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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
I liked bits of this. Small bits that kept me interested. I didn't like most of it. 1 star was for the bits. The other star is for the fact that it kept me interested enough to finish it. Would I recommend it? No. Would I read it again? Nope. Can I even say I liked it? Not a chance.
I have to confess that this is technically a re-read for me, although I read it so long ago that I no longer remembered anything that happened. Only that it was about a group of college students from Atherton. This was the first book I ever read by Christopher Rice back in the day, and though the events of the novel were fuzzy, I remembered adoring it. Then I read The Vines, and OMG what a train wreck of a novel. So when I saw CR's earlier novels on NetGalley, I had to grab them to see if I still loved them or if they were a product of my questionable youth.
Do you guys remember that movie, Gossip, back in 2000 that starred James Marsden, Lena Headey, and Norman Reedus? It was about a group of friends at a university who were both decadent and debaucherous, with an undercurrent of violence. The plot isn't relevant to this comparison, just the general tone of their friendship and the secrets they kept from each other. The Snow Garden reminded me so much of this.
It's loosely about a trio of friends (Randall, Jesse, and Kathryn) and their experiences at Atherton College. Randall is having an affair with his married professor, and when that professor's wife dies under suspicious circumstances, all the secrets that were being kept start to emerge.
Sexual intrigue and murderous urges are at the heart of this novel, and just when you think you have figured out something about a character or a situation, everything changes and you know nothing. This book was deeply psychological and disturbing, yet filled with edge-of-your-seat suspense. It was hard for me to put it down for any length of time, and I was so drawn into this world.
I sincerely recommend this as a starting point if you want to check out Christopher Rice's work. Please, for the love of all that is holy, skip The Vines. I don't even know what to say about that.
This eARC was provided free from the Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Do you guys remember that movie, Gossip, back in 2000 that starred James Marsden, Lena Headey, and Norman Reedus? It was about a group of friends at a university who were both decadent and debaucherous, with an undercurrent of violence. The plot isn't relevant to this comparison, just the general tone of their friendship and the secrets they kept from each other. The Snow Garden reminded me so much of this.
It's loosely about a trio of friends (Randall, Jesse, and Kathryn) and their experiences at Atherton College. Randall is having an affair with his married professor, and when that professor's wife dies under suspicious circumstances, all the secrets that were being kept start to emerge.
Sexual intrigue and murderous urges are at the heart of this novel, and just when you think you have figured out something about a character or a situation, everything changes and you know nothing. This book was deeply psychological and disturbing, yet filled with edge-of-your-seat suspense. It was hard for me to put it down for any length of time, and I was so drawn into this world.
I sincerely recommend this as a starting point if you want to check out Christopher Rice's work. Please, for the love of all that is holy, skip The Vines. I don't even know what to say about that.
This eARC was provided free from the Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I think it was a bit derivitive, and especially reminded me of Donna Tartt (whose writing I find appalling!) But, I enjoyed this a little bit more.
slow-paced
Wow, it took me over a MONTH to read it. Except I wasn't reading it much. It sat for like three weeks because I just didn't care about any of the characters. I finally finished it simply because I wanted to know how it ended. The whole book was terribly boring, but not so awful that I felt I could justify not finishing it. It was weird and kind of all over the place, no one had any real clear motives for anything they did and most of it just made no sense.
Oh, I had high hopes for this book, since I enjoyed his first so much. And it started out promisingly enough with strong characters and interesting dynamics between them. For almost 200 pages I was absorbed, curious, excited, engaged, trying to figure out how it was all going to pan out, rooting for certain characters--it was good.
Then the cult showed up and people started revealing their weirdness, and it really just got too improbably weird for me. If Rice had kept away from all the murder stuff and the cult stuff and the conspiracy stuff, the secret identity stuff and sexuality stuff and relationships stuff would have made for a truly interesting story. There are enough books about homicidal maniacs, and not enough new ones about the natural progressions of friendships, loves, and tensions. The "thrilling" aspects were unnecessary and got in the way of real character development. And that bums me out a little bit.
