What Are We Currently Reading?

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, isalicat said:

I may be missing something significant here, but Lagercrantz writes in Swedish (as did Stieg Larsson) so these three continuation books are all translated from Swedish into English. Stop me if I'm completely missing your point....

I am guessing that @Rushmoras may be from Lithuania and is awaiting a translation that will come to their country.

I'm curious about these books not written by Larssen, does everyone still want to fuck Mikel?  That's what started to turn me off the books.  And the Holes series.  And Reacher.  All these book series where the man is just so irresistible that even the one or two cool female characters need to get a piece of that.

[Rushmoras]

14 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I am guessing that @Rushmoras may be from Lithuania and is awaiting a translation that will come to their country.

Ditto 🙊

Well, at least in that Spider's Webb book (the first one not by Larsson), his mistress still wants to be with him and has aa minor role in the book (whereas in the movie, not so much), so I guess? And then there's Lisbeth as well, but, well, she's Lisbeth, so she does what she wants.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Rushmoras

[OtterMommy]

I finished two notable books in the last 24 hours.

First, We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry.  I loved this story of an 80s field hockey team that makes a pact with the Devil (who they call Emilio because the book they write their name in is a spiral notebook with Emilio Estevez's picture on the cover) to have a winning season.  80s nostalgia is always great, but I really appreciated how it examines the societal limits on young people and how they break free of them and, to do so, Barry ties it into the Salem Witch Trials.

Secondly, I have conquered my Everest.  I finished Middlemarch this morning.  While I own a copy, I opted to read it using the Serial app, which sends a 5-15 minute "chunk" each day to read.  I would never have been able to slog through this without it.  So, was it worth it?  No.  I hated it.  There were far too many story lines, all of which could have--and should have--been their own novels.  To be fair, I would have loved it in college when I was at the peak of my own self-righteousness, but now I just hated it...

[Starleigh]

I like Middlemarch, it's actually one of my favorite novels, and I've read it through 3 or 4 times. That said, it's a very bloated novel and some plot strands (like the local politics) are harder to slog through. The strongest element in all of her books are her characters, and somehow she makes Dorothea sympathetic rather than priggish. And I love Mary--she's a great character.

My favorite Eliot book is Daniel Deronda--it has my favorite opening line of all time, and has such such a great romantic tension between the two main characters. I dislike the ending, but the endings are usually the weakest (or maybe, sappiest) part of her books.

Currently I am about to start a standalone Elly Griffiths book, Stranger Diaries. I gave up on the Ruth Galloway series awhile ago, because the relationship drama was reaching  the annoying point, but I still like her writing, so I hope this one is good.

Edited February 19, 2021 by Starleigh

[kateleh]

On 2/13/2021 at 3:03 PM, Growsonwalls said:

Well ... I'm currently reading the book my dad just self-published on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08W7SNNF6?pf_rd_r=3JNG9GWN7R3DWJX6FHHE&pf_rd_p=5ae2c7f8-e0c6-4f35-9071-dc3240e894a8&pd_rd_r=d01abda7-1375-41af-853a-113873d5310b&pd_rd_w=WMjHm&pd_rd_wg=A0QDH&ref_=pd_gw_unk

Even though my knowledge of blackjack is almost nothing and I have no clue what he's talking about with his system of card-counting I'm  just supporting it because it's his book.

Love the description! Gonna purchase it later and read 🙂

[Haleth]

18 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

Secondly, I have conquered my Everest.  I finished Middlemarch this morning.  While I own a copy, I opted to read it using the Serial app, which sends a 5-15 minute "chunk" each day to read.  I would never have been able to slog through this without it.  So, was it worth it?  No.  I hated it.  There were far too many story lines, all of which could have--and should have--been their own novels.  To be fair, I would have loved it in college when I was at the peak of my own self-righteousness, but now I just hated it...

Ugh, I hated it too.  Skimmed that last 100 pages or so just to say I finished it.

