There are some funny bits and it kept my interest. If you could sum up The Fixer Upper in three words, what would they be? How does this one compare? I have not listened to any of her other performances but will add her to my list.
It is an easy listen, lighthearted story. Feelgood Southern Romance. Would you recommend The Fixer Upper to your friends? Why or why not?
I'd recommend this to those who want a traditional romance with a touch of Southern comfort not the drink and hospitality. There is a satisfying story-line of corrupt politicians and lobbyists being chased by the FBI as well as predictable but sweet themes of a woman finding courage, romance and a sense of self and belonging. I guess this is a 'New Southern' book, a little nostalgic but also gently aware of prejudices it would like to leave behind. The story is like comfort food, full of the manners, houses, friendships and eccentricities of a small Georgia community with one foot in the past and one pointing towards the future.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be? Sometimes our future is where we least expect. Captivating descriptive story with exquisite detail and description. Have enjoyed every second of it. More, more, more! Add to Cart failed. Please try again later. Add to Wish List failed. Remove from wishlist failed. Adding to library failed. Please try again.
Follow podcast failed. Unfollow podcast failed. Stream or download thousands of included titles. Narrated by: Isabel Keating. No default payment method selected. Add payment method. Switch payment method. We are sorry.
We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method. Pay using card ending in. Taxes where applicable. Listeners also enjoyed Publisher's Summary The delightful New York Times best-selling author returns with a hilarious novel about one woman's quest to fix up her house and her life. P HarperCollins Publishers.
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews. Amazon Reviews. Sort by:. Most Helpful Most Recent. Filter by:. All stars 5 star only 4 star only 3 star only 2 star only 1 star only. Karen M. McGrady Enjoyable Listening Come on fellow readers! Joyalina Debra Tess makes it very clear to the counselor that her history teacher loves to pick on that student.
Said student always leaves the class feeling stupid. She explains that she has no tolerance for bullies and that her grandfather also knows that. She then leaves. Once she reaches home she finds her estranged sister Ivy is there. Ivy explains that the guidance counselor called her and that they need to talk. She coolly tells her sister that they can talk after Tess is out of the shower. She takes a quick shower hoping that Ivy won't run into her grandfather.
She goes downstairs happy to find that her grandfather is on his own. They talk for a bit before Ivy shows up. Ivy and the readers discover that her grandfather has Alzheimer's. Which is why Tess separated herself from her peers so that they wouldn't discover it. She does not want to separate from her grandfather. Ivy arranges for him to go to a hospital and she takes Tess with her to DC.
When Tess reaches DC she finds it odd how people keep making a big deal of Ivy. Eventually she asks her school guide Vivie what Ivy does for a living. Vivie explains that Ivy is a Fixer. If there is any government problem Ivy makes it go away. By complete accident Tess gets herself wrapped up in 'Fixing' problems. This wasn't a bad book it just wasn't for me. The political stuff gets complicated and I don't see the point in continuing the series. Their wasn't as much heist and espionage as I would've liked.
There was a bigger focus on the political scandals. The writing style was pretty good! I liked how there wasn't any romance in the book. And I loved Tess's character! I loved how she stood up for people. No matter if the bully was some rich and powerful person. Despite the fact that Tess doesn't like Ivy, she does care for because Ivy's family.
Overall this book wasn't for me. I would recommend it to fans of political drama and the author. Jun 07, Mara rated it it was amazing Shelves: physical-owned. This just hit the spot for me! I was a little wary that this may be a "fixer for high school" kind of plot, and while there is an element of that, this is really a YA political thriller and I loved it. I particularly loved our main character, Tess, and the development of her relationship with her sister.
I can't get into details as to why it worked so well for me, because it would be spoilers, but overall, I loved where the story went. Also Vivvie has my heart CW: child abuse This just hit the spot for me!
Also Vivvie has my heart CW: child abuse View 1 comment. Mar 13, Natalie Never trust a duck rated it it was amazing Shelves: i-own , arc , first-book-in-series , bringing-out-the-sleuth-in-me , smart-ass-protaganist.
Thank you to Andye from readingteen. Political intrigue. Fitted with a Sherlockesque main character and a mystery that will get your brain chugging away. Topped with witty dialogue. Mix it all together and you've got a brilliantly plotted novel with a genius set of characters otherwise known as The Fixer.
