the ways in which genius and madness often coincide revealing a mind that is capable of deep thoughts but is wrapped around a tormented soul.

New Book Alert: Mandate: Thirteen by Joseph J. Dowling; Dystopian Science Fiction Focuses On Father-Daughter Road Trip to Escape

 

New Book Alert: Mandate: Thirteen by Joseph J. Dowling; Dystopian Science Fiction Focuses On Father-Daughter Road Trip to Escape

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: The second Dystopian Science Fiction novel that I am reading this month is a different style than What Branches Grow.

Instead of focusing on the somber dark world in which the characters live, instead it focuses on the relationship between a father and daughter who try to escape it.

In the near future London is practically run by religious fanatics who force a strict rule over the population. Among the laws are that when a girl turns 13, she is to be tested for her fertility. If she is able to give birth, then she will be sent to a birthing center where she will remain until she delivers the allotted amount of children. 

Michael and his wife, Allison are at a crossroads in their relationship. Their daughter, Hope, has reached that fateful age and is shown to be fertile. Allison, being the "good and loyal citizen" that she is, betrays her husband and daughter and turns Hope in. Rather than acquiesce to the law, Michael runs away with Hope to Wales to stay with an old friend of Michael's.

Mandate: Thirteen presents a terrifying possibility that could be believable. It doesn't help that similar to What Branches Grow it is shown to be a few years into the future. Michael's nostalgic popular culture memories suggest that he was a Millennial, even a Zoomer.

 This futuristic world is one which religious fanatics have taken power and control every aspect in society. Do I need to explain any further about the likelihood of that scenario? The only thing that is surprising is that the setting is Great Britain and not the United States. Of course, that may be because I am more familiar with the controversies concerning the American Evangelical movement, the scare tactics that they pull, threats against people who aren't like them, their political overreach with endorsing certain causes and candidates, and their violations of separation of church and state (and the ways that they try to sidestep that amendment clause).

I sort of wish that we could peer inside the inner workings of this futuristic London. We see the laws and how they affect most people through Michael and his family, but we don't see it on a wider scale. It would be interesting for example to look into one of the Birthing Center and what goes on in there. If Dowling ever writes a sequel, it would be an interesting approach to get a more inside look at this dystopian society. Perhaps he could tell it from the point of view of a woman who escaped the Birthing Center.

What does hold up is the father-daughter relationship between Michael and Hope. The moment that Michael processes that his daughter is going to be taken away, he does not hesitate. He takes her away to be safe. He is clearly a loving and selfless parent who would put his life on the line for his daughter.

It's normal to read a mother to take that role as nurturer caregiver while the father is the status quo conformist. But the fact that the roles are intentionally reversed in this case shows that regardless of gender, there are some who will join the system and reject their humanity and those who retain their humanity by fighting the system. A father caring for a child in a science fiction landscape is becoming more prevalent in works like this, The Last of Us, and The Mandalorian showing that love and true devotion between a parent and child knows no gender or setting.

Michael and Hope have some warm moments demonstrating their close loving bond. Despite running for their lives, they share some humorous jibes about Michael's age or Hope's interests. 

There are times where they defend each other using violence if necessary. 

So, there is a real sense of affection and devotion that are found in these characters that is illustrated on this journey of survival, courage, and striving for freedom.

Michael and Hope have plenty of typical moments where they hide out with rural families that live just outside of the dystopian society's rules and regulations but present problems of their own. There are the false safe spots where their end goals are not met. There are also the government types who follow them and want to catch them dead or alive. Then there is the secret about why these particular fugitives are important. Some of it is typical for the genre but there are enough twists that keep them from being too cliche.

Mandate: Thirteen is a strong father-daughter story that just so happens to be set in a dystopian future.