the book review girl

Monday, 12 August 2019

Whitstle in the Dark - Emma Healey

"Emma Healey follows the success of her #1 internationally bestselling debut novel Elizabeth Is Missing, winner of the Costa First Novel Award, with this beautiful, thought-provoking, and psychologically complex tale that affirms her status as one of the most inventive and original literary novelists today.

Jen and Hugh Maddox have just survived every parent’s worst nightmare.

Relieved, but still terrified, they sit by the hospital bedside of their fifteen-year-old daughter, Lana, who was found bloodied, bruised, and disoriented after going missing for four days during a mother-daughter vacation in the country. As Lana lies mute in the bed, unwilling or unable to articulate what happened to her during that period, the national media speculates wildly and Jen and Hugh try to answer many questions.

Where was Lana? How did she get hurt? Was the teenage boy who befriended her involved? How did she survive outside for all those days? Even when she returns to the family home and her school routine, Lana only provides the same frustrating answer over and over: "I can’t remember."

Whistle in the Dark is a slow burning mystery where the mystery is an afterthought. The synopsis of this book intrigued me. Unfortunately, Whistle in the Dark is an incredibly slow moving, boring mystery that doesn’t deliver.

Whistle in the Dark focuses on Jen as she tries to help her daughter, Lana, recover from being lost in the woods for four days. Jen becomes obsessed with figuring out what happened to her daughter. As the novel progresses, Jen becomes more and more paranoid and neurotic.

Healey focuses on Jen’s paranoid and neurotic thoughts and behaviors, but does little to create a worthwhile reading experience. Instead, the novel becomes a by the numbers story as Jen discovers a clue, obsesses over it, and repeats. At the same time, Healey’s portrayal of a dedicated and scared mother is well written. Jen does everything in her power to help her child, but always falls short. For this reason, it seems as if there are two different novels within Whistle in the Dark competing for space. One of the novels is a contemporary story about a mother’s desperate and frantic search for answers on how to help her teenage daughter suffering from depression. The other novel is a mystery about a mother’s despairing search for answers about her teenage daughter’s disappearance. I understand what Healey was attempting to accomplish, alas the execution was lacking.

The only reason I read the novel in its entirety was to find out what happened in those four missing days. Unfortunately, the reveal is catastrophically lackluster and should have been obvious from the first few chapters.

Saturday, 10 August 2019

Three Dark Crowns - Kendare Blake

"When kingdom come, there will be one.

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomach-ache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.

The last queen standing gets the crown."

It's about three sisters, three queens, essentially competing for the throne. They - Katharine, Arsinoe and Mirabella - each live in different parts of the land, each have a different power, and each have a different group of supporters aiding them. This is an "in every generation, there are three chosen ones..." kind of thing. However, throughout the generations, only one sister can claim the throne, and she must do so by murdering the other two.

In this case, Katharine is a poisoner who wields deadly cocktails; Arsinoe is a naturalist - at one with nature and animals - and not very good at it (nobody expects her to win the throne); Mirabella is an elemental and clearly the strongest of the three, her powers by far the most developed.

It sounds quite exciting, but it is far too slow and quiet a telling for such a nasty premise. The first three quarters are just boring. They needed a shot of excitement. Most of the book consists of the girls honing their skills in their own private locations and having flirtations with their love interests. It is painfully hard to not yawn, put the book down, and go find something more riveting to do. Like watching paint dry, for example.

I am not exaggerating. So little happens - there is no action, no drama, no excitement until near the end. And, by that point, how much do we really care? I don't know about you, but if I've spent most of a book being bored out of my mind, I'm not going to suddenly become invested when the pacing picks up.

The book flits between third-person perspectives and, truly, none of them are interesting. Arsinoe mostly wanders around being useless and watching the romance between Jules and Joseph. Mirabella repeatedly plays with the elements, conjuring earthquakes and towers of fire. Katharine is perhaps most interesting, but mainly because she's dealing with scars and blisters from the latest poison she's ingested. That should tell you something about the bar for excitement in this book - the highlights are when one of the characters is sick from poisoning. Problem is, the three queens don't really get their hands dirty for the most part. Their stories are not bloody and political like I hoped they would be, they are rather quiet and sometimes romantic.

