SYNOPSIS: Tananarive Due, a winner of the American Book Award and an Essence and Los Angeles Times bestselling author, brings you her debut short fiction collection! The title novella, Ghost Summer, won a Kindred Award from the Carl Brandon Society (originally published in The Ancestors). This collection includes Patient Zero, The Lake, The Knowing, Herd Immunity, and many other stories.
This book is such an amazing, perfect way to kick off Women in Horror Month. My favorites are the ones set in Gracetown, but none of the stories left me with a 'meh' reaction. ((special mention to Free Jim's Mine, because I started that one, had to get the kids to bed, and then woke up the next morning having somehow sprained my wrist. Couldn't write notes on it, but I *had* to finish it anyway and then read it aloud to anyone who'd hold still long enough)) There's a theme running throughout so many of the stories of children forced to grow up before their time, sometimes to the point of parenting the adults in their lives. The kids in these stories, god; I love all of them. Quotes/Lines (spoilers below!) THE LAKE -- Abbie is very much striking me as the 'too much money and too little sense' type. Who drops $150,000 on a house on a whim?? -- 'But there would be boys at the school, strong and tireless boys, who could help her mend what needed fixing. In her experience, there were always willing boys.' UM. This is setting off creeper-bells. -- 'In retrospect, she was foolish. But in all fairness, how could she have known?' There's just a subtle skin-prickling wariness to the tone of this story that I love. -- 'No rows of desks would mar her classroom' *how do you do, fellow kids gif* -- Dismissing the girls immediately and being way too studious of the boys. The way she's thinking about Derek-- he is sixteen. He's a kid. Hire a goddamn contractor like the rest of us lady -- oh no he's fifteen even worse -- "But you know, Derek, it's easy for people to get the wrong idea if you say you're going to a teacher's house..." His face was bright red now. "Oh, I wouldn't say nothing. I mean...anything." RED ALERT HELL NO I HAVE READ 'GIFT OF FEAR' THIS IS GOING NOWHERE GOOD this kid better make it through okay i stg -- "It's all right if you don't have trunks," she said. "My back yard is private, and there's no harm in friends taking a swim." Where's a gator when you need one -- 'That was what she and Mary Kay had always believed. Anyone who thought differently was just being politically correct. In ancient times, or in other cultures, a boy Jack's age would already have a wife, a child of his own.' The hell is wrong with you?? Is your friend Mary Kay Letourneau? -- HOLY SHIT IT IS -- oh god this ending. GAH. **full-body shudder** SUMMER -- 'Grandmother had passed three summers ago after a stroke in her garden, and now that she was gone, Danielle had a thousand and one questions for her. The lost questions hurt the most.' My grandma passed from Alzheimer's last year, and the truth in this. -- 'Danielle wasn't sure if she was patient and wise, or if she was a tragedy unfolding slowly, one hot summer day at a time.' This LINE. -- 'The baby's legs banged against the crib railings, but Danielle knew her wailing was only for show. Lola was thirteen months old and a liar already.' ...okay, you absolutely need some help before you do something unforgivable. That is PPD rearing its ugly head. -- So her husband suspects she might have it, but she's determined she's too strong for such a thing to affect her. That's such a common, awful trap. -- "Only a fool would buy one of those plots." I love connected short stories. -- *thank you* for calling Odetta. Also hooray for horrifying mental imagery that will never go away, I have never been more glad that my kids are past infancy -- "I bet there's some folks who see it as a blessing in disguise, even if they'd never say so." I had PPD, and I would have. Ohhh, this is gonna unsettle me for *days*. Just picture me holding the book at arm's length as I keep reading. GHOST SUMMER -- 'Later, Davie would wonder why he hadn't realized right then that something was very, very wrong. Had known, maybe, but hadn't wanted to.' Poor kiddo. -- 'Not 'Mommy', he reminded himself. He was twelve years old now. He was going to middle school in the fall, and he'd heard enough nightmarish stories about middle school to know that if any of the other kids heard him call his mother Mommy, he'd come home with a bloody nose every day.' He's not wrong. Middle school = hell on earth -- 'Watching, Davie remembered that Dad hadn't always been a grown man. He'd been a little boy once, just like him, and he looked like a boy again, clinging to his mother in a way he always warned Davie not to cling to Mommy. Mom.' I'm fascinated by whatever ghosts he's looking forward to seeing, of course, but even without the supernatural elements, the human narrative here, this little boy navigating his way to adulthood, is just captivating. -- 'Ignorance was the only mercy he could still do for them.' Bless his little heart he's trying so hard and needs a hug -- 'Neema wasn't just a ghost hunter-- Neema, it turned out, was a kamikaze.' I love this kid too. -- 'She knows, Davie realized. She wants to know if I know too.' *sound of my heart shattering into a million pieces* -- 'But he lay that shotgun on his shoulder and walked away. That's the part everyone forgets.' I'm gonna cry -- 'The secret weighed heavier with each passing moment. But the Timmons boys carried it. They were stronger than anyone could have imagined.' Babies what happened to you oh god -- 'If the three boys weren't hurting, they wouldn't be trying so hard to be heard. But Neema didn't need to have that spelled out. Like all ghosts, they just wanted their story known.' <3 -- "This one time Davie. I need you to grow up very fucking fast." THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR MY HEART RATE -- 'Combined, their feet sounded like an army, and Davie hoped they were.' FREE JIM'S MINE -- so this was where I sprained my wrist and took no notes but just know this story absolutely kicked my ass and it's amazing THE KNOWING -- 'I guess she fells like she'll be all right if she just runs away from it, as if you could run away from your own head.' What a situation. :( -- "Mama, it ain't you. Knowing ain't the same as deciding. TV Guide don't decide what's on TV." This kid is amazing. -- "Telling to hurt somebody is the worst thing a person can do. Even the devil couldn't do nothing worse." ... 'I don't think she can help it. I was only six when she did it to me' Oh look all my sympathy for the mom just evaporated -- 'When you grow up around someone like Mama and you hear about it all the time, you know everybody has a turn, and you just try and find something interesting every day to make you glad it hasn't happened yet.' Ohhh, hon. That's so mature and a position you never should've been put in. I wish you could've stayed with Rosa. LIKE DAUGHTER -- 'So, yes, I understood why Neecy needed looking after. No one else was doing it.' This entire situation is infuriating and heartbreaking. -- 'Neither of them had learned, after two divorces, that people can't be applied to wounds like gauze.' DAMN. AFTERMOON -- werewolf story ahhhhhhhh -- "How did you know about me?" "The music. If you didn't have the genes, all you'd hear was Muzak." Worldbuilding adoration ahoy. (also the doctor's sense of humor is perfect) TRIAL DAY -- 'Bernadette never said these things aloud like an evil stepmother in a fairy tale, but she didn't have to. Letitia knew words were only part of who people were, and usually the least important part.' *fills out adoption papers for yet another fictional child* -- No wonder he shrank in her eyes. Also, the sheer toxicity of her father's relationship... -- "This is one o' them times you got a choice, Letitia. You can do what you want and hope things don't turn out wrong, or you can do what you know will make things right." 