As you can see, I have been doing quite a bit of reading lately. So these “Newly Discovered” additions will be quick review.
About half of the books in sections have been novella-esque. Around 200 pages for most of these here. Seems to be a bit of a trend lately.
So, the good- “Final Girls” by Mira Grant. This was the best out of the group. It is about a radical and controversial psychological treatment, which caught my psych degree eye. The action and descriptive details were good, but the end didn’t really have much closure for me. But this also seemed intentional, so that in itself gave the book a good cliffhanger.
The could have been better- Sarah Pinborough’s “Wicked” trilogy (the picture of three books together). These are re-tellings of fairy tales that are definitely not the Disney versions. She does a brilliant job tying multiple fairy tales together in unexpected ways, and they are fairly easy reads. Some characters and loose ends could have been a littler neater and more developed. But I would read more of these from her.
I had “Annihilation” on my reading list, and when I saw they were making a movie I decided to bump it up the list. I honestly don’t know how I feel about this one. It was widely descriptive and very vague. Fast-paced, while not a lot happened. I’m not scrambling to find the second of the trilogy but not regretting reading it. The series seems like one where you either love the style or hate it.
Last, and a bit least- I don’t usually post books that I didn’t like. Just the good ones usually make it into this section. I just was disappointed with this one. "Sip." The premise sounded so new and innovative- people drinking shadows as recreational narcotics. I just never felt “hooked”. I feel like this one would have been better as a novel. So much seemed to be left out, it almost felt like reading an excerpt instead of a book.
The multiple Points-of-View- Hearne’s “A Plague of Giants” has a unique twist on multiple povs. The story is told by a historian/scribe who is transcribing the performances of a storyteller, with the ability to transform himself into the characters whose story he is telling. Sounds confusing, but is actually pretty clever and different. There are a lot of characters in this book, but the high page count (over 600) gives each of them their time. This is a fantasy novel with some interesting abilities and races. It is the first of at least 3 books, I believe, and this first one is used for both backstory of characters and setting up the action and drama that will be in the upcoming books. It’s not dry history, there is a good bit of action and drama, but a lot of information is in book one.
“The Blinds” and “Blood Sisters” each follow multiple people as well. “The Blinds” follows a few people living in a secluded, desert “town” that houses criminals and witnesses who have been wiped of their memories and placed in the middle of nowhere. The action is packed in only a few days and the twists and resolutions are well done. “Blood Sisters” follows two women with a past that is beginning to catch up to their present in unexpected and unpleasant ways. The bits and pieces of the puzzle are revealed in sporadic, unexpected ways through most of the novel. Yet, the trickle becomes a wave by the end of the novel and the resolution comes swiftly and ends with an interesting, full-circle type feeling.
The multiple generations- “A Secret History of Witches” gives an inside look at the lives of 5 generations of women. Full of mother-daughter love and tensions, the usual dramas and misunderstandings that come with relationship are further complicated by learning the gifts of their coven and line, and the danger from literal witch hunts. Each section of the book follows a different daughter as their magic moves from mother to daughter.
The simple thriller- Now a good thriller, like these, are nothing close to simple. The structure for these two are simpler than the other books here that jump around- like many do nowadays. “The Second Sister” follows the “second sister”, the sister trying to find her missing older sister, or at least answers to what happened to her. Murdered, missing, runaway? Until the end you don’t really know exactly which is the real answer. The plot and twists are well done and flow nicely. I never felt comfortable enough in my guess for “who-dun-it” either, another sign of a good thriller.
"Copy Cat" is another that kept me guessing. This was a good quick read, and the culprit, and their motive, were not easily guessed. It also shows exactly how easy it can be for someone to pretend to be you online- and how hard it can be to counter-act that deception.