[Ailianna]

A friend of mine just published this really amazing memoir of a trip she actually took, going across the country on horseback by herself with just her animals. It's really well written and insightful. I'm so excited she got it published and I can read it all in one piece instead of chunks at a writer's group!

https://www.amazon.com/Distant-Skies-American-Journey-Horseback-ebook/dp/B08MKVSPRG/ref=pd_ybh_a_22?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QCKEQGHER8TV331QNG44 

[peacheslatour]

2 hours ago, Ailianna said:

A friend of mine just published this really amazing memoir of a trip she actually took, going across the country on horseback by herself with just her animals. It's really well written and insightful. I'm so excited she got it published and I can read it all in one piece instead of chunks at a writer's group!

https://www.amazon.com/Distant-Skies-American-Journey-Horseback-ebook/dp/B08MKVSPRG/ref=pd_ybh_a_22?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QCKEQGHER8TV331QNG44 

Oh, that was my dream as a young girl. How brave she is.

[sugarbaker design]

On 2/19/2021 at 4:20 PM, Starleigh said:

I like Middlemarch, it's actually one of my favorite novels, and I've read it through 3 or 4 times. That said, it's a very bloated novel and some plot strands (like the local politics) are harder to slog through. The strongest element in all of her books are her characters, and somehow she makes Dorothea sympathetic rather than priggish. And I love Mary--she's a great character.

Same here, I keep a tattered paperback on my nightstand at all times (right next to Anna Karenina).  I read the last page for the passage about unhistoric acts and unvisited tombs on a regular basis.  I find it uplifting.  And I agree, Mary is way more relatable and rootable than Dorothea or Rosamund.

[Danny Franks]

I just finished Olive, Mabel and Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs by Andrew Cotter. He's a sports commentator who made some viral videos during the lockdown, commentating on his two Labradors doing mundane things like eating their breakfast or lazily fighting over a toy. The book is a really warm, sweet look at how dogs can enrich your life and become an integral part of your existence. It's funny and heartwarming and really a must for any dog lover.

[Browncoat]

3 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

I just finished Olive, Mabel and Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs by Andrew Cotter. He's a sports commentator who made some viral videos during the lockdown, commentating on his two Labradors doing mundane things like eating their breakfast or lazily fighting over a toy. The book is a really warm, sweet look at how dogs can enrich your life and become an integral part of your existence. It's funny and heartwarming and really a must for any dog lover.

I loved those videos!  I didn't know he'd written a book, too.  

[proserpina65]

On ‎02‎/‎19‎/‎2021 at 4:20 PM, Starleigh said:

Currently I am about to start a standalone Elly Griffiths book, Stranger Diaries. I gave up on the Ruth Galloway series awhile ago, because the relationship drama was reaching  the annoying point, but I still like her writing, so I hope this one is good.

I really enjoyed The Stranger Diaries.  I found it pretty gripping, and actually didn't figure out the solution.  (I'm with you on the Ruth Galloway series - I did read the last one, The Lantern Men, and while I liked the mystery in that one, the relationship crap made me want to scream.)

[Rushmoras]

Began reading Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor. Decided to delve in to classical literature all of a sudden. I read seven chapters already. Don't know what the book is about,

Spoiler

although I'm guessing that Master Ravenswood gonna wow the daughter of Keeper of the Seal and in some way exact revenge on him (because KoS bought from Ravenswood's father the only property he had left after hardships fell) through this.

 

[WinnieWinkle]

I've been reading the Penny Parker Mysteries which was a girls series written by the woman who ghost wrote many of the original Nancy Drews.  I got a "megapack" on kindle for .99 and couldn't resist giving them a try as I am always on the lookout for old series books and because I want light and easily digestible reading right now 🙂 .  Have to say they are a a quick read and if you are interested in classic series books for girls you'll probably enjoy them.  However, hoo boy, the casual racism will remind you very quickly that these books were written in the '30s and '40s and do not stand the test of time.

