I really enjoyed THE OVERNIGHT GUEST by Gudenkauf, and I'd praised her pacing. This one...not so much. Intriguing concept, but despite being a not-lonI really enjoyed THE OVERNIGHT GUEST by Gudenkauf, and I'd praised her pacing. This one...not so much. Intriguing concept, but despite being a not-long novel, it felt too long, especially through the middle. If you've read your share of thrillers, there will be some choices made early on that will easily tip you off to the major twists. If you're not a regular reader of the genre, this will be a much more fun read for you....more
Not sure how to rate this, as I only read half of the stories and, surprisingly, didn't think any of them were standouts. I may come back to it at somNot sure how to rate this, as I only read half of the stories and, surprisingly, didn't think any of them were standouts. I may come back to it at some point and update more thoroughly....more
Yes, another 5-star read for me from John Marrs. Damn, was this one ever absorbing. It was one of those books that had me thinking about it while I waYes, another 5-star read for me from John Marrs. Damn, was this one ever absorbing. It was one of those books that had me thinking about it while I was out doing other things, glancing at the time to see when I'd be free again to read more.
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The gist: Imagine a world in which you could do a simple cheek swab, a la 23 and Me or Ancestry DNA, and within a few months you might get a letter in the mail telling you that your ultimate love match was out there somewhere, waiting for you. In THE ONE, we're introduced to several people who have done just that: single women who'd given up on love, couples already paired up by their own doing but feeling uncertain that they're each other's real match for life, even really horrible people who should never be in a relationship with another human being. Needless to say, absolutely none of the characters in THE ONE have their personal love story turn out the way they -- or we -- would expect, to varying degrees of disaster.
Just as I did in my review of Marrs's THE PASSENGERS, I feel compelled to mention that, if you're planning to read his newer novel THE MINDERS, you're gonna want to read this one and THE PASSENGERS first. They're not a series, but there's so much stuff in THE MINDERS that either spoils the earlier two books or is better appreciated when you have the world-building of those. I think the best order would be THE ONE, THE PASSENGERS, and then THE MINDERS, if you're so inclined.
I know there's a Netflix show based on this book, one I haven't watched (yet), but I gather just from a quick glance at the IMDb cast/character list that the show runners changed a lot. It's probably safe to say that if you did watch the series you could still enjoy read the source material. This book has immediately gone right up my list of "books I'm going to tell all of my friends to read," because it was addictive as hell, and I loved every second of it....more
Based solely on the addictive manner in which this was written, I was thinking THE VILLA was going to get 4 stars from me. I’d quite enjoyed the firstBased solely on the addictive manner in which this was written, I was thinking THE VILLA was going to get 4 stars from me. I’d quite enjoyed the first Hawkins novel I read a couple of years ago (THE WIFE UPSTAIRS), and this one had the same sort of compulsively readable quality to it. The ending, though, got a bit too far-fetched even for the kind of melodramatic story it was, so I’m settling on a decent 3.5 rating.
THE VILLA is told through alternating perspectives, one taking place in the present and following two writer BFFs renting the titular vacation house in Italy, and the other giving us the backstory on said house from a few decades back. This wouldn’t be a mystery/thriller without some murder-y stuff having happened in the villa’s past, and naturally the echoes of the bloodshed are still ringing out in the besties’ holiday.
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I couldn’t help but get DAISY JONES & THE SIX vibes from the “Then” sections, which made me happy, and I appreciated that several of the characters were more complex than just people you’re supposed to straight up love or loathe. Hawkins is good at sketching out personalities without doing too much heavy handed exposition.
As I said, it was the final couple of chapters that made me furrow my brow a couple of times, wondering if there’d been a way for this whole saga to wrap up just a little more plausibly. But that didn’t erase the way the book had been nagging at me to return to it in the previous few days, so I’m still going to recommend it to readers who want a bit of mysterious, summer-y brain candy. Go forth and godere!...more
Whatever you're expecting from this book, I feel safe in saying you'll get thrown for at least a loop or two. It's not the straight up domestic thrillWhatever you're expecting from this book, I feel safe in saying you'll get thrown for at least a loop or two. It's not the straight up domestic thriller you might anticipate from the cover or the title. I knew I was in for something different by the end of the first chapter.
Twisty, with well-written characters = 4 solid stars. I docked it only because it got a bit convoluted around the ~70% mark, but the ship was righted by the end. Nice to read a mystery/thriller that has a unique feel to it - I would absolutely recommend it for my suspense-loving GR friends!
Okay, so I've thought more about this book since initially reviewing it a week ago. I'm going to bump it up from 2 to 3 stars, because I do keep thinkOkay, so I've thought more about this book since initially reviewing it a week ago. I'm going to bump it up from 2 to 3 stars, because I do keep thinking about the damn thing.
