The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“Reading about life was no preparation for living it”
“My argument with so much of psychoanalysis is the preconception that suffering is a mistake, or a sign of weakness, or a sign even of illness. When in fact, possibly the greatest truths we know have come out of people’s suffering.”
“The childhood shows the man, As morning shows the day.”
“What if, like the Lady of Shalott, she stopped looking at life through a mirror – and turned, and stared at it directly?”
The Maidens is about a murder that occurs at Cambridge. A former student, Mariana, has a niece, Zoe, who currently attends the university. One night she receives a phone call from Zoe who seems upset as she thinks her roommate might be the murder victim. Mariana goes to the college for support and ends up being a bigger part of the investigation than she intends. Mariana is a group therapist who looks at things with that lens. She has a patient that causes issues and could be dangerous. There is a professor, Edward Fosca, who seems like a good candidate for the main suspect. There is a group of women called The Maidens that he teaches and the victim was part of that group. Then another victim is found from that same group. What is going on at this university? Who is the murderer? Will Mariana be able to figure it out before she becomes the next victim?
Alex Michaelides creates a mood of suspense while integrating fun connections with ancient culture. I loved the setting of an old university like Cambridge. It creates this sense of history and lore that permeates the novel. I felt transported to a different time even though the story takes place in the modern age. Mariana is a tough character to like. She seems like a pushover and some of her conclusions didn’t really at up like when she associated intelligence with trauma or that police onsite talking to the dean meant the victim could only be this one particular person. Also, why would she choose to run down an alley? I didn’t understand Mariana. Zoe was also unlikeable as she constantly came across as not liking her aunt and treating her badly. Edward is conceited and a little creepy. There are a lot of creepy men in this book…”men are not to be trusted.” The first person to be assumed a suspect (one of the few not creepy men) and the subsequent interview is where the book really grabbed my interest. Up until that point I was coasting along a lazy river but then this point of the book is where the rapids began. I was carried along at a nice clip, interested in finding out how it wrapped up. There was a scene where Gauloises cigarettes were mentioned which evoked a vivid memory of me smoking those in Paris. It brought a smile to my face. On the flip side, there was a description of watching your mother cry and I related fiercely with it. “It’s horrible watching your mother cry. You feel so impotent, so powerless.” I know it is pedantic of me but Alex used the term serial killer when only two murders happened whereas the definition includes 3 or more victims. He also missed an opportunity to really bring in the gay male fans. He described a guy on stage that was shirtless with the torso dripping in sweat but didn’t go any further in descriptive detail. He could have described the abs or muscles or something but nope. I love when I make connections between books. In this one, there was two points I wanted to call out. One is when the Goldberg Variations were brought up and I read The Gold-Bug Variations in college. I listened to Bach as well. The other was by the author himself in a self-referential moment. He brought in a character from another book, a book I actually read as well. It was cool and clever with a little wink implied. Some of the words I ran across that I liked were menis, Byronic, stygian, and anagnorisis. Alex did have me guessing on who the killer could be and I never guessed how it would wrap up. Though I didn’t like how it ended, it was a surprise. It was a little too weird and out there for me. This is exactly the type of book I would pick up because it referenced ancient cultures, murder, rituals, and mythology.
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Tag: england
Royal Reading Revelations And The Jubilation Of The Written Word
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“’You don’t put your life into your books. You find it there.’”
The Uncommon Reader is a fictitious story about Queen Elizabeth II and her discovery of her love of books and reading. She stumbles across a traveling library because of her dogs and meets a young gentleman, Norman. The Queen ends up taking a liking to this young man and invites him up from the kitchens as one of her aides. He starts off suggesting books for her to read and becomes a person that she discusses books with. Not everyone associated with the royal household is fond of her newfound love of reading. It ends up distracting her from her duties and diminishes the excitement she used to get from them. Now, she is found with a book in her hand always. We follow her through her journey and how her love of reading morphs due to her surroundings and external pressures. We learn a lot about books, reading, and how they can affect things.
Alan Bennett is so clever and witty. This book was funny and very relatable. I laughed out loud especially when Kama Sutra was mentioned. I love reading so much and I found myself nodding along with the nuggets of wisdom that were sprinkled throughout this great piece of work. I love how nonchalantly gay authors and subject matter were just rolled into the conversations with Her Majesty. I do not remember stopping to look up as many words while reading a book as I did with this one. There were so many words that I loved too like Opsimath and Amanuensis. It was so well written and very intelligent. There were lots of mentions of writers and historical notes. The author did bring in some tension and not likeable characters which helped to drive the story and make me care more. I was just thinking let people be and enjoy what they enjoy without hurting others. I wish this in the real world too. Reading and books were talked about beautifully. It was a sort of love letter to the written word. A ton of things that were said I thoroughly enjoyed. “What she was finding also was how one book led to another, doors kept opening wherever she turned and the days weren’t long enough for the reading she wanted to do.” It really speaks to what reading can bring into a person’s life and how they can benefit from it. “Books are not about passing the time. They’re about other lives. Other worlds.” It brings you in contact with things and places and people you might not have otherwise been introduced to. This book took no time at all to read as it was short and perfectly delightful. I highly recommend people who love books and reading pick this up to have a lot of our thoughts about our love of reading reflected back on us in charming ways.
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Locked Room Murder And Past Crimes That Haunt You
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
“We spend our youth building sandcastles of ambition, then watch as life blows sands of doubt over our carefully crafted turrets of wishes and dreams.”
Daisy Darker is about a very dysfunctional family and the secrets they have kept hidden. It takes place in a seaside house that becomes an island at high tide. This is a locked room mystery in the vein of And Then There Were None. It is told from the point of view of Daisy who is the youngest child of the main family. The story has flashbacks to when the girls were young. There is a storm outside with rain and wind lashing at the house which helps create an atmosphere. It follows the night of the matriarchs 80th birthday where she is found dead then one by one things devolve. Who is a suspect and will it be solved before the tide goes out?
This was the first novel I have read by Alice Feeney and I started out liking how each character was introduced. It seemed like they were walking onto a stage as they were brought in one by one. I did like when the author talked about books and how important they were to several characters. I do love books and reading. Writing was also a key component and I liked how it was interwoven through the family and plot. I had high hopes as I love locked-room mysteries and stories that take place in one location like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and several books by Agatha Christie. This particular story was fine albeit a little contrived. Alice Feeney had some home runs with the writing but then also some strikeouts. Not sure why I resorted to baseball metaphors just now but there were several quotes and ways that Alice phrased things that I did truly love like “Some people drink to drown their sorrows; others drink so they can swim in them.” There were some great life lessons and ways of thinking of things. However, there were times where I think the author went overboard. There were too many platitudes and cliches though and some were forced in which made it sound pretentious for its own sake. I also found only 1 semi-likeable character in the entire book. The family was despicable and had very few redeeming qualities. For most of the book, I was wanting to find out what happened but when I did, I was fully disappointed. There is a twist but it does not pay out. It left a bad taste in my mouth. I had to reflect on the whole story to think about what I missed and things just didn’t add up. I know that it is fiction but this to was just too out there. I felt blindsided and not in a good way. I don’t want to ruin anything but I will say that I don’t like the type of story that it turned out to be. “Doesn’t everyone wonder who they might have been if they weren’t who they were?”
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Deny Women At Your Peril And Heartening Succor
The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“We shall be useful. But just as importantly we shall be defiant, occasionally ill-mannered, and completely indomitable.”
The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies is about a mature woman and the adventures she gets herself into. Lady Augusta is not your typical affluent, Regency lady of a certain age as she steps up to butts heads with society and her brother. Her sister, Lady Julia, joins along with her sister’s plans which involve doing good deeds. Another main character is brought in to mix things up as well. There are 3 main capers as you will with another mission that is intertwined throughout. This novel has romance, family, and cultural commentary. It is full of surprises and keeps you on your toes. It takes place in England and mostly around London in the Regency era. This era is not remembered for treating women well and this book addresses that head on. Women rule is this wonderful novel.
