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sineadcstories's review
5.0

I had so much fun reading this book, Perfectly Preventable Deaths by Deirdre Sullivan. It is funny and creepy and gory and, honestly, a little perfect.
Twin sisters Madeline and Catlin move up to a small town in Galway after their mam remarries. A small town full of big secrets where they live in a castle.
Deirdre Sullivan accurately captures the voice of a sixteen year old. The dialogue between the two sisters is real, witty and charming, while the imagery is shocking and harrowing. The writing is quirky and quick, keeping the reader swept up in the pace of the novel.
There are witches, secret passageways, twins, cats and a load of Virgin Mary's - the makings of any good gothic novel. But there are also real concepts that are so relevant to young people today. Madeline watches her sister fall into something abusive while also learning about her sexuality and what makes her different.
Throughout the book I wondered what was going on in this town. I genuinely had no idea who knew what and what would happen. What did happen succeeded in shocking me and making me grimace. It is unpredictable and mysterious. Deirdre Sullivan does not hold back in this novel, even when she makes the reader actively uncomfortable. She lost herself in this work and produced something incredible and memorable as a result.
Sullivan writes a real, raw, and quirky coming of age novel featuring a protagonist who is easy to identify with. It is a book to escape to and completely transform with.
I had so much fun reading this book, Perfectly Preventable Deaths by Deirdre Sullivan. It is funny and creepy and gory and, honestly, a little perfect.
Twin sisters Madeline and Catlin move up to a small town in Galway after their mam remarries. A small town full of big secrets where they live in a castle.
Deirdre Sullivan accurately captures the voice of a sixteen year old. The dialogue between the two sisters is real, witty and charming, while the imagery is shocking and harrowing. The writing is quirky and quick, keeping the reader swept up in the pace of the novel.
There are witches, secret passageways, twins, cats and a load of Virgin Mary's - the makings of any good gothic novel. But there are also real concepts that are so relevant to young people today. Madeline watches her sister fall into something abusive while also learning about her sexuality and what makes her different.
Throughout the book I wondered what was going on in this town. I genuinely had no idea who knew what and what would happen. What did happen succeeded in shocking me and making me grimace. It is unpredictable and mysterious. Deirdre Sullivan does not hold back in this novel, even when she makes the reader actively uncomfortable. She lost herself in this work and produced something incredible and memorable as a result.
Sullivan writes a real, raw, and quirky coming of age novel featuring a protagonist who is easy to identify with. It is a book to escape to and completely transform with.
foggy_rosamund's review
5.0
Deirdre Sullivan's prose is so unique and so beautiful that I would follow her anywhere: if she chose to write a book about angling, say, or a carpentry manual, I'd still read it. Thankfully Perfectly Preventable Deaths, a witchy tale set in rural Ireland, is exactly what I want to read anyway. Sullivan chooses words precisely; her sentences often have the rhythm of blank verse. Yet they're unfussy, capturing the cadence of speech, and her images, while arresting, don't draw attention to themselves. She has an eye for the beauty and strangeness of the world, and an ear for dialect and humour. While this story is dark, and full of the atmosphere of a haunted house, it's also thoroughly modern, referring to gifs and memes, and alive with jokes. The story centres on twins: Madeline and Catlin, who have moved to Ballyfrann after their mother remarries. The isolated village in Galway is unwelcoming, and full of memories of death: girls have been murdered in the mountains surrounding it, little dead animals find their way under the characters' feet, wild animals are tortured in the woods.
This is a chilling story. At times, it felt too grisly for the YA genre, and pushed the boundaries of what I felt comfortable reading. But Sullivan handles the darkness carefully, and it's certainly not just there for kicks. It's a passionately feminist novel, about the dangers young women face, and contains a long list of names of the girls who have died: Sullivan is determined to give her young women a name, and their names become a litany that gives the characters power to overcome evil. The story is also an exploration into witches, and what it means to be a witch or wise woman, and it's a story about discovering yourself, and discovering love. Madeline learns that she's a witch and a lesbian as the novel progresses, and both elements of herself bring her power.
The ending is satisfying, but certainly leaves the plot room to grow, which I very much hope it does!
