The Moonlight Market - Joanne Harris

43%

22.04.26

I've finally managed to finish a Joanne Harris book, but it was still underwhelming. She's a poetic writer, in many genres, but, like the works of Neil Gaiman, this fantasy, though vivid, was emotionally unengaging. And the main character was such an idiot that when he seemed to die near the end I really hoped that was it.

The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton - Anstey Harris

43%
16.01.20

If you want to annoy a copy editor (like me), assert in the very first sentence of your novel that putting an apostrophe before the word cello is correct and then use that distracting and archaic form throughout the book. Why not add to the irritation by throwing in a load of continuity errors and failing to fact check? And, if you want to annoy any reader, have a breathtakingly unsympathetic self-absorbed yet (oddly) not self-aware 'heroine' pining after a clearly useless lover for 250 pages. A triumph indeed.

Different Class - Joanne Harris

Didn't finish

I wanted to find out exactly when the misdirection promised on the cover was going to materialise but it was so slow that it almost went backwards and I ran out of patience.

Gillespie and I - Jane Harris

64%
05.10.14

I like an unreliable narrator (see here and here), and this one is so unreliable that you're never sure whether she's unreliable at all. Thrillingly sinister and very clever, but not quite as satisfying as Harris's first novel, The Observations.

Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris

64%
20.01.10

OK, so I need some light relief right now, and this is ideal - the right mixture of action and relationships, humour and horror. And while it's hardly psychologically complex, the gradual loss of the heroine's innocence - perhaps ultimately her journey to the dark side - is interestingly handled.

Club Dead - Charlaine Harris

65%
23.01.10

This was a lot of fun - still weirdly fragmented but more coherent than the previous book and easy to settle into. Although it is slightly irritating that the heroine seems so desirable to every (non-human) man she meets.

Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris

46%
23.12.09

Comparatively weak and confused - like some of the victims in the story. [Ju's note: not keen on this cover, which isn't the stylised image on my copy. I don't particularly want to see the TV series so would prefer to decide what the characters look like for myself.]

Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris

61%
14.12.09

Here at last are vampires with bite - the "Twilight" saga does make you yearn for a bit of sex, violence and corruption, and, lo, here it is. Essentially superficial but certainly dark, and diverting enough for a winter's night. I bought all 8 for £8 so will plough through them whenever I feel like some blood and guts - or (being of a delicate temperament) comedy horror anyway.

The Observations - Jane Harris

71%
27.06.07




There may be careful allusions to the classics and a lot of convincingly integrated research, but the main quality of the story is that it's highly enjoyable. Strong characterisation and well judged humour - and pathos - just show how rare they are in modern fiction. A proper good read.