I’ve read all of Keith Donohue's novels and really liked them, except for June which was just okay. But this one was such a disappointment. And it’s strange, because I like all the individual components like the archaeology aspect and the use of the Irish historical and mythological figures. And I enjoy Donohue’s writing too. But altogether the book just really didn’t work for me.
Despite the lovely writing, the book was sluggish, by turns dreamy or rambly. The characters were interesting, but at times ridiculous, saying wildly out of character/place/time things like “tushy”, which is just one of the ways in which this book has hit upon some really awkward raunchiness. The plot is busy, muddled, overdone. The book reads like a slog through a bog. It is no wonder that Donohue, whose books used to be released by top publishers with lovely covers and all, has done this one with the low-tier press like Crooked Lane and a cheap-looking cover. Let’s hope it’s a one off for a talented author and not a sign of things to come. Thanks Netgalley.
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Every so often a book comes along and blows your mind. I’m not saying this lightly. I read a fair amount, and I’m a really tough critic, and … this book was magnificent.
It drew me in from the opening pages and never let go. It isn’t just the spectacular description and terrific character development, the taut suspense and the mind-boggling plot reveals, it’s all of that plus so much more, strung together by Binge’s great writing. A man lost in his own guilt, driven to the most impossible tasks and locations to distract himself from it, a mountain appearing seemingly out of nowhere from which none come back the same and where nothing makes sense. The two of them are destined to meet—each a stunning character in their own right—for a most memorable of reckonings. Cramming science, philosophy, and faith; crossing and blending genres, this sci-fi-nightmare of the most literary kind is a beauty to behold and an adventure like no other. I loved reading this book; it’s the sort of reading experience that makes you fall in love with books all over again. Entertaining, moving, and surprising by turns, the narrative is completely engaging, leaving you to want nothing but more. In fact, it’s been difficult to select books after this one, aware that they will likely pale in comparison. Terrific book. Well worth the climb. Recommended. I enjoyed The Lemon Man, both book and protagonist, enough to welcome the sequel, despite genuine preference for standalones. The thing with most sequels is that they don’t hold the candle to the original, and this one is no exception to the rule. It isn’t so much the book’s fault, it’s just that the crisp freshness of originality inevitably leaves the building when one takes to serializing. And so, the series tend to rely on the characters themselves, hoping the reader will form a strong enough attachment to sustain them.
Does Lemon Man himself merit such an attachment? Well … first off, he doesn’t have OCD and the book should not advertise it. That just had to be said. You want to make your character quirky, hit some modern fiction prerequisites for diversity, sure, go for it. But don’t just mention a psychological disorder to check the box with nothing to back it up. That said, in the first book the protagonist had a baby and a new love interest to juggle, and that was fun. In this one, he only has the love interest (now a more permanent although difunctional situation). Yes, he still wears slippers to ride a bike, which makes no sense to anyone who rides bikes, unless slippers in Ireland are radically different from slippers elsewhere. Quirky, but is that enough? Since Lemon Man’s main appeal seems to be overcoming the odds, the author just layers on the abuse as heavily as he can. So instead of cushy paid assassin gigs, Lemon Man gets stuck doing random jobs and trying to save his bestie, while navigating a local gang war—the more he gets in, the more he gets beaten up. Violence is visited and revisited upon his person, until he can barely bike, though he preserves, of course, because he now is in the sequel, one that makes it very obvious a third book is planned. So, the plot didn’t do much for me. The writing is very, very plain. The opposite of literary fiction—commercial fiction, I suppose. Short plan sentences. One after another. It’s all like …This person walked in. They looked like * and wore * and did *. First person narration gives it a sort of engaging immediacy, so the book mainly coasts on that. My favorite thing about this was getting a bikeview tour of Dublin. That never gets old. The protagonist names every landmark and describes the city enough to make it into a character of its own, one likely more engaging that the rest put together. Overall, a quick, mildly entertaining read. Thanks Brash Books! Not often does the story behind the book overshadows the book itself. Particularly when the book in question is actually good. But with this production, you really couldn’t have it any other way.
