I don't think I'm really Rachel Harrison's target audience, but I really enjoyed these stories. My only complaint is that there weren't more. This colI don't think I'm really Rachel Harrison's target audience, but I really enjoyed these stories. My only complaint is that there weren't more. This collection is only four short stories and comes in at a little over 100 pages (kudos to the author and publisher for charging appropriately for a short book). Harrison is an author who seems to get better with each new book she puts out.
I'm not really sure what I'd classify these stories as... there are hints of horror and fantasy, but mostly they're about the main characters who have some unusual things happening.
I'd recommend this collection if you're wanting to get a preview of Rachel Harrison's writing, but don't want to commit to a full novel. I've read The Return and Cackle, and liked both. My personal ranking would be: 1)Cackle (4 stars) 2)Bad Dolls (4 stars) 3)The Return (3 stars)
Merged review:
I don't think I'm really Rachel Harrison's target audience, but I really enjoyed these stories. My only complaint is that there weren't more. This collection is only four short stories and comes in at a little over 100 pages (kudos to the author and publisher for charging appropriately for a short book). Harrison is an author who seems to get better with each new book she puts out.
I'm not really sure what I'd classify these stories as... there are hints of horror and fantasy, but mostly they're about the main characters who have some unusual things happening.
I'd recommend this collection if you're wanting to get a preview of Rachel Harrison's writing, but don't want to commit to a full novel. I've read The Return and Cackle, and liked both. My personal ranking would be: 1)Cackle (4 stars) 2)Bad Dolls (4 stars) 3)The Return (3 stars)...more
Thank God I"m finally done; I've been trying to finish this story collection for almost a year. They were well written and nothing was actually bad baThank God I"m finally done; I've been trying to finish this story collection for almost a year. They were well written and nothing was actually bad bad, but I just couldn't get into them. If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be pretentious. The stories all felt a little too full of themselves and I don't think any of them had any kind of resolution or satisfying conclusion....more
I really don't know how to rate this one. In all honesty, I really didn't like it for the first 75% and almost gave up multiple times. I figured out tI really don't know how to rate this one. In all honesty, I really didn't like it for the first 75% and almost gave up multiple times. I figured out the "twist" pretty quickly, I really struggled with suspending my disbelief and I didn't really care for any of the characters. Even knowing the twist, a lot of things didn't make much sense. I like unreliable narrators, but there is such a thing as *too* unreliable.
I did actually enjoy the writing style. It made it very easy to slip back into the story whenever I picked the book back up. That was probably the only thing that kept this from going to a DNF shelf.
I normally read two or three books a week, but I've been on this one for a couple weeks now. Part of that was me being busy, but only part. I'll sacrifice a few hours of sleep for a good book, but I didn't care enough to make the time to read this one. The final 25% of the book managed to save the whole thing, I just wish it had come a lot sooner. If I were to re-read this right away, knowing the end, I would probably give it 4-4.5 stars. This is a book that needs to be read in just a few sittings, not a few pages here and there over a few weeks.
Another issue I had is that this is classified as horror every time I see it and it is absolutely NOT a horror story. I kept waiting for something horrorish to happen, but it never did. I read plenty of non-horror, but I started reading this because I was in the mood for a scary book. If someone promises me cake, then by god, there better be some fucking cake! The cake was a lie! I'd probably call this one a mystery or thriller, but those aren't the best fit, either.
If you're going to read this one, I'll just tell you that everything will become clear by the end, you just have to wade thru a mish-mash of stuff until that point. You will be confused. A lot of things won't make sense. No, you didn't accidently skip a chapter. You're not remembering that thing wrong from a couple chapters ago. That's just how this book goes. ...more
It looks like I'm in the minority, but I really wasn't a fan of this one. It started out okay, but quickly began to drag. It felt like it took a reallIt looks like I'm in the minority, but I really wasn't a fan of this one. It started out okay, but quickly began to drag. It felt like it took a really long time for Jake to decide to write the book. Then, once he did, the book spent way, way too long with him feeling guilty about writing it. Finally, it starts to pick up about the halfway point. The second half is pretty good, but then the ending pretty much ruined it for me.
In another review, I complained about twists coming out of nowhere without any kind of build up or hinting. This book falls at the other end of the spectrum where it gave out too many hints. I knew what every twist was going to be long before it was actually revealed. The only real surprise was the very ending. The author had two ways to end it, and in my opinion, they picked the worst option. Surprise!
Probably my biggest complaint, other than the ending, was some of Jake's decision making. He spends way too much time lying when there really wasn't any need to. His argument for why he "stole" the book were enough to convince me that it was okay. Like the book said repeatedly, plots and basic outlines get used over and over, so I didn't see any real issue with it. Evan wasn't alive to write the book anymore. Jake wrote the entire book on his own and just borrowed the plot, so there was no plaigarism. As far as I'm concerned, it passes the sniff test. He could have also done a better job planning. At some point in the second half of the book, he should have realized what he was dealing with and begun to take some precautions.
