Phyllis

The second book in the “Heartstopper” series is okay, but isn't as poignant as the first book. There's some nice discussions about what it means to come out and how hard it can be, but the ending of this book, in which Nick walks away from almost all his friends, comes out, and decides to make things official with Charlie, moves too quickly.

You shouldn't judge a book by its absolutely gorgeous cover (or title for that matter).

I was so hopeful about this YA Goodreads favorite from 2021. The premise sounded good and it is nice to receive a contemporary story about Ashinaabe in Michigan.

There are a lot of triggers in here you may want to chat about your teen with, especially if they are a younger teen. Multiple overdoses, making drugs, witnessing the shooting of a friend, and rape. And I'll throw in insta love because that's a romance trope that I find triggering. My issue is not that these very difficult subjects are in the book, but I think too many were thrown in. What bothered some other reviewers, that these difficult topics are glossed over, actually seems very realistic to me both from the viewpoint of how the Ashinaabe people are treated by non-tribal people and how girls and women are almost expendable when their lives are taken from them.

In some ways, Daunis is an interesting lead character. She was once a very good hockey player and hasn't followed the typical path so many other girls her age.

Susanna Clarke's first book, “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell” was absolutely amazing. A truly un-put-downable read.

When I learned that “Piranesi” was coming out, I was very excited. But, I guess not reading as much during the pandemic (because I had to work as much, if not more, than before) and life after got in the way.

Finally, when I'm not actually pressured to hit my reading goal this year because I've already surpassed it, I decided to finally turn my attention to “Piranesi.”

There are some beautiful meditative portions of this book. And center of the book was particularly good. But, it took me quite a while to get past the first third and the last third could've been chopped off without harming the story. Perhaps, if this had been a novella, that would have been a much tighter tale.

This is a really cute YA comic about making a new friend, how important supportive/caring family and friends are, and being honest with yourself. About knowing you have the strength to walk away from what's not right for you or walking towards what is right for you.

Alice Osman does a great job of building up the friendship between Charlie and Nick, as well as creating a truly believable basis for romance. The fear kids face about not fitting in is really accurately depicted in this comic. Thinking about the 10 and 12 year old in my house, I'd feel comfortable with them reading this book even though there is one swear and a few pages that will make them very uncomfortable.

The only real negative is that the pages with longer text messages are hard to read because of the color choice. This is probably me being old! Ha!

I recently watched the movie version of “The Wild Robot” and loved the wonderful story and amazing visual art. It was a no brainer to put the book on hold at the library.

The story is incredibly touching and would be great to read to younger kids in addition to being fun to read alone. The artwork is delightful! And I cried at least twice, even though I knew the story. Highly recommend!

I'm having a tough time rating this book. And here's why.

1. Tia Williams CAN WRITE. When she's really in the groove, in one sentence, she is hilarious, keenly observant, and pulling at your heartstrings. The first two pages of the book are worth checking out this book (for adults only!). The next few chapters did a great job of setting up the characters and hinting at the story. Despite what I'm going to lay out in this review, I will most certainly try a few of her other books.

2. Sometimes, additional points-of-view don't add to the story. There are two character featured in single chapters and I think both could have been removed without affecting the story. No stars deducted.

3. Second-chance romances are probably my favorite type of romance (here's looking at you, “Persuasion”). There's so much that can be done with character growth and blending different settings/times/characters. I wouldn't say that “Seven Days in June” qualifies. A week-long bender (and the only time Eva and Shane spend together the first time around) leading to the near-death of Eva doesn't qualify in my mind. Both of them already had serious self-harming behavior, addictions, and lack of family support (that's putting it mildly for Shane), so things in common? Yeah, but do they really establish a relationship? My vote is no. Also, the reason Eva “hated” Shane for leaving didn't make any sense. She knew that they were squatting in a giant house in a room laden with drugs, never mind both of them being super high and her ODing at the end of the week. Did she really think he should have stuck around given his personal situation as a runaway from the orphan's home?

4. Both Shane and Eva use writing, heading in totally different directions, as a way to work out all the feelings they have about themselves and the other person.

5. The current-day romance is underwhelming. Is the chemistry great and sex hot? Yes, but neither character is really open to or easy for a relationship. They're still working on keeping addiction at bay and they turn to co-dependency?

