Booking Ahead/Weekly Wrap Up
19 May 2024
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Reviews, Booking Ahea, Books, Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Cherie Priest, Cinderwich, Fantasy, Genevieve Cogman, Laura Purcell, Moonstone, Scarlet, Sunday Post, Weekly wrap up
I’m trying to get back into the habit of doing a round-up of the week just completed and also take a look at my plans for the forthcoming week. I rather got out of the habit of doing so but I would like to reinstate this type of post as I feel it keeps me on track. So, I’m linking up to The Sunday Post over at Kimberly’s Caffeinated Reviewer. Without further ado:
Books read this week:
So, update on the stomach bug. Still not 100% unfortunately but I’m a lot better than I was so at least I seem to be on the mend. In terms of reading this week. I read Scarlet by Genevieve Cogman, this is the first in the Scarlet Revolution series and is one of my Beat the Backlist books from last year. I enjoyed this, it was light and charming and a good start to series. I have number two waiting to be read and hopefully will make a start this week. I also picked up and completed Cinderwich by Cherie Priest which I really liked and already reviewed (link below). Finally I picked up Moonstone by Laura Purcell. This is Purcell’s foray into YA. I enjoyed the writing for this one and it is packed with the author’s trademark gothic style but I didn’t love it as much as her adult books. Finally, I’ve made a good start on Hell for Hire by Rachel Aaron which is shaping up into what I hope will become a new UF that I love.
Complete Hell for Hire by Rachel Aaron and then pick up Hera by Jennifer Saint and Elusive by Genevieve Cogman.
- The House That Horror Built by Cherie Priest
- Cinderwich by Cherie Priest
- The Silence Factory by Bridget Collins
- The September House by Carissa Orlando
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
- When She Was Good by Michael Robotham
- Lying Beside You by Michael Robotham
- Scarlet by Genevieve Cogman
- Moonstone by Laura Purcell
The Friday Face Off : The House That Horror Built by Christina Henry
17 May 2024
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Christina Henry, The Friday Face Off, The House that Horror built
Today I’m returning to the Friday Face Off, originally created by Books by Proxy). I’ve missed these for the past few months and so would like to get back to comparing covers (and hopefully I will be updating this page with a new banner. This is an opportunity to look at a book of your choice and shine the spotlight on the covers. Of course this only works for those books that have alternative covers (although sometimes I use this to look at a series of books to choose a favourite). . So, if you have a book that has alternative covers, highlight them and choose your favourite. If you’re taking part it would be great if you leave a link so I can take a look at what you’ve chosen.
This week I’ve chosen a book that I recently read and enjoyed. The House that Horror Built by Christina Henry. Here are the covers:
I like both covers but I’ve chosen this one because I like the font and also the whole cover gives me spooky horror movie poster vibes from the 70s or something like that.
Which is your favourite?
Join me next week in highlighting one of your reads with different covers.
The Silence Factory by Bridget Collins
16 May 2024
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Reviews, Books, Bridget Collins, historical-fiction, The Silence Factory
My Five Word TL:DR Review : My feelings are all over
I will say that Bridget Collins has a lovely way with words and can set a scene really well. On top of that she’s a skilled author when it comes to blending historical settings and magical realism and her stories usually have a central mystery that hooks you and keeps you reading.
The Silence Factory is a period novel told over two timelines, one relayed in diary format by Sophie Ashmore Percy as she trails round the Greek islands with her husband in his relentless pursuit of mythical creatures and the other, set decades later, narrated by a widower called Henry Latimer, an audiologist who becomes wrapped up in the schemes of Sir Edward Ashmore Percy (the great, great? nephew of Sophie) and his relentless pursuit of money.
Sir Edward’s family made their money from lace but Edward has spent the wealth converting the family’s factory and setting up to spin silk instead. Telverton silk is quite remarkable, it contains qualities that seem to nullify noise, however these remarkable traits must be weighed against the strange madness that its production seems to induce, the tremendous production costs and the overall ill effects that Telverton seems to suffer as a result. Edward has over stretched and his situation is now dire, he needs backers. This is where Henry enters the scheme. Henry is employed by his father in law, working out of a shop in London. The two make for a very melancholy scene. One having lost his daughter, the other his wife. There’s an unspeakable sadness until Sir Andrew appears in the shop. Sir Andrew’s daughter is deaf but he believes she can be cured. This is when Henry meets Sir Andrew and seems to become almost instantly beguiled – simply by a kind gesture. To cut a long story short Henry soon finds himself travelling to Telverton to stay at Sir Edward’s mansion and to try and help his daughter. After a rather unexpected outburst by Henry one evening in front of a prospective backer Sir Edward begins to see potential in the young man helping him to market his silk and so begins their strange relationship.
