Petrina Binney's Blog, page 15
July 22, 2021
Book Review – Manners and Monsters (Manners and Monsters, Book 1) by Tilly Wallace
Book Review – Manners and Monsters (Manners and Monsters Book 1) by Tilly Wallace
First published, 2019
The story follows Hannah Miles, daughter of a knighted doctor and a powerful undead mage.
Growing to adulthood in Regency-era England, Hannah has been long-time assistant to her father in his study of the curious Affliction – a virus carried to the wealthy upperclass by means of manipulated face powder. This face powder, once applied, transfers the deadly blood-lust and slow-moving rot to the user who is, to all intents and purposes, a zombie – cursed to live without living, to watch their former families move on or to labour under the desperate effort to keep them from actual death, and to live off what is generously termed ‘pickled cauliflower’ because no one can deal with the idea of eating thin slivers of brain in Regency England.
“Society couldn’t afford to ostracise women in such high places, so the rules adapted.
“These days, there were three expectations of a young lady of breeding.
“She should be accomplished in at least one of the arts.
“She should be decorous at all times.
“She should never reveal the true state of her decay.”
15% in, Chapter 4, Manners and Monsters (Manners and Monsters Book 1) by Tilly Wallace
A stunningly written book. I loved it. The writing is erudite and fluid, the descriptions full of finesse, and the humour is wonderful. I found myself smiling at various points all the way through. The pacing in the story is very good, too, and I really liked the characters from the plainly attired intellectual heroine, Hannah, to the sneeringly upperclass Lady Gabriella, to the dark and Mr. Rochester-like Viscount Wycliff.
A triumph and a must read. And it’s the start of a series – joy.
July 18, 2021
Book Review – The Sculptress by Minette Walters
Book Review – The Sculptress by Minette Walters
First published, 1993
We hadn’t long been in Devon when the BBC broadcasted a new crime drama called The Sculptress. I don’t remember now how I convinced my parents to let me watch it (I was not quite fourteen) but the story has stayed with me, just humming in the back of my head as both an incredible story and a truly great piece of television.
And so, twenty-five years later, I had a rummage through my Amazon Wishlist and went on a clicking spree. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to read this exceptional novel.
Olive Martin, a young woman, very heavy and overlooked in her day-to-day life, languishes in prison having been convicted of the murder and bloody dismemberment of her mother and sister. Five years in to a twenty-five year sentence, Olive (nicknamed ’The Sculptress’ by her fellow inmates as well as the prison staff) receives a visit from a ho-humming writer.
Roz Leigh hasn’t had a book idea in quite some time. Her agent is nagging her to get something down in writing because it’s a matter of time before her publisher drops her like a rock. When pleading and threats don’t work, Roz’s agent goes ahead and sets up a meeting between the bookless author and the psychopathic Sculptress. But will Roz cope with the monster she sees? And how can she save Olive from her fate?
What an awesome story. I couldn’t put it down. Thank God for my butterfly brain because I’d forgotten most of the major details and key plots points. In fact, I only really remembered Pauline Quirke from the BBC version (also excellent, watch it wherever it is available) so the whole story was a revelation to me. The intricacy within the story is brilliantly imaginative, the characters are superb and the storytelling is a thing of beauty. Yes, it’s grisly. It’s amazing. Minette Walters is remarkable. Read this.
July 14, 2021
Book Review – Mrs. Rochester’s Ghost by Lindsay Marcott
Book Review – Mrs. Rochester’s Ghost by Lindsay Marcott
Expected publication date, 1st August 2021
Mrs. Rochester’s Ghost is a retelling of the classic gothic romantic drama, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (a personal favourite of mine). The story follows Jane, a suddenly unemployed American TV writer who finds gainful employment as a private tutor for the daughter of the infamous entrepreneur and possible wife-murderer, Evander Rochester.
But when Jane is plagued by her own over-active imagination, and the shrieking in the darkness might well be the ghost of mentally ill catwalk model, Beatrice McAdams-Rochester, will her attraction to the mysterious, dark-eyed and quick-tempered Evan be enough to save either of them from his past?
