matthewcpeck's Reviews (589)

adventurous informative fast-paced

Engrossing, informative and fast-paced history of the extraordinarily crappy weather that characterizes New England, courtesy of Boston's best meteorologist. My grandfather wrote recollections of the Vermont flood of 1927, and I'm happy to see it detailed here.
dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is probably the least of Jesmyn Ward's novels, which means it's still better than 75% of contemporary fiction.
dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark emotional funny informative sad fast-paced
dark informative reflective sad medium-paced
dark funny informative mysterious reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Loved it. Even better than "99 Stories of God". I hope Joy Williams lives forever.
challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Astonishing, maddening experimental novel about a teen drifter in the Pacific Northwest. Like a cyclical fever-induced nightmare from which you can't awake, it's reminiscent of Denis Johnson and Ben Marcus but truly its own entity. Wow!
adventurous emotional inspiring tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
dark informative tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A novel about cinema, obsession, and a malevolent pagan deity, which regrettably has any spookiness diluted by some very inelegant prose and dialogue. Also far too much data about the minutiae of Canadian arts funding. It does contain a very good depiction of raising a child with special needs, though.