Adeline

Dark fiction collection translated from Argentine Spanish, the author portrays Argentine society throughout twelve different stories, with shades of gothic horror and magical realism. This was my first Mariana Enriquez book, and overall a very interesting collection. I liked how she showed Argentine with its haunted past, the dark underbelly of its society, how women are at the center of her stories, how complex and real these characters were, flawed yet still compelling. She explored various themes like violence against women, corruption and gaslighting, using it as a social critique. All the stories were dark and bleak in tone, some veering into supernatural horror but always based on a real world showing the worst of humanity, the victims of social and historical negligence. The stories were all quite short and most had abrupt ending, while it worked for some, it didn’t for others. As it’s the case in that format of literature, my personal enjoyment differed from story to story. - The dirty kid 4.25 - The inn 3.75 - The intoxicated years 4 - Adela’s House 4.5 - An invocation of the big-eared runt 4 - Spiderweb 4 - End of term 3.75 - No flesh over Our Bones 3.5 - The Neighbor’s Courtyard 4.5 - Under the Black Water 4.5 - Green Red Orange 3.5 - Things We Lost in the Fire 4.25

I really liked the translator’s note that added another layer of comprehension and context to these stories. I’ll definitely check out her other short story collections !

3.25 stars

Speculative mystery following Anisa, a Pakistani living as a subtitle translator in London who is invited by her boyfriend to a mysterious program that guarantees complete fluency in any language in just ten days.

So the positive aspects of this book first. I liked what the author had to say on racism, colonialism in society/relationships/culture, translation, language, cultural appropriation, privilege, memory, migration, patriarchy, misogyny etc. I won’t comment on the Muslim/Pakistani representation since I’m neither, so I’ll say to check out reviewers who can speak on that. I liked how the character looses herself more and more, both hating and loving the power giving to her yet still unsatisfied and unfulfilled.

I liked the open ending and how some things don’t have perfect answers like in real life. I liked how for most part we don’t know how the process works, so that ignorance and makes the atmosphere more sinister, augmenting the dread creeping in, making it a page turner in a frantic attempt to find the truth.

I’m not sure I found the main character compelling enough even as her faults/qualities were balanced, she sometimes grated me with her reactions and her flip flop emotions, which I don’t usually get with characters deemed unlikeable but I guess this was exacerbated by the other negative aspects of the book.

I felt sometimes her thematics wasn’t integrated well enough, like the character was more a mouthpiece for the author’s reflections than a character in her own right.

The writing was uneven, some passages felt a bit clunky, the dialogue stilted, immature, awkward. The pacing was also imperfect, time compressed for some interesting parts and too descriptive with superfluous details. I wished we had more scenes about the Center in the location itself and more gore/horror elements, but also about the act of translating/learning a language, both thematics were my favourites and I liked those parts of the books. I found other plots elements much less interesting (regarding various relationships) and sometimes baffling (like the inclusion of an ex-IOF soldier as a founder…*spoilers I get that the founders aren’t seen as positive figures but the main character reaction to that particular founder felt weird).

Overall this ended up being an underwhelming reading experience for me, great ideas with lacklustre execution.

Historical gothic horror taking place in 18th century Mexico where Alba, a young wealthy woman flees the plague and accompanies Carlos, her fiancée, to his silver mine in a remote mountain village, in order to save the fate of their upcoming marriage from her doubtful parent. She meets Elías, Carlos’ estranged cousin, a mysterious man of Spanish Arab descent, who arrived from Spain to pay his father’s debt as a refiner of silver and mercury. As Alba and Elias gravitate more and more towards each other, Alba starts to experience strange things beyond her usual sleepwalking ….

Oh this was an incredible banger of a book and definitely Isabel Cañas’ best work yet. Like her previous books, she delivered here an intense and engaging story with compelling characters and a stunning lush writing style.

