Not for the prudish reader. Good ol' Jack was a filthmonger even as a teenager, so get ready fWell, that was...surprisingly educational. Yikes.
[image]
Not for the prudish reader. Good ol' Jack was a filthmonger even as a teenager, so get ready for some pretty salty letters and conversations. I tore through it in an afternoon. Heavens to betsy!
For a Kindle Single, this little book is packed to the rafters with salacious details about JFK and his many, many, many conquests (the sheer number makes one wonder how he had time to, you know, be the president for a living). But there are also a few nuggets that really piqued my interest, beyond the juicy tabloid-y sexytimes stuff (and don't get me wrong: O'Brien is clearly a scholar on the subject of the Kennedys, so despite the sometimes crude subject matter the book doesn't devolve into gossip column trash). The insights into JFK's relationship with his mother, and a brief glimpse of his marriage to Jackie and how that figured into his randy life, and particularly the chapter devoted to Judith Campbell Exner and how she (perhaps) tied the Kennedy name to the Mafia forever...those bits were the truly eye-opening ones for me. It's not all about how lousy a lover the guy was (and by all accounts he was pretty inept); there are actual peeks inside the machinery of Camelot in this wisp of a volume, too, which makes it more than worth its purchase price.
[image] "What the hell have I married into here??"
I'd recommend it for anyone who's interested in the seamier side of politics, especially the historical ties between powerful men and famous Hollywood sirens. I don't think it matters how much you know about JFK going in; beginners will get as much out of the material as someone who's a bit more advanced in their reading on the topic(s), like me. And chances are it'll inspire readers to dig deeper by picking up O'Brien's longer works and/or the countless other books out there that discuss Jack and Jackie, RFK and Jackie, Jack and Marilyn, &etc. with a broader scope. This is a great place to start if you want some fact-based information about America's most famously promiscuous family.
(...I'm deliberately excluding the Kardashians from that equation, yes.)
Merged review:
Well, that was...surprisingly educational. Yikes.
[image]
Not for the prudish reader. Good ol' Jack was a filthmonger even as a teenager, so get ready for some pretty salty letters and conversations. I tore through it in an afternoon. Heavens to betsy!
For a Kindle Single, this little book is packed to the rafters with salacious details about JFK and his many, many, many conquests (the sheer number makes one wonder how he had time to, you know, be the president for a living). But there are also a few nuggets that really piqued my interest, beyond the juicy tabloid-y sexytimes stuff (and don't get me wrong: O'Brien is clearly a scholar on the subject of the Kennedys, so despite the sometimes crude subject matter the book doesn't devolve into gossip column trash). The insights into JFK's relationship with his mother, and a brief glimpse of his marriage to Jackie and how that figured into his randy life, and particularly the chapter devoted to Judith Campbell Exner and how she (perhaps) tied the Kennedy name to the Mafia forever...those bits were the truly eye-opening ones for me. It's not all about how lousy a lover the guy was (and by all accounts he was pretty inept); there are actual peeks inside the machinery of Camelot in this wisp of a volume, too, which makes it more than worth its purchase price.
[image] "What the hell have I married into here??"
I'd recommend it for anyone who's interested in the seamier side of politics, especially the historical ties between powerful men and famous Hollywood sirens. I don't think it matters how much you know about JFK going in; beginners will get as much out of the material as someone who's a bit more advanced in their reading on the topic(s), like me. And chances are it'll inspire readers to dig deeper by picking up O'Brien's longer works and/or the countless other books out there that discuss Jack and Jackie, RFK and Jackie, Jack and Marilyn, &etc. with a broader scope. This is a great place to start if you want some fact-based information about America's most famously promiscuous family.
(...I'm deliberately excluding the Kardashians from that equation, yes.)...more
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
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.
[image]
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.
[image]
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.
_________
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.
_________
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.
[image]
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
Have you ever read a book that made you feel pretty certain you’ve “aged out” of the genre, or at least the style? I’m pretty sure that’s what jusHrm.
