Coraline

Blurb:

There is something strange about Coraline's new home. It's not the mist, or the cat that always seems to be watching her, nor the signs of danger that Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, her new neighbours, read in the tea leaves. It's the other house - the one behind the old door in the drawing room. Another mother and father with black-button eyes and papery skin are waiting for Coraline to join them there. And they want her to stay with them. For ever. She knows that if she ventures through that door, she may never come back.

Thoughts:

I read American Gods by Neil Gaiman when I was experiencing Multiple Sclerosis-related brain fog. Needless to say, I couldn't fully appreciate it. (I hope to revisit it under better circumstances. I also plan to read Anansi Boys.)

So, when the same friend, who gifted them to me, gave me Coraline, I was not sure if I would like it. I did not read it until now, despite the cover having a cat on it.

Coraline is a disturbing story that is exciting, beautifully written, and well-rounded. It is sinister but also full of humour. It has vivid descriptions and great characters.

• Coraline is brave, kind, and wise for her age. She is quirky, determined, independent, and stubborn. Because she is also curious, adventurous, and not easily scared, she opens the door on the wall.
• The cat is touchy, standoffish, superior, and wilful but is a true friend.
• Her neighbours are zany and interesting and are described from a child's perspective.
• The “other mother” and her story are a bit of a mystery. Who or what is she? Why does she do the things she does? This woman is a scary character. She springs many psychological traps.

The book also makes you examine your sense of home. It reminds you that it may not represent a physical space and that it may not always be safe and comfortable.

It tells you that home can be an emotional concept that consists of your relationships with your family and friends. Even when you are upset with your family or friends, there can still be an underlying love, the memories of which can help you overcome the most terrible obstacles.

I enjoyed the illustrations by Chris Riddell. Overall, a good book.

The Cat Who Saved Books

 

Blurb:

A celebration of books, cats, and the people who love them, infused with the heart-warming spirit of The Guest Cat and The Travelling Cat Chronicles.
Bookish high school student Rintaro Natsuki is about to close the second-hand bookstore he inherited from his beloved bookworm grandfather. Then, a talking cat named Tiger appears with an unusual request. The feline asks for—or rather, demands—the teenager’s help in saving books with him. The world is full of lonely books left unread and unloved, and Tiger and Rintaro must liberate them from their neglectful owners.
Their mission sends this odd couple on an amazing journey, where they enter different mazes to set books free. Through their travels, Tiger and Rintaro meet a man who leaves his books to perish on a bookshelf, an unwitting book torturer who cuts the pages of books into snippets to help people speed read, and a publishing drone who only wants to create bestsellers. Their adventures culminate in one final, unforgettable challenge—the last maze that awaits leads Rintaro down a realm only the bravest dare enter...

Thoughts:

Rintaro Natsuki, the 17-year-old protagonist of The Cat Who Saved Books, inherits a bookshop when his grandfather dies. He is preparing to close it up and go live with an aunt when Tiger, a talking ginger tabby cat, appears in the shop and demands that he help it save books.

Tiger takes him inside four labyrinths filled with books. Sayo, Rintaro's classmate who visits him frequently, also accompanies them from the second trip onwards.
In the four mazes, they meet people who the author, Sōsuke Natsukawa, represents as people who misuse, mistreat, or misunderstand books:

• The first person is only interested in the number of books he reads. He wants to read the most books possible in his lifetime; he no longer derives any pleasure from reading.
• The second one thinks that the only way to keep people interested in reading is to shorten/summarize or cut books.
• The third does not care for great books—he is interested only in popular books, meaning those that sell well.
• The fourth person, one whom Tiger calls the most dangerous, makes Rintaro question the meaning/purpose of literature and books.

If you love books and agree with the author's opinions, you may enjoy this. I did, especially because I love cats and books. However, it left me wondering about many things:

• Why are the characteristics of Rintaro, Sayo, and Tiger described repeatedly?
• Where did Tiger come from? What does it represent/symbolize?
• The title says the cat who saved books. Then why is Tiger only taking Rintaro to places where books are being mistreated and Rintaro doing the actual saving?
• Are the villains actually evil or just representatives of the changing times?
• Are classics disappearing? Aren't they more accessible these days? Does everyone who loves books need to read classics? If readers find them difficult, isn't it all right if they read condensed versions or summaries?
• Don't readers' tastes or neurodivergence count?
• The grandfather, the bookshop owner who left it to Rintaro, was a former university professor. He has supposedly imparted a lot of wisdom, especially about the 'power of books'. However, that is not clearly explained in the book.
• How will Rintaro, a high school student, manage to run the shop?