Overall this was such a delicious and dark read, filled with a tense, creepy atmosphere thick with dread and paranoia, with some perfectly gory moments and horror tinted religious imagery that added so much depth to it. I loved how the author incorporated themes of independence, pro choice, body autonomy, patriarchy, freedom, religious zealotry/bigotry, colonialism/imperialism and greed. I wasn’t particularly surprised by most of the twists but the pacing was perfect and the tension was really well executed throughout the whole book. The last 100 pages were incredibly heart pounding to read and the ending was absolutely satisfying. The yearning, angst and tension between Alba and Elías was perfect and I loved reading both their points of view, as they were both complex characters, not total perfect angels but each with their own “flaws” and darkness. Even the couple of elements I liked less didn’t hurt my enjoyment of the story. This was such an incredible read and Isabel Cañas definitely became an auto buy author for me.

4.25 stars

Psychological mystery thriller following Margo a former nurse who works at a library after a series of accidents happened at her old workplace and Patricia, a newly hired employee who begins to suspect Margo isn’t what she claims to be.

This was such a page turning little book, a quick read that could be done in one sitting.

I liked how unhinged both characters were, fascinating to read them as compelling train wrecks, obsessed and blinded by their own selfish desires, ultimately psychotic characters playing a cat and mouse game of their own.

I liked reading both points of view where each character gave their version of the events, twisted by their own psychosis, aided by a good prose.

Pacing wise, this was a quick and tense read and I actually really liked the idea behind the ending though I felt a bit too rushed and underwhelming.

The side characters weren’t particularly essential to the plot and one literal reference was discussed but I wished it was explored more. I wished we had seen more of the main character’s past, and build more of relationship between Patricia and Margo.

Overall a short and fun popcorn of a story, perfect if you like unhinged and unlikeable characters moving inextricably towards a crash.

4.75 stars

Third and final book in the space opera series The Waystations trilogy, the different characters, old enemies and new allies, brace themselves for the final confrontation with the horrific curators that threaten to take over the universe.

What an incredible finale this was !!!

As with the previous book, the author did an incredible job with constructing an intense and page turning story filled with compelling characters and interesting world building. This was a non stop action adventure, though I won’t delve into explaining more to avoid spoilers.

There were a couple of elements I thought were a bit too rushed or not explored enough so I knocked off a few points but overall the final chapter in this story had such a great ending, the characters arcs and their relationships were perfectly completed.

A great space opera trilogy that I sincerely enjoyed and recommend to anyone looking for a new series to read.

3.75 stars

Mystery thriller following Anna a newsreader who has to cover a murder in her childhood village and Jack, her ex-husband and detective in charge of investigating the case, who is suspicious of Anna and might be actually involved himself.

A mixed reading experience for my third book by this author.

The writing was good and I liked the different point of views.

The characters were enough compelling to read in a train wreck and unlikeable sort of way.

I wasn’t totally surprised by the final reveal as I suspected it earlier in the book but I did like it.

Unfortunately half of the red herrings presented didn’t landed successfully for me, and sometimes were even annoying. Also pacing wise I felt the story was loosing its steam after the middle of the book so I did like how in the final part the action picks up but all of it left me a bit underwhelmed.

Even if I wasn’t totally convinced by this story, I’ll probably check out Alice Feeney other works in the future and the upcoming adaptation of this particular book.

Historical fiction reimagining the life of the daughter of the iconic British warrior Boudicca who rebelled against the Roman Empire during Nero’s reign.

I don’t know what Elodie Harper puts into this particular book that made me devour all 472 pages in 24 hours.

Like her previous books, The Wolf Den trilogy, one of my favourite series of all time, she has such an incredible voice that makes History feel so vivid and emotional to read about.

Her characters are all so compelling, complex and real and I loved Solina whose is at the heart of this story, her resilience and strength were truly inspiring to read about. I also loved the other points of view which gave a more rounded and interesting perspective on the historical events.

Because this was a single volume, events were sometimes too compressed and I wished the story would have been lengthened into two volumes, still emotionally it still made me feel so many things.

Overall an incredible read that I absolutely inhaled, forgive me for this is a quick review, I just had to get it off my chest. I can’t wait to see what other stories will Elodie Harper tell in the future.

Literary historical novel told as a museum exhibit, it follows the life of Kitty, an American woman from her birth at the beginning of the 20th century to her death just before the other millennium.

This was such a quirky little book ! I read it in one sitting and it quite a page turning fast paced biographical story.

