54. The Good Fortune of Miss Robbins

54. The Good Fortune of Miss Robbins. Melanie Dickerson. 320 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, clean romance, historical romance, Jane Eyre wannabe]

First sentence: "Charlotte! A letter came for you!" Hattie Jacobs emerged from the back entrance of Mrs. Southey's School for Young Ladies, waving something over her head.

Premise/plot: Charlotte Robbins, our protagonist, is incredibly excited to start a new chapter of her life as a governess to an earl's niece and nephew. Lord Brookhaven is extremely friendly and sociable from their first meeting. Charlotte was hoping to find love in this new chapter as well though she knows that it couldn't possibly be with the earl himself. But surely there's someone about with whom she could find a happily ever after. BUT when Charlotte is included in Lord Brookhaven's social calendar--a house party--she begins to realize she is in fact falling for the earl. AT the same time, he begins to realize he is falling in love with her. But, dear readers, we are barely a fifth of the way through the novel. Readers still have a couple hundred pages to go before the incredibly obvious and tedious misunderstandings can be cleared up in three or four minutes of conversation.

My thoughts: The book wants to be Jane Eyre without being Jane Eyre. They've upgraded Mr. Rochester to an EARL. They've removed the hidden wife in the attic. Simply not acceptable to have a MARRIED MAN falling in love with another woman, proposing, or trying to marry again unlawfully. They have tried to make the story a little more Charles Dickens...introducing TWO ORPHAN CHILDREN that must be saved and rescued. Charlotte does "inherit" but not from an uncle she's never met--but from an imaginary uncle created by the earl as a guise. This money from an "uncle" (wink, wink) sets her up in London, brings two street orphans into her life, and makes her the catch of the season. As marriage proposals abound, Charlotte is unhappy because Lord Brookhaven is keeping his distance. The truth comes out...and she's livid. And then the nonsense continues because of course it does. Eventually these two have an honest conversation and when he proposes she accepts.

It is published by a CHRISTIAN publisher. There is little to no Christian content. There is 800% more Christian content in the original novel Jane Eyre than in this book. The "improvements" to the story are not really improvements in my opinion.



© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

53. The Best Bear in All the World

53. The Best Bear in All the World. Paul Bright, Brian Sibley, Jeanne Willis, Kate Saunders. 2016. 115 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, audio book, Winnie the Pooh sequel]

First sentence: "Ninety?" said Winnie the Pooh. "Is that more than seven?" "Yes, Pooh," said Kanga patiently. "You're ninety years old, which calls for a celebration."

Premise/plot: Four new stories starring Winnie the Pooh and all his friends from the Hundred Acre Woods. There is a story set in Autumn (in which Pooh and Piglet prepare to meet a Dragon). There is a story set in Winter (in which Penguin arrives in the forest). There is a story set in spring (in which Eeyore suspects another donkey is after his thistles). There is a story set in summer (in which Pooh dreams of the Sauce of the Nile).

My thoughts: I have wanted to READ this one for years. But the library didn't have it in print. I saw it on audio book and thought I'd give it a try. I didn't like it much on audio. BUT I realize that could be the narrator being a disappointment in doing ALL the characters in unique voices. I realize that no one can DO the character voices like Disney does. I wasn't expecting it to be amazing. But I wanted it to be better than it was. I also think that the book would have been more enjoyable, perhaps, if it had had ONE author instead of four. The stories are just decent. These aren't "new" stories or "original" stories so much as slightly changing and adapting a few stories and having them happen again slightly differently.

Perhaps audio wasn't the best way to experience this book since I missed out on the illustrations. AND it's certainly possible that reading the book in print with the more proper voices in my head narrating might have led me to like it better.


© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

52. Prey

52. Prey. Michael Crichton. 2002. 507 pages. [Source: Library] [audio book, 5 stars, adult science fiction, adult thriller]

First sentence: Things never turn out the way you think they will.

Premise/plot: Jack Forman, our protagonist, is a stay at home dad. (Three kids, if my memory is correct). After losing his job because he was a whistleblower--or trying to be--he's been unable to get another job in his field. (He reported something unethical and dangerous not knowing the person he was reporting to was IN on the shady shady side of things). His wife, Julia, well she's SOMETHING. Perhaps she wasn't always so something. Maybe there was a time when she was loving, supportive, and a great mother. But we never see that side of her--not really.

Jack Forman finds himself at the center of a GREAT mystery. And it starts soon after a terribly horrible health scare with his youngest. Soon he's being asked by the people who fired him to "help out" and trouble shoot with code that he developed. BUT he soon finds that what they are NOT telling him could feel all the libraries in the world. And his creepy wife is at the center of it--for better or worse.

A science experiment has gone terribly, terribly, terribly wrong! And Jack Forman finds himself almost completely alone in trying to save the world.

My thoughts: Prey is my fourth Michael Crichton novel that I've read. I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED IT. I listened to the audio narrated by Robert Sean Leonard. It was FABULOUS. I have a feeling I would have loved the story either way--in print or on audio. I COULD not stop reading this one.



© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

51. Rash

51. Rash. Pete Hautman. 2006. 256 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars, YA dystopia, YA fiction, YA futuristic; YA Sports]

First sentence: Gramps, who was born in 1990, once told me that when he was my age the only way to wind up in prison in the USSA (back when it had only one S) was to steal something, kill somebody, or use illegal drugs.

Premise/plot: Rash by Pete Hautman is set roughly in the 2070s. Bo Marsten, our protagonist, is having a hard time of it. His father and brother are incarcerated. (Then again, almost a third of the population is. The work force of the USSA is almost primarily prison labor. Would anyone work if not forced???) He's young; he's rash even. He is madly in love lust with Maddy. But Maddy, well, she doesn't exactly feel exclusive with Bo. In fact, she's often with his "enemy" Karlohs Mink. (Even confiding his secrets to Karlohs! The audacity!) In a time when even insults are illegal and could land you with big legal trouble--especially if it's your third "mistake," Bo's fate seems inevitable. To add insult to injury, Karlohs fakes the whole school into believing that Bo has given him a literal rash. No one believes Bo is innocent--except perhaps his family and his school assignment, Bork; It is an A.I. assignment--to create one that will pass as sentient.

When Bo is sentenced to prison--a McDonald's making pizzas--he finds himself struggling to survive in a world that is unfair.

My thoughts: I read Rash TWICE in 2006. I absolutely loved, loved, loved it. I listened to it on audio in 2010, I believe, according to my blog. I wanted to reread it now that my blog is about to turn TWENTY YEARS OLD at the end of the month (August).

Rash is dark and complex. Though the complexity isn't perhaps super super obvious. On one hand, it can read as a dark comedy. Look what society will come to if safety and niceness are the only priority. When personal freedom is almost nonexistent, especially freedom of expression. When almost every natural human emotion or feeling is discouraged, how can one live...and stay out of trouble. Self is smothered. Common sense is nonexistent. And there are some over-the-top moments--like when BO is being chased by literal polar bears. GRAMPS is the voice of reason AND yet comedic relief too.

On the other hand, it examines the justice or injustice system. If almost everything is illegal and it's almost impossible to avoid prison time in the first place, HOW does one rejoin society afterwards. Is one doomed to keep getting locked back up? Will families be forever broken? Will healing and reconciliation ever happen? Most of the crimes in the book are over-the-top ridiculous.

I will say that it ALSO showcases belief systems. GRAMPS world view was shaped by his upbringing, his experiences. He's witnessed GREAT, great change--none of it for the better. Bo loves his Gramps, but, he's been raised in a completely, totally different society with different values, morals, and laws. Bo has a hard time grasping how life could be any different. HE doesn't see what is glaringly wrong with society like readers can. It was definitely not an accident that the original audience for this YA novel would have been born in the 1990s just like Gramps.

This novel definitely has layers. One could almost pick ANY aspect of it and deep dive.


© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

50. Knife of Never Letting Go

50. The Knife of Never Letting Go. (Chaos Walking #1) Patrick Ness. 2008. 512 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don’t got nothing much to say. About anything.

The Knife of Never Letting Go is a science fiction novel for young adults. (What kind of science fiction? It's the colonizing other planets sort. Also the trying to survive sort. And the encountering alien sort.)

Here are a few things you should know before picking it up.

1) It is science fiction. It is set on another planet, aka "New World." The planet has a handful of small settlements, including Prentisstown, the hometown of our narrator/hero. The planet's biggest settlement is Haven.

2) Todd is our narrator. He is a few weeks away from his thirteenth birthday. He "becomes a Man" on his thirteenth birthday. He is an orphan being raised by two men, Cillian and Ben.

3) There are NO WOMEN in Prentisstown. Todd has been taught all his life that there was a plague or virus that killed all the women of the settlement.

4) A virus (perhaps the same virus that allegedly killed all the women?) has made it so that all the men can hear one another's thoughts all the time. This is called NOISE. It isn't just men, though, they can hear thoughts of animals too. Manchee is Todd's dog. And he's a bit too forthright to say the least!

5) The book is thriller-esque. It's essentially one big action-sequence from cover to cover. Well, perhaps it takes three or four chapters to get him on his way. But once he gets started...he stays going. It's an intense, action-packed book.

6) He doesn't go alone. Manchee, his faithful dog that he once didn't even want, is with him....but more importantly he meets Viola.

7) Viola basically "dropped from the sky" and right into his path. Viola is the sole survivor of the settler's scout ship. Her parents died in the crash. The ships with thousands of more settlers is about seven or so months behind the scout ship. Todd cannot hear Viola's noise. Viola is the first female he can remember seeing--apart from reading the memories of the men in his settlement--which is not the same thing I think you'll agree.

8) Both Viola and Todd are in GREAT DANGER. Why?????? Well, it has to do with SECRETS and SCHEMES and PLOTS. The mayor of Prentisstown is ambitious and manipulative....to pick two of his tamer qualities.

9) Todd has some internal conflict going on inside....he cannot bring himself to kill. So while I might have spent a good deal of time emphasizing the ACTION, ACTION, ACTION aspect of this one, that doesn't mean it is without characterization and complexity.

