Friday Face Off : A Wicked Grin
9 July 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Books by Proxy, Friday Face off, Gregory Maguire, Wiced
Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book (this doesn’t have to be a book that you’ve read), compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future’s themes are listed below – if you have a cover in mind that you’re really wanting to share then feel free to leave a comment about a future suggested theme. I’ve also listed events that take place during the year, that I’m aware of, so you can link up your covers – if you’re aware of any events that you think I should include then give me a shout.
This week’s theme:
A Wicked Grin
For once, I knew exactly which book I had in mind for this week’s theme. It’s perfect in terms of title and cover. It’s a book I haven’t read even though I picked up a copy many years ago. Wicked by Gregory Maguire. And, here are the covers:
And, well I had to go with the cover I find the most familiar this week:
Do you have a favourite?
I’ve updated the list now to include themes for next year. If you know of an event that’s coming up let me know and I’ll try and include covers that work for the event itself so that you can link up to the Friday Face Off and, as always, if you wish to submit an idea then leave me a comment – or if you’d like to host a week then simply let me know. Also, I would just mention that it’s very possible that some of these might be repeats from previous FFOs although I have tried to invent more ‘open ended’ prompt that can be interpreted differently and also prompts that relate to emotions. Finally, don’t struggle with any of these, this is meant to be a fun way of highlighting books. If you can’t come up with a book you think fits for a particular week use a freebie – perhaps a recent read for example:
Next week – Books with ‘book’ in the title
2021
July
16th – Books with ‘book’ in the title
23rd – A Black Hole – could be in the universe or going deep into the ground
30th – Chaos – maybe too much going on in this one
August
6th – “They cluck their thick tongues, and shake their heads and suggest, os so very delicately!” – The Motel
13th – A favourite holiday read
20th – Dressed to kill (could be literally someone dressed to kill, or someone dressed up for a big night out
27th – Sunbathing or on the beach
September (RIP event)
3rd – 1920s feel, noir detective
10th – I’m Henry the Eighth I am – let’s look at Kings or other Emperors/rulers
17th – Books with ‘Murder’ in the title
24th – A favourite thriller
October
1st – A Halloween read
8th – Chills – anything at all that almost makes you too scared to pick up the book (your own pet hate)
15th – Your favourite book of magic
22nd – Books with ‘Queen’ in the title
29th – Must be gothic
November – Sci Fi Month
5th – Your earliest sci-fi read or the first sci-fi you reviewed
12th – A book with ‘star’ in the title
19th – Futuristic vista
26th – A Black Hole – in the universe or going deep into the ground
December
3rd – Windswept, the classic figure, stood majestically, with wind blowing out in a fetching way
10th – A fairytale retold
17th – Winter Solstice approaching – anything cold and seasonal
24th – All things fire – red hair, red covers, fire breathing dragons, simply fire?
31st – What’s your catnip – if it’s on a cover you have to pick it up
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Crazy as a horror flick
To be honest, The Final Girl Support Group was exactly what I expected it to be. The title gives you a good idea what the story is about – a support group for survivors of hideous horror soaked massacres. Of course, all the survivors here and the traumas they have been through will be well known to horror aficionados who will undoubtedly recognise the characters and the movies they relate to – because of course, the premise here, which is such a great idea – is that those movies were based on true events, and the survivors, the final girls standing at the end of those movies make up the support group from the title.
As you might expect, all the final girls have reacted in different ways but over the years they’ve become, sort of, friends through the support group they attend together. As the book begins, it appears that change is on the horizon. These girls, women now in fact, will always be an enigma or constant source of fascination to a certain element of society and it feels inevitable that eventually somebody will come looking for them – hoping to make their own gory statement.
The central character is Lynnette Tarkington. Strictly speaking Lynnette isn’t a ‘final girl’ although she was the only survivor of her own personal horror story – she’s different because she didn’t kill the monster at the end of her trauma like the other girls. Lynnette’s form of coping involves training, surveillance and living a life in hiding. She practically lives in her own self made cage and has contingency plans for the contingency plans! just in case. Of course, all her planning and working out crumble when it appears that somebody knows all her secrets and how to bypass all her homemade security devices.
Firstly, I will say that you need to check your overpowering desire to have everything tied up with a neat realistic bow as soon as you crack this book open. This is not a book that is realistic – no more than say Halloween or Friday the 13th were realistic. What this is, is a great play on horror movies, a homage filled with moments that will feel strangely familiar, even if you don’t recognise all the different ideas. What immediately popped into my head was a particular scene from the adaptation of Interview with a Vampire, where the young girl and Louis (both vampires) are watching a stage play, where basically the actors are all vampires (pretending to be humans) and the ever tortured Louis says ‘Vampires, pretending to be humans pretending to be vampires’. This quote is perfect here because of the strange way that Hendrix has twisted everything – so, we have a fictional horror/thriller story pretending to be a real story based on real characters who survived a body of fictional movies. I’m not sure that I’ve described that in the clearest terms – hopefully you can see what I’m driving at. Anyway, the main point here is that this book is crazy. It ticks all the crazy boxes and is delightfully, unashamedly a chaotic tribute to horror.