This is a chilling story. At times, it felt too grisly for the YA genre, and pushed the boundaries of what I felt comfortable reading. But Sullivan handles the darkness carefully, and it's certainly not just there for kicks. It's a passionately feminist novel, about the dangers young women face, and contains a long list of names of the girls who have died: Sullivan is determined to give her young women a name, and their names become a litany that gives the characters power to overcome evil. The story is also an exploration into witches, and what it means to be a witch or wise woman, and it's a story about discovering yourself, and discovering love. Madeline learns that she's a witch and a lesbian as the novel progresses, and both elements of herself bring her power.
The ending is satisfying, but certainly leaves the plot room to grow, which I very much hope it does!
bookishly_sam126's review
4.0
I wasn't sure how to rate this book or even review it. What I do know is I have the second one on my tbr pile for this year.
Overall the story itself was really interesting, dark and twisty in places and somewhat confusing. If you can get past the writing style, the jumping from one scenario to another very quickly then I think you will find this an enjoyable read
Overall the story itself was really interesting, dark and twisty in places and somewhat confusing. If you can get past the writing style, the jumping from one scenario to another very quickly then I think you will find this an enjoyable read
serenalawless's review
5.0
My preference is always for a standalone book, but this one? I want more. I want a sequel, or a prequel, or a companion novel. I'm not ready to be done with Madeline and Catlin. I think, given how it ends, there is plenty of room to expand on this universe and I sincerely hope that more happens. Bring us back when they're 23 and give us more.
All of the characters in the book are compelling, even the ones that are briefly there - the Collinses and the twin's biological father. You get the sense, reading this, that you could read it from anyone's POV and it would make an interesting story. That said, I love Madeline's POV - she's funny, not in a showy way but very naturally so, inquisitive and strange. She feels like a friend. Caitlin is so delightfully bitchy but loveable all the same. Their relationship read very true.
The climax of this book built to such an impressive height, I had to put it down at one point. If you've read, I'm sure you know what scene I'm talking about. And the magic!
At no point did I feel like I was shook out of this world. It felt so real. Really and truly, I hope more is coming. Another book, a movie, a Netflix series based on the entire world of Ballyfrann - which I note from Dearbháil's review, means the Mouth of Hell. AMAZING!
All the stars in the sky for this one. Five isn't enough.
All of the characters in the book are compelling, even the ones that are briefly there - the Collinses and the twin's biological father. You get the sense, reading this, that you could read it from anyone's POV and it would make an interesting story. That said, I love Madeline's POV - she's funny, not in a showy way but very naturally so, inquisitive and strange. She feels like a friend. Caitlin is so delightfully bitchy but loveable all the same. Their relationship read very true.
The climax of this book built to such an impressive height, I had to put it down at one point. If you've read, I'm sure you know what scene I'm talking about. And the magic!
At no point did I feel like I was shook out of this world. It felt so real. Really and truly, I hope more is coming. Another book, a movie, a Netflix series based on the entire world of Ballyfrann - which I note from Dearbháil's review, means the Mouth of Hell. AMAZING!
All the stars in the sky for this one. Five isn't enough.
woolyj's review
3.0
I gave it a three basically because the plot was good, the characters were ok but the storyline did drag on a bit. It wasn't till the last 100 pages or so that I felt my interest peak and stuck with it.
spoonofnutella_'s review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Such a fun read! I really enjoyed the use of different ingredients/witchy stuff to tell the story in between chapters.
The vibe was just so cool but with a unique feel. A really enjoyable read and a world that's easy to get lost in.
The vibe was just so cool but with a unique feel. A really enjoyable read and a world that's easy to get lost in.
samreads788's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
pizzabrot's review against another edition
4.0
WHAT A FANTASTIC BOOK! Finally one that lives up to its absolutely gorgeous cover! Expect an unnecessary cheesy love-letter to this novel because I'm in awe right now and ready to scream it out loud TO THE WHOLE WORLD!
I honestly thought this would take me much longer to read, and decided to choose it as my Halloween book (if that's not a Halloween cover, I don't know what is). Little did I know that it would barely take me two days of reading! I am in absolute love, and I hate that no matter what I'm going to write next, there really is no way I can do this book justice. No fucking way. First of all, if I ever were to write a book (never going to happen but let's pretend I have all these amazing ideas crispy and ready for publishing), I hope I'm as good, no, fantastic at conveying a mystical atmosphere as Deirdre Sullivan. Never have I read a book that has intended to be as creepy as possible and managed to actually pull it off at the same time. Too often I end up underwhelmed, and I already gave up on ever getting spooked out about anything (because that's how cool and brave I am. The girl who can't even get on ghost trains without getting close to panic attacks). And the characters felt so REAL! In the best way, not the way where you'd roll your eyes and think, real life-people suck enough as they are, I don't need more of them in my leisure material as well. They were funny, and flawed, and complicated, and they had too many secrets and not enough at the same time. Amazing! If they acted stupidly, then for a very good reason! Which is more than can be said about other fictional characters...Not gonna say names here because I really want to keep this review within the character limit (what an amazingly terrible pun). I did have my problems with the ending, admittedly; it felt messy and kinda rushed, but I like how the author didn't decide to go for a shocking plot twist there, but rather let it develop all organically throughout the whole book. Which was so much better than destroying it all just for the sake of having a plot twist to make your book seem cooler. Even though there were times I wished for one, I'm going to give you that. But I made my peace with it; it's a risky, but very mature decision for a thriller (not sure this even is a thriller, but not sure what else it is) and after thinking about it, I appreciate it so much for how authentic it makes it feel. It just fits the novel like a glove, and that's the most important thing for the coming-up winter. And oh my god, speaking of important things! The whole...let's call it incident, with cute little kitten Button! It was so dark! Tell me one YA novel that is similarly dark (not even THG is, since I can deal way better with dead children than...this. I'm telling you, THIS was soooo much worse!) and you know what, I could barely look at the page and whoever has read the book knows exactly which page I'm talking about, inwardly screaming "No...No...NO!!!!" the whole time, and yet, it was all so...believable. Almost horrible in its justifiability! AND I HATE AND LOVE THE AUTHOR FOR MANAGING THIS. I have to say that I didn't understand every part of the ending - maybe I'm just too stupid, but I actually feel like that was very much intentional (the mystery part, not my being stupid). I wouldn't be surprised if this book is going to have a sequel, since the whole storyline around their father has so much potential left and I'm not 100% sure on what happened and why. Plus I'd love to read more about the village and its more than weird and quirky habitants, who somehow all managed to feel real from the very second they were introduced! And to manage to pull that off given that those very habitants include the incest-supporting Collinses is a master stroke in its own way. Furthermore, I absolutely loved the magical realism-elements in this book. You know, I'm not getting tired of dishing Deborah Harkness, and will continue to do so for a long time, but this time (not only this time, actually) for a very good reason! There's also a magic/witch storyline in this book, and Deborah Harkness really should take notes because thats how you handle witches and magic. Simply, but realistically, leaving a healthy dose of mystery! (and rhyming in the process) I could believe everything I was being told because it sounded so damn genuine! (telling you, if the flat earthers wrote like that they'd probably get more support for their asinine theory) And the author didn't do it by giving bunches of unnecessary information about alchemy that no one fucking cares about; but by letting it combine with the flow of the storyline, never giving too much away, but handing out just enough explanations for you to get a medium-ish grasp of what's going on. It's actually an insane feat that the author managed to pull this off, because at first it's all very...well, non-magicky, but this part gets introduced in such an ingenious way that you just roll with it. You never ask yourself "Why" or "Did we really need this", you just accept it because there really is no reason not to. Does everything make sense? Absolutely not! Did I ask myself why the village acted the way they did? Oh hell yes. Did I care about any of that? NOPE! Because that's how good it is written. You just don't care. Because even though what people in this novel do and did may not make sense in a stereotypical manner, it all fits in this really REALLY fucked-up way. Because people aren't perfect, people are illogical, and stupid, and should really use their brain more. And unlike in other books, the stupidity just makes sense (ha, something does make sense after all) in this case. It's strange - and that's exactly what makes it brilliant! Brilliantly strange. Theme-wise, this novel is a lot about self-exploration, and even though that's not necessarily one of my favourite topics, it was handled so damn well. Better than in most YA books I've read, where it always feels so incredibly forced, dull and uninspired. This book