Here’s my semi-annual review of the best novels I’ve read so far this year! (These reviews are abbreviated from my Goodreads account. Come friend me!)
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Fantasy
I’m just going to say that I love Katherine Arden’s Winternight Trilogy and am so excited to read the next one! The prose is beautiful. The plot of The Girl in the Tower, dare I say, was even more intriguing than the first book. The descriptions were so detailed that even with my hypophantasia, I could picture hazy outlines of things. I love the continued introductions to magical folklore and a historical time and place I am unfamiliar with. I adore Solovey, and Vasya and Morozko are both intriguing characters. Vasya annoys me from time to time with her impulsiveness and refusal to listen to common sense, but she admits when she’s wrong, so I forgive her. Mostly, though, I admire and respect her. (Her family, on the other hand–don’t even get me started! I can’t stand those people! Not because of poor writing, but because they are just awful people.)
Yes, it isn’t perfect. Yes, there was a little bit of Mary-Sue-ishness happening. Not so much that I was bothered by it, but after reading and considering some of the other negative reviews, I have to concede it. For most of the book, I wanted to rate this five stars, but I lowered it to four to be fair. Still, it’s some of the best fantasy I’ve read in a while.
Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane was fantastic! It was exactly the kind of fun and magical plot I expected. I enjoyed never really knowing what, exactly, the Hempstocks were.
Claire North’s The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August was AWESOME! Seriously one of the best books I have read in so long! I loved everything about this–the premise was fascinating and so unique, the narrative was engaging, the characters were intriguing, the philosophy was troubling, the plot had me on the edge of my seat, and I had no idea where it was going to go! I have to read every other book by this author now. I enjoyed the heavy feelings and deep reflections this evoked in me. It stuck with me the entire day after I finished reading it.
There was something troubling me about the time-travel logistics the entire time, and I came across a great Reddit discussion on it. I had been confused because it seemed like the characters should be different ages when they encounter each other, and like everyone must be living in parallel realities all at once, because it just didn’t make sense if they were dying and being born at different times for their lives to sync up. But someone described it as being like a big game board, and all the players (the kalachakras/ouroborans) are pieces on the board. When one of them dies in a cycle, they just go into limbo for a while (a LONG while), while the rest of humanity lives out its course until the very end of time, then starts over from the very beginning, and then that person is born again when time gets back around to them, and they play out their turn again. So each go-around is one complete timeline for every single player. I’m just writing this here in case anyone finds it helpful, or in case I decide to reread the book someday and need a refresher.
The other thing I kept thinking was that really every human being gets to live over and over–for the most part, anyway–it’s just only some of them remember it.
I half read this and half listened to the audiobook, and the voice actor for the audiobook was also phenomenal, so now I also want to listen to every book this guy reads. His voices and accents were top-notch, and his narration so mellifluous, it was impossible to get bored.
I don’t know how to begin to describe to you what actually happened in Vita Nostra, by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko. It’s a school story–arguably or arguably not a magical school story when you eventually learn something more substantial of what they are being taught, but certainly an esoteric, metaphysical one. Because of that, it will face inevitable comparisons to Harry Potter, the most famous of magical school stories. So I will embrace that for a moment.
Imagine if Hagrid showed up to the tiny remote island where the Dursleys attempted to hide from magic and didn’t so much as say but heavily implied, “Yer a wizard, Harry”–and then instructed Harry to show up to an incredibly bleak destination under threat of murdering everyone he had ever loved (not that Harry had had anyone like this, but stick with me). So Harry gets to this awful Hogwarts and is treated more or less like a slave–terrorized and forced to follow absurd lessons night or day, with no fun and very little sleep allowed, or else. Books with unintelligible writing in no actual existing human language–memorize them. Exercises with no explanation or concept of what the results should look like–perform them. Cruel teachers and constant threats, and upperclassmen who all appear to be dreadfully…not quite human. Physically and mentally damaged. One foot in this world and one in some hidden place. Psychological and body horror. This is nothing like Hogwarts, or the world or writing of Harry Potter. Don’t enter it expecting it to be–you’ll have a bad time.
