Flasks and Fiction

The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Other Einstein, in the same realm as The Paris Wife and The Aviator's Wife, explores Albert Einstein's first marriage with Mileva Maric. Besides basic background biographical information not much is actually known about Maric, specifically her marriage, so Benedict set out to fill in the gaps with a fictional telling of her life. As a woman currently in graduate school for chemistry, I love stories about the first females in science. It's much easier today, but most scientific fields are still male dominated. Mileva faced the worst of the discrimination, first in school and then even eventually from her own husband. She is a strong heroine and I related strongly with her ability to face challenges head on. If she was a modern woman I have no doubt she would never have even married Einstein and chosen to raise their daughter on her own. Instead, she's trapped in a loveless relationship t...

The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti My rating: 5 of 5 stars One of my favorite thrillers so far this year! Zoe Whittaker left her life in California behind five years ago to escape retribution for testifying at a trial. Now, in the present day, she's married to a wealthy husband and living the life her and her adopted mother had always dreamed about. That is, until one day her past starts catching up with her. I hate hate hate thrillers were the main character is deliberately stupid. Usually this helps keep the reader uniformed, but is still thoroughly irritating to me as a reader, I just want to grab the character by the shoulders and shake them. Luckily, Zoe is far from stupid for the most part. She's intuitive and capable of figuring her own life out. Perhaps a little too trusting, but that would be where the plot comes in. The book moves forward at a steady clip throwing small life changing secrets in just when you're craving something more. I also ...

The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson My rating: 3 of 5 stars The Most Dangerous Place on Earth, set in quiet Mill Valley, California, was a book I wanted to hate but ended up liking... kind of. The book skips between characters giving you a small window in the lives of both high school students and their teachers. The story of these spoiled teenagers jumps from a tragedy in 8th grade to 11th grade as the students are preparing to take the SATs and apply to colleges. Perhaps, some of the best books have little to no plot development and are essentially about nothing more than the characters themselves. This was a book that tried to be one of those best books but fell a little short. The opening of the book made one think that the entirety of the novel would focus around Calista and her feelings on the fall out from a classmates cyberbullying and subsequent suicide. Fast forward from 8th to 11th grade, Calista is barely mentioned again, the reader ...

The Girl from the Sea by Shalini Boland My rating: 4 of 5 stars The first thing Mia remembers is waking up on a beach one morning. She doesn't know her name or how she ended up there. Luckily, her boyfriend, Piers, claims her at the hospital and brings her home. As the days go by with only a few memories coming back, Mia is forced to start new relationships with those who know her already. This new cast of characters, from her mother and sister to her rowing friend, Jack, all seem to be keeping pieces of information from Mia. The Girl from the Sea flowed so naturally from scene to scene that there was never really a dull moment. Mia is a strong character, very capable of making good decisions for herself, which is why I found some of her actions a little silly. I know she was trying to rediscover her past but she seemed a little impulsive, especially when it came to relationships. Seeing as how this book happened mostly over a few week period, Mia jumped into re...

Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger My rating: 4 of 5 stars During a hike on a family vacation, two men shoot Abbey's brother and father and drag her off into the woods. Nearly 10 months later after her disappearance, Abbey's mother hires local psychic, Finley, to find her daughter. Having recently moved in with her grandmother, Eloise, who is also a psychic, Finley struggles with her first case. I loved the paranormal twist on the traditional thriller novel. Finley was a great character who struggled just as much with what she was seeing/hearing as the reader. In the end, although I knew what was coming, there were plenty of unexpected small twists to keep me reading. The conclusion to the mystery was a little confusing, though, and I had to keep going back to make sure I didn't miss something. Unger did clarify everything after the fact in the days following the climax, I just thought the action got a little too chaotic. It did bother me that the missing girl...

When In Rome...Find Yourself by Lena Mae Hill My rating: 1.5 stars College student Rory is heading off to Rome for a summer study abroad trip. After a heart break in the somewhat recent past, she's sworn off all boys, so she's just there to make new friends and enjoy Europe. Of course, all of that changes when she starts to fall for her housemate, Ned. I usually love silly teen romance novels but this was a huge miss for me. At the beginning I understood Rory's social anxiety and sympathized when she struggled to fit in with the group from her school. It went past relatable to annoying really fast, though. The breaking point was when Rory misses a few calls from her parents and then when they don't answer after she calls back, goes into a state of such anxiety that she's convinced herself she's the worst daughter ever and her parents hate her, etc. I've been there and would have understood if the anxiety had stemmed from worrying that someone at...