Unfinished 7

W.W. Norton Company

Okay.  So, I started reading Bonk by Mary Roach after I finished reading Packing for Mars.  After reading a review on Goodreads that cracked me up, I decided I would give it a try--and I kind of regret it.

First off, Mary Roach is hilarious.  I liked Packing for Mars, and I think I could have enjoyed Bonk if I just hadn't been traumatized by some of the stories.  I like to think I'm not a prude, but when sex leads to disfigurement, count me out.  I just can't do it.  It gives me this weird squirmy feeling inside, and I just can't cope.

Mary Roach is a great author, but I just don't think I can handle Bonk.

-

Gallery Books

I picked up Tyler Oakely's Binge out of curiosity.  I'd seen it in the YA section at my local library and I thought it might fit my Read Harder Challenge, so I thought, "Why not?"  It seemed interesting and it would help me mark off one of my challenges.

Wrong.  On both accounts.

Oakley is a pretty funny, I'll give him that; however, I just wasn't taken with his memoir.  I like that he's so very candid about his experiences, even the most embarrassing ones, but I found there is something as too much of a good thing.  Oakley tells me a little more than I would normally like to know about his personal experiences, and I just found myself quietly closing the book and returning it to my library.

-

Death of a Darklord by Laurell K. Hamilton had so much potential.  It was beautifully written, it carried intricate characters with interesting talents, it had magic and fantasy and adventure.  It struck all the right notes for me.  I was so excited to read it, especially as I started in on the first couple of chapters.  I was intrigued by the villain and I wanted to see where the story would go.

Wizards of the Coast

And then I made the mistake of looking up the book on Goodreads and discovering, much to my astonishment, that it was part of a series.  I learned Death of a Darklord is a stand-alone novel in a series roughly based in the same world (or something along those lines).  Not necessarily a bad thing, right?

Except it's part of a horror series.

When I picked up Death of a Darklord, I expected a fantasy novel.  I expected magic, mischief, adventure, trials and tribulations, before eventually culminating in a relatively happy ending.  There's always a little tragedy in every fantasy story; however, I always expect to find a satisfying conclusion, if not an outright happily-ever-after.

Death of a Darklord is a horror story.  It's full of tragedies, one after the other--and it literally doesn't get any better.  If I'd gone into this novel with the knowledge I was reading a tragic story, I probably would have been fine with it.  As the cover gave no inclination as to what I would find, I started reading with the expectation of a good ending and I was incredibly disappointed.  I put it aside without ever really finishing it.

-

Pantheon

War and Turpentine wasn't a bad novel.  It's based on Stefan Hertsman's grandfather, a would-be painter who lived through and fought in World War II.  Hertsman regales readers with embellished stories of his grandfather, his grandmother, his family, and, ultimately, his legacy.

It's an interesting book that reminds me of The Things They Carried, in that there are some truths buried beneath the fiction; however, it just didn't grip me like Tim O'Brien's earlier novel.  Personally, Hertsman's novel isn't for me.  I didn't care for the style or the feel of the novel, even though I wanted to enjoy it; I didn't like the characters, I didn't like the way they felt or the way they made me feel; moreover, I found myself growing bored with it at regular intervals and casting it aside for more interesting fare.

I'm sure it's a fine book, but it's just not for me.

Geis: A Matter of Life and Death

Nobrow

Geis:  A Matter of Life and Death
Alexis Deacon
2016

The Summary
"The chief matriarch is dying.  Drawing her last breath, she declares a contest:  let fate decide the one worthy to rule.  Fifty souls are summoned in the night; fifty souls bound to the same fate.  But this is no ordinary trial...

"And so begins the first task."

The Good
Honestly, I was unexpectedly fascinated by Geis.  It's a book that I did, but somehow didn't, like.  That probably sounds strange, but Geis is a graphic novel that's difficult to explain.  It's rich with imagination, but terrifyingly dark, hinted with macabre undertones that make you shiver and make you think.

It's a startling combination of adventure and horror and supernatural elements, fabricating a dark and fascinating world that's rich, but stark in its shadows.  I was reluctantly intrigued by Geis.  I almost didn't want to read it, but, at the same time, I ended up devouring it in a matter of hours.  It's so morbid that you almost can't help following along with the story.

Overall, it's a fine comic.  It had an interesting story, a well-developed world, and a fascinating cast of characters that caught my attention.  Although I'm still not sure how I feel about Alexis Deacon's book, I will probably read the second volume when it arrives on the scene.  I could use some closure--I feel I'm invested now.

The Bad
I can't quite put my finger on it, but something didn't quite catch me with Geis.  It left me with a lot of conflicting emotions, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it.  I wasn't overcome with joy when reading it, yet I didn't find it horrible or distasteful; rather, I liked it.  I liked it even if I didn't care to like it.

It's a muddle.

The Ugly
The premise of this book is a competition.  Fifty individuals are summoned to the castle of the chief matriarch to witness her death and receive her decree on who shall succeed her; however, a dark enchantress is added to the mix....and she has other plans in mind.  The chief matriarch creates a trial:  whosoever succeeds in the competition shall be crowned the new ruler.

And everyone else dies.

Seriously.  That's how it goes.

Only one person will survive the trial, which means everyone else will meet horrible, gruesome deaths--and, somehow, the enchantress will triumph over all.  I won't say anything more for fear of ruining the story; however, I will note that I was surprised by the dark turns that Geis seemed to make.  It's almost difficult to read in that regard, because I don't foresee the series ending very well.

Tokyo Ghoul (Volume 1)

Viz Media

Tokyo Ghoul (Volume 1)
Sui Ishida
2012

The Summary
"Ghouls live among us, the same as normal people in every way--except their craving for human flesh.

"Shy Ken Kaneki is thrilled to go on a date with the beautiful Rize, but it turns out that she's only interested in his body--in eating it, that is.  When a morally dubious rescue transforms him into the first half-human, half-Ghoul hybrid, Ken must survive Ghoul turf wars, learn more about Ghoul society and master his new powers."

The Good
I was fascinated by the plot and premise of Tokyo Ghoul.  It's terribly grim and horribly macabre, but I found myself intrigued despite the gore.  It hearkens back to the vampire mythos, to the monstrous creatures hiding in plain sight, which I ultimately liked.  Likewise, I was intrigued by Ken Kaneki's altered state as a half-human, half-Ghoul hybrid.  There's a complexity to his condition that I think Sui Ishida manages to convey very well.

You see, Ken is a gentle kid, a soft-hearted boy who believes he's stumbled across the perfect girl, but, after a terrible incident leaves him with a ghoulish surprise, he's caught in a world that's both violent and terrifying.  He's stuck between worlds, fighting to retain his humanity and struggling to rein in his darker Ghoul urges.