Ulitmately, I think I'd have rather read the novel within the novel, than The Plot. It felt like a more interesting story than the one we ultimately got. I was disappointed that we only got one or two pages at a time. At the least, I'd have liked to see alternating chapters between the Plot and Crib. Might have helped to build the suspense a bit more....more
The blurb really paints a different picture than what we get in this story. Everything in the blurb is in the book, but the blurb spins it into a creeThe blurb really paints a different picture than what we get in this story. Everything in the blurb is in the book, but the blurb spins it into a creepy and interesting horror story. The novella is none of those things.
The whole concept is a good idea for a short story, but there isn't enough meat for a full novella or novel. Maybe that's why the first half of the book was so repetitive. There really is no need for this story to be over 40-50 pages, other than to charge a price comparable to a full novel.
I had high hopes for this, but was very disappointed. This was my first Valente book and I don't know that I'll be reading another any time soon....more
If you're looking to read some Stephen King, but aren't really a horror fan, this (along with the Green Mile) would be a great place to start. The firIf you're looking to read some Stephen King, but aren't really a horror fan, this (along with the Green Mile) would be a great place to start. The first 3 novellas (Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, and The Body) are all very strong novellas. The Breathing Method is the weakest of the four and the only one that really falls under the horror heading. It's still not a bad story, it just suffers by comparison.
This collection is also notable because it contains two stories that led to two of the best movie adaptations of Stephen King's work. Shawshank Redemption is obvious, and the Body is the basis for the movie, Stand By Me. ...more
This was a pretty wild ride. I wasn't a big fan of the very end, but it didn't ruin it for me. I've seen a lot of people point to the ending as beHuh.
This was a pretty wild ride. I wasn't a big fan of the very end, but it didn't ruin it for me. I've seen a lot of people point to the ending as being full of plot holes, but they're only plot holes if that character was telling the complete truth. I can justify most of it within the context of the story so that it passes my smell test. Everything may not be logical, but it's at least plausible.
The sex scenes were numerous and repetitive and got boring pretty quick. This was my biggest negative and the main reason this wasn't a 5-star read. Congratulations, CoHo, you made sex boring. They make sense in the story being told, but they could have been trimmed down quite a bit without affecting anything. There was no reason a lot of those couldn't have been "skimmed" chapters that we just got the highlights; the main character in the book even gets tired of reading about non-stop blowjobs.
I will say this is the first new book that I picked up and had trouble putting down in a long time. Most of Colleen Hoover's other books seem to be just regular romance, so I'll probably end up passing on them. If she does write another thriller-y style book, I'll definitely check it out. Riley Sager's last couple of books have been big disappointments for me, so this temporarily filled that gap pretty well....more
2.5 rounded down, and I'm being generous and giving the benefit of doubt. After starting this, I didn't have a lot of time to read, so I'd only get a 2.5 rounded down, and I'm being generous and giving the benefit of doubt. After starting this, I didn't have a lot of time to read, so I'd only get a chapter a day in for a week or so. Of course, once I had time to read, I'd fall asleep reading this after a chapter, so... after sitting on this for about a week, I'm dropping it from a 3 to a 2. There were just too many things that bugged me about the author's decision making to justify a 3.
On paper, I should have loved this book. Post-apocalyptic fiction is right in my wheel house. The idea was wildly original and the writing style was easy to read. There are only 4 viewpoint characters, so you don't get lost repeatedly when switching view points.
Ultimately, it felt like an editor forced the author to do a severe edit on the book and they got the pages mixed up and published the cut stuff instead of the kept part. Almost every time something interesting, unpleasant, exciting or dangerous would happen, we'd switch to another viewpoint character. Then, when we get back to the original character, the interesting thing happened off page. The book definitely suffered from too much telling and not enough showing. Almost everything typical of this genre happens off page. All we're left with are conversations and inner-monologues over and over. We really needed a viewpoint character that was in the middle of a city and wasn't just hiding for the first part of the apocalypse. The book would have been a lot better with a couple of red-shirt cannon fodder types who never made it out of New York or Los Angeles. Anything to show what happened to 99% of the population who didn't get lucky.
Another problem I had was that the author didn't even make an attempt to explain anything about the shadow loss. I don't need a concrete reason, but at least throw out a theory. This book is mostly just characters talking to each other, but apparently no one has any kind of theory.
The other thing that bugged me was that the timeline was a huge mess. For most of the book, each of the characters stories are taking place at different times. This doesn't really become clear until about halfway thru the book and made for some confusing transitions. I have no problem with shifting timelines, as long as I know that they're shifting. A sub-heading for each chapter with a date would have helped clear things up quite a bit. There really wasn't any need to obscure the variations in the timeline, so not sure why the author didn't do something to make it more apparent.
The ending was really the only thing that kept this from being a 1 or 2 star book. Even then, I still had some big problems with it. Spoilers after this.
