Much better than the middle instalment, with some very satisfying twists. The final instalment actually goes so far as to question the morality of hugMuch better than the middle instalment, with some very satisfying twists. The final instalment actually goes so far as to question the morality of huge wealth, in a way that doesn't compromise the central conceit and fantasy of the entire story, which is what if you were sinfully rich and never needed to worry about money again. I'm not saying it's a story I'd write myself, but given the premise I was happy to see that the author was neither going to blindly ignore the elephant in the room, nor attempt to shoehorn in a more radical theme than the story could bear.
This whole series is just a bit of hilariously implausible escapist fun, with a decent payoff at the end. It is not the sort of YA novel that I would recommend for actual teens owing to a few content issues - as always, I'm not going to recommend books containing (implied) semi-casual sexual relationships to my young friends, mostly because my young friends also don't like that sort of thing - but as a bit of brain candy for the end of a long day, this trilogy more or less hit the spot. I'll definitely be catching the spinoff....more
A mystery suspense thriller set in an Australian coastal town less than an hour's drive from my house!
This was a very impressive debut, with nice prosA mystery suspense thriller set in an Australian coastal town less than an hour's drive from my house!
This was a very impressive debut, with nice prose and a steadily boiling suspense plot. With an ex-Special Forces veteran as the protagonist, I was expecting something a good bit more macho and eye-rollable than what I got, which was an impressively detailed and sensitive treatment of trauma and healing. I haven't ever experienced trauma myself, but as I've been trying to learn and understand more about the topic I was deeply impressed by how well it was depicted in the book. From the local details, to the medical and military details, this book felt meticulously studied and grounded.
If anything, the meticulous level of detail on display here is something of a drawback; Hinton conscientiously lists the names of roads and towns taken by the characters as they drive about the region, and a lot of the book reads like it was constructed from a patchwork of interviews with ADF servicemen; I could have done without the dry and almost claustrophobic level of detail, particularly when it came to the protagonist's backstory. In addition, the protagonist's backstory involves having been captured and tortured in Afghanistan by the Taliban, and while there's some light acknowledgement of what little justification we ever had of sending our military to get involved in that mess, I came away feeling the book was almost exclusively focused on the Australian experience of Afghan war trauma with little understanding of, or sympathy to spare for, the sheer perverse destructiveness which western intervention has wreaked upon that country over the past 200 years. It would have been so easily remedied, too - Afghans migrate to Australia and even get jobs in Lorne sometimes!
This apart, THE BROTHERS was a good read - the suspense kept up a steady simmer, the slow revelation of family secrets and the depiction of trauma were both excellently handled, the female characters were treated with dignity and respect, and it was a pleasure to read a thriller where the characters really felt and acted like Aussies.
(Rating mostly for authentic Australian language, but also for some brief violence, including a fleeting, graphic verbal reference to offscreen sexual violence)....more
One doesn't expect one's bestie to ring up confessing to having kind of accidentally written a book over the Christmas holidays. One certainly doesn'tOne doesn't expect one's bestie to ring up confessing to having kind of accidentally written a book over the Christmas holidays. One certainly doesn't expect aforesaid spontaneously produced debut novel to be good. WORMWOOD ABBEY is, however, an absolute delight. I just finished reading the latest draft, and it made me so happy - this book is a warm, cosy, gentle delight full of tea, dragons, and chuckles. On top of that, it deftly and lightly tackles a lot of deep themes about family heritage, individual calling, and how even a good and worthy calling can turn into a burden when it is imposed out of duty, rather than accepted out of love.
