jasmyn9's review against another edition
4.0
Kit and Ivy are half-sisters that have bonded over the years as if they were full sisters. Neither is close to their father, in fact, Kit has never even met him. The trigger in this story is when Kit decides she wants to finally meet him. When she announces her plans to Ivy, Ivy is shocked and wants no part of it. Neither does Kit's mother. It's not just because they don't like the father, Roger, it's for a much bigger reason. I think the only person in the entire story not hiding some really really big secret is Kit herself.
As Kit begins her search the secrets start coming out, and they set off a chain of events that begins to drive some people far apart, and bring others closer together. The characters in the story were quite real and they were all very far from perfect. I think this is what really makes this book click and why I enjoyed it. Their are a true family. At times they love each other and can't get enough of each other, and other times they can't stand to look at each other. It's what real life is.
The part that threw me was the ending. I felt like it was quite abrupt and that some of the storyline was left hanging. I wanted to know what happened next, but there wasn't anything else left to read in the book. Another ten pages or so would have been perfect.
- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2013/11/review-and-giveaway-bitter-like-orange.html#sthash.NxBCdtwk.dpuf
As Kit begins her search the secrets start coming out, and they set off a chain of events that begins to drive some people far apart, and bring others closer together. The characters in the story were quite real and they were all very far from perfect. I think this is what really makes this book click and why I enjoyed it. Their are a true family. At times they love each other and can't get enough of each other, and other times they can't stand to look at each other. It's what real life is.
The part that threw me was the ending. I felt like it was quite abrupt and that some of the storyline was left hanging. I wanted to know what happened next, but there wasn't anything else left to read in the book. Another ten pages or so would have been perfect.
- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2013/11/review-and-giveaway-bitter-like-orange.html#sthash.NxBCdtwk.dpuf
mlboyd20's review against another edition
3.0
I wish to thank the author for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This story starts with the relationship of two woman, half-sisters and blossoms to the intertwining story of six women. Through life they’ve all been dealing with a mutual betrayal of one man, but unknowingly to some they’ve been betrayed even further. Life has been good in some ways to them but in other ways they each have moments of weakness that shape their lives into something not quite fitting of who really are. The loss of the man in their life has reshaped their attitudes, indiscretions and has created a bit of chaos in a way to cover the emotional impact he left on them.
This story had its ups and downs. The book started off strong, pulled me in, but lost its steam not that far in. So much going on, the change of POVs was dizzying and distracting. There was an entrance of certain characters that just really didn’t need to be there. A set of family that really didn’t add that much to the story itself. The hush-hush secrets that really didn’t play out well. In the end I just didn’t feel there was a closure to the multitude of different stories going on and left me wondering what exactly the point was the author was trying to reach.
I did enjoy the different stories going on, the different lives of the individuals and how they intersected with the others. How one action set off a domino effect from one character to another. The vulnerabilities were well played out and the strength of some shone through brightly.
This book is a good fit for those who like to read about dysfunctional families and the outcomes of choices. This book would be enjoyed by those who read not only Adult but also New Adult fiction because they characters, who are adults, in some ways have the maturity levels of those younger than them when it comes to handle relationships and life’s crazy turning of events.
This story starts with the relationship of two woman, half-sisters and blossoms to the intertwining story of six women. Through life they’ve all been dealing with a mutual betrayal of one man, but unknowingly to some they’ve been betrayed even further. Life has been good in some ways to them but in other ways they each have moments of weakness that shape their lives into something not quite fitting of who really are. The loss of the man in their life has reshaped their attitudes, indiscretions and has created a bit of chaos in a way to cover the emotional impact he left on them.
This story had its ups and downs. The book started off strong, pulled me in, but lost its steam not that far in. So much going on, the change of POVs was dizzying and distracting. There was an entrance of certain characters that just really didn’t need to be there. A set of family that really didn’t add that much to the story itself. The hush-hush secrets that really didn’t play out well. In the end I just didn’t feel there was a closure to the multitude of different stories going on and left me wondering what exactly the point was the author was trying to reach.
I did enjoy the different stories going on, the different lives of the individuals and how they intersected with the others. How one action set off a domino effect from one character to another. The vulnerabilities were well played out and the strength of some shone through brightly.
This book is a good fit for those who like to read about dysfunctional families and the outcomes of choices. This book would be enjoyed by those who read not only Adult but also New Adult fiction because they characters, who are adults, in some ways have the maturity levels of those younger than them when it comes to handle relationships and life’s crazy turning of events.
neenor's review against another edition
1.0
What a bloody awful book. I'm sorry, but it has to be said. I've read some bad books in my time, but this is most definitely in the top five. The synopsis held the promise of a novel that wasn't delivered.
The basic premise is a group of six women who all have ties to this one man - to some of them he was a lover, a husband, and to others he was a father - or an absentee one at that. Kit, one of the daughters, is desperate to find out about this man who she has never met, so sets out on a journey to meet him. However, in doing so she unveils a whole load of buried family secrets.
