This is the second “New Voices” collection of reviews from Shelah Miner’s Mormon Literature students at BYU-Salt Lake. Shelah explains the assignment:
“We opened the semester by talking about the now-infamous NYT article about why Mormons are good at genre fiction and bad at literary fiction, along with about five responses/rebuttals from Mormon authors ranging from George Handley to Larry Correia. We also talked about how the boundaries between literary and genre fiction can be permeable and the distinctions are somewhat artificial. Then, recognizing but ignoring those boundaries (LOL), I gave them an assignment to choose two books, one from one of the popular genres (mystery/thriller, sci fi/speculative/fantasy, romance, young adult, inspirational, historical fiction), and one work of literary fiction or creative nonfiction. They were asked to present the books to the class and also to write a review their books– about 1000-1500 words that included a summary, a conversation about what they liked and didn’t like about the novel, and a (very brief) analysis of an element or two from the text.”
This set of reviews are a mix of books from the genre fiction assignment. The reviewers are Jenna Rakuita (The Sunflower, by Richard Paul Evans), Corinne Downs (Lemmon Tart, by Josi Kiplack), Marcus Russell (I Am Not A Serial Killer, By Dan Wells), and C. J. Coslett (Deep Cover, by Traci Hunter Abramson). Please be encouraging towards the students, most of whom are new to college-level writing assignments.
The Sunflower, by Richard Paul Evans
Reviewer: Jenna Rakuita
The Sunflower is a book about hope, love and fate. Richard Paul Evans presents the story as being based on a man he met while on a humanitarian trip to Peru. While volunteering at an orphanage in Cusco, he met an American named Paul Cook who had been a successful doctor in St. Paul, Minnesota. Intrigued by the possibilities of what this man was doing in Peru, he asked him about his story. On top of a bookshelf there was a picture of a beautiful woman, who we come to know as Christine.
When Christine Hollister’s engagement gets called off by her fiancé only days before the wedding, she is heartbroken. Christine’s best friend, Jessica, decides to arrange for them to go to Peru on a humanitarian trip in an attempt to get Christine’s mind off of Martin, her ex-fiancé. Christine, however, is less than thrilled. Christine is, according to Jessica, the kind of girl who frets when her carpet is vacuum-mark free. Needless to say, she is less than excited about leaving her comfortable apartment that hasn’t been cleaned in a few days (the horror!), and entering into the vast unknown Peruvian jungle.
While Christine is in Peru, the group she is with helps an orphanage for a few days. El Girasol, Spanish for “The Sunflower” is an orphanage that is run by Paul Cook, who is, as Jessica puts it, “gorgeous!” After a few days Christine and Paul feel an undeniable attraction to one another. However, in an attempt to make the inevitable goodbye less painful, they try not to acknowledge said attraction. At one point in the book, Paul tells Christine that “Love is stronger than pain” A sentence that the readers will come to know as true by the end of the book.
In the first few pages of the book, Evans echoed a quote that has been said for ages (more or less) “seek not your destiny for it is seeking you.” This quote is a great basis for the book. “The Sunflower” teaches it’s readers that pain will come, that heartache is inevitable, but love is more powerful than all of this. Just as the group is about to leave Cusco and prepare to enter into the Jungles of Peru, their guide Jim gets in a terrible accident and ends up in the hospital, leaving the group guideless. Paul is asked to guide the group for the remainder of the trip. It is at this time, that the story truly unfolds, and the readers are left feeling enlightened and comforted about what the future has in store.
One of the most unique aspects about this book is the fact that it has real journal entries taken from Paul Cook’s journal, inserted at the beginning of every chapter. This really adds to the realness of the story, and helps the readers connect with Paul, an otherwise closed-book character who leaves you wondering what is running through his mind. In one of his journal entries, Paul wrote, “As much as I have schemed and planned for the contrary, the most central experiences in my life have all been accidents.” The author did a brilliant job at making sure the journal entries moved the story along, and made sure each entry matched the tone of the book. For example, in one of the chapters Paul and Christine sit together and discuss their life. Christine explains what happened with Martin, and how her father left her when she was younger. In a journal entry inserted at the beginning of the Chapter, it said, “Tonight I sat under the Stars with Christine. I am not sure which is more potent: what she said, how she looked, or how I felt in her presence.”
Without the journal entries, Evans would not have been able to so successfully write about this character’s progression while staying true to the character’s identity. Paul is rugged and mysterious, the journal entries give the readers an opportunity to connect to Paul’s character by giving us a sense of his feelings and his growing love for Christine, and see the way he has progressed and changed from his days at a busy hospital in St. Paul.