The series only gets better from here - and I say that having only read early drafts of the next four books! I can't wait for you all to meet Edith, Francis, Gwendolyn, and the others in October!...more
Two of my friends are debuting gothic historical fantasy novels in the next month or two and I couldn't be more excited about them! First up is ClaireTwo of my friends are debuting gothic historical fantasy novels in the next month or two and I couldn't be more excited about them! First up is Claire Trella Hill's BLACK AND DEEP DESIRES, a dark and brooding gothic paranormal romance full of nightgowns, vampires, heaving bosoms and possessive growling - which is fun enough, but then it ALSO has a wonderfully confident use of classic gothic tropes, perfectly-judged Shakespeare quotations, some delightful disability rep, cute pets, found family...and a wonderfully earnest and sincere discussion of sin, grace, and redemption. You'll need the iron restraint of a self-loathing vampire Roundhead not to gobble this up in an evening....more
This series is where I come for a bit of forgettable, twisty, escapist fun about a Very Ordinary Girl who experiences the Dreadful Ordeal of being lefThis series is where I come for a bit of forgettable, twisty, escapist fun about a Very Ordinary Girl who experiences the Dreadful Ordeal of being left an inheritance worth billions, a whole shoujo anime's worth of cute potential love interests, and a trilogy's worth of ~*Shocking Gothic Family Secrets*~, none of it with much thematic heft. Sometimes you just want some brain floss, you know? The love triangle is not doing my boy Grayson right and the plot twists gave me the sort of headache I normally only get trying to fit my head around the family trees of medieval royalties, but otherwise I had a whole lot of fun and hope the next one comes in at the library soon....more
A beautiful graphic novel with a sometimes heartbreaking story about the life of a struggling family under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. I haven't readA beautiful graphic novel with a sometimes heartbreaking story about the life of a struggling family under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. I haven't read the original novel this adaptation is based on, but I was impressed by how well this short graphic novel encapsulates the complex history and grim realities of life in one of the 21st century's most scarred and war-torn countries for a middle grade audience. ...more
An old-school fantasy romance recommended by a couple of friends, so when I spotted it at a book sale I picked it up and breezed through in a couple oAn old-school fantasy romance recommended by a couple of friends, so when I spotted it at a book sale I picked it up and breezed through in a couple of evenings.
I probably would have enjoyed this king-and-queen-of-warring-shapeshifter-tribes-attempt-to-make-peace-through-marriage story a whole lot more if I'd come to it as a teen: every time the author attempted a bit of military or political worldbuilding I wanted to pick fights with her, which is unfair, because it seems like the book was written at a relatively young age. That said, there are definitely things to praise about this book; it's enemies-to-lovers, but Non-Toxic! and it did one or two little things that I really appreciated and would love to see happen a lot more often....more
June Hur has done it again! A CRANE AMONG WOLVES has some of the romantic tropes of a historical kdrama, but its core is another nuanced, uncompromisiJune Hur has done it again! A CRANE AMONG WOLVES has some of the romantic tropes of a historical kdrama, but its core is another nuanced, uncompromising, yet restrained depiction of real Korean history in all its darkness.
Our female lead, Iseul, has lost everyone she ever loved and when her sister is stolen by the king for his harem of a thousand "courtesans", her only ambition is to steal her back by whatever means necessary. Our male lead, Daehyun, is a prince who has survived his half-brother's reign only by burying his true feelings and feigning sycophancy - all the while plotting treason. Iseul reluctantly joins forces with Daehyun when she realises that deposing the king may be her only chance to free her sister - but can anything really change for the better in a sixteenth century Korea where power is concentrated in the hands of the corrupt?
I love the way June Hur writes history. On the one hand, she does serious research, she doesn't condense the history into a simplistic tale of black hats and white hats, and she's unflinching in the darkness she portrays. On the other hand, she always gives us sympathetic main characters who we can cheer for even while they remain very much grounded in their own time and their own beliefs. She always ends with hope. And, she never gets too far into the horrors: we know that awful things are happening but don't get dragged through them, and she's careful to give dignity to the victims.
My one ding against the book is that I did find it to be less polished than THE RED PALACE - which is surely the fault of the publisher and their editing team, not the author. So, if you aren't yet a fan of the wonderful June Hur, I'm not sure that I would start with this one. But if you are, and if you love thoughtful historical fiction for ALL ages, men who drink respect women juice, and deft treatment of dark topics - don't miss A CRANE AMONG WOLVES....more
June Hur got my attention with THE RED PALACE, and I've finally got around to reading one of her earlier novels, THE FOREST OF STOLEN GIRLS.
I liked thJune Hur got my attention with THE RED PALACE, and I've finally got around to reading one of her earlier novels, THE FOREST OF STOLEN GIRLS.
