Tag: #booklove

The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

By Paula Brackston

Ok, I LOVED this book. I loved the setting, I loved the atmosphere, I loved the characters, and I especially loved the writing. 
The novel takes place in England in the late 1880s, and Hecate goes to work at Hereford Cathedral to assist the librarian in sorting and caring for the cathedral’s extensive collection of books. Upon her arrival, Hecate soon discovers she can communicate with ghosts, and the Hereford Cathedral is riddled with ghosts! Hecate shares her gift with her father, who (being a scholarly man himself, somewhat knowledgeable in archaeology and the occult) is incredibly supportive of his daughter. 
All is well in the village until suddenly a murder occurs, and then another and then….
Hecate learns through her communication with the ghosts and her study of artefacts buried deep in the cathedral walls that a dark force has been unearthed and is beginning to wreak havoc upon the villagers. 
This novel has magic and mystery. It is a ghost story with fantastical creatures. The plot is detailed and intriguing, and the characters are engaging and interesting. Most of all, Brackston is a skilled writer with beautifully crafted prose.
It is always a treat to find a novel that not only entertains its readers with a compelling plot but can also serve as a mentor text for word choice and sentence structure. 
There is now a second novel in this series, called The Cathedral of Lost Souls, which will be published in November that I CANNOT wait to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the copy.

Salt on Her Tongue

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By C.S. Porter

Why didn’t I know about C.S. Porter?  Salt on Her Tongue is the second instalment of the Kes Morris File series, and now I am desperate to read the first, Beneath Her Skin. 
Kes Morris is a homicide detective who was put on leave in the previous book (I am not aware of the specifics behind this leave, but it doesn’t significantly impact my enjoyment of this novel, as I was still able to fully appreciate it without reading the first book.) In this book, her new captain calls her to work on a missing person’s case (as a favour to him). Kes is a little put out, her speciality after all is murder, not missing persons. But she is told she must, so she does. This case takes to to a small village in the Bay of Fundy where our missing girl was last seen. And although the girl’s boyfriend is distraught over her disappearance, the locals believe she left on her own until a witness claims to have seen her talking to a man. Soon, what starts as a missing person’s case ends up as a murder case, and Kes is bound and determined to find the killer. The twist is, could the murder be the missing girl? Additionally, the villages seem somewhat secretive, not entirely forthcoming with any information, so could they be responsible? 
I really enjoyed the character of Kes and her problem-solving strategies. She is a strong, intelligent, socially savvy policewoman who independently (except for her IT friend Chester) resolves mysteries and murders on her own.
The novel’s fast-paced plot and interesting characters make this a perfect summer read.
After reading Salt on Her Tongue, I can’t wait to dive into the first book, Beneath Her Skin, and eagerly anticipate the release of the third novel in the Kes Morris Files.

Thank you to Netgalley and Nimbus press for the copy.

The Dark Library

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by Mary Anne Evans

Don’t you absolutely love the cover of this novel?

Our setting is in the University town of Bentham on Hudson, right in the middle of the Second World War. Our initiating incident is the apparent suicide of  Dean Jamison, who jumps from a tower at the university. Coincidentally, it is immediately after he meets with Estella (or E as she prefers to be called). Obviously, his death appears suspicious,  I mean, to those who worked closely with him, he didn’t seem depressed or desperate, condescending and patriarchal, sure, but if anything, overly controlling. Our protagonist, E, is naturally stunned by the dean’s sudden death. Still, it’s not like she’ll miss him, even though he was a colleague and ‘friend’ of her late father (himself a professor) he was never supportive of E’s position as professor of literature, for example, not giving her the title of professor,(because she was only holding the position until the ‘rightful’ instructors returned from war), and relegating her to the smallest, most obscure office on campus. Luckily, E’s closest friends also work at the university, Margorie and Leontine.

So Dean Jamison’s death immediately creates suspense, because if it, secrets are revealed and we soon learn that E’s father is entwined in treacherous political dealings. Which is somewhat surprising to E It’s not like she adored her father. E lives a rather solitary life with only the family’s housekeeper Annie as “family”. Before her post as professor, Estella had led a somewhat everyday life as a High School teacher until she was summoned home by Annie because her mother had disappeared and her father had taken ill.

The Dark Library is quite a little mystery. It is deftly written in that one of the central mysteries is solved about halfway through the novel (a rather central mystery in that it serves in developing E’s character and furthering the secondary plot). The second mystery that serves to answer all of our unanswered questions. 

A mystery, a romance, with tinges of historical content, this novel is a wonderful addition to your summer TBR list. It also makes for an engaging addition to any High School library. Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for the copy.

The Wretched and Undone

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By J. E. Weiner

My favourite genre lately has been Victorian Gothic. However, I have also enjoyed a good Southern Gothic novel on occasion, and The Wretched and Undone is another I can add to my list.