I was curious to see how Ken would handle his new condition.  He's the fulcrum part between two very different worlds and he's trying to adapt and understand the Ghouls--trying to survive with his grisly new craving for human flesh--while holding on to his human counterpart.  It's a very delicate balancing act he's carrying out, which gives Tokyo Ghoul a pulse-pounding quality I didn't expect.

The Bad
I've decided that Tokyo Ghoul just really isn't my cup of tea.  It's intriguing, which was able to get me in the door, but I don't think I could stay with the series.  It's very serious, very intense, very dramatic with in-your-face violence and graphic depictions of what is essentially cannibalism--and I just didn't get any of the humor (what little there is) in the story.

It's not a bad series, but it just isn't for me.

The Ugly
Tokyo Ghoul is extremely gory.

Usually, I can handle gore.  I've read Rat Queens, Lady Killer, and Batwoman, so I can deal with graphic violence, blood, explicit language, and general nastiness.  But Tokyo Ghoul was something special:  it actually made me feel very queasy.  I'm thinking it was the idea of cannibalism that made it so disturbing, or maybe it was just the excessive gore and blood-dripping flesh that did it.  Either way, I spent most of my time feeling very, very uncomfortable.

I definitely wouldn't recommend it for readers who have a weak stomach.

Unfinished #5

Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace was not a fun book for me.  I originally picked up Wallace's collection of essays as part of the Read Harder Challenge for Book Riot.  I couldn't help but be intrigued by the title, and I thought it seemed like an interesting thing to pick up; however, I quickly regretted my decision.

Little, Brown & Co.

Dense and verbose, Consider the Lobster was an ill fit for me for the simple fact that it was not that interesting and Wallace has a lot to say.  I'm sure Wallace had a point to make and, perhaps, others may enjoy his style of writing, but I couldn't find it in myself to enjoy much of what I was reading.  He has an interesting sense of humor, which I didn't mind, but I wasn't entirely sold on the subject matter--or the never-ending foot notes.

The first essay is about the porn industry.  Yes, you heard me:  porn.

I was a little flummoxed as I started to read and, if I'm being honest, partially horrified.  I wouldn't say I'm a prude, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't bothered by the graphic descriptions of what the porn industry does and what some of the men and women experience in their daily working lives.  It was a little weird, and it wasn't something I could enjoy reading.  I found myself feeling like I'd been unexpectedly scarred.

It's not something I enjoyed, and it's definitely not something I'll attempt to read again.

-

I picked up The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd on a whim.  I was intrigued by the eerie cover and the story, which promised to be gruesomely scintillating and slightly macabre.  As a spin-off from H.G. Well's classic novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau, it picks up with Dr. Moreau's daughter, Juliet, and follows her dangerous path to reunite with her father--and the boy she once loved.

Balzer + Bray

It had so much promise, but it was a bit of a disappointment.  Although I probably ruined it for myself by reading the reviews of other readers (and inadvertently catching spoilers), I would probably have put Shepherd's book aside anyway.  It just didn't feel quite right to me.  I think the narrator was pretty interesting, and I think the author did a pretty good job of creating a singular voice; however, I found it was lacking some quality that would have made it great.

The author did a decent job of creating a unique Gothic atmosphere, borrowing from the works of H.G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley; moreover, I thought Shepherd made a fair attempt at incorporating history into her work.  The Madman's Daughter had the architecture in place--the grim atmosphere, the subtle history woven into the story, the grisly story--and it could have been a great novel.

Except it was ruined by the implications of a love triangle.

Oh, yes, I understand that romance can blossom in the most unusual places.  Likewise, I realize the character can't help the way she feels.  However, I would have much preferred if Juliet was a little more concerned about her survival once she's out on the streets and her livelihood once she makes up her mind to find her father, a man who is known for his vicious vivisection and his nonexistent medical ethics.

I just couldn't take it seriously after that.

-

I can't remember why I started to read A Gentleman Always Remembers by Candace Camp, but I can clearly remember when I decided that it wasn't worth the time or effort to finish the novel.  Sometime in chapter two, I completely lost interest and decided to put it aside because I couldn't find anything redemptive in the characters, or the plot, or the setting--or, well, anything else.

Pocket Star

In my opinion, it was just a bad novel.  A very bad novel.

I didn't think Eve was an incredibly endearing female protagonist, and, for some reason, I found Fitz to be rather preposterous.  I didn't care for either of them--or any of the other characters involved, to be perfectly honest.  They all felt like caricatures:  stiff, stagnant, boring.  I quickly grew tired of them and their individual histories.

I also noticed the story wasn't all that great, either.  I don't mind love stories, but this one felt a little contrived.  And the blackmail thread of the narrative felt silly, just another unnecessary way to propel the novel forward, because it doesn't have much substance.  Moreover, I wasn't a fan of the writing.  I didn't like Camp's style or her language or her inability to pace the story properly or develop her characters.

So, yes, I can safely say I didn't like A Gentleman Always Remembers.

Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase

Disney-Hyperion

Lockwood & Co.:  The Screaming Staircase
Jonathan Stroud
2013

The Summary
"A sinister Problem has occurred in London:  all nature of ghosts, haunts, spirits, and Specters are appearing throughout the city and they aren't exactly friendly.  Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see--and eradicate--these supernatural foes.  Many different psychic investigation agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, and they are in fierce competition for business.

"In The Screaming Staircase, the plucky and talented Lucy Carlyle teams up with Anthony Lockwood, the charismatic leader of Lockwood & Co., a small agency that runs independent of any adult supervision.  After an assignment leads to both a grisly discovery and a disastrous end, Lucy, Anthony, and their sarcastic colleague, George, are forced to take part in the perilous investigation of Combe Carey Hall, one of the most haunted houses in England. Will Lockwood & Co. survive the Hall's legendary Screaming Staircase and Red Room to see another day?"

The Good
Like Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus series, Lockwood & Co. is an intriguing and inventive series with fleshed out characters, a wonderful narrator, interesting plot twists, and curious mixtures of myth, magic, and paranormal critters.  Although it took me a few moments to fully sink into The Screaming Staircase, I was hooked by the time I reached the second chapter--and I thoroughly enjoyed following the cases of Lucy, Anthony, and George.

Lucy makes a wonderful narrator.  She's snarky and sarcastic, equal parts entertaining and fascinating.  Like her colleagues, Anthony and George, Lucy can see and sense ghosts; however, she has a singularly special talent that sets her apart:  she can hear and communicate with ghosts, as well.  Her powerful talents and her unusual sensitivity make her unique, even among her peers, but it also makes her an intriguing narrator.