[sugarbaker design]

1 hour ago, WinnieWinkle said:

However, hoo boy, the casual racism will remind you very quickly that these books were written in the '30s and '40s and do not stand the test of time.

Tell me about it, I'm reading some classic Raymond Chandler right now, some of it is quite uncomfortable.

[WinnieWinkle]

17 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

Tell me about it, I'm reading some classic Raymond Chandler right now, some of it is quite uncomfortable.

I recently re-read a favourite Agatha Christie "A Murder is Announced".  Still loved it but the depiction of one of the characters as an excitable "mittel European" was cringeworthy.  

[sugarbaker design]

27 minutes ago, WinnieWinkle said:

I recently re-read a favourite Agatha Christie "A Murder is Announced".  Still loved it but the depiction of one of the characters as an excitable "mittel European" was cringeworthy.  

Wow, haven't read that in ages, it's still my favorite Miss Marple.  I recently read a Josephine Tey novel where a character was referred to as The Levantine.  I did a little internet research, in the first several editions he was originally referred to as The Dago.  Unbelievable.  

[peacheslatour]

6 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Tell me about it, I'm reading some classic Raymond Chandler right now, some of it is quite uncomfortable.

Which one? All of them I guess. He seemed especially bigoted towards Latinos and Jewish people.

[sugarbaker design]

12 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Which one? All of them I guess. He seemed especially bigoted towards Latinos and Jewish people.

I'm reading Farewell, My Lovely.

[peacheslatour]

7 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

I'm reading Farewell, My Lovely.

He was an angry man.

[sugarbaker design]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

He was an angry man.

Right, great writer, flawed angry man.

[Growsonwalls]

On 2/19/2021 at 10:13 PM, kateleh said:

Love the description! Gonna purchase it later and read 🙂

It's available on kindle now!

[peacheslatour]

2 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Right, great writer, flawed angry man.

Oh yeah, great writer. So many great artists are deeply flawed.

[isalicat]

17 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Oh yeah, great writer. So many great artists are deeply flawed.

I might extend this to say:

So many great people are deeply flawed.

Then again, so many people are deeply flawed and who among us is not? Makes for great writing!!

[sugarbaker design]

1 hour ago, isalicat said:

I might extend this to say:

So many great people are deeply flawed.

Then again, so many people are deeply flawed and who among us is not? Makes for great writing!!

So true!

[Darian]

On 2/22/2021 at 4:25 PM, proserpina65 said:

I really enjoyed The Stranger Diaries.  I found it pretty gripping, and actually didn't figure out the solution.  (I'm with you on the Ruth Galloway series - I did read the last one, The Lantern Men, and while I liked the mystery in that one, the relationship crap made me want to scream.)

I've either bailed on or skimmed the last several Ruth Galloway books but I still enjoy her Magic Men series and thought Stranger Diaries was terrific. It was advertised as a standalone when it came out, I think, but weeks ago, I put an upcoming Elly Griffiths book, The Postscript Murders, on my library ebook holds. It features DC Harbinder Kaur from Stranger Diaries, so apparently, that's a new series. It's coming out March 1st, and I'm third in line for it, so I should be reading it soon. 

I just finished two YA fairy tale retellings by Melissa Bashardoust, Girls Made of Stone and Glass and Girl, Serpent, Thorn, and recommend both. Next up is Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour and I'm next up for the library ebook of Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas, which I'm impatiently awaiting.  

[Crs97]

Since I loved William Kent Krueger’s Ordinary Grace so much, I decided to try   his This Tender Land.  Nope.

I am now reading The Children Act by Ian McEwan.  Just started it, but enjoying it so far.  I am a little surprised because I did not like Atonement.  We shall see.