Polish Immigrants Marcin and Agnieska Anderwald make their way to Texas to build a new life. The frontier obviously is not for the weak, and sure enough, the Anderwald family suffers hardship of war, poverty and death. Marcin eventually has to leave Agnieska and the children on the homestead and travel to Camp Verde to make money using his carpentry skills, abandoning his emotionally fragile wife in the meantime. At Camp Verde, Marcin is indirectly responsible for the death of a soldier who causes a vengeful ghost who promises to haunt the Alderson family over generations.

This novel isn’t just filled with spirits and vengefulness; it also features an array of fascinating characters, including two camel handlers from Egypt and a muster of peacocks and peahens whose cacophonous cries serve as wards against threat. 

I enjoyed the plot and characters presented in this novel, and Weiner’s writing craft is engaging and masterful.

Trigger warnings of drowning of a child, hangings, and torture. 

Thank you to HTF Publishing and Netgalley for the copy.

Girls

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Annet Schaap

I love the retelling of fairytales. Authors like Gregory Maguire and Angela Carter have successfully retold classic tales to make them commentaries on character, history and the social condition…just like original fairy tales were constructed to scare children to follow the straight and narrow. Annet Schaap’s short story collection Girls is one that I would put in league with Maguire and Carter.
Girls is a retelling of various fairytales, concentrating on girls and women in our society. The female characters are not princesses; instead, they are modern young women who face the same issues our female characters of old face: finding a husband, societal isolation, predatorial males, appearance, and abandonment. These characters, however, do not have handsome princes or fairy godmothers to rescue them. They have to rely on their own experience and grit to survive and make decisions for themselves independent of societal norms. Unlike classical fairytales, these stories don’t necessarily end with a “happy ever after”. Instead, they end realistically, if not melancholy, but always with our female protagonist, the designer of her fate.
This collection possesses a tonne of educational possibilities, making it a perfect anthology for study in grades 8-12, depending on which tale you choose to study. It could provide a rich analysis of the format as a mentor text, comparing and contrasting themes between traditional and modern retelling. Like conventional fairy tales, it offers ample opportunities for discussing symbolism and metaphor in-depth, enriching the student’s understanding of literary devices and their application in modern literature. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for the Copy.

We Do Not Part

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by Han Kang

The only other novel I’ve read by Han Kang was The Vegetarian, and I knew then that Kang was an author like no other. Using lyrical, poetic language rife with symbolism and metaphor, Kang takes deep political and historical issues and persuades us to think deeply about the human condition. The plot of  We Do Not Part is quite simple; our main character, Kyungha, receives an urgent text from her friend Inseon. Insean has suffered an injury and is being treated in a hospital in Seoul. Inseon tasks Kyungha to go to her home on Jeju Island to care for her bird, which has lost its mate and cannot live longer than a few days in isolation. 
Getting to Jeju Island is quite a task in and of itself; not only does Kyungha suffer debilitating migraines, but she now has to deal with incredibly unreliable remote transportation, blizzards, and hunger. Also, Jeju Island isn’t an island; it has a traumatic history where a massacre of tens of thousands of islanders had been slaughtered by anti-communist troops. This novel weaves from reality to surrealism, a ghost story, a psychological study, and a discovery of self.
This novel would make an amazing novel study for high school students. Not only would it serve as a mentor text, but it would also serve as a master class in writing. The themes it possesses would make for deep and meaningful class discussions.
Look at this beautifully descriptive quote: 
“Snow falls. On my forehead and cheeks. On my upper lip, the groove above it. It is not cold. It is only as heavy as feathers, as the finest tip of a paintbrush. Has my skin frozen over? Is my face covered in snow as it would be if I were dead? But my eyelids must not have grown cold. Only the snowflakes clinging to them are.”

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for the copy.

