Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens

 

Title: Where the Crawdads Sing

Author: Delia Owens

Publisher: Putnam (Penguin), 2018 (Hardcover)

Length: 368 pages

Genre: Adult; Realistic Fiction

Started: April 12, 2022

Finished: April 14, 2022

Summary:

From the inside cover:

For years, rumours of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. 

But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life - until the unthinkable happens. 

Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we all are subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps. 

Review:

Since this book was so hyped on TikTok this past year, it's been on my TBR list for the past few months. With the movie adaptation coming out in July, my friends at work and I vowed to finally read this so we could compare the versions. I honestly wasn't expecting much from something so lauded and popular (I find anything overly popular can be a mixed bag with my personal tastes), but I was pleasantly surprised by the end. 

Catherine Danielle Clark, otherwise known as Kya, has lived (mostly) alone in her family's shack at the edge of the North Carolina marshland since her mother and older siblings left her with her alcoholic, abusive father at the age of six. When he abandons her at the age of ten, she is left to fend for herself completely. With no formal schooling and the memories of her mother's teachings of how to live off the land to feed herself, Kya manages to survive to adulthood with the help of a childhood friend and the Black community that live in a segregated area away from the town. In 1969 when Kya is in her early 20s, a local man is found dead, and although Chase Andrews was a well-known player who slept with many women and angered many a husband, Kya is the prime suspect. 

The novel is told in alternating time jumps, starting with the early 1950s when Kya is a child and switching every other chapter or so to 1969 at the time of the murder. Kya's backstory is gripping and intriguing from the start, and adding in Chase's murder keeps the reader going, wondering how Kya could possibly be connected enough to Chase for the police to suspect her of murder. 

I personally liked the themes of resiliency and community that run throughout the book. Granted, sometimes Kya's resiliency is a bit too unrealistic to believe completely, especially in the chapters before she turns ten. 

The main detriment of this book, in my opinion, is the amount of dialect in it. Granted there has to be dialect to reflect the authenticity of the premise of the story, but I have the same issue with any book set in the American south; the dialect makes my brain have to work so much harder to understand what's going on. 

Recommendation:

If you like stories that are character-driven with a bit of mystery thrown in, you'll enjoy this. It was an engaging read and I can see why it's so popular, so give it a read before the movie version releases in the summer. 

Thoughts on the cover:

The shot used on the cover is very pretty and fits well with the descriptions in the book. 

So This Is Ever After - F. T. Lukens

 

Title: So This Is Ever After

Author: F.T. Lukens 

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster), 2022 (Hardcover)

Length: 341 pages

Genre: Young Adult; Fantasy

Started: April 16, 2022

Finished: April 18, 2022

Summary: 

From the inside cover:

Arek hadn't thought much about what would happen after he completed the prophecy that said he was destined to save the Kingdom of Ere from its evil ruler. So now that he's finally managed to (somewhat clumsily) behead the evil king (turns out that magical swords yanked from bogs don't come pre-sharpened), he and his ragtag group of quest companions are at a bit of a loss for what to do next. As a temporary safeguard, Arek's best friend and mage, Matt, convinces him to assume the throne until the true heir can be rescued from her tower. Except she's dead. Now Arek is stuck as king, a role that comes with a magical catch: choose a soul mate by your eighteenth birthday, or wither away into nothing. 

With his eighteenth birthday only three months away, and only Matt in on the secret, Arek embarks on a desperate bid to find a spouse to save his life - starting with his quest companions. But his attempts at wooing his friends go painfully and hilariously wrong...until he discovers that love might have been in front of him all along. 

Review:

This book is the queer fantasy romcom I never knew I needed. It's a hilarious romp that's easy to get into and is also adorably fluffy to boot. 

Beginning at the end of your usual fantasy story, the novel opens with Arek and his band of companions fulfilling a prophecy by slaying the evil king of Ere. In the chaos that follows, Arek assumes the throne until they can find and crown the rightful heir, but even though the princess is indeed in another tower, she is long dead. Discovering that the magic of Ere requires the ruler to be soul-bound to another person or else he will fade into nothing, Arek goes about trying to secure a spouse before his eighteenth birthday. Arek is aided by the journal of the deceased princess which outlines her budding relationship with one of her ladies, using some of the situations described in order to grow closer with his friends to see if any of them could grow to love him and make a suitable co-ruler. Of course, Arek just wants to be with his childhood friend Matt and can't picture marrying anyone else, but Matt doesn't want him...right?