gave off insane "Bone Gap" vibes, which, if you've read my reviews over time, is one of my all-time favourite books and another one that is heavy on the magic realism with this healthy dose of...authenticity and weirdness thrown into it And PPD was so god-damn funny too! Sometimes it made me laugh out loud like a crazy person on a bus full of people, but I have no regrets. That was exactly my type of humor, and after having read the dullest books ever (All Souls trilogy, I'll hate you forever) I really needed a bit of dark fun in my literary life. And the relationships in this book! I especially loved the chemistry between both sisters and the author for not going the "They are complete opposites and must therefore hate each other"-route, but pretty much every relationship was handled SO well and realistically. The whole resolution with Oona? Perfect. Just thank you for this. It's actually impressive how the author managed to convey it all so amazingly, given that the book isn't exactly long, and so full of all kinds of events at the same time (some of them really, unbelievably horrible and gaspworthy) - and nothing suffers, neither plot, nor the atmosphere (and the author uses such beautiful and mystified language in describing it!!), nor any of the relationships. Especially not the relationships! Yes, some of them naturally got the short straw, and yet you still got a good enough sip, err grasp of the whole dynamics and sometimes that (not love) is all you need. I liked how not everything and everyone got a happy ending, because after all, that's just what life is: you win and you lose some. And yes, there was so much lost, but still so much hope left at the same time. Which is impressive, given the incredibly gruesome things that happen in this book, one more stomach-turning than the other. But it was never written in a gory or sensational way like in those 08/15 thrillers that all want to top each other in the oh-so-terrible-but-actually-totally-uninspired cruelty of their murders (yawn...it's fun for a time, but gets very old really soon); instead, the descriptions were very blunt and matter-of-fact, sparse and leaving a lot of room for imagination, and that made everything seem even more terrible. So yes, the ending was neither a classically good or bad one; rather, there's this fabulous (and horribly underestimated) grey zone that really not enough authors make use of but that fortunately enough got featured heavily enough here. Still, as I said, for me personally, there was something missing in the ending, which is why the book doesn't get its full five stars from me - but I can't put my hand on it, and maybe I'm just not super-satisfied because the ending may have been even too ambiguous and weird for my liking. Plus all those unanswered questions...But that's probably just on me though and really doesn't matter too much. I should just start to become even weirder instead, in order to be then able to appreciate it fully. And who cares about the ending if the other 80% were so good? The book managed to completely draw me in, and unsurprisingly I found myself being completely unwilling as well as unable to put it down until the very end (am I imagening it or do I write this sentence in every review of the books I enjoyed...) It's simply that amazing! I almost felt witched myself, because I feel like the book has made such an impact on me. I blame it all on the afore-mentioned, absolutely marvelous writing style. So simple, and yet so effective! And so wonderfully strange and arcane! Absolute proof that you don't need overly complicated, pretentiously-poetic flowery language or endless descriptions about surroundings no one fucking cares about, just because the author doesn't have any other means to pull it off. Deirdre Sullivan makes it all seem so...easy. She never pretends that her characters are anything other than they are, teenagers (but still manages to have the perfect amount of parody thrown in without it ever breaking the flow of the novel; cue to Catlin's outbreak over how her parents don't understand her forbidden and very intense love for some allegedly dangerous weirdo). I'm sure that I'll keep thinking about the book for a long time and I already know that this is perfect reread-material. One of those books that you can read a thousand times probably and that will still be amazing. Oh god, what an embarrassing and chaotic love-letter this review is. But this book deserves it! And although it pains me deeply and very lividly how many unanswered questions there are in this book, I (grumpily) understand that they are an intentional and probably important part of this novel. Or something. And I'm not quite ready to sacrifice a fox to get my answers yet. I think I'm good for now...And so is this novel, quite obviously!
PS: Unfortunately, so isn't the title. "Perfectly Preventable Deaths"? Really? What's that supposed to have to do with the book? Like...What? Why? Or....Wait! Because the deaths could've been prevented in the end? It does sound like sarcasm though. Frankly, I am confused, and I don't like it. But as long as I like everything else, I'm going to leave that grumpiness at the door right now!
PS2: This is what I call a typical Kathi-book. A typical Kathi book is: extremely weird, full of quirky yet loveable characters, heavy on the dialogue and dark humor, very fucked-up and awwwww-able (cruising perfectly between the two), questioning your sanity in the best way, and last but not least: very magically realistic! Usually an acquired taste, but once acquired, really tasty. Always leaving you hungry for more though :( Poor next course...err book.
PS3: Also, will I ever pay attention to what fucking (wrong!) bus I'm getting into while editing my review?! Why am I like this.
