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Originally posted to I Should Read That
CW: Attempted rape and wartime violence
Flintlock fantasy is a subgenre that I’m incredibly unfamiliar with. You can imagine how pleased I was when my fantasy book club picked Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky as our May read. This ended up being a great book to discuss because there was so much to unpack with the writing, but that’s not necessarily a good thing in terms of the actual book.
One of the big problems that I noticed about Guns of the Dawn is that the worldbuilding is basically completely missing. It is clearly inspired by a number of different historical periods, particularly the Industrial Revolution and the Revolutionary War. We know that these two countries are at war with each other, we know why, but that’s about it in terms of culture. We become very familiar with Emily’s world, but that world is incredibly limited. We see her town, her crumbling genteel home, and the swampland that she eventually does battle on, but there’s not really much else. While I understand that we see the world through Emily’s eyes and she has a limited experience, I don't think it did the book any favours. There’s a way to pull off a limited worldview, but I don’t think it really worked here, especially because there was so much potential for amazing world building.
Something that really irked me about this book is the use of rape, threat of rape, and general misplaced misogyny. The unnecessary use of rape in fantasy is one of my biggest fighting points about the genre, however that wasn’t really the case here. Instead, what I had a problem with was the situations in which that threat was used. If women are drafted into an army, there is absolutely the danger of rape, and this is addressed early on. This makes sense. However there are two situations in which our heroine is put into this dangerous situation. The first is almost comical because it is so poorly executed. It’s almost as though the author felt that he had to just get the attempted rape out of the way so he could move on with the story. The second use is much more frightening and realistic, but it's all a bit mustache-twirly. I think that there were ways of incorporating the realistic threat without it being so poorly executed.
I can’t talk much about the misplaced misogyny in this book without spoilers, but I thought his use of misogyny as a heavy handed way to differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys just didn't work. There’s an element of ‘you can’t do things because you’re a woman!’ that is supposed to show who we’re not supposed to like and ‘I cannot hurt you, for you are a woman!’ that seems to show who we are supposed to like. Instead, everyone is just a misogynistic jerk and I don't think the author achieves what he sets out to do.
Emily is our main character. She’s a fantastic female lead without the pitfalls that can sometimes come with a male author (sorry guys). I love that so little emphasis is placed on her looks, to the point that we don’t really know what she looks like. I found this approach to be a refreshing take on badass lady characters. While she does have some Mary Sue elements to her (particularly her incredible competence not only with a musket but on the battlefield as well), but I thought they really worked with the character Tchaikovsky created. She is the kind of character that Lila Bard should have been.
There are multitude of secondary characters in this book who are interesting, but don’t get the same careful treatment as Emily. The soldiers and other characters around her felt almost like window dressings. I’m most disappointed in the treatment of Tubal and Mallen, because they in particular had the potential to be absolutely phenomenal characters. While their interactions with Emily made them fun to read about, I don’t think there was enough substance -- Mallen especially should have been such an incredible and unforgettable character. Others, like Tubal or Elise, don’t really get the proper treatment as the story progresses and I'm really disappointed by their impact on the story. I wont say more due to spoilers, but I’d be happy to chat about this particular point!
Finally, the love interest was so lackluster. The problem here is that I don’t think Tchaikovsky really commits to this being a great love or a momentary distraction. It’s fair enough that Emily herself doesn’t know, but her actions are confusing and muddled. I lean more toward the ‘momentary distraction’ argument due to some of her thoughts and reactions, but it really isn't clear. Also, he’s SUPER boring. I like that it gets complex later on as other feelings from other people get thrown in, but I don’t think even the author knew where this one was going.
Overall, I liked Guns of the Dawn, but wasn’t particularly impressed by it. If I hadn’t read the phenomenal Children of Time prior to reading this, I probably wouldn’t be hugely tempted to pick up another of this author’s books. It’s a fast read, despite the impressive page count, very entertaining, and a great introduction to this subgenre of fantasy. But don’t go looking for another work like Children of Time with this book.
CW: Attempted rape and wartime violence
Flintlock fantasy is a subgenre that I’m incredibly unfamiliar with. You can imagine how pleased I was when my fantasy book club picked Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky as our May read. This ended up being a great book to discuss because there was so much to unpack with the writing, but that’s not necessarily a good thing in terms of the actual book.
One of the big problems that I noticed about Guns of the Dawn is that the worldbuilding is basically completely missing. It is clearly inspired by a number of different historical periods, particularly the Industrial Revolution and the Revolutionary War. We know that these two countries are at war with each other, we know why, but that’s about it in terms of culture. We become very familiar with Emily’s world, but that world is incredibly limited. We see her town, her crumbling genteel home, and the swampland that she eventually does battle on, but there’s not really much else. While I understand that we see the world through Emily’s eyes and she has a limited experience, I don't think it did the book any favours. There’s a way to pull off a limited worldview, but I don’t think it really worked here, especially because there was so much potential for amazing world building.
