NetGalley April Wrap Up Post

I believe it is pretty safe to go ahead and do a wrap up post for the Netgalley April Read-a-thon hosted by 

Red House Books. You can read my original goals here. But, as a handy breakdown, see below:

Grave Mercy (LaFevers) *already started
Lets Pretend this Never Happened by Lawson
Tomorrow Land by Mancusi
Hanging By a Thread by Littlefield
Girl in the Clockwork Collar
Innocent Darkness (Lazear)

Touched by Cyn Balog

Okay, so I managed to read some Netgalley titles that I either picked

up after starting the challenge, or had on there before and did not list. 

Hanging By A Thread: loved it review here

Touched: loved this as well review here

A Daring Life: A Biography of Eudora Welty (to say I became obsessed with

  EW after that, you would be right) review here

Blackwood (this I didn't care for) review here

Overall, I read 11 books in April and 4 were Netgalley titles. For some reason, I can't get 

through Grave Mercy, I have not given up on Innocent Darkness, and because I am reading a bunch of 

tween titles and Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter in prep for the movie release, the rest will probably have to wait. Sigh. I hope for better numbers in October.

Review: Hanging by a Thread

Hanging By a Thread
by Sophie Littlefield
Out: September 11, 2012
Review copy via NG

Finished as a part of Netgalley April Read-a-thon


I have read Littlefield before, and especially liked Banished. Now, as I am learning to sew myself the premise of Hanging By A Thread really appealed to me. Here is what's up: overall there are several stories going on here and the least interesting is the mystery. In some ways, it reminded me of a Scooby Doo episode. The "bad guys" spill their guts the second someone looks at them suspiciously. In fact, there is too much spilling going on here. People barely know or remember Clare, but within seconds they are telling her their deepest, darkest secrets. And why? She already knows from touching the fabric of their clothes! So don't read this if you are looking for a good mystery.
I know I wrote this backwards, with the bad in the beginning and the good at the end, but I want to point out what really worked in this story. First, Clare's relationships with her mom and Nana. I found her connections with them and the family's history really cool. The house in which Clare lives with her mom sparked my imagination. In fact, the entire town of Winston is in itself a character with a charming personality. I loved Clare. She was artsy and smart and more than a little nosy. I didn't "feel" the relationship with Jack (if one could call it that).
I wish more time would have been spent examining Clare's gift and I am a little sad that there is a way to rid oneself of this gift. It's a great gift! Me, I would break into museums and touch the clothes of famous dead people. Where's Blackbeard's treasure? Who shot JFK? Etc.
So, not too shabby (chic?) and not great either. Why are they releasing this in September when the story takes place on Fourth of July weekend? Why do we not see Clare's outfit on the cover? I wish I could touch a publisher's t shirt and get the answers...