Moreover, I was constantly struck by the inventiveness of the novel and the series as a whole.  I thought ghost-touch was an interesting concept (and, confidentially, rather frightening), and I was fascinated by the whole mythos surrounding ghosts.  It's interesting to see the ways in which society adapts to accommodate ghosts and all the dangers they present, to see the dynamics of society shift as children become embroiled in the conflict and become key figures in protecting the living.

The Bad
I'll be honest, I didn't always know what was going on with history in this book.  I mean, I understand that history essentially diverges and ghosts become a more pronounced influence on society.  But I don't know exactly when it happens or where or why.  It's very confusing, and Lucy doesn't really illuminate much in regards to the history of the ghost outbreak--the Problem that has ravaged London and the rest of the planet for decades.

The Ugly
Okay, confession time:  I do not like ghosts.

The concept of ghosts freaks me out for some reason, so much so that I simply can't watch The Poltergeist or Paranormal Activity or anything of the sort without incurring nightmares or spending the rest of my evening jumping like a frightened cat.  And while The Screaming Staircase is fairly mild, I still found it eerie, unsettling, and, confidentially, a little bit frightening.

Maybe, it's because I don't like ghosts; maybe, it's because I'm susceptible to frightful things; maybe, it's because Stroud is such an excellent writer that he has a way of conveying a proper sense of horror and describing terrifying things.  Either way, I frequently found myself reading during the daylight hour or flipping all the lights on in my bedroom to combat the eerie feelings of impending doom.

Afterlife with Archie

Archie Comic Publications

Afterlife with Archie:  Escape from Riverdale (Volume 1)
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Francesco Francavilla
2014

The Summary
"This is how the end of the world begins...

"All hell breaks loose when a fateful accident sets in motion a series of terrifying events that will threaten the town of Riverdale like never before!  When the dead begin to rise, craving human flesh, it's up to Archie, Betty, and Veronica, and the Gang to fight for their lives against the zombie hordes led by their former pal, Jughead...

"Harvey Award-winning writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Archie Meets GLEE, Stephen King's The Stand) and Eisner-winning artist Francesco Francavilla (The Black Beetle, Guardians of the Galaxy) bring the apocalypse to the world of Archie in a tale that is both gruesome and heartbreaking."

The Good
A friend recommended reading Afterlife with Archie after we stumbled across Scooby Apocalypse #1 (which I haven't read, but it intrigued me enough that I might) and started on the topic of strange and unusual remakes of our favorite comic books.  She's been a fan of Archie for years and told me it was awesome, even if you aren't a fan of Archie.  So, I decided to go to my local library and check it out.

And I was pleasantly surprised.

Unlike my friend, I'm not really a fan of Archie, or Jughead, or Veronica and Betty.  (I liked Sabrina, but that's a bit of a different story.)  I just couldn't seem to enjoy their interweaving narratives, and I didn't care for the familiar, everyday antics of high school adolescents, especially when I was in high school and saw such things every single day.  I simply wasn't interested.

My attitude toward Archie has changed, of course, since I picked up Afterlife with Archie.  Not only does it offer an intriguing blend of horror and reality, it gives you a new perspective on the characters you once knew.   (Seriously, you'll never look at Jughead the same way again.) It's gut-wrenching to see the gradual collapse of Riverdale, and it tore at my heart to see the safe, calm serenity of Archie's world turned upside-down.

But it was so good.

The story is solid and stands on its own, even if you don't have any experience with Archie or his friends, and it has an unexpected depth; the characters are familiar, but they've been tweaked enough to make them new and intriguing; and the art is stunning, helping to set the grim tone of the entire story and portray the violence the survivors of Riverdale are forced to face.  And it's perfectly scary, enough to give you chills when you're reading it.

Although it incorporates all the old rivalries and romances, it's a story about desperation, loss, and survival--and it's perfectly brutal.  It's a new twist on a favorite classic, and it's well worth reading.  I'd highly recommend it to fans of Archie or the zombie apocalypse genre.

The Bad
Although I didn't have a background with Archie, I understood most of the story and I found it was easy to discern the ties--all the old jealousies, the heated rivalries, and the convoluted friendships--that connected them.  However, I think if I had been familiar with Archie and his friends, I think it would have had more of an impact.

Yes, Afterlife with Archie can stand on its own two feet, but I imagine I would have better understood some of the references to locations, friendships, rivalries, etc. if I'd been familiar with other Archie comics.

The Ugly
Zombies.

Afterlife with Archie is almost on par with The Walking Dead for gore.  No joke, it's hyperviolent and bloody and slightly terrifying.  If you're not a fan of zombies or can't stomach the sight of familiar characters having their throats torn out, I definitely wouldn't recommend it.

Strange and Ever After

HarperTeen

Strange and Ever After
Susan Dennard
2014

The Summary
"It has been a tumultuous time for Eleanor Fitt since life as she knew it in Philadelphia came abruptly to an end.  While the Spirit-Hunters--Joseph, Jie, and Daniel--have helped her survive her brother's violent death and an invasion of Hungry Dead, Elanor has lost just about everything.

"And now, Jie is missing--taken by the evil necromancer Marcus.  Eleanor is determined not only to get her back but to end this nightmare altogether.  But to do so, she must navigate the hot desert streets of nineteenth-century Egypt amid the rising Dead, her unresolved feelings for Daniel, and her volatile relationships with Joseph and Oliver, her demon.  And it won't be easy.  Because now Allison, her friend from Philadelphia, has tagged along, becoming strangely entangled in Eleanor's mission.

"It will take all of Eleanor's powers of black magic, and all of Daniel's and Joseph's trust, to succeed.  But there will be a price.  And only when it is over will Eleanor truly be able to live a strange and ever after life.

"In the conclusion to this epic trilogy, which began with Something Strange and Deadly and continued with A Darkness Strange and Lovely, Susan Dennard will have readers on the edge of their seats, breathless with anticipation, and begging for this story not to end."

The Good
Strange and Ever After is, like the other books of the Susan Dennard's trilogy, pretty enjoyable.  It combines many of the same elements--the mystery, magic, and intrigue--I'd found appealing in her last novels, and it has many of the same characters I'd liked in the past.  Although the plot began to run a little thin after reading two books dedicated to the exact same subject (i.e. chasing down Marcus and stopping his villainy), it did a fair job of bringing the story to a close.

(Not to say that I was pleased with the conclusion, but more on that later.)

Egypt was also an interesting choice of location for the trilogy conclusion.  After spending an entire book in Philadelphia, then a second in Paris, it seemed like such a strange change of course.  Granted, I suppose the last two books hinted at the course of the story, but I have to say I was still a little surprised.  It was an interesting deviation--and, admittedly, I was intrigued to see where their journey would lead.

