Book 9 A Princess in Theory

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole fulfills the “Book by a Woman of Color” category for the PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge. The novel seemed like a fantastic choice to end Black History Month, for everything Ms. Cole has done for Romance Writers of America over the years and especially the past two months. I won’t get into all the details. See Ms. Cole’s Twitter account to witness her brave posts that called out RWA for its racist and political nonsense. And it matches nicely with Kathryn R. Biel’s Queen of Hearts.

Ever get one of those emails about a prince in a foreign country looking for your help? Alyssa Cole takes this spammy idea and turns it into a wonderful, exciting, scientific romance. In A Princess in Theory, Ledi gets several emails from a small African nation requesting personal information to verify her identity. She assumes it some scam to get her data and blows them off. Little does she know, the assistant to his royal highness, Prince Thabiso of Thesolo, an African country in the mountains sent the letters. The prince is desperate to find her as she is his betrothed from their childhood. Ledi knows nothing about the marriage agreement because her parents fled to America when she was a child and died in a car crash soon after.

OMG, all the stuff! The novel has all the best romance tropes: Prince in Disguise, Arranged Marriage, Princess in Disguise. Add on to that a Woman in STEM, a Reluctant Prince, Mysterious Diseases, and so much more. This book had it all. Both main characters were full, breathing people. I could feel for both of them in the plights of their lives. Both had much to deal with and I was relieved when they discovered they could lean on each other for help. (And spoiler, the tale ended with a “Happy for Now” ending, which I found very satisfying. I think both, but Ledi, had more to overcome before that HEA could happen.)

The book also tied together with my choice for a Valentine’s Day post Kathryn R. Biel’s Queen of Hearts. Both stories dealt with royalty and the reality of living that life. No Disney endings here. These royals had to deal with actually ruling the country: the social, the economic, the political, etc. It’s a good time to read such books to understand the situation in England and Prince Harry. We all love our Disney Princesses, but I’m glad I found two romances that didn’t water down the royal experience.

And in an ugly self-centered brag (which you can all chastise me for my arrogance), I want to mention that the first half of the story sounded much like my book, The Bar Scene. I’m not saying I write as well as Alyssa Cole, or that I should be put in her league or anything like that. But the tale starts off with our “prince” lying to his beloved to get her to like him. He wines and dines her until she’s in love. It sounded so familiar. Also to everyone who complains about plot premises that “a simple conversation” could fix, it’s not so easy to say those truths. Ms. Cole made me feel validated about my plot choices. Okay, I’ve said too much…

Originally, I had A Princess in Theory listed for the “Women in STEM” category for PopSugar 2020. I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for that category, but A Princess, in Theory, kept calling to me. Ledi is a grad student working in epidemiology, a woman of color become a scientist to save the world from disease. Even her screen name on the forums was HeLAhoop (as in HeLa=Henrietta Lacks). Ledi is a great protagonist, hardworking, smart, down to earth, and she takes no shit. Who wouldn’t want to read her story?

     I give A Princess in Theory Five Perfect Grad School Practicums.

Book 8 The Hunger

The Hunger by Alma Katsu fulfills the category “Book with a Map” for the PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge. Since February is Women in Horror Month, I posted the novel now rather than part of the horror fest I have planned for October.

The book is an alternate history of the Donner Party with a scary twist. It contains a map of America from 1846 to 47 with the route of the wagon train from Independence, Missouri to Sutter’s Fort in California.

I read the novel as part of a club at my local library. The group, called Grim Readers, reads horror novels and tales of fright. I love it. It’s led by the very capable Trevor Oakley, a reference librarian who really knows the horror genre. The meetings are always filled with great book discussions and rich knowledge of the genre. I love this book club.

I didn’t love The Hunger.

At our discussion, we ranged through many topics the book brought up. Wait, let me give you a quick synopsis—The Donner Party with a supernatural werewolf-like creature stalking them. Okay, on to the analysis.

With so many characters in a historical background, the book gets lost in all the subplots without doing them justice. The story focuses on a few characters of the ninety wagons on the trip. There is the reporter, Edwin Bryant, the single man, Charles Stanton, the possible witch—maybe whore—Tamsen Donner, Elitha Donner, Mary Graves, Keseberg, and the closeted gay man, Edwards. Many people with many stories. The author tried to bring in background for each sometimes to the detriment of the characters. (I’m looking at Tamsin who, spoiler, becomes a great strong woman we respect until we get hit with her backstory.) It’s almost as if the author threw as many tropes into the tale to make it “interesting.”

Why?

It’s a forlorn tale of babes lost in the woods, then add in the new supernatural creature stalking them. I wish the author had focused on one survivor exclusively with the other stories as seasoning around her tale. But that’s me. I love structure and plot. I like a story to flow. A flashback is okay, but only if it helps the novel. The bones were there, but the execution missed something.

That’s not to say the book didn’t have things to talk about. We had a great discussion, working through each character and the supernatural villain too. But after all that talk, I still didn’t love the book. I never felt terror or horror or fear. I knew, kinda, what would happen when winter set in and the “scary creature” didn’t have that much scare to it. Trevor mentioned the feeling of all the space of the West, but the party was still trapped and isolated. So there was that, but it didn’t keep my interest. Sorry, Trevor.

I give The Hunger by Alma Katsu Three Oxen, with dysentery.

