Generally, I dislike the terms "beach read" etc but if you were picking a mini library to take away with you on holiday, then this is a book I would recommend.
Flicking between two time points, (1966 Tuscany and 2009 Devon), the story focuses on a young girl, Floriana, and her obsession with La Villa Magdalena - most notably, its beautiful gardens - and Marina, a woman living in Devon who runs a hotel called the Polzanze with her husband and step-son. The Polzanze, on the brink of financial ruin, hires an artist-in-residence to attract more attention to the hotel. After a few excruciatingly cringe worthy interviews, Marina finally finds an artist, a devilishly handsome Argentinian man called Rafa, though after a conversation Rafa has with his mother the reader is shown that not all is at it seems and Rafa has an ulterior motive for being there.
The descriptions of the Polzanze are detailed and intimate, as if Montefiore built it herself in real life. You get Marina's struggles as a childless woman and the love she pours into the hotel as if it is her own flesh and blood. You also feel her pain as she longs to connect with her step children, particularly her step daughter, Clementine, who sees Marina as nothing more than the woman who stole away her father from her mother.
This is wonderful human story with relationships at its heart. The locations in it, while beautifully and lusciously described, are mere devices to tell the stories of different people from all walks of life and classes crossing paths and making their marks on each other. While some of the dialogue seems a bit cheesy at times, you find yourself moving past this in order to discover the surprisingly richly layered story, building up to a big reveal at the end.
Definitely one for the happy-ever-after lovers.
Thursday, 4 August 2016
Tuesday, 26 July 2016
Review: The Year of the Runaways, Sunjeev Sahota
There are many reasons why people read books. To learn; to be provoked; to be moved; but overwhelming, I'm guessing most would say to escape. The Year of the Runaways gives you everything but escapism.
This novel blends political and personal drama in epic, sweeping scale. It weaves together the stories of three men and one woman; Tochi, Avtar, Randeep and Narinder. Tochi, Avtar and Randeep decide to move to the UK. Their backgrounds are very different but their goal is the same - work, and thus, better prospects for their families. Tochi enters the UK illegally; Avtar, through a student visa and Randeep through a visa-wife - this is where Narinder comes in. From building sites to chip shops and cash and carrys, the men's lives become an endless cycle of finding work, to a short job, to finding work again. And they're not alone. They compete with many men already ahead of them. A lot of the British citizens of Indian descent, they first contacts, are sympathetic if not overly helpful.
Tochi, by account of his caste status, is the hardest and most closed off. His entire life has been one of survival in a way that not even Avtar or Randeep can understand, and when they try to reach out to him he rebuffs them. Yet Avtar sold one of his kidneys to get to the UK and even that wasn't enough - he is in the mercy of a ruthless loan shark. Randeep perhaps has the easiest time of it - if this situation could ever be described as easy - as Narinder is willing to be his wife for a year, at which point they can divorce and he can get citizenship. All they have to do is fool immigration services.
In many ways it is a deeply uncomfortable read, not least when it slaps you in the face with a lot of the things we take for granted. A while ago, I was visiting my family's and I needed to make a doctor's visit. Upon entering the surgery all I needed to do was fill in my details as a visiting patient, including the doctors at which I was permanently registered. Imagine, then, Avtar, in the country on a student visa, no actual fixed address although his course is in London, having to visit a doctor's surgery in Sheffield, and being asked to fill in one of these visiting patient's forms.
This novel isn't passing judgement on whether illegal - or barely legal - immigration is right or wrong, and it doesn't really ask the reader to do that, either. Rather, it asks for compassion and understanding as to why there are so many who are desperate to reach not only the UK but countries in the Western World which they think will enable their families to have a much better future. The depressing thing is that the bubble quickly bursts for so many - although Avtar, Randeep, Tochi and Narinder find peace in their own ways, albeit after a hellish year.
What I've commented on is only a tiny part of the story. Their background stories are immensely gripping and heartbreaking, and you get the sense that they seize the chance to run away rather than just use the excuse of their families for whom they want to achieve more.
This novel was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. Its timing is perfect, really - at a time in history when, despite having the means to be the most open and enlightened, vast swathes of society - through fear, ignorance, or prejudice - feel the need to close their doors, this kind of story reminds us that we are all human and we are all fighting for our place in the world.
This novel blends political and personal drama in epic, sweeping scale. It weaves together the stories of three men and one woman; Tochi, Avtar, Randeep and Narinder. Tochi, Avtar and Randeep decide to move to the UK. Their backgrounds are very different but their goal is the same - work, and thus, better prospects for their families. Tochi enters the UK illegally; Avtar, through a student visa and Randeep through a visa-wife - this is where Narinder comes in. From building sites to chip shops and cash and carrys, the men's lives become an endless cycle of finding work, to a short job, to finding work again. And they're not alone. They compete with many men already ahead of them. A lot of the British citizens of Indian descent, they first contacts, are sympathetic if not overly helpful.
Tochi, by account of his caste status, is the hardest and most closed off. His entire life has been one of survival in a way that not even Avtar or Randeep can understand, and when they try to reach out to him he rebuffs them. Yet Avtar sold one of his kidneys to get to the UK and even that wasn't enough - he is in the mercy of a ruthless loan shark. Randeep perhaps has the easiest time of it - if this situation could ever be described as easy - as Narinder is willing to be his wife for a year, at which point they can divorce and he can get citizenship. All they have to do is fool immigration services.
In many ways it is a deeply uncomfortable read, not least when it slaps you in the face with a lot of the things we take for granted. A while ago, I was visiting my family's and I needed to make a doctor's visit. Upon entering the surgery all I needed to do was fill in my details as a visiting patient, including the doctors at which I was permanently registered. Imagine, then, Avtar, in the country on a student visa, no actual fixed address although his course is in London, having to visit a doctor's surgery in Sheffield, and being asked to fill in one of these visiting patient's forms.
This novel isn't passing judgement on whether illegal - or barely legal - immigration is right or wrong, and it doesn't really ask the reader to do that, either. Rather, it asks for compassion and understanding as to why there are so many who are desperate to reach not only the UK but countries in the Western World which they think will enable their families to have a much better future. The depressing thing is that the bubble quickly bursts for so many - although Avtar, Randeep, Tochi and Narinder find peace in their own ways, albeit after a hellish year.
What I've commented on is only a tiny part of the story. Their background stories are immensely gripping and heartbreaking, and you get the sense that they seize the chance to run away rather than just use the excuse of their families for whom they want to achieve more.
This novel was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. Its timing is perfect, really - at a time in history when, despite having the means to be the most open and enlightened, vast swathes of society - through fear, ignorance, or prejudice - feel the need to close their doors, this kind of story reminds us that we are all human and we are all fighting for our place in the world.
Thursday, 30 June 2016
Guest post from Andrew Joyce.
I'm thrilled to host Andrew Joyce for a guest post on my blog. I received an email from Andrew all about his new novel and it sounded so fantastic I wanted to hear more! As well as providing an exciting preview of his new novel, Andrew has kindly written a wonderful guest post for you all to enjoy, so without further ado, you can read about Andrew and his work below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andrew Joyce left high school at seventeen to hitchhike throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico. He
wouldn’t return from his journey until decades later when he decided to become a writer. Joyce has
written four books, including a two-volume collection of one hundred and forty short stories
comprised of his hitching adventures called BEDTIME STORIES FOR GROWN-UPS (as yet
unpublished), and his latest novel, RESOLUTION. He now lives aboard a boat in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, with his dog, Danny, where he is busy working on his next book, YELLOW HAIR.
It is 1896 in the Yukon Territory, Canada. The largest gold strike in the annals of human history
has just been made; however, word of the discovery will not reach the outside world for another
year.
By happenstance, a fifty-nine- year-old Huck Finn and his lady friend, Molly Lee, are on hand,
but they are not interested in gold. They have come to that neck of the woods seeking adventure.
Someone should have warned them, “Be careful what you wish for.”
When disaster strikes, they volunteer to save the day by making an arduous six hundred mile
journey by dog sled in the depths of a Yukon winter. They race against time, nature, and man.
With the temperature hovering around seventy degrees below zero, they must fight every day if
they are to live to see the next.
On the frozen trail, they are put upon by murderers, hungry wolves, and hostile Indians, but those
adversaries have nothing over the weather. At seventy below, your spit freezes a foot from your
face. Your cheeks burn—your skin turns purple and black as it dies from the cold. You are in
constant danger of losing fingers and toes to frostbite.
It is into this world that Huck and Molly race.
They cannot stop. They cannot turn back. They can only go on. Lives hang in the
balance—including theirs.
GUEST POST
My name is Andrew Joyce and I write books for a living. Becky has been kind enough to allow
me a little space on her blog to promote my new novel RESOLUTION: Huck Finn’s Greatest
Adventure. I think it’s a good book, but what do I know? Anyway, I’m kinda shy about tooting my
own horn. So I think I’ll turn things over to my dog, Danny, to toot it for me. He always has an
attitude and usually does not speak highly of me. But please understand that we co-exist as the
old Soviet Union and the United States once co-existed. We tolerate each other. So without
further ado, here’s Danny the Dog.
Andrew took me away from watching reruns of Lassie to help him out here. For a person who
works with words for a living, he has very little to say in real life. He wants me to tout his book
for him, but I don’t think I will. Instead, I think I’ll tell you about our latest adventure. We’re
always having adventures. I like to write about them and what I write is 100% true.
Hello dog fans, it is I, Danny the Dog! I’ve been helping Andrew look after three Labrador
retrievers. What a nightmare! There is Chloe, who is fourteen months old, and then there is Beau
and Hank. They are both four months old and they are holy terrors. They live on a boat down at
the end of the dock. (We live on a boat also.) Their human was going out of town and he asked
my human to look after them and Andrew, being the idiot that he is, said yes.
First of all, I want to say to Jeff, the human that lives with the three monsters, don’t ever leave
them in Andrew’s care again. I wouldn’t trust him to look after a taco, much less three dogs.
The trouble started right away. Jeff had two crates (humans call them crates; I call them cages)
for Beau and Hank because, as I’ve said, they are holy terrors. Andrew went over to take them
for their first walk after Jeff left, and of course, he has to take me along to help out. Anyway,
Andrew gets them out of the crates and is getting them off the boat when clumsy Hank falls into
the water.
Let me paint the picture for you. It was nighttime. It was dark. The water was dark and Hank is
black. Andrew and I could see nothing of Hank. We could only hear him splashing around. The
dock is about five feet above the water so Andrew couldn’t get him out by standing on the dock.
Being the genius that he is (just kidding), Andrew got on the swim platform, which—for you
landlubbers—is attached to the back of a boat and is only a foot above the water.
Now this is where Andrew’s “genius” comes into play. He took off his glasses and placed them
on the transom so they wouldn’t slip off while he was bending over to pull Hank out of the
water. He called to Hank. Hank swam over and Andrew got him onto the boat. Then Andrew
went to get his glasses and they were not there or anywhere else on the boat. It looked as though
Beau knocked them into the water because he had his paws up in that general vicinity while he
was watching Andrew rescue his brother (they’re twins). All this in the first five minutes of
Andrew looking after the monsters. And it only got better, and by better, I mean worse. I had a
ball watching Andrew trying to cope for four days.
On to the next disaster, but first a side note. For some reason Beau is enthralled with me. The
damn dog wouldn’t leave me alone. He put his snoot in my face, ran around me, bounced around
me; he was a royal pain in my rear end. Finally, I had to growl at him and give him a little nip on
his snoot to get some peace.