The story is told, primarily, by Jane as she finds her way around the Thorn Bluffs estate, meets the staff and her stroppy teenage charge Sophia, and half-sees shapes and lights that might be the dead, the missing, or her own migraines. All the while, her interest in Evander grows. In alternate chapters, the story is taken over by Beatrice, in her madness and in flashback, talking through her last day at the estate.
As I started reading this book, I couldn’t help my mind from wandering to the film versions of Rebecca (1940) and Wuthering Heights (1939), both starring the incomparable and stunningly beautiful, Laurence Olivier. Although I could see the main characters in my mind’s eye, the setting was jarringly American. To be clear, Mrs. Rochester’s Ghost is set in America, and I have no issue with American spellings, etc. However, like Rebecca and Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre strikes me as such an English story, I found myself floundering early on.
That said, most of the writing is very strong. There are some excellent descriptions of the weather and the scenery is very vivid. There were a couple of instances where Beatrice, in flashback, was not allowed a razor – due to her schizoaffective disorders and suicidal tendencies – and she alluded to the hair on her legs, armpits and vagina.
Not to be a pedant, but the vagina isn’t hairy. It’s on the inside. She might have a hairy vulva, or ‘front bottom’ as it’s known in medical circles, but if she has a hairy vagina, she should go back to her doctor.
June 22, 2021
Book Review – Marked by B. E. Balfinny
Book Review – Marked by B. E. Balfinny
First published, 2017
The story follows Kate and her husband David. When her almost-forgotten great-aunt dies, Kate inherits the old lady’s cottage in the beautiful countryside of south Kerry. Working and renting in Dublin, the couple decides to go and take a look at the country cottage, with Kate romanticising the place and the idea of a more beautiful, affordable life in the country.
“… I’ve only ever been here in summertime, and I recall even then it was often pretty bleak. And it was a long time ago.”
David snorted. “Bleak? It’s a shame old Gracie couldn’t have left you a cottage somewhere with a more hospitable climate, like a rainforest. Or the moon.”
4% in, Chapter 2, Marked by B. E. Balfinny
However, it doesn’t take long for Kate and David to fall in love with the place and look to the logistics of relocating to their new and unexpected home. But when a crotchety neighbour tears them off a strip for wandering too far up the lane, will Kate and David be able to resist the allure of the ancient stone circle and its secrets? And is the danger just as real as the beauty of the area?
I loved this story. Okay, there are some typos, but I was on the edge of my seat throughout and so I forgive those. Cannot wait for the next instalment. Brava.
June 10, 2021
Book Review – This Can Never Not Be Real by Sera Milano
Book Review – This Can Never Not Be Real by Sera Milano
First published, 2021
The story follows teenagers – Peaches, Joe, Ellie, Violet and March – as they give witness statements to an inquest into a terrorist incident. Celebrating Ambereve, a local tradition in their small town – complete with music, dancing, fireworks and a bonfire – in the grounds of a stately home, no one knows what’s happening until the first of the gunshots rings out.
What follows is the mad scramble of bodies trying to escape from armed persons unknown. No one has any idea how many attackers there are or why they’ve targeted the youngsters and their festival. All the while, the kids are doing what they can to locate their friends and family and find a hiding place, in the dark, in a mess of panic and broken glass.
Told in the style of police reports, with each character speaking about what they saw and the story being taken up by the next in turn, I was utterly gripped from start to finish.
I’ll say this, too: in the beginning, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get to know the characters all that well. Because they just have their name and then start talking, I thought there’d be very little in terms of descriptions and thus, I wouldn’t recognise their voices, their personalities, and so on. I was so wrong. I knew who was talking within a dozen pages. It takes an incredible storyteller to convey a complete character within a few paragraphs – which one has been bullied, which one is a princess, which one makes everyone nervous and so forth – to do all that and so quickly, floored me.
