The Rabbit's Paw Book Reviews

  "Everything gets fixed, but we all stay broken."  This novel is thought-provoking, memorable, and beautifully written.  Twist is written in the style of a memoir, from the point of view of a writer who is going through some rough times in his personal life. In this narrative, Anthony Fennell is working as a free lance journalist, joining a crew at sea, repairing underwater cables that ensure Internet usage for large portions of the world. There is a strong metaphor running through this story about how this long trip helps Fennell to repair himself, as he watches the crew repair deeply buried cables. Before and during this voyage, Fennell develops an interesting relationship with the man in charge of the exhibition, John Conway. This man is at the heart of this story, an enigma who keeps Fennell focused outside of himself and searching for answers to the mystery of Conway's identity and motives.  One aspect I found fascinating about this story was free diving, and t...

 Finding Grace, by Loretta Rothschild, is a gripping debut novel that features some surprises. The story starts quickly, with an unexpected and tragic event.  Without spoiling the novel for future readers, I found the plot of this story original and complicated, not a typical love story at all. The character development is mostly adequate, though I still had some questions about Grace in the end. Also, there was one female character who I found to be comically ridiculous and strangely out of step with the others. The twisty plot and ending do have some extremely unlikely aspects, but it was a very interesting, enjoyable read that was creatively narrated.  I did enjoy this and would recommend it. It crossed my mind that it might make an intriguing movie.  Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.