Disclaimer: I wouldn’t have picked this book if not for the reading challenge prompt- a book with bad reviews.

A short story collection seemed easier to survive for such a prompt, and I’m glad I was right. The book has 18 stories about ‘hellish holidays’, and I can’t help but wonder if ‘hell’ was what the reader would have been transported to for daring to pick this one.

Okay, there are a couple of decent stories. But 3 nice ones from 18? Well, do your math. I sure don’t have to write a long review, but I need to rant. So here it goes.

Danner is Dead: A deer gets hits by a speeding car. The rest is an attempted stream of consciousness narrative that could have won a Pulitzer if the author threw in complex terminology. Nothing makes sense anyway. It looked like the author prepared for a 2-mark question but had to write the same answer for a 10-mark question. (Not sure if everyone will get this example, but Indians would know what I mean).

Blue Christmas: Sort of funny with an over-the-top dysfunctional family meeting. Bearable though. At least I didn’t have to wonder what happened.

Eight: Jews vs. Christian celebrations (a recurring theme in many stories). I don’t remember anything else, and I read it less than 72 hours ago. That says enough, I guess.

That’s Just about Enough Figgy Pudding, Actually: Logic vs. magic and stalking Santa? Well, bearable. The title is more interesting at any rate (ignoring the adverbs in there).

Birthdays: Another dysfunctional family but twisted and funny. (Don’t question my sense of humor, please. I need to retain my sanity.)

The Accidental Santa: Okayish, though I forgot the exact story. (That okayish comes from my notes, so I have no idea what I found bearable).

Christmas 2001: A collection of ‘sad’ Christmas celebrations. This one was touching. I felt sad for the narrator, so yes, this was a decent one.

The Bite Before Christmas: Loner moving around without destination on a Christmas Eve. Oh, well. Interesting theme. But the writing isn’t strong enough to make me feel anything except disinterest.

Survivor: Rambling at its best, or should I say worst? Ugh!

I’ll have Christmas with the Works on Rye, Hold the Ham, and Jesus: Jew vs. Christian celebrations. Maybe the title was better than the story.

Christmas in Paris: With an LGBT+ lead. It was sort of introspective. Not bad.

We Really Must Get Together This Year: I’ve read this author’s novels and am glad I didn’t read this first. This is probably one of her worst pieces. Uninspiring and boring.

The Gift of Magi Redux: Now, this one is rather good. I like it.

A Foreign Country: Brit vs. American and Jews vs. Christian Christmas celebrations. Okayish. Dry humor, or maybe I thought it was while the author meant something else.

The Jew Who Cooked Ham for Christmas: Moderately funny, I suppose. I like to imagine that the author tried to make it funny.

Rum Balls: Oh, well…

Buy Humbug: Twisted (the note says). I don’t remember the story. It’s less than 24 hours since I read it. Got erased faster than the lessons from school and college. That’s a record, I say!

The Gift That did not Need Wrapping: Sort of musing and minor ranting. A collection of memories. Nothing remarkable.

Not sure about Noel, but the book was hell. I rest my case.

I have no idea who and why they came up with this collection, but man, it’s something the readers could do without. The only saving grace is that I ticked off a prompt from the reading challenge. Phew!

**Rant**

How to write a story set in India to please the colonial masters and give the illusion of being an intellectual and a realist?

• Start and end with heavy metaphoric prose
• Stereotype caste division
• Stereotype class division
• Insert as many instances of racism as possible
• Take a wafer-thin plot
• Add all possible social injustices (domestic violence, oppression, alcohol abuse, worker abuse, teen pregnancy, torture by MIL, AIDS through a partner... I hope I didn't forget any)
• Go back and forth to insert the above-mentioned tropes
• Sprinkle heavy prose at random
• All men are evil (except the refugee from another country)
• Women should be passive-aggressive (yeah, like my review) and continue to suffer
• Remove all chances of hope or positivity
• Mercurial main characters to tick off the checklist
• Present the worst version of India and win accolades for writing realistic hard-hitting fiction (where did all the kind people vanish!?)

*****

Don't need to be a genius to figure out how much I liked the book, right? I already had an inkling about how the book would be. Even then, I expected something less dramatic and more balanced. Makes me wonder why I even bothered.

The narration did start well but soon felt like a drive through a construction site. You never know when you'll need to step on the brake because there's a sudden diversion ahead.

It didn't help that I guessed the crux of the plot within the first 50 pages but had to wait until the last 50 pages for the reveal.

One of the reviewers called the book misery porn, and I'm inclined to agree. Why is it that there is hardly anyone good in the book, except for a young boy, Haider? Even Dinaz is a stereotyped social justice crusader from an affluent family (think of rich girls joining campaigns to take selfies for Instagram).

Not sure if others didn't find it odd, but I got annoyed by Bhima's obsession with Pathan (the Afghan balloon seller). Leave the poor man alone!

Maya plays such a vital role in the book and doesn't get a chance to share her POV. We see her through Bhima and Sera's eyes. It looked like she had it in her to be a strong character but the author didn't bother to develop her arc. She ended up more as a plot device.

I know the book has a sequel, but the metaphorical ending felt totally off. I'm not surprised by the events towards the end. That was the only way the book would go. Yet, I expected a much-rounded ending, something more grounded or even hopeful. Got neither. :/

This is not a review. It’s a sequence of events that led to the one-star rating.

Years of Wonders was one of the choices for Sep BoTM in the RF group. I skimmed the reviews to shortlist and vote for this (KMN) despite reading that the last 50 pages were sort-of extra.

I don’t re-read the blurb when starting a book. So, all I remember is that the book is about Plague, Anna, and the villagers’ condition, with a good dose of witchcraft thrown in.

The book started well enough, albeit slow. I expected the slow pace and trudged on the first couple of days.

