Review: Night Film

5 stars. What a fucking amazing premise. What a good idea. I'm so in awe of this fantastic, inspired plot. The first 100 pages gave me chills. 

I mean.

The 24-year-old daughter of a reclusive cult filmmaker, also a classically trained pianist, commits suicide - and a disgraced investigative journalist decides to poke around the case. 

I mean!!

Also - I had no idea this was semi-epistolary when I picked it up, but I so, so appreciated the articles and slide shows and extra details. They demonstrated the author's special care for exposition here and made the story seem that much more real.

However. About a quarter of the way through this I started to really lose faith in the characters. The protagonist starts out as the surly but charming ex-journalist who flirts with rebellion but is ultimately credible. And then he flies way past surly and way past charming and becomes a sort of arrogant asshole who makes ridiculous choices and demonstrates absolutely zero common sense.

And then we have his two sidekicks, Nora and Hopper, who - again - fly right past charming/quirky and right into weirdo territory. 

Compelling, nonetheless. We have an incredibly rich tapestry here, and in fact the author excels at weaving superb minor characters in with her less-than-impressive major ones. We have gorgeous sequences with gorgeous writing on classical music, on film, on black magic, on secret clubs (and that's just the first half). 

It's like the author made a mood board and then somehow incorporated into her story every. single. thing. she had tacked up. There's old Hollywood, sister feuds, puzzle boxes, demonic possession ... satanic rituals ... It's artistic and heartpounding and, beyond all that, a pretty solid mystery.

Ultimately, I really and truly recommend this book. It's a classic rabbit hole tale - except reaching the bottom isn't the point. It's more of an ode - a testament to - the rabbit hole itself. Enjoy. Embrace the darkness. Embrace the descent. You won't regret it.

Night Film on: Amazon | Goodreads

Retro Review: Picnic at Hanging Rock

When I started this blog, I had been posting reviews on Goodreads for about 6 months. In the interest of having all of my book writing in one place, I will post one of these old reviews every Friday. They weren't written with a blog in mind, so please forgive the lack of summary and off-the-cuff tone.

5 stars. How unexpectedly wonderful! I'm delighted! I don't know what I expected - perhaps something slightly pulpier / amateur, but this book is built on some seriously sophisticated writing. It's old school in a way that's completely charming - not so old school that it feels archaic or stale or stuffy.

Joan Lindsay weaves a dark and thrilling tale of disappearance, murder, insanity, and potential forces in the universe beyond our comprehension. She plays with time, nature and mystery - all three intensify into something sinister and disturbing. She's extremely skilled at infusing her characters with strong, tenacious identities (a few of which she is sharply critical) and also extremely funny. "Except for those people over there with the wagonette we might be the only living creatures in the whole world,’ said Edith, airily dismissing the entire animal kingdom at one stroke."

Her nature writing is luxurious and rich. She paints a wonderful and transporting atmosphere through which this simple story swirls and juts and penetrates. There's tension amidst all that beauty and natural splendor. It grows and grows until the very end, at which point I was genuinely shocked.

Picnic at Hanging Rock radiates possibility. I don't believe in magic, spirits, the supernatural ... but this book made me sort of sit back and go, why not? The answer to its central mystery could be uncanny, or there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation. The beauty of this book is that I walked away convinced it could go either way. 6 out of 5 stars.

Picnic at Hanging Rock on: Amazon | Goodreads

Review: The Woman in the Window

4 stars. I'm so excited about this! I went in with low expectations and got something truly excellent! Congratulations to A.J. Finn for a spectacular, thrilling debut.

Anna, an alcoholic, agoraphobic ex-child psychiatrist, sees something horrific occur in her next door neighbor's house. Thanks to her less-than-healthy habits and a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder, everyone - the cops, her neighbors, her loved ones - consider her to be unstable and attribute her frantic accusations to drug-induced hallucinations. Yeah, it's pretty much my worst nightmare. 

As Anna's grasp on reality unravels (or appears to, heh heh), we as readers are treated to a couple of classic red herrings, heart-pounding action and some truly epic twists. I was completely compelled to keep turning pages until I knew for sure what was going down. I also really loved the references to old movies - it demonstrated a sense of meta self-awareness often absent in thrillers like this. Like a wink or a nod or something.

Keep in mind - this is nothing more than it promises to be. Quite simply, if you enjoyed The Girl on the Train, you will enjoy this. If you didn't, you won't. The language is vivid (seriously, I might actually stay away from red wine for awhile). It's tightly-written, fast-paced and even if your mind isn't blown, you'll have a good time. I docked a star because there's a twist that happens to be a super particular pet peeve of mine (predictable, yup, but mostly just lazy). 

But ... YES!!! The Woman in the Window, who knew?! Really fun, really awesome reading experience.

The Woman in the Window on: Amazon | Goodreads