Just as he was consistent at portraying Paul’s character, Evans did an extremely good job at making all of the characters believable. Jessica was fun-loving, energetic, and free-spirited. She was constantly jumping around from guy to guy, and never had a steady relationship. This is portrayed in the way she views Christina and Paul’s relationship. She encourages their infatuation with one another, but views it as disposable, like her relationship with Jim, whom she leaves with lip-stains on his face, while acknowledging that they’ll both go their separate ways when the trip is over.
Christine however is more careful and cautious. She starts out as someone who is insecure about herself and her situation. She is afraid of being hurt and has abandonment issues. At first she was eager to hear back from Martin, the guy who broke her heart. “If he called right now and said he’d made a mistake, I’d meet him at the nearest justice of the peace.” Comparing that to the decisions she makes towards the end of the book, the readers can clearly see the transition and growth that Christine undergoes.
As stated before, “The Sunflower” is a book about hope, fate, and love. It inspires readers to preserver through pain with a knowledge that brighter days are ahead. Evans did a fantastic job at staying true to the characters, making them believable, and remaining consistent with the main themes of the book: “love is stronger than pain” and “seek not your destiny for it is seeking you.”
Lemon Tart, by Josi S. Kilpack
Reviewer: Corinne Downs
Lemon Tart is mystery novel that retells the events following a murder of a young mom, Ann Lemmon, through the view of her friend/neighbor Sadie Hoffmiller. Kilpack writes a great mystery that is thrilling, funny and clean for all ages. Lemon Tart is the first book in a twelve part series that follows the investigating events of Sadie Hoffmiller. Kilpack is a member of The Church of Jesus of Latter Day Saints and is published by Deseret Book, but Lemon Tart has only small references of anything about the Church. Kilpack’s writing style is very simple and easy to follow, although sometimes it felt too simple for a young adult novel.
In the beginning we are introduced to the main character, Sadie Hoffmiller, who is making homemade applesauce in her kitchen when she hears police car sirens rush into the neighborhood towards her good friend Anne Lemmon’s house. Sadie is in her mid-fifties and is a homemaker who is known as an outstanding citizen to her friends, family, and community. She has high morals and is trusted by everyone on her street. Sadie walks over to find out what is going on and learns that Anne has been murdered and her two-year old son has been kidnapped while a lemon tart is cooking in the oven. After being allowed to identify the body, Sadie is scared, confused, and curious, and she begins her own investigation behind the backs of Detective Cunningham and Madsen who are on the case. Detective Cunningham has a soft spot for Sadie, while Madsen is annoyed and makes Sadie the number one suspect of murder. As she begins to uncover the mysteries of this murder, she finds out that those who surround her are more involved than she ever would have imagined. She finds that her fiancé is somehow involved and begins to doubt everything she knew about her friendships and relationships. While trying to uncover as much as she can about Anne’s life, she begins discovering some possible ugly truths about her past such as an affair and trying to win back the lover. During her investigating the detectives tell her to stop interfering, and Madsen harasses her multiple times and becomes more coarse and temperamental as the case progresses.
As the book continues, Sadie begins to unravel things while simultaneously cooking for multiple people . . . [I am cutting out some of the reviewer’s description the complicated plot and ending.]
This book was an enjoyable, light summer read. Although it is a mystery and has dark aspects such as murder, affairs, and fraud, it is a pretty lighthearted book. The thing that makes her books stand out are the real life recipes to the end of her chapters that go along with what Sadie is making in the book. The recipes are an interesting way to involve the readers, as they are able to take Sadie’s recipe and use them. Not only do they draw in the reader, they fit with Sadie’s character, as it would be very much in her nature to share the recipes with us. Even though the recipes are fun, they are part of what makes this book more of a young adult lighthearted read.
The book is written in third person and does a good job in making sure the storyline is kept straight, while following Sadie’s point of view helps maintain suspense. Because it is a young adult novel the writing is simple and straightforward. There are places where the writing seems a little too simple as she makes comparisons such as, “she clenched her eyes shut like a child who thinks you can’t see her”, which, at least for me, seemed unnecessary or could have been different. I think that her trying to make the book clean and fitting her standards makes it great for young adults, because it is not graphic or violent enough to be considered an adult rated book.
Kilpack, although an LDS author, does not directly refer to anything about the Church in the book. There are multiple references that Sadie and her family are religious, but if you were not Mormon you would just think that she is religious. The one exception is when problems of infidelity arise and Jack beings talking about making “covenants with God” and marriage and that type of Mormon vocabulary. The references to religion would not make the book unappealing or confusing for readers without a religious background.