Like Something Strange and Deadly and A Darkness Strange and Lovely, I was oddly attracted to this novel.  It's something like a guilty pleasure:  no great epic, no poetic lines of verse, but a fairly enjoyable, action-filled story that drags you in and doesn't let go.  I wanted to see how the story would end, and I was determined to finish what I started, even if I did begin to lose a little interest along the way.

The Bad
I felt like this novel introduced too many new concepts to the story that it only briefly touched upon in the previous two.  For instance, it dives deep into Egyptian myth and belief, pulling ancient Egyptian gods from the ether, shining a bright searchlight on the realm of the realm of the dead, which it didn't even remark upon in past books.  Sure, it's hinted at by Elijah in the first book and it's explored in passing by Oliver in the second, but it truly comes to fruition in the third.

Which doesn't make sense to me.  The natural progression seems distorted, especially since it started to explore voodoo and necromancy, which feel like very distinct entities entirely separate from ancient Egypt.  It felt like a jarring transition, especially since I was very curious about Joseph's and Marcus's education in New Orleans.  I think that would have proved a more interesting direction, but that's just my opinion.

Moreover, I was quickly exhausted by the journey.  It felt like it lasted forever and it just kept adding twists to the plot, making the story last altogether too long.  I mean, I could have dealt with one less betrayal; likewise, I could have dealt with less about the intervening journey--or how much Eleanor wanted to kill Marcus (I could have done with less of her internal dilemmas)--and would have appreciated much more description.

After reading Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters, which also takes place in Egypt, I realize what I missed in Dennard's final novel:  setting description.  It falls very short in the third novel and, as I think about it more, it's a great disappointment.  I feel like much of it was left to the imagination, leaving me to connect the pieces and envision the landscape from my own recollections of movie/TV cliches.

Yes, I was a little disappointed.

The Ugly
The conclusion.

Most of the time, I can live with the death of a familiar character if it seems necessary or if I'm braced for it.  I can handle tragedy, even if it breaks my heart.  I survived reading J.R.R. Tolkien's The Children of Húrin and John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and Markus Zusak's Book Thief, so I think I know how to handle the death of a main character and handle it gracefully.

That is, I may bawl like a baby and lament the death of my favorite characters, but I don't condemn the book for playing with my emotions or socking me in the gut.  It's part and parcel of the story.  While I may not like it, while it may be unexpected or heart-rending or just plain upsetting, I usually accept what happens and, sometimes, I even find those books that evoke the most emotion are the best ones I read.

For crying out loud, The Fault in Our Stars and The Book Thief are two of my favorite books.  I love them, and I will read them again and again despite the heartbreak I endure.

However, I didn't feel that way about Strange and Ever After.  When one of the main characters died--I won't say who, because I don't want to spoil the horrible surprise for other readers--it ruined my entire reading experience.  Sure, in hindsight, I can see a couple of the red flags that should have warned me as to what was going to happen.  And, yes, I can see how it set events in motion that brought Marcus to his knees.

But I don't care.

This one death, this one person who had to die for some ancient riddle to be solved, completely ruined the novel for me.  It seemed so entirely pointless, given what I know about the other characters and their abilities.  I don't care if the novel closed with the characters picking up the pieces, honoring their fallen comrade and moving on to a better, brighter future.  It simply isn't enough.  It will never be enough to redeem this novel for me.

Read Harder Challenge (Part Three)

I've discovered some more books as part of my commitment to the Read Harder Challenge of 2016, and I've discovered some great stories in my explorations.  I have managed to:

1. Read a horror book.
2. Read the first book in a series by a person of color.
3. Read a play.

HarperTeen

Usually, I don't read horror novels.  Dracula and Frankenstein are about it for me, but I have managed to read Stephen King's The Shining and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, among a handful of other novels that are considered good and scary.  And so, in order to satisfy my challenge criterion and read a horror story, I read Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard.

Although I didn't initially lump Dennard's novel into the horror genre, I reconsidered my stance after necromancy and ritualized violence became involved.  The novel is pretty mild, all things considered--I mean, I certainly wouldn't put it at the level of The Walking Dead or Stephen King, or even Dracula--but it's still rather gory and riddled with a tough kind of suspense that leaves you hanging on the edge of your seat, hoping for more answers.  However, I think it's the zombies that pushed it over the edge and helped me give it a final designation as a horror novel.

I wouldn't call Something Strange and Deadly one of my favorites, but it isn't a bad book; in fact, I initially enjoyed it.  I liked the creepy atmosphere of it coupled with the turn of the century setting, and I even liked the story:  a wicked necromancer comes back from the dead to terrorize Eleanor Fitt, while the Dead continue to rise from their graves across Philadelphia.  It's an intriguing adventure, to say the least; however, I wasn't entirely thrilled with the story when I examined it in retrospect.  The phrase "shut pan" annoyed me to no end.  (Part of me began to think the author found a new, novel phrase and decided to run with it.)

Harper Voyager

Next, in reading the first book in a series by a person of color, I picked up My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due.  As the first book in the African Immortals series, My Soul to Keep fit the bill perfectly to fulfill this challenge and check it off my list.  I stumbled across it purely by accident, finding it in audiobook form from my local library's website--and I was immediately hooked.

I was intrigued by the premise:  an Ethiopian warrior stumbles across the secret to immortality and spends the rest of his eternal life alternating between identities, enduring a number of years as a slave on a Southern plantation, before becoming a Civil War soldier, a jazz singer, and, finally, a college professor and author.  His story is one of sorrow and loss, desperation in trying to hold tight to the ones he loves.  I was riveted from the first word, from the first moment the narrator spoke and started to weave a complex, beautiful story about Dawit--David--and his wife, Jessica.

At just over eighteen hours long, it took me a number of weeks whittling away at the story to complete it, but I have to say I was thrilled.  It's detailed and strongly written (and narrated by Peter Francis James, who has an amazing voice by the way), and it's absolutely riveting.  The story packs a punch, pulling together a myriad of religions, myths, cultures, and countries to create a flawless tapestry of history and suspense, beauty and sorrow.  I became emotionally invested in Dawit and Jessica's story, and I found myself hoping for the best outcome--and crying (just a little) when tragedy strikes.  I highly recommend picking up My Soul to Keep and reading it for yourself.

Dover Publications

Last, I worked on Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House.  Having read a portion of the play during a theater history class in college, I was intrigued about the prospect of reading the entire play this time around.  It was just my good fortune that I found a copy of the play for a dollar at my local used bookstore.  It's almost as if it was fated to be.

A Doll's House is an interesting play, not action-packed or suspenseful (like either of the two entries listed above).  For the time period, it's thought-provoking and, even now, it raises a lot of questions about women as spouses and mothers--and what are the typical roles of women in society.  It's a play designed to make you think, rather than thrill you.

