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lmbradley 's review for:
The Good House
by Tananarive Due
THE GOOD HOUSE is an engrossing story of four generations of a family cursed by the matriarch's misuse of magic. Powers of good and evil battle within the land, the house, and the characters themselves. I particularly enjoyed the duality of the house.
The main timeline follows pragmatic lawyer/agent Angela, but we also dip into the pasts of Angela's grandmother (the matriarch) and Angela's son Corey, from their points of view. Unfortunately, this narrative choice drags out the plot; the reader can piece together Corey's story without these sections. I would've preferred if Angela had pried Corey's story from his friend Sean, who instead remains stubbornly silent to maintain plot tension.
There are also chapters from Angela's ex-husband's, Tariq's, point of view, which were deeply unpleasant, though not gratuitously so. We also get the points of view of various minor characters, all of whom die. Needless to say, that predictability defused tension and left the book feeling bloated.
Also problematic for me: the matriarch's decision not to inform her family of the danger she'd unleashed. It made no sense to me that she'd leave anything to chance, so the decision felt like a plot convenience.
There's a good story buried in these pages, but I didn't enjoy the execution. I have, however, enjoyed Due's short fiction, so I'll try another novel of hers in the future.
The main timeline follows pragmatic lawyer/agent Angela, but we also dip into the pasts of Angela's grandmother (the matriarch) and Angela's son Corey, from their points of view. Unfortunately, this narrative choice drags out the plot; the reader can piece together Corey's story without these sections. I would've preferred if Angela had pried Corey's story from his friend Sean, who instead remains stubbornly silent to maintain plot tension.
There are also chapters from Angela's ex-husband's, Tariq's, point of view, which were deeply unpleasant, though not gratuitously so. We also get the points of view of various minor characters, all of whom die. Needless to say, that predictability defused tension and left the book feeling bloated.
Also problematic for me: the matriarch's decision not to inform her family of the danger she'd unleashed. It made no sense to me that she'd leave anything to chance, so the decision felt like a plot convenience.
There's a good story buried in these pages, but I didn't enjoy the execution. I have, however, enjoyed Due's short fiction, so I'll try another novel of hers in the future.