15.02.26
Strange and beautiful, the world and characters drawn with care, and the plot, such as it was, gathering speed like a train on the tracks. This leisurely, intelligent story perhaps needed a little more steam power to really get going.
Showing posts with label 64. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 64. Show all posts
The Last Hour Between Worlds - Melissa Caruso
05.02.26
Well written, vivid, exciting, clever and fun, this story throws you straight into the careful worldbuilding, with strong female characters taking charge and the men mostly just afterthoughts. But it did lack a little something emotionally - neither the romantic nor the maternal love were quite convincing enough.
Scuttler's Cove - David Barnett
27.08.25
Hugely clichéd, hugely predictable and yet somehow hugely entertaining. I must like a folk horror that's leavened with humour - the light tone at times seemed to battle with the dark atmosphere but that's probably what made it so engaging, despite the uneven pacing.
(Interestingly, this very different but in some ways quite similar book is by the same author, particularly in terms of portraying the female experience.)
Sometimes People Die - Simon Stephenson
64%
22.07.25
This was almost a murder-mystery-fantasy, such was the world-building of the life of a '90s junior doctor fighting addiction. Both very funny and profound (often at the same time), the detached tone worked well with the descriptions of an underfunded hospital and the unnamed narrator's weakening grasp on a rather dystopian reality. The end was a bit silly, though.
Death and the Harlot - Georgina Clarke
24.06.25
I want to describe this as a Regency romp, but it's set too late to be Regency and is too serious in places to be a romp. But it's a fun read with well-drawn characters, good world-building and no embarrassing attempts at realistic period dialogue. Yes, the identity of the villain quickly becomes obvious but it's an entertaining journey to their unveiling.
Lady of Quality - Georgette Heyer
05.11.24
I maintain that Heyer was one of the best authors of the 20th century and isn't taken seriously because she wrote romances. This is a particularly delightful example, with sparkling dialogue and the usual strongly drawn characters (except, oddly, for the love interest, who was a bit of a bore).
Wolfsong - TJ Klune
20.08.24
There's a thin line between brilliant and terrible, and this story walks it, occasionally dropping a foot on both sides. The angst! The yearning! The refreshing reinterpretation of masculinity and male relationships that nevertheless continues to disregard the role of women so that the few female characters were entirely nominal! The evocative and distinctive voice that needed a much stronger editorial intervention to tighten up an often-meandering narrative! Overall, it was a better novel than The Extraordinaries, but then that was for a very different readership.
The Cruel Prince - Holly Black
I thought it was about time I read something by the prolific Holly Black and this turned out to be pretty awesome, in all senses: vividly written with fabulous worldbuilding and a complex, intriguing protagonist. It did have confusingly strange pacing, on both a general and line level, and abruptly changed tone when it went all Game of Thrones about two-thirds in, but I was quite happy to be swept along in the court intrigue.
My Sister, the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite
64%
The emphasis in this quirky and engaging novella was really more on the "sister" aspect than the "serial killer" aspect. It's a very clever deconstruction of loyalty, relationships and the legacy of trauma - but still manages to be generally upbeat. I also liked the Lagos setting, the casual feminism and the microworld of the hospital. The plot (such as it was) could be confusing at times, and the resolution rather odd. But generally a good read!
Ninth House - Leigh Bardugo
This was a mess - complicated, confusing and with a timeline that was all over the place. The characters were annoying and didn't communicate like normal people. It assumed that nothing important happened outside the USA. Only one of the various plotlines resolved, and that was in a weird and coincidental way. And yet... and yet, I really enjoyed reading it. Why? Well, because it was well written and also I suppose because it wasn't as worthy and boring as that other hyped "magic college" novel, Babel. This, you just had to take as it came: a wild ride.
The Woman in Black - Susan Hill
This modern classic was spectacularly (spectre-cularly?) well written on a line level, a model for using different techniques to create atmosphere, which explains its presence on Eng Lit reading lists. But the pace and the story itself didn't match that poetry. It wasn't particularly scary and only slightly creepy. And it never was clear why the woman wanted to get her revenge on random people. She just did. I suppose ghosts don't need to explain themselves.
In a Good Light - Clare Chambers
06.01.23
I much preferred this to Chambers' later and more famous Small Pleasures. Not much happened, but what did happen happened engagingly and showed how a character-driven plot can still make a good story.
Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty
31.08.22
The strong, engaging (female) characters made this one of the better Moriarty novels, even if (spoiler!) it had the same formula as The Guest List, i.e. 'identity of murdered person will only be revealed at the end but clearly the man who abuses women will get his just desserts'. I also like the Australian-ness of it all: it's disappointing to note it was adapted for TV with an American setting.
The Shut Eye - Belinda Bauer
06.07.22
I really like Belinda Bauer's mix of tragedy with unexpected humour and this was, on the whole, an intriguing read, though not her best. If the characters didn't quite ring true, and the story didn't quite fit together, and it seemed to be set in 2001 only to explain away inappropriate police procedure, well, it was still diverting and the supernatural element remained pleasingly unexplained.
The Inheritance Games - Jennifer Lynn Barnes
64%
A teenage girl unexpectedly inherits a fortune and several hot teenage boys. As wish-fulfilment fantasies go, this one was quite fun, even if I'm a little old to find the 'romance' (such as it was) very convincing. Although the end seemed written entirely to get you to read #2 in the trilogy, I probably will, when it comes out.
Redhead by the Side of the Road - Anne Tyler
64%
This is maybe the 15th Tyler novel I've read, and it's not her best and it's not her worst. It is vintage Tyler, though - a carefully nuanced snapshot of a loner man <check>, chaotic loving family <check>, not much actual plot <check> ... really, just people bumbling on through life. More phones and computers than her early novels but the same unerring dissection of relationships.
The Bear and the Nightingale - Katherine Arden
64%
A very dark folktale with some lovely descriptions but, as is the case with modern trilogies, more the first third of a longer novel than a self-contained story.
Daisy Jones and The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid
03.06.20
I've often thought 'Deepen Meaningful' would be a good name for a band. Not this band, though - much hyped but there's little profound about the sex 'n' drugs 'n' rock 'n' roll rows, and that's not helped by the ingenious, appropriate yet distancing interview-style narrative. But it still enters pretty high in the charts for simply being such a fun, escapist ride.
Soon to be televised, I believe - that could be interesting.
Crampton Hodnet - Barbara Pym
19.05.19
Perhaps not one of Pym's best novels, but still arch and wry and perceptive and occasionally laugh-out-loud - and it's amazing how so many self-proclaimed humorous writers aren't any of those things.
Fools and Mortals - Bernard Cornwell
04.09.18
It seems I've never read any Bernard Cornwell before and apparently this isn't typical of his portfolio, but I enjoyed the historical detail, confident prose and mischievous re-imagining of Shakespeare (and his less intelligent but more engaging fictional brother).
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