Oddly enough, I wasn't all that impressed by Thorne's last book, Lute. But this one ... this one rocked my socks off.
I started it last summer, put it down, and for various reasons never picked it up until now, though it never left my mind. Many books do, some almost immediately upon finishing. This book stayed with me for months in exquisite detail until I came back to it. Like a proper possession, it just wouldn't let me go. And what a book, what an awesome study in familial and haunted terrors. A family summer vacation in Italian countryside in a gorgeous, rented villa sounds like a dream come true. But this is a dream that very quickly turns into a nightmare because shared DNA can only take people so far, and Anna, the protagonist of this novel, categorically doesn't belong with her family. Which is a nightmare in and of itself, ramped up into high gear when she begins to suspect that something is very, very wrong in the villa they are staying in. Leaving it all behind will not be enough. I'll say no more to avoid ruining any surprises. But do read this book and find out for yourself. From beautiful scenery to strikingly engaging writing, this slow burning descent into madness is a thing of beauty. A modern classing of haunting-themed literature. A hauntingly good book. It will haunt you! Choose one but all apply. Recommended. P.S. A small thing but ... if you're going to use a real-life artist who died in 1493, don't date his artwork to ≈1500. That's either wrong or lazy. Just pick a year.
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This was exactly as basic as I expect popular best-selling fiction to me. And sure enough, it has a ton of great ratings and reviews.
The general audience doesn't seem to need or even particularly want to be intellectually challenged. Child understands it and leans into simple in both concept and language. So here you have a simple story of some math-themed espionage. I wonder if every character in Child's fiction has a sort of built-in Reacher levels of stoic heroism or if that's just all he can write. Because here you have a mild-mannered mathematician who suddenly turns into a superspy able to withstand a brutal political prison system. Um, yeah, sure. And here are some more examples of basic, this time when it comes to the actual writing / editing: a commander-in-chief who "radiated charm and charisma" - um, someone grab a dictionary and saying something was a mirror image but otherwise the same - yeah, that's what it means, again, a dictionary wouldn't go amiss. At any rate, this was a quick mindless read that despite its various shortcomings will surely continue to dazzle the undemanding. Thanks Netgalley. Ah. I so wanted to love this book. On the surface, it had all the right elements. But ultimately, much like its cover, it just didn't quite work for me. So, I thought about why and ...
Well, first off, this is a novel of historical fiction. As such, it is largely a success. The author picked an interesting time and event (1660s France, Affair of the Poisons) and has obviously done a ton of research, for the amount of detail her is exhaustive ... and occasionally exhausting. But the novel mainly advertises itself as a love story, and there it kind of fails. The author has a great talent for describing the customs and surroundings of the time, but the connection between the two women in the novel is peculiarly dispassionate. One of them remains barely fleshed out. The one other pulls all the focus and is fleshed out elaborately but doesn't become any more compelling for it. The murder story that connects them is drawn out and convoluted. The most interesting thing there is how much it utilizes real historical details. The main thing here for me was that the novel felt dense and read slowly, relying on detailed descriptions instead of emotional connections. That and the romance as awkward as the kiss on the cover. A very solid effort for a debut and will surely sing to some, but it left this reader somewhat disenchanted. What sort of a person doesn't want to read a new Mike Mignola book? What sort of a person doesn't want to read about bowling with corpses? Seriously?
Importantly, this book doesn't feature the great red horned one. Though drawn in the same inimitably striking style and featuring the same wonderful narration, this collection features retellings and original tales inspired by the high fantasy (medieval set) classics like the works of Lord Dunsany, etc. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of those old stories, though I know enough of them to get the references, yet reimagined by Mignola, these tales of otherworldly adventures are well worth checking out. There's a great look at the author's sketchbook at the end too. Recommended. I didn't think I realized this was Gauld's debut until after I finished it. But sure, yeah, that makes perfect sense. I've read Gauld' more recent work, and it's been uniformly excellent. Now I know he came out of the gate that strong.
Goliath is an inimitably Gauldean retelling of the classic myth. Using a distinctly and strategically low-key approach to the grand old story, adding a humorous touch, bring the giant down to earth, as it were, by making him an inept warrior best suited for paperwork who gets caught up in a preposterous bluff, works wonders here. The book is small, text-lite (while charmingly drawn), and goes by very quickly, but the time you spent with it is a time very well spent indeed. Recommended. Mavericks: Life stories and lessons of history's most extraordinary misfits by Jenny Draper1/30/2025 This is a rather charming collection of short biographical entries about people who have made something of themselves irrespective of their circumstances. By daring, pluck, or luck, these mavericks have managed to think outside the box, color outside the lines, etc.
Most of the people featured in this book are lesser or not-at-all known now, though they have all made a splash back in their respective day. A lot of the people featured in this book have been marginalized in their time by their race, gender, etc. and nevertheless exceled against all odds. In that, the book is rather motivational, though it is, thankfully, not presented as such. The presentation here is on a somewhat plain, easily accessible side, with occasional cheeky asides, often about someone's admittedly hilarious name. The overall tone is upbeat; the overall vibe is kind of cute, albeit in a good way. The main takeaway is that I learned a lot about fascinating characters. The book serves as a nice reminder that no matter how stupid and/or oppressive rules and laws may be, they can be defied and/or broken and even on their own, they don't last forever. Good read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley. Before I lost most of my tolerance for the ubiquitous lady thrillers, I read the author's Last Flight and thought it was pretty good. So I figured I'd see what she's up to now with her latest.
