...the Soul of Wit - Short Reviews

Hej! I know I haven't been posting regularly lately and when I did only to hastily compile a few short reviews, sorry for that, I was kind of busy...

But I do have a couple of fresh ideas for new stuff here on the blog; I am planing a review series for the buddy reads I have been doing with two friends from the general orbit of the Otherland Bookstore, a new column about guilty pleasures that I developped during the hard lockdown - that we're hopefully done with- and there is one author interview in the making! I hope it will all go smoothly and you can see the results as soon as I can make it! Until then, here is the latest wrap up for you to enjoy!

Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer 

An accessible Vandermeer? How WEIRD!
I have to state first that I have a sort of love-hate-relationship with Jeff Vandermeer's work. Just as I read some of his works that I think are spot on and can't get any better (looking at Annihilation or Borne) I come across other books that I think couldn't be more forced, inaccessible and unenjoyable to me (basically every book except Annihilation and Borne). So, it is always a betting game which one his next book will be. Having finished Hummingbird Salamander, I was honestly a little surprised by the nice flow this book had. Don't get me wrong, I love reading Vandermeer when it clicks with me, it just needed some getting used to but I liked this new style too.
Well, Hummingbird Salamander starts much like Finch, as a noir story with slightly weird elements but those elements stay on the level "slightly" and don't take over the story. We follow Jane who is mysteriously given a box with a taxidermed (sorry if that isn't even a word) hummingbird in it and signed with "Salamander" and starts following the clues to find out what this is all about. It is worth mentioning because it will play a role later in the story that Jane is also physically very strong; she is a wrestler and bodybuilder and is not only subject to people's attention, she can also enjoy many physical advantages that come with a strong built such as not needing protection or being able to fearlessly go anywhere she wants any time she wants. Her research will lead her first into the ecoterrorist scene, then the Argentine underground mafia and finally into a full-blown dystopia.
I especially enjoyed reading about the unusual main character; I could very much empathize with how her actions were mostly rooted in her heartbreaking past and how that acted as a propeller for her obsessive research. To me she was thoroughly interesting.
I also liked the direction the story goes. I don't read many eco-thrillers but I had the feeling that it was unusual and exciting that this book took a dystopic turn.

I still don't have the feeling that it was a Vandermeer I have just read, I don't know why, but apart from that slight estrangement I found Hummingbird Salamander has a profound and important message about our world packaged into an adventurous and emotional story. Wow.

Thank you panmacmillan and FSC for the review copy.

Rabbits by Terry Miles 

And thank you panmacmillan again for the proof copy of this whirlwind of a book. 

Phew, that certainly was a race to the finish from the first page to the last - a very addictive and entertaining race. 

Rabbits is basically the story of a young person who finds themselves trapped in the titular real-life game which is orchestrated by some kind of ominous intelligence, trying to find an error which causes it to malfunction. But because this mysterious underground game has a very crucial function in the universe beyond being pure entertainment, the mission is equally significant. The game itself is based on finding certain patterns, certain coincidences, glitches, déjà vu’s, which in the Matrix Rabbits mean that you're basically on to something and should follow that clue (It is in reality a little more philosophical and complicated than that but the point is for you to read this book, and not get spoilered). These signs can be particularly unsettling or even scary -clearly remembering a movie or a café that has never existed, seven men with the same name going for the same coffee in Starbucks...) or just a certain pattern, like a song or word repeating itself in different contexts. So most of the book we follow K and girlfriend Chloe running from point A to point B following these freak-out moments. 

Let's get over with the criticism first; Rabbits isn't a literary masterpiece. It is written pretty dryly and can even be repetitive at times. But although it shouldn't be first choice for readers who are looking for well-crafted prose, flowery writing or an intellectually challenging read, it's still of a certain charm. It is, above all, a love letter to popular culture, in which Miles grasps the opportunity to fill in the glitches with songs or scenes or motives from films, books and games that certainly had an impact on him. I definitely enjoyed these references and they added a book or two to my TBR, even though they were in my opinion a little overexplained. I have to add that I am a person who likes to do the research on these things, I like a little hint but not an explanation, puzzling on these matters is a pleasure to me. I guess it gives me a feeling of actively joining in the storytelling, but I also see the author not wanting to exclude readers who don't have the background to recognize these allusions. And that's a plus as much as it is a criticism on my part. 