One thing I can't get over is the awful language. It's so unnecessarily vulgar! Swearing I don't really care about, but it was several times per page and it just...why?! There was also constant references to genitalia - just randomly it would say something like "He itched his scrotum and then farted." As the reader, do I really need to know about his itchy balls? No, no I don't. Or - and I actually quote - "A drop of sweat tickles Kit's crotch. She scratches herself and wipes her wet fingers on the carpet beside her thigh." It's highly sexualised for no reason, and eventually it just made me cringe. It also happened at the most random moments - as if the author thought the book was getting a bit too serious so hey, why not have a random sex scene in the middle!
I also didn't connect with the characters. Like, at all. I hated every bloody one of them and their stupid life problems. They were all so selfish, so self-centered, and they all seemed to start crying for no reason. They are the weakest female characters I have ever come across, and I'd just like to point out that if you want to make a character seem 'strong' it doesn't mean making them into temperamental bitches (I think this is the first time I've ever sworn in a review, but it isn't more fitting).
The plot was almost as scatterbrained as the characters. There's going to be serious spoilers here, but it's bloody awful. The initial premise of them finding out about this lost father intrigued me. However, the secrets grew and grew until they were borderline ridiculous. First we meet the "secret" half-sister who one of the sisters conveniently already knew. The second secret we uncover is that the father has had a stroke, so one of the mothers spent a daughters uni fund on making sure he got well again (and when the daughter finds out, she SLAPS the mother! Overreaction Central right here - and it's not as if she'd touched the money for ten years). There is then a subplot of Ivy (the selfish, going-to-slap-my-mother one) having sex with this guy and it turns out he has a wife he's divorcing which he didn't tell her about (oh horror of horrors!) Then Ivy returns to Australia and meets up with HER ex husband and they decide to get remarried (sigh). Then Kit (the indecisive one) finally decides to make a damn decision after 90% of the book and they meet the father. THEN (and this is literally right at the end) Kit's mother accuses the father of molesting Kit when she was a young girl. We're then privy to a really confusing cut scene that tells us f-all about whether this accusation is true or not, and then the book ends. It was one disaster after another, and not only was the ending anticlimactic, but it produced more questions than it answered.
The title reference to the book was another terrible aspect. The author force fed oranges and orange peel into the storyline - if you cut out all the bits about oranges, the story literally wouldn't change one little bit. It seemed to me as if the story was being written and suddenly the author would turn around and be like "Damn, I haven't written about orange peel in a while! Better make Ailish really upset that her daughter's boyfriend picked the fruit off of their rotting orange tree!"
Bitter Like Orange Peel is truly terrible. It makes no sense, and I'm really confused as to how books like Harry Potter had a difficult time getting published when there are stories like this out there. If there is one recommendation I have after all of this, it's do not read this book. See it and avoid it, because it is a train wreck. I think Bell meant well, but it just went horribly wrong.
The basic premise is a group of six women who all have ties to this one man - to some of them he was a lover, a husband, and to others he was a father - or an absentee one at that. Kit, one of the daughters, is desperate to find out about this man who she has never met, so sets out on a journey to meet him. However, in doing so she unveils a whole load of buried family secrets.
One thing I can't get over is the awful language. It's so unnecessarily vulgar! Swearing I don't really care about, but it was several times per page and it just...why?! There was also constant references to genitalia - just randomly it would say something like "He itched his scrotum and then farted." As the reader, do I really need to know about his itchy balls? No, no I don't. Or - and I actually quote - "A drop of sweat tickles Kit's crotch. She scratches herself and wipes her wet fingers on the carpet beside her thigh." It's highly sexualised for no reason, and eventually it just made me cringe. It also happened at the most random moments - as if the author thought the book was getting a bit too serious so hey, why not have a random sex scene in the middle!
I also didn't connect with the characters. Like, at all. I hated every bloody one of them and their stupid life problems. They were all so selfish, so self-centered, and they all seemed to start crying for no reason. They are the weakest female characters I have ever come across, and I'd just like to point out that if you want to make a character seem 'strong' it doesn't mean making them into temperamental bitches (I think this is the first time I've ever sworn in a review, but it isn't more fitting).
The plot was almost as scatterbrained as the characters. There's going to be serious spoilers here, but it's bloody awful. The initial premise of them finding out about this lost father intrigued me. However, the secrets grew and grew until they were borderline ridiculous. First we meet the "secret" half-sister who one of the sisters conveniently already knew. The second secret we uncover is that the father has had a stroke, so one of the mothers spent a daughters uni fund on making sure he got well again (and when the daughter finds out, she SLAPS the mother! Overreaction Central right here - and it's not as if she'd touched the money for ten years). There is then a subplot of Ivy (the selfish, going-to-slap-my-mother one) having sex with this guy and it turns out he has a wife he's divorcing which he didn't tell her about (oh horror of horrors!) Then Ivy returns to Australia and meets up with HER ex husband and they decide to get remarried (sigh). Then Kit (the indecisive one) finally decides to make a damn decision after 90% of the book and they meet the father. THEN (and this is literally right at the end) Kit's mother accuses the father of molesting Kit when she was a young girl. We're then privy to a really confusing cut scene that tells us f-all about whether this accusation is true or not, and then the book ends. It was one disaster after another, and not only was the ending anticlimactic, but it produced more questions than it answered.