The plot of this novel is engaging right off the bat, and the romcom pacing and dialogue is excellent. The author does a good job of delving into all the characters and giving them nicely fleshed out backstories, though I felt Rion and Lila got a bit less compared to Arek, Matt, Sionna, and Bethany. All the characters are endearing, likeable, and hilarious; with distinct personalities that are nicely maintained throughout. I'm a sucker for roguish Lila (that scene with her "pet", Crow, is priceless) and cautious Matt, but I genuinely liked the whole bunch, which I can't always say about fantasy stories with multiple characters. I also liked how the author didn't shy away from addressing the less comedic aspects of inheriting a kingdom after a bloody ambush, like Arek and company dealing with the aftermath of trauma and figuring out how to go about establishing a governmental structure. 

Recommendation:

If you're a fantasy fan and ever wondered what would happen after the prophecy ends, this read is for you. If you'd like your story to also be hilariously funny with great queer representation, then definitely pick this up. 

The author also wrote another book last year called In Deeper Waters (this one with more of a pirate feel) that I'll have to pick up now:

Thoughts on the cover:

The cover art for both of these novels is stunning, these are definitely books some readers have picked up just for the covers alone. 

Heaven Official's Blessing - Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

 

Title: Heaven Official's Blessing (Tian Guan Ci Fu) Volume 1

Author: Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment, 2021 (Paperback), originally published in China in 2017

Length: 417 pages

Genre: Adult; Fantasy

Started: December 14, 2021

Finished: December 28, 2021

Summary:

From the back cover:

A God Fallen...A Ghost Risen

Born the crown prince of a prosperous kingdom, Xie Lian was renowned for his beauty, strength, and purity. His years of dedicated study and noble deeds allowed him to ascend to godhood. But those who rise may also fall, and fall he does - cast from the heavens and banished to the world below. 

Eight hundred years after his mortal life, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for the third time, angering most of the gods in the process. To repay his debts, he is sent to the Mortal Realm to hunt down violent ghosts and troublemaking spirits who prey on the living. Along his travels, he meets the fascinating and brilliant San Lang, a young man with whom he feels an instant connection. Yet San Lang is clearly more than he appears...What mysteries lie behind that carefree smile?

Review:

I first discovered Heaven Official's Blessing last year when the anime series first came out (was on Funimation, now moved to Netflix). Everyone was hyping up this new show from China and I was curious and wanted to check it out. I ended up adoring the story and the characters, so picking up the official English translation of the original Chinese novel was a given. 

First of all, in my opinion the story was relatively easy to get into. Granted I've studied Chinese history, religion, literature, and mythology back in university so I'm coming from a knowledge base most people don't have, but I still think the concepts are not beyond comprehension to the average person. The translation team for the English release thankfully included a ton of cultural guides, notes and glossaries at the end of the book, which help immensely. They even show names in Chinese characters and break down what each character means, which I appreciated since I realized the names are allegories or symbolic to the respective character. 

The translation itself is what appears to be a middle of the road translation: not insanely literal, but not fully localized either. It's relatively easy to read as well. This first volume (out of four total, the second is supposed to release in February) matches up with the content of the first season of the show, and doesn't really contain anything in addition to that (if anything the show added in slight details not present in the novel), so if you've seen the show you know the plot of this first volume. 

For those who can get into the story, the characters are worth the investment. Xie Lian is adorable in his  sincerity and the descriptions in the book just make you want to hug him. San Lang/Hua Cheung reveals his intentions pretty early on, and he could be the literal poster boy for devotion and loyalty. Even the secondary characters like the other gods have their moments and bring some great humour into the story. 

Recommendation:

For English fans of the show, you need to read this. For anyone else who's perhaps wanting to explore danmei (a genre of Chinese literature featuring romantic relationships between male characters), this is a great example of it. If you're not sure if this is up your alley, I recommend trying out the show on Netflix to see if you can get into it. The show is gorgeous on its own, so it's not a wasted effort by any means. 

