Scan barcode
bookwoods's reviews
708 reviews
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
4.0
The title of The Lies of Locke Lamora has intrigued me for years and I’m happy to have finally read it!
The book follows a group thieves calling themselves the Gentleman Bastards as they embark on their biggest venture yet, heisting a fortune from the elite through intricate deception. As you may imagine, not everything goes according to plan and a new player emerges into the complex societal order of the city of Camorr.
As a place Camorr is quite unique among the settings fantasy novels have led me: a kind of medieval Venice with floating carnivals, various religious orders and hints of alchemy. Indeed, I would love to see an adaptation of this just to visually experience the world!
In addition to the world building, I found the plot and dialogue to be the highlights of Lynch’s debut novel. It’s certainly more plot heavy than what I’m used to in recent years, and unfortunately it did get in the way of character development. Even Locke Lamora himself felt distant and it was hard to connect to him. Not to mention finding any female characters worth a major role – the two most central ones were either used as a plot device or merely featured in discussions, never to be actually seen. Or maybe I’m too harsh. It’s just that there’s so many cool female side characters I wanted to learn more from, but who didn’t get much, if any, backstory.
Nonetheless, I was throughoutly entertained and have reserved the following installments of the trilogy from the library to be read not too far in the future.
The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here by Hope Jahren
4.0
The Story of More is a collection of introductions to various aspects of climate change and other environmental problems. It’s not comprehensive and it doesn’t go very deep, but it is approachable, which is its best quality.
Kindness seems to ooze out of Hope Jahren’s every word. She’s understanding of how overwhelming these issues can be especially if you’re only now faced with them and like in her debut book Lab Girl, she expertly combines personal experiences with facts, keeping the tone of writing bright and entertaining . In short, she’s the kind of person readers want to be friends with.
I personally didn’t encounter much new information in The Story of More, but I’m not really the target audience. I think this is best suited for someone who is only starting to have interest in environmental issues and wants to make some changes in their lives yet is unsure of where to begin.
A Room Called Earth by Madeleine Ryan
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I’m starting to realize how much I love novels that are written as stream of consciousness, which can be defined as “a narrative mode or method that attempts to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind of a narrator”. I especially enjoy when the story only covers a short amount of time - you get such an intense experience with the character and may understand them better than if you follow their lives for years in a more superficial style.
One of my favorite books from last year, Summerwater by Sarah Moss does stream of consciousness extremely well. The narrative shifts from character to character, giving glimpses into their inner world as they spend a rainy summer day in a Scottish cabin park. Another prime example of the writing method is a novel I devoured last weekend, A Room Called Earth by Madeleine Ryan.
It’s the day before Christmas Eve in Melbourne Australia, and the unnamed main character, a twenty-something woman, is preparing to go to a party. Getting ready is like a ritual, during which her thoughts wander: thinking of her past relationships, her conflicted feelings about being an Australian and hopes for the evening. We follow her through this process, to the party, and into the next day.
I can imagine some people finding A Room Called Earth a bit boring and pointless. There isn’t much of a plot and the writing simply recites her actions, thoughts and conversations. However, I felt utterly fascinated by it all! Sometimes the main character comes across as annoying and privileged, or more like annoying because of her privileges, but her approach to life and living in the moment has a lot to admire. And honestly, I don’t think I could follow any person’s thoughts and not get fed up with something. I also consider it a bonus to have been given a perspective into some modern Australian issues, I hadn’t realized how superficial my knowledge of the country is.
The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl by Theodora Goss
4.0
The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club as a whole is such a fun trilogy! I ended up giving all three installments four stars as I find their level quite even. Each of them contain their own adventure but are strongly tied together and are equally engaging. Some elements do repeat themselves and I was sometimes frustrated with the amount of characters, yet without the added storylines the repetitiveness would have been more overwhelming. It also helps that the settings change, from Victorian London to more rural parts of England and cities such as Vienna and Budapest.
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss
4.0
In her doctoral dissertation Theodora Goss tried to answer the following question: Why did so many of the mad scientists in nineteeth-century narratives create, or start creating but then destroy, female monsters? Thankfully for us, she also decided to approach the question in the form of fiction. In The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter we follow a group of such female monsters, creations of scientists such as Dr. Jekyll, Frankenstein and Doctor Moreau. Together with Holmes and Watson they end up solving murders in Victorian London. Initially that may sound ridiculous, but it really works! What is particularly fun is the execution. The narrative is interrupted by comments from the characters – they’re writing their adventures into a book and understandably have some differing views on the details.
Out of the classics that have inspired the story I’m only familiar with Frankenstein and Sherlock Holmes, but I don’t think that lessened my enjoyment in any way, although I certainly missed a lot of references. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
adventurous
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Olen viime kuukausina lukenut paljon Tove Janssonin novelleja ja romaaneja, mutta valitettavasti ne ovat olleet pieniä pettymyksiä, sillä en ole saanut tarinoista hirveästi irti. Kesäkirjan ihastuttavat kuvaukset nuoren tytön ja hänen isoäitinsä saaristoelämästä sen sijaan olivat aika lailla juuri sellaisia kuin toivoinkin. Odotan oman saaristokesäni alkamista yhä suuremmalla innolla!
The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans
medium-paced
2.0
I thought I’d really love this collection of short stories + a novella and that I’d have a lot to say, but neither of those things happened. For some reason I got annoyed by the US centeredness (not the fault of the book, just my mood) and felt bored. Still, Evans can definitely write and she discusses important topics, so I can see how others might adore this.
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It has been a while since any book made me as happy as Red, White and Royal Blue did. I was sucked in from the first pages, smiling and chuckling to myself, delighted by the witty dialogue and a world that’s almost like ours. Essentially, Casey McQuiston has created an alternative reality where in 2016, instead of Trump, a democrat woman with biracial children was elected to be the president of the United States. Meanwhile in Europe the royal family includes a gay prince, who just so happens to fall in love with the First Son. With racially and sexually diverse cast of characters, the book follows how the relationship between the prince, Henry, and the First Son, Alex, develops while the preparations for the 2020 elections are in full force.
I think that McQuiston succeeds quite admirably in writing this funny, sexy, heart warming love story yet sneaking in some important messages. I only wish at least one of them would have been about the environment, even a mention of climate change or a critical remark about the weekly transcontinental flights. Also, the ending wraps up everything a bit too nicely, but that I can easily forgive – the point of Red, White and Royal Blue is to leave the reader feeling hopeful and happy, which it does. Even the premise makes that pretty clear.
Eartheater by Dolores Reyes
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
The idea of a woman who eats soil to see visions that help her solve mysteries is certainly interesting, but I found the style of Dolores Reyes’ prose too simplistic for it to be effective. It didn’t create connections to the characters and the plot isn’t very strong either. A pity.
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Middlegame is a very weird novel. It is kind of fantasy, but more like sci-fi. It follows Dodger and Roger, twins engineered by a powerful alchemist wanting to control the world through their manifestation of Pythagora’s Doctrine of Ethos – the balance of language and mathematics. Sounds confusing? Well, it was, and 500 pages of confusion is simply too much, even if the main characters are just as puzzled as you are. The only reason I did not give up on the book is the prose, which is the kind of beautiful that makes you want to underline every other sentence. But the story just is not to my liking, and perhaps I should have known that going in. I think Every Heart a Doorway will be much more my kind of thing, at least I hope so because I really want to see Seanan McGuire’s prose narrate something that is easier to follow.