The Witch Sisters and The Descent by Alma Katsu (The Taker #2.5 and #3)

First impression

I really liked the two first book of this trilogy so I was quite eager to finish it. I am happy I read the short story The Witch Sisters since it gave more context to what was happening in the third and final book. I was a bit disappointed with the story of the latter however; there is more about Adair's past and it was interesting to see Lanore "confront her demons" but...there was something missing; the darkness present in the previous books was there but felt diluted. It was still a nice roundup of the story but I was hoping for more.

Final thoughts

When I started reading The Descent I kept feeling like I had forgotten stuff from the second book. As it turns out, it just happens that I didn't and Katsu simply decided to turn things around quite a bit. I don't want to give spoilers, but since this happened in the first pages, here it is. Luke is dead...dead! It felt so out of the blue to just take him out of the picture, but oh well.

I like Adair, as twisted as he is and I enjoyed the back story development. I was even surprised at the end. But...this calmer version of Adair has its downfall and it just fell flat compared to the dark, sinister character presented in the other books.

Lanore stays more or less true to herself and as I mentioned it gave a nice closure to her side of the story when she had to confront her friends and foes. But once again, it feels like a fading, washed out version of her. In the past books she felt strong, determined...here it was almost like just going through the motions.

I rounded the rating to a 4 because the end itself was different. It just feels like is a book from a completely different series. Even the cover seems to go for a different story, compared to the gorgeous and mysterious previous ones. Oh well.

The Preacher by Camilla Läckberg (Fjällbacka #2)

First impression

Depending on where you check this series it might be either advertised as Fjälbacka's or Patrick Hedström's. I want to mention this because as much as I like the series I was hoping for more of Erica Falck as a main character and so I've realized that the second nomination might be more accurate.

But enough of that bit of complaining. A lot of people might think that Camilla Läckberg only jumped in the noir novella wagon after the whole Millenium hype, but this is not true. She has been working on this series for a while now and she does it masterfully. I love this dark, everyone has huge issues, books and in general Swedish noir novelists scratch that itch perfectly.

Final thoughts

Set once again in Fjällbacka, which by the way seems like it is a beautiful place, the book opens with a murdered girl set upon a pile of bones. Detective Patrick Hedström is placed in charge of the investigation. As evidence scarcely appears, it awakens the memories of 2 disappearances more than 20 years ago; disappearances that touched one of the most prominent families of the town, the Hults, dividing them irremediably.

Here is the thing about this author. In both of her books she manages to make me suspect everyone, and always to steer me slightly in the wrong direction so by the end I am still surprise with final events. With a very well paced prose I embarked full into the story from the beginning. Without realizing it, the first night I spent 2 hours reading and I would've continue if it wasn't because I had to work the next day.

This is not a gory book, and that is one of the reasons why I like the style so much. Is more based on suspense than anything else; twist and turns; hidden psychological problems and off course the tension of a relative small population.

I was a bit disappointed as I mentioned before about the fact that Erica is no longer the main character (maybe she never was?) in this book she is relegated to staying at home since she is in the latest stage of her pregnancy. It also drives me crazy what happens to Anna, but I will not comment much on it since I do not want to give any spoilers away.

I will be reading the third book of the series because I like Camilla's style so much. Can't wait to see what else happens in Fjällbacka.

 

RIP IX Read-a-Long: THe Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The House was vile. She shivered and thought, the words coming freely into her mind, Hill House is vile, it is diseased; get away from here at once.

Hello everybody! Today we are going to do this a bit different. It is my first Read-a-Long and so I would like to do the same analysis suggested at Estella's Society. Because of that this might have a bit of spoilers, so you've been warned. Let's start

1. Do you see Hill House’s horrors as being different for its male and female inhabitants? Any gender issues at play here? 

While I did see a difference between the horror's for each character I didn't necessarily feel that big of a gap according to gender. I think that we see more of the horrors that affected Eleanor and hence it might feel like the women are a bigger target, but I can't be sure of it with what I read.
2. What’s up with the ghostly disturbances in this book? Eleanor’s blooming telekinetic abilities, real-deal ghosties, a big mess of unreliable character? What say you? 