I honestly thought this would take me much longer to read, and decided to choose it as my Halloween book (if that's not a Halloween cover, I don't know what is). Little did I know that it would barely take me two days of reading! I am in absolute love, and I hate that no matter what I'm going to write next, there really is no way I can do this book justice. No fucking way. First of all, if I ever were to write a book (never going to happen but let's pretend I have all these amazing ideas crispy and ready for publishing), I hope I'm as good, no, fantastic at conveying a mystical atmosphere as Deirdre Sullivan. Never have I read a book that has intended to be as creepy as possible and managed to actually pull it off at the same time. Too often I end up underwhelmed, and I already gave up on ever getting spooked out about anything (because that's how cool and brave I am. The girl who can't even get on ghost trains without getting close to panic attacks). And the characters felt so REAL! In the best way, not the way where you'd roll your eyes and think, real life-people suck enough as they are, I don't need more of them in my leisure material as well. They were funny, and flawed, and complicated, and they had too many secrets and not enough at the same time. Amazing! If they acted stupidly, then for a very good reason! Which is more than can be said about other fictional characters...Not gonna say names here because I really want to keep this review within the character limit (what an amazingly terrible pun). I did have my problems with the ending, admittedly; it felt messy and kinda rushed, but I like how the author didn't decide to go for a shocking plot twist there, but rather let it develop all organically throughout the whole book. Which was so much better than destroying it all just for the sake of having a plot twist to make your book seem cooler. Even though there were times I wished for one, I'm going to give you that. But I made my peace with it; it's a risky, but very mature decision for a thriller (not sure this even is a thriller, but not sure what else it is) and after thinking about it, I appreciate it so much for how authentic it makes it feel. It just fits the novel like a glove, and that's the most important thing for the coming-up winter. And oh my god, speaking of important things! The whole...let's call it incident, with cute little kitten Button! It was so dark! Tell me one YA novel that is similarly dark (not even THG is, since I can deal way better with dead children than...this. I'm telling you, THIS was soooo much worse!) and you know what, I could barely look at the page and whoever has read the book knows exactly which page I'm talking about, inwardly screaming "No...No...NO!!!!" the whole time, and yet, it was all so...believable. Almost horrible in its justifiability! AND I HATE AND LOVE THE AUTHOR FOR MANAGING THIS. I have to say that I didn't understand every part of the ending - maybe I'm just too stupid, but I actually feel like that was very much intentional (the mystery part, not my being stupid). I wouldn't be surprised if this book is going to have a sequel, since the whole storyline around their father has so much potential left and I'm not 100% sure on what happened and why. Plus I'd love to read more about the village and its more than weird and quirky habitants, who somehow all managed to feel real from the very second they were introduced! And to manage to pull that off given that those very habitants include the incest-supporting Collinses is a master stroke in its own way. Furthermore, I absolutely loved the magical realism-elements in this book. You know, I'm not getting tired of dishing Deborah Harkness, and will continue to do so for a long time, but this time (not only this time, actually) for a very good reason! There's also a magic/witch storyline in this book, and Deborah Harkness really should take notes because thats how you handle witches and magic. Simply, but realistically, leaving a healthy dose of mystery! (and rhyming in the process) I could believe everything I was being told because it sounded so damn genuine! (telling you, if the flat earthers wrote like that they'd probably get more support for their asinine theory) And the author didn't do it by giving bunches of unnecessary information about alchemy that no one fucking cares about; but by letting it combine with the flow of the storyline, never giving too much away, but handing out just enough explanations for you to get a medium-ish grasp of what's going on. It's actually an insane feat that the author managed to pull this off, because at first it's all very...well, non-magicky, but this part gets introduced in such an ingenious way that you just roll with it. You never ask yourself "Why" or "Did we really need this", you just accept it because there really is no reason not to. Does everything make sense? Absolutely not! Did I ask myself why the village acted the way they did? Oh hell yes. Did I care about any of that? NOPE! Because that's how good it is written. You just don't care. Because even though what people in this novel do and did may not make sense in a stereotypical manner, it all fits in this really REALLY fucked-up way. Because people aren't perfect, people are illogical, and stupid, and should really use their brain more. And unlike in other books, the stupidity just makes sense (ha, something does make sense after all) in this case. It's strange - and that's exactly what makes it brilliant! Brilliantly strange. Theme-wise, this novel is a lot about self-exploration, and even though that's not necessarily one of my favourite topics, it was handled so damn well. Better than in most YA books I've read, where it always feels so incredibly forced, dull and uninspired. This book