On the face of it this book has everything I love and then some. And, I confess, I was keen to keep reading, intrigued by the mystery. There is the gothic goodness, the whole setting of Telverton in fact plays into this with it’s oppressive feel. There’s the dual timeline and the diary chapters. In fact I loved the chapters where we jumped to Greece. It has such a different feel. This tiny, sun soaked village with its traditions and sparkling waters. Another setting easily brought to life by Collins.
What worked for me. The writing. So eloquent. This is an author that can set a scene that will burst to life in your mind as you read.
The mystery. Although it feels a little that we don’t fully explore the full potential of this particular intrigue it did keep me reading.
There’s an exploration here of the social issues of the time. The conditions that people worked in. The dangers of the factories. The fact that children were scurrying about cleaning the underneath of dangerous equipment. The blatant disparity and dispassion between the haves and the have nots. Also the treatment of women and the clear depiction that whether wealthy or not, most women had few choices and little voice.
Unfortunately, most of the characters didn’t work for me at all. I’m not going to turn this into a character assasination but Henry, his actions just defied belief. I do understand that he was grieving and lonely, but I just couldn’t come to terms with him at all in fact I totally ran out of patience. Edward, well you could understand his motives, greed and power, and he was just your basic arrogant, self-serving, over-priveledged, selfish horror. Although, now I’m talking myself into a corner because as I write this review I can see that the author has written here three men who badly let their wives down and so clearly they’re not supposed to be likable – but, it’s a gamble isn’t it because whilst I love a good baddie, I do find it difficult to read an entire story without having any characters to root for. Okay, Sophie isn’t a bad character, but at the same time her involvement is a little sparse, I would have loved more of her chapters. The governess of Sir Edward’s daughter was an interesting character but her own reticence made it difficult to latch onto her. (Although I loved the addition of the cousin who looked so much like her – that had a WIlkie Collins vibe for me).
Overall, this is an intriguing story. I loved the period setting and the writing is beautiful. I felt the storyline of the spiders and the silk was a little under explored. I enjoyed the highlight on the social aspects and particularly the plight of the females in this story and the unflinching way that the author doesn’t try to change this in some way – yes, she could have given these women more agency, they could have acted more assertively – and yet, in actual fact, no they couldn’t, they were all of them, always conscious of the lack of choices that they really had.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 3.5 of 5 stars
Can’t Wait Wednesday : The Haunting of Moscow House by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
15 May 2024
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Can't Wait Wedesday, Olesya Salnikova Gilmore, The Haunting of Moscow House, Wishful Endings
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine. Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for. If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. This week my book is: The Haunting of Moscow House by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore. Here’s the cover and description:
In this elegant gothic horror tale set in post-revolutionary Russia, two formerly aristocratic sisters race to uncover their family’s long-buried secrets in a house haunted by a past dangerous—and deadly—to remember.
It is the summer of 1921, and a group of Bolsheviks have taken over Irina and Lili Goliteva’s ancestral home in Moscow, a stately mansion falling into disrepair and decay. The remaining members of their family are ordered to move into the cramped attic, while the officials take over an entire wing of grand rooms downstairs. The sisters understand it is the way of things and know they must forget their noble upbringing to make their way in this new Soviet Russia. But the house begins to whisper of a traumatic past not as dead as they thought.
Eager to escape it and their unwelcome new landlords, Irina and Lili find jobs with the recently arrived American Relief Administration, meant to ease the post-revolutionary famine in Russia. For the sisters, the ARA provides much-needed food and employment, as well as a chance for sensible Irina to help those less fortunate and artistic Lili to express herself for a good cause. It might just lead them to love, too.
But at home, the spirits of their deceased family awaken, desperate to impart what really happened to them during the Revolution. Soon one of the officials living in the house is found dead. Was his death caused by something supernatural, or by someone all too human? And are Irina and Lili and their family next? Only unearthing the frightening secrets of Moscow House will reveal all. But this means the sisters must dig deep into a past no one in Russia except the dead are allowed to remember.