Something that really irked me about this book is the use of rape, threat of rape, and general misplaced misogyny. The unnecessary use of rape in fantasy is one of my biggest fighting points about the genre, however that wasn’t really the case here. Instead, what I had a problem with was the situations in which that threat was used. If women are drafted into an army, there is absolutely the danger of rape, and this is addressed early on. This makes sense. However there are two situations in which our heroine is put into this dangerous situation. The first is almost comical because it is so poorly executed. It’s almost as though the author felt that he had to just get the attempted rape out of the way so he could move on with the story. The second use is much more frightening and realistic, but it's all a bit mustache-twirly. I think that there were ways of incorporating the realistic threat without it being so poorly executed.
I can’t talk much about the misplaced misogyny in this book without spoilers, but I thought his use of misogyny as a heavy handed way to differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys just didn't work. There’s an element of ‘you can’t do things because you’re a woman!’ that is supposed to show who we’re not supposed to like and ‘I cannot hurt you, for you are a woman!’ that seems to show who we are supposed to like. Instead, everyone is just a misogynistic jerk and I don't think the author achieves what he sets out to do.
Emily is our main character. She’s a fantastic female lead without the pitfalls that can sometimes come with a male author (sorry guys). I love that so little emphasis is placed on her looks, to the point that we don’t really know what she looks like. I found this approach to be a refreshing take on badass lady characters. While she does have some Mary Sue elements to her (particularly her incredible competence not only with a musket but on the battlefield as well), but I thought they really worked with the character Tchaikovsky created. She is the kind of character that Lila Bard should have been.
There are multitude of secondary characters in this book who are interesting, but don’t get the same careful treatment as Emily. The soldiers and other characters around her felt almost like window dressings. I’m most disappointed in the treatment of Tubal and Mallen, because they in particular had the potential to be absolutely phenomenal characters. While their interactions with Emily made them fun to read about, I don’t think there was enough substance -- Mallen especially should have been such an incredible and unforgettable character. Others, like Tubal or Elise, don’t really get the proper treatment as the story progresses and I'm really disappointed by their impact on the story. I wont say more due to spoilers, but I’d be happy to chat about this particular point!
Finally, the love interest was so lackluster. The problem here is that I don’t think Tchaikovsky really commits to this being a great love or a momentary distraction. It’s fair enough that Emily herself doesn’t know, but her actions are confusing and muddled. I lean more toward the ‘momentary distraction’ argument due to some of her thoughts and reactions, but it really isn't clear. Also, he’s SUPER boring. I like that it gets complex later on as other feelings from other people get thrown in, but I don’t think even the author knew where this one was going.
Overall, I liked Guns of the Dawn, but wasn’t particularly impressed by it. If I hadn’t read the phenomenal Children of Time prior to reading this, I probably wouldn’t be hugely tempted to pick up another of this author’s books. It’s a fast read, despite the impressive page count, very entertaining, and a great introduction to this subgenre of fantasy. But don’t go looking for another work like Children of Time with this book.
Originally posted to I Should Read That
I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
The Electrical Venus jumped out at me because it is historical young adult fiction -- something I don’t think you see very often. On top of that, the book is set in Georgian England, which is even more of a rarity in YA. Although I didn’t know much about it, I decided to give it a shot.
To be perfectly honest, this book was just not for me. The writing style, the characters, and the story are all just things that I don’t particularly enjoy in books. However, don’t let that sway you because I do think that many people will enjoy The Electrical Venus.
I really liked the fact that this is a historical novel set in an unusual time period for YA. Young adult books can get a little same-y after awhile and it’s so nice to see something fresh and new! It’s an interesting period in time and the inclusion of Doctor Fox and his electricity machine really took advantage of that in the best way. What seems very normal to us would have been a marvel to people of this time and it suited the sideshow setting very well.
I thought the narrative style was interesting, even if it didn’t work for me. There are two point of view characters in this book -- Mim and Alex. Each chapter is told as though they’re speaking to one of the animals in the sideshow’s menagerie. Mim talks to her parrot, who was came with her when Mr. Grainger bought her, while Alex talks to the pig in the menagerie. It was a little strange at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly.
The inclusion of Mim, a mixed race black girl, was refreshing, as some people seem to think that black people just didn’t exist at this period in time -- you rarely get to see diverse casts in historical fiction. She was an interesting character, along with Alex, but I don’t think they’re the kinds of characters I particularly like, nor had the type of romance I usually enjoy. I am a big fan of slow burning romance, which we have in this book, however I don’t like the fact that their issues could have been resolved if they just spoke to each other. The two fight and make up constantly and this just isn’t really my thing.
Overall, The Electrical Venus didn’t really click with me. It’s a hard book to review for that exact reason. However, if you’re looking for books that deal with sex, young romance, or falling for the wrong person, this is a great title to pick up. I think it’s unusual historical setting is very appealing and it’s a fast read.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
The Electrical Venus jumped out at me because it is historical young adult fiction -- something I don’t think you see very often. On top of that, the book is set in Georgian England, which is even more of a rarity in YA. Although I didn’t know much about it, I decided to give it a shot.
To be perfectly honest, this book was just not for me. The writing style, the characters, and the story are all just things that I don’t particularly enjoy in books. However, don’t let that sway you because I do think that many people will enjoy The Electrical Venus.