That said, the book emphasizes the general importance of books and the joy of reading. It talks about books making you aware of other people and places and helping develop compassion, tolerance, and empathy.
Rintaro tells Sayo that if you find a book difficult, it's because it contains something new to you and that it offers you a challenge. This is true not just of books but a lot of the things you encounter in life.
I can't comment on the translation by Louise Heal Kawai. I liked her note about the hows and whys of it at the end of the book. 

To summarize, a simple story with a touch of magical realism that makes you think.

The Girl Who Talks to Ashes

 

Blurb:

Fifteen-year-old Willow is terrified of her new baby, Lilah, who has a peculiar form of epilepsy. Every time Lilah's eyes glaze over, terrible things happen: flowers shrivel, food goes to rot - even Willow's long, auburn hair turns stark white. But it's the death of the family cat that becomes the last straw; in the middle of the night, Willow and her mother dump the infant at the fire station two towns over – and are never heard from again.

The next morning, Chief Stanley Quinn takes Lilah home and cares for the toddler as best as he can. With medication, her epilepsy remains under control... For the most part.

But as a teenager, Lilah isn't always keen on taking her pills, and when she sneaks away to a rock concert with the cutest boy in school, something terrible happens, landing both of them in the hospital. After Stanley breaks down and confesses everything to his adopted daughter, she decides to track down the young girl who gave her up sixteen years ago; the young girl who never made it home that night… The young girl who is now presumed to be dead. Soon, Lilah's quest to find her birth mother becomes a quest to solve a sixteen-year-old missing persons case. She has everything she needs to find her – she just needs to learn how to control her peculiar ‘gift’ before she kills someone.

Again.

Thoughts:

This book by Rachel Rener is an interesting mixture of opposites. It is creepy but charming. It is fast-paced but has solid characters and deeply emotional relationships. 

And, the fantasy element in it—the time-bending—is believable! The plot is well-thought-out and complimented by subtle and clever storytelling. 

The main protagonist understands her ability early on and explains it well to others. This means that she garners support from her father, boyfriend, and later on the police chief quite easily. Consequently, the relationships in the book are not entangled in unnecessary misunderstanding or angst.

Overall, a quick, light, enjoyable read. 

Note: I received a digital copy via BookSirens in return for an honest review.

Slow Horses, First Grave on the Right

It’s been some time since I posted a review. Although I have been reading books, I didn’t feel like writing about them.

I read the first books of two series: Slow Horses (Slough House by Mick Herron) and First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson by Darynda Jones).

Blurb (Slow Horses): The first book in CWA Gold Dagger Award-winning British espionage series starring a team of MI5 agents united by one common bond: They've screwed up royally and will do anything to redeem themselves.

London, England: Slough House is where the washed-up MI5 spies go to while away what's left of their failed careers. The "slow horses," as they’re called, have all disgraced themselves in some way to get relegated here. Maybe they messed up an op badly and can't be trusted anymore. Maybe they got in the way of an ambitious colleague and had the rug yanked out from under them. Maybe they just got too dependent on the bottle—not unusual in this line of work. One thing they all have in common, though, is they all want to be back in the action. And most of them would do anything to get there─even if it means having to collaborate with one another.

River Cartwright, one such “slow horse,” is bitter about his failure and about his tedious assignment transcribing cell phone conversations. When a young man is abducted and his kidnappers threaten to broadcast his beheading live on the Internet, River sees an opportunity to redeem himself. But is the victim who he first appears to be? And what’s the kidnappers’ connection with a disgraced journalist? As the clock ticks on the execution, River finds that everyone has his own agenda.

Thoughts: Slow Horses had an interesting style and set of characters, but the plot was chaotic and slow-paced. I finished reading it because it is about a group of losers and misfits trying to have a second chance at a meaningful existence. Probably because of that, I want to read the other books in the series.

Blurb (First Grave on the Right): Charley Davidson is a part-time private investigator and full-time grim reaper. Meaning, she sees dead people. Really. And it's her job to convince them to "go into the light." But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (like murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she's been having about an entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. But what does he want with Charley? And why can't she seem to resist him? And what does she have to lose by giving in?

With scorching-hot tension and high-octane humor, First Grave on the Right is your signpost to paranormal suspense of the highest order.

Thoughts: Although I laughed while reading First Grave on the Right, the book did not work for me. I have read far better urban fantasy series. Besides, it is less actual detective work and more talking to ghosts.

Maybe the series warms up and the books that follow are brilliant. However, I don’t expect a drastic change in the setting of the story or its premise. So, I don’t want to read them.

