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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
This was a very tragic tale. There were too many background stories on pointless characters. I wouldn't waste my time reading it.
This book was about the story of Jess, a heroin addict who wakes up to her trial where she's accused of setting a fire that killed her young apartment neighbor. After she's found guilty she goes to prison at Fellside, where some shady and supernatural stuff happens.
It was really hard to get into for me at first. Could just be me and my schedule though. I had to renew it and the librarian told me it's great once you get past the front hump. For me, it remained a decent book, but not quite memorable.
It was really hard to get into for me at first. Could just be me and my schedule though. I had to renew it and the librarian told me it's great once you get past the front hump. For me, it remained a decent book, but not quite memorable.
A strong follow up to The Girl with All the Gifts.
do you ever just not know how you feel about a book
This will not be spoiler free.
My best friend recced me this book which means I put a lot of pressure on myself to like it, which did not help me actually read it. (Hi Key I know you said it doesn't matter if I don't like it but it mattered too me so shhh)
The first twenty percent of this book I was so certain it was going to get five stars.
This is my first M. R. Carey book but his prose is exquisite, understated and simple but occasionally astounding imagery that managed not to seem out of place or stray into purple territory.
Add the way he layered these plotlines interweaving them expertly, and watching so many strands meet in the middle and show how they're connected in such a... Real way. (I could have phrased that better but my brain isn't working)
Some books with multiple povs can get confusing and drag, this book did not.
Ok that's the good.
But from 20-70% I just felt frustrated.
As a Jew I felt really disappointed with Sally and Levine BOTH being absolutely pathetic, nvm the mess that is Leah. (don't mistake me, I want flawed Jews in the media but 3/3 Jewish characters being either cowards, creepy and lustful towards a goyische woman, or deceitful, and good lord I think Sally and Levine made up 80% of this books crying)
Liz Earnshaws character made me uncomfortable during that time but tbh I'm over that, he really brought it back for me with her.
But Paula, don't get me wrong I loved her, but bits of her characterization made me super uncomfortable.
But then the last thirty percent of this book is awesome!!
Just so good!
Compelling, well written, satisfying, surprising!! Awesome!!
All these loose threads came together and formed a wonderfully coherent and shocking plot, it was action packed without being a Tarentino movie (I've completely spelt that wrong haven't I) it was just... Awesome.
So yeh, I adored parts of this book and I really feel like without him using uncomfortable cultural stereotypes to build his characters upon, plus some slightly annoying mistakes about medicine and British law, this could have been one of those perfect books that leaves you wonderfully changed but it just missed the mark for me.
Also Lorraine Buller is. The. Best.
This will not be spoiler free.
My best friend recced me this book which means I put a lot of pressure on myself to like it, which did not help me actually read it. (Hi Key I know you said it doesn't matter if I don't like it but it mattered too me so shhh)
The first twenty percent of this book I was so certain it was going to get five stars.
This is my first M. R. Carey book but his prose is exquisite, understated and simple but occasionally astounding imagery that managed not to seem out of place or stray into purple territory.
Add the way he layered these plotlines interweaving them expertly, and watching so many strands meet in the middle and show how they're connected in such a... Real way. (I could have phrased that better but my brain isn't working)
Some books with multiple povs can get confusing and drag, this book did not.
Ok that's the good.
But from 20-70% I just felt frustrated.
As a Jew I felt really disappointed with Sally and Levine BOTH being absolutely pathetic, nvm the mess that is Leah. (don't mistake me, I want flawed Jews in the media but 3/3 Jewish characters being either cowards, creepy and lustful towards a goyische woman, or deceitful, and good lord I think Sally and Levine made up 80% of this books crying)
Liz Earnshaws character made me uncomfortable during that time but tbh I'm over that, he really brought it back for me with her.
But Paula, don't get me wrong I loved her, but bits of her characterization made me super uncomfortable.
But then the last thirty percent of this book is awesome!!
Just so good!
Compelling, well written, satisfying, surprising!! Awesome!!
All these loose threads came together and formed a wonderfully coherent and shocking plot, it was action packed without being a Tarentino movie (I've completely spelt that wrong haven't I) it was just... Awesome.
So yeh, I adored parts of this book and I really feel like without him using uncomfortable cultural stereotypes to build his characters upon, plus some slightly annoying mistakes about medicine and British law, this could have been one of those perfect books that leaves you wonderfully changed but it just missed the mark for me.
Also Lorraine Buller is. The. Best.
I received this book as an advance copy for review. I haven't ready any books by this author so I can't compare it to his previous books. I did enjoy this book. Jess, the main character is a junkie but she is not a bad person. She is accused of starting a fire which kills a young boy, who lives up stairs, who Jess had a sort of friendship with, and she is really remorseful. But right from the start you wonder if she really is guilty - she has very little memory of the night of the fire. She believes she is guilty and feels she is getting what she deserves. She is convicted and sent to Fellside a maximum security women's prison. The characters in this book are fairly typical of most stories set in prison - the bossy con, the corrupt guards, the uncaring medical staff - but they do draw you in. This is book is not your typical prison story it is a mystery and you find yourself drawn into the complex web that Carey spins more and more as the story progresses. The ending is unexpected, I won't say more than that or it may spoil it.
