Nollaig

Anything under a few hundred ratings gives you a biased rating. A chunk of those 28 are going to be friends of the author or people who are reviewing it for the author/publisher and are up-rating to be nice. I've found a couple of duds that way too, and would never again pick up a book with less than a couple hundred ratings unless someone I knew told me it was good. Congrats on finishing it though hahaha!

#57 The Man from Primrose Lane - James Renner* *The weirdest review I've ever written Genre: Fiction/Thriller Synopsis: In West Akron, there lived a reclusive elderly man who always wore mittens, even in July. He had no friends and no family; all over town, he was known only as the Man from Primrose Lane. And on a summer day in 2008, someone murdered him. Four years later, David Neff is a broken man. The bestselling author of a true-crime book about an Ohio serial killer, Neff went into exile after his wife’s inexplicable suicide. That is, until an unexpected visit from an old friend introduces him to the strange mystery of “the man with a thousand mittens.” Soon Neff finds himself drawn back into a world he thought he had left behind forever. But the closer he gets to uncovering the true identity of the Man from Primrose Lane, the more he begins to understand the dangerous power of his own obsessions and how they may be connected to the deaths of both his beloved wife and the old hermit. *** Review: Erm. This book is.... difficult to review, and not just because I don't want to spoil it, but because I'm not sure if it should actually be spoiled. Most of this review is not going to be about the actual book, but about why it's a difficult one to recommend or choose to pick up. So, there is a facet of this book which divides readers greatly. There are two camps - those who know said facet going in, like myself, and those who have no clue. The former seem more able to guess the twists - I certainly was, and I wound up feeling like the book was too long, overwritten, and took way too much time to introduce the facet I knew was coming. The latter have no idea what to expect, and they get caught up in the initial facet they are presented with, only to be absolutely gutted that what was a great book up to that point stopped being as good. I think the opposite - I think it only hit it's stride when said facet was introduced. A lot of people come away from this book very confused, not sure what they've just read, and others feel betrayed by the additional facet. So it seems there's really no winning with this book, and that's why I'm giving it four stars. I did love it, I loved the concept, the writing was great, the characters were great, the additional facet was superb, if a little overwritten and granted the ending was a tad underwhelming, but overall a very enjoyable read, let down by the fact that regardless of whether you know what you're getting or not, only a very small portion of people are going to be happy with the entire novel. Rating: ★★★★✰ (I loved it)

Hope you enjoy them if/when you get to them!

Thanks! And yep, I think it's out in September

#56 The Wrong Train - Jeremy De Quidt Genre: Childrens/Horror Synopsis: It’s late. Dark. A boy rushes to catch a train, leaping aboard just before it pulls away. Suddenly he realises that it’s the wrong train. He’s annoyed, of course, but not scared. . . . Yet. He gets off at the next station, but the platform’s empty, and it doesn’t look like any station he’s seen before. But he’s still not scared. . . . Yet. Then a stranger arrives - someone with stories to help pass the time. Only these aren’t any old stories. These are nightmares, and they come with a price to pay. . . . Scared yet? You will be. *** Review: I was (very kindly) sent a proof copy of this (with no request for a review) from the author, simply because I enjoyed one of his previous books and was apparently 'lovely' about it! I was thrilled, as the one I read (The Toymaker) is indeed an excellent, scary book and I was hoping for more of the same from this one. I will preface this with - I'm not a fan of short stories, generally speaking. Any time I read a collection of them, I come away with very mixed feelings, because I love some, like some, and dislike some, and I never know how to sum up the book. Bearing that in mind - this is a collection of 8 short scary stories linked together (quite loosely) by a broader narrative. But I actually thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't think there were any stories in this book which I actually disliked; my feelings ranged from 'like' to 'love'. True to his previous work this is a very dark book for younger readers - I wouldn't hand this to a child under 11/12 without being sure they could handle it. But I think that's brilliant! I wish there had been stuff this scary around when I was a kid. That said, this will creep adults out, too. Most of the stories feature a fairly standard horror trope - lights going out, creepy old mansion, haunted/cursed places/objects etc. But De Quidt puts a great spin on them. The second story in particular, read at 1am in the (mostly) dark, which was about a security light repeatedly turning on without electricity, took a turn I did not expect, and left me with as many nerves about lights switched ON, as off! Another favourite was Dead Molly, but I honestly liked them all. The first one was pretty brutal. It wasn't so much creepy as shocking, and it probably disturbed me more than any of the others. The writing is great, as I expected; not pandering to younger readers any more with easy words than with easy content. The only reason I am knocking off a star is because I would have liked more depth to the narrative linking everything together. This would have worked just as well as a collection of short stories without it. All the same, I wouldn't let that put anyone off reading this, it's well worth it. Rating: ★★★★✰ (I loved it)

Almost finished The Man From Primrose Lane. It's really good, but it is waaaaaay too long. Took far too long playing around in one genre before snapping into another (which I knew it was going to do, so maybe knowing that made the first two thirds seem too drawn out).