Then the cult showed up and people started revealing their weirdness, and it really just got too improbably weird for me. If Rice had kept away from all the murder stuff and the cult stuff and the conspiracy stuff, the secret identity stuff and sexuality stuff and relationships stuff would have made for a truly interesting story. There are enough books about homicidal maniacs, and not enough new ones about the natural progressions of friendships, loves, and tensions. The "thrilling" aspects were unnecessary and got in the way of real character development. And that bums me out a little bit.
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Toxic relationship
Eh. I can see why it was a bestseller. Lots of intrigue and perverse predilections and suspense and death and destruction. Like to a turned up way too much overwritten trying so very hard level. I was not a fan of the third person narrator style that switched between the various characters - it was a bit jarring. The characters were definitely not believable or particularly likable. I did like Kathryn ok - and her background story was extremely shocking. Jono the HIV-positive Coke dealer boyfriend. Jesse the gorgeous roommate that used peoples' gross secrets to get them into bed. April the lesbian roommate just figuring out her sexuality, sort of angrily. Eric the gay professor burying his hopes and wants until student draws them out. Michel the grad student that takes his teachings way too far and begins a cult. And of course - Randall. Murderer turned whore turned kind caring soul turned disappeared. Some of the action scenes at the end were pretty entertaining - but also totally crazy. Just eh.
Oh man. I just read an extended interview with the author about his writing process and the way he reads critiques of his work and I enjoyed that almost more than the book. Ha. I like the guy. And his attitude about himself and his writing. Plus I love reading earlier drafts of the final chapter and hearing about how he decided to keep aspects or change fates. Very open.
Oh man. I just read an extended interview with the author about his writing process and the way he reads critiques of his work and I enjoyed that almost more than the book. Ha. I like the guy. And his attitude about himself and his writing. Plus I love reading earlier drafts of the final chapter and hearing about how he decided to keep aspects or change fates. Very open.
There is little doubt that Christopher Rice has a vivid imagination and a knack for telling a gripping story. He is unfortunately not a very good writer.
The first forty pages or so of The Snow Garden are particularly clunky. Rice, perhaps too preoccupied with creating a sense of suspense, is more cryptic than anything in those pages. After that he somehow manages to relax into his story and things improve a lot, although we are still regularly confronted with shockingly clumsy turns of phrase thoughout the book.
It's all a little far-fetched: the characters we are presented with all seem unbelievably damaged (only the secondary characters appear to be reasonably "normal") and some of the plot twists are fairly predictable. But on the whole, if the reader is ready to suspend their disbelief and their more pedantic instincts, this a fairly good yarn which will keep you entertained for a few hours on snowy days.
As a side note, this edition of the book is not of good quality. There are many typos and some words are even swapped around ("be could" instead of "could be"). Page 315 is even blank. It should read:
him. Tim looked up from the beer he held in his lap, hope and fear meeting on his face.
He had told Eric he was perfectly aware of the damage he was capable of doing, and the rage of that proclamation had flooded him with adrenaline. But when the words had left his mouth, he had believed that the damage he could inflict could bring about some truth amid the tangle of lies that had brought him to Altherton University. Now, all he was capable of doing was casting renewed suspicion on Lisa’s death in hope that someone more powerful than he would follow the trail to 231 Slope Street.
“Are you doing to record this?” he asked.
Home at last at 231 Slope Street, Eric was about to hang up his coat when he head Pamela’s laughter. It went through his nerves like a raw, electric wire. Down the front hallway, the kitchen spilled light across the hardwood floor he and Michael had so lovingly refinished that summer. He went to the kitchen doorway. When she saw him, Pamela, her face already glowing with whatever was in the glass she was drinking from, lit up with pleasant surprise. Across from her, Michael smiled, his expression a bitter parody of Pamela’s. His robe was sliding off his back, his hair was slightly tousled, and his eyes did no possess the same alcoholic sheen as Pamela’s.
