Reviews

A Room Away From the Wolves by Nova Ren Suma

izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition

DNF

I am not having good luck with books lately

kivt's review against another edition

2.0

Just not very good. Terrible prose and trite ending.

missnatcat's review against another edition

2.0

It hardly ever takes me a month to read a book, so I think that says something about it.
It was a beautifully written book, but it just... didn’t make sense. I almost didn’t finish it because I was so confused as several points. And the ending? What?

mk_pagano's review against another edition

Oh, this started out so promising. The prose is gorgeous, as always with Nova Ren Suma, and I really liked the setting. But there wasn't much of a plot or a lot of tension, which made for very slowww reading. There were too many characters which made it hard to keep track of them all, and I wasn't really rooting for anyone, as I felt like I didn't get to know anyone super well. And then the ending was just really confusing. Maybe I could make sense of it if I thought about it harder, but I honestly just wanted to move on.

brightbeautifulthings's review

dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

When Bina runs away from home (and her mother’s new marriage, bringing along some hideous new step-sisters), she runs to the boarding house in New York City where her mother stayed when she was younger to escape a bad relationship. However, Catherine House seems to be haunted by its original founder, and secrets lurk in its museum-like objects and strange tenants. If Bina wants to leave, she’ll have to confront both the past and the present. Trigger warnings: character death, abusive relationships, violence, bullying.

For whatever reason, this never took off for me. If you’re familiar with Suma’s other books, you can more or less see where it’s going, and the returns feel diminishing at this point. It just doesn’t bring a lot of new ideas to the concept or do much to develop it, and the boarding house premise as well as the characters left me a little cold.

On the other hand, if you’re very fond of Suma’s work, this might be just the book for you. It hits all the usual suspects, from spooky happenings and an emphasis on disenfranchised populations (heavy on the female characters) to muddled timelines and unreliable narrators. Normally, I’m a fan of all those things, so had I connected more with Bina, I think it would have worked better for me.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

surreptitiously's review

4.0

"You're holding your cards close," she said. "Smart. Keep doing that."

Nova Ren Suma is one of my favorite authors, one I find myself returning to when searching for inspiration for my own writing. She has a way with weaving lush prose and dark atmosphere with magical realism that transforms her stories into introspective journeys that transcends plot and often gets a little wild by end end. This book is no exception.

This isn't a story I'd recommend to everyone. It doesn't wrap neatly or explain itself, and by the end will likely leave you with more questions than when you started. It's at times both vague and shockingly transparent, but always maintains a healthy current of surrealism.

Recommended for: fans of magical realism, surrealism, character-driven stories, fans of the Haunting of Hill House and unsolved mysteries.

Mild spoilers below.

Spoiler

From the start, I thought it strange such emphasis was placed on holding one's cards close as a central theme, since the book appears to do the opposite. It opens with a big reveal: our main character witnesses one of her housemates leaping from the top of the building, then standing up and walking off as though nothing happened. The chapter goes into such detail about the event that it's hard to miss the supernatural elements, and as we see Bina move into the house, it's quite obvious what's plaguing the tenants.

In fact, Bina seems like the only one unaware, although her realizations never seem grand or surprising as she has them. They're simply observations she spends little time extrapolating. The girls in the aged portraits all look so similar to her housemates. Some even appear to be relics of an ancient past in the appearance and demeanor. All of them claim to have lived there far longer than seems possible, although she never presses for answers. Perhaps she's in denial herself. Regardless, the narrative makes little attempt to conceal its supernatural themes from the onset. Yes, these girls are not what they seem, it tells us. Yes, this is a ghost story.

But really, it's much more than that.

Like Bina, the book lays nearly all it's cards down from the start. It wears its heart on its sleeve, not intentionally obscuring it's message, even when it could. Not really. It wants you to focus on the journey and characters without worrying too much about situations outside of your--and Bina's--control.

This isn't a mystery about a house of ghost girls. Bina doesn't exist to solve it; she's got her own problems to worry about, and frankly, it's not her job to save anyone but herself. This is a story about a girl who's been abused and neglected by the world learning to reclaim her life and learn to let go. It's about the spiderweb of relationships we all carry, and how we sometimes pay for the mistakes of others. It's about growing up and moving on.

And in the end, it's about figuring out what you truly want, and having the courage to pursue it.

shoosha's review against another edition

3.0

A very quick, fun, read! It grabs from the start, and weaves in through the life of a very interesting and haunted girl trying to find herself and the truth of her existence. It's a haunting young adult novel, and it very much stuck with me as I was reading it, trying to figure out what was real, what was imaginative, and what was figurative. I think some of the threads began to wear thin at the end, but no spoilers here! It's worth the journey to find out yourself!

mellabella's review against another edition

3.0

This book was equal parts creepy, weird, and sad.
Bina's mom wanted to be an actress. Her getting pregnant put an end to her short career.
She always spoke of her time in NYC and a place called Catherine's House to Bina.
She left Bina's abusive father while in NY and went to Catherines House. It's a refuge for young women. Most running away from something.
In the preset day, Bina;s mom is married to a man who has two daughters that bully Bina and has been the whole time they have been part of the same "family". She chooses that same husband and daughters over Bina. Sending her away to family friends for about a month. Or so she thinks.
Bina escapes to Catherine's House herself. Catherine's tale is a mysterious one. The girls that live there are mysteries themselves.
So, there aren't any scares. There are a few chills. It's a moody, atmospheric book. It's also strange. Monet's character was a lot.
It was engaging and nice reading about places in NYC that I knew.
3.5 stars.

corky12's review against another edition

The pacing was too slow. I skipped ahead to see if it sped up at any point, and it didn't.

jcho's review

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25