1) that is a hell of a line 2) I had a cat named Midnight so I'm just gonna skim from this point on thanks -- OH thank goodness -- 'The sound of that purring engine as it drove away was as sweet as the memory of Daddy's laughter with Brother on the porch that night.' my goddamn HEART help PATIENT ZERO -- 'But Veronica told me the NFL people had a meeting and decided not to have football anymore' This story is going to hit SO hard right now isn't it -- 'I've been staring at my Dan Marino picture all day, and I think the handwriting on the autograph looks like Dr. Ben's. But I'm afraid to ask anyone about that.' Ohhhh kid. -- "People are giving it to each other. They don't usually know they're sick for two weeks, and by then they've passed it to a lot of other people." ...so when was this written again -- Just the little hints of how *badly* things are falling apart outside, brrrrrrr -- 'She said it was the security code for my door. She said she wanted to give the code to me because my buzzer wasn't working, and I might need to leave my room if she overslept and nobody came to bring me food.' This amazing woman, trying to give him comfort and normalcy as best she can. DANGER WORD -- ZOMBIES!! ((normally not my thing, but at this point I would buy a copy of a restaurant menu if Tananarive Due wrote it so I am curious)) -- 'He'd done what he had to do to save the boy, then shut the memories away where they couldn't sneak into his dreams. Then drank enough to make the dreams blurry.' I love you so much sir -- 'Daddy, she'd called him. She hadn't called him that in years.' Oh okay so this is going to be a multiple-tissues story -- His love and practicality with this kid even when he knows the worst is coming I *cannot*. Also going to pick up the two YA zombie novels she mentions in the afterword; neverending TBR list! REMOVAL ORDER -- oh NO not fleas visible like that. We had a regular at the donut shop and you could see the fleas crawling on his white socks when he came up to the counter. -- My grandma was fortunate to never get bedsores, but all the rest of this, having to move her and her screaming in pain and just not understanding why any of it was happening... worst memories. -- 'A gunshot exploded inside the house.' Yeah, I thought that was what he was going to do. Jesus. HERD IMMUNITY -- 'He left a trail of candy wrappers. Chocolate bars mostly, always the minis.' My apocalypse counterpart. -- "People who were careful," he said.' Yeahhh, because everyone else who got sick just wasn't as dedicated to their safety as you are. Jackass. -- Taking the stuffed elephant from the fair, bless -- Ohhhh, I don't want to know what's inside the Rescue Center please do not open the door thanks. -- 'Make sure everyone in your party takes a full cup. Parents, watch your children drink before drinking yourself.' oh god no -- 'Kyle slept on as Nayima pressed her lips to his.' WHAT the HELL. He SAID he wanted you to stay back. No still means no in the middle of the apocalypse, lady-- and what if he actually did get lucky instead of being naturally immune? Slim chance, but not for you to decide. -- 'By dawn, Nayima awoke to the sound of his retching. ... Nausea came first. Nausea came fast.' oh christ, this was told in such a sweet way, trying to find connection in a destroyed world, but really you stalked and murdered a man. Go to hell. -- 'The man didn't turn to look at her as she stood over him and picked through his things.' Go to hell *faster*. Also, I like how he's back to being 'the man' instead of Kyle or someone you absolutely 'can't' live without now that you ignored his explicit wishes and killed him. CARRIERS -- 'Naymia's sleep had turned restless as she aged' Oh, so happy to see you got to have a long life, asshole -- 'She fired once into the dark and hoped she'd hit him. Fucking cats.' I remember you being so happy to see Tango after your grandmother was killed. Is that part of you entirely gone, after everything you went through and everything you *did*? -- ...she named one of her pet cats Tango. I am feeling things against my will here -- 'Of course he did. Toys and gadgets. That was Raul.' Yeah, god forbid the guy like the read, or remember his family and happier times and want to talk about them. Just awful. -- 'She jacked a shell into the chamber. "You could've shot me before I did all that work," Raul said.' Pffffft. -- "She doesn't have one," he said. "What?" "Nobody bothered to name her. In the records, she's called Specimen 120."' noooo, poor baby -- 'Makeup had yet to make a comeback, except the enhanced red lips favored by both men and women. Full of life.' I love this little worldbuilding snippet. -- 'the anecdote about her extracted tooth violated guidelines' Oh, well, we obviously can't have THAT. I wouldn't go anywhere near that place either. -- 'dear Jesus, this angel had Gram's nose and plump, cheerful cheeks' **cries** SENORA SUERTE -- You seem pleasant. Eesh. -- I love the story of how this piece came about. VANISHINGS -- 'A mother should see it first, not last.' So much denial and pain, all through this story.
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SYNOPSIS:
When the Imagine Network commissioned a documentary on mermaids, to be filmed from the cruise ship Atargatis, they expected what they had always received before: an assortment of eyewitness reports that proved nothing, some footage that proved even less, and the kind of ratings that only came from peddling imaginary creatures to the masses. They didn't expect actual mermaids. They certainly didn't expect those mermaids to have teeth. This is the story of the Atargatis, lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy. Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the bathypelagic zone in the Mariana Trench…and the depths are very good at keeping secrets. Killer mermaids. Do you really need to know anything more than that? ;) This is a fun, fast read that gives exactly what it promises on the cover-- creepy death-at-sea and horrifying creatures. I love ocean-based horror, and this was fantastic. There was also obvious thought given to the mermaids' biology and why they would evolve the way that they have, which was a great touch. I wish I'd known more about some of the characters before they became mermaid snacks, but-- novella. Quotes/Lines: ((spoilers below!)) -- "Some of the people sailing with you will be spending time on private projects as well; this has been approved" *flashbacks to Aliens* One of them is going to try and bring a mermaid back alive, aren't they?? ((and man, going into this knowing that nobody is going to make it?)) -- "While our viewers are aware that we fals--er, fictionalize certain elements in our documentaries" pffffft -- 'Maybe that was why she wasn't allowed to smile that way on camera. If she looked too real, she'd become less of an idealized fantasy, and half their viewers would run.' :( -- "We're not porters." "Which is good, since you didn't port anything," replied his boyfriend Anton' On-page representation at 8% into the book ILU MIRA -- "They're bringing the interns with them." Thirty fresh-faced young things recruited straight out of college by Imagine, lured in with promises of publication and television experience.' ohhhhhh man -- I love the Captain. And Alexandra seems to have a good head on her shoulders. -- "Captain Seghers just went to peel the mermaids out of the bar" I cannot explain how much I adore the idea of a drunken troupe of mermaid performers. -- 'watching the ocean as it slid by around them, featureless as a mannequin's face' LINE. -- "Is it really safe to have a deaf man involved with piloting a vessel of this size?" She is gonna throw you overboard and be 110% justified -- "Even Christopher Columbus wasn't immune to their charms, and left several accounts of having seen these elusive sirens." Would that he'd just gone into the water after them. -- Wheelchair-using instead of wheelchair-bound yesssss -- The fact that it all starts because of a misunderstanding rather than someone pulling a 'let's capture a mermaid!' makes this even more awful -- "I'm on this ship because I actually do believe that there's something out here, and more, I believe that whatever it is, it's going to need protection once we prove it exists. Humanity