I really liked the fact that this is a historical novel set in an unusual time period for YA. Young adult books can get a little same-y after awhile and it’s so nice to see something fresh and new! It’s an interesting period in time and the inclusion of Doctor Fox and his electricity machine really took advantage of that in the best way. What seems very normal to us would have been a marvel to people of this time and it suited the sideshow setting very well.
I thought the narrative style was interesting, even if it didn’t work for me. There are two point of view characters in this book -- Mim and Alex. Each chapter is told as though they’re speaking to one of the animals in the sideshow’s menagerie. Mim talks to her parrot, who was came with her when Mr. Grainger bought her, while Alex talks to the pig in the menagerie. It was a little strange at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly.
The inclusion of Mim, a mixed race black girl, was refreshing, as some people seem to think that black people just didn’t exist at this period in time -- you rarely get to see diverse casts in historical fiction. She was an interesting character, along with Alex, but I don’t think they’re the kinds of characters I particularly like, nor had the type of romance I usually enjoy. I am a big fan of slow burning romance, which we have in this book, however I don’t like the fact that their issues could have been resolved if they just spoke to each other. The two fight and make up constantly and this just isn’t really my thing.
Overall, The Electrical Venus didn’t really click with me. It’s a hard book to review for that exact reason. However, if you’re looking for books that deal with sex, young romance, or falling for the wrong person, this is a great title to pick up. I think it’s unusual historical setting is very appealing and it’s a fast read.
Originally posted to I Should Read That
I really love Stephen King, but I’ve had a huge gap in my reading for years -- I had never read IT. Possibly his most famous novel, IT has been frightening readers for over 30 years. I decided to tackle this weighty book -- my physical copy clocks in at right around 1,400 pages --but decided to go the audiobook route.
There’s not much to be said about IT that hasn’t already been said. It’s a wonderful combination of ‘the best summer of your childhood’ and ‘your worst nightmare come to life’ -- it is sweet and heartfelt one minute, then gory and terrifying the next. The Loser Club faces down IT twice in their lives -- once when they are preteens and again when they are adults. Unlike the recent film, the timelines swap back and forth, sometimes rapidly, and the whole story is teased out over hundreds of pages. This is an incredibly effective storytelling method, particularly toward the end when the time jumps are rapid fire. King is, of course, the king of tension and suspense and IT is the perfect example of this.
It’s so easy to love the seven main characters -- we can relate to them, no matter what our age, and we can easily put ourselves into their shoes. My favourite characters were Ritchie and Ben. There’s something about them -- Richie with his obnoxious jokes and Ben with his quiet passions and insecurities -- that I just loved. It’s easy to love Bill Denborough, who serves as the de facto leader of the group, or Beverley Marsh, the only girl in the gang, but I found myself drawn more to these two characters in particular. Maybe I just wasn’t, and still am not, as unintentionally cool as Bill or Beverley when I was a kid.
This should have been a five star read for me, but I do have a few issues with the book. First of all, the ending is terrible. Stephen King has a bit of a reputation for poor endings and I think that IT suits the bill perfectly. I find that the moment you actually see the monster in a book or film, their scariness is immediately stripped away and IT is no exception. I found myself saying ‘really?’ when all was revealed, however this was not the first time this has happened with a King book. The first 1,000 pages or so were ace though. How many books can you say that about?
So now we have that out of the way, let’s talk about reading IT in the modern context. I’m very open to reading older books and understanding the context in which they were written, particularly when it comes to concepts and phrases that are out of place with a modern audience. However, sometimes there are certain aspects of books that really strike you as being wrong, regardless of time period. For some modern readers of this book it is the racism -- which is completely intentional and makes sense in the context of the novel -- or the outdated language that gets to them. For me, this manifested in the form of Beverly Marsh. Like the other members of the Loser’s Club, we do see her as an adult, but she’s 12 for the majority of the book. The way that King describes her is really distressingly creepy. He commits the crime of ‘she breasted boobily down the stairs’ that modern male authors are called out for more and more these days. Except she's 12 years old.
He’s constantly talking about her breasts, her legs, and her body in a way that seems wildly inappropriate and creepy, you know, because she's 12. There’s a particular scene later on in the book when he’s describing the shorts she wears and it's...pretty awful. There’s also that scene. The way in which they escape from IT's lair as children. Yes. The less said about that the better. I don’t want to give spoilers, despite this being over 30 years old, but it wisely hasn’t been included in either of the adaptations so feel free to ask me what I’m talking about if you want to know.
To his credit, I do think that this is something that just wasn’t considered as big of an issue when King wrote the book and I don’t believe he does this sort of thing anymore, but the sexualization of young Beverley really does lend an unintentionally creepy and deeply uncomfortable air to the book. I think he was trying to make her into a symbol of childhood purity and innocence, but yikes. Talk about getting it wrong.
Overall, I really enjoyed IT. The audiobook was the best route for me and the narrator was absolutely fantastic. The story is told in such an unusual way and I think the narrator really nailed it, all while managing different voices for the massive cast of characters. While IT isn’t my favourite King book, it’s certainly up there among his best, awkwardness aside.
I really love Stephen King, but I’ve had a huge gap in my reading for years -- I had never read IT. Possibly his most famous novel, IT has been frightening readers for over 30 years. I decided to tackle this weighty book -- my physical copy clocks in at right around 1,400 pages --but decided to go the audiobook route.