10) Be warned it doesn't really have an ending.

11) It has profanity. A good deal of profanity. For some people it may be off-putting enough to pass on the book. For others that might be a big non-issue.

12) Poor grammar is part of the world-building. This may or may not bother readers!  

The first time I read it, I was meh. I was bothered by the poor grammar and the profanity. The second time I read it, I definitely liked it much better. The third time I read it, I loved it. I was fully engaged and absorbing the world-making and the depths of the characters. I was paying attention to the relationships, the conversations, all the feels. Things that were both spoken and unspoken. 

I have been listening to a lot of Preacher Boys on YouTube. His podcast deals a lot with abuse in the Independent Fundamental Baptist denomination. Or "denomination" as the case may be since technically each church is independent and there is no infrastructure binding the churches together. As I was reading The Knife Of Never Letting Go, I couldn't help thinking that one or two of the settlements might portray a what if--what if an IFB church decided to colonize space and set up their own theocracy?!

So that was one thing running through my mind this time around, but also I thought of all the changes we've gone through the past few decades--in particular the internet, social media, and media itself. All the bits about NOISE felt like it could be talking about our society--in some ways.

This third read was definitely more thoughtful and philosophical. I found myself making lots of notes.

Quotes:

• The loud is a different kind of loud, because swamp loud is just curiosity, creachers figuring out who you are and if yer a threat. Whereas the town knows all about you already and wants to know more and wants to beat you with what it knows till how can you have any of yerself left at all?
• Men lie, and they lie to theirselves worst of all.
• Noise ain’t truth, Noise is what men want to be true, and there’s a difference twixt those two things so big that it could ruddy well kill you if you don’t watch out.
• The Church is why we’re all here on New World in the first place, of course, and pretty much every Sunday you can hear Aaron preaching about why we left behind the corrupshun and sin of Old World and about how we’d aimed to start a new life of purity and brotherhood in a whole new Eden. That worked out well, huh?
• Praying Noise comes from inside, it’s got a special feel to it, a special purply sick feel like men are bleeding it out, even tho it’s always the same stuff but the purply blood just keeps on coming. Help us, save us, forgive us, help us, save us, forgive us, get us outta here, please, God, please, God, please, God, tho as far as I know no one’s never heard no Noise back from this God fella.
• Noise is like grey fire behind him and you can’t pick out anything in it and he might be up to something, mightn’t he? The sermon might be covering for something and I’m beginning to wonder if I know what that something is.
• Men’s minds are messy places and Noise is like the active, breathing face of that mess. It’s what’s true and what’s believed and what’s imagined and what’s fantasized and it says one thing and a completely opposite thing at the same time and even tho the truth is definitely in there, how can you tell what’s true and what’s not when yer getting everything?
• The Noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, a man is just chaos walking.
• But a knife ain’t just a thing, is it? It’s a choice, it’s something you do. A knife says yes or no, cut or not, die or don’t. A knife takes a decision out of your hand and puts it in the world and it never goes back again.
• “History ain’t so important when yer just trying to survive,” I say, spitting it out under my breath. “That’s actually when it’s most important,” Hildy says, standing at the end of the table.
• “Men’s thoughts, Todd,” she says. “Men. And you notice he said he was going to ask the eldermen to come seek out your advice?” I get a horrible thought. “Did the women all die here, too?” “Oh, there’s women,” she says, fiddling with a butter knife. “They clean and they cook and they make babies and they all live in a big dormitory outside of town where they can’t interfere in men’s business.”
• He shakes his head. “What d’you think’s been driving you on? What d’you think’s got you this far?” “Fear,” Viola says. “Desperayshun,” I say. “No,” he says, taking us both in. “No, no, no. You’ve come farther than most people on this planet will do in their lifetimes. You’ve overcome obstacles and dangers and things that should’ve killed you. You’ve outrun an army and a madman and deadly illness and seen things most people will never see. How do you think you could have possibly come this far if you didn’t have hope?”
• “Everything on this planet talks to each other,” he says. “Everything. That’s what New World is. Informayshun, all the time, never stopping, whether you want it or not. The Spackle knew it, evolved to live with it, but we weren’t equipped for it. Not even close.
• And too much informayshun can drive a man mad. Too much informayshun becomes just Noise. And it never, never stops.
• “War is a monster,” he says, almost to himself. “War is the devil. It starts and it consumes and it grows and grows and grows.” He’s looking at me now. “And otherwise normal men become monsters, too.”
• Doing what’s right should be easy. It shouldn’t be just another big mess like everything else.
• She hurts. I know all this. I know it’s true. Cuz I can read her. I can read her Noise even tho she ain’t got none. I know who she is. I know Viola Eade. And I look at her sitting there and she looks across the river and we wait as the dawn fully arrives, each of us knowing. Each of us knowing the other.
• Hope may be the thing that pulls you forward, may be the thing that keeps you going, but that it’s dangerous, too, that it’s painful and risky, that it’s making a dare to the world and when has the world ever let us win a dare?
• “God works thru men,” Aaron says. “So does evil,” Viola says.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews