Kay's Bookshelf

Genre: Paranormal Main characters: Bourbon Kid, Kyle and Peto, Sanchez, Jefe, Jessica, Archibald Somers, Miles Jensen Time and place: Santa Mondega (South America?), about 2006 First sentence: “Sanchez hated strangers coming into his bar.” Summary: A total eclipse of the sun is approaching and the police in Santa Mondega has the situation only partly under control. A savage serial killer is on the prowl, and the situation sounds so complicated that a new detective from the division dealing with the supernatural is brought in on the case (although no one actually takes him or his division seriously). It is he who makes the most important discovery of all: one thing the victims all had in common was that they borrowed from the library the same book, a book with no name and no known author. Add to that the fact that a mysterious blue stone, the Eye of the Moon, has been stolen from its rightful owners and is somewhere in town. Almost every character in the book wants to get his or her hands on it (the rest wanting to stay as far away from it as possible), because, in the hands of the wrong person, it can alter Santa Mondega forever, and definitely not in a good way.

There are a lot of strange and colorful characters in the book, and, while we don’t get to actually know them all, their trajectory within the pages is bound to keep the reader interested. To name a random one, we have the King, a hitman who always dresses like Elvis and takes pleasure in torturing his victims. We have Jessica, a mysterious woman with quite a temper, that always, unexpectedly, manages to dodge death. There are also Kyle and Peto (two innocent monks from far away, very skilled when it comes to fighting), Carlitos and Miguel, the two inseparable minions of the most powerful guy in town (who both chose Lone Ranger costumes in a particular, dress-up day), Bourbon Kid (a guy who goes crazy, killing everyone in sight whenever his lips touch bourbon), and many more.

It is actually hard to tell who the good guys are, because in a rotten town like Santa Mondega no one is remotely good. Everyone has flaws, no one shies away from a bit of killing or stealing, and so on. And yet different people at different times show that there is more to them than their money-oriented nature (Sanchez for example has feelings that can be almost categorized as tender for Jessica), so the reader always has someone to root for (and, interestingly enough, that someone may change from time to time according to the latest revelations presented in the book).

The book belongs to no set genre, being rather hard to categorize. A thing I have found very funny was that parts of it seem straight out of a cowboy movie (although the setting is contemporary): there are bars filled with people hostile to strangers, no one hesitates to draw their guns at the least hint of a conflict, some people do get shot, and so on. While I am aware there is a whole Western genre out there, I have never read one such book, so I was excited to discover this side of the book for its sheer novelty.

Thoughts on the title: I am somewhat amused at the idea of marketing this book as the one mentioned inside it :) (sure, there are no actual similarities between the two, as that book is old, and is handwritten, and has pictures and this one doesn’t, but still :) )

Thoughts on the ending: I am actually left with a lot of questions: show spoiler

What I liked most: The writing style is similar to Robert Rankin’s, Tom Holt’s, or perhaps Lemony Snicket’s, sprinkled with witty phrases, playing with the absurd. I enjoyed it, of course, and I also enjoy the mystery around the author, who is yet unknown despite having written a sequel to the book since.
(a detail that I have found amusing is that somewhere in town there’s a Cafe Ole Au Lait :) )

What I liked least: Perhaps the fact that one of the main mysteries of the book is revealed out of the blue, with no hint leading up to it, so it felt more like “yeah right, as if” than anything else.
show spoiler

Recommend it to? I have no idea who to recommend this to. At times it is interesting and fun, at times less so. It seems to be one of those books that polarize opinions, some people being thrilled with it while other hate its guts. By all means give it a try if you’re interested in a bit of mystery with a bit of paranormal and lots of blood mixed in.

