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babyfacedoldsoul's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Miller is really good at writing weird fiction with complicated characters. The reason I'm not giving this book 5 stars is because he repeats the phrase 'the blade between' ad nauseum and I personally don't care for books where someone saves the day by suiciding
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Classism, Murder, and Infidelity
hauntedpostalworker's review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book is as if the kids from Derry, Maine grew up, came back, then started working for it to help save the town until one person goes way too far. Incredibly smart and completely enthralling, by far my favorite book I've read so far this year.
11corvus11's review against another edition
4.0
While waiting for my ARC of Sam J Miller's newest novel- The Blade Between- to arrive, I noticed that my library had procured the audio version and I decided to grab that to get started while I was waiting. I ended up finishing it quickly. The audio version has great narration and voice acting that fit the tone of the book. This book, like some of Miller's other work, straddles genres. In some ways, I found myself thinking that you could take the fantastical or paranormal elements away from it, and still have a great story about a ton of complex characters interacting in another gay boy returns to working class homophobic home town type of story. As a result, this sometimes left the paranormal elements feeling unfinished. They occasionally felt like refrigerator magnets that were part of the big picture, but not the heart of the story until we reach the end.
Nonetheless, this book explores quite well the various ways in which real life people with real life struggles find themselves in conflict and cooperation with one another. How does one fight with the white working class against encroaching gentrification and destruction of their jobs when said working class has more violently homophobic and racist members than the gentrified areas have? How do you find solidarity in groups who hate their own members like that? How do we understand concepts of sexuality? Is it only how we identify, who we love, the actions we take, what we like, or all of the above and more? Can one be proud of where they come from when it also includes immense amounts of pain? What can we do to work together and make things easier for youth that come after us? I think the paranormal parts added an interesting twist to these things, even if I wish they were more fleshed out.
To avoid spoiling this story, I will end this review here. I really have enjoyed everything I've read by this author and look forward to his next release.
This was also posted to my blog.
Nonetheless, this book explores quite well the various ways in which real life people with real life struggles find themselves in conflict and cooperation with one another. How does one fight with the white working class against encroaching gentrification and destruction of their jobs when said working class has more violently homophobic and racist members than the gentrified areas have? How do you find solidarity in groups who hate their own members like that? How do we understand concepts of sexuality? Is it only how we identify, who we love, the actions we take, what we like, or all of the above and more? Can one be proud of where they come from when it also includes immense amounts of pain? What can we do to work together and make things easier for youth that come after us? I think the paranormal parts added an interesting twist to these things, even if I wish they were more fleshed out.
To avoid spoiling this story, I will end this review here. I really have enjoyed everything I've read by this author and look forward to his next release.
This was also posted to my blog.
sarabz's review against another edition
5.0
So good! The blurb does not describe this book well at all - I read this because I really enjoyed Blackfish City, another of Miller's novels. This one was also a wild and complex story full of interesting ideas and characters. Be ready for ghosts and whales and ghosts of whales as well as a story about hate and love and complicated ways they intertwine, where people fight for their town - the one they hate (or love) - in lots of different ways. The story has a fabulous sense of place, and complexities of race, class, sexuality, gender are well developed.
nanno_lib's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
tarshka's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
People fighting over the fate of an old town that's becoming popular and gentrified, while some strange supernatural whale stuff happens. It wasn't all that interesting to me, but might be for people for whom it hits closer to home. I found most the characters unlikable, but the same can be said for how I feel about most people in real life, so I assume, despite the supernatural whales, the characters are fairly realistic. Unfortunately, it also did mean I never got invested in their struggle.
I considered giving up on the story, but finished it since it was audio, the story wasn't slow, and the narrators didn't bother me even though I don't really like multi-narrator books.
I considered giving up on the story, but finished it since it was audio, the story wasn't slow, and the narrators didn't bother me even though I don't really like multi-narrator books.
teddybo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Drug abuse, and Violence
classicbhaer's review against another edition
3.0
*Book given via netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
The first thing I have to say is I really liked the world building of this book. The author did a wonderful job of creating the town of Hudson. The main character really has bad memories tied to this place, rightfully so, he had endured quite a bit there. But, even with his memories he heads back to help his father only to face a place so different than he remembers, but hates. The world and environment of this story feel real, it has a feel to it even with the supernatural elements. There is a rich history of the town, which is not just there for the sake of being there, but plays into the plot
The writing itself was interesting, the plot moved quickly even for a nearly 400 page novel. It was a book I picked up from time to time, but I always ended up reading for more than I originally planned on. It did talk about a lot of larger topics throughout this book like violence, gentrification, homophobia, drug use and more. I think this is one of the reasons I kept on reading this book, because it had a lot going on and was dynamic.
The major flaw of this novel is the first part of the book was difficult to get through. While I did say I always ended up reading more than I planned, this first part of the book was a bit iffy for me personally, but turned around for me as the book continued. Another thing that I wasn't totally on board with is the fact that it could be really confusing at times and I had a hard time trying to figure out what this book was trying to be at first.
Overall, I think the author created a really rich history for this town that really lent itself to the plot and structure of the story. I think the author is a talented writer and I plan on giving his other works a try as well. I really enjoyed the use of the paranormal and really elevated this story into an engaging and unique horror. I feel like if this book sounds interesting to you, you should give it a go.
The first thing I have to say is I really liked the world building of this book. The author did a wonderful job of creating the town of Hudson. The main character really has bad memories tied to this place, rightfully so, he had endured quite a bit there. But, even with his memories he heads back to help his father only to face a place so different than he remembers, but hates. The world and environment of this story feel real, it has a feel to it even with the supernatural elements. There is a rich history of the town, which is not just there for the sake of being there, but plays into the plot
The writing itself was interesting, the plot moved quickly even for a nearly 400 page novel. It was a book I picked up from time to time, but I always ended up reading for more than I originally planned on. It did talk about a lot of larger topics throughout this book like violence, gentrification, homophobia, drug use and more. I think this is one of the reasons I kept on reading this book, because it had a lot going on and was dynamic.
The major flaw of this novel is the first part of the book was difficult to get through. While I did say I always ended up reading more than I planned, this first part of the book was a bit iffy for me personally, but turned around for me as the book continued. Another thing that I wasn't totally on board with is the fact that it could be really confusing at times and I had a hard time trying to figure out what this book was trying to be at first.
Overall, I think the author created a really rich history for this town that really lent itself to the plot and structure of the story. I think the author is a talented writer and I plan on giving his other works a try as well. I really enjoyed the use of the paranormal and really elevated this story into an engaging and unique horror. I feel like if this book sounds interesting to you, you should give it a go.
asheerie's review against another edition
2.0
This book started off strong and intriguing, but it was all over the place. Too many characters, too many storylines, weird… but not in an enjoyable way. I was invested enough in the overall storyline to finish the book, but it was a struggle.
rocketiza's review against another edition
1.0
The writing is so clumsy I barely made it 100 pages in. I thought maybe once I was past the clumsy exposition it would get better, but it was just kept being clumsy.