Retro Review: Pines

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.

2 stars. Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho to investigate the disappearance of two fellow agents. Upon arrival, Burke is involved in a serious car accident and wakes up in a town where nothing is as it seems. Stranded and confused, Burke begins to unravel the mystery of the town in an adventure that ends in a fight for his life.

Well, this book was exhausting. And not in a good way.

It was sort of like one giant, extended chase scene (that seriously pushed the limits of reality) with a bizarre plot twist at the end.

Don't get me wrong - the plot twist was fascinating, and twisted, and science fiction in the BEST way. It's just that EVERYTHING ELSE - the writing, the characters, the dialogue - was so shoddy it detracted from the impact of the big reveal.

I actually ended up skimming a lot, especially toward the end. And I'm such a weirdo perfectionist that I almost NEVER skim, even if I hate what I'm reading.

I just couldn't take any more of "Ethan's Survival Guide to the Idaho Wilderness." I just couldn't handle another scene in which the superhuman secret agent somehow avoided the town mob armed only with pure adrenaline and insane rock-climbing abilities.

It's such a good concept. But man, is the execution poor.

I really liked the author's afterword, and his obvious admiration of Twin Peaks. In my opinion, though, had he channeled even half the subtle creepiness of David Lynch into the story, he would have been much better off. It was obvious that something was wrong the minute Ethan arrived in Wayward Pines - but that was the problem. It shouldn't have been that obvious, at least not at first. The town shouldn't have fought him so hard so quickly. The clues should've been more subtle, and quiet - and thus would've been so much more unnerving.

Watch the TV show instead. It's a tremendous mystery that makes so much more sense.

Pines on: Amazon | Goodreads

Review: Vita Nostra

4 stars. WOAH. I am dizzy. This book is everything I expected - bizarre, abstract, insane. It’s also beautiful, darkly beautiful - defiant, philosophical fantasy at its finest. I took my time with this, and I’m glad I did, because it requires patience, discipline - a studious eye - to complete. There are elements of many genres here - coming-of-age, fantasy, science fiction, horror, magical realism. It’s best to approach it without expectations, without the intent to put a label on it.

Yes, yes, I know, first things first: Vita Nostra has definite Harry Potter vibes, as many have said. A vacationing teenage girl is approached by a mysterious stranger who requests - compels - her to complete strange, potentially dangerous tasks in exchange for gold coins. These coins are eventually used as payment for admission to the Institute for Special Technologies, a weird and scary school in an isolated village. The girl, Sasha, discovers that she has a gift for the work she is assigned, sparking a transformation that she does not understand; one she cannot control or stop.

Let me be upfront: you, as a reader, will not receive all the answers. The authors successfully paint a breathtaking and compelling picture here, but you will never see the full image. Blindly exploring the themes and ideas was enough for me and in fact a refreshing exercise, but it will not be satisfying for others. Had I not been in the right mood, reading this would’ve felt frustrating and wasteful. Beware, interested readers, you will be forced to navigate uncomfortable waters here.

But yes, I loved it. I truly enjoyed stumbling around bumping into concepts such as consequence, fear, love, discipline, obligation, transformation, and destiny. This book is dark - and simmers with foreboding - but there is something so charming about Sasha; I really fell in love with her shenanigans as a gifted student and an awkward teenage girl. I appreciated getting to know her allies, her supporters, her family, her professors. I really rooted for her, without knowing where she was headed, or how she’d succeed. It’s quite something.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, this is not for the faint of heart. But I’d recommend it for anyone interested in taking a deep, dark dive into abstract philosophy.

Or perhaps anyone interested in what it feels like to take LSD. Russian LSD.

Vita Nostra on: Amazon | Goodreads

Review: Rosewater

4 stars. Here’s my main point, upfront: this book requires you to just sit back and enjoy the ride. It’s a complicated, futuristic sci-fi with alternating sets of flashbacks and a lot of unknown vocabulary. It’s intimidating, multifaceted and strange, but very imaginative and entertaining.

Full disclosure: I was in the mood for this book. I had just finished both The Cabin at the End of the World and Call Me By Your Name and was done done done with gut punches for awhile. I literally said to someone, “Aliens, aliens, give me your fucking aliens.”

So I went for it. And Tade Thompson WENT FOR IT. And I couldn’t put it down, and I can’t stop thinking about it, and I want more. I surrendered to the crazy and thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns and Thompson’s brilliance.