Now back to Andrew’s genius. We got the dogs back on the boat without further mishaps.
Andrew fed them and all was well. But then Andrew decided not to put Hank and Beau in their
crates. He felt sorry for them being cooped up like that. Big mistake!
The next morning when we went to get them, there was poop everywhere. The whole floor was
covered in it. The babies had gotten into the dog food bag, ripped it open and ate it all. Then they
pooped everywhere and walked in it. They got it on the couch, on the sliding glass doors, on
everything. I think even on the ceiling. Needless to say, after spending two hours cleaning it all
up, Andrew changed his mind about the crates.
Last night we were hanging out. Andrew was staring into space because he did not have his
glasses and could not read a book or see the computer screen. I was on the computer starting this
story when Chloe came onto our boat. She’s always coming here and stealing my water bowl! To
date, she has taken five. But she should have been locked up on her own boat! Andrew got up,
looked out, saw Jeff, and said, “Thank God! Thank God!” I barked the same thing. Our days of
taking care of the monsters were over. Thank God!
P.S. This morning Jeff came over with Andrew’s glasses. Beau had taken them and hidden them
in his stash place
That’s about it for now. If I hurry, I might be able to catch that old Rin Tin Tin movie on TCM.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot—check out Andrew’s new book on Amazon and make the old guy’s
day.
This is Andrew again. On behalf of Danny and myself, I would like to thank Becky for having us
over. It’s been a real pleasure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andrew Joyce left high school at seventeen to hitchhike throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico. He
wouldn’t return from his journey until decades later when he decided to become a writer. Joyce has
written four books, including a two-volume collection of one hundred and forty short stories
comprised of his hitching adventures called BEDTIME STORIES FOR GROWN-UPS (as yet
unpublished), and his latest novel, RESOLUTION. He now lives aboard a boat in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, with his dog, Danny, where he is busy working on his next book, YELLOW HAIR.
It is 1896 in the Yukon Territory, Canada. The largest gold strike in the annals of human history
has just been made; however, word of the discovery will not reach the outside world for another
year.
By happenstance, a fifty-nine- year-old Huck Finn and his lady friend, Molly Lee, are on hand,
but they are not interested in gold. They have come to that neck of the woods seeking adventure.
Someone should have warned them, “Be careful what you wish for.”
When disaster strikes, they volunteer to save the day by making an arduous six hundred mile
journey by dog sled in the depths of a Yukon winter. They race against time, nature, and man.
With the temperature hovering around seventy degrees below zero, they must fight every day if
they are to live to see the next.
On the frozen trail, they are put upon by murderers, hungry wolves, and hostile Indians, but those
adversaries have nothing over the weather. At seventy below, your spit freezes a foot from your
face. Your cheeks burn—your skin turns purple and black as it dies from the cold. You are in
constant danger of losing fingers and toes to frostbite.
It is into this world that Huck and Molly race.
They cannot stop. They cannot turn back. They can only go on. Lives hang in the
balance—including theirs.
GUEST POST
My name is Andrew Joyce and I write books for a living. Becky has been kind enough to allow
me a little space on her blog to promote my new novel RESOLUTION: Huck Finn’s Greatest
Adventure. I think it’s a good book, but what do I know? Anyway, I’m kinda shy about tooting my
own horn. So I think I’ll turn things over to my dog, Danny, to toot it for me. He always has an
attitude and usually does not speak highly of me. But please understand that we co-exist as the
old Soviet Union and the United States once co-existed. We tolerate each other. So without
further ado, here’s Danny the Dog.
Andrew took me away from watching reruns of Lassie to help him out here. For a person who
works with words for a living, he has very little to say in real life. He wants me to tout his book
for him, but I don’t think I will. Instead, I think I’ll tell you about our latest adventure. We’re
always having adventures. I like to write about them and what I write is 100% true.