My Friends

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By Fredrik Backman

Louisa, a foster kid, now homeless, is about to turn 18. Since the tragic death of her only friend, Fish, Louisa has nothing dear to her heart other than a postcard picture of a painting called ‘The One of the Sea’ by artist CJat (later we learn the artist’s real name is KimKim). This painting, a symbol of hope and beauty, becomes a central motif in the novel. Breaking into the gallery where the real painting is to be sold, Louisa is found out and attempts to run away from the guards. She unexpectedly and literally runs into a homeless man who coincidentally happens to be the artist himself. Now, it all sounds too coincidental to be true. Still, Backman writes in such a way that turns coincidence into serendipity. Flashback 25 years, and we learn the genesis of the painting. We are enmeshed in the lives of the author and the three friends who all needed to rely on each other to survive the trauma and heartaches of their childhoods. Joar is the protector. A Child of an incredibly abusive father yet a gentle, loving mother, Joar. And, of course, Ted, who endures the death of his father after a prolonged sickness. Ali is a young girl with a single father with a nomadic lifestyle. Each of these young people was lucky enough to have found each other at a time when they were suffering from traumatic childhoods.
The novel is structured, alternating between two time periods. In the present day, we follow Louisa as she meets Ted, now an adult, and begins to unravel the story behind her beloved painting. The second timeline, set decades earlier, immerses us in the lives of ‘the friends.’ 
I loved several elements of this book; I especially loved the idea of people who, when they find someone who is “one of us” (an artistic, sensitive soul), will do anything to protect and encourage them to flourish not only in their craft but in life itself. I also love that even though this novel is rife with trigger warnings (suicide, abuse, neglect), the characters are portrayed as pure-hearted, loyal and warriors against their specific demons.
This novel’s primary theme is friendship and how true friendship survives trauma, conflict, and time.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the copy.

Dreadful

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by Caitlin Rozakis

This book reminded me much of Susanna Clarke’s Clarke’s Piranesi, except lighter and less literary. Its premise also reminded me a bit of Gordon Korman’s Korman’s Restart. We’ve got a protagonist who has no sense of who or where he is and has to try to survive a number of obstacles (both death-defying and personal) in the quest to find out his reality.
Our protagonist wakes up and finds himself beaten and bruised in a destroyed lab, an imprisoned princess, and the threat of the Dreadful Lord Gravrax. He has lost all sense of memory and identity; however, he soon finds out (with insightful guidance from the princess) that he, unfortunately, is the Dreadful Lord himself.
The novel’s humour and tone helped me through the times when the plot was slow. This is a fun, lighthearted, and, at times, humorous fairytale-esque novel that successfully discusses the themes of identity, appearance, and the importance of memory in defining oneself.

Thank you to Netgalley and Titan Books for the copy!

What Feasts At Night (Sworn Soldier Series #2)

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by T. Kingfisher

As a huge fan of the first book in the Sworn Soldier series, What Moves the Dead, I was so excited to read this second novella and see what adventures befall Alex Easton after their nightmarish experience at the Usher Estate (review here). 
Alex and their loyal, albeit grumpy valet Angus return home to Gallacia, specifically to the family hunting lodge. They are motivated mostly by their new friend Mrs Potter (whom we met in the previous novella) ‘s desire to study the mushrooms indigenous to the Gallacian mountains. 
What was hoped to be a leisurely and restful vacation is anything but. First of all, the caretaker of the lodge has unexpectedly died a mysterious death. No one in the village, especially the caretaker’s daughter, wishes to talk about the circumstances of his death…but his death is clouded by superstition and terror. As well, Alex is plagued by a recurring nightmare of a ghoulish woman who sits on their chest and steals their breath. This nightmare conveniently plays into the local superstition of the moroi.
Not one for superstition, Alex, Angus, and Mrs Potter (who is a woman of science, after all) are determined to come to a more logical understanding of Alex’s nightmares, which turns out to be more difficult than they first believed.
I so enjoy Kingfisher’s writing. I especially like the Sworn Soldier series (so far), which are both charming yet horrifying at the same time. A delightful combination!

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing for the copy!

Devouring Tomorrow

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This anthology of speculative fiction is an impactful text to use not only in English but in Biology as well. Each story, written by Canadian authors, centres around the future and what would happen if the world experienced a food shortage. The stories talk of the repercussions of human behaviour on the environment and the perspective that we might have to resort to feeding the human race (yes, a couple of the stories talk of “synthetic cannibalism”. I found each of these stories immensely thought-provoking, and several were hugely disturbing because of their “I could see this happening” realism. The potential for dynamic Socratic Discussion around the themes of EVERY one of these stories is immense. 

With Canadian authors, speculative fiction, and timely themes, this anthology offers a rich ground for deep, stimulating discussions about the consequences of humans’ impact on the environment and the morality of unequal resource distribution.

Trigger warnings: language (for a few stories) and disturbing content…however, it varies per story.

Small Ceremonies

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Kyle Edwards

Although this novel has multiple narrators, the story centres around two characters; Tommy Shields and Clinton Whiteway. Tommy and Clinton, like many of us, play for the St. Croix Tigers, an inner-city hockey team in Winnipeg. The Tigers haven’t won a game in so long they are rumoured to be cursed. The novel follows Tommy and Clinton as they navigate their final year of high school and what their future may entail. Both characters have tremendous obstacles to face, whether it be a mentally ill mother or a convict brother intent on recruiting his younger brother for the drug trade. 

