Started off just fine, I loved the Wyoming ranch setting and it felt like it was going to be super cute.
But there was so much freaking exposition thaStarted off just fine, I loved the Wyoming ranch setting and it felt like it was going to be super cute.
But there was so much freaking exposition that I started to get uneasy, and then at least three times the momentum was lost in a significant moment because the story goes off on a tangent. And THEN it somehow it turned into a typical, nearly-every-single-NA-box-checked New Adult/indie romance novel, down to the same litany of tired phrases, annoying nicknames, and pseudo-dominant sex that seems to reproduce itself over and over in those categories. There might’ve been a cute book in here somewhere, but it is completely obscured by the writing.
The light-hearted romance + occasionally awkward smut thing doesn’t feel entirely natural as written, either. And his whole vibe was off, as he’s supposedly a reformed manwhore with random details thrown in to prove it (some of the sex, the icky sleeping with his childhood first kiss’ mom thing) but he never acts that way except when it’s supposed to be shocking or exciting you.
I was absolutely floored to look at the book editions and find that this was apparently published by Dial, a division of Penguin? After finding so many NA language and situational markers, I thought this was an independently published book, not one with the benefit of editorial help, especially a publisher as big and well-respected as that. (Explains the cover, though.) So annoyed by this, and am disappointed I can’t rely on the name being synonymous with quality any longer.
Not the author’s fault—I don’t know what this book’s path was to publishing, I can see why it sparked interest (I so hoped it would be another Amy Barry-type western series), but this was taken on, acquired, and released way before it was ready.
1.5 stars Docking it an extra half star for writing and editing that should have been way better. Concept + quirky cover aren’t enough to cut it....more
There was a wound in me that kept unknotting its own sutures.
This story begins with a young woman receiving a stroke of good luck: she’s hired for a pThere was a wound in me that kept unknotting its own sutures.
This story begins with a young woman receiving a stroke of good luck: she’s hired for a plum job as a handler for one of several individuals plucked from various points in history so that the effects of time travel can be studied. Her assignment is “1847,” a Victorian polar explorer named Graham Gore who died on an Arctic expedition...in 1847.
Unlike so many synopses, this one describing the novel as “a time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy,” is pretty accurate. Readers who are more interested in the mechanics of science and hows and whys probably won't enjoy this as much; this is a literary sci fi novel along the lines of Never Let Me Go where the focus is on the characters, ethical dilemmas, and emotion. It gently, stoically explores imperialism and the refugee/immigrant/person of color experience in a white culture, as well as ethics and personal responsibility. The writing is provocative and lovely, with piquant observations, moments of wry humor, an appreciation for history, and clear-eyed candor on the marvels and trappings of our modern world.
A couple hours before the end, the narrator referenced entering the “final weeks,” and I thought a slightly despairing oh no because I didn’t want it to end. This begins as an enormously entertaining book (especially if you’re prone to, ahem, romances with Victorian gentlemen), but towards the end, it shakes off its restraints and also provokes genuine anxiety, tenderness, and empathy. This story surprised me in the best of ways and left me both yearning and hopeful.
4.5 stars for an astonishingly assured debut.
Audio Notes: I LOVED Katie Leung’s narration. Her voice, accent, and subtly nuanced delivery were absolutely perfect from beginning to end. Please hire Cho Chang to read more books! And not just those with Asian characters. (The male narrator does a nice job, too.)...more
1.5 stars This is not a book much interested in crime, despite the main character being a cop. And while literary thrillers can also be great if the p1.5 stars This is not a book much interested in crime, despite the main character being a cop. And while literary thrillers can also be great if the psychological elements and character work are done well, this is certainly not that, either. So it ends up being a weird book that doesn't really satisfy on any level.
As a whole: I do not enjoy thrillers that lean into the fanciful vs. fact-based. A lot of "serial killer's daughter" books seem to do this, and while I get the dissociative coping mechanisms involved, creating vague fantastical lore often feels like a substitution for actual character development and motivation. And if most of the story is wrapped up in mythic ideas and doesn't stray far beyond that, it's pretty basic fairy tale-type material, which is not satisfying.
Plot-wise, you get your usual red herrings and whatever culprit. It's fine, but nothing particularly unique, hard to guess, or containing much tension. Most of it happens towards the end, and there's not much time spent on the crimes or the victims or interesting detective work or even killers.
Ethics: oof. So problematic, primarily because the MC has changed her name through witness protection and is now a cop, but doesn't disclose this as she works on the copycat cases; there are other infractions, too. And unfortunately, my indifference to her made it hard to look past that—unlike, say, the similar scenario in Tana French’s In the Woods.
Writing/characterization: Pretty surface and pedestrian, with questionable psychological content.
I'm baffled what I'm missing in glancing at all the high ratings. I'm annoyed enough by this to possibly round down the star ratings as I think about it; at least The Marsh King's Daughter had a few nice action sequences at the end, and father/daughter cat-and-mouse felt a little more interesting.
Audio Notes: Samantha Desz's voice is fine, but the way she narrates feels more suited to cozy mysteries. Though to be fair, the material is not very deep here, either....more
This is some real Scooby Doo shit. (view spoiler)[Until you find out about an hour before the end that there actually is a supernatural force. But it’This is some real Scooby Doo shit. (view spoiler)[Until you find out about an hour before the end that there actually is a supernatural force. But it’s a dumb force, so. (hide spoiler)] The end is kind of interesting, but not much else is....more
3.5 stars Such a hard book to rate. The first 40% or so, I was enjoying it so much I kept thinking it would be at least a 4.5, but it sort of became u3.5 stars Such a hard book to rate. The first 40% or so, I was enjoying it so much I kept thinking it would be at least a 4.5, but it sort of became undone as the story got more complicated.