[Black Knight]

2 hours ago, Darian said:

I just finished two YA fairy tale retellings by Melissa Bashardoust, Girls Made of Stone and Glass and Girl, Serpent, Thorn, and recommend both.

Oo, I read Girl, Serpent, Thorn last year. It's a good setting we haven't seen 8 million times and an interesting heroine in Sorayah, but I especially enjoyed how the author set up the typical love story/love interest and then threw a curve ball.

[proserpina65]

14 hours ago, Darian said:

I put an upcoming Elly Griffiths book, The Postscript Murders, on my library ebook holds. It features DC Harbinder Kaur from Stranger Diaries, so apparently, that's a new series. It's coming out March 1st, and I'm third in line for it, so I should be reading it soon. 

I'll have to check my library for it.  I enjoyed that character a lot.  Hope they have a physical copy, 'cause I don't do ebooks.

[Luckylyn]

After reading his biography, I need someone to make a movie about General Alexandre Dumas.

I’m starting The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez.  It’s described as a comedic romance about a woman on the verge of surgery that could make her infertile who starts falling for a guy who wants kids.

[dubbel zout]

I read The Friend Zone. It's okay; I should have paid more attention to what the plot was before I bought it. Mismatch for me.

[Luckylyn]

20 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

I read The Friend Zone. It's okay; I should have paid more attention to what the plot was before I bought it. Mismatch for me.

I just finished it.  I was annoyed because the description made it sound more comedic but it gets extremely dramatic the further it goes.  The twist towards the end was abrupt and shocking because I was not expecting things to go that bleak before transitioning into the romantic happily ever after.  When I read Nicolas Sparks I am expecting tear jerker angst .  With him you get romance but the happy ending may or may not happen.  Sometimes it’s tragic and sometimes happy.  But I know that before I read it because it’s not advertised as a comedy.  They really should advertise The Friend Zone differently. The other thing I didn’t like was that the author pushed that “Cool Girl” b.s that’s so obnoxious.

What I liked was it took a woman’s issues with her menstrual cycle and fertility seriously.   You had a male lead who didn’t treat her like she was radioactive when she was bleeding but was caretaking instead.  Having a period that can last three weeks of the month and how much she suffered made me really feel for her.   I appreciated someone writing how rough the fatigue and cramp pain can be.  The media tends to treat a women’s period either as a taboo not to be discussed or as something comedic that makes a man’s life difficult.  Usually they push the women is difficult because of hormones trope and this book doesn’t do that.

[Luckylyn]

I am starting the historical novel Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor.  I have been told Amber is a Becky Sharpe, Moll Flanders, or Scarlets O’Hara type of character.  I am interested to see her rise from poverty to wealth.  Apparently this book was banned in the 40s when it was released for being too sexy.  Gone with the Wind is problematic  as hell but Scarlet is compelling severely flawed character.  You hate what she’s doing while dying to read what will happen next.  I have never seen the movie because the stuff in the book that pisses me off made seeing GWTW undesirable for me.  I find I don’t remember Moll Flanders that well.  But I loved Vanity Fair and watching Becky Sharpe strive to attain wealth and how things go wrong for her.  So I am really curious to see how I like Amber.

[dubbel zout]

3 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

I was annoyed because the description made it sound more comedic but it gets extremely dramatic the further it goes.  The twist towards the end was abrupt and shocking because I was not expecting things to go that bleak before transitioning into the romantic happily ever after.

I agree. There are funny moments, but it's not a romp by any means.

[Black Knight]

8 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

I find I don’t remember Moll Flanders that well.  But I loved Vanity Fair and watching Becky Sharpe strive to attain wealth and how things go wrong for her.  So I am really curious to see how I like Amber.

If you haven't read it already, I suggest Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country. Undine Spragg is another highly entertaining character in that same mode.

[Minneapple]

On 2/26/2021 at 8:03 PM, Luckylyn said:

I’m starting The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez.  It’s described as a comedic romance about a woman on the verge of surgery that could make her infertile who starts falling for a guy who wants kids.