In my head, Eleanor was an easy target for the house, and is because of this that her "abilities"are heightened. I think she was portrayed not only as a fragile person but also a very sensible one, so she was meant to be more "receptive" to the influences of the house. As for the ghosties, there were several moments when I felt anxious because I didn't know what was going to appear next for them.

3. The Haunting of Hill House was first published in 1959. What aspects of 1950s culture or society do you see the novel critiquing, criticizing, or commenting on? 

I guess this would be the only referral that I got about gender differences. The women depicted are very 50s, in the sense that they are portrayed as helpless, without the men...until Mrs Montague appears. She didn't feel to me as a damsel in distress, but as an sarcastic woman trying to disprove her husband's methods.

Another way I think the 50s society is criticized and even made fun off is through Arthur, the way he refers to his "boys" at school, and his education methods.

4. Most Gothic novels are written in an ornate style, but Jackson chooses a simplistic style with a conversational word choice. What does it add to this harrowing tale? Do you find that it detracts in some places? 

For me this was a better style to put you on the edge, because everything is going fine, they are having dinner, and then all of the sudden you are on a scary section, so you don't have time to prepare yourself to be scared.  The way she constructed her dialogues also reminded me of the character in the movie Clue, and that was a fun movie!

5. The Big One: what is it about Hill House that allows it to consume Eleanor’s sanity so efficiently? Or, what is it about Eleanor that allows Hill House to consumer her sanity? 

By the time Eleanor arrives to Hill House she is already very unstable; taking care of her mother for years has left her with very little ability to interact with others and she has forgotten to take care of herself. Add to that moving with her atrocious sister and her husband that do nothing but undermine her in every possible way and you get someone desperate to find refuge and to find herself. 

When confronted to the house she is the one that is in an already delicate place, and the little pushes the house keeps giving her, plus the unhealthy relationship that grows with Theodora bring her to the end...literally.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

First impression

So many people around me read and love the book! So I figure I should try it and see what the fuss was about. As it turns out I enjoyed the book quite a lot. This is not a book about zombies per se, but more about the effect the zombies turning up on a lot of levels, including politics, economics and even religion. The zombies make a bit of an apparition on people's memories, but is not scene after scene of people running from them, which would've killed the book for me.

Final thoughts

The concept of the book was very interesting. From the beginning we are put in the context, that is would be the "human" side of an after war report. Everything that didn't make it into the official, everything with too many feelings involved, would be the base of this book.

We start with the apparition of the Patient Zero in China, told from the point of view of the doctor that first confronts it. From there on we jump to different countries and different people that managed to survive the war. Soldiers that hated being part of what the war become; kids that are now grown ups and that survived thanks to their parents difficult decisions; regular people that even realized the moment to flee had passed under their noses and were then forced to use all the knowledge they gathered into practice; politicians deciding who survives and who doesn't; movie directors that deliver the films that helped with the morale.

The way the interviews are portrayed really delivers the feeling of the "oral history", of a documentary if you want. It also makes it that you can read tiny bits of the book here and there and without a direct thread you get to build a full image of what was going one globally. Extra points for it not been US only, something that bothers me often with dystopias, but that is another topic completely.

But, and I am afraid this is the reason why I cannot give a 5 to this book, there is no science approach at no point. Every couple of pages you would have someone referring to how weird the physiology or biology of the zombies was: they can survive being frozen; they can resist high pressure under water; how do they do that??? So naturally I though a bit of light on this item was going to be discussed maybe at the end of the book. I don't mean a full item on the zombie inner workings, no, no because then it could've ended up on ridiculous "fake science". But I didn't get anything of it. None. Zero. That would've given it a full 5. Just a bit of an explanation or speculation even.

That said, it was a very fun read, gave me what I was expecting from it and it easy to recommend to anyone looking for a different take on the zombie trope. 

 

 

Violin by Anne Rice

First impression

I bought this book one day when I found myself without a book (I know, the horror) but it took me a while to re start it. I have only read 5 books from the Vampire Chronicles (the first 4 and then Merrick without knowing it made part of the same series) but in general I've liked Rice's style so I figure, why not. The truth is, as I finished this book I was left with a disappointing feeling. I enjoyed the idea of using music (such beautiful music) but I never managed to really get into this story.

