Book Review: John Banville - Snow (published in 2020)

 

What an apt title. Snow features in this novel like a true master of suspense. It weaves the story together like a pro. Ireland's landscape is atmospheric in any season, but snow makes the rural town in Ireland feel even more remote. 

 

This remoteness is the perfect setting of John Banville's latest novel. The story takes place in 1957. It starts with the body of a priest in a library and a detective unwilling to return to small town Ireland to solve the murder. The cast of characters are like actors in a play. It feels like an overdone Agatha Christie novel, but the plot never falters and I found the novel impossible to put down because I couldn't wait to find out whodunnit. 

 

What I liked most about the novel is that Banville doesn't shy away from heavy subjects such as the divide between Catholics and Protestants and the struggle with the IRA. The historical setting fits this novel perfectly, as does the small town environment and its people. You have to be ready to face the hard-hitting subjects head-on if you'd like to enjoy this novel. 

 

It met my expectations of murder mystery perfectly. It had the perfect cast of characters and a fantastic historical setting. 

 

Many thanks to the publisher Faber and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

5 stars

Statistics:

Date read: September 27, 2020

Date published: October 1, 2020

Publisher: Faber

Format: eBook

Pages: 352

Genre: Historical Fiction

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1

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Book Review: David Quantick - Night Train (published in 2020)

 

Sometimes you find a hidden gem. I requested this book from the publisher who kindly provided it to me. Let me say that I’m super thrilled I found out about David Quantick’s Night Train! 

The plot sounded really promising to me. First of all, it’s labelled a dystopian/horror/science-fiction. I do enjoy a good horror novel every now and then. It doesn’t always have to take place in a realistic setting. Believe me, this one is not (I hope). Secondly, it takes place on a train. There’s something about horror stories that take place in one location that scare the heck out of me. 

A woman wakes up, and she has no idea where she is. All she knows is that she’s on a train and she’s surrounded by dead people. All she can see outside are occasional explosions. She decides to take matters into her own hands and move to the front of the train. On the way she meets people and otherworldly things. Little by little she figures out what is going on. 

What’s good about this book is the way the story is propelled forward by the moving train and the fact that the characters are always trying to move to the front of the train. I didn’t find a reason to stop reading and I was intrigued until the last page to find out what was going on and how things would end for our protagonists. 

There are gruesome scenes in here. Luckily, they’re not so bad I had to stop reading. There’s a lot of absurdity as well, I’m sure you’ll be surprised if I tell you there’s a scene with sparkling turtles… What, on a train? Yes, exactly. Sometimes, I’m OK when a horror story doesn’t make that much sense for me. Sometimes I just want to be thrilled, and I want to be shocked by what I’m reading. 

This book delivers just that, with an occasional chuckle on the side. 
*Many thanks to the Titan Books and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy

4 stars

Statistics:

Date read: June 4, 2020

Date published: October 6, 2020

Publisher: Titan Books

Format: eBook

Pages: 400

Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Horror

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1

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Book Review: Donna Tartt - The Secret History (published in 1992)

 

Ok, this is a completely different book from what I was picturing. I was ready for a lengthy novel about a fraternity dabbling in Mysticism and even Satanism. The only thing I got was the lengthy novel part... 

So, what isn't this book about. It's not about a professor bringing a group of students together to do evil deeds. It's not a mystery, it's not a thriller, it's not a horror. 

What is it? A novel about Richard, who joins a new university and is accepted into this elite classics class which is taught by an enigmatic professor. He only accepts five students, but they have to commit fully to him (this freaked me out with anticipation, but it does nothing for the plot). 

Henry, Francis, Bunny and the twins Charles and Camilla are already part of the group. All rich kids. This book is around 630 pages of rich kids being intelligent. Rich kids trying things out. Rich kids making mistakes. 

The whole time I had the feeling the action happened outside of the book. We're seeing things through the eyes of the outsider, so maybe Donna Tartt intended it to be this way but I didn't like it. It made the story drag on and on without any thrill. 

Why did I give it three stars? I can kind of enjoy a book about a friend group every now and then. Even if it's a bit slow-paced. It didn't fulfil why expectations about evil fraternities or professors, but it is a well-written novel. This means a lot from someone who hated Bret Easton Ellis' "Brat Pack". This book is a bit reminiscent of his books, but here it bothered me less that the student were so incredibly elitist and just taking alcohol and drugs all day while complaining about all their money. 

Ok, I need to stop writing before I change my rating..

3 stars

Statistics:

Date read: September 24, 2020

Date published: 1992

Publisher: Penguin

Format: Paperback

Pages: 629

Genre: Contemporary

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1

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Book Review: Fredrik Backman - Anxious People (published in 2019)

Right, this little book is not really my kind of thing. Let me explain. 

The story is about a bank robbery which accidentally turns into a hostage situation. The bank robber tries to rob a cashless bank. This goes wrong. The robber then runs into a house where a viewing is taking place. There are eight people inside. The robber then disappears. 

The police interview the hostages one-by-one to find out what exactly happened inside the apartment. 

I thought my rating would be lower than it turned out to be. The reason for that is that I didn't enjoy the "witty" dialogue. It reminded me of Richard Curtis' writing. The screenwriter of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually. I didn't like the characters either. They felt a bit like caricatures. 

However, the novel turned out to be a bit deeper than I though it would, hence my average rating. I think a lot of people will absolutely adore this book. The story really is strong and the development of the characters is as well. However, it's just not for me. 

I'm curious about Backman's other books as they are immensely popular, but I don't think I will pick them up in a hurry.

3 stars

Statistics:

Date read: September 19, 2020

Date published: April 25, 2019

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Format: Audio

Pages: 352

Genre: Contemporary

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1

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Book Review: John Lanchester - Reality, and Other Stories (published in 2020)

 

I do enjoy a short story horror collection every now and then, especially as Halloween is just around the corner. 

 

The tone that was set in the first two stories gave me real uncanny vibes. I enjoy gothic horror novels, so it's something I thoroughly enjoy reading. After the third story, the plot lines started to shift a bit more towards Black Mirror with a lot of emphasis on modern technology. 

 

I found a few of the stories to be mediocre. The endings would either be a bit weak for my taste, a bit too easily predicted or the story itself would not be thrilling or interesting enough. 

 

There are a few gems in this collection though. Ones that kept me reading and guessing and ones that will stick with me due to the gruesomeness of them. I guess that's always the case when it comes to short story collections. They are hardly ever completely perfect for everyone. 

 

I've had John Lanchester's The Wall on my TBR list forever, I think it's time I check that one out as I do enjoy his writing. 

 

My favourites are Signal, Coffin Liquor, Cold Call & Charity. 

 

My rating of the short stories: 

Signal: 4 stars

Coffin Liquor: 5 stars

Which of these would you like? 3 stars

We happy few: 1 star

Reality: 2 stars

Cold Call: 4 stars

The Kit: 2 stars

Charity: 4 stars

 

This book will be published on the 1st of October. 

 

Many thanks to the publisher Faber and Faber and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

3 stars

Statistics:

Date read: September 17, 2020

Date published: October 1, 2020

Publisher: Faber and Faber

Format: eBook

Pages: 208

Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Horror

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1

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Book Review: Maaza Mengiste - The Shadow King (published in 2020)

 

I have to admit I had low expectations when I started reading this book. The top reviews of Goodreads had DNF'ed this book and called it long-winded. 

 

My feelings about this book are wholly different though. I also found it hard to get into. The writing style isn't easy going. It's been called lyrical, but I didn't think it flowed. However, once I was in, I was in and I couldn't put it down.

 

I initially picked the book up, because the premise sounded great. The story is about the Italian invasion in Ethiopia during WWII. Another thing most people don't know about is the fact that there were a lot of female soldiers in Ethiopia back then. Mengiste has written a work of fiction based on facts. We follow Hirut and Aster, two female soldiers who are the fiercest soldiers of all. I love learning new things in books, and this book definitely opened my eyes a bit more in terms of the country's history.  

