The Sugar Queen - By Sara Addison Allen

Ok, for me Sugar Queen was all about the very end, the last chapter. And although lots of books goes on to the same description of the-very-end-big -surprise sense, I found this one a spinner. Even when having my suspicions about Josey Cirrini and Chloe Finley being sisters, who on earth was ready for that Della Lee being dead all the time thing?
I have to say that Sara Allen really got me here. Even with the little supernatural hints from Josey being able to feel things before it happened, I really could not count on it and for me, it was what really made me like this book so much.
The story goes around three sisters from different mothers, and an absent father, living around without knowledge of each others existence, the whole beginning being very cute, but not outstanding. The book really starts getting interesting when Della Lee, now living weeks on Josey's closet, tells her they're sister, knowing already that Chloe is one too. Is when I start thinking that Della Lee had a purpose on that strange arrangement of living in Josey's closet for weeks. And for starters, one of our principal characters, sister Josey, is a chubby insecure lady, in her late twenties, very much single and with a platonic love for the mailman. A girl who turns to food for comfort every time she gets upset, hiding a stack of candies and sweets in her closet to eat it alone, who gets happy when winter comes so she can hide her body on big sweaters to not feel self conscious. And today when everything out there is about perfection, and about being slim and gorgeous, Josey just makes it really real for me. I don't hide food in my closet if that's what you're thinking , But I do feel insecure sometimes and love large sweatpants on days that I don't feel so hot or when I pig out on a whole pint of ice cream.
But in the end, what really makes this book so gotcha!, is the fact of Della Lee being dead in the river for weeks and goes on to "visit" her sister Josey, as sort of a lunatic getting into her closet from an open window to help Josey to free herself from so many fears (like talking to Adam, the mailman, more than two words at the time), making her understand she don't need to eat her insecurities away and more importantly, to let her know she had another sister out there. And let me tell you, when the whole true comes to scene and I started realizing why Della Lee never ate, why she smelled of river water, why Helena, the maid, was always trying to get the "evil feeling" out of Josey's closet with special sands and bones, is when I truly had a chill down to my spine. And not because it's a astonishing tale (not that I have dead people coming to my closet to tell me of unknown relatives, anyway) but because the surprise of it, for being so well hidden from the reader, and making very much sense when the whole story is put together. Easy reading, cute book, good ending.

The Kindness of Stranges - By Katrina Kittle

This one is hard one to know where to start. Should I start by mentioning how shocking it is the portrait of a molested 11 year old boy by his own parents? or by the fact that he tries to kill himself on a port-o-John with a needle stuck on his neck?
The Kindness of Strangers definitely makes you stop to think how we really don't know our neighbors, or how close evil may live from us.
It makes you realize that as hard and horrible it is, child molestation happens to the most "seemly" normal families, and that as much as it is a hard topic, it can't be ignored. Nobody wants to think of theses things for being too terrible, nobody wants to think that there are people out there who has sex with children, in some cases, they own children. But by not talking about it, is not going to make it go away, is it?. I find this book an eye opener big time to the fact that so many normal looking people can be involved in those monstrous things. You see, because that's the problem with society, we never create a image of normal and respected people as child molesters in our minds. We tend to create this "monster-scary-looking" image of people capable of those atrocities. I believe that's our biggest mistake. The same way that serial killers don't go running down the street with a axe on it's hands, we can't tag child molesters with any sort of "off" label to them. As a matter of fact, the profile of a predator is of a White male, usually very respected on his community, with a professional degree, always involved on some sort of children's environment or activities. I think this book puts you on a different frame of mind to be aware not in a witch-hunt type of way, but to believe that evil does not necessary have to look ugly to be there.

The Kite Runner - By Khaled Hosseini

On this book I'm going to be very disagreeable with the reviews not as much as how good the drama was, because it really was! but for a word the seems to follow this book on reviews over and over again: "Redemption"
What kind of redemption our principal character Amir had? he watched his best friend Hassan be violated for a ripped kite, went on to ask for it the very first moment after the brutal act, like it was the only thing that mattered to him, turned his back on his friend by stopping to talk to the poor boy and repaid Hassan's loyalty to him by forging a robbery and blaming on Hassan! then several years later after leaving him behind and coming to the States he did went back on a dangerous (yes, very, I'll admit) mission to rescue Hassan's little boy from the hands of horrible people back in Afghanistan, but...
Now comes the question...Did you really feel he did that out of Redemption? did he really wanted to do things right, simply BECAUSE it was right?
I'll tell you what I think.
Amir couldn't get the horrible thing he did to his friend out of his mind. Amir couldn't sleep well because he betrayed and lied to his friend. Amir, Amir, Amir. HE needed to clean his conscious, and in the end, I felt that he did that to himself, to be able to live with this. I don't think or feel that he did that for his friend Hassan, because it was right, because it was the least he could have done to rightened the situation. You see, I don't recall one single entry where he asks for forgiveness to Hassan, not even in his mind, not truly from his heart. I believe Armir had to get Hassan's little boy back for him to be in peace with himself and not out of thinking of his friend and the damage he caused, but for himself and only.
As I see, redemption is much more than just a heavy conscious, but it's the real understanding that we did bad, asking for forgiveness, from the heart.

Pilate's Wife - By Antoinette May

This is the first book I'm going to comment. And the choice comes easily after the long love affair I had with this book.
Pilate's Wife makes you divinely travel back in time to the grand of Roman Empire. Everything about the book, from clothing, cuisine, manners, to the laws of that time seems very authentic (not to mention a little research I did myself). The drama and characters very believable and exciting. Antoniette May portraits our heroine as Claudia Procula (putting "PROCULA" not as a first name as it is in reality but as a Family name), as a independent head strong woman, who dare as much as changing her family beliefs for that of a Egyptian Goddess called "Isis", going to a Jewish wedding (that of Mary Magdalene and Jesus), having a affair with a famous Gladiator after many disillusions with her dear Pilate, that as a hunk himself was not much of a faithful or present husband.
When I first stared reading this book, which by the way was a gift (Thanks Ana!)I had the idea that the book was if not entirely, but big part of Christ's life and crucifying. Boy was I wrong. She starts on page one discriminating that the book is about HER life, her losses and gains, and yes, she was close enough to the fact, even try to persuade her husband to not get involved on that tragedy, but could do nothing.
I find this book amazingly written, exciting and with a good but not too sugary pinch of Gladiator-lovefantasy tale.