Odiyan

Blurb:

നമ്മുടെ കാഴ്ചയില്‍ നിന്നു മറഞ്ഞു പോകുന്ന നിരവധി സംസ്കാരങ്ങളുണ്ട് പക്ഷേ നാം അതു ശ്രദ്ധിക്കാറില്ല. കാണാറുമില്ല. പരുത്തിപ്പുള്ളി ഗ്രാമത്തില്‍ ഒരു പറത്തറയും അവിടെ പറയകുടുംബങ്ങളും. അവരെ ചുറ്റിപ്പറ്റി ദൈവികവും മാന്ത്രികവും നീചവും നിഗൂഢവുമായ ഒരുപാട് കഥകളുണ്ടായിരുന്നു.

[A rough translation: Although many cultures keep disappearing from our society, we don’t realize it or pay attention to them. The village of Paruthippulli, a Paraya thara (settlement) there, the families that live in that thara, and the many divine, magical, vile, and mysterious stories about them.]

Thoughts:

As the author P Kannankutty explains in this video, he does not know any odiyan. This book is based on hearsay accounts and imagination. 

Kannankutty says that odiyans, who are from the Paraya community, change into the shape of animals, such as cats, bulls, snakes, etc. The animal they turn into may have some imperfection, by which they can be recognized. For example, the bull they turn into may not have a tail.

They also perform odi, a form of black magic, but never for personal reasons. Instead, they use it to help others, largely to settle personal scores. However, according to Kannankutty, odiyans were not villainous or negative characters. They were a part of  society.

The book's story is set at a time when people lived in caste-based settlements or ‘tharas’. Although they are supposed to be valued for their role in society, the two odiyans in this book are sad, cursed characters because of their unique circumstances and the effect of changing times.

The other characters too do not have much joy in their respective lives. I prefer books with some sort of triumph or happiness for at least some of them, if not all. That being said, I liked this book despite its overwhelming sadness. 

I have heard many tales about odiyans from my mother and grandparents. So, the premise of this book was not new to me. I am also conversant with many customs, rituals, and ways of living mentioned in the book. 

Moreover, I could see shades of familiar faces in many of the characters. The descriptions of the land, the rituals, and the general milieu also reminded me of my ancestral home and its surroundings.

Versions of Her

Summary: On the surface, Melanie Kingstad-Keyes’s life is the picture of success. She’s a tenure track professor at a prestigious university and has a perfect husband. But a recent miscarriage has left her reeling and her marriage tenuous. Selling her family’s Lake Indigo summer home, which she hasn’t visited in fifteen years, feels like the perfect distraction from her problems. Now, she only needs to persuade her younger sister, Kelsey, to go along with her plan.
Stuck in a dead-end job, Kelsey Kingstad bounces from one doomed relationship to the next as she struggles to jumpstart her adult life. Carrying the guilt of her mother’s untimely death, Kelsey is reluctant to let go of the Victorian house filled with memories of her mom and their childhood.
When the sisters find a mysterious hidden door, Melanie and Kelsey discover that they can directly view their mother’s younger years and learn all the secrets she never shared with them. Delving into her memories is fun at first, but Melanie and Kelsey quickly uncover difficult truths, throwing their own life choices into question and making them wonder if they ever truly knew their mother. Visiting the past may help them find closure, but the cost could be steeper than they realize. 

My thoughts: A heart-warming, thought-provoking, believable fantasy book.
- Heart-warming because it talks of the great relationship between two sisters with distinctly different personalities.
- Thought-provoking because it dwells on parents as individuals, their life choices, and related sacrifices.
- Believable because of the many stories old-timers used to tell about my ancestral home. It was huge with large inter-connected buildings set in a six-acre plot; dark, dingy passages; small rooms tucked away from sight; large rooms with antique furniture; a well with steps leading into its depths; and a private pond that was far too calm to be natural. When you are grow up in such circumstances, you tend to believe rather than not.
The author, Andrea Lochen, describes the summer home, the lake, and its surroundings so well that I was able to visualize it. All the characters are well-crafted. Despite being terribly busy and reading three books at a time, I finished this fast because I wanted to know what came next. The end did not matter much to me; the journey to get there did.

Note: BookSirens gave me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Gates

Summary:  A death row inmate, Prisoner U877 or The Brit, escapes from his execution during a blackout at Crenshaw Prison. He fights his way through a prison riot and helps his own jailers to save their souls. He is helped by a fellow prisoner, The Pastor, and a female prison guard, Navarro.

My thoughts: This is clearly a good versus evil story. It reminded me of two Nicolas Cage movies—The Rock and the Ghost Rider; the former because of the escape from the prison and the latter because of the reference to saving souls.

The book also reminded me of the novels (fantasy genre) I edited. They were good stories. So is Gates. However, I had to remind the author of those novels that although the stories were clear in his mind, they were not lucid enough for the readers. I wish someone had told G. S. Luckett the same.  

Unless you read the blurb or until you are halfway through the story, you will not realize that most of the characters are already dead and it is their souls that need to escape. 

The prison, with its blocks and tunnels, is also confusing, especially with characters ‘jumping’ from one place to another. Maybe a plan or map of the layout would have helped. Or was the novel too short to have included one, I wonder?

There were grammatical and punctuation errors in the copy I received. I hope that it was an Advanced Reader Copy and that the mistakes were corrected before the book was published.

Regardless of all the negative points above, I read it in a couple of hours or so. The setting and the idea may feel familiar and the story may seem confusing but there is no doubt that the author is creative. 

The characters of The Brit, The Pastor, and the guard Navarro are multidimensional; all of them have background stories as to how they became what they are now. The fight between good and evil is depicted well in the story. 

This book would make a good movie. If you prefer fast-paced books with lots of action, you will like it.

Note: The book was given to me by G. S. Luckett in exchange for an honest review. I thank him for that.

Vampire Watchmen

Samantha Carter, who lives in London, goes back in time to the London of 1665 to fight vampires with her friends from another time travel experience. This is a one-sentence summary of the book Vampire Watchmen.

This is the second in a series of books that tell us about the time travels of Samantha and her fights with vampires. Her friends, the preacher, Harry, Louise and Zoe are turnskins or skinturners, which is another name for werewolves.

Samantha feels drawn toward the Underground, where all the books in the series seem to begin, and once inside, suddenly lands in the London of 1665. The author, Tim O’Rourke, has incorporated The Great Plague (1665–66) and The Great Fire of London (1666) quite convincingly in the novel.

Unless you know British history well, you might believe his explanations for both these historic events. You may even believe in his version of what happened to Catherine of Braganza, Queen of King Charles II.

The book is well-written and managed to keep my interest alive with its vivid descriptions. Although the characters are interesting, I wished that there was a little more background information on them.

Even though ‘vampire watchmen’ mean Samantha and her friends, there is also a watchman who is a vampire, which makes it slightly confusing.

I had difficulty in understanding some of the frequent references to what had happened earlier; so I had to read the synopsis of Vampire Seeker, the first book in the series and Vampire Flappers, book number 1.5. 

I liked the book. I would have liked it better had I read the books 1 and 1.5.

Note: This book was given to me by Little, Brown Book Group UK in exchange for an honest review. I thank them (especially Clara Diaz) for that.

Ted Saves the World

Summary:
Ted, a shy teenager, sits at a diner where his girlfriend Natalie has just dumped him. Enter dark souls, in the guise of goons, bent on killing people. Ted stops them using the superpowers he suddenly discovers that he has.

Erica, who was Ted’s neighbour and crush, has been dead for about a month. A light soul, who is meant to protect Ted, enters her. She is back from the dead, with the powers and traits of a light soul and memories of the real Erica.  Along with Erica, Natalie, Dhiraj (his best friend and finance and computer whiz), and a few others, Ted goes about saving the world.

My thoughts:
The book has an interesting storyline and characters. It is enjoyable and also apt for the target audience (young adults). Bryan Cohen has successfully integrated fantasy elements into our world.
There is a lack of continuity in some places, especially where there are sudden scene changes and flashbacks. I found the reason for Erica not telling Ted what he obviously needs to know rather unconvincing.
Although the ending leaves scope for a sequel, all loose ends are tied up.
If I had a teenage son/daughter, I would buy it for him/her.

Note: This book was given freely to me by Bryan Cohen in exchange for an honest review. I thank him for that.

Dark Wolf Running

When I was offered Dark Wolf Running by Harlequin viaNetGalley in exchange for an honest review, I did not connect it with Rhyannon Byrd's Bloodrunners Series immediately. It was so long since I had read the first four books in the series.

However, when I started reading, it all came back to me. I am happy that Elise Drake, the Dark Wolf who was raped by three unknown lycans, got a book for herself. After being mistreated by her father and later on by her packmates for no fault of hers, it was wonderful that she got someone as worthy and sexy as Wyatt Pallaton to cherish her.

I also loved that I got to see all the main characters from the previous books in the series living happily in the Alley. Apart from that, I also heard about Eli, Elise's other brother. Wonder if something is brewing between him and Carla Reyes and him, just as it seems to be doing between Cian Hennessey and Sayre Murphy. Can't wait to find out...

The only grouse I had against the book is that after all the build-up given to the ‘secrets’ Elise and Wyatt had, they did not seem as crippling as that of some other characters. However, this was a wonderful read in that I knew that in the end there would be a ‘happily ever after’ for both of them.

Looking forward to more in this series…