Thoughts on the cover:

I was hoping they'd use an image from the wedding scene, and I got my wish. There's also a full colour two-page spread of the same enlarged image in the beginning of the book, which is a nice bonus. I love the red and gold colour scheme with Hua Cheung's signature butterflies. 

Stray Dogs - Tony Fleecs and Trish Fornstner

 

Title: Stray Dogs

Author: Tony Fleecs and Trish Fornstner

Publisher: Image Comics, 2021 (Paperback)

Length: 144 pages

Genre: Adult; Graphic Novel, Horror

Started: December 13, 2021

Finished: December 13, 2021

Summary: 

From the back of the book:

Meet Sophie, a dog who can't remember what happened. She doesn't know how she ended up in this house. She doesn't recognize any of these other dogs. She knows something terrible happened but she just...can't...recall...Wait! Where's her lady?

A heartbreakingly adorable suspense thriller by My Little Pony comic artists Tony Fleecs and Trish Fornstner.

Review:

I first saw this recommended on TikToK a while back, and I'm always up for a gritty graphic novel that isn't superhero related. And boy, does this ever deliver on the horror and suspense. The cute art style is deceiving, this is some pretty disturbing stuff. 

The story opens with Sophie being brought by a man to a house full of dogs and she can't remember how she got there. The other dogs show her the ropes and talk of the master who saved them from their previous homes. Sophie is still on edge, and it isn't until the master wraps Sophie in a scarf that she remembers why. The master is actually a serial killer, her lady was one of his victims, and he collects his victims' dogs as trophies. The other dogs don't believe her (they also don't remember their old lives) until Sophie urges them to explore the areas of the house they aren't allowed in, where they find photos of their previous owners and other mementos from past killings. Now that the dogs know the truth, how are they going to escape from the master?

This book is a perfect example of graphic novels pushing the limits of their genre and what is typical of it. Again, the cutesy art style is deceiving here because this book is definitely not for children. It's not overly graphic or gory (in my opinion), but trigger warning: the content does show flashbacks to the murders, and some of the dogs suffer injuries and death at the hands of the master in the second half of the story, so sensitive readers are going to want to pass on this one. If you can handle the sensitive content it's a great, gripping story that does end happily for the most part, and coming from the perspective of the dogs is wonderfully creative. 

I purchased this edition, which has a gallery at the end of all the variant covers from each issue in the series.

This one is my favourite though:

Recommendation: 

If you're in the mood for something gritty and new, or if you ever wondered what would happen if Don Bluth made a horror movie, give this graphic novel a read. If you can't handle movies/stories where the dog gets hurt or dies, then you'd better pass on this. 

Thoughts on the cover:

I much prefer the original cover (image at the top of the review) to my special edition copy cover (middle image). The original is more unsettling compared to the special edition, which feels more juvenile. 

The Secret Garden on 81st Street - Ivy Nicole Weir and Amber Padilla

 

Title: The Secret Garden on 81st Street: A Modern Graphic Retelling of The Secret Garden

Author: Ivy Nicole Weir and Amber Padilla

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2021 (Paperback)

Length: 250 pages

Genre: Children's/Young Adult; Graphic Novel, Classic

Started: December 8, 2021

Finished: December 8, 2021

Summary:

From the back of the book:

Celebrate 110 years of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden with this vibrant, contemporary graphic novel retelling!

Video games and tech are loner Mary Lennox's main source of entertainment and "friends" in her Silicon Valley home. But when her parents are killed in a tragic accident, Mary's life is uprooted to New York City to live with an uncle she barely knows and, to her surprise, keeps a gadget-free home. Looking for comfort in this strange, new reality, Mary discovers an abandoned rooftop garden and an even bigger secret in an upstairs bedroom: her cousin, Colin, who struggles with anxiety. With Colin's help and that of a new friend named Dickon, Mary works to restore the garden to its former glory while also learning to grieve, build real friendships, and nurture growth - both in nature and in herself. 

Review:

The Secret Garden was my favourite classic children's book growing up (plus I had the benefit of the gorgeous 90s movie version coming out around the same time as I was reading it), so I was instantly drawn to this one. 

I've always wondered how to properly update classic stories like this for a modern audience (especially considering the colonialism usually present in stories written by British authors from the time) while also addressing issues that modern children would be less likely to understand, like how Colin in the original book could've been bed-ridden and unable to walk due to a suspected illness he didn't even have. This retelling not only addresses those concerns and creates a successful transition to a modern setting, it also retains the message of the original quite well. 