Of course, the subject matter will be difficult for some readers. Some of the descriptions are pretty unflinching in the face of bullet wounds, major trauma, blood, panic and the absence of reason. That said, there was real heart in the writing, there were unexpected moments of humour, and there was a point towards the end where I was actually in tears.
Incredible.
June 9, 2021
Book Review – Shakespeare’s Witch (Web of Witches #1) by Samantha Grosser
Book Review – Shakespeare’s Witch (Web of Witches #1) by Samantha Grosser
First published, 2019
The story follows Sarah, a young seamstress and secret witch in the time of Shakespeare. Working on the costumes at the Globe, aided by her half-brother, wardrobe master, sometime actor, and unrepentant hedonist, Tom, Sarah finds herself caught in the storyline of Will Shakespeare’s newest play, Macbeth. With the play firmly fixed in the heads of all the players, and the dangerous overtones of witches and the fear they instil, the tension mounts as Sarah and Tom enact rites to draw the objects of their affection to them. But as the line between good and bad blurs to a faded dot on the horizon, how long will it be before Sarah and Tom are recognised as witches and put to death?
The writing is rich, the characters thoroughly explored. I loved the feeling of thwarted desire that plagued Sarah in the early chapters. For example:
“Will’s witches should have no power to frighten her – they were stage hags from a fireside tale ti scare puritans and children, a mishmash of traditions that bore scant relation to any witchcraft she had ever learned. But they had yet possessed a power she didn’t understand, something evil, something secret. And Tom had been one of them, words of dark sorcery on his lips. She no longer felt safe in his presence. And in the midst of her fears there was Nick. The familiar sense of hopeless desire hardened in her belly: if he noticed her at all, he thought of her as nothing more than a child.”
6% in, Chapter Three, The Innocent Flower, Shakespeare’s Witch (Web of Witches #1) by Samantha Grosser
In the early part of the book, I did find myself getting mixed up between Tom (Sarah’s brother) and John (the boy-actor he’s infatuated with) but that’s probably just me; I have a thing with similar-enough sounding names.
There was danger in the writing, which I found unsettling and provocative and, frankly, it suited the subject matter down to the ground. Although some of the narrative is a little uncomfortable – it was very well-written and I liked how elusive the character of Shakespeare was.
June 8, 2021
Book Review – Serving Face: Lessons on poise and (dis)grace from the world of drag by Felix Le Freak
Book Review – Serving Face: Lessons on poise and (dis)grace from the world of drag by Felix Le Freak
First published, 2020
Part biography, part life lesson, Serving Face is a series of interviews collected by acclaimed artist and comedian, Felix Le Freak, in which the world of drag culture is explored. What drag itself is seems to depend on who you ask but, from this reader’s perspective, it seems to be the full-throated, unapologetic expression of the highest form of self as art.
Along with tips on contouring and how to treat your wigs, there are plenty of rich and diverse characters in this lovely book, along with a very helpful glossary and some utterly stunning photography of some truly unique and beautiful artists.
Although plenty of us now feel like we understand drag, through shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race, Serving Face highlights and showcases drag kings, drag queens, non binary performers and what it means to find your authentic self on stage.
An excellent reference with intelligence, humour, sass and class, I really enjoyed it.
June 4, 2021
Book Review – Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Book Review – Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Expected publication date, 10th June 2021
The story follows teenagers, Chiamaka and Devon as they navigate their way through private school somewhere in America. Where Chiamaka is wealthy, beautiful and popular, in that way that mean girls are usually popular, Devon is a scholarship student. He doesn’t make waves, doesn’t make friends, he just keeps his head down and makes the most of his educational advantages, so he can give his mother and younger brothers a better life.
As the only Black students in their year group, Chiamaka and Devon work very hard at school but, as previously indicated, where Devon spends much of his time in the music room, working on the masterpiece that might just get him into Juilliard, Chiamaka focuses on the sciences but knows how to play the game. She has boyfriends who make sense. She might not like them very much, but she picks just the right chap at any given time to propel her to the top of the academic food chain.