This explores not only the life of a woman in the early 20th century woman’s life but also how she was viewed by her entourage, exploring themes of social expectations, patriarchy, beauty standards, family, objectification of women, etc with a nuanced and tender portrayal of the main character that came across as quirky but not without depth.

The plot being light and straightforward, the main attraction of this book for me as an ex-student of art history was the narrative style made of essentially museum explanation cards (with a few passages written like a traditional novel).

The author did such a great job infusing artistic and academic vocabulary and writing into a biographical story.

I also liked the surrealist atmosphere of the story that was exacerbated by that particular narrative style.

While there was no illustrations (maybe because of copyright laws?), I would have liked to see some, as to make the reading experience even more like a museum catalogue.

Overall a quick and quirky book, a traditional story told throughout a very creative narrative style.

4 stars * slight spoilers

Fourth book in the Saint of Steel quadrilogy, a Romantic high fantasy mystery, it follows Shane another Paladin that accompanies as a bodyguard to Marguerite a spy fleeing from her former employer and trying to find an artificier whose invention might bring an economic revolution.

So this book in the quadrilogy was quite good though not exceptional and not my favourite from this series.

As always T. Kingfisher created exceptional world building, compelling characters with an gaging prose that made this a page turner of a book.

The plot in this book involved spying and cult which as a premise really interested me.

I actually liked the first part of the book but the second part was a bit underwhelming for me. Subplots and side characters that I was interested in during that first part didn’t really come to play in the second. Also the subplots (the cult and the demon) from the second part felt too rushed, and while interesting overall the story lacked tension and I wished the atmosphere was a bit more horror like. I also wished we had seen more really spying in action.

The romance was also a bit underwhelming in its development, especially in that second part was also rushed.

I feel the author wanted to tackle a lot of aspects but it didn’t feel fully formed. Maybe adding more pages or shaving off subplots might have made this more impactful.

I really liked the epilogue and the fate of a certain side character but I wished we had seen more of them throughout the story so that it would have impacted me more. That being said I would love to see another book about that character or even others in that world following what happened after book three of the series.

Overall an imperfect yet entertaining fourth book, but the series was definitely worth reading and I enjoyed it as a whole. I’m looking forward to reading more works by T. Kingfisher.

4 stars

*spoilers

Literary fiction following Edie, a young black woman who starts an affair with Eric, a middle aged white man, and her subsequent meetings with Eric’s wife Rebecca and their adopted black daughter Akila.

This was truly a character driven novel that explored the life of a black woman in the US.

I really liked the writing which was lush and evocative. There was a frantic pace in the writing, a stream of consciousness that parallels the main character’s personal and professional situations.

Other reviewers described the tone as cold and detached but personally I’ve found it more like burning hot, as you feel the desperation of Edie to exist, to feel, to be seen, to be remembered, the overwhelming sense of her desires and fears, her sadistic/masochist tendencies all exacerbated with the particular writing style full of the long sentences, lack of punctuation, particular vocabulary.

I really loved the New York setting and it made me want to go back there one day.

Unfortunately the pacing felt off, especially the ending part taking place at Comic Con and it’s aftermath, like the ending of her relationship with Eric felt too rushed. Also those scenes with Eric were less interesting too me as I actually preferred her scenes with Rebecca and Akila and I wished we had seen more of them, especially Akila. I also really liked the scenes about Edie’s artistic endeavours and her love for painting.

I absolutely loved the ending that really brought into a sharp, final focus what the whole story was about.

4 stars

Japanese translated literary fiction following Keiko, a young woman who’s whole life revolves around her job as a convenience store clerk.

As always Japanese fiction excels in portraying real life and its simplicity/ complexity, beauty/ugliness in a realistic and unadorned way. I just love how ‘slice of life’ fiction allows to explore and talk truthfully and profoundly about ourselves and our society. Here the author broaches into themes on social expectations, misogyny, patriarchy, gender equality and work culture.

I read that autistic /on the spectrum people have drawn parallels between their experience and the main character’s. I personally never been diagnosed as neurodivergent so I’m not sure how accurate or unproblematic it was. I agreed with some of her observations and felt empathy towards her. While not everything she did resonated with me but it was certainly eye opening and compelling to read.