First off: the book cover and marketing are all wrong. WRONG. It is a book that sort of blurs category lines, but it is not at all a typical thriller and the expectations set up by the artwork and synopsis don’t do it any favors. Much of it is written like a slightly demented cozy mystery, which is super fun. The protagonist is a woman in her fifties, who has learned to live with the blood pouring down her walls and the ghosts that inhabit her house during the month of every September. Fans of Anna Dressed in Blood will appreciate the creepiness of the apparitions, as well as the offbeat humor throughout the story.
I don’t want to spoil anything, but for me, it’s when you begin to doubt what’s going on that I became less enamored. (Of note: this is the writing debut of a psychologist.) In a way, the serious questions raised and the back story with her husband had too much time spent on them, but not enough depth; they are impossible to ignore, so the less than satisfactory execution of serious, sensitive subjects—abuse, denial, mental illness, etc.—were worrisome and distracting. One of the few cases where I think I would’ve enjoyed a simpler story you could take more at face value, or at least one that took a second look at how some of this was portrayed. ETA: I had many of the feelings as described here, which is why it’s on my problematic-but-compelling shelf. (Potential spoilers, obviously.) https://lithub.com/whats-unreal-is-re... This is done effectively here (maybe too effectively), but in 2023 it’s difficult to look on stories like this without acknowledging what we have collectively learned when it is so central to the plot.
I also found too many familiar elements from other stories, among them The Others, The Birds, The Shining, and many more. They’re incorporated well, but it’s better when authors trust in their own originality rather than borrowing from such iconic scenes and characters.
But I do so love Elias, the feral ghost boy who leaps out and savagely bites at our protagonist whenever she gets near him. And I’d check out the author’s next book, with the hope that it’s less referential and better thought out.
Audio Notes: Narrator is a little stridently chipper, but it’s okay for the most part since it’s the POV of an older woman, albeit one that feels like a fairly dated idea of a middle-aged woman. But she uses pretty much the same voice and speech patterns for her daughter and the other secondary voices aren’t standouts either (acknowledging that the writing here could’ve been improved), so I think another reader would elevated the material a little more....more
Well. I overlooked the overly-precious beginning when they meet as children and the somewhat dramatic prose, but I had to stop when the word “bonkers”Well. I overlooked the overly-precious beginning when they meet as children and the somewhat dramatic prose, but I had to stop when the word “bonkers” was used in Victorian England....more
I was so sure I was going to love this, but it’s so busy being sex-positive and body-positive and starting over-positive anDNF about halfway through.
I was so sure I was going to love this, but it’s so busy being sex-positive and body-positive and starting over-positive and so many other things that the actual relationship gets the short end of the stick. There is a ton of sex but not a lot of romance, and for a book whose plot is centered around a Hallmark Channel-type holiday movie, it’s not particularly Christmassy, despite the gingerbread-scented body wash (which frankly, just sounds gross to me).
I looked on the beginning LA parts with amused affection—unlike a lot of books that feel like the author wrote a book set in the city after a single tourist visit or based off reality TV, this one is the product of someone who knows the city well—but once they get to Vermont it’s not nearly snowy enough for my taste. (Plus I don’t need the bookending chapters from the porn producer’s POV, I seriously thought he was the love interest at first!) With this title and premise and cover, I kept waiting for cuteness and humor and sweetness and I just never felt any of that. I’m so surprised, because I really like both these authors. But it just felt tonally off and the plot needed tightening up and more focus. Now, if this had been an indie-published erotica (that isn’t a 400-page $22 hardback from a big six publisher), sure—it feels a little closer to that, except then the story and characters and themes would get in the way of that.
Not sure yet if I’ll try the follow-up. Not terrible, but pretty disappointing considering how much I was looking forward to it. Ugh, just look at how cute and Christmassy the cover art and fonts and colors are. *kicks curb*...more
3.5 stars I have a tendency to buy books as I’m interested in them, often picking one up to read without looking at the synopsis again in too much det3.5 stars I have a tendency to buy books as I’m interested in them, often picking one up to read without looking at the synopsis again in too much detail. And I never read a bunch of GR reviews before I read a book myself. So this was in my queue of Christmassy romances, and somehow it got saved for peak seasonal reading on Christmas Eve. Bring on the festive holiday romance!
And that’s what you get at first, a perfectly lovely story of charming dates in London, from spilling out of warm, friendly pubs into wintry streets to gingerbread-making to wandering among Christmas market stalls. I was excited I’d picked such a perfect romance to enjoy late at night after my own Christmassy day was over.
But then. The POV suddenly shifts almost halfway through. And then the relationships get more complicated than I expected. And then.
Here is what I wish I’d known going into it (without big spoilers): this is not a light-hearted Christmas romance. It starts out that way and is written that way, but even with topics like grief and loss addressed (Josie lost her parents at the age of nine and writes a letter to them every Christmas) I wasn’t prepared for where this story went. (view spoiler)[I haven’t read any JoJo Moyes, but I’m assuming this is closer to that type of fiction. (hide spoiler)]
If I think about it too hard, there are aspects of this setup that could be viewed as being a bit problematic, but I can’t deny that the way this unfolds is gradually and skillfully done. And I don’t even feel particularly emotionally manipulated, because I think the author earns our investment in her characters with her writing. So while I was thrown by the plot and I wouldn’t have chosen to read this on Christmas Eve (or maybe at all, tbh), I liked these characters and I liked the romance and I liked how families and friendships and careers and exes were handled. And I loved the different city settings and seasonal mood and the flashes of humor and the characters’ quirky outlook on life. I may not love this type of direction for a romance, but props to the author for doing it well....more
Survival elements: could have been much more detailed and immersive. I've read romantic thrillers that put you more in the moment than this.
