This is the first review for Moonbeams over Atlanta for 2015! Welcome everyone. I’m going to attempt to review more, write more, and blog more. Just more. 🙂 Life is settling again, I have a job, and the urge to write is increasing. Started a blog story on my blog, so we’ll see if the creative juices get flowing. Check out the first part of my story, Elf Magic, that I will be posting once a week (sorta) until I finish it. You can find all of the parts under Writings | Elf Magic from the blog’s home page. 🙂
And now…
The Review:
Rue provided me the story for an honest review last year when I was having all the crazy in Real Life™ issues last year. I’m just now getting this posted. Thank you for the opportunity. I really liked it.
4 Stars
Rue is a new author for me and only recently have I gotten into Lesbian (FF) stories. I enjoy reading just about anything. There are a few genres I can’t do but reading the GBLTQ spectrum, including mainstream MF, is my favorite. This one has multiple loves and that is how it should be. We all want love and this tale provides in spades.
“It’s Not My Favorite” is a story of two sisters, one lesbian and one heterosexual. The point of view changes between them so you are getting both of their stories as they interact. I like changing points of view, but not everyone does. In this case, Rue weaves the story so well that you really don’t notice that you are changing. There are certain places that it was a little abrupt, but it couldn’t be helped. It made you think. It made you cry. It made you laugh. It made you want to reach into the book and throttle their mother. Realistic descriptions of living in a contemporary setting is the backdrop to extreme emotions, self discovery for both sisters, and travel to overseas locale. The detail is amazing and the story makes you contemplate your own life. I appreciate my life after reading this book since some of the detail rings too much like truth to not be based on parts of the writer’s life. It resonates with you well past when you put the book down.
Cheers to you, Rue. I give It’s Not My Favorite 4 stars. I eagerly await the new one in the series as I know that I won’t be disappointed. Stay tuned for a review on book two of the Lake Effect series!
Eloreen Moon
Blurb:
The Hutchinson sisters grew up under the piercing, pious stare of a preacher’s wife. Plagued by her ever-disappointed refrain, “Well, it’s not my favorite.” Their search to find their own way in the world has not been a screaming success.
Gwenn is a good girl, a responsible girl… a miserable girl. Her steady diet of vivid fantasies is the only part of her life she enjoys. She daydreams of new parents, a more exciting job and an actual love life. She struggles to run a business as The Organizer, while she stacks relationship carcasses in the closet of her own completely unorganized life. Her only real friend is her younger sister, Rachel.
Rachel is outgoing, risqué and happily gay. The only people who don’t know this little secret are her judgmental parents, Pastor Ed and Shirley. Rachel struggles mightily to dodge her mother’s constant attempts to set her up with “nice Christian boys”; while holding down a job at the bakery and keeping up with her rock-star girlfriend!
Gwenn uncovers a photo that brings her imaginary world careening into reality. She’s forced to ask herself if wealthy artist, Daniel Gregory is the answer she’s been seeking or a grand delusion.
Break-ups, meltdowns, family secrets, wild nights and finally a journey of self-discovery to exotic New Zealand keep Gwenn and Rachel stumbling toward independence.
So grab your parka and join the Hutchinson girls, as they experience the Lake Effect in Duluth, Minnesota!
About Rue:
About Rue:
Rue developed a wicked sense of humor in order to survive the many heavens and vast hells of childhood. Her intimate knowledge of the Midwest, the inordinate amount of time she spent in its churches’ pews and her unique parentage make her an expert on life after religion. Having moved 17 times by the time she graduated from high school Rue has seen more than her share of the Great Plains. Her parents frequented the hallowed halls of a variety of Christian churches and Rue had the opportunity to deconstruct religion, and the religious, from the inside out. She never stayed in one place long enough to make human friends. Her best friends were all characters from her beloved books; and the love of reading led to a lifelong passion for writing.
Rue wrote her first manifesto at age three; a letter begging her grandfather to stop smoking; to the small pink piece of stationary, she taped two dimes and a nickel—his reward for quitting. The entreaty was successful and the power of the pen was instilled in her soul. Throughout her life she has written unceasingly, journals, poems, short stories, screenplays and articles for newspaper and magazine. Her love of ink led her to pursue a B.A. in Journalism from Pepperdine University in California. She also suffers from a slight obsession with office supplies—mostly pens and fine paper.
Rue plans to write until she can no longer hold a pen, press down keys or speak to dictation software; the plan is to die writing, at the ripe old age of 120. She has already amassed two lifetimes of experience. Rue has been working for more than 30 years and has done everything from make dirt to direct an independent film school. The number of characters that can be scooped out of the detritus is staggering.
The pen is truly mightier than the sword.