There’s not much to be said about IT that hasn’t already been said. It’s a wonderful combination of ‘the best summer of your childhood’ and ‘your worst nightmare come to life’ -- it is sweet and heartfelt one minute, then gory and terrifying the next. The Loser Club faces down IT twice in their lives -- once when they are preteens and again when they are adults. Unlike the recent film, the timelines swap back and forth, sometimes rapidly, and the whole story is teased out over hundreds of pages. This is an incredibly effective storytelling method, particularly toward the end when the time jumps are rapid fire. King is, of course, the king of tension and suspense and IT is the perfect example of this.
It’s so easy to love the seven main characters -- we can relate to them, no matter what our age, and we can easily put ourselves into their shoes. My favourite characters were Ritchie and Ben. There’s something about them -- Richie with his obnoxious jokes and Ben with his quiet passions and insecurities -- that I just loved. It’s easy to love Bill Denborough, who serves as the de facto leader of the group, or Beverley Marsh, the only girl in the gang, but I found myself drawn more to these two characters in particular. Maybe I just wasn’t, and still am not, as unintentionally cool as Bill or Beverley when I was a kid.
This should have been a five star read for me, but I do have a few issues with the book. First of all, the ending is terrible. Stephen King has a bit of a reputation for poor endings and I think that IT suits the bill perfectly. I find that the moment you actually see the monster in a book or film, their scariness is immediately stripped away and IT is no exception. I found myself saying ‘really?’ when all was revealed, however this was not the first time this has happened with a King book. The first 1,000 pages or so were ace though. How many books can you say that about?
So now we have that out of the way, let’s talk about reading IT in the modern context. I’m very open to reading older books and understanding the context in which they were written, particularly when it comes to concepts and phrases that are out of place with a modern audience. However, sometimes there are certain aspects of books that really strike you as being wrong, regardless of time period. For some modern readers of this book it is the racism -- which is completely intentional and makes sense in the context of the novel -- or the outdated language that gets to them. For me, this manifested in the form of Beverly Marsh. Like the other members of the Loser’s Club, we do see her as an adult, but she’s 12 for the majority of the book. The way that King describes her is really distressingly creepy. He commits the crime of ‘she breasted boobily down the stairs’ that modern male authors are called out for more and more these days. Except she's 12 years old.
He’s constantly talking about her breasts, her legs, and her body in a way that seems wildly inappropriate and creepy, you know, because she's 12. There’s a particular scene later on in the book when he’s describing the shorts she wears and it's...pretty awful. There’s also that scene. The way in which they escape from IT's lair as children. Yes. The less said about that the better. I don’t want to give spoilers, despite this being over 30 years old, but it wisely hasn’t been included in either of the adaptations so feel free to ask me what I’m talking about if you want to know.
To his credit, I do think that this is something that just wasn’t considered as big of an issue when King wrote the book and I don’t believe he does this sort of thing anymore, but the sexualization of young Beverley really does lend an unintentionally creepy and deeply uncomfortable air to the book. I think he was trying to make her into a symbol of childhood purity and innocence, but yikes. Talk about getting it wrong.
Overall, I really enjoyed IT. The audiobook was the best route for me and the narrator was absolutely fantastic. The story is told in such an unusual way and I think the narrator really nailed it, all while managing different voices for the massive cast of characters. While IT isn’t my favourite King book, it’s certainly up there among his best, awkwardness aside.
Originally posted to I Should Read That
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
So to get this out of the way: yes, this book is written by the marvelous Krysten Ritter. I really like her as an actress and am a huge fan of Jessica Jones. I will be very honest, I was very curious about this book based on who she is -- I'm not sure it's one I would have picked up on my own in a bookstore. However, while I don’t read a lot of thrillers, it’s a genre I’d love to get into and this seemed like a great fit.
I enjoyed Bonfire, but I really think that her star power did help get it published. This is a book that had great potential, but fell flat. If she had been a ‘regular’ person, I think that her author or agent would have taken more time to develop the story into something great. While the bones of a good thriller were there, Bonfire was just okay.
The main issue is that Bonfire couldn’t figure out what it was. Was it an environmental thriller with a kickass lawyer as a heroine? Was it another Girl on the Train that featured a twisted tale and an unreliable narrator? Or was it the story of a woman dredging up her secretive past? It had elements of all three, but it didn’t really commit to any and I think the book really suffered because of this.
Abby, our narrator, was supposed to be this big-city lawyer coming back home to shake things up, but she hardly did any lawyering. I really wanted her to be a razor-sharp legal mind, and while she you get an understanding of some of her legal prowess I just didn’t find her impressive in this sense. Her career as a lawyer served more as a plot device to get her back to her hometown than anything else. The most interesting part of the book was Abby's return to her hometwon. She must answer the haunting question that has been haunting her since childhood -- what happened to Kaycee Mitchell? I really enjoyed her digging up secrets from the past and how those secrets related to the present. I also really liked her return to the hometown that she has been trying to run from. Funny enough, her career as a lawyer just got in the way of these much more fascinating plot elements. The story probably would have worked better if her career as a lawyer had been cut.