The main draw here for me, actually, was that I very much enjoy books about writers. This one has two, a father and a daughter, once estranged and now reunited for their first and last project together. The father has made a career of writing scary stories and is now losing his mind to dementia. The daughter has made a career of ghostwriting other people's stories before losing it all to a very public feud with a nasty and litigious man in her field. (Attention - message! Because, of course, you can't have a book without a message these days.) The father has spent fifty years living under a dark shadow of a double murder (both his siblings) of which he has been suspected but never convicted. Now he decides to set the record straight once and for all through a memoir. And who better to write it than the daughter who has spent most of her adult life telling people he's dead. That's the basic premise of the story, and it is a pretty compelling read ... until you realize that literally all of the mystery and suspense here is based solely of the distribution of information. As in, the reader is strategically fed only a tidbit of info at a time. Which a. gets frustrating, and b. after a while just seems stupid. I mean, the character doesn't go talk to a crucial part of the puzzle person until the last fifth so of the novel. It's like, come on. I know you're getting paid per word here, and you've got to hit your 368 pages, or the reader apparently won't recognize what they are reading, but still ... In the end, this is still very much a genre cliche, meant to check all the right boxes. And as such, it cannot be too challenging, lest it alienates the mainstream audience, thus alienating the more demanding one. User mileage may vary. Thanks Netgalley. There are some perfect creative combinations in this world - the literally literary equivalent of peanut butter and jelly. This is a fine example of one, a writer and an artist that complement each other perfectly. In this case, strikingly enough, one outshines the other.
I've been a Lemire fan for a while now, admiring both his gift for storytelling and his creative versatility. I even like his art, when he does both for some of his books. And when he doesn't, he tends to find superb collaborators. But this one is above and beyond. Not just the artistry itself, but the panel work is simply the most original I've ever seen. In this book, for me, the art was the main draw. Which is to say, I liked the overall plot very much - moody, creepy, and I'm crazy for apartment-based scares - but the actual characters and dialogue left me largely indifferent. So I was in it for the forest, not the trees. Overall, having read other Bone Orchard books, I'd say this isn't Lemire's strongest work. But the art was stunning on every page, making this book an absolute feast for the eyes. Which makes this tenement well worth a visit. Finally, a proper five star read. This was one of the best and smartest books I've read in a while. If I had to describe it in just two words, I'd say, "America. Explained." But GR generously affords their readers and reviewers many words, so here we go ...
The US is unique, even amid the other first-world countries. It has been explained in flattering terms like exceptionalism, determination, drive, etc. and less flattering terms like ... greed, egotism, etc. But Jane Borden hits the nail just right by describing it as a cult. It makes so much sense. An alarming amount of sense. And once you'll read this book, you'll have a difficult time thinking of it in any other way. Which is perfectly appropriate for a cult, of course. So, welcome to cult Borden, ruled by intelligence, humor, erudition, and compassion. Learn all about how a country settled by Puritans held onto its repressive values and later adapted them for a future where rampant inequality, obsession with money, and gung-ho individualism devolved into an unhappy doomsday cult, desperately seeking to hang all its hopes and dreams on impossible promises. Abandon all logic, ye who enter here. This book was a result of five years of work for the author and it shows in the meticulous research and complete mastery of the subject. She makes her arguments strongly and compellingly, and they are presented well through excellent and wonderfully humorous writing. Yes, she turns into a stoner hippie Pollyanna at the end, which seemed a bit incongruous with the tone and findings of the book, but aside from that, it's a really great read. Moreover, an important one. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley. The publishing industry abhors originality these days, sticking instead to the safe and familiar tropes. One of those is quaint books about old people. Another one are amateur sleuths with some sort of cognitive impediment.
Accordingly, the protagonist of this novel is an old woman who begins to suspect that something might be going wrong in the care facility. Don't expect a Miss Marple sort of sleuthing though, for this lady has Alzheimer and therefore only a rather precarious grasp of all the words she knows. Thus, she is limited in expressing her suspicions, which creates the entire driving force behind this novel. It's an intriguing concept, but this is less of an odd detective novel and more of an old person journey, complete with trips down memory lane and navigating the changing modern world (insert a strategically placed trans person of color here to make a point). It is difficult for people with intact memory to know what it must be like for someone who is losing theirs. The author did a pretty good job of imaging that, down to some clever world play. Interestingly, his protagonist remains remarkably upbeat through it all, wither because she's just that Australian or because it's just that kind of a novel. The book is too feel-good by design for a lot of poignancy but has a main character likable enough to override that at time. It is a very quick, easily marketable and digestible read, so if you're into that sort of thing, go for it. Thanks Netgalley. |
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December 2023
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