Blind Stitches by J.B. Chicoine

Blind Stitches by J.B. Chicoine
Series: N/A
Publisher: Straw Hill Publishing
Format: Paperback
Pages: 300
Source: Review.

Nikolai Solvay has been dreading his sister’s wedding, but when his father dies unexpectedly two weeks beforehand, his return to New Hampshire promises to rake up his worst nightmares.

Meanwhile, talented young seamstress Juliet Glitch has been putting the finishing touches on the wedding dress. Mother of the bride—former prima ballerina and Russian expatriate—asks Juliet if she ‘would hem her blind son Nikolai’s trousers for the funeral’ … and the wedding.

When Juliet meets Nikolai, he draws her into the whirlwind of his unraveling family that makes her own quirky domestic situation seem normal. Confronted with the Solvay’s delusions and narcissism, Juliet must decide if her developing relationship with Nikolai is worth the turmoil as she deals with her own unreconciled past.

Either way, Nikolai cannot stave off the repressed memories surrounding his mother’s defection from the Soviet Union twenty years earlier. Against the backdrop of autumn 1989, during the Glasnost era, Nikolai’s family secrets crash alongside the crumbling Berlin Wall.

 

When I was offered the chance to post the Q&A with J.B. Chicoine I jumped at the chance because the book sounded really interesting, I was also offered the chance to read and review the book. Unfortunately I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

 

The book went way too slowly for me. I was hoping for more mystery than what was in the book and a little more action. What I got instead was a romance that seemed to progress too fast and a mystery that didn't really start unfolding until halfway through the book.

 

I did love the whole Russian aspect to it. I love learning about Russia and the fact that the book is set during a time where the Berlin wall was coming down and communism was still very much alive in Russia was a huge bonus that kept me reading, I really wish that there had been more of the history involved with the book though.

 

The thing that I enjoyed most about the book was the ending. Not because it was over but because so much happened. I don't want to give away spoilers but that ending seriously surprised me. I may eventually give the authors other books a try but for now I don't think I was in the mood for an adult romance.

 

 

 **Copy provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.**

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Series: N/A
Publisher: Dial Press
Format: Paperback
Pages: 287
Source: Purchased

Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it ...

Dr Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding 'fathers' of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to the world. For he is the inventor of 'ice-nine', a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. The search for its whereabouts leads to Hoenikker's three ecentric children, to a crazed dictator in the Caribbean, to madness. Felix Hoenikker's Death Wish comes true when his last, fatal gift to mankind brings about the end, that for all of us, is nigh ...

 

Compared to Galapagos this book was a little better. However I was left wholly unimpressed by this novel as well. The idea seemed so cool when I picked it up, but then again I was also on a Vonnegut kick at the time.

 

I couldn't stay focused while reading this, the characters did absolutely nothing for me. I did not find myself caring about what happened to any of them. I would have enjoyed more about the atomic bomb and the people who were working on it, however what I got instead was snippets about the "father" of the atomic bomb and a whole bunch about a made up religion and the children of the man who created the bomb.

 

When everything starts to happen and the pace picked up I couldn't help just wishing the book would be over so I could put it down and move on. I've heard this book described as Vonnegut's greatest work but I can't say that I agree I would take Slaughterhouse-Five over this one any day.

 



 

Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut

 Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut
Series: N/A
Publisher: Dial Press
Format: Paperback
Pages: 324
Source: Purchased

Galápagos takes the reader back one million years, to A.D. 1986. A simple vacation cruise suddenly becomes an evolutionary journey. Thanks to an apocalypse, a small group of survivors stranded on the Galápagos Islands are about to become the progenitors of a brave, new, and totally different human race. In this inimitable novel, America’s master satirist looks at our world and shows us all that is sadly, madly awry–and all that is worth saving.

 



 This book was a huge bust for me. I was really hoping to love it considering I loved both Slaughterhouse-Five as well as Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut. This book just seemed to be lacking everything I enjoyed in the previously mentioned books.

One of my major issues was the repetition of how terrible a large brain was for humans in the past, I get that this was the basis for the whole story but it seemed like it was repeated on every other page. I got to the point where I could barely even finish the book and I had to force myself to do just that.

I could not enjoy this book and I think the fact was that it was so unlike the previous two books I had read by him that I was thrown off guard. I could not get into the style of this one and it's a shame because the description sounded really cool. If only it had been executed in a way that was a little more exciting and didn't have me putting the book down constantly just so I could stay awake.

If you're new to Vonnegut I would highly recommend starting with another book, but if you do insist on reading this one be prepared that it's extremely slow and you probably won't remember much of what happened after you finally finish it.