The tone was definitely quirky and offbeat, I didn’t feel 100% connected to the story or the characters, something was missing for me. Still the pace was fast and the book short, so this was definitely a page turner, a digestible story readable in one sitting.

I would totally see an Japanese adaptation (film or mini series) for this.

Overall this was a cute quirky fast read, though it wasn’t utterly transcendent experience for me.

4.25 stars

Literary fiction with element of horror and Shakespeare’s King Lear set in dystopian world full of weird cults and never ending rainfalls, it follows three estranged sisters, Isla, Irene and (born from a second marriage) Agnes after the death of their father.

My second book by Julia Armfiled and overall this was a really good reading experience. Like the previous novel I read, her writing is superb, lush and evocative, every sentence carefully crafted and chosen.

I really liked the three main characters and they all came across as compelling and complex, and I especially loved their sapphicness.

I also loved the dystopian setting and the overall feeling of an impeding doom that slips slowly through the page like humidity, the inevitability of it all. Cli(mate)-fiction is a sub genre of dystopia/sci-fi that I tend to like and would love to delve into more.

It felt light on plot I think the whole cult mentioned in the synopsis wasn’t as prevalent as I thought and came too late into the story, so it had less of an impact and felt rushed. I was a bit disappointed because it was a really interesting element that increased the overall horror vibe of the novel. Because of that the pacing felt a bit off too, though I really liked the ending that felt appropriately bittersweet.

Overall,quite a good novel but one that didn’t totally meet my expectations, still I’m looking forward to read more of Julia Armfield’s other books (I’ve got her short stories collection Salt Slow in my physical tbr).

4.5 stars

Contemporary literary fiction about Mickey, a kindergarten teacher struggling with an alcohol addiction, is made to attend therapy as a condition to inherit a fortune from her estranged and recently deceased father, unaware that her psychologist is her half sister Arlo who has been cut off from the will.

This novel by Morgan Dick was such a great debut, I devoured this in day !

The writing was really great with the right mix of humour and emotional sensitivity.

I really liked the two main characters, who despite their flaws and questionable actions still had enough qualities and self awareness to make me care about them and root for them. I loved how each of their point of views was unique but also had some similarities in their thoughts during certain scenes.

The side characters were also well drawn out and a couple I couldn’t help but dislike.

I love how the author tackled the themes of family, grief, mental health, addiction, therapy, inheritance, forgiveness and gaslighting.

The pacing was overall really good, and I really liked the ending which felt rightfully optimistic without being too cheesy.

There’s a couple of minor elements I wasn’t a fan of, like some plot elements were resolved a bit quickly or brushed off and some stuff I wanted to see more developed.

Ultimately this was an incredible debut and I’m looking forward to see Morgan Dick’s future works.

4.25 stars

Historical paranormal horror mystery set after World War 1, it follows Kitty a young runway who falsely claims to be a nurse and arrives into a mental institution set in a private estate where strange things are happening.

This is the second book by Simone St James that I’m reading and I have to say I’ve definitely preferred this to the previous one I read.

The atmosphere here was gothic and eerie, with some nice imagery, through the horror wasn’t really gory or disturbing so I wasn’t really creeped out most of the time. I really liked the setting of the mansion and the historical elements were perfectly rendered.

The writing style is as her other book good but not incredible, though I found it much more engaging.

For this book, the pacing was well executed, which made for a good page turner and I really liked how the story was resolved.

I loved the main character Kitty, who was compelling to read, her strength and will to survived were inspiring and I was really rooting for her. The side characters were also interesting and well written.

I mostly liked the romantic subplot though I felt it moved a bit too quickly, alongside other minor plot elements and character arcs.

Overall a positive reading experience for this particular book by Simone St James and I’m looking forward to read two other books I bought by her.

Literary gothic horror mystery translated from Swedish, following Rafa a young woman who goes working with eight other seasonal workers in a desolate hotel in the mountains.

This was…an interesting reading experience.

This was really a slow burn, all vibes no plot, (no character arc actually) kind of story.