Character: I think the author attempted to show conflict in the way Helena's view of her mother (who, unbeknownst to Helena, was kidnapped and held captive by her father), but the shifting timelines and emotions and observations weren't balanced well. I should have felt a lot more sympathy for her than I did. Every other character is portrayed in their relation to Helena, so there's not much to report on anyone else.
The title: the insistent, persistent, ridiculously overdone references to the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale are MASSIVELY annoying. It is in every chapter, multiple times in every chapter, you cannot escape it, and just when you think you've heard the entire story and there can't possibly be one more mention of it, IT COMES AGAIN. And it somehow becomes more and more obvious and poorly written.
The only interesting thing: what happens during the final confrontation. (view spoiler)[She thinks she can hunt her escaped convict father, but he tricks her and shoots her. There's more after that. (hide spoiler)] I'm not even that convinced by the lead-up to it, because the set-up to show Helena's training by her father and hunting skills could have been done so much better. I think it could have been really interesting if the author had committed to writing Helena as a character more directly and strongly influenced by her father, with duality of emotion and ethics and all that. But it never really gets there. (view spoiler)[I wasn't sold by what she does to the hunter, either. (hide spoiler)] But what happens is entertaining, if not how--and I'm 100% positive that this is what sold the book as a film adaptation. Which brings me to...
The movie: I was bored and annoyed halfway through but finished the book because I skimmed the synopsis again and saw that this is being released as a film, starring Ben Mendohlson. I love Ben Mendohlson! And Daisy Ridley! And an adaptation of this story definitely has the potential to be better than the book, so long as they make it their own.
The recommendations: I used to be able to rely on Karin Slaughter's book recs (I found Mo Hayder and Lee Child through her), but this certainly didn't do it for me....more
"You see it in all animals - the female of the species is more deadly than the male."
4.5 stars Holy shit, this is good. It sounds like it's going to b"You see it in all animals - the female of the species is more deadly than the male."
4.5 stars Holy shit, this is good. It sounds like it's going to be a revenge thriller, and it is--but it's also a searing takedown of rape culture and a merciless examination of the way violence begets violence. Riveting prose, three clear POVs, and a relentless story that doesn't try to provide answers, but forces you to think about the things we excuse legally and socially. In a year in which we've stood by and watched Brock Turner get a slap on the wrist, seen serial abusers publicly disparage the victims they attacked, and witnessed the repeated objectification of women on a national platform, this could not be more timely. I wish this book were in the hands of all teenagers, boys and girls, for the invaluable conversation piece that it is. There are a fair number of contemporary YA "issue" novels that deal with rape or abuse, but this one, in the guise of a thriller, hits home intellectually and emotionally in a way I haven't seen before.
But boys will be boys, our favorite phrase that excuses so many things, while the only thing we have for the opposite gender is women, said with disdain and punctuated with an eye roll.
There are a few things you have to accept for the purposes of the story, the biggest of which is a logistical issue (view spoiler)[namely, that physically, it's not that easy to do the things Alex did to Comstock (hide spoiler)]. I'm okay with looking past that, however, because the author provides enough convincing detail to make it worthwhile. The only thing that really niggles me a bit (aside from a slightly rushed ending) is that, in my view, Alex's feelings for Jack develop and progress a bit too quickly to fit the near-feral, loner mindset she was in. There's definitely chemistry between them, but I was still never fully convinced the two of them would have been a thing that quickly, especially considering his background and baggage. However, I liked that Alex didn't judge Jack or other girls for his past, I liked the way a real obstacle came between them (view spoiler)[that is, that he had a real problem absorbing the disturbing information she revealed to him; too many books let the BF/GF give the MC a pass (hide spoiler)], and I liked the fantastic way the story ended. OVARIES OF STEEL, Ms. McGinniss.
Bonus: there isn't the faintest whiff of the type of pretentious posturing and tiresome smoke-and-mirrors plotting that's become so popular in YA thrillers lately. (I'm looking at you, We Were Liars.) This book has things to say, and the writing cuts like a razor so that words nearly bleed off the page.
I'm really pissed off at the weirdly quirky cover art for this book, however. WTF is that? It does absolutely no justice to the intensity of the blistering words and emotions inside. This book is full of feminine rage, and while some readers might flinch at the violence within, I think it's rage that's been justly earned.
Trigger warnings for violence, sexual and otherwise....more
Reaction before reading this book: I know I may be a sucker for falling for this cover, but look at it! I totally want to go to that party.
Reaction afReaction before reading this book: I know I may be a sucker for falling for this cover, but look at it! I totally want to go to that party.
Reaction after reading this book: I no longer want to go to this party.
Full disclosure: I did not read this entire book. I took notes for the first 88 pages, read to page 168, and then skimmed the rest. I think reading more than half the book qualifies as giving it a fair shot.
