SYNOPSIS: Titus and Melanie Bell are on their honeymoon and have reservations in the Okefenokee Swamp cabins for a canoeing trip. But shortly before they reach their destination, the road narrows into a rickety bridge with old stone pilings, with room for only one car.
Much later, Titus wakes up lying in the middle of the road, no bridge in sight. Melanie is missing. When he calls the police, they tell him there is no such bridge on Route 177 . . . This marks the first Cherie Priest that I've read! The mood and atmosphere of the book is lovely and nostalgic and sinister all at once, and I really enjoyed that. The characters all felt real (my favorite was Netta) and I love the concept of the story. The strongest parts, for me, were Daisy, Claire, Dave, Jess, and Netta's-- Titus and Cameron weren't bad characters, but the others were more compelling, and Melanie wasn't in the book long enough to really get to know her. I'll definitely be reading/reviewing more of Priest's stuff! I mean, look at this opener: "What nobody ever tells you about gardening is...how many things you have to kill if you want to do it right." Hooked from then on. Quotes/lines: ((spoilers below!)) -- "You've got your cell phone." "I can hardly use that thing." He grinned. "You used it just fine when you wanted pizza last Friday." Familial sass. <3 -- 'fishing for anything other than the station playing Sunday worship music- the sole broadcast survivor in a wasteland of poor reception' *solidarity from Kansas* -- ...for a honeymoon, they do NOT seem happy together. -- "Throw your money on the counter. I'll get it later." Ah, super-small towns. -- "Hey, Jess," he said brightly, waving a little too cheerfully for anyone's comfort, much less his own.' Awww, dorky teenage crush! -- "You can't hardly walk, and I can't hardly see. Last time we met it...that was our last time. We knew it then, but I'm saying it now: We're too old, anymore. We did our part. It's no fault of ours, if it wasn't enough." I *love* the "people who tried to fight something years ago watch it come back and have to decide whether to fight again" trope. -- 'he should take some time and go looking for Melanie himself' You've never heard of the 'stay put when you're lost' thing, have you. -- 'One of the only lessons he remembered was the admonishment to stay put when you're lost.' I stand corrected. Titus. WHY. -- "Fifteen or twenty minutes? What if I was drowning or something? What if I was bleeding out?" "Then you'd be drowning or bleeding out in the middle of nowhere, and there are only so many police to go around." Wow, dispatch lady is having none of your shit. -- "She's not a cocker spaniel, Mr. Bell. If she's lost, anybody's voice will bring her around." Kemp. <3 -- *intrigued by Netta* -- "Here, man. Let me get you some fries or something." "I don't need any fries." "You're getting some anyway." I really like that particular kind of hospitality-between-strangers that's just, "I can tell you're in a bad way even if you won't admit it, so just shut up and let me caretake". -- 'He was tying himself in logic knots, trying to imagine a scenario where he got to spend just a few minutes in her company without her longtime boyfriend.' This is not going to end well. -- "I just want to know where Jimmy is, and how he got there. They can give me back his bones. I deserve my son's bones, don't I?" YIKES. -- 'and he was a thin guy- but that wasn't the same thing as being in good shape.' Thank you -- 'Boomer looked like some amiable mix of Saint Bernard and yeti' PUPPY. I love him already. -- 'She gave him a look that said she wanted to squish him in the world's smallest bear hug of sympathy' Betty ilu too -- So does everyone in town know about this and they go through the motions for an outsider? Pickett looked like he knew about the bridge, but Betty was confused. ??? -- LISTEN TO THE DOG. -- "She ought to know better by now. It's been long enough. She ought to move on, or go home, or just go someplace else." 'Been long enough'? 'Move on'? Her child is dead. I'm on Netta's side here. -- I love that it's just casually acknowledged that the dolls are alive. -- "Every time you talk about it, you say it different. You remember it different. ... You can't trust your memories." Your gaslighting is creepy as hell, Jess. -- 'Nah. He knew better than to ask that woman anything more in-depth than her drink order.' The way everyone treats Netta is making me wish they'd all get eaten by the swamp thing. -- "What do I do now?" ... "Oh, honey. I wish I had the slightest idea." Netta is my favorite. -- "Isn't that--?" Dave whispered, "Yeah. But don't tell the reporters it's him. He's had a shitty enough couple of days. Help me give this guy a break, for once." Dave. <3 -- 'His eyebrows lifted. "You're going to let me keep drinking?" Claire laughed. "Baby, I want to get you so liquored up you can't leave the house for the next two days. I want you staying right here, and a formal grounding will only keep you so close." Well, that's...pragmatic. I hate how they treat Netta, but I can't help but like these two. -- "You know I put my faith in a shotgun, any day of the week and twice on Sunday-- but every girl with an ounce of granny magic knows it's true: Things from other worlds don't like iron." -- "The dead in our world linger, don't they? Why not the dead from someplace else?" I LOVE THIS BOOK -- "Tell yourself whatever you want," Claire said. "Whatever lets you sleep at night, after what you did to your own flesh and blood." TELL NETTA. Don't let her keep thinking she's crazy; you know what this thing is (or at least know more than most). Befriend her, for Pete's sake. -- "We need to un-domesticate ourselves, as soon as possible." There we go, Claire. -- 'He couldn't just let her go, not like that. Not when she might be heading into some kind of danger. All alone. No sign of Dave. No one to rescue her, if it turned out she needed rescuing.' Well, Cameron, you are right about the 'desperately and stupidly' aspect of this love. -- Thank goodness for the hangover. Trailing after her would not have gone well. -- ...dammit kid. -- "It was probably just the hangover. Hangovers played tricks, too." Orrrrr it's the swamp monster playing with its food before dinner. -- "What are we gonna do? That boy is the only thing that ever grew here. The only good thing we ever tended." *heart shatters* -- "We tried to be heroes, and we only made it halfway there. I'm not even sure if it counts, but we still have time to finish the job." I LOVE THEM. All books need a pair of kickass grandmas (or godmothers) thanks -- oh my GOD Claire and Daisy kickass godmother GHOSTS i cannot handle this -- 'He was worried about the ladies too, though he couldn't have articulated exactly why.' Because you know they love you and are therefore likely following you into extreme danger? -- 'His was the trickery of true love, and no one could fault him for that.' Ummm... *raises hand* -- 'Jess would understand. She'd possibly even love him back at long last, too. Those were the rules, he was pretty sure.' **hork** -- "But now I think about Netta, and maybe it's just because of what we did, and how I can see better now, and hear better now... Daisy, I wish we'd been gentler with her." ... "Maybe we can do a little righter, this time." <3 -- 'The woman's voice, burbling and low, like running water thick with slime.' NOPE. -- "Who are you really? Talk to me yourself- quit hiding behind her voice. Use or own, or shut the fuck up." Dave, you are probably not long for this world, but points for bravery. -- 'like a scarecrow meant to lure instead of chase' -- oh shit it wasn't an unintended consequence she did it deliberately Jess you ASSHOLE -- "Promise you'll run, and you won't look back." DAVE. Also, Cameron, if he lives through this you'd best be making all the apologies later. -- Daisy. Claire. <3 -- Oh, Cameron. -- Hell no Jess is not alive and fine. Cam, go get Netta and tell her what you know; Netta deserves that confrontation and closure. -- ...you're not gonna do it, are you. -- This ending. I'm just gonna sit and stare into space for a while.
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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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