Adeline

4.5 stars

Historical literary mystery taking place at an American summer camp in the 70s where Barbara, the teen daughter of the rich family owning the camp, has gone missing, exactly like her brother a decade before.

I absolutely loved this book.

The writing was so gorgeous, precise and lush, each sentence carefully crafted.

This was definitely a slow burn, where the plot slowly unfolds, enriched by some great character development. It’s the type of story that is meant to be savoured but was still a page turner.

The different points of views were all compelling to read, and the use of flashbacks was really well done. I especially liked Louise and Judy, but overall the female characters were really well written and you couldn’t help but feel empathy for them.

the mystery itself was not as central as I thought as this novel felt more like the study of a family and the community around them.

Pacing wise, while the slow burn feel definitely worked at the beginning, I feel that the resolution of the mystery was a bit too quickly done and parts resolved offscreen which I’m not a huge fan of. Also one of the character’s narrative threads felt a bit unfinished to me compared to the rest of the book.

My first read by Liz Moore, this was an incredible book despite a few minor issues I had and I’ll definitely check out her other work.

3.75 stars

Spoilers !

Murder mystery thriller following Shea a young receptionist who moonlights as a true crime blogger, as she has the chance of interviewing the mysterious Beth Greer, a woman accused but acquitted of several murders during the 1970s.

This is the first time I’m reading a novel by Simone St James, it was a mixed experience.

Overall the writing style was good but not exceptional though with some nice creepy imagery peppered through.

I really liked the main characters whose pints of view we are seeing throughout the novel , Shea and Beth were both compelling characters. I liked the complex relation of antagonism/sympathy that was being constructed between these two protagonists. You also felt for them in their individual story arcs, like Beth’s flashbacks adding more complexity to her story and Shea’s parts showing her willpower by surmounting her personal problems one by one.

However while the mystery itself was interesting (though quite simple and familiar), I felt the execution was lacking. There was a lot superfluous and repetitive details adding nothing to the plot or adding it in a clunky way. Pacing wise I felt the twists and revelations were done too soon, and despite being a page turner it lacked tension. The deductions of the mysteries by the characters felt too rushed, and their emotional reactions were flip flopping a bit too much and too quickly for me.

I also wished there was more paranormal/supernatural elements throughout the novel and not just in the beginning and at the end.

I did like the ending, as the house is still in a way haunted even despite being transformed.

My first Simone St James book, a mixed read but I’ll definitely check out her other books, specifically Murder Road that I have on my physical tbr.

4.25 stars

Historical fiction following Jahan a young boy who arrives as a animal trainer to Istanbul with a white elephant as a gift for the Sultan, and rises as the apprentice to the chief royal architect.

This was the first Elif Shafak book I read and it definitely won’t be my last.

The writing was so beautiful, rich in details, lush and evocative, completely immersing me into 16th century Istanbul and the grandeur of the Ottoman Empire. The author did a great job recreating an enchanting portrait of the city of Istanbul (one of my dream destination) showing the everyday life of its inhabitants, the good and the bad things happening there.

Jahan was a compelling main character, you can’t help but feel and root for him. His relationship with his elephant was so wholesome to read and his actions towards other people made him a rather sweet person (though not squeaky clean perfect in any way). The side characters were also interesting, though less developed as the story is mainly written from Jahan’s point of view. I would have liked to see more of certain side characters, explore their stories and thoughts.

Elif Shafak did a great job incorporating into her story various philosophical reflections on faith, death, love, power, art, architecture etc

Pacing wise, this was a pretty fast moving story and I absolutely inhaled it despite the number of pages and tiny fonts.,helped by the gorgeous writing.

However, because of that fast pacing, time and events were depicted rapidly, time being compressed as years pass in a blink. As usual with that kind of narrative style I didn’t feel fully connected to the events experienced by the characters, though several moments were emotional to read about especially Jahan with his elephant, his master and fellow architecture apprentices.

Also I would have liked to see some subplots delved into more or resolved in a shorter timeframe because when they were resolved much later (too late? practically at the end of the story), I had forgotten about it and wasn’t invested in the resolution. I wasn’t a huge fan of how some of the character’s arcs ended up.