Conceived and created in Terezin concentration camp by two creators who didn’t leave to see it ever produced, this was meant to be an opera. It is a story as tragic as it is cautionary and eerily, terrifyingly prescient/timely, all these decades later. A bloodthirsty, warmongering authoritarian dictator so out of touch with reality that he pisses off Death himself who decides to take a vacation or go on strike, but either way not do its job so that the world is at war and full of people who will not die. Simultaneously gruesomely realistic and surreal and drawn gorgeously in black-and-white, this story is as disturbing as it is unputdownable. The most effective, affecting thing about this book and the story behind it is the undeniably hopeful note. That such beauty could be born out of a darkness so deep, that it could be found in the bleakest of circumstances is a true testament to the resiliency of the spirit. An absolute must read, this is the sort of book someone might try to ban someday. And I mean it as the highest compliment. Recommended. What a magnificently disturbing nightmare of a story!
You know what else is magnificent here? A reminder that people CAN surprise you. I mean, I would have never selected this book solely based on the romcom garbage the author had churned out before. But lo and behold, she turns around (a full 180) and produces this darkness-personified of a story—a portrait of psychopath as a young woman, if you will. Actually, I selected this book based on its award-winning status and praise from respectable sources. And yeah, totally worth it. A one-sit read, a mesmerizingly, viscerally disturbing book. It pulls you into its darkness slowly. The first 20% or so it just descriptions of the island where the story takes place—this is very much as location-as-character story. We don’t meet Rachel, the character who becomes a sort of catalyst for the plot until nearly 30%. The thing is, the author absolutely has the chops to work with a leisurely pace; her descriptions are cinematically vivid. The island comes to life as a forbidding rock populated by narrow-minded, superstitious, insular people who shun the protagonist, Aoileann, and have done so for all her nineteen years on earth. She has never left the island, never been to school, all she knows of the world is what she’s read in books. Aoileann’s entire life is dedicated to (with her grandmother) taking care of her mother who has been in a vegetative state more or less since Aoileann was born. This care is described in exhaustive, visceral detail to show you just how much of a nightmare the situation is. To make matters worse (and give the situation a slightly surreal atmosphere),at night, her mother apparently crawls around, etching letters into the floor with her bare fingers. When Rachel (with her newborn) shows up on the island for a temporarily artistic residency, Aoileann sees a window into a larger world open and grabs at it for dear life. It becomes a sort of toxic obsession where she can’t quite tell if she wants Rachel for a lover or a mother, but she wants Rachel and will stop at nothing to get her. Absolutely harrowing journey into a warped mind. Very well done. It seems the story had been reworked and expanded from the original, going by descriptions alone, and more importantly, it works. Sure, yeah, it checks A LOT of the current gotta-have-it boxes along the way: a tale of motherhood, mothers/daughters dynamics, reverential treatment of body fat, queer tones, etc. but it does so in a way that never seems gratuitous and really works within the story. It isn’t a fun read by any means, nor will it work for everyone, but it would be a deranged delight for connoisseurs of dark psychological fiction. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley. A delightfully irreverent and laugh-out-loud hilarious collection of eighteen short biographies of women who lived around the turn of the twentieth century and famously (or notoriously) did things rather unbecoming of a lady.
When was the last time you read a nonfiction book in less than a day, learned a lot, and laughed your way through? This book is a proper marvel. A feminist manifesto (or eighteen) wrapped inside genuine entertainment. Because let’s face it—the past, especially when it came to women, is rather horrifying to explore without a dash of levity. And yet, these brave eighteen dared to defy the social norm by making careers, fortunes, and names for themselves in a man’s world. Audaciously, brazenly, epically so. You've got to admire it. A great read. Including photos and artwork for proper, immersive introductions. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley. A supernatural mystery with dinosaurs? Yes, please. A thousand times yes!
Plus, I read Dumas’s previous book and was rather impressed. And yet this one was something of a disappointment. Perhaps, because I was so excited going in. perhaps the stakes were set too high. Or perhaps it just isn’t that great of a book. It is good. Yes. But don’t you want more? The plot revolves around a pint-size protagonist named Simon whose entire life has been scarred by the tragic disappearance of his baby sister when he was ten. Now in his early thirties, Simon takes a job at the same museum where the disappearance occurred with eh ideas of poking around. As a child, he was fascinated with dinosaurs. As an adult, he’s … well, professionally fascinated with dinosaurs. And then he starts seeing them skulking around the museum at night. So, if the Night in the Museum was a murder mystery … And it all sounds good and fun, but: A. I didn’t care for Simon. He’s not particularly likeable, weak and whiny and emotionally incontinent, and takes much too long to learn some valuable lessons about workplace diversity, i.e. he’s too quick to hate a woman working herself to the bone (no pun intended) to keep the museum open for crappy pay but easily dismisses his assistant’s vulgar, nasty sexual innuendo jokes in that boys-will-be-boys way. B. The supernatural aspect of the novel was so disappointing. It was almost like the author just couldn’t commit to it one way or another. Is Simon hallucinating, and if so, what explains his injuries? C. The central mystery’s resolution was kind of underwhelming. And Simon seemed surprisingly forgiving of certain perpetrators because why? because they shared a sexuality? seriously? Having that been said, it was still a very entertaining read. The writing is solidly commercial as opposed to literary, but rather effective. And if you’re dinosaurs, it’s really tons of fun. So, something of a mixed bag, but a perfectly decent all-around read. Thanks Netgalley. Two years ago, Ellie Black disappeared. Now she’s back, but she isn’t talking, holding her secrets close despite the local detective’s best efforts to find out the truth.