Have you ever read a book that made you feel pretty certain you’ve “aged out” of the genre, or at least the style? I’m pretty sure that’s what just happened with PENANCE for me. Eliza Clark may have succeeded at some of what she attempted here, but I suspect she’s been less successful at writing a book that will have the desired effect on anyone over maybe 35. I felt that way while reading her (entirely dissimilar) debut BOY PARTS, too, and this drove it home in a totally different but still convincing way.
[image]
The gist: PENANCE is a book within a book, ostensibly authored by a failure of a writer named Alec Carrelli, covering the details of a gruesome murder in a seaside town about a decade ago. There is, as a result, a lot going on at any given time: we’re assailed by not only Carrelli’s personal ramblings but also transcripts of true crime podcasts, long text message exchanges between teenage girls, angsty Tumblr posts from mass killer groupies, diary entries from the accused, interviews with endless people who knew either the victim or her tormentors… Like I said, it’s a lot. Through all of this, we’re positioned to learn about exactly what happened to Joan the night she was beaten, set on fire, and left by her “friends” to die on the beach.
The issue, for me, was…well, there were a few. For starters, it became difficult to tell what was straight up bad writing by Clark and what was neatly protected by the conceit of “someone else is saying this, not me.” There are sections that repeat things we already learned a chapter ago, for example, which would mean that either the fictional editor needed to do some serious overhauling or the real-life one nodded off. I’m inclined to think it was the latter, because this book is so, so much longer than it needed to be. And considering it was only about 320-ish pages in length, it really shouldn’t have felt like that. It’s broken into several very lengthy-feeling sections, with the midsection being devoted to the often repetitive testimonies of (and about) “Girl A,” “Girl B,” and “Girl C” (and a long stay with a “Girl D” just to add to it all). There’s only so much “teen speak” and RASHOMON-esque unreliable narrator stuff I could handle.
Another issue: I’m just not part of the intended audience, despite checking several of the boxes. I was part of the online “wank” communities in my younger years; I had an online blog; I know all about creepypastas and have probably read most of them; I listen to true crime podcasts; I survived the “mean girl” phase of teenage girlhood. I should’ve been exactly who this book was for. But there’s a forced quality to how PENANCE is told, and it comes across like… Let’s just say that if you’re not a fan of ~edgy~ true crime like those awful, blustering dudes on Last Podcast on the Left, you’re probably not going to enjoy the tone in this book. (The whole thing kicks off with a transcript from a podcast called “I Peed on Your Grave,” for crying out loud.) Everyone here is just irritating. And I don’t think it’s all by design.
The book goes ultra-meta in a final chapter, featuring an interview with Carrelli about the process he used in writing PENANCE. I wanted to be wowed or “gotcha-ed” by the grand finale. Alas. The entire novel ends with a literal “fuck off,” which…yeah, sounds about right.
I’m rounding this up from 2.5 to 3 stars because I admire the ambition, and some things did work better than others. But at the risk of sounding very “get off my lawn,” I think, after this one and BOY PARTS, I’m probably finished revisiting my “look how dark and broody I am” nowhere-near-age-25 brain with Clark....more
Whew! I'm not normally a big fan of procedurals (well, not in books, anyway; I'm guilty of watching Law & Order from time to time), and I didn't know Whew! I'm not normally a big fan of procedurals (well, not in books, anyway; I'm guilty of watching Law & Order from time to time), and I didn't know that's what this book was going in. I'm kind of glad, because I didn't pre-judge at all, and I let myself get totally swept along with the harrowing current. I think this probably made S.A. Cosby into a future auto-read for me.
The gist: a Black sheriff in a very racist southern town finds himself thrust into a situation that looks like a (sadly) stereotypical school shooting, but turns into much, much worse once the details about the chosen victims start trickling out.
Cosby's story plunges the reader into the action right away, and rarely lets up on the gas. For whatever it's worth, I listened to the audiobook (very well narrated, by the way), and because I was nursing a sore back the day I started it...I actually listened to 6+ hours in one sitting. I mean, that's a testimony to its "do I have your attention?" qualities right there.