3.5 stars
Orange is the New Black mixed with elements taken from a Nightmare On Elm Street
Orange is the New Black mixed with elements taken from a Nightmare On Elm Street
So, I LOVED The Girl With All The Gifts. I liked The Boy On The Bridge.
Fellside? Not so much. There was some supernatural and some mystery. But mostly it was odd. For lack of a better word. It dragged for a long while and really didn't get good for me until almost the end.
Not sure if Jess was a likable character or a sympathetic one. She's imprisoned for a crime she didn't commit. Setting a fire that inadvertently kills a young boy that lived in her building. A boy that she tried to befriend when she realized he was neglected and maybe once in a while abused.
Jess gives up on life. After a hunger strike that doesn't work because she decides she is going to fight, she is put in general population. From there she is beaten up and maybe forced to become an (unsuccessful) drug mule. The supporting characters Devlin, Grace, Liz, Stock are heinous.
Salazer the doctor isn't. He inspires pity.
I will say that if I had a ghost that could get into peoples heads, dreams and harm them? I probably wouldn't get beat up all the time.
2.5 stars for that ending.
Fellside? Not so much. There was some supernatural and some mystery. But mostly it was odd. For lack of a better word. It dragged for a long while and really didn't get good for me until almost the end.
Not sure if Jess was a likable character or a sympathetic one. She's imprisoned for a crime she didn't commit. Setting a fire that inadvertently kills a young boy that lived in her building. A boy that she tried to befriend when she realized he was neglected and maybe once in a while abused.
Jess gives up on life. After a hunger strike that doesn't work because she decides she is going to fight, she is put in general population. From there she is beaten up and maybe forced to become an (unsuccessful) drug mule. The supporting characters Devlin, Grace, Liz, Stock are heinous.
Salazer the doctor isn't. He inspires pity.
I will say that if I had a ghost that could get into peoples heads, dreams and harm them? I probably wouldn't get beat up all the time.
2.5 stars for that ending.
I don't feel like I got the story I was promised by the book jacket, which is not necessarily a deal breaker. However, the story I did get was just so-so, and there were a number of plot points I never quite bought . It kept me reading, so that's a win. However, the ending of this was a complete disaster, and I can't quite let go of the book concept I thought I was going to get being so different from reality.
Spoiler
Jess's original conviction and Nurse Stock's hatred of her, for example
I don't usually buy hardcovers unless I'm sure I'll like the book and want to keep and reread it. I wish I had just bought a copy of The Girl with All the Gifts and reread it instead of buying this. I just didn't connect to this like I did The Girl with All the Gifts, the story wasn't as original or surprising and it just lacked the magic his previous book did.
That's not to say Fellside is terrible. The writing is good and I read it rather quickly even though it was really kind of boring. The main issue was that I didn't really care about the main character, or any of the characters really. The other issue is that it felt almost like he had drafts for different stories and his agent/editor/publisher/someone rushed him to get another book out while the hype around The Girl with All the Gifts was still strong and he just smushed the two together in to one not very cohesive story. I do feel like he tried to do some interesting things here and maybe I'm just overloaded with stories about prison - this felt a bit similar to a YA novel I read last year whose name is escaping me, about ghosts in a girls' juvie center.
I feel like I'm being a bit harsher than I intend to be but a lot of that is because I had huge expectations for this book. I LOVED The Girl with All the Gifts. I've read some of what Carey wrote for Marvel and enjoyed that. I do plan to check out the mysteries he published under the name Mike Carey and will still check out his next book, I may just try it at the library first.
Also - it is weird that I accidentally read two ghost stories in a row in the middle of July.
That's not to say Fellside is terrible. The writing is good and I read it rather quickly even though it was really kind of boring. The main issue was that I didn't really care about the main character, or any of the characters really. The other issue is that it felt almost like he had drafts for different stories and his agent/editor/publisher/someone rushed him to get another book out while the hype around The Girl with All the Gifts was still strong and he just smushed the two together in to one not very cohesive story. I do feel like he tried to do some interesting things here and maybe I'm just overloaded with stories about prison - this felt a bit similar to a YA novel I read last year whose name is escaping me, about ghosts in a girls' juvie center.
I feel like I'm being a bit harsher than I intend to be but a lot of that is because I had huge expectations for this book. I LOVED The Girl with All the Gifts. I've read some of what Carey wrote for Marvel and enjoyed that. I do plan to check out the mysteries he published under the name Mike Carey and will still check out his next book, I may just try it at the library first.
Also - it is weird that I accidentally read two ghost stories in a row in the middle of July.