The story itself was interesting enough, but I didn’t find it particularly intriguing. For me, there wasn’t a huge twist or surprise in the plot. It pretty much played out exactly as I expected it to, although I didn’t guess the exact details. It was all a bit underwhelming, and I found that I just didn't care about her investigation into Optimal Plastics. I wanted to know more about Abby's past and the way it has affected her life.
Despite all this, I see real potential in Ritter’s writing. I powered through Bonfire in only a few sittings and found it entertaining. It’s a fun and fluffy book (if a dark book can be fluffy) to pick up from the library if you’re on holiday in the summer. It has an interesting and imperfect female lead and reads very quickly -- just don’t expect anything gripping and groundbreaking.
CW: bullying, slut shaming, suicide, off-screen abuse
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
So to get this out of the way: yes, this book is written by the marvelous Krysten Ritter. I really like her as an actress and am a huge fan of Jessica Jones. I will be very honest, I was very curious about this book based on who she is -- I'm not sure it's one I would have picked up on my own in a bookstore. However, while I don’t read a lot of thrillers, it’s a genre I’d love to get into and this seemed like a great fit.
I enjoyed Bonfire, but I really think that her star power did help get it published. This is a book that had great potential, but fell flat. If she had been a ‘regular’ person, I think that her author or agent would have taken more time to develop the story into something great. While the bones of a good thriller were there, Bonfire was just okay.
The main issue is that Bonfire couldn’t figure out what it was. Was it an environmental thriller with a kickass lawyer as a heroine? Was it another Girl on the Train that featured a twisted tale and an unreliable narrator? Or was it the story of a woman dredging up her secretive past? It had elements of all three, but it didn’t really commit to any and I think the book really suffered because of this.
Abby, our narrator, was supposed to be this big-city lawyer coming back home to shake things up, but she hardly did any lawyering. I really wanted her to be a razor-sharp legal mind, and while she you get an understanding of some of her legal prowess I just didn’t find her impressive in this sense. Her career as a lawyer served more as a plot device to get her back to her hometown than anything else. The most interesting part of the book was Abby's return to her hometwon. She must answer the haunting question that has been haunting her since childhood -- what happened to Kaycee Mitchell? I really enjoyed her digging up secrets from the past and how those secrets related to the present. I also really liked her return to the hometown that she has been trying to run from. Funny enough, her career as a lawyer just got in the way of these much more fascinating plot elements. The story probably would have worked better if her career as a lawyer had been cut.
The story itself was interesting enough, but I didn’t find it particularly intriguing. For me, there wasn’t a huge twist or surprise in the plot. It pretty much played out exactly as I expected it to, although I didn’t guess the exact details. It was all a bit underwhelming, and I found that I just didn't care about her investigation into Optimal Plastics. I wanted to know more about Abby's past and the way it has affected her life.
Despite all this, I see real potential in Ritter’s writing. I powered through Bonfire in only a few sittings and found it entertaining. It’s a fun and fluffy book (if a dark book can be fluffy) to pick up from the library if you’re on holiday in the summer. It has an interesting and imperfect female lead and reads very quickly -- just don’t expect anything gripping and groundbreaking.
CW: bullying, slut shaming, suicide, off-screen abuse
Originally posted to I Should Read That
I feel like I rarely read thrillers, and this is something I’d like to change. Having devoured Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train just before the height of their popularity, I figured that The Woman in the Window would be the perfect thriller for me. It is so often compared to those two books that I was so sure I’d love it.
I am so sad to say that I ended up disappointed with this book. I’ve been puzzling over the reason why, and I think it comes down to the fact that I listened to the audiobook. While the narration was top notch -- she has this very sweet and soothing voice that’s actually quite eerie and is so perfect -- I just felt like I couldn’t fall into this story in the same way as Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, both of which I read as physical books. I was much more interested in Anna and her struggle with agoraphobia than I was with the mystery -- I found that I didn’t particularly care one way or another what was happening across the park. Because I was listening rather than reading, my mind could go to other places and I could spend time pondering each character -- I figured out what was going on pretty quickly (with one major exception -- but that's to be discussed privately if you're interested). I don’t think this would have been the case if I read a hard copy of the book. Perhaps thriller audiobooks just aren’t for me.
I think I liked Anna Fox too much for my own good, which swayed my feelings on her experiences throughout the book. I was so much less skeptical of her than I was of, say, Rachel in The Girl on the Train. Rachel is a wretched creature, completely destroyed by her past and her addiction. You truly cannot trust what she sees and what she does -- she’s the perfect unreliable narrator. I wont say too much here because of spoilers, but I found that Anna was a much more sympathetic character, which isn’t really what you want in an unreliable narrator.
I can’t comment too much on the ending, which I found underwhelming, or the characters, but I just thought that The Woman in the Window was just okay. I feel like I’m forever chasing the high of Gone Girl, a book that completely blew my mind. I really wish I had chosen to read a physical copy of The Woman in the Window -- we have one floating around the family -- but I was impatient! However I did learn a valuable reading lesson -- for me, thrillers should be read rather than listened to.
I will say that I think I just had a particularly weird reading experience with this one. If you are interested in this book, I highly encourage you to pick it up. It has been getting rave reviews (including from my own family members, who are very smart people with great taste) and I really think it will appeal to a lot of people!