destroys the things it loves. Something mysterious and unique enough to be the source of mermaid legends? We're going to be all over destroying that." I like you, Sonja. -- GET OUT OF THE WATER -- nnnnnnnn I like everybody so much this is gonna hurt -- No wait I take it back Bobby and Adrian can get eaten, and then everyone else can transport to an alternate dimension so they don't all die -- 'The official record says that all hands were lost at sea. We believe that something far worse occurred. We believe that they were found.' O______o -- 'All the needed to do was dive. And so she did.' *cries* -- 'somehow having managed to put on a full face of perfect makeup using her reflection on the side of a coffee pot. This skill, among others, was why she was Imagine's most popular convention correspondent. She had once fixed her lipstick in the shine off a Wolverine cosplayer's claws.' I love this little character tidbit. -- "This is clean, open ocean, with very little pollution and very high levels of the protein tags and chemicals that indicate a healthy ecosystem. So where are the predators?" DO NOT ASK THAT -- 'She could be angry. She could be devastated. But blaming Captain Seghers wasn't fair, and she refused to let grief make her into someone she wasn't." Sunnie. <3 -- The description of the mermaid's face. the eyes 'bioluminescent green and horror movie black'. 'This was a creature that could pucker up for kiss right before biting someone's face off.' PERFECT. -- 'Anne Stewart, first woman to bring back proof that mermaids existed. Anne Stewart, journalistic hero.' Oh honey. :( -- 'Was there any reason in the world to expect a deep-sea predator with that many teeth to be friendly?' Alexandra with the important questions. -- OH SHIT Anton no do not poke the mermaid -- "All the stories about mermaids drowning sailors, all the men lost at sea...we never took those into account. ... We turned monsters into myths, and then we turned them into fairy tales." Fantastic line. -- Yeah I'm starting Into the Drowning Deep right tf now SYNOPSIS:
Someone, or something, is haunting the ship. Between mysterious disappearances and sudden deaths, the guests of the Titanic have found themselves suspended in an eerie, unsettling twilight zone from the moment they set sail. Several of them, including maid Annie Hebley, guest Mark Fletcher, and millionaires Madeleine Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim, are convinced there's something sinister--almost otherworldy--afoot. But before they can locate the source of the danger, as the world knows, disaster strikes. Years later, Annie, having survived that fateful night, has attempted to put her life back together. Working as a nurse on the sixth voyage of the Titanic's sister ship, the Britannic, newly refitted as a hospital ship, she happens across an unconscious Mark, now a soldier fighting in World War I. At first, Annie is thrilled and relieved to learn that he too survived the sinking, but soon, Mark's presence awakens deep-buried feelings and secrets, forcing her to reckon with the demons of her past--as they both discover that the terror may not yet be over. Brilliantly combining the supernatural with the height of historical disaster, The Deep is an exploration of love and destiny, desire and innocence, and, above all, a quest to understand how our choices can lead us inexorably toward our doom. It's not often I find a book that's catered 110% to me: historical horror? Check. Romance? Check. Queer characters? Check. THE TITANIC? Check. ((I played Mrs. Widener in a college production of the musical, and this post will forever be one of my favorite things. I LOVE THE RMS CARPATHIA SO MUCH)) Add in that it's written by the same person who wrote one of my favorite historical horror novels ever, The Hunger? Cue me checking the website every day to see if preorders were available yet. It's a beautiful, heartbreaking read, and I loved every minute of it (even when I was mock-yelling at Alma Katsu on Twitter because WHYYYYYYY) This is also one of those books that I can't wait to reread, so that I can spot little hints and foreshadowings and then cry even more. Quotes/Lines: ((spoilers below!)) -- 'Someone once told her that the stars were merely sewing pins, holding the black sky up so that it did not come down on the world and suffocate it.' -- 'She is our only daughter and, despite her frailty, her weaknesses, despite anything she may have done, we love her dearly.' I trust you about as far as I can throw you, Mr. Hebbley. -- 'I shall never forget the last time I saw you, jumping into those dark, icy waters. We thought you had lost your mind, made senseless by the terrible shock of it all. But only you had seen the baby tumble into the water. Only you knew that there wasn't a moment to waste. Annie Hebbley is the bravest girl I have ever known, I thought that night.' Annie. <3 And then to never see the baby again, oh man. No wonder she's hidden herself away. -- 'What they say in the newspapers is true: this is surely the war to end all wars, for we could never surpass its horrors.' *cries* -- Violet Jessop!!!! *Titanic history nerd freakout* -- 'Gotten used to being surrounded, once again, by strange voices and smells and sights, even if she still felt them like a film of cobweb against her skin.' -- "You're coming to us with no nursing experience, Miss Hebbley. In just a few days' time, we'll be in a war zone taking on fresh patients. You have a lot to learn and there's not a moment to spare." Man. :( -- 'Her most important job, Annie quickly sees, is to listen when they want to talk. ... It's nice to be on the other side for a change, the one helping instead of the one being helped.' Sweetheart. <3 -- 'He's not as young as many of the infantrymen, maybe in his early thirties.' Owwwwwwwww. -- 'This is all her fault. Was there something she'd missed when she'd been talking to him before? She can't help but feel she should have known he was about to try to take his life. Should have felt it, sensed the will to live slipping away from him like a visceral loss, like a change in air pressure.' *gives Annie all the hugs and cookies* -- "So, tell me, how was your first day?" Not great timing there, Charlie. -- I *love* time skips in novels, going back and forth in a certain character's life. One of these days I've got to try my hand at it. -- 'The Catholics on staff had been warned to keep their religious insignia out of sight for the duration of the voyage.' Huh. That's something that had never occurred to me. -- Aw, bless, Annie loves this ship so much. -- 'The baby felt comfortable--almost familiar--in Annie's arms, even though she had little experience with infants, having been the baby of the family herself.' ...I'm going to be sobbing uncontrollably by the end of this book, aren't I -- I'm getting the feeling that Dai and Les have something going on, or at least Dai wishes they did? I may just be wishful thinking because hiiiiiiiii constant grabbyhands at representation. -- 'Waves like blue wolves. He could see their white fangs. Were the wolves singing? No, there was a woman who controlled the wolves, a witch of the depths, and it was her song. ... The rail was there and no one was looking and the metal felt cold in his hand when he began to climb.' How does she write something so gorgeous and so creepy at the same time I AM COMPOSED ENTIRELY OF ENVY -- "Look, I know. I heard it, too. It's all right. You're safe now." Dai, you have now moved into my Favorite Character space (Annie is a veryvery close second; she just started getting a little creepy as soon as Mark came into the picture so I'm waiting to see how that turns out) -- "That's enough, Teddy. You should know better than to speak out of turn." *prepares laser eyes* -- Oh yes, such an unconscionable oversight to have only two thousand bottles of wine on board for a week's trip. *boots Lady Duff-Gordon into third class and moves Dai and Les into her quarters* -- 'The other advantage to cocaine is that it is not thought to be addictive, as is laudanum. Better to err on the side of caution.' Oh nooooo, please be