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This is my latest foray in the Urban Fantasy genre and probably my last for quite a while, as I have decided (after this and Yasmine Galenorn’s Witchling) that it is most definitely not my cup of tea. I simply can summon no sympathy for the kind of heroines this genre seemingly has to offer: the slang-talking-trying-too-hard-to-be-cool-and-failing type.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a spunky heroine just as much as anyone else, but Jazz seemed to me in a desperate need of an anger management course more than anything else. All she ever does is snarl at people, left and right (sometimes with good reason to, sometimes not), acting like a spoiled brat most of the time. Nope, I so did not like her. As for Nick, he is rather ok (in an “he didn’t annoy me as much” kind of way), but most of what he does has to do with Jazz (he’s either with her or daydreaming about her), so we didn’t actually get to know him that well. As for the villain of the piece, it is a clear case where “show, don’t tell” should have been applied, as he only has about two or three scenes in the whole book (but we spend the rest of the time reading about how much of a badass he is and how Jazz is afraid of him — definitely too much “tell”).

The relationship between the two main characters has also bothered me. They met about 300 years ago and had great chemistry between the sheets, but they do not want to admit there can be something serious between them as witches and vampires usually don’t mix. That would be fine with me, except with one small issue: over the years, Nick always finds ways to make Jazz end up in jail. According to him he only does this to protect her from greater forces, but (and here I agree with Jazz) she is always annoyed with him because of that. However, a bit surprisingly, their latest rift is not because of Jazz having to face yet another stint in jail, but it all comes down to Jazz being really disappointed by the fact the vampire has not come to her help one day when she really needed it (his reason for that is not explained, leaving me as a reader imagine that a) he probably had no idea Jazz was in danger and b) I don’t exactly get the fact that after thirty years she still holds a grudge for a thing he had no way of preventing).

I would have liked it a lot better if the magic system in the book had been a bit more defined, or structured. Or if it had been at least explained, some lines drawn, and so on. As things are, Jazz can do practically anything, as there are no actual limitations to her strength (other than those needed by the narrative at one moment or another). Meh. It is not even clear whether incantations are needed in order for the magick to work or not, since Jazz only uses them about half the time (plus the words are rather creatively changed, “Because I say so, damn it” being the ending formula of choice, yet another token of Jazz’s charming personality).

At least the book has a really cute cover :) (although it does depict a black cat, where there was none in the book, and also Irma is mentioned on the back cover as Norma, hehe)

Thoughts on the title: Meh. It’s actually the title of the book Jazz has once borrowed from the Library. I can’t exactly put my finger on what it made me expect from this book but whatever my hopes were they ended up dashed.

Thoughts on the ending: A fair candidate to the most “What???” ending ever. Which is to say I hated its guts.

show spoiler

What I liked most: I was amused by the reason Jasmine (once Griet) ended up in this day and age: sometime in the 14th century she, along with other witches, was punished for some transgression to spend one hundred years in the world. One hundred years who turned out to be more like seven hundred, because Jazz’s punishment kept being extended due some other transgressions she kept adding to the list. :)

What I liked least: The use of the words “magick” and “magickal” and so on has annoyed me to no end while reading. Why do some people think that if they take a normal word and change its spelling it suddenly becomes much cooler?

Also, Stasia Romanov? Really?

Recommend it to? Lovers of urban fantasy. I for one have not enjoyed this book at all, but it has lots of fans plus lots of sequels, so I imagine that those who enjoy the genre will probably find this one interesting too.

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If I had to sum up this book using only one word, that word would be “unmemorable”. Not because I want to insult anyone, God forbid, but because I fear I will forget everything about it in two days at the most. Regrettably, nothing in it has managed to actually jump of the page at me, or make me actually interested.

Claire, the main character, is a typical chick lit heroine, trying to balance her career with her love life and not always succeeding. She is an okay character, with no negative traits, but no interesting ones either. Nothing that would make her stand out in a crowd. Same goes for the man of her dreams, who is a cardboard cutout if there ever was one, handsome, smart, married to his job and knowing no other way of showing his affection than material goods. Yawn.