I had no idea what to expect going in to this. I was thinking some kind of contemporary with a Gossip Girl Thank you to Andye from readingteen. I was thinking some kind of contemporary with a Gossip Girl vibe?? Ah, no, no no. She was sarcastic, strong, and very very smart. Her sister Ivy pulls her out of her ranch life in Montana where she lived with her her grandpa, and moves her to Washington D. Tess doesn't know much about her sister except that she abandoned her years ago, so there are hurt feelings and thus words are said that create tense situations.
Anyway, Tess learns about Ivy's job as D. You have a problem? You go to Ivy and she'll clear it up for you, the catch is she'll have dirt on you she can use to get whatever she wants.
As Ivy Kendrick's little sister, Tess is expected to be a fixer herself, something she realizes as soon as she walks through her new school's doors where all of D. C's elite send their kids. The plot in this book was brilliantly done.
There were so many components to the mystery I felt like I had to take out a notepad and write things down. It was like playing a Nancy Drew game without the checklist props if you know what I'm talking about. Tess had been asked to help fix one thing, but then Jennifer Lynn Barnes infused all these other components that made you scramble the good kind of scramble to keep up with the fast paced plot.
And you know how this book is compared to the show Scandal? Definitely recommend. Happy Reading!!! Dec 03, Nicole Wang rated it it was amazing Shelves: favorites. Please fix the book hangover I have now Quote "You're telling me that my sister is a professional problem solver? How is that even an occupation? I've said this before, but political intrigue is definitely one of my ultimate favorites in YA--typically, they come wrapped in high fantasy shaped packages th Please fix the book hangover I have now Quote "You're telling me that my sister is a professional problem solver?
I've said this before, but political intrigue is definitely one of my ultimate favorites in YA--typically, they come wrapped in high fantasy shaped packages though, and honestly? I wasn't quite expecting this much intrigue in The Fixer.
Why not? Holy shit, guys. Holy holy shit. Jennifer Lynn Barnes has just secured her spot in my Top Ten Favorite Authors list, and she's probably going to be there for a long, long time. Right off the bat, I loved Tess. She was sarcastic, protective, and she could handle all the crap that people threw at her--which turned out to be kind of pivotal in her story. She really just It seems she can't really resist helping those with wounds to be bound, and the way she dealt with everything was honestly badass.
And kind of scary. And she was kind of incredibly incredibly good at what she does. It must be the genes. Tess has amazing deductive skills and I kind of loved her all the more for it--especially since this particular skill was shown rather than told, like so many other stories.
She was blunt when she needed to be, and while she did make some reckless decisions, she was never as idiotic as to try to handle everything on her own. Really, I just wanted to tackle hug Tess--and do anything I could to stay on her good side. She has no problem with name dropping to get what she wants. Dear god, though. Tess was so not the only fantastic character in the book.
Ivy, Asher, Bodie, Vivvie, Henry--the entire cast. They all had such different personalities and they all managed to crawl into my heart. They were hilarious together and the way so many of these characters cared about each other and how they protected each other was just another added element to this book that just made me adore it.
But I'd be lying if I said the characters were the only reason I adored this book because what a plot. I stayed up until AM to read this book--which may not sound like a big deal, but it was a school day in which I had to wake up at 6 and take a test that same day. It was risky, but I took it, because who the hell can stop reading a book with a plot like this one?
There were so many twists and the whole whodunit mystery is taken to a new level that I'm absolutely obsessed with. I will admit that I kind of saw the ending coming view spoiler [ but only because I'd only recently read Pretty Wanted and the twist was on my mind.
I think I had to reread that ending several times in order for me to make sense of it. And then that open ending that left me with more questions than answers. William Keyes, by the way, is a terrifying man. I need YA political thrillers to be the next big thing. I need it. The Fixer was by far one of my absolute favorite books of the year and I'm just stunned by how amazing it was. Filled with intrigue and characters who are much more powerful than you'd think, The Fixer is a must-read for Whether you love high fantasy, mysteries, thrillers, contemporaries, or any other genre, this book is one that I will never stop recommending.
Find more reviews at. Jul 11, Jess rated it it was amazing Shelves: gimmek , where-do-i-throw-my-money. I've reached the stage where I'd voluntarily read Barnes' shopping list. If you love a bit of politics--the push and pull of power--than you'll eat this one right up. Review To Come. Mar 19, AH rated it really liked it Shelves: zzread-july , blue , young-adult , arc-netgalley. The Fixer was a fun and quick read. In fact, I managed to read it on one rainy afternoon. The Fixer is the story of Tess Kendrick, a teenager who is forced to leave her Montana ranch when it becomes apparent that her grandfather is no longer able to care for her.