 

Spoiler

The ending of this book annoyed the fuck out of me. For fuck's sake. I felt cheated by the whole journey of a woman coming to terms with not being able to get pregnant, only for her to...get pregnant. It had a real "My Sister's Keeper" vibe to it.

 

[dubbel zout]

I was annoyed with that, too, @Minneapple, and then I remembered I was reading was what essentially a romance, so....

Edited March 1, 2021 by dubbel zout
grammar

[kieyra]

I just listened to the audiobook version of The Trauma Cleaner. It's a biography of Sandra Pankhurst, an older Australian trans woman who now does crime scene/suicide/hoarder cleanup. Really fascinating, and Sandra's massively tragic backstory is woven in between different cleanup stories. The writer sometimes get a little more florid and introspective (about herself) than I guess I would want from a biography, but it's really moving (and hugely upsetting in many places). 

I think I originally heard Sandra Pankhurst interviewed on the 'Criminal' podcast. Can't remember how I stumbled across the book. 

ETA: Here's the podcast in question, it's pretty short and would probably give you an idea of your interest level. 

[Luckylyn]

1 hour ago, Minneapple said:

 

  Hide contents

The ending of this book annoyed the fuck out of me. For fuck's sake. I felt cheated by the whole journey of a woman coming to terms with not being able to get pregnant, only for her to...get pregnant. It had a real "My Sister's Keeper" vibe to it.

 

I fully was expecting that to happen.  The book went into a tragic direction and so I figured they would throw in something like that at the end to make it more upbeat.  The book had potential but the author made some missteps with those twists.

Also I got this anti adoption vibe from the book that I didn’t like.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Luckylyn

[BlackberryJam]

On 8/2/2017 at 12:58 AM, GaT said:

I'm reading Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. This is a "book within a book" story which I knew when I bought it, but I didn't realize just how much of a "book within a book" it is, you literally read a whole (sort of) story before you get to the part the book is about which happens about half way through. I have no idea how it will turn out.

So I just finished this and ...I did not enjoy it because I have seen that exact Atticus Pund novel plot somewhere else. As I was reading I kept thinking things like, 

Spoiler

it's the son of the cleaner, he borrowed the vicar's bike, he killed his brother, the landowner knew...

I swear that the whole thing was an episode of Midsomer Murders, or something, which would make sense. But gahhh...I can't figure out where I saw it before. 

[peacheslatour]

6 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

So I just finished this and ...I did not enjoy it because I have seen that exact Atticus Pund novel plot somewhere else. As I was reading I kept thinking things like, 

  Hide contents

it's the son of the cleaner, he borrowed the vicar's bike, he killed his brother, the landowner knew...

I swear that the whole thing was an episode of Midsomer Murders, or something, which would make sense. But gahhh...I can't figure out where I saw it before. 

It's not identical but it reminds me of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.

[BlackberryJam]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

It's not identical but it reminds me of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.

I've read that one, and no, that's not it.

This show was the exact story down to me remembering the sound of the vicar's squeaky bicycle as someone rode it and a witness heard it. The sewing room, the beheading of the murder victim, everything. 

But thanks!

Edited March 1, 2021 by BlackberryJam

[Luckylyn]

On 2/28/2021 at 6:35 PM, Black Knight said:

If you haven't read it already, I suggest Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country. Undine Spragg is another highly entertaining character in that same mode.

I looked up your recommendation and it’s available on kindle for free. https://smile.amazon.com/Custom-Country-Edith-Wharton-ebook/dp/B008495XZQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=kindle+custom+of+the+country&qid=1614713022&sprefix=kindle+custom+o&sr=8-4

[Growsonwalls]

Ijust downloaded the biography of Glenn Burke, the first openly gay MLB player. NYT has a great article about him.