Final thoughts

It is the first time I read a book by Anne Rice that does not involve vampires. In here the supernatural is represented by the tortured ghost of a violinist, Stefan. He has come to the main protagonist, Triana, when she is in great pain due to the lost of her husband; pain that awaken other loses in her head and heart.

The description of the book talks about Triana as "a uniquely fascinating woman" but she felt rather bland to me as a character and so did her sisters. And Stefan...besides being mean, supposedly due to the fact of him being a tortured soul, for me he didn't feel that much interesting either.

The best parts of the book, for me at any rate, were the several references to beautiful pieces of music as well as the moment where the ghost of Beethoven was present. That said, I don't know if someone with less love for classical music would have the same reflex I had to look for each piece and listen to them while reading. I feel that if it is not the case, the references and momentum of certain scenes are completely lost.

While The Vampire Chronicles are not terrifying I certainly agree with them being considered as part of the horror genre. In this case, if you remove the fact that Stefan is an angry ghost, it doesn't really feel scary at all. It has a good pace and at no point did it feel like a heavy read, I would say it was mostly entertaining.

Unless you are very adept to Rice's style I wouldn't be able to recommend this book to you. 

Sunday Salon: Getting ready for September

Ok, ok, so September is already here but I was away on vacation so bear with me. This is going to be a very busy month, both in my reading life and my personal life, so I figured I will tell you a bit about it.

First off, we have the Readers Imbibing Peril IX. You can check my sing post here and there you will also find the titles I plan to read. This gives me my first September read: The Haunting of Hill House. My dearest Andi from Estella Society is hosting the readalong. I will also have to at least tackle on of the books from my list. Since the R.I.P Challenge coincided with the Read-a-Thon in October I am not überly nervous about managing my reading for this challenge, but still, I cannot leave the 4 books for October only.

Now, September is also NetGalley Month, an event hosted by Tay at Chicks that Read. For this event I want to read and review the following books: Sudden Light, Mademoiselle both coming out on September 30 and maybe The French Executioner, but this is a maybe, since I have a bit more time for it. Right now my NG ratio is 62.5% and that's with Sudden Light already reviewed. I would love to increase my ratio, but since I am certainly not lacking books to read, I won't be asking anymore books from NG until October probably.

This is also the month for A More Diverse Universe or Diversiverse, an event organized by Aarti from Booklust.

For those who have not heard about #Diversiverse before, it's a very simple challenge. For those of you who have participated in the past, it's even easier this year. The criteria are as follows:

Read and review one book

Written by a person of color

During the last two weeks of September (September 14th - 27th)

I have two candidates for this being: Stories of your life and Others by Ted Chiang, which incidentally is the month's pick for the Sword and Laser book club and Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler, but once again, the second one is a maybe IF I manage to get to it.

That takes us to at least 4 books this month doesn't it? Well, the thing is I've been a bit behind with all my reviews, and this off course affects future reviews. So after trying it 2 times I've decided to start doing some Mini reviews. I believe there is always something to say about a book, but sometimes since I have very little to say (for example with certain sequels) I postpone the review in hopes I will get more to say later...but I don't. I don't think I will go back to write mini reviews for some of the books I've finished but haven't reviewed but you never know.

In the matter of my 2 year long challenges "Where in the world are you Reading" and "Sequel and Prequel Challenge" I think I am doing well. You can see my general progress in their respective tabs.

So that's it for the Blog life. Now for the personal part. This month A and I will celebrate 5 years together. I am so very lucky to have him, he is sweet and supportive and a big geek. It is also the first month that he is officially out of the lab. He still has to finish writing up his thesis and we are waiting for news on a job he interviewed for before we left for a week.

It will also be (hopefully) the month when I finally get my driver's license...well, I have mine from Colombia, but it took me a while to do the process to change it for a Canadian one because...I really don't like driving, guys. But with A no longer going to the lab with me, and the winter coming, we both agreed it will be who might be needing the car more often and so, here I am, getting ready for my driver's exam.

Now I am off to read. Happy September everybody!