Glad you enjoyed Room. It's been a while since I read it, but I remember liking it.

That's very possible. I read an article here about how RTE (Irish news channel) didn't mention it being a gay club (because god forbid you say anything about 'the gays' on RTE) and on Sky News (British news channel) a gay journo stormed out of a newspaper review when the other two with him kept basically qualifying his statements by adding that 'well it's about human beings isn't it' and the like, downplaying the LGBT aspect of it. He eventually stormed off. I think he reacted badly, but his point was a good one. All he said was 'we have to recognize this as an attack on the LGBT community' and the other two literally went, 'so you're saying this is a worse attack than the one in Paris, because it's against LGBT people?' It was crazy.

It is, but it's important to recognize the targets of it. Particularly in America, being gay is still a serious issue in places (as in many many other countries), and I think for the LGBT community to see the fact of their community as targets being brushed aside as irrelevant, is tough. I didn't realise myself how tough until I started reading articles written by members of the LGBT community talking about how it's already difficult for them to find safe spaces, without an attack like this magnifying the fear. But yeah, the whole thing is just senseless and heartbreaking.

I still believe it was a hate crime more so than a religious terror attack, but I have no facts to back up that claim, only a general feeling I've gotten from reading a bunch of stuff, so I'm not saying any more about it other than that it definitely needs to be recognised as a hate crime in addition to whatever else it might have been. ETA: Posted at the same time as Anna!

And also in the fact that it was a gay club. Which is getting omitted as noteworthy, disgracefully, absolutely everywhere. It was a hate crime, targeting the LGBT community, whatever the reasons for that were.

Fair enough. I was just commenting on what I know rather than speculating about things I do not know.

I'm not commenting on that aspect, as I've seen mentions of his not being particularly religious, and it being a homophobic hate crime (apparently he was repulsed by seeing two men kissing a few months earlier?) moreso than driven by religion.... though it could be a mix of both things. I really don't know, I haven't read enough about it. I've just seen a lot of people talking about how everyone is assuming it's purely a religiously driven attack, as opposed to an attack on the LGBT community. There was some interesting reporting on Sky News about that, actually. I do know there would be fewer gun-related deaths if there were regulations in place like in many other countries, so that's the aspect I'm commenting on.

Very cloudy, but still muggy. Showers of rain. My office is amazingly cool today, though. My left arm is freezing. It's glorious.

Yeah, I completely get that and do agree. I just think equality of rights between genders and races in things like voting and occupation of public spaces doesn't compare to the right to arm yourself with extreme firepower without any questions. That's a sense of entitlement gone too far. (Not suggesting you disagree, just clarifying my view. Hope I don't come across as ignorant!!)

It took me so long to finally write a review of Hex! Every time I tried I just couldn't put any real thoughts together beyond "I enjoyed it".

I honestly love living in a country where it's not at all common or easy for people to have guns. Apart from gangland/drug related shootings, its very rare for guns to be the cause of death for anyone, particularly innocent bystanders. We have a ton of other problems (drink driving, high suicide rates etc) but at least (as a non-driver!) it's not anything likely to get me killed if I go to a club or walk down the street at night etc. *hugs Ireland* Something definitely needs to be done about the level of accessibility to guns in the States. I've no problem with responsible people owning them, but the uproar whenever regulation is mentioned is crazy. How could anyone, who is a legit responsible gun-owner, NOT feel protected by the idea of things like background checks, licences etc, as Obama says, like with driving. I just don't understand the paranoia that makes people think everything is about attacking their rights over there.

I finished The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge, which I did enjoy, but it was a lot flatter than the other two books I've read by her. Started The Man From Primrose Lane by James Renner, and I'm really enjoying it so far. One of the early chapters tells a story about a robot which, in itself, is a better short story than many I've read in short story collections I'm also teetering on the edge of A Little Life and considering taking the plunge.

I'm actually so jealous that you can read the original Dutch version! I'd love to be able to read it.

And the shooting was in a gay club. In a situation where, if I'm reading everything correctly, gay men are severely limited in their ability to donate blood. You know, to the gay people who were just victims of a mass shooting. I hate this world, sometimes. I'm also going to miss Obama.

Oooh thanks Onion Budgie, I just looked that up and it sounds cool! I may have just grabbed it for my tablet

Eugh, that's horrible. Hope you feel better. That feeling of not liking a book but wanting to finish/know what happens is the bane of my reading life! The crap I read sometimes just to get to the end Day 1: The Butterfly Garden - Dot Hutchison (61 pages) Day 2: The Butterfly Garden (136 pages) Day 3: To Be Or Not To Be - A Chooseable Path Adventure - Ryan North (47) 67 pages of The Butterfly Garden 104 pages of The Lie Tree - Frances Hardinge Day 4: 306 pages of The Lie Tree That's terribly laid out, but the point is: Total pages: 721 Total books (complete reading): 2 Total books (inc. part read): 3 Pretty happy with that!

