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corinnekeener's reviews
433 reviews
The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts: Murder and Memory in an American City by Laura Tillman
4.0
Laura Tillman has written an incredibly compassionate book that is centered around a building in which the tragic murders of three children took place. Other authors may take the opportunity to dwell in the dark and sordid details or decry evil and monsters, but this isn't a typical true crime novel.
Tillman writes about the history, economy, and geography of the area the same way that she looks at the history of John Allen Rubio- the man on death row for the murders- his mental illness, the idea of demon posession, and religion. The effect highlights how nothing that happens or has happened occurs without context, and that things have always happened and will always happen. That doesn't take away the pain, it doesn't make the murder of three children any less tragic, but it does force us to think about what kind of world we live in and ask what kind of world we want to live in.
Should terrible crimes define an entire community?
The world is more subtle than evil and monster. And Tillman's book is about more than a terrible crime. It is about time and memory, loss and grief, confrontation and progress.
Tillman writes about the history, economy, and geography of the area the same way that she looks at the history of John Allen Rubio- the man on death row for the murders- his mental illness, the idea of demon posession, and religion. The effect highlights how nothing that happens or has happened occurs without context, and that things have always happened and will always happen. That doesn't take away the pain, it doesn't make the murder of three children any less tragic, but it does force us to think about what kind of world we live in and ask what kind of world we want to live in.
Should terrible crimes define an entire community?
The world is more subtle than evil and monster. And Tillman's book is about more than a terrible crime. It is about time and memory, loss and grief, confrontation and progress.
The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
4.0
I hadn't been aware that this was a short story when I got the ebook from the library. So that was sort of disappointing. But it was a very entertaining little read. Nice suspense, though it also suffered from a bit too much exposition. All of the interesting twists are explained in dialogue one after another. Either way, pretty fun. Flynn really has a talent for writing interesting scenes and characters and keeping the plot moving along.
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
3.0
This book mostly gets three stars for having been about a tragic historical incident that I had no idea ever happened and for being moderately thrilling to read.
Otherwise, the characterization wasn't particularly strong. Told from four points of view, if it weren't obvious that each character was talking about a different background and different concerns, you'd never know they were four distinct voices. Each had the exact same cadence. A big concern would be voiced and then a short little sentence would follow it up. Like this. Over and over again. There would be chapters in which each character would say something thematic in exactly the same way as the other characters, "Fear is a hunter," "Shame is a hunter," etc. but they didn't make much sense except to drive home their motivations in a way that seemed artsy? I don't know, it didn't work for me.
The romance plot made me literally, physically roll my eyes several times. ("What was I going to do? Try not to kiss her."- While there are dead people strewn all about, lol). Maybe at 28 years old I've finally outgrown the young adult genre.
The historical elements were pretty great though. I had no idea the history of the WV Wilhelm Gustloff, nor had I ever heard of the Amber Room. Both are very interesting, though not exactly thoroughly realized, but I guess I have some new things to research. All in all a quick, exciting read. We'll see how memorable it manages to be.
Otherwise, the characterization wasn't particularly strong. Told from four points of view, if it weren't obvious that each character was talking about a different background and different concerns, you'd never know they were four distinct voices. Each had the exact same cadence. A big concern would be voiced and then a short little sentence would follow it up. Like this. Over and over again. There would be chapters in which each character would say something thematic in exactly the same way as the other characters, "Fear is a hunter," "Shame is a hunter," etc. but they didn't make much sense except to drive home their motivations in a way that seemed artsy? I don't know, it didn't work for me.
The romance plot made me literally, physically roll my eyes several times. ("What was I going to do? Try not to kiss her."- While there are dead people strewn all about, lol). Maybe at 28 years old I've finally outgrown the young adult genre.
The historical elements were pretty great though. I had no idea the history of the WV Wilhelm Gustloff, nor had I ever heard of the Amber Room. Both are very interesting, though not exactly thoroughly realized, but I guess I have some new things to research. All in all a quick, exciting read. We'll see how memorable it manages to be.