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A review by literatehedgehog
Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson
4.0
Atkinson knows how to write a literary mystery, damn.
YES
*Characters' lives and actions are interwoven, seeming at random, but coming together or separating or even just glancing off one another at crucial moments. Everything is perfectly plotted, without being obviously orchestrated. Feels like Tom Jones or Prisoner of Azkaban in that regard.
*The characters themselves are gloriously flawed, realistic people. Not always likable but beyond believable.
*The writing is sharp, quick, with Atkinson's signature choppy sentences and witty references. She makes great use of time, jumping between years (1975 and 2011? Or some contemporary year this was published) and also methodically progressing through days.
*The mood - a slow, creeping sense of how truly unknowable and terrifying the world is. Some characters don't even know why or how they're being pursued or targeted, and it feels like a terrifying view of womanhood in modern times.
NOT SO MUCH
*As a corollary to the previous statement, that ever-present ominous cloud of danger and terror is emotionally exhausting to read, no matter how suspenseful and satisfying the plot is. Also, someday I would like to find a mystery that's between a saccharine cozy mystery and a violence-against-women crime mystery. I know there's the Staunch Prize for books without violence towards women, but is there a nice list somewhere maybe?
Anyway. I love Kate Atkinson. I have to apportion her novels out to myself so I don't run out of them but also to allow my feelings to recover.
YES
*Characters' lives and actions are interwoven, seeming at random, but coming together or separating or even just glancing off one another at crucial moments. Everything is perfectly plotted, without being obviously orchestrated. Feels like Tom Jones or Prisoner of Azkaban in that regard.
*The characters themselves are gloriously flawed, realistic people. Not always likable but beyond believable.
*The writing is sharp, quick, with Atkinson's signature choppy sentences and witty references. She makes great use of time, jumping between years (1975 and 2011? Or some contemporary year this was published) and also methodically progressing through days.
*The mood - a slow, creeping sense of how truly unknowable and terrifying the world is. Some characters don't even know why or how they're being pursued or targeted, and it feels like a terrifying view of womanhood in modern times.
NOT SO MUCH
*As a corollary to the previous statement, that ever-present ominous cloud of danger and terror is emotionally exhausting to read, no matter how suspenseful and satisfying the plot is. Also, someday I would like to find a mystery that's between a saccharine cozy mystery and a violence-against-women crime mystery. I know there's the Staunch Prize for books without violence towards women, but is there a nice list somewhere maybe?
Anyway. I love Kate Atkinson. I have to apportion her novels out to myself so I don't run out of them but also to allow my feelings to recover.