Not gonna review this one properly, but for the sake of not confusing myself with my numbering again. #55 The Deadly Space Between - Patricia Duncker Basically it's about a guy with a bit of an Oedipus complex who is way too close to his mother, and then becomes obsessed with a creepy-as-all-hell weirdo she starts seeing. It starts off kinda weird and then just gets bad. Found it on a list of disturbing books. Wasn't disturbing, just senseless as far as I could see. Rating: Boo-urns.

#54 Hex - Thomas Olde Heuvelt Genre: Horror/Ghost Story Synopsis: Whoever is born here, is doomed to stay 'til death. Whoever settles, never leaves. Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a 17th century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Muzzled, she walks the streets and enters your homes at will. She stands next to your bed for nights on end. Everybody knows that her eyes may never be opened.The elders of Black Spring have virtually quarantined the town by using high-tech surveillance to prevent their curse from spreading. Frustrated with being kept in lockdown, the town's teenagers decide to break their strict regulations and go viral with the haunting, but in so doing send the town spiraling into the dark, medieval practices of the past. *** Review: I was so sure for so much of this novel that it was going to turn out to be a five star read, but unfortunately the ending let it down (for me). Not mentioned in the synopsis is that this novel was originally written in Dutch, and not only translated into English, but Americanized - moving the setting to America, changing names etc. The author did this to make the experience of reading the novel more relate-able to international readers - rather than it being a quirky Dutch story, it would be something that could happen in their own little towns. I wonder, a little, if this change is what made the ending not work for me. I'm getting a little ahead of myself though. This is, even translated, an extremely well written novel. Traditional ghost stories tend to rely on their lack of modernity - lack of electricity, phones going dead, being cut off from the world. Modern ghost stories occasionally revolve entirely around the use of modern devices, like the Paranormal Activity films. They're not great films, but the idea is the scary stuff is what's picked up on the devices. This book places modern life and technology into a traditional setting, and focuses on a younger, modern generation challenges the traditions of old. It's really quite a unique setup, and although there are quite a few classic horror tropes in here, they're well written enough to be genuinely spooky. Not a few times I was reminded of Salem's Lot, probably the only other horror story I've read where an entire community is built up and credibly portrayed in one book. At the same time, the idea of this ghost town with intricate surveillance of an ancient ghost layered on top of that community requires a hell of a lot of suspension of disbelief, and there were a few occasions where that nagged me. All the same, the vast majority of this book is spooky, immersive and wholly successful in what (I thought) it tries to do. The end, however. The end. Hm. I can definitely see a lot of people liking it, but it seemed to become a little bit stream-of-consciousness and a little bit metaphorical, and it honestly lost me a bit. I know what was literally happening, but any messages or morals the author was trying to convey were probably largely lost on me, because I didn't realise for most of the book that that was what he was building to. I wound up skimming the last 20 or 30 pages, so that was a bit of a disappointing end to something that would otherwise probably have gotten 5 stars. I still highly recommend it for an excellent creepy read, though. Rating: ★★★★✰ (I loved it)

#53 Year of Wonders - Geraldine Brooks Genre: Historical Fiction Synopsis: When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders." Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. *** Review: If I was still doing half marks, I definitely would have given this novel 4.5 stars. It was so close to being 5 - but there were a few little niggles that prevent me from honestly saying I enjoyed this to the extent of other books I've rated 5 stars. First off I have to say that the writing is beautiful in this novel. It's one of those books where, after reading a few chapters, you can relax into the knowledge that even if you're not entirely crazy about whatever happens, it will at least be a genuinely pleasurable reading experience. I've read a lot of duds lately, and this one really reminded me that there are genuinely excellent books out there. And also that I love historical fiction; I've really got to read more of it. As for the plot, I'm fascinated by how much of this is based in actual history. Several of the names of actual victims of the Plague in this little English town have been used, or slightly reworked, as well as some of the facts about the historical event. I found this really fascinating, and am actually now interested to go visit the little town whose claim to fame, somewhat unfortunately, is the Plague. It is however, also the story of a congregation who chose to limit the spread of the disease as much as possible, and it is the horror of the disease, versus the natural fear of it and instinct to run, versus moral duty, that makes this a heart-wrenching and compelling novel. Place all of the above in the context of a very superstitious and religious community, and you get a really fascinating insight to the religious and social life of long ago, Amidst the terrifyingly rapid spread of an incurable disease is the chaos of witch hunting, deadly mobs, and the attempts of a brave few to maintain order in the face of their society crumbling. Thinking about it now, this is an incredibly multi-faceted novel which is extremely well constructed. So what are the niggles? Well, the two biggest ones are two events at the end - one completely unnecessary destruction of a good character, and the epilogue. Both completely unnecessary, and after having immersed myself in what had been such a wonderful, if searing, read, it wasn't fun to be skimming pages going 'wtf?' towards the end. All the same, highly, HIGHLY recommend this novel. Rating: ★★★★✰ (I loved it)