The title reference to the book was another terrible aspect. The author force fed oranges and orange peel into the storyline - if you cut out all the bits about oranges, the story literally wouldn't change one little bit. It seemed to me as if the story was being written and suddenly the author would turn around and be like "Damn, I haven't written about orange peel in a while! Better make Ailish really upset that her daughter's boyfriend picked the fruit off of their rotting orange tree!"
Bitter Like Orange Peel is truly terrible. It makes no sense, and I'm really confused as to how books like Harry Potter had a difficult time getting published when there are stories like this out there. If there is one recommendation I have after all of this, it's do not read this book. See it and avoid it, because it is a train wreck. I think Bell meant well, but it just went horribly wrong.
heatheray's review against another edition
4.0
I am sitting here so confused by own thoughts on this book right now. I can’t decide how I feel.
First, I have to say, I was drawn to this book/blog tour because of the cover. It is different, it is beautiful, and it is right there in your face.
When I say this next line, it is no reflection on the author, she is a wonderful writer, everything was superbly written, it’s reflection on all of these scenarios in the book. It is like watching a train wreck. You just can’t turn away. You have to keep reading to see how this is going to end.
You have all of these women and the only one that even approaches likable to me is the last sister that is added to the group (I am trying to be vague so I won’t give away any spoilers. Also, that might surprise people that that one character was the one I felt for.)
Honestly, the rest of the characters were …. not very nice at all. Wait, Ivy’s best guy friend might be someone I could like if I knew more about him.
The rest of them? Not so much.
Serious train wreck effect, you are sitting here watching all this drama play out from person to person to person, and you know that this whole mess is going to blow up, you have to keep reading.
The ending messed with me the most.
Not the epilogue, the part before that. I reread that 5 times to see if I missed something. Did it happen or didn’t it happen? I am leaning towards it was a misunderstanding, but I don’t know.
That is when my confusion set in.
I was reading along, drawn into this story of these not nice women and then I get to that part and…. I have no idea what just happened.
I have to add that at the very end, the last thing Brian says to Ivy, I completely agree with him.
That would kind of go to all of them women minus the one that I pointed out earlier that I could feel for.
All in all, interesting read. I think I need more time to ponder it, maybe do a reread, that might help me sort through some more of my thoughts on this one.
First, I have to say, I was drawn to this book/blog tour because of the cover. It is different, it is beautiful, and it is right there in your face.
When I say this next line, it is no reflection on the author, she is a wonderful writer, everything was superbly written, it’s reflection on all of these scenarios in the book. It is like watching a train wreck. You just can’t turn away. You have to keep reading to see how this is going to end.
You have all of these women and the only one that even approaches likable to me is the last sister that is added to the group (I am trying to be vague so I won’t give away any spoilers. Also, that might surprise people that that one character was the one I felt for.)
Honestly, the rest of the characters were …. not very nice at all. Wait, Ivy’s best guy friend might be someone I could like if I knew more about him.
The rest of them? Not so much.
Serious train wreck effect, you are sitting here watching all this drama play out from person to person to person, and you know that this whole mess is going to blow up, you have to keep reading.
The ending messed with me the most.
Not the epilogue, the part before that. I reread that 5 times to see if I missed something. Did it happen or didn’t it happen? I am leaning towards it was a misunderstanding, but I don’t know.
That is when my confusion set in.
I was reading along, drawn into this story of these not nice women and then I get to that part and…. I have no idea what just happened.
I have to add that at the very end, the last thing Brian says to Ivy, I completely agree with him.
That would kind of go to all of them women minus the one that I pointed out earlier that I could feel for.
All in all, interesting read. I think I need more time to ponder it, maybe do a reread, that might help me sort through some more of my thoughts on this one.
nogenreleftbehind's review against another edition
4.0
Kit and Ivy are half-sisters that have bonded over the years as if they were full sisters. Neither is close to their father, in fact, Kit has never even met him. The trigger in this story is when Kit decides she wants to finally meet him. When she announces her plans to Ivy, Ivy is shocked and wants no part of it. Neither does Kit's mother. It's not just because they don't like the father, Roger, it's for a much bigger reason. I think the only person in the entire story not hiding some really really big secret is Kit herself.