Tess moves in with her big sister Ivy, who happens to work with a lot of very influential people in Washington D. Ivy makes things happen and Tess seems to follow in big sister's footsteps. When a classmate's grandfather dies, Tess is The Fixer was a fun and quick read. When a classmate's grandfather dies, Tess is pulled into a strange series of events which cause her and her friends to think that something sinister is in play.
Mar 10, Lisa rated it it was ok Shelves: arc , debut-series , bloomsbury , , read-in This is a tough one. On the other, this book is a bit hard to swallow. It's not just teens solving mysteries - they're solving deep-seated political schemes that go all the way to the top. It's Scandal meets Veronica Mars. Although I appreciated that the book is full-on uncovering government secrets, it could have done with a bit of softening with either humor or romance.
Because of that I got about 70 percent through and skimmed the rest. Jul 07, Kirsty-Marie Jones rated it it was amazing.
That, was fucking awesome. Bring on book 2. The end. Jun 30, Eri rated it really liked it Shelves: unwritten-reviews , steal-my-heart , i-spy-things , blood-over-water. It was smart and slick, and I throughly enjoyed the characters and the political conspiracy behind it all. This book reminded me of my favorite police drama, with its well thought plot and the sharp twists that brought it to life.
Full review to come soon. View 2 comments. Aug 09, Sian rated it really liked it Shelves: crime-mystery-thriller , ya , law-and-politics-fiction. This is the most dramatic thing I have read in a long time and I'm stressed This is the most dramatic thing I have read in a long time and I'm stressed Jul 01, Nastassja rated it liked it Recommends it for: everyone. Shelves: mystery , young-adult , best-young-adult.
The story is about a girl Tess who moves to Washington to live with her older sister Ivy after an accident with their gr 3. And you know what? The Fixer completely satisfied my crime novel craving! Her involvement starts out minimal, but soon grows into something of epic proportions. The book has excellent momentum and pacing, and I found it super difficult to put down! Barnes is one smart cookie. With advanced degrees in psychology from Yale University, her smarts really translate to her stories — they are written brilliantly!
She weaves such a compelling mystery that I spend the entire book analyzing every character to try to figure out whodunit. The mystery was the funnest element of The Fixer, but I also loved the characters. One character in particular, Asher, had me busting a gut left and right. Overall Jennifer Lynn Barnes is one of my top authors and current favorite to recommend.
Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www. Jul 28, Laura rated it really liked it. Murder, blackmail, secrets, and cover-ups! Watch your back. These people can slice and dice you with smiles on their faces!
Smiles that can sell papers, charm the masses, and win elections. Welcome to DC politics! Estranged sisters, Tess and Ivy Kendrick, are trying to be a family again in Washington DC, where Ivy is a problem solver in the world of politics. Ivy is that someone you want on your side. Someone who can fix anything. Fixing problems becomes her thing in the halls of her new elite DC high school. When a death stirs up all kinds of trouble at school, home, and in the White House—both sisters find themselves in the middle of the action.
Yes, I said The White House! This scandal could go all the way to the top! Have the Kendrick sisters met their match? This fast moving political thriller was like a jolt to my reading world. Politics is a rare setting for young adult fiction.
And I want more, more, more! I loved it! But when the candidates are children of politicians, even a high school election can involve life-shattering secrets. Meanwhile, Tess's guardian has also taken on an impossible case, as a terrorist attack calls into doubt who can - and cannot - be trusted on Capitol Hill.
Tess knows better than most that power is currency in Washington, but she's about to discover firsthand that power always comes with a price. The reader can easily substitute the word pages for days, I think. The story dwells on poverty, ignorance, fear, repression, pain, crime and injustice, largely experienced through the life of Yakov Bok, a fixer from the shtetl who decides in the years just prior to World War I to move to the big city, Kiev, after his wife abandons their marriage.
There, a young Christian boy is murdered. The innocent Bok, being Jewish but living illegally under an assumed name, is soon conveniently fingered as the perpetrator, a crime supposedly conducted as part of a Jewish blood ritual, a fiction relentlessly propagated to stir a moral panic. Years then pass in prison before a trial is allowed. At its heart, Mr.
Malamud's story is one example of how hatred, fear, and bigotry, often invoking a dose of Christian piety, can be managed to avoid recognizing and addressing more broad and obvious social plagues, while furthering personal agendas.
Some will find this recipe quite familiar perhaps now more than ever. May 27, Marvin rated it it was amazing. Yakov Bok is non-religious and apolitical. He simply wants a better life. He is slightly bitter that life gives him lemons but no sugar to make lemonade but that does not keep him from trying to improve.
