SYNOPSIS:
J is a student at a school deep in a forest far away from the rest of the world. J is one of only twenty-six students, all of whom think of the school’s enigmatic founder as their father. J’s peers are the only family he has ever had. The students are being trained to be prodigies of art, science, and athletics, and their life at the school is all they know—and all they are allowed to know. But J suspects that there is something out there, beyond the pines, that the founder does not want him to see, and he’s beginning to ask questions. What is the real purpose of this place? Why can the students never leave? And what secrets is their father hiding from them? Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, in a school very much like J’s, a girl named K is asking the same questions. J has never seen a girl, and K has never seen a boy. As K and J work to investigate the secrets of their two strange schools, they come to discover something even more mysterious: each other. This one was a DNF for me (sortof; I skimmed through the last half). There were some things I really enjoyed. Malerman's writing style continues to be very clear and conversational. Some great lines-- "His beard as dark as misinformation." "And the only thing worse than receiving all your information from one source is believing it entirely." "Needs, to him, was more a painting than a book. Let someone else hang it in their home." And using 'Time Enough At Last' for the chapter title where J starts reading the book was perfect. 💗 But. About a quarter in, I wrote: "Book's well-written, but not enjoyable. Slow burn beginnings can work, but not when children are being gaslit, tortured, and murdered." In the end, that was too much for me, along with the other big issue I had, the same one I had with Owen King's 'Sleeping Beauties': Queer people EXIST. All the women in the world fall asleep? Trans people exist. Genderqueer people exist. Boys and girls are separated, given no knowledge of the other to avoid 'distraction'? One of those forty-something kids (at least) is gonna be queer. If either book had been written in the 40s/50s, then I could understand. Not that we didn't exist back then, of course, but we weren't a consideration. But it's 2019. I've read plenty of recent books, horror and otherwise, that never mention queer people, and it's not a deal-breaker for me. But if we're going to have gender issues/essentialism as a big part of the plot? Different story.
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SYNOPSIS:
It sounded like the perfect first date: canoeing across a chain of lakes, sandwiches and beer in the cooler. But teenagers Amelia and James discover something below the water’s surface that changes their lives forever. It’s got two stories. It’s got a garden. And the front door is open. It’s a house at the bottom of a lake. For the teens, there is only one rule: no questions. And yet, how could a place so spectacular come with no price tag? While the duo plays house beneath the waves, one reality remains: Just because a house is empty, doesn’t mean nobody’s home. Just finished this one last night, and I liked it a lot. It was a quiet, dreamlike read, no gutpunch horror but just a constant uneasiness. Notes I took while reading: (some spoilers below) -- 'Both seventeen. Both afraid. But both saying yes.' My HEART. I already love these kids. -- They are so awkward and I want to hug them. -- 'Amelia wished she'd brought a camera. Then she decided it was okay that she didn't have one. She could bring one next time. Then she realized she was already thinking of next time.' awwwwwww -- "It's a fucking house!" she said. Then she squealed because she was on a first date and they'd discovered something crazy enough to call magic.' It's all going to go terribly wrong somehow but this is so sweet and fun -- "Hi, Amelia," he said, thinking a pretend-communication with her might help. It didn't. And he wished he hadn't. It made him feel more alone. Made her seem far away. Or like he was leaving her name down here. Like he was delivering Amelia's name to the darkness.' THAT LAST LINE -- "Two dates underwater. One up above. Good for us. We're insane." *snerk* -- the floating dresses are creepy as helllllll -- I love the spiderweb and the indoor pool. Such great eerie details. -- 'They'd agreed never to ask how or why. But neither had thought to ask *who*.' AUGH -- 'It was an offering. A welcoming. A gift.' okay Amelia please gtfo now ..... you're not leaving are you. |
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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