As Kit begins her search the secrets start coming out, and they set off a chain of events that begins to drive some people far apart, and bring others closer together. The characters in the story were quite real and they were all very far from perfect. I think this is what really makes this book click and why I enjoyed it. Their are a true family. At times they love each other and can't get enough of each other, and other times they can't stand to look at each other. It's what real life is.
The part that threw me was the ending. I felt like it was quite abrupt and that some of the storyline was left hanging. I wanted to know what happened next, but there wasn't anything else left to read in the book. Another ten pages or so would have been perfect.
- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2013/11/review-and-giveaway-bitter-like-orange.html#sthash.NxBCdtwk.dpuf
As Kit begins her search the secrets start coming out, and they set off a chain of events that begins to drive some people far apart, and bring others closer together. The characters in the story were quite real and they were all very far from perfect. I think this is what really makes this book click and why I enjoyed it. Their are a true family. At times they love each other and can't get enough of each other, and other times they can't stand to look at each other. It's what real life is.
The part that threw me was the ending. I felt like it was quite abrupt and that some of the storyline was left hanging. I wanted to know what happened next, but there wasn't anything else left to read in the book. Another ten pages or so would have been perfect.
- See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2013/11/review-and-giveaway-bitter-like-orange.html#sthash.NxBCdtwk.dpuf
sarah1984's review against another edition
3.0
I received a free Adobe Digital Editions copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, this has not compromised my ability to write an honest and critical review of the book.
20/11 - I don't really know what's going on yet, but I didn't want to forget the first thought that came to mind my when I read the following lines:
She takes the photo from her bedside table and runs her fingers around the edge of his legs. My father's legs. Roger's legs. Dad's legs. She tastes the different textures of the three different names she could call him, rolling them around her tongue to see which attaches itself to the wall of her mouth first, like a fertilised egg to a uterus.
That must be one of the weirdest and most disgusting uses of a similie I've ever come across (not including 50 Shades of Grey and other horror books). Every time I read it (or even think about it) I get the phantom feeling that there's a foreign body in my mouth, that a spider has, unknown to me, crawled inside my mouth and laid its eggs there and they're going to hatch and come flowing out of my mouth like the water from a broken dam. This would be a good horror book similie, as it would give you that creepy, squirmy feeling that would work perfectly with the monster/serial killer/ghost/alien theme, but not in a book marketed as 'women's fiction'. To be continued...
24/11 - Still not sure where this story is going and only sort of enjoying it at the moment. Now, Bell is Australian and I have to ask how a born and raised Australian can mispell metre as meter when discussing the height of a pile of papers on page 51 - that's just a disgrace to the national spelling rules that say r before e in words like metre, centre, litre, theatre and numerous others. It's just not right, it's not Australian. To be continued...
26/11 - I think I'm starting to get a handle on what Bitter Like Orange Peel is about. Three half sisters and their mothers, all connected by one horrible, selfish sounding man - Roger. The chapters change from one woman's PoV to another and so far we've heard the most from Kit and Ivy and a little from Kit's mother Ailish. Kit wants to find Roger and wants Ivy to help by asking her mother, Eleanor, for information on where he might be found. Ivy wants to be an archaeologist and seems to have fallen in love with Brian, a customer she frequently serves at the coffee shop where she's working until she can get a job in her chosen field. Other than finding her father, Kit doesn't seem to know what she wants - she's studying, off and on, archaeology because Ivy said she might like it; she has treated her next door neighbour, Sein, like shit since they were kids but then suddenly decides to sleep with him after finding out that her mother's relationship with Roger was going on during his marriage to Eleanor and that the relationship began as university professor and student. Kit has just found out from her mother that she has another half sister (an attempt at a pre-emptive strike, figuring that it'll be better if Kit finds out about another half sister from her than someone else), news which sends her into a Sein-punching, fence-kicking rage - eventually averted when Sein says the magic words "They (parents) do the best they can." This miracle revelation sends Kit running back to her mother to hear her side of the story. And end scene. To be continued...
2/12 - I get the feeling that Bell might have been trying a bit too hard when it came to her use of literary devices. Some of the metaphors and/or similies (I always get those two mixed up) are just plain weird. For example: "The crisp, firm leaves collide tenderly, like rice shifting in a plastic jar." Sentences like that give me the feeling that an author is trying to prove their literary sophistication by using every device under the sun. When I think of gum leaves brushing against each other in the wind, the first thought that comes to mind is not rice shifting in a plastic jar. There are many others like that but I don't want to bang on about it over and over, but it does pull me out of the scene because I can't help but see what's being described in these strange sentences and sometimes it's a minute or two before I go back to reading - that's not conducive to a flowing story. To be continued...
A few hours later... - Um, Ms Bell, why did you feel the need to use the words eponychium and digitus quintus? Why not the more simple, and more importantly, less supercilious cuticle and little finger? Yes, we're reading from Eleanor's PoV, but just because she's a surgeon doesn't mean she thinks in Latin in her head. Even in her operative reports I doubt she would use the phrase digitus quintus, in my experience they tend to use the phrase fifth digit (I am a medical transcriptionist and have some experience in medicalese).
