Joe's #3: Scarlet (the King Raven, Book 2)

I bought the first book in this series with a touch of apprehension. I love the Robin Hood tale and enjoy fresh takes on old ideas. I loved the first book. Stephen Lawhead is at his best when he is telling a rip roaring story of love, adventure, battles and human issues. He achieves that in the first book. In Scarlet though he reminded me why I didn't like his King Arthur series. This book was a chore to finish for me. The plot itself is intriguing but the delivery lacks. The story is told from the first person POV of Will Scatlocke (Scarlet). Occasionally the book will drop back into a third person POV and actually move forward but when "Ole Will" is telling the story it's slow and painful. I just didn't like it. Love, battles, human intrigue; they're all in there, they're just buried under a mountain of unnessary words and terrible tempo.

It does end with a cliffhanger and I know that people are raving about the third book so I'm hoping Lawhead will right the ship with that one.

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Joe's #2: I Hate You. Don't Leave Me

This book was first recommended to me to by one of my professors in my Counseling program.  I find that while her and I agree on the bigger issues we often nuance it differently. This book is no different. I found it to be a quick read (less than two days) and I will probably re-read sections again and there were sections that I outright dismissed and will probably never visit again. It deals with the issue of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). A little outdated (the book still refers to the DSM-III and we’re about to get #5), this book evokes strong reactions from both those who suffer from BPD and those who strive to treat it. I like that fact.

A little controversy is never a bad thing and this book proves that once again. This book does a good job of giving an overview of BPD and what it is like to live with someone who has it and love that person.  People who are living with someone who has BPD, will find some good insights in the book.  I also like the fact that the author does put the responsibility for a person’s actions on their own shoulders although I’d like to see this more nuanced in the book.

A few negatives are the date of the book, which is not the books fault and also is probably a contributing factor to the relative inexpensive price tag.  One con for me on this book is that he essentially says that BPD is untreatable. This was a commonly held belief in the field when BPD was first diagnosed. That has changed over the last 20 years.

All in all, I would say this a good book for someone who wants to become more familiar with what BPD is and how to live with someone who has it.  There are other books out there that are better at it from a scientific point of view. Of course, they also come with a much higher price tag.

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