Hello dog fans, it is I, Danny the Dog! I’ve been helping Andrew look after three Labrador
retrievers. What a nightmare! There is Chloe, who is fourteen months old, and then there is Beau
and Hank. They are both four months old and they are holy terrors. They live on a boat down at
the end of the dock. (We live on a boat also.) Their human was going out of town and he asked
my human to look after them and Andrew, being the idiot that he is, said yes.
First of all, I want to say to Jeff, the human that lives with the three monsters, don’t ever leave
them in Andrew’s care again. I wouldn’t trust him to look after a taco, much less three dogs.
The trouble started right away. Jeff had two crates (humans call them crates; I call them cages)
for Beau and Hank because, as I’ve said, they are holy terrors. Andrew went over to take them
for their first walk after Jeff left, and of course, he has to take me along to help out. Anyway,
Andrew gets them out of the crates and is getting them off the boat when clumsy Hank falls into
the water.
Let me paint the picture for you. It was nighttime. It was dark. The water was dark and Hank is
black. Andrew and I could see nothing of Hank. We could only hear him splashing around. The
dock is about five feet above the water so Andrew couldn’t get him out by standing on the dock.
Being the genius that he is (just kidding), Andrew got on the swim platform, which—for you
landlubbers—is attached to the back of a boat and is only a foot above the water.
Now this is where Andrew’s “genius” comes into play. He took off his glasses and placed them
on the transom so they wouldn’t slip off while he was bending over to pull Hank out of the
water. He called to Hank. Hank swam over and Andrew got him onto the boat. Then Andrew
went to get his glasses and they were not there or anywhere else on the boat. It looked as though
Beau knocked them into the water because he had his paws up in that general vicinity while he
was watching Andrew rescue his brother (they’re twins). All this in the first five minutes of
Andrew looking after the monsters. And it only got better, and by better, I mean worse. I had a
ball watching Andrew trying to cope for four days.
On to the next disaster, but first a side note. For some reason Beau is enthralled with me. The
damn dog wouldn’t leave me alone. He put his snoot in my face, ran around me, bounced around
me; he was a royal pain in my rear end. Finally, I had to growl at him and give him a little nip on
his snoot to get some peace.
Now back to Andrew’s genius. We got the dogs back on the boat without further mishaps.
Andrew fed them and all was well. But then Andrew decided not to put Hank and Beau in their
crates. He felt sorry for them being cooped up like that. Big mistake!
The next morning when we went to get them, there was poop everywhere. The whole floor was
covered in it. The babies had gotten into the dog food bag, ripped it open and ate it all. Then they
pooped everywhere and walked in it. They got it on the couch, on the sliding glass doors, on
everything. I think even on the ceiling. Needless to say, after spending two hours cleaning it all
up, Andrew changed his mind about the crates.
Last night we were hanging out. Andrew was staring into space because he did not have his
glasses and could not read a book or see the computer screen. I was on the computer starting this
story when Chloe came onto our boat. She’s always coming here and stealing my water bowl! To
date, she has taken five. But she should have been locked up on her own boat! Andrew got up,
looked out, saw Jeff, and said, “Thank God! Thank God!” I barked the same thing. Our days of
taking care of the monsters were over. Thank God!
P.S. This morning Jeff came over with Andrew’s glasses. Beau had taken them and hidden them
in his stash place
That’s about it for now. If I hurry, I might be able to catch that old Rin Tin Tin movie on TCM.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot—check out Andrew’s new book on Amazon and make the old guy’s
day.
This is Andrew again. On behalf of Danny and myself, I would like to thank Becky for having us
over. It’s been a real pleasure.
Wednesday, 22 June 2016
Review: All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr.
This felt like a really timely read in the lead up to tomorrow's EU referendum which will, in one sense, be an exercise in how the British see themselves - as part of a wider European collective, or its own entity, not least in the way we regard 'foreigners'.