Personally, I thought it was fascinating to see how Nora managed to flaunt convention, managed to get what she wanted despite the restrictive constraints of her time that were placed upon her gender, and, more importantly, proved she was capable of making her own decisions.  It's a bit slow, but I think it's worth reading at least once, especially if you're interested in theater.

A Darkness Strange and Lovely

HarperTeen

A Darkness Strange and Lovely
Susan Dennard
2013

The Summary
"After helping the Spirit-Hunters save Philadelphia from the walking Dead, Eleanor Fitt must now face the thing she couldn't stop:  her brother's death, her mother's deteriorating health, and the sting of unrequited love.  But when she encounters the necromancer Marcus again, she must seek the help of Joseph, Jie, and the gorgeous Daniel--who have all fled to Paris.

"On her way to France, Eleanor meets Oliver, who claims to have known her brother.  Though friendly, Oliver harbors a secret involving black magic that entices Eleanor.  Trying to resist it, she rejoins the Spirit-Hunters in hopes of stopping Marcus.

"But the Dead have taken over Paris, and there's a whole new evil lurking.  Eleanor is now forced to make a dangerous decision--and her choice could mean life or death for everyone."

The Good
Oddly enough, I devoured this book.  Something about it appealed to me and kept me riveted to the page.  I can't say why, either.  It's packed with action, a handful of decent characters, a few plot twists I didn't expect, and I was somehow hooked--drawn inexplicably into a crazy, wild story that crosses the Atlantic and drives right into the heart of Paris.

I'll be the first to admit that A Darkness Strange and Lovely isn't a great book.  I mean, it isn't an epic or an immediate classic, but it's fun and interesting--and it appealed to me on a certain level.  I liked the idea of zombies using the catacombs of Paris to take more victims, to create more havoc.  It's an intriguing concept.  It's exciting and full of heart-pounding action, a few fascinating inventions and weird (read:  mad scientist) science, but it's fun to read.

I can't really tell you why, but I really liked reading Susan Dennard's novel.  I liked it well enough that I managed to finish it within a couple of days.

The Bad
A Darkness Strange and Lovely doesn't have the best writing.  It isn't always compelling and, admittedly, it lost my attention a couple of times.  Granted, I still finished it in, like, two days, but it's not a great novel.  It's dark and grisly, but it has a bad habit of throwing up unnecessary smokescreens that I found annoying and, more often than not,  offered zero explanation for magic.

It continually led me on to one misadventure after another, propelling the story forward with one event after another, culminating in an obvious (to the reader) conclusion.  I felt there were a few gaps in the story:  why was Marcus in France to begin with?  I mean, it's not like it was a particularly compelling destination.  And why doesn't anyone explain circumstances--and magic--to Eleanor when it would keep her out of danger?

Basically, Eleanor is a loaded cannon.  And, instead of teaching her how to aim in the right direction or, you know, telling her to keep a burning match away from the fuse, they all (but Oliver and Joseph, in particular) seem content to let her walk around in ignorance.  She could had been spared a lot of problems and everyone else could have been saved a lot of trouble if they'd just told her the truth.

Sheesh.

The Ugly
Flesh-eating zombies.

Oh, and soul-sucking demons.

And reanimated animal corpses.

World War Z

Random House

World War Z
Max Brooks
2006

The Summary
"We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by that terrible time?  We have (temporarily?) defeated the living dead but at what cost.  Told in the haunting and riveting voices of the men and women who witnessed the horror firsthand, World War Z is the only record of the plague years."

The Good
I ventured back into Max Brooks' zombie-infested world recently with the help of an audiobook.  Already an ardent fan of World War Z, I was intrigued by the idea of actually listening to the story and, since it featured a full cast (among them Nathan Fillion, Martin Scorsese, and, of course, Mark Hamill), I couldn't wait to get started.  While I was a little disappointed to learn I found an abridged copy after borrowing it from my library website, I wasn't disappointed by the storytelling.

It was thrilling to hear the stories brought to life, to hear the voices of these characters that I'd envisioned in previous readings of World War Z.  I loved listening to my audiobook and, if I'm being honest, I finished it in a little over two days.  I popped in my earbuds and listened to my audiobook at every opportunity, listening to the brutal civil war in Israel during my car ride to work, listening to Todd Wainio recount the Battle of Yonkers as I walked my dog, listening to events unfold in the castles of England when I cooked dinner.

I couldn't put it away, I couldn't stop.  I was hooked from the introduction, just like I'd been hooked when I first picked up World War Z--when I read those first few stories and became embroiled in the conflict, in the desperation for survival.

The audiobook is just as addictive as the novel.

The Bad
I had an abridged copy of World War Z.

Honestly, I feel like I missed out on so much.  The audiobook barely looked at what happened in India and Japan, didn't even touch upon events in Russia, didn't recount what happened in the flooded catacombs beneath Paris or the Pacific Ocean, and it certainly didn't tell the reader what happened to the astronauts stuck on the space station orbiting Earth.

Those are the stories I missed, the stories I'd dearly loved to have heard.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed listening to the audiobook and I would highly recommended it to any fans of World War Z; however, I wish it had had more of the stories I'd enjoyed.

The Ugly
Zombies.  Horrible, mindless, flesh-eating zombies.

It's bound to make you queasy at some point.

Something Strange and Deadly

HarperTeen

Something Strange and Deadly
Susan Dennard
2012

The Summary
"After her father dies and her brother mysteriously goes missing, Eleanor Fitt is left to deal with her family's declining financial state.  And with her controlling mother trying to marry her off, sixteen-year-old Eleanor doesn't think life could get more complicated.

"But then the Dead start walking.

"Desperate to solve the mystery of her brother's disappearance, Eleanor ventures into the private lab of the elusive Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces.  Always a social misfit, Eleanor finally feels at home among the intelligent Joseph, feisty Jie, and extremely stubborn yet gorgeous Daniel.  But the more time she spends with them, the more dangerous her life becomes."

The Good
Admittedly, I really liked reading Something Strange and Deadly.  It's something of a guilty pleasure:  magic, zombies, romance--it's something dark and sinister and, oddly enough, fun.  While I can't say it's perfect, I enjoyed Susan Dennard's novel.  It has a strangely intriguing concept, a decent set of characters, and a narrator who isn't half bad.

It's not a complex novel by any means; rather, it sometimes sets out to deflect the readers attention by throwing road blocks in the way.  But it has a simplicity that makes it easy to read and, more to the point, makes it a quick novel.  I finished it in a couple of days and found myself oddly satisfied, even if the story ended with a bit of a cliff-hanger--and a number of unanswered questions.