What cost a star, for me, was twofold: there are a couple of seemingly unnecessary subplots that take up a bit too much time (maybe I was just hoping for an especially nasty twist involving them), and the grand finale felt slightly rushed and chaotic. But that wasn't enough to make me not enjoy it. I've read some reviews from Goodreads friends who have enjoyed a couple of his other books more than this one, which makes me look forward to picking them up, because this one was pretty damn good.
A word of warning: If you're sensitive to issues surrounding child abuse, particularly CSA and CSM, this might not be the book for you. While not graphic, there are some scenes that are difficult to take....more
**spoiler alert** I was going to just write something about how this was beyond dark and depressing, but I saw how many reviews stayed with that and t**spoiler alert** I was going to just write something about how this was beyond dark and depressing, but I saw how many reviews stayed with that and thought maybe there was some value in spoiling the whole thing, because I guarantee there will be more people who won’t want to read a book like this than there are those who will. For that reason, we’re going all the way in. If you have any intentions of reading SAVING NOAH, stop here and go read it. If not, carry on.
SAVING NOAH is, as the back matter explains, a story about a mother who learns her teenage son is a pedophile. Noah has confessed to molesting two little girls – six years old, I believe – at the local pool. His parents now have to decide how to move forward, especially since Noah has a little sister. They ultimately choose to tell the victims’ parents, and from there the wheels of the legal system begin to turn. Noah is eventually put into a locked psychiatric facility for treatment.
The book is told in alternating perspectives: most of the chapters are from mother Adrianne’s point of view, while the others, labelled simply “Him (Then),” give us a chilling look into the mind of a teenage sex offender. We get glimpses of what institutionalized life looks like, and we learn more about what would land a boy there than most of us would want to know. Granted, there are no graphic details in these chapters, but there’s a reason for me putting all of this behind a spoiler tag, and it’s very much tied in with that lack of detail. Bear with me.
Adrianne is…revolting. I gather that’s what she’s supposed to be. And maybe that’s what the mind of a mother is capable of; I don’t have kids, so I can’t say for sure what I would do if I had a son guilty of sexual crimes against children, but I have to imagine it wouldn’t be as black and white as we all want to believe. Adrianne justifies Noah’s behaviour in so many ways in her chapters. The little girls touched him first. There was no penetration so he didn’t really harm them. It’s Noah’s life that is ruined now, not theirs. That sort of thing. It’s stomach-turning, presumably by design. While she does admit to herself that what he did was disgusting and wrong, she also minimizes it wherever she can, just to allow her to sleep at night. There isn’t a whole lot of the expected “what did I do to raise such a monster?” kind of thought process from her, which is interesting… Again, I’m getting there.
Noah’s father, Lucas, is an asshole. He all but abandons his kid the minute this confession comes out, and when the time comes for Noah to be released back into their care, he immediately says Noah can’t live with them anymore. At his insistence, Adrianne leaves the family home (and their daughter Katie) to rent an apartment, where she and Noah will live together. Lucas’s motivations in the beginning seem understandable enough; he makes it sound like his biggest concern is keeping their young daughter safe from her predatory older brother. But now that he has what amounts to sole custody of Katie, he cuts off all communication with Noah and allows his marriage to Adiranne to deteriorate past the point of repair. The one exchange he has with Noah is to (secretly) tell him to run away and that Lucas would send him money every month if he agrees to vanish to the west coast and never contact any of them again. Noah subsequently tries to kill himself. Twice. Where the story goes easy on details of the sex offences, it doesn’t hold much back where suicide attempts are concerned, so be warned.
MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW.
In the end, after much begging and pleading, Noah convinces his mother to help him get it right this time, to make sure nobody is around to bring him back to life. He wants her to procure the right combination of drugs he’d need to slip away painlessly, and for her to stay with him as he dies. It’s a bit of a jolt when we see Adrianne come around to this idea, and the chapter in which the assisted suicide takes place is not for the squeamish. Noah leaves a letter for his little sister, says his goodbyes to his mother, and that’s the end of his life.