I feel like I rarely read thrillers, and this is something I’d like to change. Having devoured Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train just before the height of their popularity, I figured that The Woman in the Window would be the perfect thriller for me. It is so often compared to those two books that I was so sure I’d love it.
I am so sad to say that I ended up disappointed with this book. I’ve been puzzling over the reason why, and I think it comes down to the fact that I listened to the audiobook. While the narration was top notch -- she has this very sweet and soothing voice that’s actually quite eerie and is so perfect -- I just felt like I couldn’t fall into this story in the same way as Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, both of which I read as physical books. I was much more interested in Anna and her struggle with agoraphobia than I was with the mystery -- I found that I didn’t particularly care one way or another what was happening across the park. Because I was listening rather than reading, my mind could go to other places and I could spend time pondering each character -- I figured out what was going on pretty quickly (with one major exception -- but that's to be discussed privately if you're interested). I don’t think this would have been the case if I read a hard copy of the book. Perhaps thriller audiobooks just aren’t for me.
I think I liked Anna Fox too much for my own good, which swayed my feelings on her experiences throughout the book. I was so much less skeptical of her than I was of, say, Rachel in The Girl on the Train. Rachel is a wretched creature, completely destroyed by her past and her addiction. You truly cannot trust what she sees and what she does -- she’s the perfect unreliable narrator. I wont say too much here because of spoilers, but I found that Anna was a much more sympathetic character, which isn’t really what you want in an unreliable narrator.
I can’t comment too much on the ending, which I found underwhelming, or the characters, but I just thought that The Woman in the Window was just okay. I feel like I’m forever chasing the high of Gone Girl, a book that completely blew my mind. I really wish I had chosen to read a physical copy of The Woman in the Window -- we have one floating around the family -- but I was impatient! However I did learn a valuable reading lesson -- for me, thrillers should be read rather than listened to.
I will say that I think I just had a particularly weird reading experience with this one. If you are interested in this book, I highly encourage you to pick it up. It has been getting rave reviews (including from my own family members, who are very smart people with great taste) and I really think it will appeal to a lot of people!
Originally posted to I Should Read That
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
You all know I love a good heist novel, and while I’ve read a fair few fantasy heist books, I don’t think I’ve ever found a science fiction book that fits in this category. You can only imagine how excited I was to hear about Shattermoon.
I really liked the world of Shattermoon. I tend to prefer my sci-fi to be gritty and dark, with a clear indication that technology doesn’t make our lives shiny and perfect, and this is exactly what the world Dulley creates is like. The setting reminded me in many ways of Firefly, a show I absolutely love. We learn enough about the world to have a good understanding of what’s going on, but are left wanting to explore more. For me, this is the best strategy for world-building because the reader’s imagination can run wild. The setting that stands out most to me is, unsurprisingly, Shattermoon itself. What a cool concept! I really love the way Dulley creates his little area of occupied space. The colourful, inventive planets, cities, and ports, along with the startling difference between the wealthy aristocratic class and, well, everyone else, really stood out. In fact, it is this class difference that really helped make sense of what fuels Orry’s actions and prejudices.
Shattermoon is very much a plot-driven novel rather than a character driven one, which tends to not be my preference. This book is incredibly fast paced -- it move at breakneck speed and doesn’t let up. The plot is essentially action sequence after action sequence, and all the in-between bits have been trimmed from the novel. I think this will work for some readers but not for others. The pace is truly relentless and there’s no breathing room. While this style took awhile to adjust to, I do appreciate the speed at which the plot moved. It makes it a very fast and compelling read, however it does sacrifice some of the character building and world building you get in those ‘cooling off’ moments.
While there is a reasonably sized cast, our two main characters truly stand out. We spend most of our time with Orry, the protagonist of the story, and I really enjoyed her character. She’s smart and sassy, but also incredibly clever and good at what she does -- she’s not just a one-note heroine that we can sometimes get in these kinds of stories. She proves again and again that she’s not only good at what she does, she’s an incredibly capable woman. She has depth and she is flawed, and you really can’t help but love her. I particularly enjoyed her relationship with Mender and her brother.
Mender is the other character who really stands out in this book. I love characters like him -- the gruff, grumpy, often older hermit-types who just want to be left alone but are dragged into other people’s messes. It took me a little while to warm to Mender, which I think is the point, but I really ended up enjoying his story arc in the book.
The characterization for the more secondary characters like Dyas, Harry, and Ethan felt a little flat. I’d love to have seen more back story and personality from them, particularly Harry, but again that’s because I tend to prefer character driven books. I think that they function well enough within the story, and I’m hoping to learn more about each of them as the series progresses.
Overall, I really enjoyed Shattermoon. Although I wish we had stronger character arcs and more fleshed out secondary characters, this was balanced out by good world-building and main characters that you can’t help but root for. Shattermoon is a fun and fast-paced heist novel with shades of Firefly that would be a perfect summer read. I’ll definitely be continuing on with this series.
CW: some graphic violence and attempted/threatened sexual assault
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
You all know I love a good heist novel, and while I’ve read a fair few fantasy heist books, I don’t think I’ve ever found a science fiction book that fits in this category. You can only imagine how excited I was to hear about Shattermoon.