6. The ending was too sappy, but I also get this is what the reading public wants. The almost-ending, where Ewa recognizes she's not ready to start a serious relationship with Shane and follows her family's story, was GREAT. It is a happy ending to choose yourself and a creative idea that had been lurking for months. If Shane was THE GUY, he'd be there for her down the road.

7. It was really brave of the author to let Eva show us what living with ultra chronic migraines is like. Until recently, this is something Tia Williams kept under wraps. I cannot think of another book I've read that went into what life with such a debilitating condition is like.

8. Some other reviews docked this book for including lots of brand references. However, I think they made sense. Shane's running accoutrements were a piece of his sober armor. And Eva's fancier clothes were her armor at public events to both hide her disability and give her the gumption to speak in public. The only reference that hit me wrong was “Windex eyes.“

My 7th grade almost stepson is currently reading “Freak the Mighty” for school and excitedly encouraged me to pick it up so we could talk about it.

At first, I found the language a little unusual even for a middle grade book, but then we are reading about Max Kane's world in his voice. Without ruining the story, it's an “unvanquished” book about friendship and family that had me crying by the end. It's definitely recommended for 6th grade and up.

And don't skip the last 8 pages!

The synopsis is compelling. As is the opening page's warning: “This is not for you.”

After reading the intro and some of the first chapter, then flipping through the rest if the book to see what lay in wait, I decided to turn the book back in to the library.

In my 20s, I probably would have stuck with this book because it's clearly intended to be a challenge. A challenge in the form of a big middle finger to the reader. As a previous spinster-cat-lady-turned-stepmom-of-3, I cannot devote the attention this gauntlet requires. Maybe one day, I'll give it another go, but until then, one less book on my list of almost 2,100 to read!

At one point in time, I would have listed Stephen King as one of my favorite authors. In particular, I've song praises about his amazing ability to write compelling short stories and not just those that either keep you awake or give you nightmares. I'm not sure how much time King spent on these stories, but they seem not fully formed. Although I nearly gave up on King's books after reading the truly awful “Tommyknockers,” I will continue with other new releases as I've enjoyed “Fairy Tale” and “The Outsider,” amongst others.

The first story in “If It Bleeds” was odd. Just about everything in the story seemed set in the 1950s or 1960s except for the references to modern technology. I find it hard to believe that a man in his 60s who had been a major player in the business world had not used a cell phone or the internet by the late aughts. I was hoping the story might go the route of the cell phone turning against Mr. Harrigan in retribution for his years of harsh business practices, but no dice.

I tried to read “The Life of Chuck” and it was just boring. Shouldn't the end of the world be more exciting or would everyone go about their business?

After being disappointed by the first two stories, I flipped through the last two stories (Holly Gibney is not my favorite King character and she keeps showing up!) and then back the book went as this is the season of moving quickly to DNF when a book isn't doing it for me.

The premise sounded interesting, so I thought, why not?

Why not, indeed.

The main character and her classmates are close to my age, yet nothing these characters say or do (other than listening to Duran Duran) seemed mid-80s to me. In fact, there was little differentiation between the way characters spoke.

“When We Were Silent” was inspired by the 1990's true story of a swimming coach who abused the children he was supposed to be training. The book is about that story and how the silence of the abused isn't just from fear, but also from other people keeping you silent.
If a book isn't well-written, any subject matter, no matter how important, is going your way fall flat. And that's what happened here.

At some point in the last year, I started Nick Cutter's “The Troop” on audiobook and enjoyed the equivalent of the first few chapters enough to move to checking out the physical copy.

From the first chapter, we find out that there's a man on the loose who has an insatiable hunger beyond anything the typical human experiences. We also meet Scoutmaster Tim, and a troop of 5 14 year-old boys who are already on an island near Prince Edward Island in Canada. The ever-dwindling man shows up on the island and things go sideways pretty quickly.

Now, this is all a good premise for a pretty scary tale and I'm a sucker for coming of age stories. However, Nick Cutter just went too far! And that's saying something when the first blurb on the cover is a strong recommendation from Stephen King.

I found it hard to believe that Scoutmaster/Doctor Tim would make so many bad decisions before he was infected. Would you bring a clearly ill and possibly deranged adult male into a cabin where your 5 young charges are staying?

The devolution of Shelley was ludicrous and seemed like an excuse to throw in tons of very disturbing animal abuse (I had to skim these because they were so graphic). It also didn't make sense that not one person ever figured out that Shel was so supremely evil and shouldn't have been in the Scouts (or just about anywhere).

