Disturbing as all hell, and I loved it. I've never been in a band, but the opening pages make me nostalgic for it anyway. "Then, right on cue, threw his fist in the air and for the first time in ten years summoned the dead to rise." 💗
I continually wanted to hit Caspian with a brick, and am 100% in love with Cassie and little Rox. A couple more favorite quotes: "Ever lie in bed at night and think back upon a childhood memory and it's like you return to that place in time? And it's sweet for a moment. Because you remember you were once sweet and innocent. And then you realize you have entered the body of a ghost. A version of you that no longer exists and never will again. And you wonder if you got from that precious time what you were meant to." ((Mr. Kirk are you ridiculously proud of those lines because you should be)) "There was a first person to strum a guitar and there will be a last. A first eye to open and a final one to close. Melody in between." Notes I took while reading: -- "What'd you think?" I shrugged. "Felt bad for that girl. Pretty grim little read." "Yours had a girl?" Me- o____O -- I am 20 pages in, freaked the hell out, and in love with this concept -- "I opened the door and got out, never once seeing the little button on the steering wheel containing a camera. Just like the one now watching you." OH HELL NO -- *trying to figure out what the chapter title runes mean* -- Man, this is going *hard* for still being so early in the book -- "Letters are true but the name is a lie"... Lamia? -- ilu Al and considering everything that makes me worry -- oh jesus 167-168 i have no words -- "Am I ready to see this? Are you?" NO I AM NOT. ...... *reads anyway* -- "She bit two of them, gouged out an eye, and ripped off half an ear." CASSIE YOU GODDESS Oh look, a key at the end for the runes!! Me, translating: WITH EVERY WORD YOU RMIND-- hey did I miss an E? Hm. No. --OPENS Ohhh, WITH EVERY WORD YOUR MIND OPENS well crap goodbye world
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Haunted house novels are very prolific- and small wonder, it's a classic trope- so the challenge becomes doing something original with the concept.
Taylor hits on some traditional tropes: isolated cabin; creepy lake; emotionally fragile protagonist. But there's enough fresh stuff here to keep it interesting. (including a twist on one of my favorite scary tropes ever, the slowly-changing painting. I WILL NEVER LOOK AT PUZZLES THE SAME WAY AGAIN) This one is DARK. If you're looking for a happy ending or a more humorous take on the genre, look elsewhere. The subplot about Ben's mom is probably going to give me nightmares. I appreciate the "is he hallucinating or haunted" angle, but I felt like that aspect went on a bit too long. Nothing that made me regret reading it though, there's a lot to like here. (Cloud skeleton! Relocating bones! Dock monster! A MEOWING CAT SKULL AHHHH) Also! One of the main character's best friends is a gay man. I loved Doug, and I also love when queer people are acknowledged in modern horror/any fiction. 💗 (see also: The Hunger) I have a book hangover. I just want to rewind and read this again for the first time, because MAN. Absolutely amazing piece of work.
Going in, all I knew about the Donner party was gleaned from pop culture references and horrible jokes. Now I'm going to read everything I can get my hands on (first up: Desperate Passage, which the author referenced as research). Some notes I took as I read: "Several unexpected items lay discarded in the snow: a pocket prayer book, a ribbon bookmark fluttering in the breeze. A scattering of teeth." Me: 😲 (this is gonna be gooood) "Women were always forced to smile. Tamsen had mastered it so well it sometimes frightened her." NICE line -- I have been reading about Mary Graves for two pages and I am in love. Same for you, Elitha "She'd known plenty of women like Harriet over the years, women who looked as if their faces had been slowly compressed between the pages of a Bible, all pinched and narrow." I AM EQUAL PARTS IMPRESSED AND JEALOUS OF YOUR DESCRIPTIONS MS. KATSU -- maybe it's because it's Valentine's Day but Elitha's initial thoughts about Thomas have me all twitterpated. Awww, kids. .....this isn't gonna end well is it -- LYDIA. *heart shatters* -- Okay Keseberg needs eaten, yesterday if not sooner. *hides Lovina and Nancy* -- *scribbles Elitha x Thomas 4Ever in Trapper Keeper* -- I am also good with Breen and Dolan getting torn apart by rabid honey badgers -- That. Last. Line. All in all, this book is stellar: heartbreaking without being maudlin, and beautifully humanizing. Short review: HOLY. SHIT.
Longer review: I know it's not a giant book, but I still didn't expect to tear through it so fast. My own son is 8, so the child-in-peril (or worse) aspect would normally put this on my Do Not Read list. I couldn't put the damn thing down. Haunting, moving words that don't slip into purple prose. The formatting itself adds to the story. And there's so much familiar to parenthood here: (("I said, stop!" The man was louder, searching for the tone that would actually halt the boy.)) Been there. It's a fast read but not a light one, and while I absolutely recommend it I also recommend having something cheerful to read/watch lined up for afterward. Because I'm terrible at taking my own advice, I'm instead going to go add Johnson's Entropy in Bloom to my buy-after-payday list. |
A WORLD WITH A BLUER SUNMy reviews are set up a little like live-tweets: I write down lines I like/impressions as I read, and then transcribe. Reviews will contain spoilers, but I'll give a warning before they start. Archives
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