The romance itself isn't good either. Each sister has her own POV and love interest, but because of the multiple-POVs, none of them are fleshed out. Other than the sisters, side characters like Jules and Natalia have point-of-view chapters, too. It's a curious mixture of too much going on yet nothing happens. While I'm glad each sister queen has the chance to tell her side of the story, the feeling is dampened when it becomes a detriment rather than an advantage.

Joseph flings himself in front of a bear to protect Mirabella after knowing her for two days. TWO. DAYS. He is also an asshat of the highest order. He makes out with Mirabella, freaks out because he's cheating on Jules, then continues kissing her. What the actual fuck. I fail to see what the point of this book was. What is the lesson here? Other than reading about horny brainless teenagers cheating left and right and dumb-as-hell girls being controlled by men because they weren’t given (by the author) the mental capacity to stand up for themselves. I mean, what does the reader get out of this horrid experience?

Perhaps it's the way Three Dark Crowns is written, but I couldn't relate to any of the sisters. It's third-person narrative at its worst, flat and emotionless. Plus, the sisters are individually insufferable. Katharine is a cowering sack of flour. Mirabella is a starry-eyed idealist with poor planning skills. Arinsoe reads like she's twelve and stamps her foot, pretending to be a strong female, but makes mistake after mistake.

Some of their plotlines make no sense. Take Katharine's for instance. She receives seduction lessons from Pietyr, nephew of her mentor Natalia, to ensure her sisters do not get suitors. What's the point? So Mirabella and Arinsoe don't get suitors at the Quickening, a festival after which they can begin killing each other. They're humiliated and will probably act more ruthlessly against Katharine during in the coming year. Getting a king-consort isn't essential to winning the crown. It's just a way to set up her romance. I would rather see her sabotaging her sisters to make up for her weak gift, or work through the Black Council to push through a law that determines only a poisoner can be crowned.

There's a brilliant opportunity for female friendship, which is absolutely squandered. Jules, through which we first see Arinsoe, could have been a real breakout character. Yet she seems more interested in her boyfriend Joseph than her BFF's impending death. One of the reasons Three Dark Crowns' premise appealed to me is that it could morph into a beautiful story of girl power and sisterhood. Sadly, Jules's storyline is reflective of the actual product.

On whole, Three Dark Crowns feels like a prequel. The last 20% is interesting and should have been put in the front after a few lead-in chapters, the romances woven along the excitement and danger of the Ascension Year. As it currently stands, we have to wait until the next book to see the queens fight it out. I will read the next book because of Arsione's reveal at the very end of the book and we will have to see if it hots up.

Age Rating 13+. Nothing untoward. Stock standard YA.

The Bear and the Nightingale - Katherine Arden

"In a village at the edge of the wilderness of northern Russia, where the winds blow cold and the snow falls many months of the year, an elderly servant tells stories of sorcery, folklore and the Winter King to the children of the family, tales of old magic frowned upon by the church.

But for the young, wild Vasya these are far more than just stories. She alone can see the house spirits that guard her home, and sense the growing forces of dark magic in the woods..."

I absolutely adored this book. It is the perfect mix of atmosphere, mythology, folklore, feisty protagonists and religious obsession. All things I go mad for!

Atmosphere in the Bear and the Nightingale is brilliant. It captures that feeling of uncertainty and superstition. The characters are somewhere between the old and the new; believing in modern religion but still deeply tied to the stories of old - the creatures that hide in the dark, the demons lurking in corners, the spirits living in the woods.

The protagonist is Vasya, a feisty, stubborn girl who always manages to find her way into adventure and, often, trouble. Quick-witted and rebellious, it's hard not to fall in love with her instantly. There's a sense throughout that she is at one with nature, belonging to the very setting of the novel - the wild, rugged landscape of her youth. She is most at home when running and playing in the woods. Vasya has always possessed the second sight, which made for some wonderful conversations with the various creatures living in and around her home, such as the domovoi.

Soon, Vasya's gentle childhood - spent conversing with the domovoi and the vazila (who guards the stables) - is put to an abrupt end.