Overall, I liked it.

The Bad
"Shut pan"?

Let me be honest, I hated that phrase.  It was used far too often, and it was just such a ridiculous phrase, so silly that I found it hard to believe it was an accurate phrase plucked from history.  I tried researching it, trying to find out what exactly it meant and where it originated, but I only found references of it in Old West slang, caught between words like "shave tail" or "gringo" or "horse feathers."

I mean, really?  I could maybe understand Jie, who seems to have some experience with the American west, but Eleanor?  As a proper young lady of the American semi-aristocracy, where would she have even learned it?

And, following the same vein of incredulity, I can't help but wonder why Eleanor seems like such a strange combination of prim, proper society miss and raging feminist.  I feel like she needs to be one or the other:  either she needs to embrace her feminist tendencies and completely balk against social expectations, including her mother's designs for an advantageous marriage, or she should better reflect the conventions of the day.

She shouldn't pretend to be a wilting violet one moment, fanning herself for a young man breaching social etiquette by taking her aside or taking her hand, and then turn around and sneak out of her house with another boy.  I need a little more balance, please.

Not that Eleanor does a very good job of reflecting the social conventions of 19th century Philadelphia.  But that's probably my biggest complaint with Dennard's novel:  inaccurate history.  Granted, I realize it reflects an entirely different age in which necromancy and zombies exist; however, I just couldn't stand that so many historical details were just plain wrong.  It annoyed me more than it probably should have.

In my opinion, if an author is going to write a fantasy novel set in the late 1800s in Philadelphia, either stick to said alternative timeline--where everything is different, including society and its expectations--or stay true to history.  Don't pick and choose.

And Eleanor Fitt's fascination with Shakespeare annoyed me.  Don't ask me why, but it did.

The Ugly
Zombies.

Ugly, horrible, flesh-eating zombies.

Read Harder Challenge (Part One)

As part of the Read Harder Challenge for 2016, I've picked several books to fulfill some of the criteria.  So far, I've managed to:

1. Read a middle grade novel
2. Listen to an audiobook that has won an Audie Award
3. Read a non-superhero comic that debuted in the last three years

Candlewick Press

For my middle grade novel, I completed Flora and Ulysses:  The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo.  A fun little book with amusing illustrations, Flora and Ulysses was a nice surprise for me.  I picked it up for the simple fact that it had a squirrel on the cover.  I simply couldn't help myself--I mean, who wouldn't be enticed by a book that has a squirrel as a main character?  (Not a friend of mine, I can say with certainty.)

Anyway, the main point is that I really liked DiCamillo's novel.  It caters to a younger audience, yes, but it's accessible and enjoyable to read even as an adult.  It toys with more mature themes, like divorce; however, it does so in a way that's understood by children and appealing to parents.  It's a good book with a good story (an odd story, but a good story nevertheless).  DiCamillo is also the author of  Because of Winn Dixie, and she further cements her reputation as an exceptional author with Flora and Ulysses.

Random House

Now, to fulfill my audiobook requirement, I actually revisited World War Z by Max Brooks.  I originally listened to the audiobook simply because I loved World War Z and I was intrigued to see what a full cast would be like reading it (especially since I discovered it featured Nathan Fillion, Martin Scorsese, and, of course, Mark Hamill).  It was just a happy accident that I happened to stumble across an Audie Award winner from 2007.

I highly recommend listening to World War Z if you've read the book--or, actually, even if you haven't read the book.  Having a full cast, World War Z  is singularly entertaining as an audiobook.  It's still full of the same stories, the same diversity and detail that made it such a wonderful novel, but, now, you have the chance to actually listen to those stories and more fully imagine the characters behind them.

(I will note, however, that I think I picked up an abridged version of the novel.  I don't know if the abridged novel is the only one available, or if there's a copy of the audiobook out there that has every single chapter, but, regardless, I recommend trying to get your hands on the full copy for the greatest effect.  My only complaint was that it left out some of my favorite chapters.)

Dark Horse

And then there's my non-superhero comic:  Lady Killer by Jamie S. Rich and Joelle Jones.  I picked up Lady Killer at my local comic book store on a whim, because I liked the cover (oddly enough) and I liked the idea of reading about a housewife who worked part-time as a hired killer.  It was a fascinating dynamic that intrigued and compelled me to pick up a copy for myself.

Josie Schuller is far from being a superhero:  she's pragmatic, ruthless, and cold-blooded.  She's a survivor, which means anything goes when it comes to protecting herself and her own (including her darling twin girls).  Overall, I liked reading Lady Killer.  It's probably one of the best comic books I've read within the last year--and it might simply be one of the best I've ever read.  Period.

---

For more on the Read Harder Challenge of 2016, check out Book Riot.  And for more book reviews from Reader's Reach, scroll through the archives to find something you might like.

And, as always, happy reading.

Lady Killer

Dark Horse

Lady Killer
Jamie S. Rich
Joelle Jones
2015

The Summary
"Josie Schuller is a picture-perfect homemaker, wife, and mother - but she's also a ruthless, effiecient killer!  She balances cheerful domestic bliss with coldly performed assassinations, but when Josie finds herself in the crosshairs, her American-dream life is in danger!

"This new, original black-comedy series combines the wholesome imagery of early mid-century domestic bliss with a tightening web of murder, paranoia, and cold-blooded survival."

The Good
Let me say one thing first:  Wow.  Just - wow.

I am not (usually) the type to enjoy graphic illustrations of violence; however, I really enjoyed Lady Killer.  Josie is a really great character.  Complex, considering her dueling identities as American housewife and cold-blooded assassin, but she's competent and intelligent - and, holy cow, she's tough as nails.  As her creators pointed out in an interview with Comics Alliance, Josie is "one of the most capable people you'd be likely to meet."

Girl power, you know?

I also like Josie because she's a character who is constantly evolving.  When she encounters a problem, she works to resolve it; when she's faced with life-and-death decisions, she makes them and adapts her strategies.  You get to see multiple sides of her personality and, more importantly, you get to see her worlds collide - and how she deals with it.

Additionally, I liked the intrigue involved.  Josie's story is neither straight-forward nor simple:  It's an intricately woven series of events, murders, and decisions that have lead up to a specific point in her life.  It's her fight for survival (which is simple enough to understand), but it's riddled with complex relationships and political affiliations that gives it an undercurrent of suspense, reflecting a power-struggle that's much bigger than Josie could ever imagine.

I should note that, while the story is amazing, so is the art.  I absolutely loved the colors and the style of Lady Killer; in fact, I loved everything about it.  The artist does a fantastic job of drawing details - accurate historical details, I might add - and, more importantly, bringing each individual character to life.  This beautiful imagery, combined with exceptional storytelling, makes Lady Killer one of the best comics I've read this year.