Told in short chapters that are, at their longest, three pages long, All the Light We Cannot See tells the story of World War Two from the primary points of view of two characters; Marie-Laure, a Parisian who becomes blind at a young age; and Werner, an orphan whose skills with a radio change the course of his life.
To say this book is a page-turner doesn't really do it justice. Usual 'page-turners', though entertaining, are usually fast paced novels with some element of action, thrill, or insurmountable odds to overcome. This book contains all three of those, but the substance is much richer. From its beautiful and vivid descriptions of Paris, Saint-Malo, Berlin, to the gritty and bleak reality of the orphanage and the specialist Nazi schools, to the insight of the human condition and how we can be swayed - or not - by the turning of the tide, it has human empathy and diversity of experience at its core.
It also offers a lot of 'what-ifs' to the reader to make you think about how the course of these characters' lives would have changed under different circumstances. What if Werner had never learned to fix a radio? Would he have succumbed to the mines like his father? What if Marie-Laure's father had not worked at the museum? Would that have meant they stayed in Paris? Or, if they had still left, headed to Saint Malo?
What if the Nazis had not had the power of the radio at their disposal? Would young German boys and girls have grown up without such a grim and harsh nationalism? What would have happened to their propaganda, then?
Ultimately, as the end of this novel shows, time and time again human compassion wins over darkness - in this form, the 'otherness' of the opposing side. To paraphrase the late MP Jo Cox, there is far more than unites us than divides us. In light of the current political climate, I think it is such an important book to read that will show you in the end, a call to extreme nationalism and emphasis on borders will be nothing short of toxic and ruinous. We can and should be united by the fact that we are all human and we all want to live, not merely survive.
Told in short chapters that are, at their longest, three pages long, All the Light We Cannot See tells the story of World War Two from the primary points of view of two characters; Marie-Laure, a Parisian who becomes blind at a young age; and Werner, an orphan whose skills with a radio change the course of his life.
To say this book is a page-turner doesn't really do it justice. Usual 'page-turners', though entertaining, are usually fast paced novels with some element of action, thrill, or insurmountable odds to overcome. This book contains all three of those, but the substance is much richer. From its beautiful and vivid descriptions of Paris, Saint-Malo, Berlin, to the gritty and bleak reality of the orphanage and the specialist Nazi schools, to the insight of the human condition and how we can be swayed - or not - by the turning of the tide, it has human empathy and diversity of experience at its core.
It also offers a lot of 'what-ifs' to the reader to make you think about how the course of these characters' lives would have changed under different circumstances. What if Werner had never learned to fix a radio? Would he have succumbed to the mines like his father? What if Marie-Laure's father had not worked at the museum? Would that have meant they stayed in Paris? Or, if they had still left, headed to Saint Malo?
What if the Nazis had not had the power of the radio at their disposal? Would young German boys and girls have grown up without such a grim and harsh nationalism? What would have happened to their propaganda, then?
Ultimately, as the end of this novel shows, time and time again human compassion wins over darkness - in this form, the 'otherness' of the opposing side. To paraphrase the late MP Jo Cox, there is far more than unites us than divides us. In light of the current political climate, I think it is such an important book to read that will show you in the end, a call to extreme nationalism and emphasis on borders will be nothing short of toxic and ruinous. We can and should be united by the fact that we are all human and we all want to live, not merely survive.
Saturday, 4 June 2016
Review: Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, Tom Franklin
A sense of barrenness and loneliness hits the reader from the very off as you peruse the home and land of Larry Ott, a supposed loner in his rural corner of Mississippi. He very quickly is made to pay for the crime - or crimes - he supposedly by a man in a monster mask.
The man who heads up the investigation is a man called Silas, more commonly nicknamed 32, Flashbacks tell us that the two of them - Silas and Larry - were uneasy friends, though one wouldn't know it at school. Larry is quite often victimised, despite his being the white boy and Silas being black. Larry does his best to fit in and become friends with people, and thinks he comes close to it on Halloween, but further humiliated. It is to his great surprise, then, when a neighbour, Cindy Walker, asks him on a date. This, however, also turns out to be more than it seems and through an unfortunate turn of events, Cindy Walker's disappearance leads to Larry's ostracism.