And then, the messages start. No one lives without secrets, and between them, Devon and Chiamaka have some doozies, things they wouldn’t want their parents to know, things that could keep them out of college, things that could ruin them. And as time moves on, and the campaign steps up a gear or two, it seems the major thing linking the subjects of scandal is their Blackness. But that’s not the world we live in anymore… is it?
The story is relentless, it grabs hold of the reader and doesn’t let go, I was thoroughly absorbed. I’ve read a good amount of YA literature; I never really think it’s for me – I’m far too old these days and reminders of school are often unwelcome – but I LOVED this book. It’s beautifully written. I liked that the setting was sort of mid-Atlantic – that it read as American with some British traditions just made it feel all the more like a fancy-pants private school to me.
The characters were really well-crafted, completely believable and very effective communicated. There were moments of unexpected humour, which I really appreciated, but the subject matter is heavy, and it needs to be. The subject of racism is not one that can be cheered up or made in any way easier, but it is handled with such finesse, I was astonished.
It’s not a small book, but as I was heading towards the last few chapters, I couldn’t think how the author was going to finish in time. I needn’t have concerned myself. Ms Àbíké-Íyímídé writes with assurance and flair, she has crafted a compelling narrative, with a vitally important core, and that ending floored me.
Highly recommended. You must read this.
June 1, 2021
Book Review – Silent Cry (Gabriella Darin #1) by Jenny O’Brien
Book Review – Silent Cry (Gabriella Darin #1) by Jenny O’Brien
First published, 2020
Five years ago, Izzy’s boyfriend left the house with their baby girl to give her a bit of a break. And they didn’t come back. After frantically searching the house, Izzy found a card that had been popped through the door, stating, ‘Alys is fine. Don’t try to find us.’ But having pulled herself through five years of wondering, worrying and sleepless nights, Izzy catches sight of a face from the past, and the search continues.
With Gabriella Darin, a police officer with her own difficult past, newly transferred from Cardiff, now on the case, surely it won’t be long before Izzy has some idea of where Charlie went and what happened to their family.
The writing is stunning. Addictive. I couldn’t put it down. It’s rare I’ll go without sleep, I went without sleep for this one. The characters were sympathetic without hitting you over the head with their misery. The scenery was stunning and I loved the story. Really well crafted with a surprising finish that’s bound to stay with me for a good long time. I’m off to find the rest of the series now.
‘Real sorrow was all snot and snivelling. It was red-rimmed eyes and the gut-wrenching ache that started in the belly only to lodge at the back of the throat. There was nothing glamorous about someone in the throes of misery, nothing at all.’
Chapter 22, Silent Cry (Gabriella Darin #1) by Jenny O’Brien
Amen to that. This is an awesome book. Go, read it.
May 27, 2021
Book Review – Modern Pandemics: From The Spanish Flu to Covid-19 by Salvador Macip, translated by Julie Wark
Book Review – Modern Epidemics: From The Spanish Flu to Covid-19 by Salvador Macip, translated by Julie Wark
First published, 2010
(This updated version will be published 2nd June 2021)
This is the book we all needed at the start of the pandemic. Yes, I said it. In this book, doctor, researcher and author, Salvador Macip talks the reader through the differences between outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics, as well as the nature of bacteria, viruses and the scientific advances that prevent us from contracting and spreading deadly diseases.
From plague to AIDS to TB, each illness behaves in an individual style, but the real difference with Covid-19 (for the sake of posterity, Covid-19 is the pandemic we’re living through at the time of writing) is that we live in a world that lives its life, at least partly, online. As such, information, misinformation and something somebody’s auntie said all mix, and we risk spiralling into paranoia and devastation.
Salvador Macip’s book is the calm voice in the storm. Through detailed but graspable explanations, he defines all the major terms, the nature of illness, and what we can do to prevent the spread.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about viruses and how they work, and also to anyone who has a conspiracy theorist in their life who needs to educate themselves or move on.
This is the book.