Mary Lennox is the child of workaholic parents in the tech sector in Silicon Valley. She attends school online, gets all her food delivered, and barely gets to interact with her parents at all. When her parents die in a car crash, a surprisingly unemotional Mary is taken to New York City to live with her uncle Archie, his assistant Mrs. Medlock, and their tenant, Martha. Since her uncle doesn't keep a lot of technology in his home, Martha routinely kicks Mary out of the house to go to the nearby museums and galleries. On one of these trips outside, Mary meets a cat named Robin who belongs to Ben, the owner of the local bodega and friend of her uncle and his late husband, Masahiro. Mary learns about Masahiro's passion for plants and gardening, and his rooftop garden that Archie shut away after his husband's death. With the help of Ben and Martha's little brother, Dickon, Mary takes on the task of bringing the garden back to life, discovering the existence of her cousin Colin along the way. 

I always liked how The Secret Garden talks about grief, loss, and healing in a way that kids can understand, and that message isn't lost in this retelling, in fact, I think this edition handles it even better than the original did. Both Mary and Colin are profoundly affected by parental death. Mary can't properly grieve the loss of parents she didn't feel close to, but craves unconditional familial love. Colin is traumatized by witnessing the death of his father, Masahiro, in his garden, and suffers from panic attacks if he tries to leave his room since  his idea of a "safe space" has been upended. The adults in the story are cognizant of the trauma of both children and are highly attuned to giving them what they need to begin to recover and rebuild their lives, and they talk about things with the kids in an honest way that they can understand. It makes for a wonderfully emotionally intelligent story. This is especially prevalent when Mary witnesses Colin having a panic attack and responds poorly to it, to which Colin's therapist meets with Mary to explain what he's going through in a way that Mary can understand to allow her to be more sympathetic to her cousin's needs. 

I also love how diverse this retelling is in so many ways. Mary is biracial, Archie and Colin are black, Masahiro is Japanese, Ben is hispanic, and Martha is drawn with a larger body shape. There's also the nice LGBTQ family portrayal of Archie, Masahiro, and Colin. Even Mrs. Medlock has been softened here and, while still protective of Colin, her motivations are much more understandable and relatable. 

Recommendation:

A wonderful modern retelling brimming with emotion, empathy, and diverse portrayals. Definitely worth the read if you want to introduce this story to a younger generation of readers. 

Thoughts on the cover:

Nice showcase of the art style, and the colour palette is pleasing. 

Her Name Was Margaret - Denise Davy

 

Title: Her Name Was Margaret: Life and Death on the Streets

Author: Denise Davy

Publisher: James Street North Books (Wolsak & Wynn), 2021 (Paperback)

Length: 295 pages

Genre: Adult; Nonfiction

Started: November 30, 2021

Finished: December 4, 2021

Summary:

From the publisher's website:

Margaret Jacobson was a sweet-natured young girl who played the accordion and had dreams of being a teacher until she had a psychotic break in her teens, which sent her down a much darker path. Her Name Was Margaret traces Margaret's life from her childhood to her death as a homeless woman on the streets of Hamilton, Ontario. With meticulous research and deep compassion author Denise Davy analyzed over eight hundred pages of medical records and conducted interviews with Margaret's friends and family, as well as those who worked in psychiatric care, to create this compelling portrait of a woman abandoned by society. 

Through a revolving door of psychiatric admissions to discharges to rundown boarding homes, Davy shows us the grim impact of deinstitutionalization: patients spiralled inexorably towards homelessness and death as psychiatric beds were closed and patients were left to fend for themselves on the streets of cities across North America. Today there are more than 235,000 people in Canada who are counted among the homeless annually and 35,000 who are homeless on any given night. Most of them are struggling with mental health issues. Margaret's story is a heartbreaking illustration of what happens in our society to to our most vulnerable and should serve as a wake-up call to politicians and leaders in cities across Canada. 

Review:

I came across this book through helping to organize a local charity event (Purses for Margaret) through work. We were lucky to get the author, who also founded the charity, to come to speak at the event. A few people attending had already read her book and I couldn't say no after hearing such glowing recommendations, especially since I don't often get to read books about issues happening in my own city. After reading, I can add my own glowing recommendation for this book. It is so human and speaks to such a vital issue that I honestly think everyone should read it. 