okay, Caroline. -- Lillian? **curious** -- 'Sometimes it made her want to cry, this playacting. As if she could still be protected. As if the sickness and hte horror hadn't touched them both.' I deeply need to give Caroline a hug. -- Ondine, that's a beautiful name. And something sea-related, if I'm remembering right. -- 'And then there was the baby. No matter how much help she received, she couldn't avoid the fact that motherhood simply wore her out.' Yep. Hugs. -- 'Caroline had been drawn to her (Lillian) immediately, had envied the intensity of her and of Mark's passion for her. Had wanted--no, needed--to be part of that in some small way.' Are we actually heading for an OT3 (however tragic) in a historical novel that I'm not writing because I will just cry tears of happiness forever. -- Ohhhhh noooo, Teddy! (and man, I keep forgetting that Madeleine Astor was only 18) -- 'Besides, Eliza and this Anne Hebbley looked nothing alike. And yet there was something about the stewardess that unsettled him. Made him feel sad and...guilty. Terribly guilty. A guilt he was unable to escape. He thought he'd made his peace with that. Had served three months at Coldbath Prison for what was, he insisted to this day, an honest miscalculation.' What kind of 'honest miscalculation' did you have with a 13-year old?! Keeping an eye on you, Stead. -- 'She'd rather wait on patients than pernickety rich passengers.' Some things change, but retail remains constant. (that guy going on and on about quail or duck eggs, chicken only if absolutely no other option? I was so proud of her for not whapping him on the head with her tray) -- I need to look up dubheasa. (and I love Annie comforting the poor man who was having a panic attack) -- 'And this time, he belongs to no one else. He is alone. He is hers.' Uh, Annie, sweetie, the creepiness is coming back by the truckload. -- 'It was as though the sea were conspiring in this funeral for the dead boy by conjuring up the fog to hide him from prying eyes. Cossetting him in the softest blanket of cloud for his last journey.' -- 'Rather than comfort her, she watched as his bearded face grew red with fury, the kind that always seemed to be boiling just below the surface of his skin. ... That was the last family picnic with Auntie Riona and Granny Aisling, and Annie wasn't allowed to visit her grandmother ever again.' I knew Annie's dad was a dick. -- 'Mrs. Astor came unaccompanied to our meeting, insisted on coming without her husband. (Note: no evidence of husband's permission. Follow up with him separately?) UGHHHH. Also, Example #381340329 of why when people start talking about 'being born in the wrong decade' I side-eye. -- 'She'd wanted to be there, but John Jacob--Jack, as he liked to be called--had put his foot down. 'You're emotional enough about it...the last thing we need is for you to faint and a servant's funeral.' Time to get the Baseball Bat of Justice ready. -- "It's not like he was your child," Jack said under his breath. And swing -- I really hope the 'g*psy curse' thing doesn't play more of a role than this. Occultism was the big fad, yeah, but... -- "I know you feel bad about Teddy," Jack said. "I quite adore seeing your sensitive side. But you must try to put it out of your mind. All t his melancholy can't be good for the baby." She rolled her eyes. As if he knew what was best for the baby.' Attagirl!! -- 'How he'd gone undercover to purchase a 'hired' girl--a girl of only thirteen, no less--and taken her to a boardinghouse for the night, all in the name of 'research'. His goal had been to expose the ease with which the sex trade was conducted right under everyone's noses, right there in civilized England.' UM. -- 'The kind of people who would call for his public execution if they ever found out the desire he harbored in secret" I KNEW IT. Dai <3 -- 'He made you want whole, impossible worlds. As if wanting Les Williams wasn't impossible enough.' MY HEART -- 'The tale (girl who wore the ribbon around her neck) had always chilled Annie- its taunting nature, the embedded warning, and yet she could never decide what its warning meant. Was it that girls were fragile--fragile as a simple-knotted bow--and must be protected at all costs? Or was it that the only way they may prove their story true was to die for it?' Well damned if that's not a throatpunch of a line -- 'The factory where Lillian spent all her daylight hours burned to the ground, killing nearly every one of the women she worked with.' I understood that reference (couldn't have been the Triangle Shirtwaist, wrong location, but I wonder if this was based on it. Either that or there was a similar incident there because Let The Corporations Regulate Themselves never freaking works) -- 'No, please God. You've just reunited us. Don't take him away from me now. I've been a good girl. It's time for my reward.' Were you by any chance named after Annie Wilkes? STOP. -- 'There was a coldness in Caroline's voice. She had become a different person-- not the vivacious, chatty one who'd boarded the ship two days ago.' Well, given the potential PPD and the definite use of cocaine... -- 'She was fine. Perfectly fine. That left only one alternative.' Annie, whatever you are thinking, quit thinking it. -- 'Maddie's attention was riveted on the pale wraith in the gray uniform making her way through the crowd. That searching empty face with hungry eyes was like something in a mausoleum frieze.' ...that is a disturbing-as-hell mental image and I love how eerie this is. -- 'Even when he hated a con, it still felt good in the moment, to be in it with Les. To be on the same side.' <3 <3 <3 -- "I've barely been married a year and I can't say I recommend it." a) I can understand, given that your wife is on drugs without ever intending to be, but b) he is a stranger; quit complaining about your wife to a stranger. -- "Why don't you have a reflection? Don't you think that's odd?" Does she really not, or is Maddie so paranoid and panicky that she's imagining it? I love the "what's the actual truth" aspect so much but when I actually get the answer it's probably going to break me. -- 'Surely he wouldn't ask for a change (of nurse) if he knew he'd be losing her.' ...what did you do? -- Also quit with anything else but telling him that his kid is alive -- Oh Caroline, honey. She's trying so hard and just doesn't know what her 'medicine' is doing. -- 'The silver watch had been so beautiful, so touching--exactly what he would like to be able to give Dai one day, when he won his first big match in America, perhaps--that he couldn't help but lift it.' Awwwwwwwwwww ((I know, yes, don't steal, but awwwwwww)) -- 'To marry for love sounded incredibly wild and rebellious. She wasn't entirely sure she approved--she'd made her bed, hadn't she?--but it was fun watching someone else try.' I officially adore you, Maddie. -- "Yes, poor little boy. But he was just a servant," Mabel blurted. Cone of shame time, Mabel. -- The fact that Annie reminds Stead of Eliza and Mark of Lillian... -- Dai and Les are breaking my heart they're both trying to protect and help each other in completely opposite ways and please let them have the time to sort this out -- "Who are you conning, Les? Am I just another mark?" sweetie -- 'She's gone and gotten herself pregnant.' Now that's a neat trick... -- 'While he slept, she gently strapped his arms down to the bed so that he could not protest or push her away.' Okay, so there's going too far, going WAY too far, and then wherever the heck you're at right now. -- Oh thank goodness, at least she told him about Ondine surviving. -- 'I dove into the water after her. I helped save the baby.' Did Caroline drown naturally, or did she have help? Because...yeah. -- 'It was more powder than she was supposed to take in one dose, but she gulped it down anyway. A little more now and then, what difference did it make?' :( -- "I'm going to try to patch things up with Caroline. We're going to America to start a new life together--and I'm going to give it a proper go." *cries* -- "You can't pin this on Dai. He was trying to get me to do the right thing. He's a good man. Too good to be