Right on the cover, there's a blurb that reads something like, "Readers will either howl with laughter or cover their eyes in horror." I didn't laugh, I can tell you that much, but I definitely averted my eyes a few times and frequently wished it was over. I was away with five friends for a girls' weekend while reading it, and at one point I handed it to one friend just to let her read a couple of lines (this is a friend with whom I always go to the theatre to see the most deranged and disturbing movies that nobody else will see with me, so believe me, she can handle shit). Her face contorted and she all but threw the book back in my lap, saying, "Oh, hell, no!" So that should give you some idea of how...puerile?...the whole thing is.
The gist: A young, beautiful woman named Irina is trying to make a living as a photographer. She lives with her...best friend? Ex-FWB? Favourite target for her weird abuse??...and has a string of people in her life who have either ditched her or been ditched by her, because she's a terrible person. Her favourite thing to photograph is sad teenage boys, thus the title of the book. She refers to people by not just their names but some rather withering nicknames, based on how she met them (the main kid she photographs is called "Eddie From Tesco" every single time he's referenced throughout the whole book, never just "Eddie"). She's constantly talking about how hot she is, how great she is at photography, dropping brand names, all of the things that would make you think of a Patrick Bateman type of personality. And she also keeps referencing something that happened in her past, something that might make her an even worse person than we realize.
This book is a nasty piece of work, and if you don't enjoy detestable main characters you're gonna wanna take a pass on it altogether. The content isn't pleasant, either. All of the sexuality is gross. There are sudden bursts of violence that, even knowing the person you're reading about, manage to be kind of shocking. It's a collection of generally bad people (with a couple of notable, pitiable exceptions) making terrible life choices. And yet, somehow, it does eventually get under your skin and will leave some indelible images in your brain.
Would I ever recommend it to anyone? Probably not, no. Would I read it again? Nooooo. But in a weird turn of literary fate, my library sent home another book by Eliza Clark (PENANCE - er,Penance) the very day I returned BOY PARTS, and while I was a bit queasy at the idea of reading more of whatever the hell goes on in Clark's mind, I'm intrigued enough by it that I didn't just immediately drop it into the return chute. I'll let y'all know how that one goes.
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Original review, Feb.6/24: 2.5, maybe. As short as it was, it took me forever to slog my way through it. If it hasn't already been described as "the female Patrick Bateman," allow me to be the first to go there.
Merged review:
Okay, so I've thought more about this book since initially reviewing it a week ago. I'm going to bump it up from 2 to 3 stars, because I do keep thinking about the damn thing.
Right on the cover, there's a blurb that reads something like, "Readers will either howl with laughter or cover their eyes in horror." I didn't laugh, I can tell you that much, but I definitely averted my eyes a few times and frequently wished it was over. I was away with five friends for a girls' weekend while reading it, and at one point I handed it to one friend just to let her read a couple of lines (this is a friend with whom I always go to the theatre to see the most deranged and disturbing movies that nobody else will see with me, so believe me, she can handle shit). Her face contorted and she all but threw the book back in my lap, saying, "Oh, hell, no!" So that should give you some idea of how...puerile?...the whole thing is.
The gist: A young, beautiful woman named Irina is trying to make a living as a photographer. She lives with her...best friend? Ex-FWB? Favourite target for her weird abuse??...and has a string of people in her life who have either ditched her or been ditched by her, because she's a terrible person. Her favourite thing to photograph is sad teenage boys, thus the title of the book. She refers to people by not just their names but some rather withering nicknames, based on how she met them (the main kid she photographs is called "Eddie From Tesco" every single time he's referenced throughout the whole book, never just "Eddie"). She's constantly talking about how hot she is, how great she is at photography, dropping brand names, all of the things that would make you think of a Patrick Bateman type of personality. And she also keeps referencing something that happened in her past, something that might make her an even worse person than we realize.
This book is a nasty piece of work, and if you don't enjoy detestable main characters you're gonna wanna take a pass on it altogether. The content isn't pleasant, either. All of the sexuality is gross. There are sudden bursts of violence that, even knowing the person you're reading about, manage to be kind of shocking. It's a collection of generally bad people (with a couple of notable, pitiable exceptions) making terrible life choices. And yet, somehow, it does eventually get under your skin and will leave some indelible images in your brain.
Would I ever recommend it to anyone? Probably not, no. Would I read it again? Nooooo. But in a weird turn of literary fate, my library sent home another book by Eliza Clark (PENANCE - er,Penance) the very day I returned BOY PARTS, and while I was a bit queasy at the idea of reading more of whatever the hell goes on in Clark's mind, I'm intrigued enough by it that I didn't just immediately drop it into the return chute. I'll let y'all know how that one goes.