At least Vivian, the boss from hell (that everyone seems to agree is based on Judith Regan), has some potential. She has been heavily compared to the female boss (Miranda Priestly) from The Devil Wears Prada — however all I can say is that she doesn’t live up to the comparison. Where Miranda was a stylish woman, hard to please, expecting her assistants to fulfil some tasks bordering on absurd (a thing that made everything all the more interesting in the end), Vivian is tacky, petty, with no sense of privacy whatsoever (thus lacking the “impressiveness” that Miranda emanated) and with a mouth so foul it would make anyone blush. Sure, she too overwhelms her team, overworking them to the bone, but she doesn’t make it in a way that’s interesting to the reader: she simply assigns them some books, and then some other books, and then some more books and so on. Too real-lifey to be actually interesting :)

Thoughts on the title: Well, I am not sure I “get it”. It obviously refers to Vivian, who keeps treating people bad simply because she can, but overall I didn’t feel her to be important enough to be awarded a mention in the title (to me Vivian was more of a background nuisance — since her only interaction with Claire was yelling at her for all sorts of reasons — rather than an actual influencer).

Thoughts on the ending: Chick-Lit -> happy ending, right? Predictable (of course), but I loved it though (of course :) ).

What I liked most: I was amused by the fact that most of the chapter titles (or was it all of them?) were chosen to match names of books (“Great Expectations“, “The Age of Innocence“, “The Bell Jar” and so on), which was a nice touch since most of our heroine’s world revolves around publishing and books.

What I liked least: The book was too vanilla to find faults with it :)

Recommend it to? Devoted chick-lit fans.

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One of the central elements of the book is the transition that Ig is forced to go though: he used to be a kind-hearted, quintessentially good person, always making the right choices and so on (so much so that Lee reached a height of social success by trying to emulate him). And yet the horrible thing that happened to him transformed him in a demon. I can’t help but wonder what is the message that the author wanted to send out (if there was one), something along the lines of “there is a time for being good and a time for being bad”. It is debatable whether Ig got any satisfaction out of avenging Merrin’s death (he probably did since it was what he needed), but small as that satisfaction can be it sure beat the alternative: the good Ig would never have known who did it in the first place, not to mention the rest of the details.

Speaking of who did it, I was partially amused to notice that the villain in this piece was rather similar to the one in the latest book written by Mr. Hill’s father, Under the Dome. Rennie, the used car salesman in the latter book, is somewhat an older version of Lee: they’re both using God and righteousness as a shield to hide their lack of moral values (with a bit of craziness on the side). This being said I was a bit sad about Lee when I read about him as a child, that previous, un-mentally disturbed version of him that was actually likable. But hey, the book needed a villain, right?

Also, I have very much liked the way Merrin’s character was built, little by little, brick by brick. She was definitely the love of Ig’s life, but other than that there is much we don’t know, and the reader’s opinion of her fluctuates almost with each and every scene. Ambiguity – a nice thing to have in a book, I would say, it makes for a more interesting ride — and that was the case here, too.

The timeline alternates between the present and flashbacks of the past (sometimes as seen by Ig through others’ eyes via his special abilities), and to be honest at times I have found the past (especially some of the parts involving young Ig, and Lee) a bit boring — I assume though that this is not that much a fault of theirs, it simply has to do with a fact that the present (horns + people unconsciously sharing their secrets) was way, way cooler than anything grounded on reality could ever be.

The book also contains an interesting theological debate: Ig, the horned one, feels like his mission is to punish sinners. It is, after all, what the devil does. The question being, is then the devil good or bad?

A quote somewhat related:

“[...] In a lot of ways, I guess Satan was the first superhero.”
“Don’t you mean supervillain?”
“Nah. Hero, for sure. Think about it. In his first adventure, he took the form of a snake to free two prisoners being held naked in a Third World jungle prison by an all-powerful megalomaniac. At the same time, he broadened their diet and introduced them to their own sexuality. Sounds like a cross between Animal Man and Dr. Phil to me.”

Thoughts on the title: Self-explanatory. The central idea of the book, no more, no less. Although it does come to mind that the horns are only the starting point, not the essence.