friends with the likes of me." These two had BETTER make it I stg -- Annie dammit they told you to stay out -- 'If I were married to Mark, this would be room. My things. My baby. My life.' Yeah. She's gonna kill Caroline. -- 'Caroline had been making Ondine sick. On purpose.' God I want to go into this book and protect Caroline from Annie so bad I know what's coming and noooooo -- "But half the seats are empty." "And we need a couple of your men to row." She wanted to tell him to save his breath; she knew what was needed and would make sure that it got done. Nothing mattered except that she survived. Honor didn't matter, nor chivalry. The story would be written by the survivors, in any case. Stories always were.' I...there are not sufficient words for how intensely I dislike you -- 'Dai would be looking for him for all the good it would do; no one was going to give him the key and even that great sweet lummox would not be able to tear that metal door off its hinges.' YES HE WILL DAMMIT -- MADELEINE omfg I love you so muuuuuuuuch -- "Me, I'm on one of those lifeboats if I have to dress in me grandmother's Sunday best." Understandable. (the reason why I'm pissed at Lady Duff-Gordon and not Les is because of course you'd want to save your own life or the lives of your loved ones. But she made sure that a lifeboat went down half-full. Do your best to get a spot, absolutely, but don't kill dozens (hundreds? I have to look up how many those boats held) to do it. -- "It's going to be hard, but you're going to be fine. I can't see all of the future, but I can see that. You have to be tough for your baby and your husband. They're both depending on you. Now, get into this lifeboat." I love you Les please live -- 'He felt a jostle beside him and there was Dai.' AHHHH <3 -- "Never doubt that I chose you." HEY WAIT NO HELP ;__________; -- 'She turned away, resigned to taking her seat, when a miracle occurred.' Terry Pratchett's quote from Interesting Times comes to mind here: "Whatever happens, they say afterwards, it must have been fate. People are always a little confused about this, as they are in the case of miracles. When someone is saved from certain death by a strange concatenation of circumstances, they say that's a miracle. But of course if someone is killed by a freak chain of events--the oil spilled just there, the safety fence broken just there--that must also be a miracle. Just because it's not nice doesn't mean it's not miraculous." -- "Hang on to Ondine, Mrs. Fletcher, and I'll keep you afloat." She would save them both. No matter what Caroline had done, it didn't mean she deserved to die.' Ohhhh thank goodness. At least poor Caroline's last memory isn't going to be Annie killing her and making off with the baby. -- "The mother is a lost cause. That's damned irresponsible of her. They could all drown." I don't see you jumping in to help, jackass. -- "Hold onto the side," another woman said. "You shall be safe enough." Again, I don't see you volunteering to take turns. -- 'Caroline--sweet Caroline. She says she will help me. Help us. She has asked Mark and me both to move into her home. I will have better care there. And though it is unusual--crazy, even--I am tempted to accept. ... We are both in love with each other and in love with her. It is a wonderful thing.' I'm gonna go live in an alternate universe where everybody lived and they raised Ondine together in an adorable triad thanks -- OMFG THIS JUST GOT WILD -- 'Ever since Ondine had arrived. ... He'd always loved the dark, complex winding of her thoughts, but now they seemed always to tremble at the edge of an abyss.' The idea of trying to make it through PPD before it was acknowledged... -- 'Only then would he tell Lillian about his plan. He didn't want to get her hopes up, not when she had been so black of late.' TWIST THE KNIFE WHY DON'T YOU -- This BOOK. I'm just floored. Also, I think this may have replaced Turn of the Screw for my favorite "unreliable narrator" story and that's a damn hard thing to do. SYNOPSIS:
Ghosts have always walked there. Now they’re not alone… In the depths of Edinburgh, an evil presence is released. Hannah and her colleagues are tour guides who lead their visitors along the spooky, derelict Henderson Close, thrilling them with tales of spectres and murder. For Hannah it is her dream job, but not for long. Who is the mysterious figure that disappears around a corner? What is happening in the old print shop? And who is the little girl with no face? The legends of Henderson Close are becoming all too real. The Auld De’il is out – and even the spirits are afraid. This is an odd review to write, because for about 80% of it I loved and adored it and it was an easy five-star rating: ghosts! Unique, incredibly detailed setting! Accidental time travel! Reincarnation! And then came the graphic rape/murder of two prostitutes (who were naturally never mentioned again, because what purpose do sex workers serve in a horror narrative but props in a Jack-the-Ripper homage?) and the entire thing kinda fell apart for me from there. And the reveal for the main whodunnit had some implications I didn't care for. That said, I will absolutely read Cavendish again- the idea behind the novel is fantastic and I loved her descriptive writing. Endings are hard to stick, especially with as many mysteries as she had going by the end. ((I did look up a couple of short documentaries on The Real Mary King's Close after finishing the book. Instant claustrophobia. Brrrrrr)) Quotes/Lines: ((spoilers below!)) -- 'They couldn't understand why she did this. Helping those too feckless, in their eyes, to help themselves.' I love you, ma'am. Also you need better friends. -- 'On cue, a corner of the room lit up gloomily to reveal a lifelike waxwork of a sickly looking woman, her face frozen in an agony of childbirth. She wore a filthy greying shift streaked with 'blood' and lay on one side, on the straw mattress Hannah had just described. The light shut off.' I don't know. A history tour of the Close sounds fascinating but something like that...there's a line between "times were dangerous and shouldn't be romanticized" and sensationalism. -- 'Mairead rummaged in the side pocket of her dress. "Damn. I've left my keys down there." Don't go alone! -- "I'll get changed and pop down for them. Won't take a sec." Dammit, Mairead, I liked you -- "This isn't funny. No one is supposed to be down here. Show yourself. This instant." "I don't think you'd like that." .......nope -- "Come on, Beth, you're making a spectacle of yourself." "Sir, I'm sure if your wife doesn't want to come down here, she doesn't have to. She can always wait for you upstairs." "No," he retorted. "I paid good money for these tickets." Now why didn't the ghost eat him? So fickle, I swear. -- "We've had a request from a group of paranormal investigators based in Leith. They want to do an all night vigil." This will end well -- OOOOOH, reincarnation? -- Ailsa is pissing me off, with the 'I'm worried, too, perhaps more since I've known the missing girl longer' and 'if she saw something (which Mairead told her she had; it's not like she'd made a huge habit of this before). -- "The little girl in the mist. She has no face." Yep, that'd be the rest of my life spent on a wide-open beach in Hawaii. No more claustrophobic alleyways, ever -- "Alone," Scott said. "It wants you to come alone." "No chance!" Atta girl, Hannah. You'd know how to survive a horror movie. -- 'Sorry about the letter, but I thought it was best this way. It must be a huge shock for you and this way we can avoid a scene and maintain our dignity.' You mean this way you won't have to face direct repercussions, you ass. (admitting to years of cheating and then breaking up with her in a letter? If the book had ended with Hannah tying you to a stake in the Close for the ghosts, I don't think I'd have blamed her) -- YAY using 'Romany' instead of the slur -- I'm thinking something is up with Ailsa (I mean, aside from her generally being a jerk) -- I am well and truly baffled by wtf is going on here. -- At least Mairead remembers things like involuntary committals