Turn the Page...Tuesday

Oh my gosh! Adrienne's back! I'm so excited for her first Turn the Page...Tuesday in a really long time! Here we go!

Tell me Something True ~ Leila Cobo

After the death of her mother in a tragic plane wreck, Gabriella was raised by her dad in Los Angeles, spending a month every year with her maternal grandmother in Cali, Columbia. Now, as a young adult, Gabriella is back at her grandmothers for her yearly visit. Her grandmother lets her know that the old family house is scheduled for demolition, so Gabriella goes to the house to have one last moment there. While there, she finds a box pushed far back on a shelf in her mothers old closet. Pulling it down, she finds that it is the purse her mom was carrying on the flight that night, never opened by her grandmother. Inside the purse is a red, leather bound diary that starts out when Gabriella is born and is written to her. As she reads, she uncovers an affair her mom was having in the last several months of her life. This knowledge is devastating to Gabriella and makes her angry with her grandmother, who knew about the affair as well. In a bit of rebellion, Gabriella decides to go against her grandmothers wishes and continue to see a young man she met at a party. Angel is handsome and nice, but with some scary secrets of his own. 

I loved Gabriella. She was the perfect heroine for this novel, beautiful, sweet and a bit naive. Both stories, the backstory in the diary, and the present day story, were equally intriguing. A moving peek into another world, where you great love can be found, but where it can be dangerous to simply be out in public. I look forward to reading more by this author. 

China Dolls ~ Lisa See

Grace has been raised in the mid-west but finds herself in San Francisco when she runs away to escape from her abusive father. In her hometown, Grace has won numerous dance contests and dreams of being a big star, so San Francisco during the World Exposition of the late 1930's seems to be a great place to go, but Grace is told there is no openings for a Chinese girl so she makes her way to Chinatown where she meets and befriends Helen and Ruby. Together the three girls audition as dancers at The Forbidden City, an exclusive Oriental nightclub that is opening right outside of Chinatown. The story then takes us through the ups and downs of friendship, the nightclub world, and a world at war. The US has not yet entered into the war, but when Pearl Harbor is bombed everything changes.

Lisa See does such a fantastic job of bringing depth to her characters. Grace was my favorite but I loved Ruby and Helen as well. It's a great author that can make you feel the joy and pain of the people she writes about. Historical fiction is my favorite genre and China Dolls took me right to the heart of the 1940's. You will be laughing and crying with these girls and at times your heart will break for what they endured and what they put each other through. This was a very emotional story that I couldn't put down. Well done!

I'm so thankful to have received this book as an Advanced Reader's Edition from Goodreads. Know that what I stated in my review would have been said the same had I purchased this book full price from the shelf of any bookstore. It was fantastic!

What have you been reading? Pop on over to Adrienne's place at Some of a Kind to see what others have been reading and to join in the fun!