Overall, a rich and interesting story with a gorgeous prose, despite elements I didn’t like, it made me excited to read more of Elif Shafak’s work especially There Are Rivers in The Sky which is in my physical copy tbr.

Psychological thriller following Catherine a documentary film maker who receives a manuscript but recognises herself as one of the characters and Stephen a widower who discovers some mysterious objects left by his late wife.

Overall this was such an intense story. The plot seemed straightforward at the first but the author created a real page turner of a story with enough twists and suspense to make me rage through this.

There was a mix of povs (one 1st person and others as 3rd omniscient) and the author did a great job fleshing out the two main point of views, showing them as fully formed characters, each with a lot negative traits and some positive traits, so while I wasn’t particularly fond of them (for most part of the story), they felt compelling to read. The other two points of view that follows Catherine’s family felt a bit superfluous for me and even some elements from the two main points of view didn’t add anything interesting.

Pacing wise the majority of the novel was a slow burn which I like, as the author slowly unfolds the story and interlocks the each stories together. However, towards the end (where the most important twist is revealed), everything happened a bit too quickly, like how the characters accepted what is said, that felt a bit rushed so the emotional impact was not really there for me. That being said I really liked Catherine’s scenes with her son during that part of the story.

While not perfect this felt like a good slow burning but fast paced page turning thriller, I’ll definitely check out the tv adaptation with Cate Blanchett.

3.25 stars

Historical horror following Rafaela, a young nun who is newly committed into another convent after escaping a horrifying experience. At this convent of the Sisters of Divine Innocence however she soon experiences another terrible event, hoping that the priest in the nearby village would help her discover if her fellow nuns are graced by a divine miracle or by the devil.

So this book didn’t truly work for me.

There was some truly gruesome and gory images throughout the novel that I liked, and the oppressive atmosphere was well present.

However, pacing wise it felt too repetitive, with the characters rehashing thoughts and questions too often so it felt cumbersome to read at one point. Because of that, the slow burn pace felt more like dragging rather than advancing the plot.

Rafaela was a rather meek, unreliable and unsure character. Now normally I don’t mind this and while it felt understandable because of her past, those repetitive passages felt tiresome and less compelling to read as the story went on.

I personally didn’t really care for the other point of view nor for the character of Father Bruno, I felt he didn’t really add anything interesting and also I kind of cheered at his end lol.

The writing was good especially the gory stuff, though my eyes glazed over the whole prayer parts (understandable given the setting but it added to my frustration with the repetitiveness).

In essence the plot felt lacking and some elements were thrown into it with no apparent reason or aftermath.

I really liked the ending though, how tragic and bleak it felt. It really added a more horrific and helpless atmosphere of the novel.

Unfortunately while I did like some elements, the overall reading experience of this novel left me more unsatisfied than pleased.

Dystopian horror mystery following Enka  who meets a genius artist called Mathilde at art school, striking a friendship with her, but before she can make a career, marries into a family who develops various technologies including one where a brain can be downloaded and uploaded into another carrier.  Soo I liked it though a bit less than the authors first book.  The writing style is still gorgeous and lush with some great descriptions.  There was a distance to it because of the narration style and the time compression that didn't make me more emotionally attached to the main character, Enka. She was compelling in that she was fully formed with positive and negative traits, to be honest she felt more like an anti-heroine to me. That being said this was written in first person, so it definitely enhanced the unlikeable/unreliable narrative.  But because of that distance, the twists didn't really hit me as they should have especially regarding one of the characters, the reveal felt too quick and too abrupt.  I really like the worldbuilding surrounding the technology aspect and the way the art world was portrayed (with that sense of pretentiousness that sometimes is present especially with rich people). The themes developed about technology and art, their interconnections, felt very à propos when you see what is happening in our world today.  In terms of mood though, it felt less horror and more weird fiction than I thought it would be. Overall, despite my reservations about this book I'll look forward to read more of Ling Ling ‘s work. 

slight spoilers

Literary fiction, translated from Swedish, it follows a young journalist Emelie, who decides to go camping in the countryside after suffering a burnout; she stumbles across a community, the Colony, of seven people living off the grid.