I liked this book a lot, although I don't think it's quite on the same level as RED PALACE, just in terms of craft. But, so much of what I loved about THE RED PALACE is fully on display here: we have a good, old-fashioned detective story set in historical Korea, featuring a determined young heroine, a fascinating slice of Korean historical context, a steadily-simmering plot, and complex, mature themes that examine Korean culture and gender roles. By the end of this book, as by the end of THE RED PALACE, an individual monster has been defeated, but the characters - and the book - still recognise the enormity of systemic injustice that remains.
Unique to this book is the central relationship, which wisely eschews romance in favour of complex familial relationships - sisters, fathers, and daughters are at the centre of this novel in the most poignant and resonant ways. I also loved learning a little more about Jeju Island and also the historical context, in which the Ming Dynasty in China demanded a tribute of beautiful Korean girls for their imperial harems. And, as always, I'm in awe of the ways in which Hur - a westernised, Christian author writing fiction set in a world of Confucianism and shamanism - treads delicately in critiquing what needs to be critiqued while also honouring historical accuracy and the essential humanity and worth of the historical characters she writes.
Splendid fiction, the kind of YA I'd highly recommend for actual young adults, and a vivid window onto historical Korea - long may June Hur reign....more
This was more a gothic-infused psychological thriller than it was a fantasy, and while I saw every single plot twist coming from miles away, I'm not mThis was more a gothic-infused psychological thriller than it was a fantasy, and while I saw every single plot twist coming from miles away, I'm not mad about it either. I normally don't like books with such thin plots and I definitely have never cared for Chokshi's overly ornate prose, but the suspense kept me skimming through, and with five or six books under her belt Chokshi has certainly matured into a writer whose uses her ornament to some purpose.
Most of all, however, I admired the themes in this book. It seems to be setting up something as dark and disturbing as du Maurier's REBECCA, and there's a lot of portentous talk about myths and fairytales, some of which had me eyerolling (as did the Susan Pevensie commentary...until I realised that Chokshi was actually using it to say something valid and very close to Lewis' own take on the character, which was that she would find her way back to Narnia in the end). Lots of people talk a lot of nonsense about fairytales, but for me, there are just two or three really important things about them, and the most important thing of all is this: every true fairytale ends in eucatastrophe. So does THE LAST TALE OF THE FLOWER BRIDE, and it was this that caught me by surprise even though I saw the actual plot mechanics getting into gear from the very first act.
Although it's not my normal cup of tea, I liked it a lot, and I couldn't put it down.
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ETA: I've been thinking about this book non-stop since I finished it, and the more I think about it the more I love what Chokshi did with it. This is a creepy and sometimes heavy novel (one of the characters must deal with a predatory/abusive stepfather) that nevertheless ends in hope and healing, in a way that feels almost subversive. It's the one time I've seen Susan Pevensie Discourse done in a way that actually shows the author understood Lewis' point. I also cannot sufficiently express how much I love that the role of the gothic heroine is played by the bloke, and that the role of the Bluebeard is played by the woman. It's the best gothic novel I've read since MEXICAN GOTHIC and I liked it even better....more
THE BLUE CASTLE meets SABRIEL in this dark cottagecore romantic fantasy from Kate Stradling. I'll be honest, this one didn't sweep me away quite as haTHE BLUE CASTLE meets SABRIEL in this dark cottagecore romantic fantasy from Kate Stradling. I'll be honest, this one didn't sweep me away quite as hard as THE HEIR AND THE SPARE did, but it was also exactly the mildly spooky comfort read I needed right now, and I inhaled the bulk of it in a couple of evenings. ...more
I read this in beta so I won't say much, but OH LOOK IS IT ATHELAS TWISTILY USING HIS POWERS FOR NICENESS AND NOT FOR EVIL :-OI read this in beta so I won't say much, but OH LOOK IS IT ATHELAS TWISTILY USING HIS POWERS FOR NICENESS AND NOT FOR EVIL :-O...more
Secretly An Exiled Fae King + Mildly Autistic Lady Academic is what I never knew I needed
I would have loved for the historical context to feel less vaSecretly An Exiled Fae King + Mildly Autistic Lady Academic is what I never knew I needed
I would have loved for the historical context to feel less vague and more convincing, even as an alternate history - simply a closer attention to the language used, with fewer anachronisms and Americanisms would have helped enormously. But that's just me, a history nerd. What does work well in this book is the depiction of the fae, which is note perfect and wonderfully evocative, and the characterisation, which is absolutely delightful. Cosy, thrilling, and hilarious. Bring on book 2!...more
sometimes a girl just wants to read a detailed critique of local/visible church absolutism, okay
this short book doesn't try to argue much that is new,sometimes a girl just wants to read a detailed critique of local/visible church absolutism, okay
this short book doesn't try to argue much that is new, which is one of its strengths - it backs up its argumentation pretty solidly from writers of the past from Rutherford to Gillespie, from Spurgeon to Hodge. it also helped me think through some of the questions I've been asking myself about ecclesiology and the role and authority of elders, particularly as I've been rethinking women in ministry.
