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Books read, August
Apr. 1st, 2019 10:45 amIs it Bedtime Yet?
Things I wish I’d Known
Tell the Wind and Fire
The Outsider
Mounting Danger (reviewed earlier)
Mounting Evidence (reviewed earlier)
This is Where it Ends
Is It Bedtime Yet? Collection of essays on parenting, most of which have appeared in The Spinoff, edited by Emily Writes. I have read most of these before (and also know some of the authors). Things I Wish I’d Known is also parenting essays, put out by the Mumsnet UK parenting website. Both cover similar territory - the shock of parenting, its highs and lows - but Bedtime is more focussed on covering diverse experiences (having a chronically ill child, same sex conception, a piece by a father etc) and Things is better written, as it aimed more to approach writers who were parents. I enjoyed both while not being particularly impressed. I think I prefer parenting in longform (either bloggers or books - Shirley Jackson’s Life Among the Savages is probably my favourite parenting book).
Sarah Rees Brennan, Tell the Wind and Fire. Fantasy YA version of Tale of Two Cities, dedicated to all those who fell in love with Sydney Carton at the age of 14, which yes, me, pretty much. In a version of New York split into Light and Dark, Lucie, a young girl born in the Dark but brought into the Light, is dating Ethan, so T(in of a powerful light family, when the two of them encounter Ethan’s doppelganger, Carwyn, whose very existence means that Ethan’s family must have used forbidden Dark magic. Revolution ensues.
I like the bits dealing with Lucie navigating the shift from being an unproblematic angelic child emblem of salvation (the Bright Thread in the Dark) to an adult woman who has autonomy and relationships. I was unconvinced by much of the rest, sadly. The Light/Dark stuff feels far too generic YA dystopia and all too arbitrary, compared with the French Revolution, and her Sydney Carton is also generic snarky badboy, not anywhere near dissolute nor self-destructive enough.
Stephen King, The Outsider - police detective Ralph Anderson arrests Terry Maitland, popular baseball coach, for the horrific rape & murder of a boy. Anderson sets out to break Maitland’s alibi, armed with DNA evidence and eyewitness, but discovers to his discomfort that similar evidence exists for Maitland’s alibi. Eventually his investigation brings him into contact with Holly Gibney, from King’s Bill Hodges trilogy, as the two of them track down the titular Outsider.
There are a lot of good bits in here - the lead up to the final confrontation is a masterpiece of tension, and there’s an earlier plot twist that I didn’t see coming at all - and Holly is a great character who deserves more books. But the ultimate reveal is not that strong, and I agree with another reviewer that King’s pop culture references need some updating. Better than Doctor Sleep (which I really didn’t like), not as good as Finders Keepers.
This Is Where It Ends, Marieke Nijkamp. US school shooting, four viewpoints, covers just under an hour. Tries too hard and simplifies too much.
Things I wish I’d Known
Tell the Wind and Fire
The Outsider
Mounting Danger (reviewed earlier)
Mounting Evidence (reviewed earlier)
This is Where it Ends
Is It Bedtime Yet? Collection of essays on parenting, most of which have appeared in The Spinoff, edited by Emily Writes. I have read most of these before (and also know some of the authors). Things I Wish I’d Known is also parenting essays, put out by the Mumsnet UK parenting website. Both cover similar territory - the shock of parenting, its highs and lows - but Bedtime is more focussed on covering diverse experiences (having a chronically ill child, same sex conception, a piece by a father etc) and Things is better written, as it aimed more to approach writers who were parents. I enjoyed both while not being particularly impressed. I think I prefer parenting in longform (either bloggers or books - Shirley Jackson’s Life Among the Savages is probably my favourite parenting book).
Sarah Rees Brennan, Tell the Wind and Fire. Fantasy YA version of Tale of Two Cities, dedicated to all those who fell in love with Sydney Carton at the age of 14, which yes, me, pretty much. In a version of New York split into Light and Dark, Lucie, a young girl born in the Dark but brought into the Light, is dating Ethan, so T(in of a powerful light family, when the two of them encounter Ethan’s doppelganger, Carwyn, whose very existence means that Ethan’s family must have used forbidden Dark magic. Revolution ensues.
I like the bits dealing with Lucie navigating the shift from being an unproblematic angelic child emblem of salvation (the Bright Thread in the Dark) to an adult woman who has autonomy and relationships. I was unconvinced by much of the rest, sadly. The Light/Dark stuff feels far too generic YA dystopia and all too arbitrary, compared with the French Revolution, and her Sydney Carton is also generic snarky badboy, not anywhere near dissolute nor self-destructive enough.
Stephen King, The Outsider - police detective Ralph Anderson arrests Terry Maitland, popular baseball coach, for the horrific rape & murder of a boy. Anderson sets out to break Maitland’s alibi, armed with DNA evidence and eyewitness, but discovers to his discomfort that similar evidence exists for Maitland’s alibi. Eventually his investigation brings him into contact with Holly Gibney, from King’s Bill Hodges trilogy, as the two of them track down the titular Outsider.
There are a lot of good bits in here - the lead up to the final confrontation is a masterpiece of tension, and there’s an earlier plot twist that I didn’t see coming at all - and Holly is a great character who deserves more books. But the ultimate reveal is not that strong, and I agree with another reviewer that King’s pop culture references need some updating. Better than Doctor Sleep (which I really didn’t like), not as good as Finders Keepers.
This Is Where It Ends, Marieke Nijkamp. US school shooting, four viewpoints, covers just under an hour. Tries too hard and simplifies too much.