Stepping back, though, if you’re interested: the title refers to a town in future Nigeria called Rosewater, which surrounds an alien biome that opens once a year and heals people suffering from injury or illness. Our protagonist is Kaaro, a surly yet charming psychic “finder” who uses his abilities to protect a bank from cyber threats and to serve as an agent for a shadowy government agency called S45. Through alternating flashbacks, we follow Kaaro through three separate timelines: the present, during which he navigates and deals with the alien threat, a middle period, during which we learn about his initial work with S45, and an early period, during which we see Kaaro as a young thief trying to survive in the chaotic aftermath of an alien landing on Earth.

Remember when I said it was intimidating and multifaceted?

It’s also full and wonderful. Kaaro makes for a refreshingly unpredictable protagonist, and the supporting characters operate with an exciting amount of agency. The diverse setting proves its worth again and again and while yes - there are unanswered questions at the end - Thompson ties up loose ends nicely.

I have to admit - I loved that America was “dark” (essentially a non-presence) in this book. Good, I’m tired of hearing about America and need a fucking break (and I live there). Elevate other voices, other cultures, other worlds.

I docked a star for the flashback narrative structure, which threw me off more than once. And also because I’m unconvinced Thompson’s portrayal of women is well-rounded, or shall I say, anywhere outside of or beyond a sexual lens. Sure, Kaaro’s a bit of a horndog, but there must be someone even he doesn’t measure immediately based on her appearance or his sexual appetite.

But as I said first: this book is a wild ride and requires a certain commitment to just accepting it and rolling with the punches. I really, really, really loved it. I was inspired by it. I can’t wait to read more of this bizarre, insane, captivating story.

Rosewater on: Amazon | Goodreads

Retro Review: The Passage

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.

3 stars. First, the wonderful: the novel is semi-epistolary, which keeps things interesting and provides a larger picture of the events depicted. Considering the expanse of Cronin’s vision, he avoids tripping into tunnel vision by including excerpts from government documents, journals and email correspondence. I don’t always enjoy having all the answers, but in this case, context felt really, really crucial to my understanding of the story. That plus a carefully crafted complex and sophisticated plot left me both satisfied and wanting more.

Now, the weird: first of all, all of the men in this book seem like different versions of the same male character – like the same face drawn in different colors. And the women are incredibly strong and multifaceted, but Cronin misses an opportunity to demonstrate a deeper understanding of the feminist perspective. It isn’t problematic in that sense, but in my opinion it’s lacking.

I should also comment on the writing, which is questionable at times. It’s arrogant and cliffhanger-happy, and Cronin bogs down the prose with details of the setting and romantic subplots (I’m certain this was done intentionally to send a message – but it was not to my taste). Cronin is definitely a master at writing action, but his character's’ internal monologues felt slightly amateur (Peter’s contemplation of Hollis and Sara’s relationship was really tedious to me). There’s melodrama and heavy-handed sentimentality.

Also, be prepared for some ... unusual ... exposition. Like The Terror, another sprawling, layered book that touches on humanity’s place in the world, this story gets more woo-woo as it goes on.

Despite these flaws (flaws may be too strong of a word – I would just refer to them as observations), the accomplishments of The Passage are countless. It is a literary vampire apocalypse story, of which there are many, but it’s also a fresh literary vampire apocalypse story, of which there are few. I will be reading more.

The Passage on: Amazon | Goodreads

Retro Review: Warcross

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.

4 stars. Ooh, I am so into this. I’m all about comparing books to really specific food and drinks, and this is a cool, refreshing glass of Sprite. It’s electric. I was really, really entertained.

Slightly predictable? Definitely. Did it resemble Hunger Games a little too closely? Maybe. But the worldbuilding is incredible and the technology feels real. And having just visited Japan, I loved the descriptions of Tokyo. And the diversity - so natural and right and real. The writing is simple but in a good way, not amateur … it doesn’t pander to its audience.

I just loved how colorful it was. And I loved the character names, they felt really on point, if you’re the type of person who cares about such things, which I oddly really do. I loved that the main female character codes like a badass, and I loved that the romance took such an unexpected turn.

Warcross, to me, is one of those rare magical books that successfully provides a colorful escape, strong characters to root for, and a sense of youthful adventure. Bottom line: this author is going places and I can’t wait to see where.

Warcross on: Amazon | Goodreads

Review: Cloud Atlas

5 stars. This book is the most beautiful, breathtaking gut punch. It's a piece of literary genius; philosophical and compelling. It made me feel small - in a good way, like when I visit New York or Tokyo or stand next to the ocean. I was captivated, almost against my will, and I can't wait to read it again and again and again.