The news articles, interviews, and other bumpers between chapters actually took away from the momentum of the story and shared information that want really necessary.

In fact, most of the characters fell into stereotypes and weren't very well fleshed out. And the ending, well, it was too much and not enough. I'm not sure I'll be reading any more of this author's books, although I still have one of his other books (not under this pen name) on my to-read list.

A friend, who I believe has pretty good taste in and similar taste to mine in books, recommended this memoir as a recent favorite. Because it's a busy time at work, I decided to check out the audiobook version from library.

After getting through about 25% of the book, I decided to return it because this really isn't the kind of story I feel like reading right now. I do appreciate the author being open about her struggles with addiction and the changes in her life that led to her going to prison. The end up just not being for me! Or maybe not me at this time.

Marcie Rendon uses language sparingly, perhaps because her main character, Cash, only has more than a few syllables for the few humans she trusts most. And who can blame a young woman dragged through the 1960's foster system in rural Minnesota where indigenous children were treated worse than many of the farm animals the children cared for? How much can a person communicate when most of the people you run into hit you with racial slurs, sexism, and come-ons?

The repetition of Cash's day-to-day existence (wake up, smoke, work, drink beer, play pool, rinse, repeat) might seem dull unless you consider that Cash is young, hard-working, and doesn't have much. When I was first on my own, the days were sometimes like Cash's because I didn't have much money to do the things I could afford by my later twenties.and if you're a young woman who believes her future will be no different than today, then the long barrel of same, same, same makes sense.

The resolution to the murder at the center of the story seemed a little too easy to figure out, but the story of the Day Dodge family was really heartbreaking and sticks with me after the book ended.

“Starling House” is the best gothic noveI I have read in a long time. Which feels funny to say because the main action of the book is set in current times and my brain assumes gothic novels should be set in the distant past, full of rotting castles and maidens fair.

The book is packed with rich, loamy writing that was a pleasure to dive into like a pile of autumn leaves. The characters are well-drawn; more than that, their voices breathe through the page.

Despite the dark and horrific events of the novel, there's quite a bit of humor woven throughout. Many of the characters made me laugh out loud, which was totally unexpected.

Some reviewers have complained about the ending, but I liked the idea of deciding to recognize and conquer fear as the solution. That some ghosts are our own creation.

Now onto tropes.

Sometimes, you think certain tropes in literature are just annoying and not for you. Right before reading “ Starling House,” I read Abby Jimenez's “Just for the Summer.” Although the books come from different genres, they do have similarities. Alternating points of view between two main characters who develop a love interest. A seemingly independent and strong female main character who doesn't like help, but needs it. A male main character who goes out of his way to support and help the female main character. Orphans who think they have little to no extended family. Found family.

“Just for the Summer” was intensely stupid and hit the reader over the head with psychobabble and performative trauma unpacking. The characters in “Sterling House“ are introduced to the reader as carrying a heavy load, but they're don't whine about it; they fight. The found family in JFTS is family because the author says so. Whereas the relationships in SH feel real and solid and never come off as overly perfect.

So, maybe what I'm saying is that tropes work just fine in a skillful author's hands. An earlier book of Alix Harrow's has been on my to-read list for awhile, so I'll be moving that up in priority.

Couldn't get into this one.

“Just for the Summer” has received rave review after rave review. And I'm trying to figure out why.

Sure, the initial premise could have gone somewhere cute, but instead it went to insta-love (after a few DMs), endless trauma unpacking, etc. It was truly exhausting and annoying instead of a fun summer romp.

To come

Although “The House on Needless Street” is billed as a horror novel a la Stephen King, I submit that it's more of a psychological thriller.

Catriona Ward does a nice job switching points of view between characters and packs enough suspense in each, short chapter to keep the reader paging on.

About a third of the way through, I guessed at most of the twist, but that could be because I watched and studied the movie “Sybil” back in high school psychology class. Dee's backstory and end were a surprise and somewhat disappointing.

Ultimately, this was a good fall read for shorter days as we edge into spooky season.

“Sipsworth” gives the reader just that. We first meet Helen when she returns to her hometown after decades in Australia. Each day is a set routine centered around tv and radio programs or mealtimes. Other than limited interactions at the grocery store, Helen's life is lonely. The first few chapters are an accurate depiction of the daily lives of many elderly people, which seems to have put some readers off the book.