The Selection arrives with a gorgeous cover and interesting premise. What if a lottery allowed 35 teenage girls to compete for the hand of a handsome prince? I thought this might be a fun and fluffy read, so I pushed aside my initial misgivings about the names and pounced on the chance to read the ARC. Turns out, sometimes your gut is just trying to do its job, as I kept struggling with the book until I finally admitted that I didn't find a single aspect of this story that I enjoyed. Somehow I missed the early blurb that described this novel as a mash-up between the The Bachelor and The Hunger Games, which is unfortunate because the comparison to the television show is pretty spot-on. Mentioning it in the same breath as The Hunger Games is a travesty, however, since this book barely qualifies as a dystopian novel--and certainly the quality of the story, characters, themes, and writing don't come even close to comparing.
Here are some facts which may help you decide whether you want to read this book:
Character Names: Our main character's name is America Singer. Guess what she does. Her boyfriend's name is Aspen. Prince Charming's name is Prince Maxon Schreave, who must marry a "True Daughter of Iléa." Other names include Queen Amberly, King Clarkson, Tiny, Kriss, Marlee, Bariel, Gavril, Kamber, and Sosie.
Attempts to Make This Novel Dystopian: Sketchy caste system. Talk of provinces. Girls are required to wait until marriage to have sex. Infrastructure Committees. Occasional mentions of hunger and lack of makeup.
Writing: Very obvious protestations that are easily seen through. Juvenile dialogue. A lot of whispering to convey dramatic statements. A plethora of exclamation points. (view spoiler)[And or the love of Pete, could we stop ending sentences in unnecessary prepositions, please? Eff you, cell phone commercial. You've ruined whole generations. (hide spoiler)]
Bachelor-like Elements: Contestants vying for a "perfect" guy. Appearance fees. Contracts. Gossiping. Sabotage. Tears. Eliminations. Television specials. Icky elements. (view spoiler)[I was afraid early on that the book was headed into really tasteless territory since the girls are asked point-blank whether they're virgins (and have to sign contracts saying the Prince can demand anything he wants of them and they cannot refuse), but fortunately it doesn't get much more gross than that. (hide spoiler)] But no limos and no rose ceremonies! Booo.
Most Annoying Element of All: The story ends on a cliffhanger, as if there was so much going on in this one book, it could not be contained in a single volume.
Why did Mom have to push me so much? Wasn't she happy? Didn't she love Dad? Why wasn't this good enough for her?
"Please don't call me gorgeous. First my mom, then May, now you. It's getting on my nerves." By the way Aspen was looking at me, I could tell I wasn't helping my "I'm not pretty" case. He smiled.
Aspen was dressed in white. He looked angelic.
That was it. I slapped him. "You idiot!" I whisper-yelled at him. "I hate him! I loved you! I wanted you; all I ever wanted was you!"
"If you don't want me to be in love with you, you're going to have to stop looking so lovely."
So. Whether you'll enjoy this book depends on whether you find any of the above details appealing. If, like me, they make you want to pull out your hair, it may be best to either try this one out at the library first or just admire the pretty cover design from a safe distance.
Putting aside the fact that this probably would have worked better as a straightforward fairy tale without the pseudo-dystopian details, as well as the annoying focus on boys boys boys being the be-all and end-all of this book, the whole thing wasn't really a very enjoyable reading experience to me, not even as mindless entertainment. Every scene, every character, and every plot development was predictable and worse yet, a cliché, and the dialogue and machinations felt painfully juvenile throughout the entire story. I almost wish this were a middle grade novel, except that there are a few too many make out scenes for that. Plus I don't think I would have enjoyed this even at the age of 8.
As always, these kinds of books are just a matter of taste. All in all, I really don't have violent feelings about The Selection the way I do with such books as The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer or Elizabeth Miles' Fury, but I'm afraid I can't say that I found very much about it that was redeeming, either.
After less than 24 hours of this review being live: Some pretty horrible developments occurred. Please check message #239 on this post if you're interested. And yes, this is the review that was featured the Publishers Weekly article Should Authors and Agents Weigh In on Citizen Reviews?
Those interested in how this one review still continues to affect me 2 years after posting it should check out the links in message #239 as well. This review has not been altered at all since its publication, with the exception of the addendum, and to delete a quote that was misread.
This isn't a bad book, although it's not really a very deep one, and its hook--a girl embracing life after her family's death--may really be its greatThis isn't a bad book, although it's not really a very deep one, and its hook--a girl embracing life after her family's death--may really be its greatest weakness. It actually took awhile for there to be any discussion about Laurel's grief or lack of it at all, to the point that I was thinking This IS supposed to be the main point of this book, right?
Here are a few things you might want to know about The Beginning of After:
1. The book cover is pretty. 2. It means well. 3. But contrary to what you might expect, this book is not really about grief at all. We are barely introduced to Laurel, her parents, her brother, and the Kaufmans when they are all killed (aside from Laurel) 12 pages into the book. 4. This book is more about dating. And if the guy who asked you to prom only did it because he feels sorry for you. (view spoiler)[Huh? Do you know boys who do that? (hide spoiler)] 5. But oh noes, what do you do when you're also interested in the guy whose dad killed your family? 6. This book did not make me cry. Or feel any particularly strong emotions at all. 7. I also did not finish reading it. I read 100 pages and then skimmed parts of the rest. 8. It is difficult to muster up much interest in the characters. 9. This book was not written by Sarah Dessen. 10. It was also not written by Gayle Forman.
It may not be fair to compare this book to the deeply poignant If I Stay or The Truth about Forever, both of which deal with similar topics in a much more meaningful way. But the truth of the matter is that even if those books didn't exist, The Beginning of After would still be considered--at best--a mildly entertaining book that only touches on any genuine depth of emotion. The thing that probably bothers me most about it is that there's so little internal dialogue, which is pretty important in a book like this one, and events seem to occur without smooth transitions between scenes.