The writing style was very hypnotic, lush and gothic, like a dark fairytale. Because the writing was very descriptive and with lots of surrealistic imagery and metaphors, the atmosphere felt oppressive, like a fever dream. For most part I liked that atmosphere but the story became less interesting as pages went by, sometimes overwritten, not helped by the lack of plot or character arc.

Also some sentences were a bit clunky, but I’m unsure if it was in the original writing or because of the translation. I did like the use of the “we” pronouns that strengthen that eerie, strange atmosphere.

The characters were not totally compelling or fully fleshed out people but I did like the girlhood they created in their circumstances.

Because the location and period was vague, it felt like an out of time story, simultaneously historical and dystopian.

I liked how the author tackled the theme of feminicide, girlhood, social expectations and patriarchy though I felt it was not developed enough.

I also liked the uncertainty, unanswered questions and open ending.

Not a perfect reading experience but thankfully it was a quick novel that could be read in one sitting.

Literary fiction translated from Swedish, follows a Swedish writer on holiday in Spain who encounters a local man, discovering his weird past that involves meeting a maimed nun.

My first book by Lina Wolff this was overall a good reading experience. I wasn’t expecting the atmosphere to be that surreal, absurd and twisted, with a melodramatic and slight darkly humorous tone to it. The writing was sharp and evocative with some beautiful turn of phrases.

The characters were compelling to read but in a train wrecks and unlikeable sort of way. We follow three points of view but the way it was written made the pacing quite chaotic with some parts that felt a bit long and others too short. Despite that it kind of parallel what life is essentially and it still felt like a page turner though I don’t really saw any horror or mystery tension

The author approached various themes throughout this book like good/evil, actions/consequences, punishment/retribution, repentance, lust for life, morality, repression, nihilism, illness, social media and television as a tool etc etc

Despite that there was something lacking for me (not caring for the characters, not enough emotional pull? ), and the pacing wasn’t my favourite thing because it took me a bit out of the story so I had to knock down a star.

Overall a good book and I’m looking forward to read her next book on my physical tbr.

4.75 stars

Literary fiction translated from Danish, follow a group of five university friends reuniting for a summer holiday at a lakeside cabin in the Danish countryside.

I actually devoured this gorgeous in a day ! The translated writing was gorgeous, I loved the atmosphere in it, the lush, sultry and queer feel of it was delicious, the author painted such a vivid picture of a series of hot and sensual moments in a summer lake house.

Light on plot this felt definitely like a character centric story with an omniscient 3rd pov.We don’t see one of the central character inner feelings which I would have liked to see and I would have liked to hear from some of the characters. I liked all of the characters, who felt like real human beings with complex feelings, negative and positive traits. Throughout the book some characters show changes while others don’t, and it made for a realistic story.

The author did a great job interweaving various themes on sexuality, gender, feminism, (in)dependency, platonic/sexual relationships, queerness etc and I liked what she had to say on these subjects.

It has an open abrupt ending and some subplots weren’t 100% resolved or resolved too quickly. With the type of story this book told it didn’t bother me much but this added to a couple of elements kept me from giving this a full 5 stars.

Overall a really incredible debut I’ll be looking forward to read more books by Linea Maja Ernst.

Historical fiction taking place on a remote Scottish island in the 1840s where a young church minister John is sent to evict its only inhabitant a man called Ivar, and despite their lack of common language form a bond while John’s wife Mary waits for him to come back to the mainland.

This was a lovely little story, a novella really that is readable in one setting.

The writing was good, straightforward and evocative the author did a great job describing the atmosphere of the Scottish island and its landscape, the harsh life of Ivar on this desolated land.

Pacing wise, the story felt a bit short for me and I wished we had spent more time in establishing the relation between John and Ivar. While the relationship felt wholesome , especially the queerness of it, it was but a bit too rushed for my taste and I didn’t feel completely emotionally connected to it.

There were several flashbacks and scenes some involving John’s wife on the mainland that while interesting in fleshing out the characters and the story, I think I would have preferred them in a longer novel. Here there seem to distract me from the main story. The ending felt a bit rushed too.

I really liked all the characters and how they ended up at the end of the story, especially their easy acceptance of each other. The fascination for language and translation was also a lovely theme added to this story’s other themes of love and acceptance.

Overall, though not perfect, this was a great tender little story with great prose and lovely characters.