Thoughts on the ending: Loved it :) Just as implausible in its own way as the ending of Mr. Hill’s first book, and yet I was just as happy so see it come to pass. show spoiler

What I liked most: The whole getting to have horns idea was quite cool. Especially as the author has taken care of people’s reactions when noticing them. Making them want to spill their darkest secrets was a nice touch too. Also, show spoiler

What I liked least: show spoiler

Recommend it to? Anyone who likes Stephen King, as the style is rather similar (although Mr. Hill is a bit tamer so far). Anyone who enjoys thrillers too.

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The characters are all rather likeable, starting with Mibs, the thirteen years old girl who hopes that her savvy can heal her father. Lester, the not very bright pink Bible seller (but with a good heart). Lill, the waitress and big-footed angel who’s always late. Will Junior, who wants to be just like his father (and who just happens to be one of my favorite characters). Samson, the seven years old who rarely speaks, always hides, and can calm people down by touching them. Fish, who controls (or rather tries to learn how to control) the winds. Momma, who’s simply perfect (or rather everything she does is so, even her failures are perfect, as she puts it). Poppa, with no special ability but very much loved by all the members of his family (and this rubs on to the reader too, although he’s not actually a character, being in the coma for the most part of the book).

The writing was very nice, with metaphors and details that I have very much liked. Here are some quotes:

She told us how Poppa’s car had gotten crushed up bad, like a pop can under a cowboy boot, and how he’d gone and forgotten to get out before it happened, landing himself in a room and a bed at Salina Hope Hospital, where now he lay broken and asleep, not able to wake up.

He struck me as a fellow whose gears might turn a bit slower than those of other folks, a man whose thinking cap had gotten shrunk in the wash and now fit his brain a notch too tight.

When something like that comes along, whether it’s an accident or a savvy or a very first kiss, life takes a turn and you can’t step back. All you can do is keep moving forward and remember what you’ve learned.

Thoughts on the title: Intriguing :) Bound to make a reader wonder about it, and thus notice the book. Also, it is a good description for the character’s abilities, which, as Mibs points out, are actually their own sort of know-how, albeit “of a different flavor than most” :)

Thoughts on the ending: Cute. Predictable but I enjoyed reading it :)

What I liked most: The particular savvy that the author has entrusted Mibs. show spoiler

What I liked least: A little more attention to the details would have been nice. Such as the fact that normally only one of the grandfathers should have had a savvy, not both of them (what were the odds of two savvy-ed people meeting one another). Also, I would have preferred it if Grandpa’s savvy had been something less obvious (’cause making land appear out of nowhere would be bound to be noticed). The names of the children weren’t particularly inspired either (what kind of name is Fish? Or Rocket?).
show spoiler

Recommend it to? It’s a cute little book so I have no reservations in recommending it to Young Adult lovers out there.

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The interesting thing here, and the one that makes a book a little more complicated than it would seem at first sight, is that Sam and her friends have made a lot of mistakes over the years. They have treated a lot of people badly, simply because they could, and the effects of such behavior are very hard, impossible even, to erase in a single day.

And yet, as Sam gets to realize, she simply cannot fix everything. Some people have to take care of themselves. And some of them are desperately in need of hope, and this is what Sam can offer them: a moment of hope, a moment of solidarity, a moment of love. And luckily she manages to grow up fast enough to be aware of this, and able to do what must be done.

I think the characters are very well written, layer over layer of feelings they sometimes hide even from themselves. Of course that Sam is not very likeable at the beginning, since her cool kid status seems to have gone to her head ages before — and yet, after a while, we discover she’s not a bad girl per se, but a misguided one, and her sincere wish to fix things slowly endear her to the reader. There is also a male lead, and I liked him a lot, from his ever-present smile to his dream of someday being Sam’s hero. As for Sam’s three girlfriends, they too are multidimensional, and interesting to discover (some more than others) — and yet, as they were still under the spell of being cool kids, I didn’t particularly like them on the whole.

Interestingly enough (although perhaps unsurprising) the author has managed to make each version of that fateful day act out different. I only expected a few minor details to change, here and there (although of course they were to have huge effects, Groundhog Day -style), but, as Sam uncovers more and more layers of the story her actions vary (the version that I found most believable, although not one of my favorites, being the one when she acts all wild in school because she’s just realized there are practically no consequences to anything she does).