Book 7 Queen of Hearts

Queen of Hearts by Kathryn R. Biel fulfills the “Book I Meant to Read in 2019” category of the PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge. I read the first two novels in the New Beginnings series last year. I enjoy Ms. Biel’s stories very much. I read Paradise by the Dashboard Lights this fall, then slapped myself for not reading Queen of Hearts first. The novel also fulfills the “Book with a Pink Cover” category, but I have another one for that prompt.

Open Queen of Hearts and be whisked away to Montabago, the imaginary country somewhere Europe-ish with a monarchy that is voted on every one-hundred years. In the first book of the series, we are introduced to the soon-to-be princess of the country in Made for Me. The kingdom is trying to drum up some publicity by having its new princess participate in a Project Runway-esk reality TV show. She’s not the contestant but the prize. The winner designs her wedding dress. I won’t say who it was and spoil the story. Needless to say, I felt I already knew Maryn before the book began.

This novel is what happens to Cinderella after the wedding. I love a good modern fairy tale and this book has it in spades. Politics, technology, and real-world issues intrude on Maryn’s fairy tale almost from the start. She must find a way to keep her happy ending even though she’s locked in the castle half the time. The other half she’s fighting with her father-in-law, the king who has some antiquated ideas. The story highlights fairy tale tropes well and pushes the envelope of modern life in an old-fashioned kingdom.

Another thing I enjoyed about the book was the twist on romance. Ms. Biel writes both women’s fiction and romance. I could have a good debate about this book’s “category.” Yes, it’s so romantic with her new hubby, and then her old love shows. But is it cheating? *Gasp* I’d argue not. The woman has to choose which life she wants. She needs to consider both men. The story is more than a love triangle. It’s about couples getting to know each other on a deep level and finding true love.

It’s also about finding your place in the world, discovering who you are, what you stand for, and what you want to do with that life. I was glad to see a character have false starts, changed ideas, and openness to new things. Maryn cries, a lot. But that makes her so human. We feel for her deeply with the tough decisions she has to make. But there are some convictions she always stands tough on, though—her family, especially her brother. I loved that very much.

So the political stuff.

I’m glad I waited to read Queen of Hearts. With all the controversy over the British Royal family right now, it was a perfect tie-in. I don’t know personally, but I can bet some of the issues inside the heads of the royals are not so different from Ms. Biel’s characters. I’m not saying Queen Elizabeth equates to King Franklin, but I could see the old-world thinking clashing with the new world, like in the story. I mean, we have illegitimacy issues, daddy issues, and I’m just talking about the book. Royal life isn’t easy. It’s public and pressed for heirs, and all the rules…I can see why princesses wish to leave the life when they discover some of the ugly truths.

Enough politics.

I give Queen of Hearts by Kathryn R. Biel Five Votes for a Republic.

Book 6 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot fulfills the category “Book about or by a Woman in STEM” for the PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge. It doesn’t quite fit the category as it’s only Mrs. Lacks’ cells that are in STEM, but boy, they are important. Also, I thought this an appropriate choice to begin Black History Month.

My husband read it years ago and recommended it to me. I’m not a big non-fiction reader, but I put in on my TBR (to-be-read) list. I forgot all about it until the prompt for a woman in STEM came up and being February, I grabbed the audio.

The book was not what I expected, in a good way. I thought it would be pages and pages about the science, which is cool and all. But it can be dry and dare I say boring. This story was anything but. Ms. Skloot created an engaging narrative that both captured the reader in the science and the impact of it on the world and Henrietta’s family. I assumed it would entail a short biography of Mrs. Lacks, then a long science journal. Instead, I was treated to a journey of discovery, failure, triumph, and heartbreak.

Phew.

Here’s the low-down. Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951. The surgeon took a sample of her cells to be used for science experiments. In the 50s, no consent was required. Even today, the use of patient cells and consent for use is a twisted, dangerous road. Hers were the first cells scientists were able to preserve and grow in a lab.

And grow they did.

They were out of control with growth. And for that reason, the cells were shared, experimented on, and multiplied. They are still widely used today.

The cells were used to help create a vaccine for polio, settled the debate over the number of chromosomes in a human cell, improved cell culture (creating and storing cells for experiments), added the human genome understanding, went into space,  got blown up in a nuclear device, and so much more. Fantastic, right? They’re immortal and essential to some of the greatest scientific discoveries today.

But…

And there’s always one…

Mrs. Lacks’ family knew nothing about Henrietta’s amazing cells. The book takes the time to explore with family members. We see the impact, the discovery, and the heartbreak of Henrietta living on through these cells. All that time the daughter, and sons never knew what was happening, never had control, never really understood the entire situation.

The author worked with the family, but only after they grew to trust her. And even then, things got strained, and they turned away. Henrietta’s daughter, Deborah, was key to telling the story with a heart. We all struggled with her to understand the science but also to deal with the loss of a parent, the chains of race and poverty, and the cruelty inflicted on the unaware.

For me, the story came to life by following the science trail with Deborah. I laughed, I cried, I got scared. Ms. Skloot created an amazing narrative with a very tough subject. Through her book, we can all better understand cell culture and the huge issues that surround it. But also we can see, in an era of intolerance, racism, and bigotry, that one black woman changed the world for all of us. Henrietta Lacks was the superhero of the century and she never knew. I’m so glad Ms. Skloot wrote this book to inform us and her family about Henrietta’s amazing contribution to science. (God, it doesn’t sound like praise enough for all those cells did…)

Read it. Discover, learn, and thank Mrs. Henrietta Lacks.

I give The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Five HeLa vials.