Though its overarching plot makes it lean towards a crime novel, it could easily be a story about a man overcoming loneliness; a man dealing with racial barriers; or even a story about dysfunctional families and the desire to both please and escape. The desire and cost of friendship is also brought into play, and what happens when one party considers your relationship to be a friendship, but the other party easily forgets and escapes, out of ignorance, cowardice, or carelessness.
Heavy themes are treated deftly; nothing bogs you down too much that you don't want to go on with the story, and it's not until you are a fair way into learning about Larry's backgrounds and few acquaintances that you have any notion of 'whodunnit'. Indeed, it comes as quite a surprise until you remember all you have learned about Larry and the few people he came into contact with.
Overall opinion: it's a bit of everything, really. A great crime plot with elements of racial politics and the importance - and cost - of friendship. Definitely recommended.
The man who heads up the investigation is a man called Silas, more commonly nicknamed 32, Flashbacks tell us that the two of them - Silas and Larry - were uneasy friends, though one wouldn't know it at school. Larry is quite often victimised, despite his being the white boy and Silas being black. Larry does his best to fit in and become friends with people, and thinks he comes close to it on Halloween, but further humiliated. It is to his great surprise, then, when a neighbour, Cindy Walker, asks him on a date. This, however, also turns out to be more than it seems and through an unfortunate turn of events, Cindy Walker's disappearance leads to Larry's ostracism.
Though its overarching plot makes it lean towards a crime novel, it could easily be a story about a man overcoming loneliness; a man dealing with racial barriers; or even a story about dysfunctional families and the desire to both please and escape. The desire and cost of friendship is also brought into play, and what happens when one party considers your relationship to be a friendship, but the other party easily forgets and escapes, out of ignorance, cowardice, or carelessness.
Heavy themes are treated deftly; nothing bogs you down too much that you don't want to go on with the story, and it's not until you are a fair way into learning about Larry's backgrounds and few acquaintances that you have any notion of 'whodunnit'. Indeed, it comes as quite a surprise until you remember all you have learned about Larry and the few people he came into contact with.
Overall opinion: it's a bit of everything, really. A great crime plot with elements of racial politics and the importance - and cost - of friendship. Definitely recommended.
Friday, 20 May 2016
Review: Glass Sword, Victoria Aveyard.
Following the fast-paced, action packed 'Red Queen', 'Glass Sword' dives back into the world divided by the colour of blood where tensions are the highest they have ever been.
Having managed to escape the Bowl of Bones by the skin of their teeth, Mare Barrow, Cal and the remainder of the Scarlet Guard are fleeing for their lives. Escaping to Tuck, a Scarlet Guard stronghold, Mare plans her next move - namely, to use a list she got given in 'Red Queen' containing the names of known newbloods - essentially, Reds with Silver abilities. It's a race against time as not only will Maven, the new king, be after her but will also be tracking down the newbloods in a bid to wipe out and deny their very existence, lest they threat the order of their world.
The story and action of this book rivals any dystopian fiction that has come out in the last few books - you will be turning the pages feverishly. The inner monologue of Mare, though, is not that distinguishable from many dystopian heroines. The 'I'm just an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances/I push everyone I love away/I'm turning into a monster' things are all very present and repetitive, despite their validity. I tended to gloss over these bits and focus on the mission to find the newbloods. I don't know whether it was the inner monologue that made me care less about Mare, but I tended to find myself caring more about the characters around her and their development.
There were several surprises, namely one shocker towards the end of the book that I did not expect to happen in this instalment, at least. If you are a fan of this genre, it's definitely something you would pick up and burn through in a few hours.