Expected publication : September 2024
Cinderwich by Cherie Priest
My Five Word TL:DR Review: This Was A Little Nugget
Cinderwich is a book that completely missed my radar until fairly recently when I was scrolling down some lists of books (as you do) and there it was, with it’s May release, taunting me and I thought how the heck did I miss this? Anyway, I couldn’t tippy tap the keys fast enough to put in a request and I literally danced a little happy dance when I was approved. Anyway, I really like this author’s work so that spooky cover coupled with ‘mystery/thriller southern gothic novel set in dying Tennessee town’ in the description, well, you had me at hello. Anyway, long story short I really enjoyed this one. It’s only a short story – which I hadn’t realised, and I dont usually enjoy short stories – but this one felt like a good length and it can be read in an easy couple of bites.
The story revolves around the mystery of a missing woman called Ellen. Ellen Thrush has been missing for many years, so many years that her niece, who was named for her but prefers to be called Kate, never met her, and for the woman who loved her, Dr Judith Kane, to have eventually moved on with her life. Oddly enough Judith and Kate know each other, particularly because of this shared link, they had a good friendship once but eventually drifted apart until out of the blue, Judith messages Kate for help. She’s seen a strange article about a woman whose body was found at a similar time to the time of Ellen’s disappearance and has become something of an urban (but rural in this case) legend. Who put Ellen in the blackgum tree? The two decide to go in search of answers to that very question and the hope of closure.
What did I enjoy about CInderwich.
Firstly, I loved the friendship and banter between Kate and Judith. They’re such different characters in so many ways. Judith is graceful and charming, always impeccable and well mannered. Kate is a bit more clumsy, certainly intelligent and not afraid to do a little digging, even putting herself in precarious positions. These two are perfect together they really are. They have this younger/older woman dynamic, mentor/ student if you will. There’s respect,and camaraderie but at the same time they’re both their own people and stand their ground.
Secondly, the setting is great. We have this old town that is very run down, stores have closed, there’s no railway anymore, no newspaper – but there’s a library so all isn’t completely lost. CInderwich has both a creepy and also a kind of sad vibe. There are few people about, few cars, very few places to stop and eat, the local hotel is a throwback to the 70s and the stigma and mystery of the unknown woman in the tree has left a dark taint. Every time the story is resurrected people searching for missing relatives turn up looking for answers, or tourists wanting there chance to see where it all happened. On top of this Cinderwich is a town with a background the likes of which are only briefly touched upon here, I’m not sure I totally understood all the implications other than rich town founders forming a kind of brotherhood and perhaps taking strange actions with dark repercussions – that’s simply a wild stab in the dark on my part though, feel free to enlighten me.
I loved the three women and their wonderfully gothic house that our two main characters visit in their pursuit of answers. Seriously, can we have some more books with these three and indeed Cinderwich.
Gothic. Okay, it’s maybe not for everyone, it’s not outright horror as such, it’s more subtle and creepy. Noises in the nights, shadows in the woods, ghostly sightings, etc. but I do love something gothic and this Southern type gothic brings that extra element by focusing on characters that are isolated, settings derelict and yet at the same time tempering the tale with dark humour and moments of refreshing breathers- like the three ladies above generously inviting complete strangers into their home and offering them tea.
I got on very easily with the writing and in fact really enjoyed the pacing. The story goes back and forth between conversations with Kate and Judith in which we gradually build a picture of the two and the investigatory nature of the mystery when the two go digging for clues.
In terms of criticisms. The only thing I would mention, and it’s not really a criticism as such, is that if you need answers to all the questions then this might not be the book for you. Much is left to speculation on the part of the reader so whilst certain elements are resolved the whys and wherefores and other little issues about the history of Cinderwich are not drawn out in plain black and white. I think the author wants you to reach some of your own conclusions and to be fair everything is here within the pages to help you do so (well, I think I’ve answered the queries I had, or more to the point I’m probably a mile wide off being correct but I feel content with the conclusions I’ve reached). Also, I would say that if you’re looking for a fast paced blood fest then this isn’t it. It’s southern gothic with hauntings and other unnerving situations taking place.
Anyway, to conclude, this was a really good read. I must admit that I’m enjoying my fantasy mysteries at the moment and this was fascinating. There’s a lovely element of women coming together to help each other and a very satisfying friendship.
I received a copy through the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 4 of 5 stars
Books and travelling with Lynn 