2.5 STARS I tried to give love another chance. The love for David Nicholls' books that is. I will admit, I liked
Us
many degrees more than I enjoyed the mess that was
One Day
, and even laughed at loud on more than one occasion. But as a whole,
Us
was a self-indulgent, teeth grinder of a book. The main character was a mess, and rightly so, because his wife and son's characters were pretty much the scum of the earth.
I have never felt more inclined to throw a book at my wall, with hopes of actually injuring a few choice characters within.
Us
was a portrayal of the shining moments of love, and the darkened moments of it's decline. Douglas Petersen is on the verge of losing his wife, but for no good reason, in my opinion. Connie Petersen wakes up in the middle of one night with the courage to utter some despairing words: "...
I think our marriage has run it's course. Douglas, I think I want to leave you.
" What ensues is a maddening switch of timelines between present, and past.
Present: Douglas, Connie and their son Albie have gone on their pre-booked Grand Tour of Europe, despite Connie's statement, but to the inner joy of Douglas. He hopes to win his wife back, and finally gain some respect from his son while he's at it.
Past: Douglas recounts his unexpected love affair with Connie-starting from before they even met. When they do meet, there couldn't be less fanfare, and more effort on Douglas's part to convince us that what he and Connie shared up until a certain point was pure, and utter, magic.
I was having none of it, and maybe that was Nicholl's intention. The story was Douglas's perspective, his view on what he thought the people around him were feeling, and expressing. I would have loved to have Connie's side of the story, happening simultaneously with her husband's. I wanted to know the thoughts of a woman that I only grew to hate more and more as the narrative progressed-Connie was selfish, dissatisfied, and wholly unlikable. I feel as though we were sometimes meant to see Douglas as the enemy, but personally, I wanted to shelter him the entire time. I wanted him to know that he was doing a fantastic job of being a father, and keeping his family provided for. I wanted the whole book to turn into a big "finding yourself" for him. I wanted Connie and Albie to take their self-centered selves into some other book, somewhere else.
Nicholl's writing was thought-provoking, the multiple lines I highlighted was proof of that. There were profound statements that spoke to me about my own state of affairs, made words out of thoughts I have never verbalized.
Us
definitely was a subjective novel, laid out in a way that allows readers to see themselves in either Douglas or Connie, or even Albie. It was a test of my patience, for sure, and I walked away having picked a side. Whose side will you choose?
Recommended for Fans of: Contemporary, Literary Fiction,
Doppler
...more
Confession #1: I have never, in my entire existence, read, sat next to, or lingered near an Agatha Christie book. Although, I have in my possession ONE Sophie Hannah novel (that I haven't read yet). Confession #2: I didn't like this book. Confession #3: I have nothing to compare
The Monogram Murders
to, a.k.a. I have no idea if this book was written in true Christie form. Confession #4: I still didn't like this book.
Three people are murdered at a snazzy local hotel. The killer is still at large. Or are they? Hercule Poirot, and his Watson-esque sidekick, Catchpool, set out on a slightly convoluted goose chase to gather facts and rule out suspects. They get THISCLOSE to figuring it out, and BAM! Wrenches are thrown in. Truths are revealed to be lies. Who possessed the greater motive for murder? It won't be who you think it is, but Hercule and Catchpool will spend about 20+ pages telling you who it was, and why.
I didn't dislike the entire thing. I actually quite enjoyed the first 3/4 of
The Monogram Murders
. I was following along rather excitedly with the age-old puzzle of "find the murderer." I wasn't particularly drawn to the slow pace, or even the quirks of the beloved Hercule Poirot, but Hannah kept me engrossed right up until she exploded into what felt like a three-week long reveal. It was excruciating, and not even the kind that's worth it in the end. That's not to say that her writing wasn't up to par, because there was a flow that existed in the narrative that carried my attention to exactly where she needed it. It just got lost after that point, and I found myself glazing over whole paragraphs, and at times, even skipping pages.
The Monogram Murders was my very first foray into "author resurrecting author", and to say that I disapprove of the idea is unfair, because I don't. I feel as though I should have at least read a classic Christie novel before diving into this one, however, that may have also made things worse. For what it's worth, the characters in The Monogram Murders were distinct, and cleverly placed to create an air of mystery, and intrigue. I admit that I enjoyed the side characters a hell of a lot more than the two main ones, and wish that we got to hear more from the likes of Fee Spring, or even Dorcas the maid. This novel held a lot of potential, but sadly, fell horribly short in the end.