gave off insane "Bone Gap" vibes, which, if you've read my reviews over time, is one of my all-time favourite books and another one that is heavy on the magic realism with this healthy dose of...authenticity and weirdness thrown into it And PPD was so god-damn funny too! Sometimes it made me laugh out loud like a crazy person on a bus full of people, but I have no regrets. That was exactly my type of humor, and after having read the dullest books ever (All Souls trilogy, I'll hate you forever) I really needed a bit of dark fun in my literary life. And the relationships in this book! I especially loved the chemistry between both sisters and the author for not going the "They are complete opposites and must therefore hate each other"-route, but pretty much every relationship was handled SO well and realistically. The whole resolution with Oona? Perfect. Just thank you for this. It's actually impressive how the author managed to convey it all so amazingly, given that the book isn't exactly long, and so full of all kinds of events at the same time (some of them really, unbelievably horrible and gaspworthy) - and nothing suffers, neither plot, nor the atmosphere (and the author uses such beautiful and mystified language in describing it!!), nor any of the relationships. Especially not the relationships! Yes, some of them naturally got the short straw, and yet you still got a good enough sip, err grasp of the whole dynamics and sometimes that (not love) is all you need. I liked how not everything and everyone got a happy ending, because after all, that's just what life is: you win and you lose some. And yes, there was so much lost, but still so much hope left at the same time. Which is impressive, given the incredibly gruesome things that happen in this book, one more stomach-turning than the other. But it was never written in a gory or sensational way like in those 08/15 thrillers that all want to top each other in the oh-so-terrible-but-actually-totally-uninspired cruelty of their murders (yawn...it's fun for a time, but gets very old really soon); instead, the descriptions were very blunt and matter-of-fact, sparse and leaving a lot of room for imagination, and that made everything seem even more terrible. So yes, the ending was neither a classically good or bad one; rather, there's this fabulous (and horribly underestimated) grey zone that really not enough authors make use of but that fortunately enough got featured heavily enough here. Still, as I said, for me personally, there was something missing in the ending, which is why the book doesn't get its full five stars from me - but I can't put my hand on it, and maybe I'm just not super-satisfied because the ending may have been even too ambiguous and weird for my liking. Plus all those unanswered questions...But that's probably just on me though and really doesn't matter too much. I should just start to become even weirder instead, in order to be then able to appreciate it fully. And who cares about the ending if the other 80% were so good? The book managed to completely draw me in, and unsurprisingly I found myself being completely unwilling as well as unable to put it down until the very end (am I imagening it or do I write this sentence in every review of the books I enjoyed...) It's simply that amazing! I almost felt witched myself, because I feel like the book has made such an impact on me. I blame it all on the afore-mentioned, absolutely marvelous writing style. So simple, and yet so effective! And so wonderfully strange and arcane! Absolute proof that you don't need overly complicated, pretentiously-poetic flowery language or endless descriptions about surroundings no one fucking cares about, just because the author doesn't have any other means to pull it off. Deirdre Sullivan makes it all seem so...easy. She never pretends that her characters are anything other than they are, teenagers (but still manages to have the perfect amount of parody thrown in without it ever breaking the flow of the novel; cue to Catlin's outbreak over how her parents don't understand her forbidden and very intense love for some allegedly dangerous weirdo). I'm sure that I'll keep thinking about the book for a long time and I already know that this is perfect reread-material. One of those books that you can read a thousand times probably and that will still be amazing. Oh god, what an embarrassing and chaotic love-letter this review is. But this book deserves it! And although it pains me deeply and very lividly how many unanswered questions there are in this book, I (grumpily) understand that they are an intentional and probably important part of this novel. Or something. And I'm not quite ready to sacrifice a fox to get my answers yet. I think I'm good for now...And so is this novel, quite obviously!
PS: Unfortunately, so isn't the title. "Perfectly Preventable Deaths"? Really? What's that supposed to have to do with the book? Like...What? Why? Or....Wait! Because the deaths could've been prevented in the end? It does sound like sarcasm though. Frankly, I am confused, and I don't like it. But as long as I like everything else, I'm going to leave that grumpiness at the door right now!
PS2: This is what I call a typical Kathi-book. A typical Kathi book is: extremely weird, full of quirky yet loveable characters, heavy on the dialogue and dark humor, very fucked-up and awwwww-able (cruising perfectly between the two), questioning your sanity in the best way, and last but not least: very magically realistic! Usually an acquired taste, but once acquired, really tasty. Always leaving you hungry for more though :( Poor next course...err book.
PS3: Also, will I ever pay attention to what fucking (wrong!) bus I'm getting into while editing my review?! Why am I like this.