I really liked the world of Shattermoon. I tend to prefer my sci-fi to be gritty and dark, with a clear indication that technology doesn’t make our lives shiny and perfect, and this is exactly what the world Dulley creates is like. The setting reminded me in many ways of Firefly, a show I absolutely love. We learn enough about the world to have a good understanding of what’s going on, but are left wanting to explore more. For me, this is the best strategy for world-building because the reader’s imagination can run wild. The setting that stands out most to me is, unsurprisingly, Shattermoon itself. What a cool concept! I really love the way Dulley creates his little area of occupied space. The colourful, inventive planets, cities, and ports, along with the startling difference between the wealthy aristocratic class and, well, everyone else, really stood out. In fact, it is this class difference that really helped make sense of what fuels Orry’s actions and prejudices.
Shattermoon is very much a plot-driven novel rather than a character driven one, which tends to not be my preference. This book is incredibly fast paced -- it move at breakneck speed and doesn’t let up. The plot is essentially action sequence after action sequence, and all the in-between bits have been trimmed from the novel. I think this will work for some readers but not for others. The pace is truly relentless and there’s no breathing room. While this style took awhile to adjust to, I do appreciate the speed at which the plot moved. It makes it a very fast and compelling read, however it does sacrifice some of the character building and world building you get in those ‘cooling off’ moments.
While there is a reasonably sized cast, our two main characters truly stand out. We spend most of our time with Orry, the protagonist of the story, and I really enjoyed her character. She’s smart and sassy, but also incredibly clever and good at what she does -- she’s not just a one-note heroine that we can sometimes get in these kinds of stories. She proves again and again that she’s not only good at what she does, she’s an incredibly capable woman. She has depth and she is flawed, and you really can’t help but love her. I particularly enjoyed her relationship with Mender and her brother.
Mender is the other character who really stands out in this book. I love characters like him -- the gruff, grumpy, often older hermit-types who just want to be left alone but are dragged into other people’s messes. It took me a little while to warm to Mender, which I think is the point, but I really ended up enjoying his story arc in the book.
The characterization for the more secondary characters like Dyas, Harry, and Ethan felt a little flat. I’d love to have seen more back story and personality from them, particularly Harry, but again that’s because I tend to prefer character driven books. I think that they function well enough within the story, and I’m hoping to learn more about each of them as the series progresses.
Overall, I really enjoyed Shattermoon. Although I wish we had stronger character arcs and more fleshed out secondary characters, this was balanced out by good world-building and main characters that you can’t help but root for. Shattermoon is a fun and fast-paced heist novel with shades of Firefly that would be a perfect summer read. I’ll definitely be continuing on with this series.
CW: some graphic violence and attempted/threatened sexual assault
Originally posted to I Should Read That
I love true crime, but I tend to get my true crime fix from podcasts rather than books. I want to amend this and have recently been keeping an eye out for interesting titles. I have heard great things about My Friend Dahmer, which has recently been made into a film, and decided to pick it up. While I wouldn’t call it true crime, it offers fascinating insight into the early life of one of America’s most notorious serial killers.
I think the most important thing about My Friend Dahmer is that it doesn’t turn Dahmer into a sympathetic figure. In the prologue, Backderf makes it clear that he has empathy for his former acquaintance up until the first murder -- he feels that until that point, Dahmer could have been saved or redeemed. He does, however, empathise with the terrible situation Dahmer faced at home and the role he himself may have played in Dahmer’s turmoil.
It’s so rare to get a glimpse into the lives of these notorious killers from their peers rather than teachers or parents. Backderf provides some speculations, but also puts Dahmer’s upbringing into context and allows us to understand him a little better. Dark and disturbing, Backderf doesn’t let up from the more gruesome aspects of his friend’s activities -- particularly his fascination with dead animals that eventually escalated to animal abuse.
One thing I would warn some readers about is that this is set in the 70’s, which was obviously a very different time with very different attitudes. One of the ways Dahmer got attention and praise from his classmate, Backderf included, was his impersonation of a man with Cerebral Palsy and his own mother’s fits of anxiety. Backderf goes out of his way to say that this was something he and his friends found funny at the time and deeply regrets, but it’s really uncomfortable how he and his friends laughed and reacted.
TW: off-screen killing of animals, allusions to murder (obviously)
I love true crime, but I tend to get my true crime fix from podcasts rather than books. I want to amend this and have recently been keeping an eye out for interesting titles. I have heard great things about My Friend Dahmer, which has recently been made into a film, and decided to pick it up. While I wouldn’t call it true crime, it offers fascinating insight into the early life of one of America’s most notorious serial killers.
I think the most important thing about My Friend Dahmer is that it doesn’t turn Dahmer into a sympathetic figure. In the prologue, Backderf makes it clear that he has empathy for his former acquaintance up until the first murder -- he feels that until that point, Dahmer could have been saved or redeemed. He does, however, empathise with the terrible situation Dahmer faced at home and the role he himself may have played in Dahmer’s turmoil.
It’s so rare to get a glimpse into the lives of these notorious killers from their peers rather than teachers or parents. Backderf provides some speculations, but also puts Dahmer’s upbringing into context and allows us to understand him a little better. Dark and disturbing, Backderf doesn’t let up from the more gruesome aspects of his friend’s activities -- particularly his fascination with dead animals that eventually escalated to animal abuse.