I probably would have known more had I listened to Terry Miles' podcast Rabbits, which this book is based off. 

Still, I enjoyed the book Rabbits as a fast-paced, entertaining read. If you listen to the podcast or enjoy books written like games touching on themes like multiverses, sentient games, speculations on the nature of our world, with a touch of cosmic dread -but not too much by any means- this should definitely hit that mark for you.

The Lost Village by Camilla Sten
The first week that Swedish author Camilla Sten's The Lost Village was published in English, it was advertised for people whose favorite genre is "Documentary filmmakers making poor decisions regarding haunted ghost towns"; and that is more than enough for me to be sold.

It is incredibly popular for mysteries nowadays to divide and go back and forth between two storylines, present and past, and that is the case here too: Today a film crew uses their very limited financial resources to make a documentary film on the old mining town Silvertjarn, where the entire habitants, safe for one baby, disappeared in one night without a trace. Director Alice, her former best friend Emmy, her clingy, slightly creepy childhood friend and producer Max and finally Tone, the mystery baby's daughter, make an interesting team and the town an interesting background. The second storyline is set in 1959 recounting the events leading to the disappearing and involves grandparents and relatives of Alice and Tone.

I listened to this audiobook in one sitting, so it had a good flow and kept me interested most of the time. I found the story decent - there was better this year, but worse too. The setting is actually great and it would make an eerie movie! Yet there are some points that stretch readers' believe a little too much and make this whole thing a little hard to buy - for instance where the villagers are. In the end it turns out that the villagers have disappeared somewhere the police or whoever investigated the case should have looked in the first place! It is hard to believe a few poor film students found it, but whatever... If "documentary filmmakers making poor decisions regarding haunted ghost towns" appeals to you too, go ahead and read it!

Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson

This book starts as something but turns into something else entirely different and I'm not sure I like both parts equally...

Abigail Baskin found the man of her dreams- understanding, supporting, kind... and filthy rich. Although Bruce is exactly what Abigail thinks she needs, she cheats on him on her bachelorette weekend and quickly moves on with her life. Only problem is, this guy suddenly makes an appearance at the hotel of her honeymoon and he is convinced that she should leave her husband and be with him! Clearly upset, Abigail tries to find a way out of the situation but gradually realizes that the island she is honeymooning on is kind of weird and keeps on getting weirder.

I think something in the marketing plan of this book went wrong; the way too long and detailed buildup should have been shortened by 50% and the second part after the twist should have been longer and harder and thus the book should have been marketed as extreme-horror, not a thriller. I also don't think Abigail is really interesting to follow as a main character. 

 

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon 

Social worker Jax had cut off all contact to her manic-depressive sister Lexie for over a year, when she receives the news of her death, drowned in the pool at their grandmother’s house. She now needs to go back to the place she has been avoiding for so long for the organization of her sister's funeral, but ends up indulging in a kind of research about the estate's history.
In an alternately told second storyline it is 1929, and thirty-seven-year-old Ethel Monroe wishes nothing more than to have a baby of her own. On a trip to Vermont, she and her husband discover a natural spring that is rumored to grant wishes. Guess what she does?

 

Pet Sematary meets your local water spa in The Drowning Kind - the saying (or lyrics of a song?) "be careful what you wish or you might end up sleeping with the fish" takes a very literal meaning in this book!
Unfortunately, and I do feel sorry, it didn't really do it for me...
I'm not exaggerating when I say that one third of the mysteries I have read this year have dual timelines; one in the present and the other in the past, explaining the origin of what is happening now. And for me this book was just one too many who uses that narrative device. That, combined with the usual "sometimes dead is better" just wasn't much exciting for me in the end. Even though I really like the creepy water girl.