Having managed to escape the Bowl of Bones by the skin of their teeth, Mare Barrow, Cal and the remainder of the Scarlet Guard are fleeing for their lives. Escaping to Tuck, a Scarlet Guard stronghold, Mare plans her next move - namely, to use a list she got given in 'Red Queen' containing the names of known newbloods - essentially, Reds with Silver abilities. It's a race against time as not only will Maven, the new king, be after her but will also be tracking down the newbloods in a bid to wipe out and deny their very existence, lest they threat the order of their world.
The story and action of this book rivals any dystopian fiction that has come out in the last few books - you will be turning the pages feverishly. The inner monologue of Mare, though, is not that distinguishable from many dystopian heroines. The 'I'm just an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances/I push everyone I love away/I'm turning into a monster' things are all very present and repetitive, despite their validity. I tended to gloss over these bits and focus on the mission to find the newbloods. I don't know whether it was the inner monologue that made me care less about Mare, but I tended to find myself caring more about the characters around her and their development.
There were several surprises, namely one shocker towards the end of the book that I did not expect to happen in this instalment, at least. If you are a fan of this genre, it's definitely something you would pick up and burn through in a few hours.
Friday, 13 May 2016
Review: Career of Evil, Robert Galbraith.
The third instalment in Galbraith's (Rowling's) hugely successful crime adventure packs a rather more grisly punch than its predecessors, starting from the very off. In fact, there are several significant changes that Galbraith has made which, while staying true to our favourite characters, steer the story in a different way to keep things fresh and interesting.
The most significant of these is the use of point of view in the villain, the mysterious man who starts the story by explaining how much he enjoyed his recent kill, and proceeding to stalk Robin (not deemed worthy enough for him to address by name - she is simply The Secretary). All we know for a while is that this man has a vendetta against Strike and aims to wound him through Robin.
The other significant direction is that we learn far more about Strike's and Robin's past. Their histories become essential to the story itself, although - certainly when Strike is having his flashbacks - they can consume the narrative.
Entering the psyche of the killer is, like you would expect, fascinating and disturbing. Rowling said she had nightmares while researching this novel, and it is no surprise.
Pretty soon, the killer is narrowed down to three suspects, and what you appreciate at the end is how it kept veering towards one of the three at certain points. It certainly kept things tense as each of the three eventually got ruled out and the identity of the murderer discovered.
Robin, who came more into her own in "The Silkworm" makes this story as much about her as it is Strike. Her talents, the impact her personal history has on the story and how it unfolds, and her relationship with Matthew, are plumbed to more satisfying depths and you appreciate even more the badass she is.
"Career of Evil" takes a much darker turn in this fantastic series, both in tone and content, and certainly leaves you longing for more of Strike's and Robin's adventures.
The most significant of these is the use of point of view in the villain, the mysterious man who starts the story by explaining how much he enjoyed his recent kill, and proceeding to stalk Robin (not deemed worthy enough for him to address by name - she is simply The Secretary). All we know for a while is that this man has a vendetta against Strike and aims to wound him through Robin.
The other significant direction is that we learn far more about Strike's and Robin's past. Their histories become essential to the story itself, although - certainly when Strike is having his flashbacks - they can consume the narrative.
Entering the psyche of the killer is, like you would expect, fascinating and disturbing. Rowling said she had nightmares while researching this novel, and it is no surprise.
Pretty soon, the killer is narrowed down to three suspects, and what you appreciate at the end is how it kept veering towards one of the three at certain points. It certainly kept things tense as each of the three eventually got ruled out and the identity of the murderer discovered.
Robin, who came more into her own in "The Silkworm" makes this story as much about her as it is Strike. Her talents, the impact her personal history has on the story and how it unfolds, and her relationship with Matthew, are plumbed to more satisfying depths and you appreciate even more the badass she is.
"Career of Evil" takes a much darker turn in this fantastic series, both in tone and content, and certainly leaves you longing for more of Strike's and Robin's adventures.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)