Her father remarries and while the new woman has the second sight, she interprets the gentle protective spirits as "demons" and hates and fears Vasya's more understanding approch, beliveing her to be consorting with Satan. In an effort to "protect" the now-teenage Vasya, her father (egged on and persuaded by her step mother) is trying to marry her off which doesn't go to well with the hard headed, free spirited Vasya showing her suitors up.

To top it all, a priest moves into their house and is hell-bent (ha) on saving Vasya's soul but all he succeeds in doing is a lot of fear-mongering and weakening of the protective spirits. He quickly becomes obsessed, both romantically and religiously, with Vasya and her impertinence.

With the protective spirits dwindling because of the religious fear being stirred up by the Pastor, Vasya must face the ever increasing danger of the old gods - alone and armed with nothing by her sheer force of will.

I am interested to see how the connection/relationship between Morozko, the frost demon, and Vasya progresses in the next book. I am unsure whether it was meant to be romantic and if so how that would look between an immortal elemental being and a human girl. We shall see.

Over all I loved it!! Definitely a favourite.

Age Restriction 13+. Nothing untoward, a few Unpyrs (vampires) and an abusive step mother.

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) - Leigh Bardugo

"Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets--a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world."

Seriously, this book was such a crazy ride. The jump in quality from the Grisha trilogy to Six Of Crows and Crooked Kingdom is just astounding. These books have Bardugo's compelling style all over them, and yet they are so much more complex, rich, and well-written. As a person who doesn't love multiple perspectives, especially more than two, I'm amazed at how the author manages to juggle so many diverse characters and make me care about them all. They all gave such a unique and distinct slant in their telling.

Crooked Kingdom is a beast of a book - my hardcover would make a nice murder weapon - and yet the action and tension never run dry. It's a cliche to compare a book to a rollercoaster but that's exactly what this felt like - highs and lows of emotions, equal parts humorous, entertaining, dark, violent, romantic and gritty.

The stakes just keep getting bigger. This book opens where we left off with Wylan wearing Kuwei Yul-Bo's face, and our gang must rescue Inej, get revenge, and defeat the bad guys. But that doesn't even begin to sum up all the action, adventure and craziness going on here. As well as being dark and compelling, the characters and relationships we love become even more fascinating and developed. One of my favourtie things about these books is the witty and hilerious dialougue. It feels so natural and I find myself laughing along with them.

There are so many satisfying things in this book - like watching Kaz Brekker just be fucking awesome,all the twists and turns, Nina being her naughty sarcastic self, the wonderful but not overplayed gay romance - but it also hits you in the heart, and it hits hard.

The ending was perfection. It was the kind of ending a story like this deserves - the kind that leaves you wanting more, but knowing that it finished in exactly the right place.

Age Restriction 14+. Mentions of time spent in a brothel, torture and withdrawal.

The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

"Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. By all rights their paths should never cross, but Achilles takes the shamed prince as his friend, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles' mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But then word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus journeys with Achilles to Troy, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.

Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart."

Reading this is like reading Romeo and Juliet. We all know the story. We all know the outcome. We all know that our desperate prayers for someone, anyone to step in and save these characters from themselves will fall on deaf ears.
So often in historical fiction from this time period I see the sharp edges of the Ancient Greek and Roman cultures smoothed away. I see slaves treated well and women given a voice. I'm happy to say there was none of that bullshittery here. Miller paints the pages of this book in blood and suffering. It is awash with pain and brutality. As it should be. Because historical accuracy. It is not the most brutal retelling of this story I have some across, "The silence of the girls" far outstrips it in brutality but it didn't frustrate me in it faux gentleness either.

But, it does means that this book is not for everyone. There is a lot of sexism, misogyny, violence, bloodshed, and rape, mentioned almost offhand, because, to these characters, this behaviour is commonplace. Expected. I didn't like a single one of them, and not just because of their worldviews. There was Achilles and his hubris. Patroclus and his uselessness. Thetis and her coldness. I didn't even like Odysseus and his famous wit, for there was an edge to it in this book that made him seem less charming and more manipulative than I remember.

That said, as much as I disliked these characters, I loved their stories. Miller took gods and legends and brought them to life within the pages of this book. She humanized these mythical beings and dazzling demi-gods in a way that made them seem real, fallible. The book sticks very close to the original Illiad which I really appreciated. The only deviation I would say would be making Patroclus a less skilled fighter then he was originally portrayed as.