This novel probably would have been better off if it had just set the story a few months after the accident. Because when something so tragic happens and the characters don't spend a reasonable amount of time thinking about it or emoting over it, it's really hard to care what happens to them. And really, it's a crying shame when you pick up a book like this expecting to share in a character's grief and joy and the best word you can use to describe the experience is "indifference."
It's a tricky situation when you're really looking forward to reading a book and it ends up being a disappointment. I normally post my reviews fairly It's a tricky situation when you're really looking forward to reading a book and it ends up being a disappointment. I normally post my reviews fairly quickly after reading, but I put off writing this one for some time because I was so conflicted over my feelings.
The thing is, I really enjoyed Stork, the first book in this series, for several reasons: the strikingly original paranormal concept of a girl who is destined to be part of a mystical order of women, the fresh and funny voice, the cute relationship between Katla and Jack, and the bits of Icelandic lore. I thought that the paranormal stuff could have been more fleshed out, however, and I was hoping that this second installment would more fully explain what Katla's duties and powers actually are and we'd get a little more immersed in the mysterious Stork society.
But that's not the case. The story goes off onto a different adventure, most of which involves how Katla deals with Jack and his new obsession with learning about his power, which made a bizarre appearance towards the end of the previous novel. So all the things I enjoyed about the first book go out the window pretty fast, particularly the Stork ladies (this storyline is half-heartedly revisited, but quickly abandoned) and the relationship between Jack and Kat. There's now a giant wedge between them in the shape of a Professor Brigid Fonnkona, an icy environmental researcher who is determined to take him to Greenland. Frost is loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, so those familiar with the tale will have an inkling of how those elements take shape in the modern version.
What would have been impossible to predict, however, are all the subplots that kept piling on in this book. Something weird is going on with Katla's afi. The kids are doing a musical version of The Snow Queen at school. Kat's mom is pregnant. Her dad is around, but...extraneous. Her friends are fighting. Hulda is sick. Kat may or may not be seeing ghosts. Dorit has been kicked out of the society and has disappeared. There are so many new people and new plots to assimilate, and none of the old ones were at all adequately explained. It seems as though most of these problems could have been fixed during the outlining process, so I am very surprised that they were not.
After awhile, I realized that I was never going to get the answers to my questions from the first book and I probably would never get answers to the new ones popping up. Because frankly, I'm not sure that there is an overall plan figured out for these characters, either. While there were occasional moments towards the beginning that recalled what I enjoyed about the first book (Yule Cat, Santa, Pig-Pen), overall reading this book and watching the story line derail was an extremely frustrating process.
I wouldn't rule out checking out another one of this author's books sometime down the road because I do like her voice, but it will be with an extremely guarded and wary eye. I was really sad when I closed this book 10 days ago, and I'm still sad that the promise of the series' premise will apparently never be fulfilled.
Let's see if I can sum up this book in two short paragraphs:
The concept behind Still Waters reminded me a lot of The Shining*, in that it's about a noLet's see if I can sum up this book in two short paragraphs:
The concept behind Still Waters reminded me a lot of The Shining*, in that it's about a not-very-bright girl named Hannah who goes to an isolated lake house for a romantic getaway, and once they're there, her boyfriend Colin starts acting really weird. Except that, unlike that other masterpiece of horror, there isn't any snow. Or tension. Or creepiness.
Unfortunately, while I liked the basic idea behind the book, this very short novel could have used much more intricate plotting and better character development than simply the drama of Hannah bringing herself to tell her boyfriend she loves him. Smoothing out some of the rather lackluster writing and awkward dialogue would have helped, too. It's pretty disappointing when the most I can say for a psycyhological "thriller" is that it isn't actually a terrible book...just a terribly uninspired one.
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for this review.
The concept of a society in which girls are forced into polygamous marriages may not be everyone's idea of a good time, but I like art that pushes bouThe concept of a society in which girls are forced into polygamous marriages may not be everyone's idea of a good time, but I like art that pushes boundaries or attempts to explore unusual subjects in a meaningful way. Besides, the cover is gorgeous! And on the set decoration front, Wither is a novel that seductively beckons the reader with alluring images and positively drips with atmosphere. Languid young women wander around a mansion in lacy gowns waiting to be impregnated by their joint husband, due to drastically shortened life spans that force them into polygamous marriages. It's pretty much the love child of Ally Condie's Matched and the television show Big Love, as styled by Vogue.
While many of the scenarios and language are certainly quite beautiful, however, sometimes I wasn't sure whether I should laugh at the repeated images of our heroine lounging on a satin bedspread eating candy, all while she's supposedly upset over the situation she's in. There's a strange lack of internal dialogue and emotional distance that make it difficult to empathize with Rhine, and very few scenes that come close to evoking the horror that lies beneath the beautiful exterior of the pampered world in which she lives.