Allow me to write a longer summary than usual. It will help me sort through the plot and the themes. SPOILERS TO FOLLOW.

Cloud Atlas collects the stories of six individuals and presents them in a puzzle box. The first story, THE PACIFIC JOURNAL OF ADAM EWING, takes place in the mid-1800s and follows a notary traveling from the Chatham Isles to California. HIs narrative ends abruptly and the book shifts to LETTERS FROM ZEDELGHEM, a collection of letters from a bisexual composer to his lover, reporting on his many amusing exploits of the 1930s. This composer encounters a copy of Adam Ewing's journal and is fascinated.

The book then shifts again to HALF-LIVES, THE FIRST LUISA REY MYSTERY, a pulpy thriller about a feisty journalist and her quest to expose a corporation for playing fast and loose with the safety precautions on their nuclear reactor. Rey, in the midst of dodging 1970s clichés and cliffhangers, comes across the composer's letters from the previous section and is desperate to find the rest.

Falling into place, yet? I know, it's great.

Leaving Luisa's fate unknown, we shift to modern times to read THE GHASTLY ORDEAL OF TIMOTHY CAVENDISH, the memoir of an elderly publisher who gets trapped in a nursing home against his will (and ... is sent the first half of a manuscript about Luisa Rey). Cavendish is colorful and - honestly, a little grotesque - but we root for him all the same.

Number five reveals AN ORISON OF SONMI-451, the transcript of an interview with a clone from the far future. Sonmi has "ascended" - she has taught herself to think and feel, and in her own transcendent way attempts to right the wrongs she sees in the world. She also enjoys the first half of the movie version of Cavendish's ghastly ordeal.

Lastly we read SLOOSHA'S CROSSIN' AN' EV'RYTHIN' AFTER. Civilization has fallen. The human population has fractured into isolated tribes living off the earth and avoiding savages. Zachry, a goatherder, worships Sonmi like a god, though he and his people don't understand her origins or the true context of her declarations. 

And then we switch back to Sonmi, who declares in the last moment of her interview that she'd like to watch the rest of the movie about Timothy Cavendish. Cavendish escapes his nursing home prison and reads the second half of the manuscript about Luisa Rey. Luisa survives several ridiculous threats, including a hit man, a bombing and a shootout on a boat to obtain the rest of the composer's letters. The composer, in the last moments of his life, reads the final chapters of Adam Ewing's journal, who closes with “My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?” 

There is, admittedly, a ton to unpack here. My observations and thoughts are as follows:

First - David Mitchell can write anything he wants. Each segment of this book is carefully crafted and completely different. Each character has a distinguishable voice (in some cases, literally) - which is so rare! He emulates styles and forges his own. He can be irritating, and meta as hell, but Cloud Atlas is so fucking impressive. I would've loved to study this in college just so I could discuss and understand everything about it from the word choice to the philosophical questions to the structure.

Second - theeeeeeeeeemes. Theme city. Themes everywhere, as far as the eye can see. Mitchell infuses his work with explorations of the primitive vs. the civilized; nature vs. nurture; sacrifice; power; slavery; mortality ... and all of them - for the most part - bonk you on the head: "Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future." "Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty." Etc. Yeah, there isn't a lot of subtlety here. But it's not bad. It's just heavy and philosophical and leaves you full of joy and sadness at the same time.

Cloud Atlas isn't perfect, I know. It requires commitment and patience and a high tolerance for tricky dialogue, and at times is a little too clever for its own good. It was a rewarding read for me, though, almost comforting. I think I understand the questions it asks and tries to answer. I can't wait to read it again and pull out the details I missed - and to just fall into that world again, even for a moment. After all, “Books don't offer real escape, but they can stop a mind scratching itself raw.” 

Cloud Atlas on: Amazon | Goodreads

Retro Review: Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1)

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.

3 stars. I suppose it's nothing I haven't seen before (epistolary sci-fi is weirdly popular these days), but I really enjoyed Sleeping Giants. This could have been a philosophical tome about humanity's place in the universe, but it turned out to be a quick read with simple characters and a fast-moving plot.

I got vibes: Battlestar Galactica vibes, Transformers vibes, and Illuminae Files vibes, which I didn't hate, but they definitely lessened any sense of originality, subject matter-wise.

There's something really fun about the way the chips fall into place here, though. The fast pacing was really appealing - normally I'd complain about the spotty character development but I found myself racing to the end because reading about an alien technology robot weapon is so cool. And surprisingly thought-provoking.

Points for making a predictable ending super entertaining. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Sleeping Giants on: Amazon | Goodreads