I don’t focus on writing negative reviews, but at the same time, when a new novel is getting a lot of hype, my reading friends want to know what I think about it. In this case the novel is Stephen Markley’s debut, Ohio. If all you need is a one sentence opinion then here you go: The novel is a grim mash-up of the plot from 13 Reasons Why and the setting of Hillbilly Elegy and ... Read More...
Vox by Christina Dalcher
Remember two weeks ago when, after reading Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win, I was surprised that a political novel would turn out to be such a trigger for me? Magnify that times ten and you’ll have a picture of my reaction to Christina Dalcher’s dystopian debut, Vox. There’s a new American president, one not suited for the job, but well propped up by the religious right. Within ... Read More...
Summer Thrillers: Mini-Reviews
I haven't given much thought to seasonal reading, but this summer I've read more thrillers than I have in years' past. Maybe because they are more about plot and less about character and easier to digest? Who knows, but here are two summer releases I tore through. They're on opposite sides of the drama scale- one boils over right from the beginning while the other is more of a ... Read More...
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
On Monday I mentioned having a book hangover and Delia Owens’s debut, Where the Crawdads Sing, is the culprit. What is worse is that I tried to read my way out of it and got mired in overwrought, pretentious prose that pushed all of Crawdads beauty out of my head and filled it with a tarry gunk that immobilized my brain. A foolish mistake that I’m paying for now. Still, I’ll ... Read More...
Before She Sleeps by Bina Shah
Men’s physical appetites are huge, but their emotional appetites are without end. Set in Green City, the capital of South West Asia Before She Sleeps is a dystopic novel along the lines of The Handmaid’s Tale. The difference being that because the female population has been decimated by a version of the HPV virus they are treated with the utmost respect. Without ... Read More...
It’s Not You, It’s Me: Mini-Reviews
These days it seems it’s harder and harder to get anyone to agree on anything so why should books be any different? What is different is that we’re nicer people so sometimes I’m able to admit—It’s Not You, It’s Me when I don’t like a book. In this case, one book left me puzzled and emotionless and the other was a case of timing—American dystopia feels like non-fiction these ... Read More...
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