There is nothing straightforward about this. Frequently, I found myself stopping to mull over a passage from one of their classroom lessons, or one of the many weird thoughts in Sasha’s mind that she believes to have come from elsewhere. Due to the nature of the story and the writing (and probably the fact that it was translated from another language), I often found it difficult to conclude whether an action or a statement was literal or metaphorical, but I did my best to read and reread to glean what understanding I could and to learn along with Sasha. The entire way through the book, I just kept thinking of drugs and wondering if this was really all a cult, if they were drugging these students somehow.
The cover draws comparisons between Harry Potter, which I’ve already discussed, Lev Grossman’s The Magicians, and Katherine Arden’s Winternight Trilogy (mentioned above). This bears absolutely no resemblance to Winternight. Zero. It’s as if the publishers really struggled to find anything to compare it to, because it is is so hard to describe and so unique, and said, “What other books take place in Eastern Europe and have scenes with snow on the ground?” That is the beginning and end of the similarities between the two. I’m two books into Winternight and really enjoying it, but it is historical fantasy and adventure based on Russian folklore. This is modern-day fantasy with strong underlying sci-fi vibes and no connection to folklore. So don’t read this expecting anything like Winternight, either.
The closest comparison tonally out of those mentioned is The Magicians, but even that, which is already often described as a dark Harry Potter, feels so light compared to the often hopeless vibes of this.
For some reason, I would say this reminded me the most, structurally, of Jostein Gaarder’s Sophie’s World. Maybe something to do with the mysterious way it begins and then continues with dispensing its lessons. I’d say a little bit of The Phantom Tollbooth, as well, but definitely for an older audience. Some hints of Alice in Wonderland, as well, for the absolute lack of explanation for what everything is and why it is happening, and the crazy-making behavior of the only ones in the know.
I highly recommend.
Sci-Fi
I’ve been a big fan of Michael Crichton for many years now, and when people ask me which of his books is my favorite, Sphere is always one of the first to come to mind. (As a side note, I also think it’s one of the worst films based on his work.) This is a creepy page-turner. And I somehow never noticed the subtly ambiguous ending until my most recent rereading of it. This was one of many re-reads.
Horror
I had until very recently never been very interested in reading Pet Sematary. I associate Stephen King with horror, and was under the silly impression that ghost pets just weren’t scary. (“But they come back wrong!” said my fiance, who has watched the ’80s movie. “That’s the point!”) Yes, very “wrong”, it turns out. Plus, it isn’t necessarily just pets who get brought back. (Or that get brought back–there’s a big question of whether what comes back is really a “who” at all, and I like how Louis only referred to Church as “it” rather than “he” after his–its–return. However, I found myself thinking the entire time, ‘You need to be nice to Church! Treat him/it with kindness!’ to no avail.)
Although this is definitely scary, it’s more of a slow burn. It’s a great read with fantastic characters. I particularly loved Jud, who reminded me of a family friend. Death is the main theme of the book–what exactly it is, what it means to us, how to explain it to children, etc.–and because of that, at times the book is much more sad even than it is scary. Being only three days out from the third year without my little brother, I had to put the book down at the midway point and just weep for a while.
Even knowing that the inevitable choices would not end well for our hero, I had a desperate need for him to see them through, anyway–I was so afraid that what needed to happen would somehow be prevented, or that he would choose differently, and I couldn’t watch him pass up that slight chance that things might all work out okay. I mentally egged him on the entire time, and only at the very end found myself just as desperately regretting it.
When I got to the last line, I gasped aloud with a giant shiver. Absolutely KILLER ending! This is going to stick with me for YEARS.