Oddly enough, I wouldn’t really say the horror is over the top here. Of course there are the backstories of the girls, but they’re not particularly dwelt upon so much as briefly skimmed over. The real story revolves around the mystery/thriller aspect – although there are some particular moments that are definitely a bit horror soaked, particularly as the drama unfolds and the tension is ramped up. Then there’s an absolutely over the top ending that twists itself up into a delicious pretzel.
There’s also just a gloriously exaggerated feeling of helplessness. Like as soon as the proverbial hits the fan everyone’s best intentions go to hell in a handcart and momentarily these ‘final girl’s act like countless other victims that we’ve all spent time and energy over the years shouting instructions at from the comfort of our sofas ‘don’t go in the cellar!’ ‘run!’ ‘he’s behind you’ – etc, etc. The beauty here though is that these girls, after a momentary flap, do pull themselves together, they’re survivors after all – but they need to stick together, and something or someone is intent on pushing them apart.
In terms of characters. Well, Lynnette is our main character and she is flawed. Come on though, she’s had a very bad experience. Very. Bad. She makes mistakes, quite a lot of mistakes if I’m honest. You can’t help but be flabbergasted by some of her actions, but at the same time she’s a great character to lead the story, probably because she’s not perfect, not always likeable and doesn’t always make the greatest choices.
In terms of criticisms. Well, I guess this isn’t the strongest plot but it definitely has a tongue in cheek stab at horror flicks and it’s more designed to entertain and get your pulse racing than be an intellectual experience.
Like the movies this takes inspiration from this is a popcorn munching, quick paced horror/thriller that had me glued to the page. And, also like the movies – you can’t take a break in the middle of the action – and the same can be said here – I pretty much read this in one sitting.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 4.5 of 5 stars
This month I’m trying to read a few horror books as part of Books Bones and Buffy’s Horror in July event. Check it out here.
Waiting on Wednesday : Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow by Christina Henry
7 July 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A tale of Sleepy Hollow, Christina Henry, Horseman, Waiting on Wednesday, 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 : Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow by Christina Henry – because I’ve read two of her books and loved them. Give it to me now:
In this atmospheric, terrifying novel that draws strongly from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the author of Alice and The Girl in Red works her trademark magic, spinning an engaging and frightening new story from a classic tale.
Everyone in Sleepy Hollow knows about the Horseman, but no one really believes in him. Not even Ben Van Brunt’s grandfather, Brom Bones, who was there when it was said the Horseman chased the upstart Crane out of town. Brom says that’s just legend, the village gossips talking.
Twenty years after those storied events, the village is a quiet place. Fourteen-year-old Ben loves to play Sleepy Hollow boys, reenacting the events Brom once lived through. But then Ben and a friend stumble across the headless body of a child in the woods near the village, and the sinister discovery makes Ben question everything the adults in Sleepy Hollow have ever said. Could the Horseman be real after all? Or does something even more sinister stalk the woods?
Expected publication : September 2021
Around the Discworld: Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #3)
6 July 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Around the Discworld, Discworld #3, Equal Rites, Terry Pratchett
Today is my review for the third book in the Discworld series and the next step on a journey that Louise over at Lou’s Book Stuff and I agreed to undertake together whereby we read the entire Discworld series in order. You can check out Lou’s review here (I will be linking up asap).
Equal Rites is book No.3 in the series and was a little bit of a turnaround for me. I liked the first two books but I wouldn’t say I was bowled over, Equal Rites felt like it had a storyline I could get into a little more and of course Granny Weatherwax plays a role – and she is a character indeed.
My reviews for book 1 and 2 are here and here.
The main gist of the story for equal rites is that witches can’t be wizards. This is a known fact. Is isn’t possible. So, when a dying wizard passes his powers and staff of power to the eighth son of an eighth son – imagine the dilemma when the newborn baby turns out to be a girl. Of course, it’s too late to backtrack, the staff has been passed on and now belongs to Eskarina Smith – more than belongs in fact, the staff has a force of it’s own and it seems to protect its new owner with a passion.
Enter Granny Weatherwax. She lives on her mountain and prefers goats to people. She steps in to try and help train Esk in the witch ways, unfortunately Esk has too much untamed magic and finally it seems that the only thing would be to take her to the Unseen University – a very male establishment where the only way for Esk to enter is to be part of the staff, invisible, in the background, but secretly learning.
As I mentioned already I enjoyed this one more than the first two in series. In fairness, it’s probably unfair to say I didn’t enjoy them because I did. They’re entertaining stories with a whacky madcap humour but Equal Rites is the earliest introduction to Granny Weatherwax and already she is a character not to be trifled with. I’ve previously read the Tiffany Aching series and loved them so rediscovering this earlier version of Granny was delightful. She is such a force of nature. one of those people who is always right, even if she doesn’t have the first notion about what she’s talking she never admits it – hot damn I wish I’d had a little bit of that attitude at certain points in my life.