This was overall a very interesting read.

The narrative style was quite original, with a whimsical tone, surrealistic atmosphere, a chaotic pacing. The writing was quite good, the author’s rendering each character clearly, sometimes through diary entries. There was some beautiful turns of phrases throughout the story, punctuating some humorous, awkward and light hearted moments but also emotional and very hard ones to read (check the trigger warnings).

The book explored quite successfully various thematics on power, manipulation, social conformity, isolation, community, misogyny, patriarchy, capitalism, agency.

So pacing wise, as I said this was chaotic. It was more character driven than I first expected. Each member of the Colony had multiple flashbacks. There were interesting, in that they humanised the colony by fleshing them out as complete and complex human beings, with negative and positive traits, the horrible and joyful events they experienced .

However it felt a bit too long at times and the plot in the present moved a bit too quickly especially regarding how each member of the colony ended up. Some conflicts were resolved too quickly and some of the character’s problems brushed off too quickly.

I was surprised that Emelie never feel like the main character, more like the catalyst to frame the story and make the plot evolve. I wanted to see more of her story especially how she ended up.

Overall an engaging first novel by this author and I’ll be on the look out for the for her next books.

4.25 stars

Speculative literary mystery following Noor a psychologist at Nepenthe, a clinic specialising in removing memories that is in a middle of a scandal as they are offering to bring back the deleted memories, also showing the lives of several characters who are connected to this procedure.

This was such a good read ! The writing was pretty good and I really liked the themes developed in this, tackling on identity, memories, grief, PTSD, relationships, choice, morality, mental health.

This was marked as dystopian and sci-fi, but those parts felt anecdotal for me. It felt more like a character study, not delving too much into the medical/scientific world building but showing the character’s life and the impact of the procedure on their relationships and mental health.

The five points of view were more or less compelling to read, I definitely preferred some stories over others, because some felt a bit too long or didn’t impact me emotionally. Some mysteries weren’t totally wrapped up or characters didn’t get answers which I personally don’t mind that much because it felt realistic and suited the thematic narrative.

I loved how the author connected the points of view little by little. The way she also revealed what happened to the character felt organic and well written.

I had a bit of a problem with pacing as I said, and the main plot felt quite simple (maybe a bit too much?). Also some of the big reveals felt lacking and didn’t wow me, and some of the characters I wasn’t a fan of their storylines.

This was my first reading of Jo Harkin and I’m looking forward to read her recent book The Pretender from my physical tbr.

Historical fiction with elements of folklore, horror and mystery, following two characters in the Scottish countryside who meets as they discover the preserved body of a young woman in a peat bog: Lizzie, unhappily married to a man who has enlisted to fight in the First World War and Johnny a charming but secretive wandering singer/farm hand.

So I read it quite quickly, intrigued on how the story would evolve, and though I wasn’t completely satisfied, I felt this was a good debut.

The writing was pretty good. I love how distinct Lizzie’s chapters was compared to Johnny’s, the latter having more Scottish vernacular that showed his personality and social status. There were some lovely descriptions of the Scottish countryside, the dreary atmosphere and harsh conditions of farm work.

The main characters they felt fully fleshed out, each having positive and negative traits.

Pacing wise, the story felt fast paced at time and the flashbacks were really well placed, but some parts felt too slow and superfluous, with a lack of tension and conflict in the scenes between characters, when they confronted each other and things were being resolved too quickly.

Lizzy and Johnny’s romantic relationship arc also felt a bit rushed for the amount of time they spent together.

Despite being tagged as horror, there wasn’t really some truly frightening or supernatural moments. Plus the mystery of the bog woman ended up not being central to the plot, basically a sort of Macguffin so that the two main characters would meet and for the authors to present her themes. Other mysteries were explored, some were interesting and others not, but all arrived a bit too late in the story.

Interesting thematics were developed throughout the story like social expectations and pressure, misogyny, toxic masculinity, women’s lack of agency and their voice being silenced, privileges of rich people, the power of tales and superstitions, the generational trauma of war and violence etc etc.

Despite those shortcomings, this was a solid debut and I’ll keep an eye for this author’s future releases.