He reads Spinoza to educate himself and moves to Kiev to start a better life. He is a repairman aka a "fixer". Unfortunately, he is also a Jew in Tsarist Russia. I like Yakov.
He is Everyman. He is not a hero nor a wise man. But he is sincere and honest. He is a basically honest man placed in an Yakov Bok is non-religious and apolitical. He is a basically honest man placed in an horrific situation.
His one deceit, trying to pass as a gentile in an anti-Semitic society, is a deceit born of desperation and survival. Yakov is accused of killing a young boy in a "Blood Ritual".
In the Russia of he has little chance of proving himself innocent. He is beaten and thrown in jail to waste away only to be repeatedly told to sign a confession to stop the torture. Yakov refuses but his faith in humanity, in society and in God is tested and weakened.
He meets only one man who is willing to fight for him but even that is no match for the fears and prejudices of an unfair society. Malamud is not the type of writer to sugar-coat anything. His style is to the point and his descriptions of prison life comes close to unbearable. Yet Yakov remains the focus of this tale and that is the strength. Many of the most moving moments comes when Yakov have delusions and dreams caused by starvation, illness and general suffering.
These delusional dialogues hold much of the philosophical meat of the novel. The ending dialogue of Yakov talking to Tzar Nicholas is a fitting and satisfactory scene in a climax that looks open-ended but really isn'. I don't know how well Malamud has held up in the 21st century. But if any writer can be called a student of the human condition it is he. His writings still hold true in its assessment of humankind's fears toward the unfamiliar and society's oppression toward others.
Apr 29, Josh rated it it was amazing Shelves: , high-five. Apr 15, Vishal rated it it was amazing. What is victory, but a victory in the heart? What is the greatest freedom, but the freedom of the mind?
In the Fixer, Yakov Bok is a man accused of a brutal crime, and is forced to see new depths of human degradation every day during his imprisonment. It remembered the wrong things. So for a Jew it was the same wherever he went, he carried a remembered pack on his back-a condition of servitude, diminished opportunity, vulnerability'. How much worse is it, then, when you are persecuted for the belief you lost, or never had in the first place?
Typical of Malamud, he draws the full spectrum of his character; no one is strictly a hero, especially when one is only on the road to redemption. This is a gripping master class from one of those writers who effortlessly wins your heart, mind and soul. Well that was depressing. There may have been a time or two I have been this relieved that I have finally finished a book, but it hasn't happened often.
It was such a relief to close that book knowing I never have to open it again. I know that "The Fixer" has won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, just knowing that made me go and find out what it takes to win either of these awards and this is what I found just in case you're interested: "Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: for disting Well that was depressing.
I know that "The Fixer" has won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, just knowing that made me go and find out what it takes to win either of these awards and this is what I found just in case you're interested: "Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. National Book Award: Its mission is "to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America.
I know that lots and lots and lots of people love the book, I still hated it. What I find even more depressing than the novel is that it is a fictionalized version of something that really happened. The "Beilis trial" of caused an international uproar and Russia backed down in the face of this indignation.
The only good thing, two good things I guess about this real event is that there was an international uproar and that Russia backed down, although why they were doing terrible things to Jewish people in the first place is beyond me. Of course why anyone does terrible things to anyone else is beyond me. Maybe doing terrible things to entire big groups of people astonishes me even more, even if you don't like one or two people what can you possibly have against all of them?. I'm not going to tell you if the awful people doing awful things to our main character back down in the face of indignation at the end or not, just in case you want to read the book and would rather not have the ending spoiled.
As to the story, in the novel our main character is Yakov Bok, a Jewish handyman or "fixer". The book begins in a shtetl, a Russian village, yes I looked it up where Yakov lives with his father-in-law, Shmuel.
The marriage was troubled mainly because the couple did not have a child. Yakov has made a decision to leave the shtetl and go elsewhere where hopefully his luck will improve. Well he's wrong about that one. He loads a few things onto a wagon and heads to Kiev. However when Yakov reaches Kiev, he has difficulty making a living, there are just no jobs for Jews.
Then one evening he finds a man lying drunk in the snow and helps the man's daughter take him home. The man, Lebedev, rewards him for his help by offering him a job at a brickyard that he owns. Yakov needs the job but is troubled because to take it he will have to live at the brickyard and Jews aren't allowed to live in that section of the city, I don't know why- just add it to the list of things I don't understand.
He does take the job not telling Lebedev he is Jewish or his real name. Eventually some of the workers there find out he is Jewish, so when Yakov is arrested he thinks he is being arrested for living in a restricted area off-limits to Jews.