(Besides the ongoing story of Spider-Gwen, of course.)

The Bad
Honestly, I have no complaints.  Lady Killer was an exceptional comic with incredible characters, an amazing story, and wonderful artistic details.

The Ugly
Gore.  Lots and lots of gore - let me amend, lots and lots of graphic depictions of gore and violence.  It's really quite disturbing, and I'm saying this after I started reading the new Fight Club.

-

For more about Comic Alliance's interview from Joelle Jones and Jamie S. Rich, check out:  http://comicsalliance.com/joelle-jones-jamie-s-rich-lady-killer-interview/

Anya's Ghost

Square Fish

Anya's Ghost
Vera Brosgol
2012

The Summary
"Of all the things Anya expected to find at the bottom of an old well, a new friend wasn't one of them.  Especially not a new friend who's been dead for a century.

"Falling down a well is bad enough, but Anya's normal life might actually be worse.  She's embarrassed by her family, self-conscious about her body, and she's pretty much given up on fitting in at school.  A new friend - even a dead one - is just what she needs.

"But Anya's new B.F.F. isn't kidding about the 'forever' part..."

The Good
I liked reading Anya's Ghost.  Brosgol does an excellent job of highlighting the difficulties most teenagers face - peer pressure, family expectations, body image and identity issues - and she makes Anya's story accessible, makes it easy to become embroiled in her life, her misadventures with Emily (aka her ghost).

I also liked the Brosgol's illustrations.  I liked the flow of the panels and her art style, which conveyed a host of thoughts and feelings, keeping pages uncluttered and simple and smooth.  And the story is intriguing, unfolding a story that's suspenseful and creepy without overwhelming you with scary characters or gore.

Granted, it touches upon mature themes and ideas, but it's a something of a "gentle" ghost story that didn't leave me with that familiar, creepy-crawly feeling.  Moreover, while it might bring up certain mature topics - like sex, drugs, death, et cetera - it's no more than any adolescent would be introduced to in their regular lives.

Overall, Anya's Ghost is a good graphic novel with great art and a solid story.

The Bad
Anya is a young girl in search of a place to belong at school, among peers, with friends and family, but she's floundering - and she sometimes lashes out in response.  It makes me wince, sometimes, when she's cruel to her mother and brother, her friends, and others, and it's rather difficult to relive those angst-riddled years.

She's a good person, underneath it all.  You just don't get to see it at first.

The Ugly
Murder, but not what you originally expect.  There's a bit of madness and obsession involved, throw in a little tragedy - and you have a rather grim adventure.

Bonus: Final Descent

Simon & Schuster

The Final Descent
Rick Yancey
2013

The Summary
"Will Henry and Dr. Warthrop have encountered many horrors together - but can Will endure a monstrumological terror without his mentor?

"Will Henry has been through more than seems possible for a boy of fourteen.  He's been on the brink of death on more than one occasion, he has gazed into hell - and hell has stared back at him, and known his face.  But through it all, Dr. Warthrop has been at his side.

"When Dr. Warthop fears that Will's loyalties may be shifting, he turns on Will with a fury, determined to reclaim his young apprentice's devotion.  And so Will must face one of the most horrific creatures of his monstrumology career - and he must face it alone.

"Over the course of one day, Will's life - and Pellinor Warthrop's destiny - will lie in the balance.  In the terrifying depths of the Monstrumarium, they will face a monster more terrible than they could have imagined - and their fates will be decided."

The Good
Finally, the series is finished.  I read The Monstrumologist a few years ago (you can check out my previous review of The Monstrumologist here), and I was enchanted.  Frightened, but utterly enthralled by the monsters that Rick Yancey created and/or revived from the brink of extinction.

And Will Henry - poor, young Will Henry who had the grievous misfortune to be placed into Pellinore Walthrop's care - is one of the most endearing characters I've had the pleasure to meet.  He's articulate and intelligent, even as a young child; he's stalwart and dependable; he's a good, solid character who's tangled up in a web of intrigue and mystery and danger, and I loved reading his journals.

You have the opportunity to see how he grows, in which ways he (sometimes suddenly) matures.  And in Final Descent, you have the opportunity to see him as an adult - to see how his tutelage under Walthrop his changed (or, rather, deformed) him.  It's interesting and simultaneously terrifying to Will Henry all grown up, because we know that Will is no longer the same person we knew.

It's heartbreaking, and it rings with a note of grave finality.  But it really couldn't have ended any other way, because, once Pellinore Walthrop made his ground-breaking discovery, his fate - and Will Henry's - was sealed.  Final Descent is a heart-rending conclusion to a terrifying series that won me over.

And I'm glad to finally find closure.

The Bad
Will Henry is all grown up and, more or less, he's lost his mind.

No, I shouldn't say that.  I don't think he's lost his mind; I think he's scarred, possibly changed - damaged - beyond any real redemption.  And his journals reflect that.

Sometimes, his story becomes disjointed and wild, reflecting his state of mind.  It's difficult to read when he's like that, because what he says and what he means don't always coincide.  He's sometimes difficult to understand, and I'm often under the wrong impression about what's happening and what's going on - and it doesn't help that Will Henry bounces his narrative between different points in the past.

It's frustrating and, admittedly, a little terrifying.

The Ugly
I though the other books in the Monstrumologist series were scary - the anthropophagi and the wendigo were terrifying creatures, and Socotra is a horrible, horrible place I would never imagine visiting - but The Final Descent is worse.

Much, much worse.

I don't think I'll ever look at Will Henry the same way again.

The Shining

Doubleday Books

The Shining
Stephen King
1977

The Summary
"Jack Torrance's new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start.  As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he'll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing.  But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote...and more sinister.  And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old."

The Good
Stephen King is an excellent writer.  His characters are fleshed out and full-bodied (and, more importantly, interesting), his writing is clear and precise (if a little heavy on wasp imagery), and his story is well formed and intricate.  And he makes, as one might expect, The Shining a triumph of the horror genre.

Like any number of his books, The Shining is a gravely unsettling novel.  It preys upon one's innate fears of isolation, darkness, doubt and despair - and the unnatural things which creep into the hallways, entirely unseen.  It shows one man's digression into madness, and one young boy's desperate fight to survive against a place that's intent on swallowing him whole.

If you're looking for a good scare or if you're looking for a novel that will give you chills and make your skin crawl, then The Shining is certainly a good place to start.

The Bad
I read The Shining as an ebook on my tablet.  While I still enjoyed it, I think something was lost in translation when I read it electronically.  It just didn't seem as scary and it felt a little more disjointed, like parts were split up when they shouldn't have been, like it had been formatted wrong.