Recommended for Fans of: Sherlock Holmes, Mystery, Crime/Detective fiction, Historical Fiction....more
I think it's safe to say that publishing houses would, without question, reap the benefits of this piece of advice: STOP comparing books to other books. And for the love of all that is epic and beautifully narrated, STOP comparing them to fantastic, well-loved books. You unfairly set your readers up in a "there is no way you WON'T love this" mindset, and then completely obliterate their hopeful bubbles when the book ends up being sub-par, at best.
The Queen of the Tearling
was entertaining, despite being poorly developed, BUT, it was not, in this universe, or any other universe in existence, a melding of
The Hunger Games
, and
The Game of Thrones
. Let's just pretend that comparison wasn't even made, and move on...
I won't rehash the synopsis of
The Queen of the Tearling
, because the one that exists is already quite wordy (note: this is appropriate foreshadowing for the narrative you will find within). The book started off with a strong sense of intrigue: the entire royal guard has come to collect the new Queen at her humble forest home, so she can be returned to the castle, and claim her rightful place on the throne. What adventures lay ahead? What will we learn of this strange new land? OH the anticipation of-SQUIRREL!....Oh, where were we? Ahh, that's right, we were describing that leaf over there. Wait, that's not right, we were being given a fantastically complex breakdown of how this new world came to be. We were delving into character developments, focusing on the strength, and endurance, of our main character, and we were falling in love with this epic new series.
No, we weren't. I was correct the first time, we were describing that leaf over there...
And so it goes, through almost a third of the book. A spew of overly descriptive writing, with only a peep-hole of glimpses and explanation into the area of world-building. I had an inkling, eventually, through multiple mentions, and references to Harry Potter (!?), but it wasn't until I read professional reviews that I discovered that this book was apparently set 300 years into our future-it took place right here, in our very own backyard. It was at this point that I gave up on trying to communicate with my good friend, logic. Johansen was successful in confusing the heck out of me, and I couldn't understand why she chose this particular route for her story's backdrop-it just made no sense. WHY has society backtracked into such archaic times? WHY did some simple technologies (i.e. birth control) make it, while others didn't? The inconsistencies in this book were many, and close together. The narrative just couldn't make up it's mind, and I refused to adopt the "IT JUST WAS, okay?" theory. I wanted more explanation, I
craved
it.
All perplexities aside,
The Queen of the Tearling
was a good attempt at something that had far greater potential. The characters were built to be inhabited by much stronger, and better developed, personalities; the world of "New Europe," was literally
begging
for it's history to be recanted with a voice, and hand, that paid it's respect to the eager, and not-easily-fooled, minds of it's readers. I was disappointed by this book, but still read it, in it's entirety, and was entertained enough to keep turning the pages. The characters, mainly our star lead, and new Queen, Kelsea, managed to squeeze herself into some downright head-shaking moments. I definitely wanted to know how she would salvage her messes.
I WILL be reading the rest of this series, if only to find out if it redeems itself in it's second installment. Also, c'mon, a movie adaptation with Emily Watson playing the lead? This book is going to sell itself on that fact alone...pity.
Recommended for fans of: Young Adult, Fantasy, Dystopian, Historical Fiction,
The Lost Amulet Chronicles
by Katie Lynn Johnson....more
The problem with high hopes, is the high hopes part. The raving about Speak is worldwide. Laurie Halse Andersen wrote a book that won a plethora of awards, and set my expectations sky high for pretty much anything I might read by her. OH how I wish I had read Speak first, because I disliked The Impossible Knife of Memory, and I feel slightly bad about it. This book, in my opinion, was a poorly written narrative featuring a whiny, selfish, overly dramatic, main character, and a cast of equally annoying side characters.
The Impossible Knife of Memory
was a book that was unnecessarily subtle at times, and then overly dramatic at others. There was no middle ground, and it felt, overall, very disjointed in it's narrative. When the characters random memories were thrown in, it was as though they belonged to a completely different book. I was 98% disconnected throughout the entire read, and couldn't have cared less about the characters or their hardships. Listen, I understand, I do. Incorporate mental illness, or just plain illness (see,
A Fault in Our Stars
), and a side plot of romance into a YA novel, and you're bound to elicit reactions along the lines of "OMG, SO deep" or "What a meaningful message!". I also understand that Andersen is known for exploring the valleys of hard-to-approach subject matters. I just think, that in this case, she missed the mark. I can't vouch for
Speak
, but with
The Impossible Knife of Memory
, I felt like she was trying to do too many things at once, with way too many cliched situations.
