A loving shoutout to service canines wrapped in an engaging beach read.
A vintage Hollywood-style plotline meets the technology of the 21st century in this novel about an intrepid woman and her delightful guide dog.
In this sequel, Emily Main, who suffered the loss of her eyesight on her honeymoon in Fiji, is back at work and living with her canine, Garth, in her own studio apartment in San Francisco. But she has not yet tackled the job of unpacking the many cartons of new supplies that will enable her to function more independently. Unbeknown to Emily, halfway around the world, her estranged husband, Connor Harrington, who has been living in Tokyo, is returning to California, hoping for a reconciliation. As the story begins, Emily learns that her mother’s next-door neighbor Irene has broken her hip and needs surgery. Irene is the grandmother and guardian of 9-year-old Zoe, whom Emily befriended in the series opener. It is decided that Emily’s mother will bring Zoe to San Francisco for the weekend to keep her distracted. While there, mom will help Emily label and organize all of her new purchases. Add to the mix Dhruv, the socially awkward but sweet and generous programming whiz who works with Emily and lives in her building. The stage is now set for a drama that revolves around rekindled friendships, loss, new beginnings—and a wonderful canine. As in the first novel, Emily’s devoted, highly trained black Lab frequently adds his tender and amusing first-person commentary to the third-person narrative. The chapters devoted to Garth’s observations and musings are the most enjoyable in the book. Although the story follows a predictable trajectory, the narrative contains valuable and intriguing information about the technical innovations advancing accessibility for the visually impaired. These include computer and smartphone apps that convert written text into audible sentences and the versatile PENfriend, a unique audio labeling system that codes special stickers that trigger the pen’s auditory readouts, facilitating identification of all sorts of items. Hinske also inserts a useful reminder about the proper protocol for greeting service dogs: Don’t do it. If they are wearing guide harnesses, they are working and should not be distracted.
A loving shoutout to service canines wrapped in an engaging beach read.Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73492-493-0
Page Count: 254
Publisher: Casa del Northern Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Though not perfect, a clear leap forward for Rooney; her grandmaster status remains intact.
Two brothers—one a lawyer, one a chess prodigy—work through the death of their father, their complicated romantic lives, and their even more tangled relationship with each other.
Ten years separate the Koubek brothers. In his early 30s, Peter has turned his past as a university debating champ into a career as a progressive lawyer in Dublin. Ivan is just out of college, struggling to make ends meet through freelance data analysis and reckoning with his recent free fall in the world chess rankings. When their father dies of cancer, the cracks in the brothers’ relationship widen. “Complete oddball” Ivan falls in love with an older woman, an arts center employee, which freaks Peter out. Peter juggles two women at once: free-spirited college student Naomi and his ex-girlfriend Sylvia, whose life has changed drastically since a car accident left her in chronic pain. Emotional chaos abounds. Rooney has struck a satisfying blend of the things she’s best at—sensitively rendered characters, intimacies, consideration of social and philosophical issues—with newer moves. Having the book’s protagonists navigating a familial rather than romantic relationship seems a natural next step for Rooney, with her astutely empathic perception, and the sections from Peter’s point of view show Rooney pushing her style into new territory with clipped, fragmented, almost impressionistic sentences. (Peter on Sylvia: “Must wonder what he’s really here for: repentance, maybe. Bless me for I have. Not like that, he wants to tell her. Why then. Terror of solitude.”) The risk: Peter comes across as a slightly blurry character, even to himself—he’s no match for the indelible Ivan—so readers may find these sections less propulsive at best or over-stylized at worst. Overall, though, the pages still fly; the characters remain reach-out-and-touch-them real.
Though not perfect, a clear leap forward for Rooney; her grandmaster status remains intact.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024
ISBN: 9780374602635
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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