One thing I really like about this book is that, it explored the very real possibility that Achilles and Patroclus where far more then friends. That Madeline Miller actually decided to tell the story of Patroclus and Achilles - a story, like many other gay narratives in history, people have tried to erase. (Looking at you, Hollywood. Troy making them cousins is Hollywood's biggest shame)

To me, it is just really amazing that authors are actually rewriting such ancient history and stories to make them lgbt and remind people that the internet didn't invent being gay in 2000. It's always been real and people won't stand for that erasure in history anymore. (Especially the Greeks who where notorious.)

Beautifully written and very engaging. Well worth a read.
Age Rating 14+. Mature content, both violence and a few allusions to sex.

1984 - George Orwell

"Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell's nightmarish vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell's prescience of modern life—the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language—and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifying novels ever written."

This book is far from perfect. The characters lack depth, the dialogue is didactic in places and the lengthy bit in the middle where the main character, Winston, reads from a book causes whiplash in structure change.

All that aside it is one of the most terrifying books I have read in a long time. Working, eating, drinking, sleeping, talking, thinking, procreating...in short living, all are controlled by the state. Any hint of obedience or even momentary dislike can be detected by various state apparatus such as the Thought Police, telescreen, or even your children, who will not hesitate to betray you to the authorities. Even language is modified in such ways that you cannot express yourself, since individualism is a crime, or have the tools to convey your dissatisfaction.

I have always thought that one of the best and most important qualities of science fiction is that it frees the author to take the controversial, politically charged issues and trends of the day and create a possible future based on exaggerations of such trends and in so doing present a compelling and critical argument for change. Well NO ONE has ever done a better job than better Orwell in showing the possible nightmare (and thus potential danger) of a society without basic civil liberties and a government with complete and unchallenged control.

Of all the unhumane, terrible and bleak things described in this book, the horrifying levels of brainwashing and psychological distortion where the elements that terrified me to my very core.
"Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” That the human race would so submit their minds, their consciousness, their very being to an institution is truly nightmarish.

Age Rating 15+. Torture scenes and concepts that need a certain level of maturity to grasp.

Monday, 5 August 2019

Perfume: The story of a murderer - Patrick Suskind

"In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift—an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and fresh-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"—the scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brilliance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity."

Hi Everyone, I am sorry I didn't post anything last month but there was a little bit of a family emergency and I had to fly back home, where I didn't have the time or internet to write and post anything. So the next few reviews are from last month as well.

This book is set in the mid-1700's France and centres around a horrid man who has no redeeming qualities other than the fact that he has likely the most perfect sense of smell in the history of mankind. But he uses this skill for selfish and evil purposes and we get to come along for the story of his life - if you could call it that.

The premise of the story seemed interesting enough, and of course the title tells us that there is going to be murder so that always makes for interesting reading. But I just found it to be extremely boring and tiresome.
The author obviously did his research relating to all things perfume - the methods involved in it's creation - both chemically and artistically - and the importance of it's purpose in that point in history. But he goes overboard with list after exhaustive list of ingredients or steps within a process or varieties to be found. He can't help but describe every minute detail, not just of perfume, but of the landscape or the people. I love descriptive writing - I truly do - but I do also like to have an exciting plot to keep me involved. By the time he finished describing a scene I forgot why we were there.

I found that a book that put so much emphasis on the sensual aspect of itself in the blurb really let me down. Until the second last scene of the book there really isn't anything untoward. Grenouille's attraction to the women is purely olfactory and his perversion is hardly touched on or explored.

Furthermore, it takes forever to reach the part of the book where Jean-Baptiste actually starts to murder people because there’s a huge, useless portion of the book dedicated to 10 years of his life when he goes into hiding in a mountain. Also, there is no climax, unless you count the execution/orgy scene which I thought was the stupidest scene ever.

I did enjoy the feeling of repulsion and disgust with humanity that was convayed. I love books that get under your skin. The last scene was also stellar. Horrific, grotesque yet strangely fitting.

Overall not worth the hype. Age restriction 14+. Has some adult themes and scenes.