“He lives!” Michael announced.
“Play with us!” Pamela urged; she had gotten his arm and was pulling him down into a chair.
“What… are you playing?” he managed.
“She’s lovely,” Michael said under his breath, too low for Pamela to catch.
“You’re not allowed to make fun of me!” Pamela said, he back to them as she uncapped the bottle of Tanqueray on the counter.
Beneath her playfulness, a spark of fear electrified her every motion. What had Michael done to unnerve her?
He turned to Michael. “When did she…”
“An hour ago.” Michael’s eyes were on Pamela. “Did you two have a date tonight?” he asked her.
The first forty pages or so of The Snow Garden are particularly clunky. Rice, perhaps too preoccupied with creating a sense of suspense, is more cryptic than anything in those pages. After that he somehow manages to relax into his story and things improve a lot, although we are still regularly confronted with shockingly clumsy turns of phrase thoughout the book.
It's all a little far-fetched: the characters we are presented with all seem unbelievably damaged (only the secondary characters appear to be reasonably "normal") and some of the plot twists are fairly predictable. But on the whole, if the reader is ready to suspend their disbelief and their more pedantic instincts, this a fairly good yarn which will keep you entertained for a few hours on snowy days.
As a side note, this edition of the book is not of good quality. There are many typos and some words are even swapped around ("be could" instead of "could be"). Page 315 is even blank. It should read:
him. Tim looked up from the beer he held in his lap, hope and fear meeting on his face.
He had told Eric he was perfectly aware of the damage he was capable of doing, and the rage of that proclamation had flooded him with adrenaline. But when the words had left his mouth, he had believed that the damage he could inflict could bring about some truth amid the tangle of lies that had brought him to Altherton University. Now, all he was capable of doing was casting renewed suspicion on Lisa’s death in hope that someone more powerful than he would follow the trail to 231 Slope Street.
“Are you doing to record this?” he asked.
Home at last at 231 Slope Street, Eric was about to hang up his coat when he head Pamela’s laughter. It went through his nerves like a raw, electric wire. Down the front hallway, the kitchen spilled light across the hardwood floor he and Michael had so lovingly refinished that summer. He went to the kitchen doorway. When she saw him, Pamela, her face already glowing with whatever was in the glass she was drinking from, lit up with pleasant surprise. Across from her, Michael smiled, his expression a bitter parody of Pamela’s. His robe was sliding off his back, his hair was slightly tousled, and his eyes did no possess the same alcoholic sheen as Pamela’s.
“He lives!” Michael announced.
“Play with us!” Pamela urged; she had gotten his arm and was pulling him down into a chair.
“What… are you playing?” he managed.
“She’s lovely,” Michael said under his breath, too low for Pamela to catch.
“You’re not allowed to make fun of me!” Pamela said, he back to them as she uncapped the bottle of Tanqueray on the counter.
Beneath her playfulness, a spark of fear electrified her every motion. What had Michael done to unnerve her?
He turned to Michael. “When did she…”
“An hour ago.” Michael’s eyes were on Pamela. “Did you two have a date tonight?” he asked her.
Son of author Anne Rice, I had high hopes for this book. But, it was a struggle to get through. This book is kind of dirty, trashy nonsense. Another reviewer said, "It's ridiculous and melodramatic, but in an unintentional sort of a way. These [mostly gay] characters are all a little too damaged-and-broken-underneath their Prada-and-sunglasses to be legitimate people, which would be totally okay if this was a satire. But it's not." That's a pretty clear depiction - set on a college campus, these 18-19 year olds are trying to find their way but as their high school secrets are slowly (much too slowly) revealed, I found I didn't care what their secrets were - drugs and sex? That's it? The gay characters seem so stereotypical and even the gay guy's best female friend is a cardboard cutout..... Oh yeah, there's a murder on campus that involves some of the students, but .... I didn't care about that either.