At first he is unaware of the actual accusations which are of "ritual murder of a child". A twelve year old boy has been found dead in a cave with many stab wounds in the body. Yakov is jailed without being officially charged and denied visitors or legal counsel. When he asks for a lawyer he is told that it is not possible at this stage. The indictment must come first and the indictment won't come until there is a preliminary examination by the Investigating Magistrate and the Prosecuting Attorney.
If they agree there should be an indictment they write one and it is sent to the District Court where it is either confirmed or disapproved by the judges. After all this the prisoner is given a copy of it and then within a week or two, possibly more, the accused may select his counsel and inform the court. What a terrible legal system this is. A man could be in jail for years just waiting for the indictment which is what happens to Yakov. Not only that, but no one believes that Yakov committed the murder in the first place.
I don't believe it, the prosecutor doesn't believe it, or other prisoners, or the warden, or the guards or anyone else in the book, but no one cares, they want to convict Yakov of the crime because he is Jewish. I probably said this ten times already but I'm saying it again, why they are determined to arrest and torment a Jewish person is beyond me. There were words in the book used fairly often that I looked up just to be sure of what they meant, one of them was pogrom; lots of people running around in this book wanted to have a pogrom and here it is: "an organized massacre of a particular ethnic group, in particular that of Jews in Russia or eastern Europe.
Who would organize a massacre? Who would want to do this? Again, I don't know. Then we have "matzo", which is "an unleavened bread traditionally eaten by Jewish people during the week-long Passover holiday. Then there is Father Anastasy, a priest who is a self-proclaimed expert - also insane in my opinion - on ritual murder.
He tells us: "In the recorded past,' said Father Anastasy in his nasally musical voice, ' the Jew has had many uses for Christian blood. He has used it for purposes of sorcery and witches' rituals, and for love potions and well poisoning, fabricating a deadly venom that spread the plague from one country to another, a mixture of Christian blood from a murdered victim, their own Jewish urine, the heads of poisonous snakes, and even the stolen mutilated host - the bleeding body of Christ himself.
I could add many more horrible quotes like that one but I don't want to, thinking of this book makes my head hurt. Then we get to read of Yakov being in prison and eating soup with cockroaches in it, of getting beat not just by guards but also by prisoners who beat him either because they believe him guilty or because he's Jewish, you decide which one.
At one point in this "lovely" book Yakov's feet get sores on them, the sores become infected and swollen and the pain and swelling begins to move up his legs, he also becomes feverish. Finally the warden sends him to the infirmary but no one is allowed to help him get there and he has to crawl the entire way. There are these atrocious body searches that the evil deputy warden has done to Yakov six times a day even though he is kept in solitary confinment and chained to a wall.
What in the world are they searching for? I don't want to think about this book any more so I'm done with this. I know it won awards and all that and because of that it must be a wonderful book, so take their word for it and not mine.
I read that it is "wonderfully written", "one of the world's richest novels", "a literary event in any season". All kinds of things like that, but I don't know or care when a book is "wonderfully written" I just know I hate it. I hate that people can do things like this to each other. I refuse to give it more than one star because of how it made me feel no matter how many awards it won, I do however, recommend it to everyone, after all you will have to like it better than I did.
Jun 10, Christopher Saunders rated it it was amazing Shelves: reads , friday-night-reads , avocado-recs , favorites , reads , pulitzer-prize-for-fiction. His iniquities are painful, his reckoning with his religious identity inescapable despite his efforts to assimilate heartbreaking, the overall contours of his plight painfully familiar. The resulting work is grim and downbeat, yet often morbidly humorous, richly ironic and even triumphant in showing the endurance of the Human Spirit - and, in particular, the Jewish faith.
Aug 31, Amanda rated it liked it Shelves: books-i-own , around-the-world , pulitzer-fiction. This book was definitely thought-provoking and interesting, but it was depressing. So depressing. Every time there was a glimmer of hope, there was something to extinguish it.
It was hard to read in large chunks. I don't think I can say I enjoyed reading it, but it sparked conversation with my husband and made me think about history and prejudice.
Worth reading, but a super downer. Apr 23, Paula rated it really liked it Shelves: pulitzer-fiction-winners. I really enjoyed this story. However, I wondered how it could be nominated and even win a Pulitzer because of one of the requisites for judging: the book must be about life in the United States.
Ah, well. This is one of those rare books that shake you to the core. Jul 22, Ademption rated it really liked it Shelves: novels , classics , award-winners.
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