This book was an exuberant riot of fun! The sisters are adventurous, witty, and clever. And they do all this in a society that treats women as property without any sort of intelligence or agency of their own. The repartee that occurs frequently reminded me a lot of The Importance of Being Earnest which was another book I loved. The Benevolent Society was a nonstop joyride of escapades. I had a smile on my face while I was reading through many parts. I was rooting so hard for Augusta and Julia. Alison Goodman is a very good author. She writes an engaging book with excellent word use. She harkens back to a different time with her choices of locutions and makes it sound interesting instead of it having a feeling of being bogged down by unknown terms. It also highlights the differences that society at that time decided existed between men and women. I found it fascinating and it angered me all the same. The brother was an ass that needed to be slapped. He was a good antagonist. It represented the times well though which added realism. Alison did something in this book that I love when it occurs in books. It adds in queer or allusions to queer elements in a time where it was not talked about let alone accepted. Characters are introduced that are cool with it and don’t make a big deal out of it which makes my heart glow. In relation to that a character says, “my brother’s narrow idea of Christianity seems to bring more suffering into the world than relief.” This is an amazing way of phrasing it and it applies in this modern world just as much. There were some slight scenes involving low spirits and heartache, but it added to the ups and downs throughout. The dedication in the book sets the tone right off the bat. “This book is dedicated to all the women out there who no longer have the patience or desire to put up with any nonsense.”
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Secrets Of The Past And Feasting On Crow
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Midnight Feast is about revenge, folklore, and secrets. It is situated at this expensive, retreat-style manor located on the coast of England, built for the perfect getaway. The story involves a woman who created and is running The Manor along with her husband who is the designer. There is also a single woman spending the weekend in a hut on the edge of the woods, a dishwasher with hopes to be promoted to a bartender, and plenty of locals who aren’t happy with the development intruding on ancient land. The story centers on opening weekend which is on the solstice but also jumps back in time. It jumps ahead, as well, to the day after the main event. The setting is idyllic…or is it?
When I first started reading, I was hit with the distinct feeling that I was reading another Nine Perfect Strangers. The story turns out to deviate just enough to separate it but the setting, ambiance, and host are similar. There was also an inkling of something else similar that I couldn’t quite pin down. I tend to like shorter chapters but I think Lucy Foley took it to the extreme here. Some chapters were only a paragraph long. I felt there was not enough time to orient yourself or get into what was going on. This was also in conjunction with multiple viewpoints and timelines. It felt too all over the place for me. I also could not get a sense of whether the author wanted the folklore to heavily influence our view of the genre or not. Is it a thriller or mystery or fantasy? The history and the stories of the area added a little feeling of being unsettled but I wish the author would have done it in a more organic and honest way. The writing wasn’t the best and what is with the reliance on ending so many chapters with a question? Is that the only way to build suspense? I was not a fan of the wrap up either. It felt incohesive and unfinished. However, I did like the way Lucy Foley tied elements from the past with the present and there were a couple times I was completely thrown. Most secrets and twists were done well. The host was painted in an almost unbelievable way with the extent of the delusion and self-importance, but it gave me a solid hatred for her regardless. Narcissism at its finest. Another aspect I loved was the creepiness of the childhood song that was introduced. I knew I had heard of it before but I was not positive, so I had to google it. Once I heard it, I could vividly imagine it playing in the book and it worked beautifully. I wish there was a play button on the actual page, so it played when I read that part! The story was inventive but hard to buy at points. In general, it was an ok read.
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The Love Of A Horse And The War Inside Us All
The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The War I Finally Won is a continuation of the story set forth in The War that Saved My Life. Ada, Susan, and Jamie have moved into a cottage. The story picks up in the middle of WWII and they end up having a girl, who is Jewish and from Germany, to live with them. It adds to topics that were established with the first book and touches on a few more such as religion and bigotry. This is a story of loss, connection, love, and reconnection. Ada had to deal with her emotions and she gets help from those that surround her, including from unexpected places. I knew what I was getting into this one, so I was a little more prepared to deal with Ada and her issues bothering me. I forced myself to understand where she was coming from and I tried not to let her irritate me too much. It was tough because she was frustrating and exhausting. I don’t have kids and I am not sure if I ever will and so her inability to understand and her attitude was foreign to me. In theory and logically I get it but, in the moment, I didn’t like her. I loved how on the second page it mentions the two different wars that were being fought in the novel. I liked the play on words. There were also plenty of good lessons and messages throughout that Kimberly Brubaker Bradley did a great job integrating. Some of them involve when you are going through a tough time, the only way to approach it is to keep going, straight through as well as to not judge someone based solely on where they came from. There were also plenty of funny moments including a German invasion reference and sad, teary moments talking about coming undone. I say overall I liked this one better than the first one because I was able to prepare myself for Ada, Jamie wasn’t as grating, and I felt there were more emotional situations. It also felt heartwarming and like a big hug at moments. It is a good duology and I can totally understand the appeal. It talks about adult things and blends it well from a kid’s perspective. I don’t think I am a huge fan of books geared towards a younger audience in general, so I take that into consideration as well.
