spookynorvegan's reviews
588 reviews

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

1.0

Cleave should stick to journalism and fact-reporting. This incredibly poorly fleshed-out novel (that checks out on itself and any semblance of a halfway decent story line about 2/3 of the way through) reads like someone desperate for literary popularity. The voice of not just one, but two simultaneous female narrators and their predominately female supporting characters is a bumbling, arrogant attempt that never feels genuine. The presumably well-intentioned (if not blissfully ignorant) literary audiences that are responsible for the success of this novel would have better spent their time reading and researching the stories of actual refugees and taking up local action instead of buying into the half-assed fictional whistle-blow that is this novel.

Midnight All Day by Hanif Kureishi

1.0

After having been so underwhelmed with one of his previous novels, I'm still not quite sure why I picked up this collection of Kureishi's short fiction. His continual return to two-dimensional characters and obsession with extra-marital affairs inevitably involving neurotic women and their cool middle age male counterparts, is both laughably transparent and baffling.
The final story in this collection was the only one even remotely worth spending time on; for all its incontiuity, as it is both generally interesting and outside Kureishi's usual trite formula.

Pure by Andrew Miller

3.0

I'm not generally a big reader of historical fiction, but was intrigued by this book nonetheless. While I ultimately enjoyed the setting and historical context, I did feel that certain areas of the plot line weren't entirely fleshed out when having reached the conclusion; the final quality and feel of the book having suffered by said failing. A decent, if not entirely unremarkable read.

Fellside by M.R. Carey

4.0

Da Vinci's Tiger by L.M. Elliott

3.0

Some YA reads surpass their genre regardless of the age and maturity of their characters and manage to captivate their readers...unfortunately, this piece of historical fiction was not really among their number. An original and not completely uninteresting fictionalistion of a model featured in Da Vinci's early work, that cannot manage to transcend an underdeveloped cast of characters and mere brushes with solid dialogue and scene building. Overall quite underwhelming, but not entirely awful.
I also feel compelled to mention how disappointing the cover art is. A grainy, black and white partial photo of the actual portrait of which the entire novel is based is crammed into the epilogue and acknowledgements in the back of the book, while a stock photo of a teen in vaguely Renaissance dress graces the dust jacket. Ouch.

Angels and Visitations: A Miscellany by Neil Gaiman

4.0

This was included in Humble Bundle pack at one point, which I scooped up right away. A solid collection of short stories by the enigmatic Mr. Gaiman.

Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton

4.0

I really enjoyed this piece of fictionalised history. Not knowing much about Margaret Cavendish before reading this was not an issue, as the author manages to pen a truly lovely, dignified portrait of the lady she so obviously admires. I particularly enjoyed the first-person narrative which is captured in the first part of the book, but felt as though the rest of the novel (penned in omniscient third) was also strong. It is all at once informative and intimate, delving into the mind of a woman that was truly enigmatic.

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

3.0

I took this baby down in one setting and was not ultimately disappointed.
This is definitely ya for the youth and a title I know I would have enjoyed all the more should I have been able to read it as a teen myself. Generally a very well put together first novel that is coming-of-age tale mixed with some heavy theological crises and conflicts being experienced by the main character; a realistic depiction of children entering adulthood and how they choose to carry faith and their family legacy along with them.

Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future by Elizabeth Esther

3.0

I had never heard of the religious group called 'The Assembly' before reading this memoir of the granddaughter of their founder, who subsequently left the group after surviving their restrictive, child abusing cult. That the author is of resilient spirit is no question, and unlike many that manage to escape and thrive outside of their cult experience, Esther also found her way back to religion and found peace within the Catholic Church. I found that this conclusion made the rest of the story all the more bearable; knowing that this woman's spirit had never been completely broken, and that she was able to find her way back to the Lord on her own time and find peace in a safe place of worship.

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

3.0

I enjoyed the overall story line of this book and the ability of the author to create such a complex, interwoven conflict taking place in a vast, sweeping setting with dozens of characters. That being said, the constant change of pov narration was incredibly frustrating and convoluted. Though it never changes from an omniscient third person sentence structure, the reader is consistently left to suss out which character is being focused upon. This deduction taking any number of sentences to make, as the story boasts a startlingly large and arguably unnecessary cast of characters. This chapter-by chapter change of setting/character with no given indication is exhausting and very distracting from the plot line itself. Finally, though full of diverse characters, all careering along their respective and unique plot arcs, the conclusion of the storyline itself left all surviving characters completely and bafflingly unresolved. Proving to be a most unsatisfying finish for a novel that inherently requires so much of its reader.