After finding a mouse nesting near a discarded toy almost identical to one her son played with, Helen begins opening her heart back up to the world and life after being so close to turning her back on both. She's able to reexamine happy and sad moments from her life and realize that there is something to look forward to. Having been a spinster cat lady for many years, I can understand the positive impact of a pet.

In the acknowledgements, the author mentions that he wrote the story while at a hospital in London. While no mice came to stay during his visit, it's pretty interesting to imagine Van Booy being inspired by an older staff member and their possible life outside the hospital.

My 10-year old's science class is reading this book and I was TOLD I should read it, too! Okay, then!

Jennifer Holm does a nice job weaving what appears, at first, to be a fun story but actually has more serious topics peeping through. Such as growing apart from a childhood best friend and making a new friend you at first think seems weird and scary. Or parents who are no longer together and are making their way on different paths. And the double-edged sword of scientific progress.

But, most of all, read this book to meet MERVIN! Mervin Sagarsky is a riot and a treasure who stole just about every scene. He will certainly make readers of most ages laugh.

I look forward to turning my book report into my stepdaughter and getting her thoughts, as well as reading the next book in the series.

“Dreadful's” premise is great and the first few chapters delivered. Waking up with amnesia and finding you don't like the fashion or decorating choices of your Dark Wizard Dread Lord Gavrax former self was fun.

The goblins were probably my favorite, although I also enjoyed the village Mayor and her enterprising populace (garlic, anyone?).

Unfortunately, we spend too much time navel gazing with Gav and listening to him ask a princess he's kidnapped and locked up in a dungeon whether she'd like him if.... More than once. More than twice.

Also, I would have really enjoyed Gav staying at his castle and continuing to work to make it better instead of just hitting the road with no plan and a teenage princess in tow who suddenly has all kind of agency vs a princess who, days before, is so precious that her father sent brigades of heroes and a White Wizard to save.

My Great Books Book Club chose this Edgar Award winning book for our October meeting. I am usually cramming the monthly selection in the day before or day of our monthly meeting (and sometimes after!), but finished this selection several weeks early.

From the first page, I was rather turned off by what seemed like an impenetrable story; Faith Severn, our narrator, refers to various people or events in the first few chapters as though the reader ought to know all about them. Flicking back, thinking I'd been distracted, I could not unearth information it seemed I should have picked up. At that early stage of reading the book, I kept asking myself how this book won a major award and whether it might be akin to the Booker Prize winners I have desperately not enjoyed. In fact, the wall of wandering family history in the third chapter nearly put me off the book entirely. However, after sticking with it, I was rewarded by a layered and unusually, as well as masterfully, crafted story. I later realized that Faith was a Longley woman and had taken on this very style of storytelling (or not telling) from her Aunt Vera and Aunt Eden.

As I moved through the book, Vine dropped little crumbs that sometimes added to the mystery or peeled away another layer of onion skin. Even from the beginning, family members take on slightly sinister aspects and, in my opinion, just about every given name and surname created misdirection on who a character really is. These dark portents are what hooked me.

Two more slights of hand come with the almost sidebar, but intriguing, stories of the missing toddlers Kathleen March and Sunny Durham. These two tales cast more doubt on Vera's innocence; even when we learn who the likely killer of both girls is, the inky undercurrents of both little girls' deaths ebb forward.

The framework of an author prospecting a family scandal that the narrator had never been able to or allowed to fully explore worked well in Vine's capable hands. Motives and events that weren't clear due to Faith's age, family position, location, and/or family members' sense of propriety or willful misdirection emerge from Faith's review of source letters and interviews, as well as careful re-examination of her own memories.

Yet we end “A Dark-Adapted Eye” without an absolute answer on a central mystery of Jamie's parentage. Brilliant! Here I sit, still pondering so many questions. Could Vera truly have induced lactation without having a child of her own? Was the birth certificate that Eden brandished at Vera authentic or a forgery? Stepping back to Vera's first child, the seemingly sociopathic Francis, how could a woman who so poorly mothered her first child and evilly aunted Faith also be the beaming epitome of perfect motherhood for Jamie? What else may have happened to Vera before or during her time in India that Faith never uncovers?

I'm truly glad I stuck with this book and recommend it for anyone looking for a bit of a challenge (this is no bon bon beach read).