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Gay Amnesia And Losing Your Job While Gaining Family
10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
10 Things That Never Happened is such a good book. It is about this guy who works at a bathroom retailer and his boss who owns it. It takes place in England and it follows some hijinks as they navigate an ever-changing relationship. There is amnesia, family drama, Christmas, and one unique looking cat. It is not deep but it is a very fun read. I laughed out loud and found it quick to get through. It was easy, bitchy, gay, and cheeky. I loved the humor and found it real. There were a few things that bothered me though including a couple of the side characters. First off, if someone is that inept, they should have a very stern taking too or be let go. The amount of damage that one person could do and still be employed there was never established. He should have been gone a long time ago. It was infuriating. There was also a young employee that I found annoying as well. All but the first, clown of an employee grew on me throughout the book though. There were also a few editing errors but overall I would recommend this.
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Surviving War, Creating Family, and How to Stop Being Annoying
The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The War That Saved My Life is about a girl and her younger brother who live with their horrible mother. WW2 starts and they are sent to the countryside to live with a woman, Susan, who didn’t want to take in kids in the first place. She is not in a great emotional state but she takes care of them. It follows their journey together especially how they grow and survive. The war is ever present in their lives. It is a sad and uplifting book. I had a physical reaction to the beginning portion detailing life with the mother and there are many sad, aggravating situations in this book. I can totally see how people would love his book and connect to what was going on. I felt a little cozy and heartwarming while reading. I don’t have kids and I am typically not a huge fan of them, so I found myself lacking that strong connection. I found Jamie annoying sometimes and a little brat. I felt sorry for Ada but it was very surface level as I also found her a little too much. Sidenote, I got this recommendation from the Currently Reading podcast, and the podcast also made similar comments about the Swiss Family Robinson as Jamie does in this book. This is definitely a book for young readers and it is not something that I fell in love with. I enjoyed it but found some elements grating. It would be a great read to share with your kids. Overall, it was decent.
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Expensive Wine Will Kill You and Avoid Cave Exploration to Save Yourself
The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I was hoping that this book would be different than the first one. Sadly, I still do not like the two main characters at all. The Sentence of Death is another book about Hawthorne, the detective, and Anthony, the writer. This time it follows them as they try to solve the death of a divorce lawyer. Another guy, who knew the lawyer, also died the day previous. It is a typical murder investigation with twists and turns. Red herrings and lies abound. The team of two do what they do to find out how everything links and who did what. There is cave exploration, relationship drama, a book club, scripts, and the writing world. There is also mention of wine which is funny and weird as I just got done reading The Billionaire’s Vinegar which involved the rare wine world. I read the jacket of this one and smiled at the mention of a 1982 Châteu Lafite. I also just started listening to the Currently Reading podcast which brought me to this series in the first place (I won’t blame them) but another book they mentioned was also mentioned here. Just two funny little coincidences. I did think the actual plot of the book was ok. I did guess before they officially revealed the solution but just barely. It was interesting how things connected between people and events. After saying that though, the same things that bothered me about the first book pissed me off here. First off, Hawthorne is a self-centered asshole. He is homophobic and doesn’t care how his actions affect others. The only thing he has going for him is his ability to solve crimes but that still doesn’t mask his unpleasantness. It is funny because the actual author of the book writes “you cannot have a central character who is simply, by his very nature, unpleasant, and although I wouldn’t have used that word to describe Hawthorne, there were moments”. Apparently, you can. Secondly, it is interesting that the author writes himself as a bumbling idiot. He has no self-respect, he cannot say no, and he unconsciously tries to foil the investigation. It is beyond annoying. I despise bullies and this book had a couple. I already mentioned one but then the cops. It just frustrates me beyond belief that people get away doing things without consequences. I also did not like the ending. I did have the rest of the books sitting here from the library, but I don’t think I can continue the series right now. It just aggravates me too much.
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