Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

I read Alice Sebold's first novel The Lovely Bones about four years ago. The plot was rivetting, the characters were relatable, and the emotions ran high. After having so much success with Bones, I think that fans were expecting Sebold to have written a similarly great, if not better, novel. I must admit, my expectations for Moon were initally high, but it wasn't until I'd read a good number of the seemingly endless bad reviews on Amazon.com, that I decided to proceed reading with caution.

The Almost Moon is dark, disturbing, and destructional to its core. The opening pulls you in immediately, detailing the action of Helen - our mentally disturbed heroine - murdering her own mother. The given images throughout Helen's attempt to cover up her crime are graphic and unpleasant; sometimes downwrite vile. This isn't a revel read you want to curl up with before bed with a warm cup of milk. It makes you think and it forces you to consider some of the underlining motivations of mental illness.

I think that if Alice Sebold had not gained such a strong sole base of fans from her first novel, The Almost Moon would have undoubtabley received more positive attention. Because it focuses only on the thoughts of a single character, Moon reflects a much more psychological piece of work, than a novel story. The entire book spans just over the length of a single day, filled with snips of Helen's difficult family past, while counting down the tocks of her present clock. Will Helen be caught for her peccancy? Will another suspect take the blame? Will her two daughters find out the truth of their grandmother's death? And will Helen's supportive ex-husband be penalized for trying to help her?

The Almost Moon took on two interesting topics that aren't easily ignorable in our present society: Mental illness and family dysfunction. I fully commend her for exploring such difficult subject matter, as it could not have been an easy book to write. Perhaps the author was going through a dark-phase herself, or had experienced similar trepidations she wanted to use as a jumping board for serious writing. Whatever the reason, I'm giving her praise where she deserves it... because too many people have condemned this book by comparing it to her first novel, which isn't fair at all.

Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

If you haven't already read Jennifer Weiner's debut novel Good In Bed, I highly recommend that you do. Jennifer Weiner is the queen of all 'Chic Lit'; while her prose easily qualifies as the best of her genre, Weiner never fails to create the most realistic and relatable protagonists for her stories.

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Certain Girls picks up almost a decade and a half post Good in Bed with the lovably large protagonist Cannie Shapiro. In this continuation of her life, Cannie is married and learning to raise her pre-pubescent daughter Joy. Together, Joy and Cannie learn the difficulties and strains of a mother-daughter relationship.

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The planning of Joy's upcoming Bat Mitzvah becomes one of the main sources of conflict between Joy and her mother. As Joy deals with the pressures of fitting in with the popular crowd at school, Cannie tries to keep her daughter young, innocent, and safe from the cruelties experienced during her own childhood. For example, Joy wants a big pink dress with with thin straps and lots of sparkles. Cannie thinks this ensemble is too "adult" for her daughter as well as innappriate for such a relgious rite of passage. As expected from a 'tween', Joy becomes infuriated with her mother and begins to rebel out of her perfect daughter role.

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What I enjoyed most about this book was the alternating view points from chapter to chapter. We get to see into both Joy's head and her mother's at different times. I was especially impressed with Weiner's ability to write Joy's character who thinks and acts just like a pre-teen ought to. It was also fun to watch as Joy got away with things her mother never even found out about, because they're telling the same story.

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Though Good in Bed was, in many ways, much more trivial, emotional, and enchanting, I was satisfied with the second coming of Cannie in Certain Girls. As readers its important to understand that Cannie is not only older, but in a better place than she was in her first story. As a result, Cannie's character is much more mature, and most of the novels' themes are different.

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The ending is the most controversial thing about the book. I was both in shock and disbelief until the very last chapter when it finally ended. In a way, though, I feel that it added some level of realtiy to Cannie's story -- and it certainly didn't tie in with the stereotypical "happy ending" carried by all chic lit novels.

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Again, if you choose to read Certain Girls, finish Good in Bed first. It's one of my favorite books of all time, so you practically HAVE to love it. That is, if you're a girl.