One thing I would warn some readers about is that this is set in the 70’s, which was obviously a very different time with very different attitudes. One of the ways Dahmer got attention and praise from his classmate, Backderf included, was his impersonation of a man with Cerebral Palsy and his own mother’s fits of anxiety. Backderf goes out of his way to say that this was something he and his friends found funny at the time and deeply regrets, but it’s really uncomfortable how he and his friends laughed and reacted.
TW: off-screen killing of animals, allusions to murder (obviously)
Originally posted to I Should Read That
I didn’t really know what to expect from Every Heart a Doorway, but I liked the concept well enough. I didn't actually read the synopsis because from what I had heard around the bookish community, this seemed like one of those books that you should just tumble into. I am so glad I went into this book blind. I never, ever, EVER say this, but I feel like this book was written for me.
Ever since I was little, I’ve loved the idea of slipping off to a fantasy world. I could fall down a rabbit hole like Alice, drive through a tollbooth like Milo, maybe even peek into a wardrobe and find myself in Narnia. Alas, this never happened to me, but I’ve held onto my love of portal fantasy and the concept of worlds just a doorway away. What Every Heart a Doorway does is take those children who have slipped through their portals and examine what happens to them when they have to return to our world. Eleanor West’s school is for children who desperately wish to return and must learn to cope with being ‘home’. I absolutely loved this concept -- I love seeing what happens beyond the words ‘happily ever after’.
McGuire’s writing has a dreamlike quality to it and it fits the narrative so perfectly. I really loved her writing style and the way she built not just the world of Eleanor West’s school, but the places that each child went to. She did in 170 pages what it takes some writers 300 pages to do -- she created a vast, intricate, and compelling world for her characters to live in. Of course, the reader wishes to explore the fantasy worlds more, and the sequels do just that. I thought the establishment of the world and its rules and the setup for sequels that dive deeper was so cleverly done. She manages to breathe new life into portal fantasy and the tired tropes that fit into that subgenre.
Like with the world building, McGuire manages to do in 200 pages what other authors sometime struggle with in full length novels -- she manages to create fully fleshed out and complex characters with background stories and motivations and personalities. I think that this is truly the greatest feat of this book. The connection the reader feels to each character is truly wonderful -- I understand the motivation of every single student in the school, I get why they are there and why they so desperately want to return to the world beyond their doorways. While I absolutely loved Nancy and her longing for the Halls of the Dead, the secondary characters are just as wonderfully written, particularly when they could have fallen flat in such a short book. McGuire creates characters the defy tropes and expectations.
Overall, Every Heart a Doorway is a beautiful, gory, magical read that is exactly the kind of fantasy I want to read -- I couldn't recommend it more highly. I don’t think I’ve ever connected to a story so strongly or had a story match my imagination so well. I cannot wait to read the next two books!
CW: gore
I didn’t really know what to expect from Every Heart a Doorway, but I liked the concept well enough. I didn't actually read the synopsis because from what I had heard around the bookish community, this seemed like one of those books that you should just tumble into. I am so glad I went into this book blind. I never, ever, EVER say this, but I feel like this book was written for me.
Ever since I was little, I’ve loved the idea of slipping off to a fantasy world. I could fall down a rabbit hole like Alice, drive through a tollbooth like Milo, maybe even peek into a wardrobe and find myself in Narnia. Alas, this never happened to me, but I’ve held onto my love of portal fantasy and the concept of worlds just a doorway away. What Every Heart a Doorway does is take those children who have slipped through their portals and examine what happens to them when they have to return to our world. Eleanor West’s school is for children who desperately wish to return and must learn to cope with being ‘home’. I absolutely loved this concept -- I love seeing what happens beyond the words ‘happily ever after’.
McGuire’s writing has a dreamlike quality to it and it fits the narrative so perfectly. I really loved her writing style and the way she built not just the world of Eleanor West’s school, but the places that each child went to. She did in 170 pages what it takes some writers 300 pages to do -- she created a vast, intricate, and compelling world for her characters to live in. Of course, the reader wishes to explore the fantasy worlds more, and the sequels do just that. I thought the establishment of the world and its rules and the setup for sequels that dive deeper was so cleverly done. She manages to breathe new life into portal fantasy and the tired tropes that fit into that subgenre.
Like with the world building, McGuire manages to do in 200 pages what other authors sometime struggle with in full length novels -- she manages to create fully fleshed out and complex characters with background stories and motivations and personalities. I think that this is truly the greatest feat of this book. The connection the reader feels to each character is truly wonderful -- I understand the motivation of every single student in the school, I get why they are there and why they so desperately want to return to the world beyond their doorways. While I absolutely loved Nancy and her longing for the Halls of the Dead, the secondary characters are just as wonderfully written, particularly when they could have fallen flat in such a short book. McGuire creates characters the defy tropes and expectations.
Overall, Every Heart a Doorway is a beautiful, gory, magical read that is exactly the kind of fantasy I want to read -- I couldn't recommend it more highly. I don’t think I’ve ever connected to a story so strongly or had a story match my imagination so well. I cannot wait to read the next two books!
CW: gore