“A Dark-Adapted Eye” Discussion Questions (I wrote these questions to share with my Great Books Book Club at our October 2024 meeting and will update once the other book club member working on questions provides them )

1. What is a dark-adapted eye in terms of biology? How does that concept relate to the title and story?
2. Ruth Rendell was known for writing a detective series and other relatively traditional mysteries in which a murder occurs at the beginning and the murderers identity is revealed towards the end. Rendell chose the pen name Barbara Vine to write a different style of mystery, which some consider “softer” or focused more on psychological drama. How effective is a (and this) mystery that begins with knowing who the murderer is vs a more traditional structure?
3. What is the meaning of the main character names? Do the names' meanings represent their owner properly in terms of the story? (I.e. Vera, Vranni, Edith/Eden, Faith, Helen, Gerald, Andrew, Francis, Jamie). How about various surnames (Chateriss, Hillyard, Langley, Severn, Pearmain)?
4. Is Faith Severn a reliable narrator?
5. Why do you think Barbara Vine chose to create such a confusing and labrynthine family history? By the end of the book, did you feel like you understood the family structure better?
6. What is the impact of social classes on the book?
7. How did setting the story during and around World War II affect the events of the novel? If the novel had been set when it was released, in the mid-1980s, would the story have unraveled differently?
8. Did you find it odd that the writer, Daniel Stewart, decided to abandon the book project after finding out the family secret?
9. Who is Jamie's mother and why do you think so? Does the author ever reveal the truth to the reader absolutely?

Interesting Blog Posts & Links:

https://www.criminalelement.com/the-edgar-awards-revisited-a-dark-adapted-eye-by-barbara-vine-best-novel-1987/

https://crimereads.com/queer-texas-barbara-vine/

Almost complete family tree from a nice Goodreads person: https://www.goodreads.com/questions/432242-i-am-totally-lost-in-the-family-genealogy

The author has a free YouTube channel and I believe some paid courses. She's very personable and brings a welcoming vibe both online and in this book.

Sometimes, a blank piece of paper, whether loose or in a sketchbook, can be daunting. Your brain can lock up or just draw the same old tree/house/thingy you already know. This book is intended to help inspire you to try different exercises or information to unlock your personal creativity.

This summer, while the kids were out of school, we tried to do art together at least once a week, sometimes at the forest preserve. We didn't always do the same thing or use the same mediums, but we did share books like this one to generate ideas.

Because I had so many library books out at once, I only chose a few of the 100 sketchbook ideas to try. I'd like to check this book out again in the future to spend more time with it.

I first read this book somewhere between second and fourth grade. My mom gave me the paperback copy from her classroom library (her days of teaching school ended before I was born). I was excited to read the book again (about 40 years later) and discuss it with my Great Books book club today.

What a great discussion it was! I was a little surprised at the depth we were able to go, and that discussion certainly improved my view of the book.

I think it's important to take a step back and think about a book and the time it was released. When “A Wrinkle in Time“ was published in 1962, it was revolutionary for young adult fiction. Young girls were rarely encouraged to be different and to furthermore celebrate their otherness and certainly were not encouraged to use their anger or exploit their faults. In addition, most Science Fiction writers were men, which probably explains why it took so long for L'Engle to find a publisher for the book. Even in the ‘80s, we did not have the plethora of fantasy and science fiction books that kids today do. In fact, one thing that the members of the book club mentioned was that most of our young adult reading was from the Victorian era!

First, I want focus on some of my favorite things about this book.

I love that the book starts off with “it was a dark and stormy night” and sets a tone of uncertainty, a feeling of not being safe, and letting the reader know that Meg's day at school was rather bad. This is a great way to draw the reader in and explore the backstory of several of our main characters. We also learned that Meg's father is missing and some of the small town folks, including the very inappropriate principal, feel it's totally cool to scold Meg for not accepting that her father may have left the family. This would've been a pretty hairy topic in the early 60s; in the vast majority of books aimed at kids during that time, a parent was not around because they were dead.

As we move through the story, character development and worldbuilding are pretty solid. The Ray Bradbury-esque description of the sameness of Camazotzians to the comforting tentacles of the Aunt Beast on Ixchel were outstanding.

The late 1950s/early 1960s were a time that many Americans were still struggling to assimilate into the melting pot. At the same time, there was a backlash against Communism any threat of being forced to be all the same. Quite an interesting dichotomy that I think comes out in this book whether intentional or not.

There was also a huge interest in science and space full of so many unknowns. It's key that Meg has a working scientist mother, which was unusual.

