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A review by tomasthanes
I Chose to Die by Ksenia Anske
5.0
There are too many things to like about this book.
I love novels set in a location that its obvious the author has some fondness for. The previous book(s) that had that flavor was the series starting with [b:Here Be Monsters|17203292|Here Be Monsters (Tyler Cunningham, #1)|Jamie Sheffield|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1357125338s/17203292.jpg|23680123] by [a:Jamie Sheffield|6876711|Jamie Sheffield|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1357216253p2/6876711.jpg]; his love for up state New York shown from each page. [a:Ksenia Anske|7111759|Ksenia Anske|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1447565915p2/7111759.jpg]'s love for Seattle is obvious.
I also love novels that I can track the location on a real map. The plunge from the Aurora Bridge (Highway 99 on Google Maps) into Lake Union and the chase east and then south to Seward Park ending up west, then north at the Pike Place Fish Market are all tangible landmarks.
I love the author's use of alliteration when employing simile and metaphor. It smudges the border of prose and poetry like the edges of Faerie.
The author (as she works on her current book TUBE) describes herself (on Twitter) as a detailed and organized plotter (using Scrivener) then lets the words flow from there. I enjoyed the twists and turns of this story, from the siren legs and brass spigot supporting the large marble bathtub (which Ailen had named and imagined individual characters), to the suicide attempt which causes Ailen to change from a human to a siren, to Conosa and her sisters, to discovering Hunter is a "siren hunter" apprenticed to her father who is also a "siren hunter", to the aquatic chase from Lake Union into Lake Washington, to the stealing of the one of a kind Ducati motorcycle terminating almost with death by brass pig, the Fish Market, and the final basement scene . Through all of this was the feeling of of separation from her mother ("why did you leave me?"), from her father ("why don't you love me?"), and from (the aptly named) Hunter ("why do you love me?". [That latter from the "treble hook" on page 246.]
There was lots of emotional energy throughout the book that seemed plausible (though alien to me as an engineer/introvert).
I can hardly wait to start to read the next book tomorrow.
To the author: #KeepWriting !
I love novels set in a location that its obvious the author has some fondness for. The previous book(s) that had that flavor was the series starting with [b:Here Be Monsters|17203292|Here Be Monsters (Tyler Cunningham, #1)|Jamie Sheffield|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1357125338s/17203292.jpg|23680123] by [a:Jamie Sheffield|6876711|Jamie Sheffield|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1357216253p2/6876711.jpg]; his love for up state New York shown from each page. [a:Ksenia Anske|7111759|Ksenia Anske|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1447565915p2/7111759.jpg]'s love for Seattle is obvious.
I also love novels that I can track the location on a real map. The plunge from the Aurora Bridge (Highway 99 on Google Maps) into Lake Union and the chase east and then south to Seward Park ending up west, then north at the Pike Place Fish Market are all tangible landmarks.
I love the author's use of alliteration when employing simile and metaphor. It smudges the border of prose and poetry like the edges of Faerie.
The author (as she works on her current book TUBE) describes herself (on Twitter) as a detailed and organized plotter (using Scrivener) then lets the words flow from there. I enjoyed the twists and turns of this story,
There was lots of emotional energy throughout the book that seemed plausible (though alien to me as an engineer/introvert).
I can hardly wait to start to read the next book tomorrow.
To the author: #KeepWriting !