Esk is definitely an interesting character but Granny can’t help but steal the show.
Other things worth a mention. A certain similarity to the first two books in the series where a journey of two people is embarked upon. This particular journey could be said to be a ‘finding yourself’ type tale not just for Esk but for Granny. She has some very firm views herself, in some respects she feels akin to the wizards – which makes the conclusion of this particular story so interesting and actually a little heartwarming. I think Pratchett has a way of giving unbelievable characteristics to everyday things. I think he could probably make a chair look disapproving or a stove cook furiously. Firstly – the luggage from books 1 and 2 which came across as playful at times and like a determined guard dog at others. Here we have the staff, positively dripping with stubbornness. I love these little things.
In terms of slight reservations. Okay, I wouldn’t say that I’m really experiencing any seriously laugh out loud moments at this stage of my journey through the Discworld but I like to think it’s early days and the world and characters are still being established. I certainly found this story easier to get along with although that could be the familiarity with a certain character. I would also say that my experience with Equal Rites was that I enjoyed the first two thirds of the book more than the concluding chapters where things seemed to slow down for me even though, conversely the pace increased. That being said there were elements that were greatly enjoyable – I’m thinking of the dual between a certain witch and wizard which was very entertaining.
Witches, wizards, magic, tricks, broomstick riding, magic libraries and a determined witch and her protege ringing in the changes.
I always think the first 2 or 3 books in a series are the foundations and so with still (ahem) quite a few more books yet to come I will say I have high hopes. I feel like I’m starting to find my feet. Let’s see what No.4 has in store.
My rating 3.5 of 5 stars
I bought a copy for kindle.
The Rising Tide by Sam Lloyd
My Five Word TL:DR Review : I couldn’t put it down
I loved The Memory Wood by Sam Lloyd and now I can add The Rising Tide to the ‘loved it’ list too.
As the book starts we meet Lucy Locke. Married to Daniel and with two lovely children, Fin and Billie, they seem to have an idyllic life. Lucy runs a successful local business called the Drift Net which is a great community venue as well as local meeting spot. They live in an impressive house that sits on top of the cliffs overlooking the sea and their love is as strong now as it ever was. Daniel’s business seems to have hit a blip but it’s nothing they can’t get through together – until Daniel heads off to work one morning and Lucy’s life is turned upside down.
Daniel has taken the family yacht out to sea, the local rescue service have received a mayday, the boat has been found but nobody is aboard and one of the biggest storms of the century is fast approaching. The police become involved and things escalate rapidly when it appears both children are also missing.
I can’t really go any further into the plot as that would reveal spoilers and I really don’t want to go there.
So, what worked really well for me with this?
Firstly, the writing is excellent and Lloyd sets the scene magnificently. You can feel Lucy’s ever growing terror as she scrambles around, desperately worried about her family while the tension builds much like the approaching clouds and swollen sea.
Secondly, this is a writer who knows how to keep his cards close to his chest, slowly revealing information that gives you pause for thought. You start to entertain doubts, and yet Lucy seems so steadfast, she loves her husband and he loves her. Is she hiding something? Is she delusional? I started to entertain notions that I knew what was going on, Lloyd is excellent at misdirection however, feeding you snippets of things that look a certain way until you start to doubt everything and everyone.
The setting also plays into the plot so well. This is one of those small seaside villages that feels almost claustrophobic and it seems that there are secrets and resentments lying just below the surface waiting to be revealed. On the face of it, Lucy and her family are loved and respected but scratch the surface and you find people who are not quite so enamoured.
In terms of the characters. Lucy is very well done. She’s far from perfect and as you gather more information about her you’ll start to regard her more cautiously, maybe even start to have a few ‘what the heck’ moments in regards to some of her behaviour. Some of it just doesn’t make sense, and I say again, is she delusional?? Then there’s DI Abraham Rose. He definitely makes his presence known, there’s something about him that just seems to draw attention. It’s like a bear has just entered the room and you can’t drag your eyes away. Rose is on a mission of sorts, like a knight on a quest, he’s determined to get to the bottom of this mystery and only his failing health can stop him. Is this family as perfect as we are first given to believe?
I didn’t really have any criticisms. I really enjoyed this one, I think maybe the culprit was a little thinly drawn but I think that’s a combination of not wanting to give away the story too early on and then being caught up in the thick of the drama in such a way that there wasn’t really an opportunity to provide too much without losing momentum.
As it is, I really liked this, it held me gripped, I couldn’t turn the pages quickly enough, it was an absolute roller coaster of ups and downs, it took me by surprise more than once and not always in a nice way, the writing is great, the tension and atmosphere stand out and I didn’t see the ending coming. What more can I say? I’ll be eagerly watching Sam Lloyd to see what he comes up with next.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 4.5 of 5 stars.
