I love Ann Cleeves´ stories, especially the Shetland Island series. This Quick Reads book is a short book with most simplistic writing like a chapter book meant for kids. I liked the story but missed the writing I´m used to in the regular novels by Ann Cleeves. I do think older Elementary kids would like this book. The book mentions a murder but there are no gruesome details or any mention of sex. 

Perez receives a call from his ex-wife Sarah. She said a young school teacher had died of an apparent suicide but the rumors of the small village are ruining their lives. Her husband is a doctor and the villagers are saying he and the school teacher were lovers. He is losing patients over it and Sarah wants Perez to look into the matter but she doesn´t want her husband to know about it. Perez agrees but says he will only stay for 2 days. It doesn´t take long before he begins to doubt that the death was a suicide.

I like that they now say Editor's Picks because the program for years now has been just Amazon's own publishing imprints.

 

If unfamiliar with the program, it's a selection of ARCs available for Amazon prime members (who get to choose one free to keep a month ahead of publication date).

 

I am noticing that some have not been new books as have been previously self-published.

 

Durn if I can get any of these added to this post. (I have carefully added the editions to booklikes but it will not find it searching; even shelved to search on my shelves to no avail.) I'll try to edit and add later in case some cache lag with recently added works.

 

UPDATE: some now searchable in booklikes; some not but can now search on my shelves to add to post.  All added to post now.

A Problematic Paradox - Eliot Sappingfie... Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley free for review consideration. It does not affect my review.

A Problematic Paradox was a fantastic read, when it wasn’t making me irritated. So mostly, yeah, it was awesome. However, there were a few key points where what I thought was funny and what the author thought was funny diverged so much that it left an unpleasant taste in my mouth. And, unfortunately, it only takes a couple of those occurring before your whole experience of the book was tainted.

For example, I found it a little difficult to stomach – given the current plethora of school shootings happening in the United States – a teacher suggesting a child take an AR-15 for self-defense. Even if it was bubble-gum pink and came with non-lethal ammunition. Obviously there’s a huge divide in America right now on how we should handle the situation, and a book review is not the place to go into it. So, I’ll simply state that in my opinion this was in extremely poor taste.

(I would add a trigger warning here if you are getting this for a child who has been affected by school shootings. The gun never makes another appearance, but the one is enough to possibly upset them.)

Another thing that bothered me (though not nearly as bad as the above) is that this was a little bit too Harry Potter influenced in key areas. I would have preferred to see Nikola with another ability that wasn’t super similar to Harry’s. Maybe you can put it down to just being an ear-mark of an extremely stubborn, strong-minded person, but… And the headmaster is an obvious nod and/or dig at Dumbledore, except not nearly as likable. So, yeah, a bit much going on there.

One other thing I'd like to address - not a criticism, merely an observation - is that there are many times in the novel when the humor feels a bit advanced for the intended age range. Like the gambling debt reference. It made me snicker, but how many kids in the appropriate age range would get that?

Moving on, though, in most other aspects, A Problematic Paradox was a great read. There were lots of lines I snickered at. I liked Nikola and Hypatia. (I thought I was going to dislike Hypatia in the beginning. Was happy she grew on me.) Some of the other characters were entertaining as well. The set-up of fighting against the “Old Ones” was nice. The school itself was awesome. I loved how everything was spread out, the locations, the scheduling, etc. It sounds like a great geek school that most of us would love to attend if it actually existed.

The pacing of A Problematic Paradox was perfect! This was a book that hit the ground running and didn’t stop until it had reached the finish line. There’s also just the right amount of action, and at least a few scenes that were surprisingly creepy!

Even with my problems with A Problematic Paradox, I can acknowledge that Eliot Sappingfield’s debut novel will delight many readers. I will not be reading any further into the series, but I can see it becoming a huge hit. I would suggest, however, pre-reading it to decide if its appropriate for your kiddo.

Funny story: I have my mom's copy of this (another pre-ISBN book I own...) I bought myself a Kindle copy but that's not the funny part. The funny part is that I read this ages ago, with my mother when I was very young. We read it together. She had read it with her mother, so I guess it was supposed to be a thing. (If she'd ever read another book besides Jane Eyre, maybe it would have been.) But over the years, I'd forgotten most of it. I'm always annoyed when I see a star rating on my books marked read and can't remember much, so since it's short, I read it yesterday. I knew it involved a weaver and his daughter. But in my brilliant mind, I meshed it with Rumpelstiltskin. What a shocker when nobody spun any gold!

 

This really is a lovely story. Before it's lovely, it's laugh aloud funny too. Despite its age, the language is easy to understand and it's an incredibly quick read. George Eliot packed a lot of story into a very slim book, and an original telling into a morality play. A ton of characters and plot lines all weave together effortlessly to end in a tear-jerker.

 

Interestingly, she thought this was a throwaway, or perhaps it should be a poem. We're lucky she finished the story because it really is a little gem. Now I suppose I should reread Rumpelstiltskin in case I've got that mixed up with something else entirely too.

Well looks like there wasn't too much fall out from Dorothea disregarding Sir James' feelings.

 

It does seem that she made an unwise choice in her fiancee. Mr. Casaubon is all regret and disappointed he's not "happier" now that he's getting married. He also finds her thirst for knowledge bothersome. I don't think she will be very happy.

 

All the misogynistic ramblings grate on my nerves. Such was the times I guess.  We'll see how Dorothea defies their expectations.