the big light bulb moment for me was Bo pointing out that elders are pretty much literally that - people who have been believers longer and thus are better acquainted with the faith. this fits super well with my steadily emerging convictions that, eg in 1 Timothy when Paul does not allow women to teach and appeals to Eve having been formed second and therefore being more easily deceived, he isn't saying that women are ontologically stupider than men but just that anyone, specifically women in this case but not necessarily limited to them, who hasn't been a believer for as long, is going to be more susceptible to false teaching and ought to spend some time learning before wanting to teach.
five stars, not because the book is perfect but because I enjoyed it so much...more
The good: this was gorgeously written, with constantly simmering moody suspense that begins to approach cosmic horror. In this book Stewart is writingThe good: this was gorgeously written, with constantly simmering moody suspense that begins to approach cosmic horror. In this book Stewart is writing about the numinous and terrifying sanctity of nature and the horror of mountaineering accidents in a brutal and uncaring landscape. Her settings are always as vivid as the characters that inhabit them, but in this book she outdoes herself. I adored the bleak, dark atmosphere she conjures up in this book, and how beautifully it fits with the plot.
The not so good: [SPOILERS] there was nothing wrong with this book that couldn't have been fixed if the murderer had been the heroine's ex husband. If you've been reading Stewart for a while you always know the heroine is going to end up with the dark and untrustworthy love interest rather than the golden retriever boy, and this would have been a great way to surprise us. Moreover, the untrustworthy love interest in this book is a) the heroine's crumby ex who has already cheated on her at least once AND b) barely in the story at all, which together means that we don't sympathise at all with her anxiety over turning him in to the police. Finally, there's an attempt to set up a great theme about loyalties versus principles, which loses all force and relevance when it turns out that the crumby ex is NOT the murderer.
In sum: a terrifically atmospheric and creepy suspense thriller, unfortunately let down by its ending. ...more
Massive, magisterial, detailed, surprising, endlessly thought-provoking. The most glaring fault in the book is its treatment of the few women it deignMassive, magisterial, detailed, surprising, endlessly thought-provoking. The most glaring fault in the book is its treatment of the few women it deigns to recognise with uniform contempt as hysterical, irrational, and swayed by family and domestic considerations. Similarly, the author often seems to uncritically accept Russian imperial self-image and aspirations, and brush off the desires of subject peoples for self-determination. Apart from that, this is a sweeping, epic picture of the Russian Revolution, covering three decades and every level of society, from daily life in the village commune to the political rivalries of Lenin's declining years, without ever becoming dull or bogged down in detail.
Some valuable quotes from the conclusion:
Gorky's view of the Russian Revolution denied that the people had been betrayed by it. Their revolutionary tragedy lay in the legacies of their own cultural backwardness rather than the evil of some 'alien' Bolsheviks. They were not the victims of the revolution but protagonists in its tragedy. This may be a painful lesson for the Russian people to learn at the end of the twentieth century. Seventy years of Communist oppression might well be thought to have earned them the right to see themselves as victims. But Russia's prospects as a democratic nation depend to a large extent on how far the Russians are able to confront their own recent history; and this must entail the recognition that, however much the people were oppressed by it, the Soviet system grew up in Russian soil. It was the weakness of Russia's democratic culture which enabled Bolshevism to take root. This was the legacy of Russian history, of centuries of serfdom and autocratic rule, that had kept the common people powerless and passive. 'And the people remained silent' was a Russian proverb — and it describes much of Russian history. To be sure, this was a people's tragedy but it was a tragedy which they helped to make. The Russian people were trapped by the tyranny of their own history.
