M
M
I requested Gone Girl from the library because I kept reading wonderful reviews on it. It was actually the second time I had requested it from the library. The first time, I made the mistake of not putting it at the top of the stack and I had to return it before I could get to it. I didn’t make that mistake this time.
This isn’t normally my type of book. And to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what to think of it when I began to read it. And at one point, I almost started to lose interest. Not because it is badly written or boring, but because I was starting to think it was a standard husband kills wife murder mystery. And then . . . . .
She made a sharp turn that I did NOT expect. She showed that you should not assume what is going on in a story (and I think that can also apply to real life) This was so very NOT the story I imagined it was.
Gillian Flynn has created a superbly twisted character in this tale of betrayal, obsession, vengeance. She takes us deeply into the mind of a psychotic sociopath and along a rollercoaster ride with this character, egocentric and void of any empathy to any other human. Its a chilling study of how an attractive face and pleasant personality can hide a vile and cruel soul.
And the good thing is? I understand she has written two other books!
Quentin receives an envelope from a dead man he had an interview with and in it finds a book, The Magicians. A wrong turn and seasons changed and he is offered the chance to take a test. What’s he got to lose? He passes and so begins his entrance into a magicians school, something he had dreamed of as a child but never knew such a thing really existed.
I was quite charmed with the first half of the book and highly entertained at the escapades of the blossoming magicians and the school they were in. It was kind of a Harry Potter to the university level, complete with adult activities such as drinking, sex and an occasional orgy. There was even a special game, not quiddich, but it did ring heavily of borrowing the concept, if not the actual game.
The second half of the book was not quite as fun as the first half. All of these students have read a series as children about a place called Fillory, which is almost borrowing close to the Lion, Witch And Wardrobe books. Add to that, throwing in the God influence and struggling story, it became tedious to get through. It felt almost like he had set up the second half with the Fillory references and therefore had to follow through with it. And its not that it was “bad”, just a bit tedious and drawn out and lacking in the fun and humor of the first half. And its obvious that he has set it up for a sequel. We’ll see what he does with that.
I am torn on what to rate this one. I would give the first half a 4 and the second a bare 3 and since you can’t rate at a half star, I think I will have to go with 3. Its a good book, but could have been a whole lot better.
“Fuck, kill, eat!” So says Jacob Marlow is the mantra of the lycanthrope, and this is his story. The biography of the last werewolf, sought after by the members of WOCOP, who have taken out, one at a time, the rest of his kind.
This is not a “sparkly” werewolf story full of cuteness and pretty creatures. Its a gritty story about a suicidal werewolf that has lived too long, or so he thinks.
I found myself both liking and being annoyed with this book. Most of my annoyance was at an excessive wordiness and a need to exhibit that he knew a lot of big words. As much as I appreciate the English language and the massive pool of words that can be pulled from, the fact is that it begins to come across as an insecure need to prove oneself when you overuse large and elaborate words. Its also writing down to your readership
Well, its Alice Hoffman. So, I pretty much expected it to be an excellent read. And she didn’t let me down. Once again, she has taken a set of rather unusual characters and made them a part of your inner circle. Even though the story revolves around their “oddness”, it becomes only relevant to the story and ceases to be noticed in the image of the character.
The Museum of Extraordinary Things is two stories. First, Coralie, the girl with the webbed hands whose father, the proprietor of the museum, trains her to be able to spend huge amounts of time underwater and bills her as a human mermaid. The museum is a freak show of midgets and Siamese twins and a wolfman, plus bottles and jars and displays of curiosities. Her father dominates and controls her while she seeks tiny rebellions and dreams to find a place in the world outside of the sideshow.