You would think, then, that this would be the last chapter of the book. It’s a surprise when you then see there’s something before an epilogue, a chapter titled “Him (Now.)” If you’re like me, your mind will reel for a moment, wondering if we’re going to be put through a chapter full of whatever is going through Noah’s mind as he draws a last breath. Joke’s on us, though. Because it’s now that we discover we’ve been duped all along. All of those “Him (Then)” chapters? Those teenage boy’s words and thoughts as he serves his time for being a child molester? Yeah…those weren’t Noah. They were Lucas.
As it turns out, Noah came by his predilections honestly. His own father had done something very similar as a teenager. And once he’d served his own time at a juvenile facility, he and his parents decided to never tell a soul. Presumably set in the 1990s, Lucas’s molestation of his young cousins, and the resulting imprisonment/shock therapy and such, were never committed to eternity on a not-yet-existent internet, which made it easy for him to hide his past entirely from Adrianne and everyone else. In this final “Him” chapter, we learn that his hatred of Noah was because he could see himself in his son, and he was furious at Noah for bringing it all back again, potentially “letting the monster out of the box,” as Lucas puts it. He says he’s not sad that Noah is dead. He’s quite pleased about it, actually. He can go back to pretending in his own mind that he’s a stand up guy. (One of the many disturbing elements – one I don’t know if I should’ve given this much thought to or not, but seeing as there was no further elaboration I couldn’t help myself – is that, not long after Noah and Katie begin spending time together again, but while Katie is still living full time only with her father, Lucas reports to Adrianne that Katie has been very upset lately, and that she’s “started to wet the bed again.” The implication is not that Noah might be abusing Katie – it’s made abundantly clear that he has no desire or intention to do her any harm, and they’re never allowed to be in a room alone anymore anyway – so I���m left wondering if it’s Lucas who’s doing something, or if there is any “something” there at all.)
SAVING NOAH didn’t feel like it was going to be a book with Big Twists, but that one came out and body slammed me. As loath as I was to revisit any of it, I – after staring at the wall for a good twenty minutes in silence – went back and listened just to the (mercifully short) “Him” chapters to see if they were all, in fact, Lucas and not Noah. The answer: Yes. It’s clever sleight of hand, and it’s a horrifying realization that you thought you were getting to know Noah’s mind when in reality you never once spend any time with Noah in this book, aside from the time Adrianne narrates herself spending with him. It’s a real rug-pull moment, which I normally hate, but this one seems to have landed differently for me than others have in the past.
MASSIVE SPOILERS OVER, mostly.
I write all of this because, as I said at the outset, there will be a lot of people who see the description of this book and know immediately that they don’t want to put themselves through the act of reading it, but their curiosity about how it all turns out might lead them to do it anyway. Here’s hoping this review will satiate that bit and save anyone who’s queasy at the subject matter from wading through 300 pages of it. SAVING NOAH is an intensely miserable, depressing book (worth noting that it’s written by a specialist in trauma psychology, so it’s not some far-out unbelievable dreck), but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t have me in a chokehold from the first few pages.
(A basic review point: I absolutely hated the narration of the audiobook. Hated it. It was all that was available from my library; I’d have otherwise switched very early on. If for whatever reason you’re still thinking about picking this up, I would highly suggest you stick to a print copy. Also: the prose is not great. I’m reserving judgement on that, though, in case it was intended that way given that it was all first person narration. Having never read anything by Berry before, I can’t say for sure if it was pedestrian and clunky because she’s better at the psychological side of writing than the wordy part, or if her characters were meant to sound very “everyman.”)
Content warnings: Sexual abuse of children, rape, drug overdose, suicidal ideation, attempted suicide by hanging, incarceration, arguably abusive psychiatric treatments, parental neglect/alienation… There are probably others, but that should give an idea of whether you want to touch this with a fifty foot pole or not.
Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars for me. I’ll give it four if only because I couldn’t tear myself away from it.
(I read this for a book club, by the way, so a shout out to Melany for leading me down this path. Ha!)...more
I'm sitting here, mouth agape, not looking at the clock because it's nearing 4 a.m. and I have an appointment at 8:30 but I couldn't. stop. reading. tI'm sitting here, mouth agape, not looking at the clock because it's nearing 4 a.m. and I have an appointment at 8:30 but I couldn't. stop. reading. this. book.
[image]
My introduction to Catherine Ryan Howard was a couple of years ago, when I quite randomly borrowed 56 DAYS from my library's audiobook catalogue. Things were still in some degree of upheaval thanks to COVID closures and lockdowns , and I wasn't altogether sure I wanted to read a book about two people who move in together due to – you guessed it – COVID lockdown. But the idea of it, that two move in and only one is still alive 56 days later, intrigued me, so I took a flyer on it and I loved it. Ms. Howard, meet your newest fan.
It's taken me too long to read a second of her novels, but I'm finally here. And I'm pleased to report that THE TRAP is just as stressful and bendy and gut-punchy and generally stunning as I'd have hoped. Which is to say: very.
The gist: We open with a scene where a woman seems to be about to take a ride home from a bar with a sketchy stranger. It's a scene we've read a thousand times. But this one's different. Because this woman isn't just looking for a ride. She's looking for the man who took her sister a year ago. And this sketchy driver might just be him.
One particularly harrowing passage, presented here without context:
She started screaming. Really screaming, like she was being attacked by an animal or something.
Actually, it reminded him of that Werner Herzog documentary, the one about the guy and his girl who got eaten by a bear. A video camera had captured audio of the entire attack—only audio, the lens cap had remained on—and that footage had ended up in the hands of one of the dead guy’s ex-girlfriends. The documentary hadn’t included the audio, but there’d been a really odd, silent scene where Herzog listened to it via headphones and then told the woman that she should never, ever listen to it and basically if she’d any sense, she’d destroy it.
The viewer had had to imagine what the attack must have sounded like and, in his head, it had sounded like this. Screams. Some high-pitched, out of pain. Others guttural and raw.
And, just like if you’re getting eaten by a bear out in the middle of nowhere, completely and utterly pointless.
To talk any further about the plot would be criminal, because you ought to just experience it yourself. Fans of tightly plotted thrillers will find themselves jolting at more than one revelation, just as I did. And that ending will stick with you.
Ms. Howard, I will never wait this long before reading another of your books again, unless/until I run out. I'm already dreading that day.
4.5 stars. And the dual-narration audiobook is fantastic, too. (Oh, and stick around for the afterword!!)...more
You know that feeling when you're reading a book and every time you put it down...you feel like you've just come back from somewhere? And when you're You know that feeling when you're reading a book and every time you put it down...you feel like you've just come back from somewhere? And when you're finished with it, you set it down for the last time and realize you feel almost like you've been drugged? That's what THE PAPER PALACE is like. It's another place as much as it is a book.
[image] Hendrix was nonplussed when I finished this at 4 a.m. and still had the lights on while he was trying to sleep on the couch.
I don't even remember why I picked this up in the first place, but I'm so glad I did. The description of it doesn't immediately sound like something I'd feel compelled to read, and the reviews here are all over the place, so your guess is as good as mine as far as why I wanted it. What I ended up getting was a book that was lush and oddly poetic, while still managing to make me feel dirty and awful for a stretch in the middle...and yet it's a feeling I don't regret? If that makes any sense?
On the surface, this looks like a "torn between two lovers" or "exploring the path not taken" or just a straight up "what if" novel. It's so much more than that.
Be warned: there is some utterly vile sexual assault that happens more than once, and to more than one character. Cowley Heller doesn't shy away from the details, either. I had to set the book aside and watch a terrible rom com one night just to clear my headspace. Fortunately, if that's the word to use, it's not just there for shock value; in many ways these events are that on which the entire plot turns.