4.25

Mystery thriller following Adam, a man who after the death of this wife devices to continue her in investigation into the death of several young women.

My first book by Ronald Malfi, this was overall a good reading experience.

I really liked the writing style, with its mix of 1st/2nd point of view and atmospheric tone, it felt darkly hypnotic and longing. I also liked how metaphorical the text felt with the use of horror/paranormal imagery to talk about grief, trauma, violence against women etc

The main character was compelling though a touch bland, while most of the side characters were interesting themselves.

The plot and mystery itself was intriguing and I liked how the author kept us guessing until the end.

This definitely was a slow burn, I liked this pace for most part of the book but it felt cumbersome at the end, which made the tension lacking, adding to the fact that to me some scenes and moments felt a bit superfluous.

Overall a good mystery that felt a bit too long but I’ll definitely check out Ronald Malfi’s other books.

4.75 stars

Mystery set in a British seaside town, where Adam, after his wild and hedonistic youth, settles as a goldsmith trying to find a more stability and to be near his young son. While mysterious and tragic events occurs at his work place, he meets a potential client, a young writer named Ophelia who has her own loneliness and struggles. As the strange occurrences are being investigated by a local Detective inspector, both Adam and Ophelia’s lives becomes increasingly intertwined.

This is Bonnie Burke-Patel’s sophomore novel and I’ve got to say this was another great read.

Like her first novel, her writing is lush and evocative, perfectly rendering the seaside city and its wild climate, with an eerie and gothic atmosphere .

As always her characters are compelling, complex characters and even the antagonists come off as real human beings and not mustache twirling Villains. I loved how her characters would weave relationships with each other without words, the author found a great job of showing feelings and acts with a minimal but impactful prose.

The pacing was just right and this was such a page turner with plenty of twists, so I inhaled it in a day. The last 30 pages felt both intense yet so emotional.

I loved how the author approached various themes of family, love, parenthood, trauma, secrets, loneliness…

Some tiny elements I wasn’t sure about the weaving of a fairy tale like stories into the main story which at times felt a bit redundant and distracting to me? I liked the dark undertones of it, but I guess not every part made an impact on me.

An other incredible story by Bonnie Burke-Patel, I’ll definitely look forward to seeing more of her work in the future.

4.5 stars * spoilers

Third book in the Saint of Steel quadrilogy, a Romantic high fantasy mystery, it follows another Paladin, Galen who alongside Piper a forensic doctor investigate mysterious mangled corpses that were discovered in their city by a gnole (animal like) constable, taking the three into a mysterious mansion

I loved this third book !! Like the previous entries in that world, the author did such a great job with the world building, constructing a fun and interesting mystery but also developing a non cringy romantic pairing, this type between two gay men.

I loved the main characters like the previous books, they both are well written, with their own struggles and strengths, not perfect and I especially loved their empathy towards each other and towards other people.

Unlike the previous book which I struggled with, the pacing in this one was so much better, a real page turning mystery without dragging it too much. I loved the underground maze like setting with booby traps that the characters are thrown into.

There were a couple of elements I wasn’t a fan of in regards to the plot or the relationship so that’s why I knocked half a star.

I’m looking forward to read the next and last entry in this wonderful series.

Horror mystery set in New York ravaged by the Covid pandemic and mysterious anti-east Asian racist murders, following Cora a mixed White-Chinese American who works as a crime scene cleaner and is haunted by the hungry ghost of her recently murdered half sister.

This was such an incredible read.

The author’s style was lush and poetic with some great imagery.

The horror moments were really were written and properly gory, and the other non horror scenes sometimes had me gagging in disgust (like there’s a scene with wet hair that’s yucky to me).

I loved the themes of family, supernatural, racism, grief, mental health, media manipulation and police corruption.

I liked the main character, some might find her weak willed but she definitely grew as a character and you can’t help but feel for her. I loved especially the relationship she created with her coworkers.

The main mystery itself was interesting and I liked how it was the supernatural parts were interwoven together, but I wish it was paced a bit better. Some scenes felt a bit superfluous too.

Overall an incredibly well executed horror story that deals with supernatural and real monstrosities.

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.