to asylums and what medicine was generally like back then. -- I love Miss Carmichael offering to repair and clean Isobel's doll. ((well, technically, I'm sure her servant/maid is going to do most of the actual work, but still)) -- So Robbie does go with her! But he wasn't mentioned at the beginning flashback. Ohhh, what happens to the poor kid? Please don't tell me his parents made that horribly hard decision to let him leave home so early to get a better education only for him to have an accident in the supposedly-safer New Town. -- Yeah I'm just gonna skim over the rape/murders, thanks. Also, where the hell are their ghosts? They have just as much motivation to get rid of this creep as Miss Carmichael does, if not more (at least most of her killers were caught; I doubt their murders were much investigated at all). If we're going to veer toward Jack the Ripper style killings of sex workers mixed with the supernatural, can I for once please get the ghosts of his victims teaming up to kick his ass? -- 'Only the pressure of their hands on hers told Hannah the others were still there.' *waiting for the 'whose hand was I holding' Haunting of Hill House reference* -- Yep. <3 -- "I vote we go to the pub, sink a couple and try and come up with some sort of plan." I like the way you think, George. -- The psychics here have both been super helpful. "Oh noooo, this is bad! You are in such trouble. Can't help though, bye!" "...thanks?" -- I love that Murdoch Maclean is starting to get used to weirdly-dressed strangers popping into his shop. -- "You'll be safe there. As long as you take your medication and attend your appointments." I swear if this turns into some 'it's all in your head' nonsense... -- 'but even he couldn't be in two places at once'. You are currently fighting a murderous demon and traveling back and forth in time from an old newspaper shop. -- seriously what is up with Ailsa -- "Ye'll pass on our thanks to Miss Carmichael and ye'll tell her we'll manage fine from now on. Say goodbye to yer ma now. Ye'll no' be seeing her again." ... "Yer faither's right, Robbie. Ye're not one of us now." Oh, kiddo. :( (well, not exactly a kid anymore, given that he's in university, but that'd still be rough) -- 'Damn Miss Carmichael and her do-gooding ways! Damn Kirsten! Damn them both to hell!' Are...are we really going in this direction? -- We are. -- 'Finally, her mind cleared and she had her answers. All the ones that mattered anyhow.' CARE TO CLUE ME IN? Because-- *deep breath* What was Ailsa; cult member or possessed all along or killed and taken over sometime during the book? What was the random reference to Mairead needing to 'take her medication'? Why was Mairead's mother there and her house lived in for some people and then boarded up and empty for others? Why those brutal sexual violence scenes from Bain's pov if he's just a red herring? (not that I much care to read stuff like that anyway, but it seems especially unnecessary when that's the only role the women played in the narrative) What was going on with Isobel? Why did they have to stay in the pentagram? I wouldn't think they can protect the lines and keep the spirit contained from inside the thing. -- The one thing that is plain and clear is that Robbie had Miss Carmichael killed, and I honestly can't stand that ending, because he was an adult. Told to stay away by his parents because he didn't belong in Old Town anymore, but also rejected by the girl he liked because he didn't come from wealth? Yeah, that's tough, but there are lots of Fish Out Of Water narratives without the subject murdering people. Miss Carmichael, our main pov to the past, being murdered by someone she tried to help just comes across as an endorsement of the quote at the beginning-- that if she'd just stayed where she 'belonged' and left Robbie in Old Town, she'd still be alive. And I'm sure that's not what was intended. This book has a bunch of 4 and 5 star reviews; it's obviously not what most other people took from the text. This might just be a 'me' thing, which is partly while I'll be giving Cavendish another shot. SYNOPSIS: In this mosaic horror/crime novel, ghosts and old gods guide the hands of those caught up in a violent struggle to save the soul of the American southwest. A man tasked with shuttling children over the border believes the Virgin Mary is guiding him towards final justice. A woman offers colonizer blood to the Mother of Chaos. A boy joins corpse destroyers to seek vengeance for the death of his father. These stories intertwine with those of a vengeful spirit and a hungry creature to paint a timely, compelling, pulpy portrait of revenge, family, and hope.
I'm not entirely sure where to start, except for I love this book wholeheartedly. It's unlike anything I've ever read, and Iglesias made my auto-buy list right away. The format of the book, following several characters in short sections with many of them connecting near the end, was really well done; it brought together the feelings of a novel and of a good anthology. The subject matter is dark; the book absolutely kicked my ass but it wasn't the type of nihilistic darkness that would make me regret reading it in the first place. Quotes/lines: ((spoilers below!)) PEDRITO -- 'Pedrito knew they didn't really think the fish was a ghost that lived in dead water, but that telling him these things was the best way to teach him about the creature, the best way to get him to pay attention and prevent him from underestimating the enormous fish and its mouthful of daggers.' Having seen alligator gar, yes to all of this. (also, 'a ghost that lived in dead water' is so evocative) -- The mix of Spanish and English threw me off a little bit at first (it's been way too long since high school Spanish) but it honestly surprised me how much I can understand due to context and remembering more than I thought I did. I can only imagine that some editors would've balked at the decision to do this, and I'm glad it stayed like it is. -- 'When fishing, nothingness was full of possibility, quietness was a timeless inhalation before a scream, and inaction was just a fuse of indeterminate length before an explosion.' I've been fishing before and was never a fan, but this kid's clear love for it is actually making me feel nostalgic. -- OH FUCK -- Oh Pedrito, sweetie, no no no RUN KID -- what the everloving hell you racist asshole if you want to kill yourself then do it without taking someone else with you THE MOTHER -- I want to hug this lady so much. -- 'all that was left was emptiness, an all-consuming hollowness that she couldn't fill regardless of what she did or thought. ... She was stuck in a perennial state of agitated stagnation.' She's in a much different situation, but hello there depression/PPD. -- Body horror x 1000 AUGH THE COYOTE -- 'and castrating rapists doesn't help children get across the border' No, but damn is it satisfying. -- 'She thanked him in a cracked voice that reminded him of those dolls that talk after you pull a string on their back.' -- 'If they look too good, too healthy, the fucking gringos will do everything in their power to send them back to whatever hell they came from. Hurt them just right and a better future will make their scars feel like blessings. Pain is sometimes the only path to deliverance.' If you'll excuse me I'm gathering matches to burn down the world JAIME -- 'No, the only thing he could do was wonder why he couldn't do anything now, why he felt like he was frozen, and why that frozen feeling locked him in place and forced him to stay in his room, without the need for barbed-wire fences or guards. ... He knew these simple tasks would help him escape the trap he was setting himself. Unfortunately, moving his body struck him as an impossibility, something that could only be accomplished with the help of a few strong men.' This sounds like the worst case of executive dysfunction ever. Poor guy. -- Kick his ass, Jaime! -- oh shit he deserved it but the cops won't bother understanding that run ALMA -- 'The idea was there, an unformed thing waiting for her to shape it into words, but the space it had to travel