The author, Denise Davy, was working as a journalist for the Hamilton Spectator in 1993 when she came across a homeless woman named Margaret at the Wesley Centre while doing research for her articles on homelessness in the city. Intrigued by Margaret's story, the author was granted access to Margaret's massive medical files from the local hospital and began piecing together the puzzle of how she came to be homeless in the first place. 

This book traces Margaret's life from her childhood in Barbados and Antigua as the oldest child of Canadian missionary parents, her onset of mental health struggles at sixteen, admission to psychiatric hospitals in Cambridge and Hamilton beginning at age seventeen, decades of cycling between the hospital and inadequate boarding homes, to her eventual descent into homelessness until her death in 1995 at the age of fifty-one. This book is incredibly well-researched, the author truly did her homework in this regard. She interviewed not only Margaret's estranged family members, but also hospital workers, friends from the shelters, and various people who encountered Margaret in the city. Peppered in between telling the story of Margaret's life the author also gives historical context on psychiatric care and the process of deinstitutionalization, the reason many people like Margaret with severe mental illness are so vulnerable to homelessness in the first place. 

I already knew much of what the author discusses, but having an actual person's story attached to something always makes more of an impact, and Margaret's story proves that the people we see on the streets could just as easily be you or me, or someone we know and care about. It's for this reason that we need to advocate for better mental health care in our country, as well as proper, affordable housing with support structures in place for all people to live with dignity. 

Recommendation:

This book serves a need to have the interwoven story of mental health, affordable housing, and homelessness told with a human face. It needs to be read, and its messages advocated in every city if we truly want to call our society civilized and humane. 

You can buy the book from the publisher's website here: Wolsak and Wynn - Her Name Was Margaret

If you'd like to visit the author's website you can do so here: Denise Davy

Thoughts on the cover:

I love the black and gold colour scheme paired with Margaret's photo, it makes for a compelling cover.

A Marvellous Light - Freya Marske

 

Title: A Marvellous Light

Author: Freya Marske

Publisher: Tor, 2021 (Hardcover)

Length: 372 pages

Genre: Adult; Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Started: November 12, 2021

Finished: November 19, 2021

Summary: 

From the inside cover:

Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He's struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents' excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what's been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he's always known. 

Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that will come with it - not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else. 

Robin's predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they've been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles - and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep. 

Review:

This book has been hyped for months now as being an LGBTQ version of Downton Abbey with magic, and after reading it that's a fairly good description but doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of how amazing this book is. 

Robin Blyth's family belongs to the gentry, but poor spending by his late parents have forced him into a job in the civil service to support himself and his younger sister. Robin becomes the replacement to a liaison that's gone missing, and when he discovers that magic exists and there's a ministry devoted to keeping relations between magicians and regular humans peaceful, his amazement is short lived. When he's cursed by men following the trail of his predecessor, Robin and his magician coworker, Edwin Courcey, have to uncover the mysteries behind Robin's curse and the impending doom facing them all. 

First off, the characters in the book are both endearing and well-rounded. Robin is an insecure ray of sunshine, and Edwin is a weak magician who's constantly reminded of his shortcomings by his powerful family, so he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. I appreciate how the author made Edwin a weak magician so he's forced to use his intelligence and voracious reading to compensate when he's in a bind. Both men have baggage they need to work through, in addition to the issues of being gay men in the book's Edwardian setting. Their relationship is handled well (the dialogue between them is phenomenal) and in my opinion there's nothing better than unresolved sexual tension in a library (except for maybe the sex scenes that come after that). 

Though the characters and their development were by far my favourite aspect of the book, the plot wasn't too bad either and the story is engaging. The prose itself is wonderfully done, and there's quite a lot of stand-out lines throughout the book. The author even addresses the elephant in the room (aka colonialism) that's brought up whenever you set a book in historical Britain by having Indian secondary characters that aren't simply tokens. 

Recommendation:

This was a beautiful read and a lovely example of LGBTQ fantasy that's actually handled well. It's the first book in a planned series, so I look forward to the subsequent books. 

Thoughts on the cover:

The pattern and colour palette do a good job of echoing the time period, and Robin and Edwin in the centre is a nice touch.