This whole concept just seems like a weird one for YA literature, too. In order for the icky factors of child brides (one of them is only 13), kidnappings, forced marriages, fixation on impregnation, murder, medical experimentations, and so on to be successful, they needed to be overridden by solid world-building, strong characters, and emotional depth. Unfortunately, the whys and wherefores of how society has disintegrated into this is never really explained, and as a result most of set-up for this world seems fairly ludicrous. The questions that were raised in my mind were also never really answered, nor the characters adequately developed. There are surface attempts to create relationships between Rhine and Linden and between the sister wives, but none of them seemed very real or compelling to me--and Rhine's interest in Gabriel seems due to proximity more than anything else. How can people live this closely together for so long and know next to nothing about one another? But is there really anything under the surface at all? After spending 358 pages with Rhine, I still don't feel as though I really know who she is or why people are drawn to her, except that they're supposed to be. It also strains credulity that a healthy young man would (view spoiler)[chastely lie in bed with her for over 10 months and never consummate the marriage, even as he's going through the Kama Sutra with another wife. (hide spoiler)]
Overall, this novel just needed more tension, more anguish, more depth, and more feeling. By the time Rhine finally takes some action, I was fairly impatient with how long it had taken the story took to get there, as well as annoyed by how little information was revealed. I'm also disappointed in the missed opportunity to explore the unusual dynamic of a polygamous relationship, which was one of the weakest aspects of the book. I'm curious to see where the story goes, however, so I'll probably pick up the next installment in the series. But I'm crossing my fingers that the beauty of the language and imagery will also be matched by more intricate plotting and more genuine emotion.
I can pinpoint the exact moment when I stopped trying to enjoy Blood Magic. As the book began, I was uneasy about the wordiness of the prose, but thisI can pinpoint the exact moment when I stopped trying to enjoy Blood Magic. As the book began, I was uneasy about the wordiness of the prose, but this is the point at which I gave up:
My heart beat faster, and I had to blink away the halo surrounding him. He was Mephistopheles, smiling and tempting me, his Dr. Faustus, to dance.
If this crazy talk had happened even after a lifetime of knowing each other or under the influence of recreational drugs or if they were both 600 years old, that sentence still would have made me giggle. But this was, I believe, Silla's third encounter with her new neighbor/instant boy crush Nick. She met him just a couple of days earlier when he witnessed her cutting her thumb in a cemetery and performing magic as if she'd been doing it all her life, although in fact it was the very first time she'd attempted it. This "magic" and its origins and its powers are rather odd, and I'm still not entirely sure I am convinced by the paranormal applications.
There are lots of crows flying around for dramatic effect. There are dual narratives that alternate far too quickly between Silla's and Nick's points of view. (In the space of the 8 pages in Chapter 6, for example, it switches three times!) Some of the phrasing such as "So many questions I had for him" and "I slept like ass, exhausted and sweating" is awkward. And there are incidents which seem designed primarily for shock value, including a violent death towards the end and an instance of Silla (look away, animal lovers) (view spoiler)[decapitating a rabbit with a butcher knife in order to drain it of its blood. Into a Tupperware container. (hide spoiler)]
Overall, however, I just could not get past the overly-written, overly-purple, overly-dramatic nature of the prose. The author is a friend of Maggie Stiefvater's, and the attempt to come close to her style is fairly obvious in many of the aspects of the writing and the story. But whereas books such as Shiver offer gorgeous prose and pulse with deep emotion, Blood Magic rarely stirs genuine excitement or passion no matter how hard it tries. And it tries very, very hard.
It might have been interesting to see this story go through several more rounds of revisions to edit out some of the more excessive literary swooning, as well as more development in the plot and the characters. But as it is, I was only able to read the first 100 pages or so and skimmed the rest, as I just wasn't able to sit through more of the wordiness and the melodrama. Unfortunately, the striking cover and alluring concept were by far the most attractive parts of this novel for me.
1.5 stars The pitch for this book is fabulous, and it's easy to see why it got the green light: a group of beautiful girls, loosely based on the Greek1.5 stars The pitch for this book is fabulous, and it's easy to see why it got the green light: a group of beautiful girls, loosely based on the Greek Furies, punishes teenagers for their indiscretions. Add to that an insanely gorgeous cover using a model with glorious red hair in a flowing dress, and most people are going to be irresistibly drawn to it. I know I was. Even now when I look at this beautiful girl on the cover, I want so badly to forgive her for her toxic contents. But I can't do it, my lovely girl. I just can't.
The marketing package is actually very misleading. From the synopsis and cover art, I expected a fairly typical paranormal YA novel, but what's inside is actually much closer to horror-lite. Emily and Chase are both doing naughty, naughty things during winter break, and most of the book follows one drawn-out example after the other of all the dirty little things that kids can get up to. Emily's lusting after her best friend's boyfriend Zach. Chase is constantly looking for his next hook-up and may have been involved in the death of a girl last year. Pretty much all the teens in this town have some sort of sin to atone for, with the exception of the near-saintly, handy-car-service-provider J.D.
The Furies themselves are mostly just...pretty. Seriously, there is more time spent on descriptions of their physical beauty and their clothes and the red orchids they leave behind than on any real attempt to teach anyone a lesson. Because their lessons mostly involve luring people to their deaths, which isn't really helpful to anyone. Sure, the women in the original myths meted out death like candy, but they were also monstrously ugly and their stories were really short. If you're going to expect us to sit through several hundred pages of relentless pursuit and punishment, there has to be some sort of sympathetic quality in the main characters or some sort of redemption or justice in their deaths. And while it's true that nearly every boy in this book is a jerk and nearly every girl acts like a bitch (at least at some point) and the things these kids do are despicable, none of them are things they should actually be killed for.
