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nerdymamabooks's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
1librarianspath's review against another edition
4.0
I definitely enjoyed this one more than the first in the series. They are almost stand-alone books; you definitely don’t need to have read the first one to appreciate it. The language and flow of the story felt more organic and I felt that the setting worked much better too
cmcrockford's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful, poetic prose and close to what I wanted Lovecraft County to be - an unpreachy depiction of cosmic horror in the context of 20th century African-American life. Nicely done.
5elementknitr's review
5.0
At first, I was really bummed that Persons (from the first book) wasn't in this one. Then I thought, well, maybe the author is doing series on people who have encounters with The Old Ones. Then Persons showed up; had really been there all along. He had a much smaller part in this book, however, and it turned out to be just fine.
The author's imagination is so rich, her writing so visceral, I can picture every bit of these books. So much so, that I can't help but hope they will be made into graphic novels or animated series at some point.
I can't wait for more!
The author's imagination is so rich, her writing so visceral, I can picture every bit of these books. So much so, that I can't help but hope they will be made into graphic novels or animated series at some point.
I can't wait for more!
theybedax's review against another edition
4.0
Another kick butt addition to Persons Non Grata! My only beef is that the language swings from beautifully poetic to downright overwhelming. Maybe I just need to beef up my vocabulary but geez. It felt a bit like they kept right clicking on words and chose a synonym that was least known on purpose.
thomaswjoyce's review against another edition
5.0
Another fantastic story featuring John Persons. I love Khaw's work.
onceandfuturelaura's review against another edition
3.0
Great prose. A seed of a good story here about songs that just claw at us to come out and destroy the world. But the execution left me a little cold.
nataliya_x's review
2.0
“You can’t murder that which is eternal, that which will lie until death itself passes. But you can slow it, cripple it, hobble it. You can hurt your nightmares; it’s a two-way street.”This story is set in the same universe as the first novella in the series, [b:Hammers on Bone|30199328|Hammers on Bone (Persons Non Grata, #1)|Cassandra Khaw|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1464918942l/30199328._SY75_.jpg|50650411], but a few decades earlier, and the protagonist of that one,
Spoiler
alien LARP-er
The first story was Lovecraftian noir; this one lacks the detective part and instead has a blues musician at its center, dealing not only with racism and violence but also with sinister music that took residence in his head — music that is a harbinger of something very sinister to come.
“The blues, you see, is the music of the ache and the grind, the letter from the front saying your brother is dead, the smile that reminds you of that girl you lost when you were too young to know better.”
But the notes of this one fell flat for me. Some of it was very purple prose for which I only have intermittent tolerance (Cat Valente works for me for some reason, and last year’s Hugo winner [b:This Is How You Lose the Time War|43352954|This Is How You Lose the Time War|Amal El-Mohtar|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545755487l/43352954._SX50_.jpg|58237743] managed to hit the right spot, for instance). Some of it was my general indifference to all things Lovecraftian unless there’s something else to hold my attention. Some of it was that John Persons despite all my irritations with him still was a better, more interesting character than Deacon James, and relegating Persons to the sidelines did not help holding my attention.
Yes, I must admit that a lot of purple prose elaborate passages were strikingly beautiful and created quite visceral imagery (yes, at times literally - it’s Lovecraftian vibes we are talking about here!), but despite me appreciatively nodding when these parts came along they failed to combine into the atmosphere that was immersive rather than just striking. It was pretty, but remained more abstract than anything, and flowery prose would often actually dissipate that building tension.
“What do you do when the funeral is over but your heart is still broken. When all the condolences have been spoken and the mourners have gone shuffling home, and you’re left to stare at the wall, so raw and empty that you don’t know if you’ll ever be whole again.”
And it’s quite fast. Despite not that much actually happening, somehow it reads almost frantic, jumping from scene to scene with quite an urgency, with little room left to catch your breath and think about what’s happening and why you would care.
And therefore despite it being so short, I had to force myself to finish it.
2.5 stars.
—————
My review of the first book in this kinda-series, Hammers on Bone, is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4238154662
—————
Buddy read with Carol and David.
mayastone's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
"Blues is about wanting and not having, about putting that need into someone else's hands for a little while so you can pause and breathe."
I loved the use of music throughout the story. Having it weaponized and even used as a form of communication.
“When my grandma died, I couldn’t even think about a slice of bread, let alone the effort of putting it into my mouth. Dead people have that way about them, you know? They get lonely. None of them ever mean it, but they’ve got a way of pulling us after them.”
One of the issues touched on is grief, in a way I find the above quote a gentle way of explaining the effect losing someone has on the living.
A breeze sighs. It’s like someone told a lunatic to build this nowhere-place out of his gibbering's, the bits and pieces of normal he keeps threaded between his ribs.
The visuals are so vivid, the idea of a night sky filled with stars that look like eyes is haunting.
I am really enjoying these Lovecraftian-inspired stories. The eerie, uncanny feel of the story. This one did have direct racism that the character goes through, with the slur not explicitly stated, but implied through some creative descriptions. The P.I. from the first book is here but he doesn't really do too much.