Edith Holler - Edward Carey

68%

21.06.26

This was marvellous in all senses, with the added bonus of featuring my local city Norwich and its Theatre Royal. It's a strange, hypnotic, poetic fever dream that's certainly a fresh take on, well, everything. But it's let down by wandering too far into the grotesque, and the author's ugly drawings don't do it any favours either.

The Book of Koli - MR Carey

 54%

27.09.23

Carey specialises in post-apocalyptic dystopian survival stories, lovingly worldbuilding often at the expense of the plot. The Girl with All the Gifts worked better than this, which meandered about, much like the rather passive narrator. I wonder whether this was originally the first third of a longer book rather than the first in a trilogy.

The Girl With All the Gifts - MR Carey

61%
18.10.16

As derivative zombie thrillers go, this was quite a page turner, at least at first. The second half sagged a little with its own self-importance.