Late that night - Finished, and I didn't like any of the characters (except maybe Eydie). Kit's inability to stick to one thing in life was very frustrating to read, it made me want to shake her and say that unless she had an unending source of wealth she couldn't afford to go from one career/course to another. When she decided that she was going to be a writer, that she wanted to have a piece of her work published, like her mother, I thought "Yeah, I'll give that six months and then you'll want to do something else, or go back to one of your many previous careers."
Ivy's smoking really bugged me, even more than it seemed to bug Brian, and I wasn't actually breathing in her poisonous breath. But that wasn't what made me really dislike Ivy, what made her so unlikable was the way she treated Amir and Brian. I mean, moving in with Brian within a week or so of the first time she actually talked to him, then turning his apartment upside down and neglecting to even attempt to keep it in the state he was used to finding it in. Playing what I saw as a game with herself, Amir and Brian (although Amir and Brian didn't know they were playing) that involved Brian winning if she saw him before she got on the plane and got some kind of promise to work on a relationship after she came back and Amir winning if she felt that special 'something' upon seeing him for the first time since their divorce. Amir won, temporarily at least, because between the time they saw each other again and them pulling up at Eleanor's house they'd decided to get married again (of all the decisions she made this was the craziest). Then Brian shows up during Christmas lunch and she sends him away, but follows him to his hotel not long after and tells him that she and Amir aren't getting re-married after all, and does he want a quickie for the road (Brian shoving her away was the only time I actually liked him, the rest of the time all I could think about was his not-yet-finalised-divorce and his inability to communicate how unhappy he was with Ivy moving in).
Eleanor and Ailish were both keeping so many secrets regarding Roger, the girls' father and cheating bastard, that it was impossible for me to feel any sympathy for them when their secrets kept getting revealed at the worst possible times. They both said that the reason they kept these secrets from their daughters was because they were trying to protect them from the pain that would surely come if the truth came out. But it seemed to me that there was plenty of pain caused by the keeping of these secrets, that the lies and half truths they had to tell their daughters built walls that kept them apart, emotionally and sometimes physically - the pain they imagined on the telling of those secrets couldn't have been worse than the pain they were all experiencing anyway.
One more comment about the style and then I'm done: I'm experiencing a metaphor and similie overdose. At the moment I feel sick with the amount of strange, weird, and not wonderful literary devices I've ingested today. If I never hear "Roger tentatively takes Ailish's hands. She lets him. They hang in his like large wet leaves." or anything like it again, that'll be good. I mean "large wet leaves"? I'm getting a psychosomatic smell of mouldy, wet leaves and the slimy feel of the in my hands just re-writing it. It's great that Bell can create atmosphere so easily, but she seems to be overdoing it with this story. Not every paragraph needs to have a metaphor or a similie in it, or if they do they can surely be slightly less oddball than the ones used in this book.
20/11 - I don't really know what's going on yet, but I didn't want to forget the first thought that came to mind my when I read the following lines:
She takes the photo from her bedside table and runs her fingers around the edge of his legs. My father's legs. Roger's legs. Dad's legs. She tastes the different textures of the three different names she could call him, rolling them around her tongue to see which attaches itself to the wall of her mouth first, like a fertilised egg to a uterus.
That must be one of the weirdest and most disgusting uses of a similie I've ever come across (not including 50 Shades of Grey and other horror books). Every time I read it (or even think about it) I get the phantom feeling that there's a foreign body in my mouth, that a spider has, unknown to me, crawled inside my mouth and laid its eggs there and they're going to hatch and come flowing out of my mouth like the water from a broken dam. This would be a good horror book similie, as it would give you that creepy, squirmy feeling that would work perfectly with the monster/serial killer/ghost/alien theme, but not in a book marketed as 'women's fiction'. To be continued...
24/11 - Still not sure where this story is going and only sort of enjoying it at the moment. Now, Bell is Australian and I have to ask how a born and raised Australian can mispell metre as meter when discussing the height of a pile of papers on page 51 - that's just a disgrace to the national spelling rules that say r before e in words like metre, centre, litre, theatre and numerous others. It's just not right, it's not Australian. To be continued...