A less important heads up: There is so much time jumping, and if you choose to listen to it as an audiobook you might find that rather jarring, at least early on. I had both the audio and physical copies, so I was able to switch back and forth when I found the rhythm hard to pick up. Eventually it flowed like a river, one headed for a decision bound to break hearts one way or another.
A great start to the reading year. I wonder how long it'll be before I stop picturing the faded walls of the Paper Palace.
Picked this up almost the moment I set down volume 1. A quick read with just as much sweetness as the first. Maybe now I can let myself try the TV serPicked this up almost the moment I set down volume 1. A quick read with just as much sweetness as the first. Maybe now I can let myself try the TV series...?...more
The audiobook for this novella runs only 4 hours, so at a higher speed it didn't take me long to whip through it. I've read two other Hazelwood books The audiobook for this novella runs only 4 hours, so at a higher speed it didn't take me long to whip through it. I've read two other Hazelwood books before this, and I was therefore familiar with the main character (the STEMinist Novellas are a trilogy, each one about one of three girlfriends who are central to this universe). This one felt a little higher stakes than STUCK WITH YOU did, so I think I'd actually have liked it better as a whole novel, but that could be just me.
Also: unexpectedly hot. I think I was expecting schmoopier romance, when what I actually got could've melted some polar ice. (That's a compliment, by the way.) So, yes. Not a bad way to spend a couple of wintry hours....more
I've avoided watching the Netflix series based on these books because our book club has been planning to read volume 1 for, like, a year now or somethI've avoided watching the Netflix series based on these books because our book club has been planning to read volume 1 for, like, a year now or something. I'm glad I went in fresh, because this was adorable. The book itself looks like it's going to be a massive undertaking (for a graphic novel), but when you open it you realize that most pages only have a few panels on them, and the dialogue is done in a big way, which suits the characters.
I actually liked this love story (Charlie and Nick are so cute together, but the supporting cast, especially Charlie's sister, adds a lot) enough to move on to volume 2 right while I was at my book club meeting, which I started and finished in one sitting...when I probably should've been paying attention to the discussion about the first installment. That's my endorsement.
Original review, Dec. 6/23: RTC - this was really sweet...more
I read (and listened to) this book after having it recommended to me by Wendy, as well as having read CULTISH by the same author a few weeks earlier. I read (and listened to) this book after having it recommended to me by Wendy, as well as having read CULTISH by the same author a few weeks earlier. It was so good. Don't let the title (or the subtitle, for that matter) scare you off: WORDSLUT is often a lot funnier than you might expect. Yes, it deals with serious issues and a deep examination of how gendered our language can be, as well as how so many everyday terms started innocuously but have evolved into hateful and misogynistic war cries. But on its way there, the book stops to point out all kinds of amusing factoids, as well as stories of communities that have already begun to reclaim some of the words that were, not long ago, being used as hate speech against them. ("Queer" is a great example of this.)
[image]
The audiobook is read by Amanda Montell herself, and I'd highly recommend the experience. Sometimes "read by the author" is kind of a warning shot, but in this case Montell is such an engaging speaker that it feels more like you're at the coolest post-grad lecture ever.
Come for the informative look at language, stay for the chapter that is beyond NSFW. This was a thoroughly entertaining book, bitches!...more
About a third of the way into this audiobook -- my first ever book by Jo Nesbo, by the way -- I asked aloud (and on here) what the hell I was listeninAbout a third of the way into this audiobook -- my first ever book by Jo Nesbo, by the way -- I asked aloud (and on here) what the hell I was listening to. The writing felt sloppy and stilted and weird, and juvenile as all hell. I wondered if I'd somehow stumbled across Nesbo's first foray into YA or something, and also wondered if this was a "bad translation" situation. I was eyeing 2 stars max, occasionally dropping to one. Yeah. It was that bad.
But!