What's also striking in this book are the themes of adapting when you can't see (Mr. Murray and Mrs. Who's glasses) or communicating with creatures or people that don't speak the same language or live in a very different world. Although self-reliance is important in this book, there's also an emphasis on working with friends and family when challenges arise. While themes like this are common in today's YA literature, I would say they were ground-breaking at the time the book was released.

Now onto what I didn't like.

Sometimes the language felt too simple, especially given some of the quotes or ideas presented.

Meg was super annoying at times (you know it's bad when Aunt Beast won't hug you) and I suppose L'Engle wanted to present a teenager struggling with large and difficult situations, but I didn't find myself rooting for her as I think I was supposed to!

“Love conquers all” saves the day - I wish some other method of saving Charles Wallace could have been the answer.

If I weren't to consider this book in historical context, I find it's not as excellent a book and likely wouldn't win a Newbery metal today. However, I don't think that's necessarily fair. Would there be a Harry Potter or the oodles of other YA fiction so popular today without AWIT to pave the way?

At the end of the day, I still think this book is worthwhile for 4th to 6th graders to read because it does spark the imagination and has valuable themes. I hope that my 10 and 12-year-old step kids will end up reading the book at some point and let me know what they think.

Discussion Questions another group member put together:

1. Madeleine L'Engle had trouble finding a publisher for this book. No one knew who the book was for and didn't know how to market it. L'Engle said, “It's for people don't people read book?” Who do you think the book is for? How would you categorize it?
2. What are your thoughts on L'Engle's writing style? Were you at all surprised by the way in which science is depicted and discussed in the book? What do you make of “It was a dark and stormy night,” as the opening line of the book?
3. “A Wrinkle in Time” was written from 1950-1960 and published in 1962. What were some parallels of the global and domestic stage at the time that are reflected in the novel? Do you find any of these parallels relevant today?
4. Sight is a recurring theme in the novel. What do you think L'Engle is trying to say regarding vision/blindness literal and metaphorical? What did you make of the juxtaposition of Mr. Murray needing special glasses to see his children vs Aunt Beast and the species that do not have a sense of sight as we do?
5. “A Wrinkle in Time” is often found on banned books lists. Why do you think the book is banned?  
6. A major theme of the novel good vs evil. Do you see this as a religious parable or social commentary? Did you find this message complex or oversimplified?
7. L'Engle references quite a few classic pieces of literature and the Bible, often through Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which. Do you think these three characters were inspired by Biblical or literary characters?
8. L'Engle also touches on feelings of alienation. Meg worries that her father has abandoned the family; Charles Wallace unsettles most people due to his odd personality and preternatural maturity. Fear of the “other” is seen through Meg and Calvin as they are initially terrified by the citizens controlled by IT on Camazotz. If the novel were written today, how do you think these feelings would be addressed in modern terminology?
9. Meg is a flawed person. Does her character feel well-developed in this story? Do you admire Meg? Why or why not?
10. What are your thoughts on Charles Wallace? Did your impression of him change from the beginning to the end of the novel?
LINKS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIFmuIsjGME
https://youtu.be/LxhW3-vXDsk?si=8lQFPVJxjXPTt-fW
https://youtu.be/D0AjelTAcMk?si=Me-7ZNWkTlF1QdEf

This is a real hum dinger of a book and one of the most compelling non-fiction books I've read in some time. I gobbled down this book in less than three days and hated putting it down.

Not only have I been to Ottawa, IL, previous home of Radium Dial Corporation and later Luminous Processes, but my fiancée's grandmother and/or great-grandmother was a Radium Girl at one of those very plants. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any surviving written records about their stories. Also, one of the surviving relatives of an Ottawan Radium Girl featured in the book is related to my fiancée.

The tale of each Radium Girl is both beautiful and heartbreaking. At first, their jobs as radium dial painters is lit by glamour; Radium Girls' clothes and bodies glowed when they went out on the town at night. The author does a fantastic job of humanizing each of the girls so that you can better understand the tragedy and a personal way, although the handful of photos and descriptions of what happened to these young women's bodies is heartbreaking enough.

The following article does a nice job summarizing some of the the Ottawan Radium Girls' stories and their ultimate impact on state workers compensation coverage, as well as eventually establishing OSHA:

https://www.nprillinois.org/equity-justice/2018-01-25/the-radium-girls-an-illinois-tragedy