By around 45%, I felt something was missing or not right. Still, I continued by starting to speed-read the rest.

By 73%, I was half exasperated with the whole thing. There were too many things going on, and the pacing wasn’t helping either. I wondered if the author was following some sort of checklist.

Then, I saw two friends declare that the ending was a huge letdown. I thanked them and prepared myself for the worst. How bad can it be? I underestimated the author.

A couple of twists I expected arrived soon. I was prepared. New developments unfolded. I connected the dots and reminded myself about the ‘worst part’.

Then, I read the epilogue. I went back to read it again. Maybe I was reading an excerpt from another book. Alas, no! It was the same story.

And that last page of the story… let’s say I value my life enough to not smack my head against the wall. Mind you, I’m a certified HEA lover, and this ending ruined my love for it.

The afterword followed. It was like dunking my head in a bucket of ice. The story was supposed to be about how the villagers of Eyam quarantined themselves to stop the spread of the Plague. What I read wasn’t that! The true incident was only one of the subplots. I read Anna’s story from her POV (more on this next).

Here, I thought the book was about Anna, and lo! It is actually about the villagers and their grit to quarantine themselves. What’s more, I didn’t even feel the impact of their decision. It was always about Anna.

It didn’t end there. The book had real characters. Rev. William Mompesson (real) became Rev. Michael Mompellion. The same with his wife. Okay! They were fictionized. Agreed. I’m a writer too. I know creative freedom and all that. But you can’t disgrace a real person like that. The poor man has been dead for ages. He’d be turning in his grave with what happened in the last 25% of the book.

The whole story seemed more like a piece shoehorned to fit a prompt (here, the prompt being the Plague). That explained the multitude of themes and the stupidest ending.

How could I rate a book higher when I know it doesn’t even do justice to the real incident? The book was supposed to be about how the villagers dealt with the Plague and quarantine. It had to have both sides of the coin. Not a bunch of depressing themes, all possible evils, and a few birthing scenes (plus a couple of sex scenes).

I don’t mind the detailed description of the gruesome scenes. I pretty much skipped them. I do mind the lack of positivity in everyone except Eleanor (and Rev. MM). Give people some credit. They sacrificed themselves to save others. Talk about their emotions, too, instead of slotting them into good and bad. There’s hardly anything wonderful in the book (except the illogical ending, which is positive only for Anna). The first-person narration sure didn’t help.

And the narration… this is something I commented on in one of the recent writing events we conducted at The Hive. When writing a first-person POV, the narration has to suit the character and align with the arc.

Anna is an illiterate who later learns to read and write. Her skills are still limited, never mind that she was an overachiever (God, I hate this trope). The narration alters between sophisticated descriptions and crass statements. The dialogues are more like Anna, but the narration would suit someone like Eleanor (minus the gruesome details). I can ignore this if the rest of the book is good. It isn’t, which means I’m pissed off enough to point out as many flaws as I can.

… Phew! That’s it, I suppose. Will edit the review if I remember more.

If you still haven’t understood the low rating, you might just like the book. Give it a shot. If you nod your head in agreement with my statements, thank you, and welcome to the club.

2.3 stars

I've read Linda Howard's thrillers a while ago but when I saw her name again with a novella (just what I was looking for) I picked this up immediately.
But there is hardly anything that happens in the book except for the talk about past lives and love-making. And the heroine was quite a paradox. I remember her heroines being strong and capable but somehow, Thea fell short in many ways.
Apparently, this is a re-release of a story that's two decades old. The paranormal part wasn't effective either. Just a light no-brainer read when you have nothing else to do.

Publication Date: 14th June 2022

Genre: Contemporary Women, Drama

2 Stars

One Liner: Duh!

2013: Molly, a 23-year-old MFA student, and Jake Danner, the lead singer and guitarist of the Danner Lane band, meet and fall in love. Their relationship is intense, draining, and explosive, with the two of them wanting forever.

A Decade Later: Molly is married to Hunter and has a six-year-old daughter Stella. She and Hunter are trying for another child through embryo transplantation. Molly is lonely and unable to fit into the wealthy lifestyle of Flynn Cove.

She meets Sabrina, who seems to be just like her. The two hit off instantly and become good friends. As Sabrina spins her web, Molly can’t help but feel torn between her past and present. Sabrina won’t stop until she gets what she wants.

Can Molly deal with the aftermath? What will her past cost her?

My Observations:

• First 33% - Not sure if I was too tired or bored to not care about the characters
• Next 33% - Hmm… can the plot move ahead, please
• Last 33% - At least, it’s over

The story comes in installments of past and present from Molly and Jake's limited third-person POVs and Sabrina’s first-person POV.

There’s a lot of story (info dump) despite the segregation of the plot into different segments. Sabrina’s present chapters were interesting of all.

Sadly, none of the characters made me feel anything for them. Not even dislike. I didn’t care for any of them for the majority of the book. Stella was the bright spot whenever she appeared.

There’s so much drama, but it felt so distanced that I was bored rather than feeling sad for either character. The writing is too much YA-ish, but I enjoyed some YA books way better than one.

And no! This is NOT a thriller. It is a drama. I didn’t find anything remotely ‘thrilling’ in the book. The twists can’t even be called twists, IMO.

It’s kind of ironic that the book has scenes about multiple edits required to polish and fine-tune a manuscript. If only…

I can’t say who the right audiences for the book are, but it’s not me. I was bored more than half the time. (I'm repeating myself. Can't help it).

The pacing is super slow. I finished it in 3 days only because I started to speed-read from the first day. No way I would spend more than 3 days on a 320-page book that claims to be a thriller.

To sum up, Can’t Look Away is a drama that reads a lot like a YA book with NA characters. However, read other reviews before you decide.

Thank you, NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

#NetGalley