Hayley Kincaid was a mess of a character, in both the way she was intentionally written, and in another, completely annoying way, which I'm sure was not as intentional. She constantly referred to her peers as "zombies, and lacked respect for almost every authority figure. We learn that this is a direct result of losing her mother at a young age, and her father's current mental state. Hayley's father, Andy, was a man suffering from the aftermath of three tours in Iraq, and a very obvious case of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Hayley, living with the repercussions of her father's denial and anger, resented her life and her father's lack of fathering. In turn, she cared about little else-namely, her appearance and general hygiene. I understood her inner turmoil, and felt for her on that level, but I COULDN'T, would not even TRY, to understand why there were times when she left the house without brushing her TEETH. I felt like her role as the "victim" was blown way out of proportion, and instead of feeling sorry for her, I wanted to, on numerous occasions, throw large, heavy things at her. She kept having flashbacks of memories, paragraph snippits in familiar italics, that I thought were going to lead to some traumatic revelation. But it eventually added up to ...nothing: they were just memories. Her father's memories were also interspersed: memories of the war; his role in the madness. Those were probably the best, and more well written, parts of the book. Though again, they pretty much fell to the wayside in the grand scheme of things; they didn't add to my reading experience.
I couldn't get a grip on what any character looked like, nor who they were on a deeper level. Hayley was zero help on this front either. She hated her ex-stepmother, Trish, with a red-hot PASSION. Though, we never really learn WHY, or to what extent the woman destroyed her life. I won't even discuss the romance in this book. It was typical, and horribly cliched: Cutest guy at school falls for broken, loner girl. Loner girl wonders "WHY ME". They become inseparable. Loner girl doesn't brush her teeth; marvels at the effort OTHERS have put forth TO brush their teeth (oh wait, that last part wasn't cliched, IT WAS JUST GROSS).
The Impossible Knife of Memory's
ONLY highlight for me: the dialogue. It was witty at the best of times, and I'm always a sucker for witty banter (see, ANYTHING by Rainbow Rowell).
In the end, I was defeated, and exhausted. Hayley did not redeem herself, she just turned out to be an immature little brat, who had reason for her sullen attitude, but not reason enough. I couldn't even bring myself to hold my breath at the conclusion of the book: an ending that was obviously meant to be heart-wrenching and filled with hope. I couldn't do it, I just wanted it to be over.
I need to read
Speak
. Someone tell me it was better than this?
Recommended for fans of: The Fault in Our Stars, Young Adult, Contemporary, mental illness in fiction....more
I can't fault Holly Black, she's one of my constants. Her books are a guaranteed FEEL, right in the heart. That's why I was disappointed to find that as I read
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
, my insides weren't reacting the way they usually do. What a bloody fantastic intro, probably one of my favourites to date, it had the makings of something fantastically chilling. Sadly, lukewarm was what was actually delivered. Lukewarm with a side of foreboding, and cliches.
To paint a more elaborate picture of the first chapter: picture an old country home, and a perfect summer night. There's a party that's not to be missed happening inside, and almost everyone you know is in attendance. The illegal consumption of alcohol, the promiscuity, the rational fear of vampires breaking into the house and draining you of all of your blood..wait, what?
There apparently hasn't been a vampire attack in Tana's small town for five years now, but the night after a party at her friend's home, she wakes up in the bathtub and stumbles out to find every, single, person, DEAD. As a reader, I think I began hyperventilating before she did, and I continued that way long after she had abruptly stopped-I reiterate, there hasn't been an attack in FIVE years, I felt like this scene should have reflected that better. She finds two survivors in a bedroom, one not dead (and who conveniently happens to be her ex), and one, the undead. She then proceeds to partake on a lovely road trip with said ex, and a very dangerous vampire. My brain wasn't prepared for this almost instantaneous switch in the narrative. I couldn't understand why Tana was so suddenly nonchalant about what she just witnessed, and why irrationality was the first personality trait the author ingrained of her. From here on out, it's simply bad decision, after bad decision, after worse decision.
I couldn't develop a camaraderie with any one particular character, and the setting felt incomplete. I felt like once the characters arrived at Coldtown, the world grew infinitely smaller, and they were existing within a movie set, as opposed to what was once a big TOWN. There were small moments when I felt like maybe the narrative would open up, particularly with the introduction of a transgender character. Such wasn't the case however, as it was only quickly mentioned, and then left behind.
I appreciated this piece of work for what it was, and I think it was an attempt on the author's part to try her hand at vampires, and also include the type of diversity in characters that many, many fiction books are lacking. I couldn't find a real story in
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
, but the writing itself was still Holly Black spectacular. She's still at the top part of my list, and there she will remain.
Recommended for fans of:
Twilight
(in terms in love triangles, anyway), Paranormal, LGBT, Horror, Homages to Anne Rice....more
Reeka (BoundbyWords)
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