While I maintain my critical approach for that first third (because no book this relatively short should feel like that much of a slog), all I can tell you is that it gets better. And I can't offer any explanations as to how or why, but there are Reasons for it taking so long to get going. Part One is a drag, Part Two is some kind of acid trip, and Part Three turns both previous parts on their heads. Depending on how much you read, you may feel like you've seen versions of this/these plot/s before. It'll be a very individual experience for you to see if it's worth the journey. But I can at least say that, once I was done, I gave a rather satisfied nod to my speaker and said, "Huh!" Which, considering where I started, is pretty good stuff.
I'm intrigued enough to seek out Nesbo's usual oeuvre, the hardboiled crime stuff he's infamous for writing. (I assume all of it is better than the film adaptation of THE SNOWMAN, right...?)...more
If you're a fan of the movie GRAVE ENCOUNTERS, this book is very possibly for you. Oddly, I liked that Okay, I've returned to jot down a brief review.
If you're a fan of the movie GRAVE ENCOUNTERS, this book is very possibly for you. Oddly, I liked that movie, a well-executed piece of found footage about ghost hunting, but I think it was the ending of EPISODE THIRTEEN that brought an otherwise cool concept crashing down for me. Sometimes there's such a thing as too much of an explanation, and that's what I felt happened here. It made me think a bit about Kiersten White's HIDE, which I read a couple of years ago and very much did not enjoy.
Another important note: I listened to this as an audiobook, which featured a full cast of narrators, and there were...issues. I don't think it was the narrators' fault, really, that it didn't work for me at all; there were scenes where one of them would have to laugh maniacally at something, and it just broke the immersion because it sounded silly. Also worth noting that, if you're someone who likes to listen to their audiobooks at a higher speed than 1.0x, the frequent background music and sound effects might drive you crazy.
Maybe this one would've worked better for me had I gone with a hard copy rather than listening. It's a shame, because I loved the idea of a found footage book in this genre, but...unfortunately it was a flop for me.
This is our comic book club's October read, chosen by me, because...Tananarive Due wrote a graphic novel. I mean, I had to. And it was pretty good. DuThis is our comic book club's October read, chosen by me, because...Tananarive Due wrote a graphic novel. I mean, I had to. And it was pretty good. Due brought her usual deft hand to the subject of generational trauma and systemic racism, adding to it a creepy story about a girl who's lost everything and may now be under the "care" of an entity known only as "The Keeper."
[image]
It was cool to read something that Due wrote with her husband, Steven Barnes - I'd never read anything by him before. I shouldn't be surprised, but as much as it was an eerie story, it was also a deeply sad/emotional one. The artwork was...interesting. I'm not sure if it was rudimentary on purpose? There were two pivotal panels that I didn't visually understand on first pass, which might've just been me, but it was enough to make me go back and take a harder look at the somewhat nonspecific images once I had more context.
[image]
I would absolutely love to see more Due-led graphic novels. Her longform prose practically begs to be adapted. And, actually, in the end notes of THE KEEPER, it's mentioned that this started as a screenplay based on an event in Due's childhood, but the project wasn't picked up, which is why they decided to go the comic route. I'd have loved to see a Guillermo del Toro treatment of a story this creepy.
Anyway! Liked it fine, can't really rave much about it, but certainly worth a read if it crosses your path. (And if you're just looking for an entre into Due's work, I'd recommend THE BETWEEN, and, despite being only a tenth of the way through so far, her soon-to-be-published THE REFORMATORY.)
I'll ned to come back to this and give a proper review breakdown of each of the short stories -- I did take notes while reading, though they're not asI'll ned to come back to this and give a proper review breakdown of each of the short stories -- I did take notes while reading, though they're not as complete as I'd have liked, so I'll get on that. In the meantime, though, I'd say it was largely much more successful than not, with more stories getting 4 or 5 stars from me than anything lower. Big highlights? The opening story by N.K. Jemisin, and of course the contribution from my ultimate writer-crush, Tananarive Due. Very glad I bought this beauty in hardcover!
Loading...