Let's just say, I probably would have enjoyed it more if I'd actually read the physical book.  (Or, at least, found a larger screen than my tablet phone.)

The Ugly
Do I even want to get into how disturbing and morbidly terrifying this book was?

I found The Shining to be one of the scariest, one of the most unusual books I've ever read.  I was frightened by King's novel, but I was also disturbed and disgusted by the gruesome things lurking in the halls of the Overlook Hotel.  Danny has a frightening gift, which would have made The Shining eerie no matter the circumstances; however, King takes it a step further and introduces a cast of malevolent spirits, throws in some wasps and a grisly history for a sinister (and sentient) hotel - and a particularly fiendish ghoul in Room 217.

You see, I've realized that King has a way of really making you feel emotions, making you feel what his characters feel in certain situations, and he has a way of unsettling you with his writing.  I often felt squeamish and nervous, a lingering sense of disquiet, as I read The Shining - and it never really went away.  Not even after I finished the novel.

Which, I suppose, is the real point of horror:  it stays with you.

Unfinished III

I love books.  I love books to the point of being obsessive, in fact, and I have a funny habit of wanting to complete each and every book I open.  Sometimes, that's not practical, I know; sometimes, I don't have time or I don't have the inclination to read (shocking) or I simply lose interest - and, sometimes, a book is just plain bad.

Here are a few of those books that I just couldn't seem to finish.

-

Barron's Educational Series

I picked up Twisted Fairy Tales by Maura McHugh on a whim one day.  I mistakenly thought it would give me a glimpse at my favorite fairy tales as they were originally told - they're twisted enough as it is, and they need no tweaking in order to perturb or frighten readers - but I discovered that McHugh hadn't simply gathered up my favorite fairy tales, she'd rewritten and revised them to reflect altogether different stories.

While I was intrigued by the retelling of "Snow White," in which delicate little Snow White became a fierce and merciless warrior, I just couldn't seem to stay with the story for very long.  I simply had no interest in seeing my favorite tales remade.

I mean, I grew up on Disney movies, so I've seen every fathomable reincarnation of fairy tales possible; however, I've also perused the original stories, seeing them as they were intended to be read.  And I expected to have a glimpse of some of the most sinister, most frightening, most gruesome fairy tales imaginable, as the Hans Christen Anderson and the Brothers Grimm intended.

I was a bit disappointed, and I quickly lost interest.

-

Pantheon

Emma:  A Modern Retelling by Alexander McCall Smith is, of course, a remake of the classic Emma by Jane Austen.  Although it borrows heavily from the original work, Emma:  A Modern Retelling is an entirely unique piece of work that gives a delightfully modern twist to Austen's most beloved characters.

McCall Smith has an interesting way of reincarnating Jane Austen's characters, her prose, her wit, her intelligence, without compromising his own sense of style and his own sense of humor.  And I think he does a fine job of bringing Emma into the twenty-first century.

However, I didn't find Emma endearing in the slightest.  As a character, she had a narrow field of vision and she had a selfishness that just didn't agree with me.  Granted, I enjoyed McCall Smith's writing and I liked the overall tone of the novel - and I'm quite sure that Smith stays close to Austen's original characters - but I just couldn't seem to enjoy Emma.

I disliked her on a personal level, especially when she continued to exert her influence on Harriet.  I just didn't like her and, with her being the main character of the novel, I struggled to stay with it, until, finally, I just gave up and put it aside.

- 

Harry N. Abrams Publishers

I was enchanted by the cover of The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier.  I absolutely loved the way it looked, the blues and greens and blacks that combined to form a chilling and intriguing cover.  It invited me in, enchanted me unexpectedly, and I could not wait to read the book.

And then I read the book.

I liked The Night Gardener.  I was intrigued by the premise, I admired the characters and character descriptions, and I even enjoyed the level of detail which Auxier provided.  He fashioned a tale that was both spooky and suspenseful without growing macabre or gruesome.  It seemed to have such promise - and I really had high hopes - but I just couldn't dig into the story.

I don't know what happened.  I put it down, and then I finally put it aside without bothering to get farther than the fourth or fifth chapter.

-

Pyr

Ghosts of Manhattan by George Mann appealed to my interest in science-fiction and history, creating a fascinating world that opens in the midst of the Prohibition - when Britain still claims an empire, Queen Victoria has only recently been buried, and biplanes and coal-powered cars are a favored form of transportation - and fashions an intriguing antihero in The Ghost.

Unfortunately, The Ghost simply felt like a cruder reincarnation of Batman, living a double life (which reminisced of Fitzgerald's Gatsby) and fighting his own personal demons as he fights crime, and I wasn't impressed by the writing.  It read like a noir film feels:  dramatic, drab, and gray - and I just didn't care for it.

Not to mention I wasn't too fond of the unmitigated gore.  It just didn't suit me.

Maybe, I'll try it again in the future and, maybe then, I'll appreciate it; however, for the time being, I'll stick with other books.

Neverwhere

Avon

Neverwhere
Neil Gaiman
1998

The Summary
"Richard Mayhew is a young man with a good heart and an ordinary life, which is changed forever when he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk.  His small act of kindness propels him into a world he never dreamed existed.  There are people who fall through the cracks, and Richard has become one of them.  And he must learn to survive in this city of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels, if he is ever to return to the London that he knew."

The Good
Door is endearing and (most of the time) sweet, if only a little scary.  De Carabas is unusual, possibly dangerous, but always interesting.  And Richard Mayhew - well, you simply feel sorry for the poor sot who gets mixed up in all the madness.  Together, they have a very intriguing dynamic and an interesting story to weave.

All told, I enjoyed Neverwhere.  It has an intriguing blend of myth and urban legend, human error and horror, and a good versus evil dynamic - or, more accurately, an epic struggle for survival between good and evil, between survival and oblivion - that kept me coming back time and again.

Islington, the angel, was particularly interesting:  I wanted to know who he (or, more accurately, it) was and what he was planning and where he fit into the whole grand scheme of things.  He's an intriguing and intimidating character, and I was constantly curious to see where he would lead.

The Bad
Neverwhere was highly unusual.

Not a bad thing for the most part, but I wasn't quite sure what to make of it.  Laced with urban legends, myths, religious detritus, and horrors that can only come from the most terrifying nightmares, Neverwhere is a story that has no clear resolution.  It simply is what it is - and there's certainly more to it, but I'm just not sure what.

The Ugly
There is death involved, which is gruesome and disheartening on its own, but coupled with Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, it's downright bloody.  Moreover, I found the world under London to be incredibly frightening.  There's something inherently terrifying about the notion of an invisible world existing beneath our own, of getting sucked into it and being completely, utterly forgotten.

Total obscurity is a frightening thing.