Another day, another Mitchell! I bought Slade House not long after I finished The Bone Clocks because I didn’t want to stop living in Mitchell’s world. It ended up being the perfect accompaniment to Bone Clocks, almost like a side note into the world of Atemporals, souls who are able to live on for centuries in different bodies. Described as a “haunted house” book, Mitchell exercises his horror writing skills in describing Slade House, which is hidden behind a small black iron door down a narrow, winding alley. Nathan Bishop, […]
This book will chew you up and spit you out
What the fuck did I just read? I think I liked it? It definitely kept me guessing, that’s for sure. This book isn’t for the faint hearted. There’s lots of gore, violence, and even a little horror. I wouldn’t say it was a scary book per se, but a lot of crazy shit happens in The Library at Mount Char. The narrative flits back and forth between the main character, Carolyn, as an adult and as a child. As a child her parents were killed […]
Shine on you crazy diamond
I don’t usually read books this dark with so much violence. Not that I’m against it, it’s just not my thing. Still, I ended up enjoying The Shining Girls. Lauren Beukes is certainly a talented writer and she did a great job in writing a complicated story that was still cohesive and made sense. The Shining Girls is a bit of a genre mashup. It’s a time travel tale, but it also is very much thriller/horror too. Although there are lots of characters, the story […]
Peer Pressure and Cartoon Villainy
We get a prologue from a murderer again. And we get a prologue that takes place weeks after the story actually opens. My favorite. Yay. Johanna Wise is one of Shadyside’s poor kids. Her mom has been working two jobs ever since she and Johanna’s dad got divorced–with all of the single parent households in Shadyside, I have to assume the divorce happened while he was awaiting trial on federal charges. She’s envious of Dennis Arthur and his crowd–the wealthiest kids in Shadyside. With enough […]
Turns Out Life Is Cheap
In the first chapter of this book, we learn Deena Martinson broke up with Gary Brandt. So they’re both still in high school. I’m telling you: Shadyside time warp. No one escapes. Janie, Faith, and Eve are all best friends. They were the head of the committee for the school dance, and they have to meet up after school to count the take and turn it over to the principal. Before they can get started, however, the mysterious new boy at school appears while clutching […]
A Novel of Ridiculous Coincidences
Once more, we’ve got a Fear Street book that doesn’t even take place in Shadyside. The tenuous connection is a character who lives on Fear Street. I’m tempted to go back and count how many Shadyside High students live on Fear Street so far. Too many to make the street’s reputation plausible, I think. We open this time not with a murderer, but with a victim. Claudia Walker wakes up on the beach with her face severely burned, her eyes swollen shut, and her body […]