 

[Haleth]

I'm finishing up Matt Haig's The Midnight Library and I have to say I want to smack the main character.  The premise is that while you are somewhere between life and death you may get the opportunity to right any regrets by embodying the you in parallel lives.  It's sort of like It's a Wonderful Life.  Nora sees how she could have lived any number of fascinating, exciting, or enriching lives, yet she rejects them all as soon as any bit of miscontent appears.  Instead of entering a life and saying "I can work with this, it's a good starting place to happiness" she's like "nope, next."  Gee, how many do-overs do you want?  Happiness isn't handed to you on a silver platter, you have to work and make it yourself.  She's lazy and entitled and she annoys me greatly.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I decided I wanted to listen to Barack Obama instead of reading A Promised Land, so got it for free via Audible. This way, I can hear the inflections and punch, which I wouldn't get when reading it.

That said, I read Faithless in Death, and just as in Born in Death, I didn't give any good damns about Mavis' pregnancy/birth, I don't give any good damns about

 

her second bun in the oven and find it 

🙄 that Mavis and Leonardo MUST have cops/people they KNOW and TRUST living in the attached apartment just to have people living there because it's an incestuous world sometimes. Can't have Nimrod Peabody and McNab continue to live where they do, can we?

But that's my own personal thing.

The worst for me was (and DO NOT JUDGE ME!) NOT.ENOUGH.ROARKE. Sue me!

The story dragged in the beginning, but really picked up the pace toward the middle/end. But Nora had me trying to figure out who the killer was, why they killed and if it was a man or a woman.

Eve's sarcasm toward idioms/sayings continue to make me giggle. And also Whitney's wife putting him on that new....diet? and his reaction to it, also gave me a good laugh.

But what had me going "huh?" was Whitney's admin

 

now being a man. Nora/Robb is usually very good at providing exposition when there's someone new, and I

KNOW back in Rapture in Death, when Eve returned from her honeymoon, his admin was a woman who asked how her honeymoon was. And suddenly the admin's a guy who went out for some "real food"?

. While the series has spanned 25 years, in book time, it's only been three years. Yeah, yeah, I'm an

anal-retentive wench. But stuff like this I latch onto. Just as Morse

 

dying by Roarke's hand in

Glory, only to be suddenly alive in Immortal, or was it Rapture, when Nadine and Eve were talking about him? I know in this world, you can survive from near-fatal wounds, but Morse had a knife IN HIS THROAT.

And now I'm reading the newest anthologies, Wild Embrace by Nalini Singh. Have you gotten this yet, @DearEvette? The first one, Echo of Silence, takes place right after Visions of Heat. Stefan is like pre-Judd. Okay, not so new! This came out five years ago and I didn't even know!

Looking forward to Nora's next summer stand alone, Legacy, coming out in May.

Edited March 3, 2021 by GHScorpiosRule

[Black Knight]

@Haleth, I'll be curious to hear your opinion after you finish the book. I read it last month and loved it.

I'm currently reading Emily St. John Mandel's The Glass Hotel. It's supposed to be something of a mystery, I gather, but I'm only a short way in and haven't gotten to that yet. But I find the way she writes absorbing. I've been wanting to re-read Station Eleven but can't find my copy.

[OtterMommy]

Yesterday, I finished my first Agatha Christie novel and loved it!  I thought it was best to start at the beginning, so I read The Mysterious Affair at Styles.  I have a few more of her books on my TBR pile, which I'll go through before I order more.  I'm sure that these will all be keepers, so I'm opting to buy new copies instead of getting them from the library.

Today, I started The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec.  I'm 60 pages in and there is already more weirdness that I have read in any other book--which shouldn't be surprising as the main character's husband is Loki.  

[truthaboutluv]

I am currently reading The Honey Don't List by Christina Lauren. It's a cute and fun little read.  But so far I'm not really feeling any chemistry between the main characters.  So I'm actually interested to see how things become romantic. 