Edwards centres his novel around hockey and the Tigers’ degree of success. At the end of each section, we get a chapter in italics written from the point of view of a hockey commentator. Each of these nail-biting chapters presents the Tigers’ potential gains and heartbreaking losses, symbolic of the gains and losses of our two main characters.

The accuracy of detail in Edwards’s writing is astonishing. He brilliantly describes “small town” (even though it’s Winnipeg) hockey culture, from the locker room to the history of the Zamboni driver to the make-up of the fans in the bleachers. Edwards is also gifted in creating nostalgia, meeting your childhood best friend, for example, and playing marbles on the playground.

This novel humorously yet heartbreakingly describes the Indigenous experience in Canada, and the reader really does hold both Tommy and Clinton close to their hearts as we follow them on their journey of self-discovery.

It is a wonderful and effective mentor text, not only for the themes of coming of age, identity and place, overcoming trauma, racism, and friendship, but also brilliantly written. Edwards’s writing would be very effective for teaching descriptive writing, character development, setting, developing the setting as a character in itself, organizing a story atmosphere and tone, and dialect.

Trigger warnings: childhood trauma, intergenerational abuse, mental health, substance abuse, racism. 

Sunrise On the Reaping

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by Suzanne Collins

Years ago, I was a fan of the Hunger Games series, and I read the first book aloud to my ninth-grade class. They naturally loved it. I was delighted to find out that Collins has now written a prequel from Haymitch’s point of view. 

Written in first person, we, the reader, get to know Haymitch personally. The novel unfolds on Haymitch’s 16th birthday, the day of the Reaping. Despite his numerous entries to secure food and supplies for his family, Haymitch has avoided being chosen. We delve into the intricacies of the Haymitch family, his ties with the Everdeen family, his fears, his wit, and most importantly, his love for Lenore Dove.

As we all know, Haymitch is, in fact, chosen to represent District 12 for the Hungar Games, even though the circumstances under which he is chosen are questionable. 

Of course, the novel’s main action occurs in the Arena for the Hunger Games. Due to specific meetings and acquaintances, Haymitch’s task in the Arena isn’t just to survive; it is to sabotage the Game in the hopes of bringing down the Hunger Games and, ultimately, President Snow.

This novel, in line with the Hunger Games series, is intense and fast-paced. I found it intriguing to unravel the layers of Haymitch’s character and understand the roots of his eventual struggles with substance abuse. Suzanne Collins’ incorporation of verses from Edgar Alan Poe’s poem “The Raven” creates a perfect opportunity for teachers to discuss patterns and connections between the two pieces of literature. The poem’s verses beautifully mirror Haymitch’s feelings towards Lenore and his trauma in the Games, particularly in the final chapter.

Collins also employs nursery rhymes and the lyrics from The Hanging Tree to help support themes.

Trigger warnings: extreme brutality, murder and death.

The River Has Roots

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by Amal El-Mohtar

“There was a time when grammar was wild-when it shifted shapes and unleashed new forms out of old. Grammar like gramarye, like grimoire. What is magic but a change in the word…but that is the nature of grammar-it is always tense, like an instrument, aching for release, longing to transform present into past into future into will. (pg. 1-3)

The Hawthorn sisters, Esther and Ysabel, live in the small village of Thistleford located on the edge of “the beautiful county of Acadia, the beautiful land- the land beyond; antiquity”  in other words, the beautiful land of Faerie. The sisters have 2  jobs: the first is to weave beautiful willow baskets, and the second most important is to sing to the willows. You see, “when they sang together, you could feel grammar in the air”. Ester, the eldest, is being pursued by the bachelor Mr. Pollard, who “always had the beseeching expression of a whining dog; his hand, bafflingly, were always somehow both cold and moist”…needless to say, Esther is in no way interested. Instead, her heart belongs to Rin (a beautiful nonbinary character). Rin is Fae; Rin is beautiful, loving, brave, and adoring. However, Ester is in a dilemma; although she loves Rin, she vows to never break the bond she has with her sister Ysabel. She loves her sister beyond life itself, and their bond is intricately woven together, not just because they are sisters but because of the magical bond created by the grammar when they sing.

When a violent incident occurs and tragedy strikes, Esther has to choose between living in the world of Faerie with her love and staying in human form or living in the land of humans in the form of a swan. Will the bond between the sisters survive the conflict that ensues? 

This novel is a treasure trove for literary analysis. Its symbols, including the river Liss, the Willows, Mr Pollard, and the land of Faerie, are rich and complex, offering ample material for exploration. The novel’s prose, too, is a delight, best savored when read slowly and contemplatively, much like a piece of poetic verse.

This novel is also beautifully published, interspersed with what looks like linocut artwork by artist Kathleen Neeley, enchanting and folkloric.

If you loved How To Lose the Time War, co-written by El-Mohtar you love this novel.