 

This book is written from different points-of-view. There are sections that cover Haile Selassie's story. We hear Hirut's thoughts, but also the Italian commander & photographer play a big role in the telling of the story. 

 

If Hilary Mantel final instalment of the Thomas Cromwell trilogy, would not have been released this year I think Maaza's novel would be a strong contender for the Man Booker Prize this year. Who knows, she might just win anyways!

 

Many thanks to the publisher Canongate Books and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

4 stars

Statistics:

Date read: September 13, 2020

Date published: September 3, 2020

Publisher: Canongate Books

Format: eBook

Pages: 448

Genre: Historical Fiction

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1

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Book Review: Kate Bulpitt - Purple People (published in 2020)

 

I didn't know the author, the publisher and I had never heard of the book before, but I read the synopsis and I was sold. The government in Britain has a great new idea to tackle spiralling levels of crime and anti-social behaviour. The offenders will be dyed purple. 

 

When investigative wacky news journalist Eve Baxter hears about this scheme she rushes back home to find out more about this plot. However much fun it sounds, it actually has a big impact on those tainted by it. 

 

While the nation becomes more and more divided on the subject, Eve tries to uncover what it is that turns people purple in the first place. 

 

The way the synopsis is written made it sound like a fun read, and fun it is! Bulpitt uses a slightly sarcastic tone throughout the novel, which makes for fun dialogues. I can't say I was completely at the edge of my seat to find out what happens to people and why, but it was a good read nevertheless. 

 

I definitely hope that our governments don't use this kind of scheme to tackle anti-social behaviour because it sounds absolutely terrible :-) It's a great book by first time author Kate Bulpitt. I would recommend it if you enjoy a bit of British humour in your novels. 

 

Many thanks to the publisher Unbound and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

3.5 stars

Statistics:

Date read: September 6, 2020

Date published: July 9, 2020

Publisher: Unbound

Format: eBook

Pages: 288

Genre: Science-Fiction

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1

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Book Review: Lauren James - The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker (published in 2020)

 I'm so embarrassed. Luckily, I huffed and puffed and scoffed at this book in private. I had read the premise, but not very thoroughly. At the start of the novel, I made the assumption that Lauren James was making a lot of silly mistakes. I thought she was accidentally depicting Harriet Stoker, the protagonist, in a weird and almost negative way. For example, Harriet would have a way of getting what she wanted by either flirting with people or by using them in other ways. There are so many more examples though. 

It took me around 100 pages to realise that our protagonist is actually meant to be an anti-hero. That's so clever! 

The story is about a girl, Harriet Stoker, who goes to a derelict building to take photos for her Photography course. She accidentally dies in the building, and straightaway her spirit wakes up. A group of friends are "on the other side" to welcome her into the life of a ghost. They explain that every ghost has their own power, and if Harriet is patient, she will find hers. Harriet isn't patient though. She wants to leave, and she wants to find her power even if it destroys everyone around her. 

The premise that I'm giving you isn't a spoiler, but as I said I didn't know these facts going into the novel. I loved every bit of it though! I thought it was an incredibly clever way to make a break with the traditional friend group. I liked the diverse cast of characters and the world that Lauren James created. It makes a lot of sense for ghosts to feed off of energy, and to each have their own powers in order to explain why cultures have a different definitions for ghosts.

I didn't necessarily enjoy the love triangle. That having been said, it's wasn't overshadowing the plot or development of characters in any way. 

The novel is written from multiple perspectives. You hear the story from Harriet's and from four or five of the friends' point-of-views. There's also one unknown character who gives the reader a bit more of an insight into the future and the past. I think that's a clever addition to keep the reader guessing a bit more. 

I didn't expect to be giving this novel 5 stars. However, here we are with a very well deserved perfect rating! I can't wait to read more of Lauren James' work. 

Many thanks to the publisher Walker Books for providing me with a review copy!

5 stars

Statistics:

Date read: June 21, 2020

Date published: September 3, 2020

Publisher: Walker Books

Format: eBook

Pages: 425

Genre: Paranormal

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1

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