to get from her brain to the page was apparently plagued by hungry predators.' This seems particularly relevant at the beginning of NaNo. ;) -- Okay the rest of this section is going to be me quoting my favorite parts because THIS SECTION. I do not even have words. It's horrifyingly beautiful. -- 'I hear her voice in my blood say that no person should ever be owned and that laughing in the face of death is better than having to live as abused property.' -- 'and a kid becomes a walking miracle as she crosses the border without being raped or abused or denigrated' -- 'I hear the obscene screams of angry gods who were forced to dress their black skin in whiteness to survive once their devotees were brought to the Caribbean. Their strength is there, coursing through the streets like blood courses through my veins, because we still call their names, pray to them, light candles, offer them tiny deaths and food and fire and dreams.' -- 'and a million other dumb comments that scholars say I should call 'microaggressions' but that sometimes feel anything but micro.' -- 'I hear the cultures that came together to make my blood scream at the fact that no one wanted things to turn out the way they did.' -- 'I hear all this and more, and then I open my eyes and read about others wanting "pure blood," wanting to keep their racial purity, their god a blue-eyed hipster, their bastardized language intact. That makes me laugh with closed fists. You don't know the beauty of flavor, pendejo. You keep your dumb ideas of purity and I'll revel in the music of my mixed blood, my mutt blood, my earthly blood, my multitudinous blood, my brown and Rican and black and European and white and African blood, my eternal, magic, ancient blood.' This was the first section of the book that I read, an excerpt that the writer posted on Twitter, and I bought it straight away. -- 'To do it, she will need more than words.' Honey. What're you doing? Please don't hurt yourself. The tone of your thoughts makes me nervous. ((just do a performance art piece of what you just wrote; anyone unaffected wouldn't be reachable anyway)) LA BRUJA -- ooooh, ghost story -- 'finding each other in that same miraculous way loose hairs in a house can find each other and morph into small balls of discarded human' -- 'The third hour brought with it rumors of abandonment.' Oh no. No. -- 'The children were the first to go.' I am not emotionally equipped for this oh god -- 'Inmaculada swore revenge against the men who had done this to them, swore she'd stick around until all the coyotes were dead and there was enough blood along the border to make powerful people take care of the problems that had put them in that trailer.' how do i hug a ghost -- 'The thing that had screamed that night was the soul of a shattered, hurt mother facing the loss of everything she loved, and that is something even the Devil should fear.' godDAMN. PEDRITO -- Pedrito!! I was wondering when the stories would start connecting. -- 'He also knew that what he was going to do would be bad but, as his abuelo told him more than once, sometimes bad things are right.' Pedrito, sweetie, what are you up to? -- I love that the taxi driver tried to give him his rosary. THE MOTHER -- 'The dishes were waiting for her hands. She hadn't cooked in two days, and there was no more bread or tortas in the house. The laundry was a stinky, multicolored pile near the bathroom door that she hadn't dared to look at in days for fear of what she'd see moving around in there if she did.' Honey. THE COYOTE -- Clemencia I adore you -- 'President Pendejo' accurate af -- listen to Clemencia sir JAIME -- 'Jaime smashed his open hand against the steering wheel three times, and abandoned the last shreds of common sense.' Not good not good. -- I saw it coming but noooo. ALMA -- 'She knew her only real job was creating something that hadn't existed until the moment she brought it to life.' <3 -- 'That's when Alma heard the giggling coming from the closet.' Congrats book you just joined the 'scared the hell out of me' ranks LA BRUJA -- 'She was a goddess standing on the dividing line between right and wrong, her head among the angels and her tired feet bathed in the blood of innocents.' PEDRITO -- 'La Casa de la Muerte'? Yes, that sounds like a very safe place to approach alone -- YIKES THE MOTHER -- 'She was going to kill that fucking thing, or die trying.' I do not know whether you're right and I should root for you or whether this is some kind of grief-induced psychosis and you need help. A particularly horrifying metaphor for depression? THE COYOTE -- 'One of them started kneeling, his mouth running in what surely was an apology or a desperate prayer, but La Virgencita moved. She brought her arms behind her back and then back to the front again. Two Sig Sauers 1911, just like the one the coyote carried around.' ...this is the most amazing mental image ever -- okay, holy missions never end well would you please listen to Clemencia JAIME -- oh no I don't want to read about him actually dying, I like the kid. He hurt a wife-beater; he did the right thing. -- 'Tiny colorful angels. Misplaced Christmas lights.' **crying** ALMA -- 'She was angry and frustrated, and something was telling her that making assholes bleed was the only way to improve her mood.' As much as I understand, please do not get yourself killed. -- "I assure you people will talk about it for months." UM. LA BRUJA -- 'Seeing those people handle the bodies stirred the maelstrom of feelings inside Inmaculada until it threatened to become a black hole that would swallow the world.' -- 'She understood the scream in a way she couldn't share.' PEDRITO -- I've heard of La Llorona and El Cucuy and El Chupacabra, but not El Cadejo. -- So he has the guy killed and then he takes the shoes and leaves them for people crossing the desert with an admonishment to care about the living. Santos fascinates me. (in a stay-far-away kind of way) THE MOTHER -- 'There was a dull pain that made her think of cavities, but too many teeth were moving around in there.' eeeeeeeugh THE COYOTE -- "Thankfully the fucking sumbitches showed up early and I took them out with minimal fuzz." Padre, you obviously had one hell of a creepy past, but I can't say I don't like you now. -- "I wouldn't cross that woman." Listen to the Padre. If you go against him and Clemencia it might not be you who pays for it. -- 'Then, for the first time, he realized that the questions he had asked himself so many times were stupid. He was a brown man, and for many people, the color of his skin was as bad as the images on Padre Frank's body.' That just hit like a fist to the gut. -- I want this to go well but I'm so scared it won't. ALMA -- Alma honey, why the hell do you have machetes? -- Her 'muse' is La Bruja, I take it? -- 'Their gig was easy: barricade the front and back doors' shit -- 'She hoped this level of revenge was enough to go viral.' I'm sure it will, but it's not going to have the framing you want. LA BRUJA -- 'Anger was a planet covered in water that simultaneously obeyed the pull of too many whimsical moons.' PEDRITO -- "Once we're done with these cabrones, people on both sides of la frontera will know that fucking with kids will not be tolerated.' I wish it would work that way. THE MOTHER -- Please be killing an actual monster. I think that you were?? I'm going to assume that you were and that this has a happy ending. THE COYOTE -- OH NO I JUST REALIZED HOW THESE TIE TOGETHER LA BRUJA -- 'Destruction was part of the answer and certainly something many deserved, but it wasn't the only element necessary for change.' 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. SYNOPSIS:
Ten writers are selected for a summer-long writing retreat with the most celebrated and reclusive author in the world. Their host is the legendary Roderick Wells. Handsome, enigmatic, and fiendishly talented, Wells promises to teach his pupils about writing, about magic, about the untapped potential that each of them possesses. Most of all, he plans to teach them about the darkness in their hearts. The writers think they are signing up for a chance at riches and literary prestige. But they are really entering the twisted imagination of a deranged genius, a lethal contest pitting them against one another in a struggle for their sanity and their lives. They have entered into Roderick Wells’s most brilliant and horrible creation: The Dark Game. The setup is very Agatha Christie, and I'm a sucker for "small group of people trapped in a house and bad things happen" plots. Creepy writer's workshop is an added bonus. I loved what this one had to say about creativity and the eternity of the written word, for good or bad. Lines/reactions: ((spoilers beyond this point)) 'She chewed a thumbnail, a hundred horror movies flashing through her head. Why was it always a woman who got hacked to pieces?' I constantly ask the same, Lucy. -- 'Bryan's smirk faded. "I write fact-based survival stories." A corner of Tommy's mouth rose. "Personality like yours, I bet you know a lot about being alone." OHHHHH. (also, I hate alpha-male bullshit like Bryan's. 'next time make sure you don't insult a collegiate wrestler' oh my GOD just go jerk off to a confederate flag somewhere and leave the rest of humanity alone -- 'He wasn't, but he'd rather catheterize himself with a lit sparkler than discuss politics.' lol -- 'Because something is following me, and half the reason I'm here is to escape it?' Hey maybe whatever is following you can eat Bryan instead -- "Why, so they can ask me what went wrong?" Anna sobered. "Your critics can fuck themselves." ilu, Anna. Though you do have a bit of an I'm Your #1 Fan! vibe. -- 'No doubt cataloging some piece of minutiae with which to annoy future readers.' Perfect. -- "You need to get in shape," Bryan called over his shoulder. And you need to take a long walk off a short pier. -- "Before we proceed, you must submit yourselves to me. You must prepare to withstand extreme conditions, both physical and emotional." He's going to suck out your souls so he can maintain eternal life RUN -- oh man that prize though -- "Just what the hell did happen to the other nine writers in the first contest?" What did I just say? Souls got eaten, try to keep up. -- "If you lose, there are always the pills," her agent's voice reminded her. ... "I gave you your shot, and you blew it. You let us all down, little lady." oh sweetheart get yourself a new agent this one is a dick -- (he's not a man) oh shit -- "If you bow at the altar of the right person, you're accorded privileges." She glanced at Lucy. "Like big advances and glowing reviews." C'mon, Elaine, don't be that passive-aggressive asshat. -- 'Elaine gaped at him. She glanced from face to face, searching for an ally.' If not for the aforementioned sniping at your fellow writers, you might have one. -- 'Bryan looked pleadingly at the others, but no one came to his defense.' this is my shocked face -- oookay I thought Anna was an obsessive fan but no, she's SO much worse. -- 'Evan Laydon sniffed and told them his story idea was 'upmarket' and 'high-concept', whatever the hell that meant.' I bet it means a college professor main character has a wrought affair with a student. -- "You have any idea how illegible my handwriting is?" I hear you, Will. -- "It's called The Siren and the Specter" heh -- "I'm not going to discover you sunbathing naked, am I?" "I prefer a two-piece." <3 -- 'No way had Clayton bedded as many girls as Tommy had." Yawn. Just whip them out and measure already, guys. -- 'Suzy, who was seventeen but had the mental capacity of a four-year old.' okay I hate Bryan but you get to die first -- oh Suzy sweetheart -- 'but the memories far, far worse' Yeah, poor baby. Truly, you are the one who suffered here. -- "I'm already comfortable in your presence." BARF -- This scene with Marek and the cop is goddamned terrifying -- 'the man looked younger than he had in the library' I TOLD YOU. SOUL-EATER. -- "I know you had issues with reality, but I never guessed they were this severe." you gaslighting s.o.b. -- "Am I wrong?" "About Bryan and Tommy?" Will asked. "Probably not. About all men.." not the time, Will -- I love Sherilyn. -- "He's all bluster," Will said. Famous last etc. -- ...Rick's mom is a badass -- "Was it illegal when he was only twenty?" I. Hate. You. So. Much. -- 'But like I said, I was only seventeen, and if seventeen sounds old enough to you, please not that Zendie was already twenty-eight.' Ohhhh, Sherilyn. I will not only bitchslap him, I will bitchslap your mom for encouraging this. -- "One secret for every article of clothing." Yeah. All bluster. Nothing to see here. -- 'but the brass door handles gleamed like they'd just been installed' THE HOUSE EATS SOULS TOO -- "Escape now." O_______o -- The thing in the crate from Creepshow! <3 -- ngl I really want Sherilyn to get that money -- 'He still needs water, Will thought.' oh sweetie. Given what type of book this is, you're not going to be rewarded for this, but you're a good kid. -- "I'm not going to tell on you." ...oh SHIT. -- oh god why are Anna and Bryan teaming up they're horrible enough on their own -- 'Could I have stopped what happened to you?' Ummm...yes. -- 'Great girl. Might be the one. But so frigid. So insensitive to his needs.' You have two hands for a reason, Jake. Also, go to hell. -- Justine! :( -- 'She could be abrasive at times, but this? No one deserved this.' Wellllllll (he is technically right, though; she deserves worse) -- "You're our host, not our warden." I like you Sherilyn please run -- "What do you know of power?" "I know that a truly strong person doesn't use it to intimidate." Riiiick. <3 -- "I'm happy to say you behaved exactly as I thought you would." SHERILYN. MY HEART IS YOURS. -- "You just ripped my manuscript apart. I want to make sure Sherilyn is held to the same standards." Lucy glared at Anna. "Why wouldn't she be?" "Her race," Bryan said. As if you two don't suck enough already -- ...okay Evan you've convinced me you can die now. -- yay -- things are ratcheted up to eleven and we are halfway through the book. *bites nails* -- all right, Will's being brought into the group! -- I really, really hope that Justine's ghost shows up and throws Anna from the roof. -- Jack Ketchum! <3 -- "Fuck fear." I'm just going to assume this is from an actual conversation with Ketchum. -- 'He shook his head. "Lucy doesn't need to be saved." Good man. -- Will NO you're a good guy and that is going to get you killed. -- "You were only, what, a third of the way in?" oh Rick honey no. -- okay so as someone with suicidal ideation this scene with Lucy's attempted suicide is HARD. -- "Anti-anxiety," she said. Thought about it. "There's irony in there somewhere." oh sweetie -- "You should not mock me," the maid said. HOLY SHIT -- Will nooooo -- 'of young tourists attacked by carnivorous plants inside an ancient ruin' I understood that reference! -- Will you're alive! -- 'Was it any less than he deserved?' Honey, 1) you were a kid, and 2) he raped and murdered people. 'that poor man' nah -- since you're punchy and hurting I will forgive you the 'gypsy curse' thing. If you get out of this, learn about the fact that that's a racial slur -- "I was a monster," Bates said. "But damned if I was born that way." *Jake Peralta voice* Cool motive, still murder. -- GET HIM LUCY -- Lucy grinned. "Am I wicked-looking?" "You look like a drowned muskrat." Heh -- 'Will said, "I'll go in first." Lucy just gave him a look.' "We can talk about sexism in survival situations when I get back"-- Ellie Sattler, ultimate role model -- 'He could, however, try to vanquish Wells in The Magical King.' He's gonna write his way out. I love it. -- Will stared up at Wells, breath heaving. Then, his face seemed to clear. "You lose, Mr. Wells." Good on you, Will. -- Oh good, new agent. -- Is the Fred Astaire murders villain still out there like Wells said? -- yessssss at least Sherilyn got her wish -- "I was just wondering what it's like to expend so much energy wishing failure on others." THAT'S MY GIRL -- ....question answered. 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. 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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