Muse's Whim

*I was given this book free by the author in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.* My Mother's Secret is a work of fiction, but it is based on the basic attributes of a true Holocaust story; Franciszka and Helena Halamajowa were real people who lived in Poland during the German occupation and helped many of their Jewish neighbors escape the concentration camps or death. The story is broken into five parts, each told from a different person's perspective. The writing is direct and informative - fitting to the stark reality of the story. There is no flowery language, and it is not prone to long passages of description. I do not believe that readers will find this style unreadable, but some may find the writing style a bit lacking. That being said, I think that the plot is written well, paced nicely, and it reads very quickly. I did think at times that if the story was set up in a diary or letter format, that the writing style might fit better....

*I was given this book free by the author in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.* I recently read Harper Lee and Peppermint Candy by Paula Hennessy. I would consider it young adult fiction mainly because the protagonist is in her teens. It is realistic fiction also, which in YA, I don't tend to read a lot of. However, going in I didn't have any bias toward the genre. I was actually pleasantly surprised how much I liked it, considering the fact that I read much more sci-fi/fantasy. I thought that the main character Megan was very realistically written, and even though she has a bit of an extreme personality, at first, I thought it was also easy to identify with her. What she goes through and deals with as a teenager doesn't seem that far-fetched for any teen these days, and therefore, her reactions also are within the realm of believability. I also thoroughly liked the grandmother, Addie. She's very comforting and loving like most grandmot...