In an atmosphere of one group of people pressing into the unknown and another group of people being forced from everything they’ve known, the shadows of the mountains and the expanse of the prairies can hold any number of bone-chilling things.
Tag Archives: Lovely prose
‘Hollow’ Full of Twists and Wise Restraint
Sullivan threads several tricky needles well in Brimstone Hollow, and that restraint helps her plot and characters shine.
‘Under the Falls’ Sticks to the Shallows
Under the Falls sets up complex relationships, old hurts, clashing motivations, and a town full of secrets but doesn’t give them time to live up to the potential that’s well within Richard Russo’s wheelhouse.
‘Flower’ a Gripping, Sobering History
While the prose and structure is a nice read, there’s no making this subject matter go down easy. But then, forced family separation, rampant human rights violations, and elusive justice should never go down easy.
Half-Broken a Near-Future Tale of Hope
In the acknowledgements, Suzanne Palmer calls Ode to the Half-Broken a book with grief threaded throughout every page. But for a book about grief, it brings a hopeful message that’s sorely needed.
‘Japanese Gothic’ Bloody and Tender
Baker’s pacing is quick enough, and the story compelling enough to keep the violence and characters’ hopelessness from bleeding too heavily into the reader.
In ‘Infamous,’ Minutiae Gives Meaning to Family Life
The Gilberts and Thornwalk are fictional, but the equivalents in our own homes and families and lives aren’t. These bits and bobbles, these trinkets and signs of wear that mean nothing to anyone else and might not even mean a thing to ourselves but nevertheless bear aching witness to, well, life.
‘Magician’ A Pleasant, Low-Stakes Romp
Magician isn’t exactly a “cozy” fantasy, per se, but it didn’t seek to keep me on the edge of my seat in a way that was really nice, given the current geopolitical climate.
‘Fever’ a Layered Gothic Novel
The growing closeness between Soraya and Mrs. Hattingh seems at first harmless, though this wouldn’t be a very good gothic novel if it stayed that way.
‘Before I Forget’ A Pleasantly Gentle Story of Forgetting
Before I Forget is a sweet, swift read that focuses on the emotions surrounding memory and self, though it shies away from some of the gnarlier aspects of end-of-life caregiving.
Ring Reads 