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The state, however big, cannot make people equal or better human beings. All it can do is to treat its citizens equally, and strive to ensure that their free activities are directed towards the general good.
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[E]ven more worrying, authoritarian nationalism has begun to fill the vacuum left by the collapse of Communism, and in a way has reinvented it, not just in the sense that today's nationalists are, for the most part, reformed Communists, but also in the sense that their violent rhetoric, with its calls for discipline and order, its angry condemnation of the inequalities produced by the growth of capitalism, and its xenophobic rejection of the West, is itself adapted from the Bolshevik tradition. ...more
The final book in the Bracken trilogy is both the darkest and the best. When I first read these books around the age of 10, I didn't like sad stories,The final book in the Bracken trilogy is both the darkest and the best. When I first read these books around the age of 10, I didn't like sad stories, and this book stunned me because although it was SO sad, I still loved it.
The first two books of this series were about princesses. THE TWO COLLARS is about a child slave who has been abused all her life when she's bought by the wise woman who is the central figure of the whole trilogy, and raised to be her successor. Meanwhile, unspecified years after the books of the first trilogy, a war is brewing between the king and his cousin - and age is finally catching up with the wise woman.
As in the first two books of the series, there's a subtle stand of allegory running through the story, although it becomes a little more overt here - Krea's relationship with her Mistress, adopted out of slavery to be raised into maturity as her daughter is clearly intended to be an image of the believer's relationship with God. Indeed, the allegory has that inartistic characteristic, of only being understandable if you take the wise woman as being God. Krea's dependence on the old woman would be pretty troubling in any relationship between humans. Nevertheless, I give it all a pass, not just because of how novel and delightful it is to see an allegory where God is represented as a woman rather than as a man or an animal, but also because the symbolism is so poignant and for much of the story, so subtle. Even as an adult, I was tearing up throughout this book. By this time, Massi has learned how to shred your feelings with a few turns of phrase.
The main theme of the book has to do with authority. Where does authority come from? Krea's old master uses power, fear, and manipulation to control her. The kingdom of Bracken appeals to the Unchangeable Law carved on the foundations of the king's castle. And the old woman tells Krea that she must learn to serve others not from fear, but from love, and that she will attain to the wise woman's royal status not through high birth, but service. All this is of course straight from the Gospels, and has become additionally meaningful to me of recent years. To go back and find it all laid out in a favourite book from my childhood was pretty special.
Resonant, heartbreaking, and despite its flaws full of what CS Lewis called sehnsucht, THE TWO COLLARS pulls the Bracken trilogy beyond itself to a new level. It's been years since I last read these, but they have weathered nostalgia well....more
The second book of the Bracken trilogy is a big step up from the first in almost every way - the writing is immediately more engaging, the story (despThe second book of the Bracken trilogy is a big step up from the first in almost every way - the writing is immediately more engaging, the story (despite similarities to the first book, with a princess needing to flee an enemy and rescue her parents) is far more epic and bittersweet in its scope, and there is no clumsily overt moral to this story, just some gracefully organic themes to do with suffering and courage.
Indeed the themes are so subtle in this book that the publisher chose to include a foreword labouriously to explain that this is in fact a Christian book with a Christian message, in case that was not obvious to parents who need an overt moral. I personally prefer my books not to have overt Christian messaging, and this delightful fantasy feels very much like a George MacDonald book - it's applicable and deeply resonant, without ever being preachy. I was also highly impressed by the book's very respectable attempt at a faux-medieval writing style - especially in the dialogue, Massi uses this ably to lend a sense of solemnity and gravity to the story, without quite slipping over into suggesting that CS Lewis Made Me Do It.
My only criticism of this lovely book is that to a greater extent than THE BRIDGE, the story is more that of the princess - Rosewyn, a much more vivid character than the first book's Rosalynn - and as result, it feels a little anticlimactic when the wise woman turns up at a climactic moment to save the lost princess. The effect is less eucatastrophe than deus ex machina, since it detracts a little from Rosewyn's agency as a character.
That said, I got just as sucked into this book this time through as I did when I was a child. There are some twists and turns that hit you HARD in this book - a sign of what was to come in book 3 - and the bittersweetness is something else I never came across in most of the Improving Christian Books I read as a child. Absolutely delightful. ...more
Suzannah Rowntree
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