The mix of mysterious, on-your-edge plot with lighthearted and funny parts, and the sassiness, warm heart, and determination of the main character Sadie, makes this is a great book for anyone of all ages and genders, but especially it will appeal to young adults and girls.
I Am Not A Serial Killer, by Dan Wells
Reviewer: Marcus Russell
I Am Not A Serial Killer, by Dan Wells is quite an enjoyable read. The main character, 15-year old John Wayne Cleaver, is a diagnosed sociopath with severe serial killer tendencies. He lives above a morgue and helps his mother and aunt embalming dead bodies and doing other dirty work that morticians do. John meets with a therapist and has a set of rules to keep himself from unleashing his inner “monster” and unlocking his inner desire to kill people. To make things more interesting a serial killer has popped up in his little town and has begun killing at a more and more rapid pace. John begins investigating and tracking the serial killer. This leads him to follow his neighbor and a homeless man as they plan an ice fishing trip on a whim. Much to John’s surprise, he watches his next-door neighbor Mr. Crowley, an old man, transform into a demon with claws and kill this homeless man in order to steal his healthy set of lungs for himself. John learns that his neighbor is the serial killer and that he only kills to replenish his own faulty body parts. Mr. Crowley must remain in his current body because he is in love with his equally old wife, named Kay. John devises a plan to hold his wife hostage when Mr. Crowley leaves to kill again and while in his weakened state kill him. This leads to John breaking all of his rules and culminates in his plan working. Mr. Crowley returns to save his wife and in a desperate need of new body parts he crawls over to his house across the street to kill his mom or whoever he can find but John leads him into the morgue and kills the demon. John and his mom explain everything to the police and everything seemingly works out in the end.
I really enjoyed reading this novel. It was exciting and thrilling throughout. He really digs into the mind of a serial killer and shows their lack of empathy and emotional attachment to people; which is actually a little disturbing. He also goes into great detail about what happens when a dead body is brought to a mortician. The details were pretty nasty and I’m glad I just had to read them instead of see it or imagine it in great detail. Overall it was a very entertaining read; it didn’t take me long to read at all, which usually means I didn’t want to put it down.
A few things I didn’t like as much were the obvious grammar errors and the twist between fiction and fantasy. In the second chapter someone had circled the word “you’re” which was incorrectly used; it should have been your. I am not a grammar expert by any means but I couldn’t help but continually look for grammatical errors as I continued reading. Also, I was expecting John to find a real serial killer but when his neighbor, Mr. Crowley, was really just a demon who had claws I was very surprised and a little disappointed. I guess I wasn’t expecting a fantasy novel and it seemed out of place in the context with the rest of the book.
I would definitely recommend this book to others though. As long as they understood what they were getting into and had a little bit of background then I think anyone could be interested and would enjoy reading “I Am Not A Serial Killer”. One thing that really intrigued me was after I finished reading it I was curious as to how Dan Wells wrote two other books in this trilogy. It seemed to me that all the loose ends were tied up. I want to keep reading in the series and see what other adventures John Wayne Cleaver finds himself in the middle of.
Deep Cover, by Traci Hunter Abramson
Reviewer: C. J. Coslett
Deep Cover was to my surprise an excellent read. When the book started, I have to be honest, I was a tad lost, trying to figure out what was actually going on. The author, however, was able to keep my attention. She first introduces a woman who then eventually becomes the main character, Kelsey Weber. She is an undercover agent for the CIA, and has been on an undercover mission for the past 3 years in Saudi Arabia. She is an informant to the CIA concerning an illegal-weapons-smuggler turned terrorist fella named Salman Nassar. She is undercover as house teacher and nanny to Salman’s children. Kelsey went to school at BYU and got her masters in Middle Eastern languages. She claims that she only joined the CIA because her then boyfriend convinced her to apply. The next important character is Noah Cabbott, with the FBI . . . [Cutting out some details.]
There is an awkward moment in the book that I wish it didn’t happen. Noah finds out about Kelsey’s true identity. He felt lied to, which causes a fight where they don’t talk, or if they do it’s very short and not anything of meaning, although they are forced to work with each other which is infuriating to Noah. Only because he felt he had been lied to and that his pride was hurt. The drama between the two continued throughout most of the book while they both were still having to work with each other on certain assignments and trade information with each other. Deep Cover was a book that you could kind of see what was going to happen next. High drama was involved, a lot of action between the agencies and bad guys. Eventually the book took the turn that I was waiting for, which was the bad guys being caught and Kelsey and Noah getting back together. At the end of the book Noah proposes to her. As much as I knew that that was going to happen it was still satisfying to learn. Overall I really liked the book and I would recommend it to friends and family.