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Original review, Feb.6/24: 2.5, maybe. As short as it was, it took me forever to slog my way through it. If it hasn't already been described as "the female Patrick Bateman," allow me to be the first to go there....more
For the first half or so of THE LEFTOVER WOMAN, I was struggling. My attention kept wandering. I didn't like any of the characters. Everything felt liFor the first half or so of THE LEFTOVER WOMAN, I was struggling. My attention kept wandering. I didn't like any of the characters. Everything felt like it was stretched out far too long, despite it being a relatively short (sub-300 page) book. The supposed "mystery" at its centre was something I could see right through just from the back matter. I flirted with the idea of DNFing it.
And then, somewhere, somehow, I perked up. Pieces started to come together a bit. I started to see likable things in the two main characters. I got suddenly interested in how this was all going to turn out for them.
I'm glad I ultimately stuck with it, because I ended up liking it more than I'd begun to expect I would. It's a story of two very different women's very different lives, told in alternating chapters. Jasmine is a young woman who has made her way from China to the U.S. by less than legal means, trying desperately to locate the daughter who was taken from her at birth, even if finding her means doing things she never thought herself capable of doing. Rebecca, on the other hand, is a rich woman who seems to have it all: a beautiful family, a high powered job, the full picket fence experience...including a Chinese nanny hired to teach her adopted daughter the language of her homeland. You can probably see where these characters' lives will intersect.
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Fortunately, even if you saw it, there is eventually more to these characters' stories than just that. It took a couple of unexpected turns for me, and I was much more engaged in the second half. I was reminded a couple of times of Susie Yang's WHITE IVY, at least in the echoes of the struggles inherent in assimilation and the split desire to fit in and still hold on to one's precious culture.
Go into this one expecting more of a family drama than a mystery, and I think you'll end up enjoying it. (Props to the two narrators who gave the audiobook their distinct voices for each of the two women, too.)...more
Honestly, I was enjoying this so little that I skipped a good 80 pages to just read the end. I won't give it a star rating for that reason, but...yeahHonestly, I was enjoying this so little that I skipped a good 80 pages to just read the end. I won't give it a star rating for that reason, but...yeah. A little too Alice in Wonderland on steroids for my tastes.
Merged review:
Honestly, I was enjoying this so little that I skipped a good 80 pages to just read the end. I won't give it a star rating for that reason, but...yeah. A little too Alice in Wonderland on steroids for my tastes....more
HORROR MOVIE has a really promising setup. It’s the story of a cult film that was never releaseWell, I guess I should’ve listened to Bill on this one.
HORROR MOVIE has a really promising setup. It’s the story of a cult film that was never released to the public, save for three scenes that leaked over the internet, and it’s told from the perspective of the only surviving cast member as he looks at the possibility that this movie is about to be remade. He’s the only one, though, who knows what terrible things really happened all those years ago during their first attempt at bringing the screenplay to life.
My biggest issue with the book was its script sections. As readers, we’re shown what the original screenplay looked like, and it makes up quite a few chapters here. I’ve only read a few screenplays from cover to cover in my life, but this one…doesn’t read like those. It’s structured strangely. And perhaps more importantly, I have no idea why this horror movie would’ve ever garnered a cult following to begin with. Set aside the fact that only three scenes ever leaked; the movie they were making just…wasn’t that great? A couple of creepy set pieces, sure, but I was left wondering what I’d have thought of the movie had it been real and I’d been able to see it for myself. I think I’d have been underwhelmed.
And maybe this is a me problem, but I also felt it hard to keep track of exactly what was happening in some sections. That might’ve been a side effect of switching back and forth between the hardcover and listening to it as an audiobook, though, which is a separate thing to review altogether. So, the audiobook, then: This format is going to be divisive, I think. There’s a full cast here, and the narration itself is done very well. But there are sections, the ones involving the screenplay, where we get the sound effects of shuffling pages and such, and a lot of false starts, hesitations, mispronunciations etc. (deliberate ones, I should add), meant to give us the feeling of a table read, I guess? I found it actually took me out of the story, but I’m sure others will like it for being immersive. I just thought it was worth mentioning for those who like a certain flow to their listening experience.
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This has all sounded negative, I know, and it’s not meant to. There were parts I quite enjoyed, obviously, thus my rating. And that ending! HOLY SHIT, THE ENDING. That was a part I was listening to, and I noticed myself sitting up straighter and straighter as things got increasingly unhinged. I’ll have some of those images imprinted indelibly in my mind for a very long time.
A mixed bag, then, I’d say. But worth picking up if the concept sounds interesting to you. I really need to go back to Marisa Pessl’s NIGHT FILM soon, because I think that might fill in the gaps of what I wanted from HORROR MOVIE. If you’ve read the former, you may well enjoy the latter for being a gorier, crazier story in a similar-ish vein.
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