Captivating Character of the Month: February

April Masterson is my captivating character of the month for February. April is the protagonist of the psychological thriller Want to Know a Secret. Captivating isn't the best adjective to describe her though. Twisted would be better. This lady must have a personality disorder or two. 

The story opened spectacularly with YouTuber April Masterson receiving a threatening text message from an anonymous person. This person is close enough to April's house to see what's happening in her backyard. The text states that her son Bobby was not where April thought he was at. April had been distracted while filming an episode of her baking channel and she wasn't watching him. A frantic search by April and husband Elliott only ended when April knocked on a new neighbor's door. She was about to ask new neighbor Maria if she had seen her son when April eyes him playing with Maria's son Owen in their living room. 

April continued to receive anonymous texts but then began receiving negative comments on her You Tube videos. She appears to the outside world as the perfect woman. I fell for it in the beginning of the story but after awhile it seemed that something was off. No one is that perfect. April's new neighbor Maria definitely gives off bad vibes and we are led to believe that Maria might be the villain who is sending the text messages. I fell for that too. Initially it appeared that Maria had more secrets than April but then came Part 2.

This story is a perfect psychological thriller. It was hard to tell who all the psychopaths were. April, Maria and April's bestie all had secrets and I think all three of them were twisted. The ending of the book was shocking to put it mildly. I highly recommend that you read the book and get to know these ladies.

Captivating Character of the Month: January

This meme is hosted by Carol at the Reading Ladies blog. On the last Friday of the month, she writes a post about her most captivating character of the month and creates a Link Party on that post. 

The priestess Joia in Ken Follett's Circle of Days is my most captivating character for January. Joia was appropriately named. She is a joyful person who believes that anything is possible. If it wasn't for this trait Stonehenge would never have been built.

Some background on the story is necessary. Circle of Days takes place in 2500 BCE in England. It is a fictional account of how Stonehenge could have been constructed. The book opens with the character Seft experiencing abuse from his flint making father and brothers. He decides to escape his family and runs toward the herding community. Seft settles there and marries the love of his life Neen. Neen’s sister is Joia. Joia becomes prominent in the book when she decides to join the priestesses who dance around a wooden monument.

After the wooden monument is destroyed, Joia dreams of building a new one, one that is permanent. However, the lead priestess opposes the idea. When the leader of the priestesses dies, Joia campaigns to take her place. She gets her wish when the priestesses elect her to be their leader. One of the reasons why Joia is overwhelmingly elected is her friendliness toward her fellow priestesses. They all love her. 

Joia is a woman with vision and an ability to lead. Her vision of a stone monument inspires Seft to come up with ideas on how it could be built. Her fellow priestesses follow her wholeheartedly in this challenge. All of us know someone like Joia so it stands to reason that she is my favorite character of the month.

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