I completed Three Women by Lisa Taddeo a week and a half ago and found it mostly okay. I liked the way it read like fictional story though of course, it was based on three real women. But I think the biggest struggle I had to truly enjoying it, is that I didn't actually like any of the women too much.

I definitely sympathized with Maggie, the girl who'd been groomed by her creepy high school teacher. But I still didn't really like her much. I don't know, I just found all the women kind of sad but not in a gripping way but rather in an "I was happy when this was over" way. 

Speaking of books I liked but didn't love, I completed A Little Life a few weeks ago, and had to collect my thoughts to say how I really felt about it. I know the book is highly acclaimed and the author is clearly an exceptional writer but there were so many things that in the end didn't work for me. 

Spoiler

The biggest issue I had with the book is that I felt like the author did a bait and switch barely a third of the way through the story. In the first part of the book, I thought I was getting this story of friendship that followed the lives of these four guys who first met in college. And it certainly seemed that way with individual parts focused on each guy. 

However, by the second part of the book and onwards, this became all about the sad and tragic life of Jude St. Francis. The only reason Willem got as much of a voice as he did is because of how intertwined he was with Jude. The most glaring example of this bait and switch was Malcolm's character.

After having his own voice in the first part of the book, Malcolm just became this vague after thought character who eventually got killed off, along with Willem, when the author needed the dramatic and tragic death that was yet another horrible thing in Jude's life. I mean it was like Sophie who? Malcolm had this wife and whole super amazing architectural career that we just heard about despite previously having a whole chapter focused on his inner thoughts and feelings about his parents, his career dreams, his friendships, etc. 

JB too all but vanished as an afterthought, save for his drug addiction storyline that mostly lasted for one part. I have to admit, by that point in the book, I was expecting Jude to end up being the one with the addiction because well why not, with everything else the author had thrown at him. 

Which leads me to the other major factor that stopped me from loving the book. Honestly, 2/3 of the way, this started feeling like tragedy porn. I get that bad shit exists in the world and bad, horrific things happen to innocent victims. I get it and the sexual abuse by the fake priest was already bad enough. But then there was the sexual abuse at the foster home, only to then be followed by a whole kidnapping by a sadistic psycho. It was just a lot. And then there was the never ending cutting that never stopped throughout the whole story, which the writer for whatever reason felt the need to be very graphic about many times. I haven't experienced any of the traumas depicted in this book and I felt triggered at many points reading it. 

And I just feel like it would not have been so bad had the author stuck to the narrative of all four guys having their own voice throughout the story. So it wouldn't have been so much of Jude alone and Jude's misery and pain. And because Hanya for whatever reason abandoned the multi-narrator style to make this 90 percent about Jude, it made the book feel unnecessarily long. Honestly, this might sound cold but by the end, I felt tired and like I was the fictional characters in Jude's life just waiting for his inevitable suicide that we all knew would happen. It just eventually felt like a slog of constant misery and sadness that just didn't need to be as long as it was. 

So in the end I'm bummed because this is a book that's been on my TBR list for two years, that I was very much looking forward to read, but by the end, I was just glad when it was over. It's not that I can't handle sad and tragic novels. Two of my favorite books in recent years have been All the Bright Places and More Happy Than Not - both depressing as fuck.

But neither banged the misery on for what felt like years. The authors of these two books packed a lot of tragedy in without the reader feeling like it was a never-ending saga of misery. Not so for A Little Life. Like I said, this truly at one point just felt like torture porn to me, which thanks but no thanks. 

Sorry for the long rant. But like I said, I a lot of thoughts. 

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by truthaboutluv

[Haleth]

18 hours ago, Black Knight said:

@Haleth, I'll be curious to hear your opinion after you finish the book. I read it last month and loved it.

Sorry, I still didn't like it after finishing.  Too "It's a Wonderful Life" for me.  It would make an interesting movie though.

Edited March 4, 2021 by Haleth