Having overdone it on thrillers, I am now very selective about the genre. What attracted me to this book was King’s ringing endorsement. And sure enough, this was above average. Still way too much of a formula to truly wow, but entertaining and compelling enough to keep the pages turning. I can’t say that I particularly cared about any of the characters (and that just isn’t how you spell the name Chelsea) but the suspense aspect was nicely done and well maintained, as were all the twists and turns toward the end. Like just about every single thriller of this kind out there, the book featured the right i.e. overwhelming amount of estrogen and girl power messaging with just enough token diversity thrown in. Like most YA authors turning to adult fiction, the book featured a lot of teenage and young characters written stronger and more credibly than the adults. If you’re looking for a decent, albeit cliché-heavy thriller, this might do the trick. Thanks Netgalley. Once upon a time, a man named Randall Sullivan went looking for the Devil. His journey took him far and wide, eventually resulting in this book. It also made him a believer in the process.
More or less bookended by real life exorcism accounts with a true crime thread strung out throughout, a chronological theological and philosophical narrative, and a particularly nightmarish travelogue account of Mexico, this book is all over the place in the best possible way. It’s fascinating, obviously well-researched, and, as one might expect, very, very dark. I’ve never read the author before, an obvious oversight, but this was the most auspicious of introductions. Excellent writing that keeps your interest chapter to chapter no matter how bleak, clever observations, vivid descriptions make this book a very good read indeed. Much was learned. If you ever get tired of the sunny side of the street and interested in exploring the darkness, this is a solid choice. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley. My fifth read by Catherine Steadman. The previous four have all been solid four stars, and this one got dangerously close to going all the way, but a few logistical snafus in the end kept it at four.
Still impressive. A most impressive solid performance in a genre so overpopulated by trite clichés that I’ve all but given up reading it. I make exceptions for Steadman. Totally worth it. Behind the prismatic cover of this book lies a tale of deceptions centered around an unexpected inheritance and a particularly tricked out basement. It’s impossible to tell how much is too much in discussing the plot here, and so to avoid giving anything away, let’s just say this is a novel of extreme survival and leave it at that. Steadman got a knack for detail which usually hampers (and needlessly bulks up) these sorts of thrillers, but in her work comes across seamlessly and, at times, literary. It is also commendable that she chose to do something different from the usual (missing child - driven mother, spouse with secrets, friends with a decades old secrets reunite, etc.) genre presets. And she gets the suspense just right, keeping you turning pages. It was the ending that left a lot to be desired here. From the neatness of the bow with which it was all tired up to some questionable logistics. Nevertheless, the book is very entertaining and very much worth a read. Please stop now if you haven’t read the novel. I’d like to discuss those logistical snafus without accusations of giving too much away. Okay? Okay, thanks. So, our presumably very intelligent protagonist doesn’t do a lot of work verifying her mysterious inheritance before jutting off to the remote island, does she? But more importantly, her allegedly brilliant and lovely father has no qualms designing a place clearly meant for nefarious purposes. Moreso, he seems more or less okay with it so long as it doesn’t affect his daughter. Moreso, he in fact suspects it may affect his daughter (this is during Lucinda’s visit) but nevertheless does nothing—NOTHING—to warn his daughter about this possibility or prepare her in any way, BUT he does rely on Lucinda’s good graces and kindness enough to ask her to avoid involving his daughter. In other words, he’d rather depend on someone with a proven track of evil deeds than simply warn his beloved only daughter. Interesting. And finally, why would a witness protection program relocate British citizens to the smaller towns, US? Isn’t the entire point of it to make people disappear? How’s putting a foreign national in a staunchly monolingual, socially conservative south of the country generally bewildered by accents going to help them blend in? Anyway, those are just some things that didn’t make much sense. Still a very fun read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley. |
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December 2023
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