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Thoughts on the title: I love it. Sam feels the place she ends up in after she dies to be an endless falling, so in the context “before I fall” becomes “before I die”, namely that day that she gets to live over and over again.

Thoughts on the ending: Predictably enough, there were only two ways the story could have ended: either Sam truly died, and there’s no returning from it, or she didn’t actually die, she was just in a coma or something similar. All throughout the book I’ve been curious to see which path will the author choose, although I realized that none of them was truly satisfying. One of them was indeed chosen, and I was indeed a bit disappointed.
show spoiler

What I liked most: The very idea of having yet another chance at living a certain day, a chance to fix any mistakes one might have made. I know it is not a novel one by far, but I still like it a lot :)

What I liked least: I only have a rather minor qualm. The fact that we are not clearly told whether all Sam’s efforts have been in vain or not — did each day replace the one before or were they all illusions, with only the original version actually happening. show spoiler

Recommend it to? Everyone. It’s a fast read, and captivating too.

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There are no limitations to the things that can happen in this book. The Norse god Balder is a yard-gnome, a WWII jazz player is still alive, fire giants are roaming the world and a certain band is transported through space and time. Just so you know what to expect :)

One of my favorite stops is what I took to be a satire on the American society of today (parts of it of course): a place where all the children were only allowed to think happy thoughts, and everyone was told he/she is special. Censorship was rampant, for example all the books have been removed from the library for all sorts of reasons (Winnie the Pooh because “Bears don’t really talk. Might confuse the little ones.“, comic books because “Superheroes have unattainable powers, and are therefore not relatable and might make kids feel bad about themselves.“, and so on), all but a very boring self-help one. A very important element of that world are the smoothies — everyone has access to as many smoothies as he/she wants, with any taste in the world. At least in theory because in practice all of them taste like vanilla. For a very good reason too:

““Oh, they’re all vanilla,” Ruth says. “At first, we gave people a choice. But then we found they didn’t like the blueberry as much as they thought they would or they wished they had gotten the strawberry instead, just like their best friends did. It was a big bummer. So we simplified things for them. Now, they can order whatever they want, but in the end, it’s all the same flavor. You’re guaranteed the same experience every single time. And you’re having the same experience as everybody else. Cuts down on things like dissatisfaction, envy, competitiveness, longing, regret. All that bad stuff.””

Another thing I liked is the way Don Quixote is repeatedly mentioned. It took me a while, but eventually I did noticed the fact that this book is, in a way, a parallel to that book. Cameron is a noble knight, travelling on a quest to save the world (not to mention the car he drives is a Cadillac Rocinante).
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The characters are atypical and quite interesting. One cannot help but feeling sorry for Cameron, whose life was already going nowhere and who got an incurable disease on top of it all. He is a good guy, albeit somewhat misguided at times, and his sense of humor made the book actually fun, despite its dark underlying theme. His sidekick is Gonzo, a little person who’s also a hypochondriac (it’s how the two met, in the hospital while Gonzo was waiting for some test results), but who never let his shortcomings get in the way of doing things (well, let’s rephrase that to “important things”, because for example he never dares eating anything but grilled cheese when in a restaurant). Another original character is Dulcie, the pink-haired angel with graffiti on her wings — I liked her too, and I would have loved to see a bit more of her.

A short quote to give a sense of the writing style:

I creep up the stairs with a fry pan as my only defense, and despite the fact that my heart is beating like a hummingbird’s, it strikes me as funny. Greetings, ax murderer! I was just wondering how you like your eggs?

Thoughts on the ending: I am not certain I got it right, so I am not certain what my feelings are. Summing it up in one word: “interesting” :)
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What I liked most: show spoiler

What I liked least: There is nothing that impressed me in a negative way. Any other book would have seemed too random at times but the author has managed to make it all look believable :)

Recommend it to? Anyone interested in a surreal dark comedy novel, of course. :)

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Written by the same author:
A Great and Terrible Beauty | Rebel Angels | The Sweet Far Thing

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