The writing is inexpert (most of the back story and many events are just told, not shown), the dialogue is uninspired, the story is pretty sketchy and not very well structured, the characters are one-dimensional and mostly there to drive the plot, and the whole set-up just does not work. Why aren't these girls going after kids who have abused animals or pushed someone down the stairs or something like that? Because those scenarios aren't that sexy, that's why. This book is much more interested in exploring cheap, tawdry tricks and melodramatic or titillating scenarios including: (SPOILERS BELOW)
* A boy who casually cruises for hook-ups, timing his appearance at an event so girls have had enough time to get drunk so it helps him score
* A girl who makes out with her best friend's boyfriend, and is caught with her top and bra off (fresh from a shopping trip to Victoria's Secret, of course) by a fellow classmate
* Words like "cock-block" and "slut" are casually thrown around
* Drunk driving and texting
* Numerous near-death events
* Girls throwing coffee in the faces of other girls
* (view spoiler)[A boy gets completely naked with a girl, who snaps photos of him and later plasters them all over school. (hide spoiler)]
There is scene after scene of public humiliation, constant drinking, and disgusting behavior all around. I also despise the use of the word "faggot" for the sake of fluff entertainment, even if the people using it clearly aren't supposed to be.
There is a marginally interesting event towards the end which is clearly the set-up for the next book, but overall, this first installment in the series has very little to recommend it. The only time I've ever felt as turned off by the events in a book or as questioning of its redemptive value is when I went through the equally off-putting House of Night series, although *grits teeth* even that paranormal set-up was complex compared to this one.
I'm sure that like House of Night, this series is going to have its share of fans, however. I personally found Fury to be nothing short of infuriating.
This review also appears in The Midnight Garden. An advance copy was provided by the publisher.
ETA: Readers who are interested in a great YA version of the Greek Furies myth would do well to check out Shirley Marr's Fury, a superbly plotted, well-written, and darkly funny interpretation of this story....more
1. If this is was supposed to be a YA book, I wish that the story was more complex, the characters more fully dTen (Unfulfilled) Wishes for this Book:
1. If this is was supposed to be a YA book, I wish that the story was more complex, the characters more fully developed, and the dialogue less juvenile.
2. If this was supposed to be a middle grade book, I wish there were no fewer mentions of breasts and men looking at them, fewer mentions of drunken sailors making suggestive remarks, and less focus on the rather insipid romance. Such random lascivious behavior inserts an ugly note into the story for no reason whatsoever.
3. I wish mermaids didn't eat olives and nuts and other decidedly human foods; it just doesn't sit well with me. I also wish mermaids didn't eat fish. While I understand that fish do eat other fish in the wild, there's a certain cannibalism about this scenario that I would think the human part of the merpeople might be uncomfortable with. But okay, if it is absolutely necessary, please give me a reason why this is happening, because in my opinion, it's a little weird.
4. I wish there were more descriptions of underwater life. There are a couple of nice scenes at the beginning, but they're very short and don't really do enough to set the mood. And I feel like you need a good dose of MOOD to set the scene in a mermaid book.
5. I wish Esmerine were a more interesting character. Or that we had at least one interesting character to fall in love with and root for. Sadly, this is not the case.
6. I wish so many YA authors wouldn't make their heroines booklovers. I understand why this is such a prevalent trend, as obviously the books are written by and for girls who like books themselves. But more often than not, it feels forced (Hello Mara Dyer!) and lacking in any real depth or appreciation or breadth of knowledge. Here, the bookloving agenda was pushed so hard that it became somewhat annoying, especially because I kept thinking about the impracticalities of transporting books from the human world to mermaids in a way that wasn't going to damage them. (Silly, but it's true!) The books that are briefly mentioned don't even have any real significance to the story or the characters.
7. I wish there were some sense of urgency to this novel. The quest to find Esmerine's sister doesn't appear to have any sort of deadline and there's never any real danger to any of the characters. Apparently she can take all the time in the world, just so long as she doesn't give up her chastity magic siren's belt.
8. I wish the characters behaved in a way that seemed genuine or interesting or showed an emotional connection between them. Why do Esemerine and Alander fall in love? Why does Dosia fall in love? Beats me.
9. I wish this book lived up to the lovely little fairy tale that was the author's first book, Magic Under Glass. This one doesn't have one bit of that story's charm, and contains none of the imaginative details that made Glass so entertaining.
10. And lastly, I wish the author's Acknowledgements page didn't contain the following passage, which is most unfortunate when the story feels so slight:
I'm sure I wasn't the only young writer who had the Lord of the Rings movie soundtrack on repeat and decided I needed to write a huge fantasy epic with war and tragic death and many points of view. One of the approximately forty plot threads in my attempt was the love story between a mermaid and a winged boy. (This is why you always keep your lousy older writings!)
I think with a little more development and a lot more depth and detail, this might have turned out to be an interesting story. But sadly, in this current format, it's a pretty disappointing read. And the search for a great YA mermaid novel goes on...
1.5 stars Welcome to yet another teen romance masquerading as a paranormal novel. If you’re like me, you’ve been salivating to read this book for mont1.5 stars Welcome to yet another teen romance masquerading as a paranormal novel. If you’re like me, you’ve been salivating to read this book for months because of the breathtaking cover—and of course, the premise of a girl waking up in a hospital with no memory of how her friends were killed is pretty intriguing. I’m sorry to say, however, that the maddening phenomenon I’m calling “cover fraud” strikes again, since this is another book whose interior does not live up to its beautiful cover art.
Mara Dyer doesn’t know what happened to her friends the day that a building collapsed on them, nor how she somehow escaped miraculously unscathed. The family decides to pack up and move to another town to get away from intrusive attention and so that her lawyer father can take on a high-profile criminal case. Until this point, things are pretty interesting and I wanted to know what was going on just as much as Mara did. Except suddenly, a boy enters the picture, and Mara pretty much loses all common sense interest in figuring out why people around her keep dying. And that’s when I lost my interest in this book, too.