26/11 - I think I'm starting to get a handle on what Bitter Like Orange Peel is about. Three half sisters and their mothers, all connected by one horrible, selfish sounding man - Roger. The chapters change from one woman's PoV to another and so far we've heard the most from Kit and Ivy and a little from Kit's mother Ailish. Kit wants to find Roger and wants Ivy to help by asking her mother, Eleanor, for information on where he might be found. Ivy wants to be an archaeologist and seems to have fallen in love with Brian, a customer she frequently serves at the coffee shop where she's working until she can get a job in her chosen field. Other than finding her father, Kit doesn't seem to know what she wants - she's studying, off and on, archaeology because Ivy said she might like it; she has treated her next door neighbour, Sein, like shit since they were kids but then suddenly decides to sleep with him after finding out that her mother's relationship with Roger was going on during his marriage to Eleanor and that the relationship began as university professor and student. Kit has just found out from her mother that she has another half sister (an attempt at a pre-emptive strike, figuring that it'll be better if Kit finds out about another half sister from her than someone else), news which sends her into a Sein-punching, fence-kicking rage - eventually averted when Sein says the magic words "They (parents) do the best they can." This miracle revelation sends Kit running back to her mother to hear her side of the story. And end scene. To be continued...
2/12 - I get the feeling that Bell might have been trying a bit too hard when it came to her use of literary devices. Some of the metaphors and/or similies (I always get those two mixed up) are just plain weird. For example: "The crisp, firm leaves collide tenderly, like rice shifting in a plastic jar." Sentences like that give me the feeling that an author is trying to prove their literary sophistication by using every device under the sun. When I think of gum leaves brushing against each other in the wind, the first thought that comes to mind is not rice shifting in a plastic jar. There are many others like that but I don't want to bang on about it over and over, but it does pull me out of the scene because I can't help but see what's being described in these strange sentences and sometimes it's a minute or two before I go back to reading - that's not conducive to a flowing story. To be continued...
A few hours later... - Um, Ms Bell, why did you feel the need to use the words eponychium and digitus quintus? Why not the more simple, and more importantly, less supercilious cuticle and little finger? Yes, we're reading from Eleanor's PoV, but just because she's a surgeon doesn't mean she thinks in Latin in her head. Even in her operative reports I doubt she would use the phrase digitus quintus, in my experience they tend to use the phrase fifth digit (I am a medical transcriptionist and have some experience in medicalese).
Late that night - Finished, and I didn't like any of the characters (except maybe Eydie). Kit's inability to stick to one thing in life was very frustrating to read, it made me want to shake her and say that unless she had an unending source of wealth she couldn't afford to go from one career/course to another. When she decided that she was going to be a writer, that she wanted to have a piece of her work published, like her mother, I thought "Yeah, I'll give that six months and then you'll want to do something else, or go back to one of your many previous careers."
Ivy's smoking really bugged me, even more than it seemed to bug Brian, and I wasn't actually breathing in her poisonous breath. But that wasn't what made me really dislike Ivy, what made her so unlikable was the way she treated Amir and Brian. I mean, moving in with Brian within a week or so of the first time she actually talked to him, then turning his apartment upside down and neglecting to even attempt to keep it in the state he was used to finding it in. Playing what I saw as a game with herself, Amir and Brian (although Amir and Brian didn't know they were playing) that involved Brian winning if she saw him before she got on the plane and got some kind of promise to work on a relationship after she came back and Amir winning if she felt that special 'something' upon seeing him for the first time since their divorce. Amir won, temporarily at least, because between the time they saw each other again and them pulling up at Eleanor's house they'd decided to get married again (of all the decisions she made this was the craziest). Then Brian shows up during Christmas lunch and she sends him away, but follows him to his hotel not long after and tells him that she and Amir aren't getting re-married after all, and does he want a quickie for the road (Brian shoving her away was the only time I actually liked him, the rest of the time all I could think about was his not-yet-finalised-divorce and his inability to communicate how unhappy he was with Ivy moving in).
Eleanor and Ailish were both keeping so many secrets regarding Roger, the girls' father and cheating bastard, that it was impossible for me to feel any sympathy for them when their secrets kept getting revealed at the worst possible times. They both said that the reason they kept these secrets from their daughters was because they were trying to protect them from the pain that would surely come if the truth came out. But it seemed to me that there was plenty of pain caused by the keeping of these secrets, that the lies and half truths they had to tell their daughters built walls that kept them apart, emotionally and sometimes physically - the pain they imagined on the telling of those secrets couldn't have been worse than the pain they were all experiencing anyway.
One more comment about the style and then I'm done: I'm experiencing a metaphor and similie overdose. At the moment I feel sick with the amount of strange, weird, and not wonderful literary devices I've ingested today. If I never hear "Roger tentatively takes Ailish's hands. She lets him. They hang in his like large wet leaves." or anything like it again, that'll be good. I mean "large wet leaves"? I'm getting a psychosomatic smell of mouldy, wet leaves and the slimy feel of the in my hands just re-writing it. It's great that Bell can create atmosphere so easily, but she seems to be overdoing it with this story. Not every paragraph needs to have a metaphor or a similie in it, or if they do they can surely be slightly less oddball than the ones used in this book.
booksuperpower's review against another edition
5.0
Bitter Like Orange Peel by Jessica Bell is a 2013 release, published by Vine Leaves Press.
This story is told from the perspective of the wives, lovers, and daughters of one man named Roger.
