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A review by slichto3
The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen
5.0
I very much enjoyed this book. The story is eerie, riveting, and at times confusing. It's a mystery that keeps you guessing throughout - about what's really going on and what is going to happen.
The story is mostly told by the main character: Ella. She's a substitute literature teacher, and, after a story she writes is published, she gets accepted into the Rabbit Back Literature Society (hey, the title!). This is a society of nine other writers, all of whom became famous under the tutelage of the leader of the society, Laura White. Laura White herself is a famous childrens author. Everything seems like it's going to go great, except, at the party where Ella is accepted into the Society, Laura White disappears under extremely odd circumstances. What follows is Ella's attempts to solve a number of mysteries, including what happened to Laura White, what is the history of this mysterious Society, and why are books with altered plots appearing throughout the town?
It's all very well-written in a way that kept me wanting to read more. The author had an interesting tactic when important events would occur. He would sometimes sort of refer to what happened at the event, but in a very unsatisfying way. Then, later, the fullness of that event would slowly be fully explained. It's something that I haven't seen before and found to be very effective (after I figured out that it wasn't a mistake). That sort of thing typified much of the writing: mysterious, keeping you on the edge of understanding what was going on, which kept you reading to find more pieces to the puzzle.
I really enjoyed that effort of trying to solve the plot and the mysteries. It was fun. It was even more fun because the solutions are a bit ambiguous. It's a mental challenge - one that I relished. I'd recommend this book highly - especially if you like trying to solve puzzles like me!
The story is mostly told by the main character: Ella. She's a substitute literature teacher, and, after a story she writes is published, she gets accepted into the Rabbit Back Literature Society (hey, the title!). This is a society of nine other writers, all of whom became famous under the tutelage of the leader of the society, Laura White. Laura White herself is a famous childrens author. Everything seems like it's going to go great, except, at the party where Ella is accepted into the Society, Laura White disappears under extremely odd circumstances. What follows is Ella's attempts to solve a number of mysteries, including what happened to Laura White, what is the history of this mysterious Society, and why are books with altered plots appearing throughout the town?
It's all very well-written in a way that kept me wanting to read more. The author had an interesting tactic when important events would occur. He would sometimes sort of refer to what happened at the event, but in a very unsatisfying way. Then, later, the fullness of that event would slowly be fully explained. It's something that I haven't seen before and found to be very effective (after I figured out that it wasn't a mistake). That sort of thing typified much of the writing: mysterious, keeping you on the edge of understanding what was going on, which kept you reading to find more pieces to the puzzle.
I really enjoyed that effort of trying to solve the plot and the mysteries. It was fun. It was even more fun because the solutions are a bit ambiguous. It's a mental challenge - one that I relished. I'd recommend this book highly - especially if you like trying to solve puzzles like me!