I rarely have trouble adjusting any preconceived expectations about a book’s content, which is why I’m able to go with the flow for books such as Divergent or Delirium, which weren’t quite what I expected but I liked because the authors handled certain aspects of them very well. So if this was going to turn out to be a romance book with the paranormal stuff thrown in as a bonus, well, I’d be fine with it if I was sufficiently entertained. The issue with this is that if the book isn't entertaining and the romance doesn’t work for you, the whole thing is doomed. And this romance did not work for me at all.
Noah Shaw is one of those guys you’re supposed to find charming in spite of yourself. He’s arrogant, he’s got a smart mouth, he has a “deviant grin,” and he’s slept with just about every girl he’s ever looked at. As soon as Mara sees him, she seems to be struck dumb (view spoiler)[hee hee hee, “struck dumb” (hide spoiler)] by his appeal, even if she pretends to hate him. Noah pushes the boundary of being a jerk a little too often for my comfort, however, and it isn’t until later in the book that we find out whether or not he’s actually a good guy. The problem really isn’t Noah, though; it’s Mara. While Mara is admittedly not a completely spineless, annoying heroine, she is incredibly obsessed with Noah, to the point where you’re embarrassed for her. Look, we all notice every single minute detail when we’re into a guy, right? But there’s also family and work and hopes and dreams to think about, and certainly if there are people dropping like flies, you’d think a girl would spend a little more time worrying about that instead of mooning over “the slender muscles in his arms.” (Mara really doesn’t seem to do anything outside of school and her only friend is a very politically correct bisexual black Jewish guy who pretty much functions as a Greek chorus.) The fact that there is so much attention paid to the way Noah looks and what Noah says is pretty sad—and honestly, although he has a few moments where I bordered on liking him, it never really happened. Plus he’s just not that hot.
The amount of wish fulfillment running through this book is also completely out of control. Noah has a British accent, speaks six languages, and mentions his parents’ “la vie boheme” lifestyle. He lives in a palatial house with a valet, a “Greek-inspired fountain,” a “flawless patterned marble floor,” “plush Oriental rugs,” and oil paintings, and his “startling” room has enormous windows overlooking the bay and bookcases that reach all the way up to the ceiling. He reads to her from E.M. Forster, he’s possessive and tells a random guy named Alain off in French, and he wants Mara even though he could have anyone. Although of course, he never slept with the one mean girl who keeps tormenting Mara. And despite his ludicrous wealth--he literally peels $5000 off from a wad in his pocket at one point--he drives a Prius.
There are also the clichés of a tony private school, a prerequisite dance to which Mara wears a “dark emerald green silk dress” that dips “dangerously low in the back” and someone literally goes “OHmigod!” when he sees her, a ridiculous scene in which Mara tells off a cartoonishly unpleasant teacher, and an eye-rolling occasion when Noah crashes her art class and takes off his shirt so that all the drooling girls can sketch him. The more I think about it, the more this reads like the script for a CW television show. And also, what was with (view spoiler)[the prologue? The end of the book doesn't loop events back to that point at all. (hide spoiler)]
Oh, back to the dead people thing. There are some flashbacks to the day of the accident and more people die, but it’s all done with so little interest past the first quarter of the book that it’s really difficult to stay invested in the story, particularly when random events involving alligators, dog rescues, a seminar, a kidnapping, and her father’s court case are so haphazardly strung together. I guessed what the big secret was before I’d even read the first page (view spoiler)[hint: there’s a big clue in her name (hide spoiler)], so it was an exercise in frustration to watch all the clunky pieces strain desperately to fit together into a cohesive whole.
Aside from the flat characters, uneven writing, and loose plotting, what turns me off so much about this story is that it’s all so shallow and all so meaningless. (view spoiler)[The fact that Mara’s temper is causing all of this but she doesn’t feel the appropriate amount of guilt really ticks me off. Her reactions are completely disproportionate to the sins committed against her. (hide spoiler)] I read a lot of fluff books for sheer entertainment, but there’s got to be something in them that I like—and sadly, the best things about this book are the cover and the premise. Like Elizabeth Miles’ Fury, it’s another beautifully packaged book (view spoiler)[loosely based on a myth (hide spoiler)] which is much more interested in indulging in superficial relationships than anything else.
I hesitate to weigh in this next bit as part of my rating because this is mostly a personal preference, but reviews are inherently subjective by nature, no? So I’ll go ahead and say that while I think Fury was technically the more tasteless book in terms detailing the dirty things that teenagers can get up to, there’s something about Mara Dyer that is much uglier to me. The fact that this girl is so obsessed with a boy is so wrong to begin with, but what really made me realize how much I disliked this book was the point when Noah starts jokingly quoting from The Velveteen Rabbit and Dr. Seuss and inserting fellatio jokes. I think most of my friends here know by my reading material that I’m pretty laid back and am not one to get worked up over the choices that fictional characters make that would not be my own. But I do believe strongly in the sanctity of childhood and feel a great deal of responsibility in doing my part in helping to protect that. While I know it’s all supposed to be funny and to show how clever and charming Noah is, I just find that sort of thing incredibly distasteful.
But in the end, I know there are many readers who will find this book a lot more appealing than I do. I don’t even blame anyone who still wants to check it out, because, well, look at that cover! How could it possibly be disappointing? All I can say is that I personally came away from this reading experience with an extremely bad taste in my mouth. It probably wasn’t helped by the fact that I’d recently read so many fantastic books that were not only entertaining, but were also beautiful and moving and actually contributed something meaningful to literature. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer may very well end up being a popular book for now, but it will never end up being one that stands the test of time. What’s most disappointing is that it doesn’t even try to be.
Wendy Darling
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