Robert Serling’s Something’s Alive on the Titanic feels like one of those guilty pleasure books that is a bit silly, but you can’t help loving, anyway. I’ve been a bit obsessed with the Titanic since a couple of years before the movie came out, probably in part or perhaps entirely because of this book, which I somehow later forgot existed, even after reading it several times. I haven’t read a lot of horror, but this one always really creeped me out. Something about the atmosphere, I guess. And the characters–while perhaps not always the most likable people–really drew me in. Rereading it was like returning to old, flawed friends. It’s not great literature, but it is fun (and quick), and it’s one of my favorites. I’d been wanting to reread this one ever since the Titanic submersible thing happened. This book sort of is to that what Morgan Robertson’s eerily prophetic Futility was to the Titanic. If you’re a Titanic buff and also happen to like ghost stories, this one by Rod Serling’s brother is unskippable.
Mystery/Thriller
Karin Slaughter’s The Good Daughter was excellent. It was sad, it was brutal, and it was violent, but it was very well-written. And even though parts of it absolutely broke my heart, I loved the relationships between people. Slaughter is great at that. I loved the sisters, the father, the mother (for her brief moments), the husband…they were all excellent, and (in their own ways) loving. I did guess both of the big intended twists, but that’s normal for me, and I thought they were well-placed.
I teared up about the two bowls of ice cream once I realized what they meant.
Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell series is so fun! I’ve been really pacing myself with this and her other series so I don’t gobble them all up at once. I loved the Egyptology element of this one (A Treacherous Curse). The dialogue in these is so sharp and witty. Very well written and edited, and I am constantly trying not to chuckle out loud. Once again, Veronica and Stoker prove that they are the perfect match for each other in every way. It was good to get a little extra info about Stoker’s background and emotions. I suspect the will-they-won’t-they they have going on will finally culminate at the very end of the next book, but we’ll see….
YA
I enjoyed L. J. Smith’s The Initiation for what it was. The Secret Circle Trilogy (only the first three books in the series are written by her) is definitely for teenagers and was written at that level; however, the story was fun and intriguing. Having just finished a non-fiction book about traditional witchcraft right before this, it was interesting to compare the magic in this to that. I feel like Smith had done her research. I would have gobbled this up as a preteen had I known of its existence back then and am kind of sad that I didn’t! However, it made my inner schoolgirl very happy. Also, I kept picturing Faye as Fairuza Balk in The Craft and at one point even thought maybe she had been stolen right from the movie, until I looked it up and realized the book had been published four years before the movie.
This did suffer a bit from having too many characters. They could have been pared down a lot and this would have been easier to follow, and better for it.
I’ll definitely finish the rest of the series.
I know Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian’s Burn for Burn series is for teens, but I read the first one for market research, and then I got so hooked on it, I had to read Fire With Fire! (And I will absolutely be checking out the third!) I just love these girls. Yes, they’re teenagers, and sometimes their decisions irritate me, but it’s easy to swallow my irritation because they are teenagers. They’re so genuine and supportive of each other, like true friends should be, and I’ve loved continuing to watch their friendship develop.
I did feel like the book ran long. 517 pages is a lot, and it could have been trimmed in probably quite a few places. I went back and forth between not being able to put it down and not wanting to pick it up (but there was so much more of the former than the latter, and the latter never lasted very long).
Also, wow, what a chilling ending! I guessed the big reveal somewhere in the middle of the first book, so it didn’t surprise me, but part of what kept me going was the need to know how and when everyone else would figure it out. It’s an odd twist for a series like this and doesn’t really seem to fit the genre at all, but I think that just means it’s a very unique story. It definitely doesn’t make it bad, as I think they’ve been building to it quite well and naturally. Because I had already guessed it before the book started, it was fun looking for all the hints. If you go back to the beginning of book one, you can see it was all precisely plotted and carefully written from there.
So excited to find out what happens next!
If you enjoyed this post, you may like my 7 Reasons to Join Book of the Month Club or classic spooky reads list.
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