Review: A New Kind of Heroine
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 4, 2014
Alex Crane is not a nice woman. She has an incredibly inflated opinion of herself, and thinks very little of most other people. The only person she has ever really loved is her late grandfather, who died when she was four, and her lifelong best friend Lizzy. Alex is not in love with her husband, who would do anything for her. Her world seems centered on exactly what she cannot have.So it's a real surprise how much I actually liked Alex. There's something about her arrogance and single-mindedness that's absolutely compelling. She approaches her world with a fascinating mix of contempt and longing. Where she loves, she loves fiercely.B. A. Spicer surrounds her protagonist with a cast of characters designed to bring out the very worst in her. A loving but ineffectual father. A superficial mother, who, as Alex sees it, did not offer unconditional love when it was needed most. And a grandmother who is by turns haughty and pathetic. Add to this family secrets and personal enmities going back for decades, and you've the makings of a lot of great drama.When Alex finally sees a chance to fulfill her heart's desire, she doesn't allow anything to stand in her way. Spicer's tight plotting and expert pacing build an amazing amount of tension. And she manages this without sacrificing beautiful language. By the final chapters of the book, I was clicking the "next page" button on my Kindle so fast, I was surprised there wasn't smoke coming from it.I really loved this book. So much that it's one of the few I can see myself rereading.