Ivy's mother, Eleanor, was married to Roger when he began an affair with one of his students, Ailish. Ailish has a child by Roger named, Kit. After Eleanor's divorce, Ailish and Eleanor become friends and raise the two half sisters together as a family. Now, as adults, both girls are emotionally stunted. Ivy especially, is incapable of maintaining relationships, holding a real job, or knowing just what it is she really wants in life.
Kit is only a tiny bit better. Kit, though has decided she wants to find and meet her father, Roger. It seems that Roger had married once again and had yet another daughter. However, Kit is unaware she has another sister. None of the women seem to know where Roger is presently.
Kit's insistence on finding Roger and begging for Ivy's help in doing so, opens up a plethora of long kept secrets. They ALL have a piece to the puzzle and all have their own reasons for keeping these secrets.
Sadly, each person involved is left feeling betrayed. Harsh words and actions result and Ivy seems to sort of come unhinged.
These people take dysfunctional to a whole new level. How many ex-wives deliver their ex-husband's child with another woman? How many former wives/lovers are actually friends and allow their offspring to grow up together? Is it OK for one to keep a secret from the others?
More shocking revelations develop as we go along. Not only do the main characters harbor secrets, but some secondary characters are also less than forthcoming, including a guy Ivy begins dating named Brian.
So, do you have all that? It sounds like a giant soap opera, and is in a way. There is a REALLY big shocker at the end. This big reveal leaves it up to the reader how to interpret these revelations. There is no neat, all tied up in a neat bow, conclusion. We know that some people will find a kind of peace that will allow them to move forward with their lives, others will remain just as they are, most likely, and some will most likely need some professional help before it's all said and done.
Hopefully, all these women will continue to lean on each other and become closer now that some of the secrets are out in the open. But, I think maybe there is still more to be told in this story, and I hope the author will consider an update on what becomes of these characters in the future.
The author did an excellent job of keeping the reader on the edge of their seat, wondering what will happen next. It was hard to put this book down. I kept thinking about the characters and maybe was a little worried about them from time to time. If an author can evoke that sort of reaction from readers, they are a real talent. A very skillful author indeed.
A+
This story is told from the perspective of the wives, lovers, and daughters of one man named Roger.
Ivy's mother, Eleanor, was married to Roger when he began an affair with one of his students, Ailish. Ailish has a child by Roger named, Kit. After Eleanor's divorce, Ailish and Eleanor become friends and raise the two half sisters together as a family. Now, as adults, both girls are emotionally stunted. Ivy especially, is incapable of maintaining relationships, holding a real job, or knowing just what it is she really wants in life.
Kit is only a tiny bit better. Kit, though has decided she wants to find and meet her father, Roger. It seems that Roger had married once again and had yet another daughter. However, Kit is unaware she has another sister. None of the women seem to know where Roger is presently.
Kit's insistence on finding Roger and begging for Ivy's help in doing so, opens up a plethora of long kept secrets. They ALL have a piece to the puzzle and all have their own reasons for keeping these secrets.
Sadly, each person involved is left feeling betrayed. Harsh words and actions result and Ivy seems to sort of come unhinged.
These people take dysfunctional to a whole new level. How many ex-wives deliver their ex-husband's child with another woman? How many former wives/lovers are actually friends and allow their offspring to grow up together? Is it OK for one to keep a secret from the others?
More shocking revelations develop as we go along. Not only do the main characters harbor secrets, but some secondary characters are also less than forthcoming, including a guy Ivy begins dating named Brian.
So, do you have all that? It sounds like a giant soap opera, and is in a way. There is a REALLY big shocker at the end. This big reveal leaves it up to the reader how to interpret these revelations. There is no neat, all tied up in a neat bow, conclusion. We know that some people will find a kind of peace that will allow them to move forward with their lives, others will remain just as they are, most likely, and some will most likely need some professional help before it's all said and done.
Hopefully, all these women will continue to lean on each other and become closer now that some of the secrets are out in the open. But, I think maybe there is still more to be told in this story, and I hope the author will consider an update on what becomes of these characters in the future.
The author did an excellent job of keeping the reader on the edge of their seat, wondering what will happen next. It was hard to put this book down. I kept thinking about the characters and maybe was a little worried about them from time to time. If an author can evoke that sort of reaction from readers, they are a real talent. A very skillful author indeed.
A+
heathertruett's review against another edition
I was torn about how to rate this novel. If I could’ve cut most of Ivy from the story, I would have given it at least four stars, if not five. I didn’t like Ivy. She made me vacillate between eye rolling annoyance and head banging frustration.
I loved Kit. A lot And I loved Ailish and even Eleanor. Eydie was awesomeness. I loved her spunk and wanted her to make it. I felt invested in the characters. I kept reading, driven to know each incremental secret they would slowly reveal to me.
At one point in the novel, Bell uses the words, “Thick breaths. Bitter secrets.” I highlighted that. It seemed to sum up their lives so succinctly.
The ending disappointed me a bit. I didn’t understand whether Ailish was correct in what she assumed or not. It wasn’t clear.
All in all, I enjoyed the read. I would read more by this author. She has a way with description that reeks of poetry. Being a poet, those were my favorite parts. I’d have loved more time on the bathroom floor, writing with Ailish.
I loved Kit. A lot And I loved Ailish and even Eleanor. Eydie was awesomeness. I loved her spunk and wanted her to make it. I felt invested in the characters. I kept reading, driven to know each incremental secret they would slowly reveal to me.
At one point in the novel, Bell uses the words, “Thick breaths. Bitter secrets.” I highlighted that. It seemed to sum up their lives so succinctly.
The ending disappointed me a bit. I didn’t understand whether Ailish was correct in what she assumed or not. It wasn’t clear.
All in all, I enjoyed the read. I would read more by this author. She has a way with description that reeks of poetry. Being a poet, those were my favorite parts. I’d have loved more time on the bathroom floor, writing with Ailish.
theelliemo's review
3.0
This book has a good story. It has good characterisation. It's quite punchy. It has an interesting style. And yet. Ultimately, it's not for me.
This is the story of several dysfunctional families, all with a single connection, and how the secrets they keep affect their lives, and more Importantly, those of the people they love.
I was not even halfway through this fairly slim novel before I had concluded that I was not its demographic. I reached that conclusion long before I had answered "me" to the question posed by one of the characters "What teen wouldn't recognise a marijuana plant browning next to a bed of Chamsonetter Pink Gazanias". That's not to say I didn't enjoy the story. It did hold my attention, I wanted to know where it was going, and the characters are very well drawn, sufficiently for me to feel something for them, be it like or dislike.
But there was something holding me back from really liking the book. Partly, it is the style of writing, in very short, punchy sentences. In some ways, it adds a leanness to the book, which makes the stripy move along apace, but sometimes, for me, it feels like I have no feel for the surroundings the characters are in. It is a style I am sure would suit many, which is why I am not saying this as a criticism, but just saying that I am not the demographic this book is aimed at.
Whilst being light on description, there are numerous analogies, and I will admit I found the pharse "like a" rather tireseome after a while. I particularly didn't take to something being described as "like a fertilised egg in a uterus". There sometimes seemed to be too much detail: I didn't need to know that a character was "snapping the 250-gram bunch [of spaghetti] in half". But on the other hand, writer Jessica Bell can produce lines such as this, from a young woman who lives with her alcohlic mother, feeling that hope has left, that "sympathy claimed its freedom long ago, descending down their street in triumph", and there are moments of brilliance, such as when Brian's thoughts are in turmoil. This is a time when the short punchy sentence es really work, perfectly capturing the restlessness in the character's mind.
The concept of moving the story on from the perspective of 7 different people works well together, particularly where the same scene is viewed from more than one perspective. But it does also give the novel the feeling if a film script, and I couldn't help wondering if that was the ultimate aim the author had.
This is the story of several dysfunctional families, all with a single connection, and how the secrets they keep affect their lives, and more Importantly, those of the people they love.
I was not even halfway through this fairly slim novel before I had concluded that I was not its demographic. I reached that conclusion long before I had answered "me" to the question posed by one of the characters "What teen wouldn't recognise a marijuana plant browning next to a bed of Chamsonetter Pink Gazanias". That's not to say I didn't enjoy the story. It did hold my attention, I wanted to know where it was going, and the characters are very well drawn, sufficiently for me to feel something for them, be it like or dislike.
But there was something holding me back from really liking the book. Partly, it is the style of writing, in very short, punchy sentences. In some ways, it adds a leanness to the book, which makes the stripy move along apace, but sometimes, for me, it feels like I have no feel for the surroundings the characters are in. It is a style I am sure would suit many, which is why I am not saying this as a criticism, but just saying that I am not the demographic this book is aimed at.
Whilst being light on description, there are numerous analogies, and I will admit I found the pharse "like a" rather tireseome after a while. I particularly didn't take to something being described as "like a fertilised egg in a uterus". There sometimes seemed to be too much detail: I didn't need to know that a character was "snapping the 250-gram bunch [of spaghetti] in half". But on the other hand, writer Jessica Bell can produce lines such as this, from a young woman who lives with her alcohlic mother, feeling that hope has left, that "sympathy claimed its freedom long ago, descending down their street in triumph", and there are moments of brilliance, such as when Brian's thoughts are in turmoil. This is a time when the short punchy sentence es really work, perfectly capturing the restlessness in the character's mind.
The concept of moving the story on from the perspective of 7 different people works well together, particularly where the same scene is viewed from more than one perspective. But it does also give the novel the feeling if a film script, and I couldn't help wondering if that was the ultimate aim the author had.
ltg584's review
4.0
Full review to come.
A copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
A copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
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