Has no one in this book heard of journals or diaries? Once they figured out how to return shadows, every person who still had a shadow should have started a diary. Problem solved. I also have a hard time believing that more of the survivors weren't keeping journals. When the world is ending because people can't remember anything, I'd think diaries would be a major thing that people started keeping. Ory's idea with the tape recorder should have been the rule, not the exception....more
The old ways are dying for a small Anishinaabe community in Northern Ontario. They have a real road to and from the cities in the south, electricity fThe old ways are dying for a small Anishinaabe community in Northern Ontario. They have a real road to and from the cities in the south, electricity from a new hyrdo-electric plant and running water in their homes. They even have cell phone service, thanks to a new tower. For a lot of the community, hunting doesn't make sense when they can just run down to the grocery store and pick up some meat.
When they lose cell phone service and their satellite tv goes out, they don't think too much about it. They're still on the edge of civilization and outages aren't uncommon. When power and landline phones go out the next day, people start paying a bit more attention. When they're still out at the end of the week, people begin to panic. On top of that, people are starting to have some strange dreams. Are these dreams just subconscious fears coming to the surface or are they prophetic in nature?
Things don't get any better when two teenagers, away at college, return on snowmobiles and inform the elders that the power outages aren't isolated to the reservation and the cities in the south are descending into panic and chaos. While making plans for a community meeting to share the new information, a stranger shows up asking to join their community. They reluctantly let him in when he says he's a hunter, but they still don't trust him.
Will those who remember and practice the old ways be able to teach the others soon enough to make a difference? Will the others even be willing to learn or will they be content letting others provide for them? Either way, it's going to be a long winter.
This book had the potential to be great, but it didn't really deliver. I'm hoping that the announced sequel will be able to do better justice to the premise. The final third of the book was really rushed. It felt like the author was working on a deadline and had a day left to wrap up the story. Another 200 pages could have been well used to flesh out more of the characters and go into the day to day a bit more. It would have been a lot better if we'd had some more insight into Justin Strong's character and why and when he made the decisions he did.
The whole apocalypse on a native american reservation idea was definitely wasted. For all intents and purposes, this story could have taken place in any small, rural community. ...more
Call it 3.5, rounded down. I probably would have gave it 4 stars, but I really didn't care for the ending. It really felt like it came out of nowhere Call it 3.5, rounded down. I probably would have gave it 4 stars, but I really didn't care for the ending. It really felt like it came out of nowhere and doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
I'm not really sure how to classify this book. It isn't really a mystery or thriller. Most of the events that you'd build a mystery around are explained right away, so there's no whodunnit aspect. The blurb seems to say that it's a thriller, but there isn't any suspense or thrills at all. It almost has a young adult vibe to it, even though most of the POV characters are adults.
I did like the book. It wasn't really what I was expecting based on the blurb, but it was still a good read. The author did a good job building a story around some flawed characters. Pretty much no one in this book is a good person or especially likable, but no one crosses the line into hated character territory. I weirdly found myself rooting for Teddy at times.
I'd say this one was worth the read. I'll probably play it by ear for reading anything else from the author. If it sounds good, I'll give it a go. If it doesn't sound like something up my alley, I'll probably skip it....more
Man, this was a weird collection of stories. They were weird even by Chuck Palahniuk standards. Some of them I hated, some of them I loved, most of thMan, this was a weird collection of stories. They were weird even by Chuck Palahniuk standards. Some of them I hated, some of them I loved, most of them made me say what the fuck did I just read....more
This wound up being much, much better than I expected. I already knew the basic story, including the ending, since this book gets referenced so much iThis wound up being much, much better than I expected. I already knew the basic story, including the ending, since this book gets referenced so much in other works. I just remembered reading the Grapes of Wrath in high school and hating it, so was kind of expecting more of the same.
This wound up being a pretty quick read and the writing flowed pretty well. Definitely worth a read if you've never read it before....more
Despite what the book jacket tells you, this is NOT a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird. Most likely, this is an early version of TKaM, the one where thDespite what the book jacket tells you, this is NOT a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird. Most likely, this is an early version of TKaM, the one where the editor told her to rewrite it and focus on the POV of Scout as a child. If there was an award for editors, then that guy deserves one because those were easily the best parts of the book and why I gave it 3 stars, instead of 2.
The book is interesting to see how far a book can go from an early draft to the final product and the childhood flashbacks were interesting. Reading it as a sequel just doesn't work though. Atticus' character is very different and Tom Robinson was found not guilty, so how anyone can market it as a sequel is beyond me. I had to pretend that Scout went thru a wormhole and entered the evil counterpart parallel reality from Star Trek to get thru it. Yes, I was picturing everyone but Scout with goatees....more
Apparently, I'm just not a Shirley Jackson fan. I really don't understand all the 4 and 5 star reviews. The stories are well written, but nothing everApparently, I'm just not a Shirley Jackson fan. I really don't understand all the 4 and 5 star reviews. The stories are well written, but nothing ever happens. Most seem to end out of nowhere. The majority of the characters are unlikeable and/or suffering from some sort of mental illness. The villagers from the Lottery were probably the most likeable people in this book....more
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