Things have gotten away from me blog-wise lately and I plan to be more disciplined about it once we’re back in a routine this fall. I do wish we could have 11 months of summer though.
I’m so glad my friend recommended Elmet. I don’t think it ever would have shown up on my radar but it was a gem. Very spare and stark writing, and you know it’s building up to something explosive. It did not disappoint. I can’t believe this is a first novel. Thanks for the rec, Robin!
The Ensemble has a lot of buzz this summer, and I can see why, but for me it didn’t quite live up to the hype. I was absorbed in each character’s story, but we saw so little of them all interacting with each other. I wanted more of their connection. One thing I found so interesting was the physical toll their careers took on them, especially how Henry practically destroyed his arm, but that storyline kind of fizzled out. This one was a near miss for me but I’m interested in what she does next.
Baby Teeth was all over the place for me. I can see it as a love it or hate it, but I was sort of in the middle. I love a campy bad seed story, but I felt the writing was weak, and the author couldn’t seem to decide what tone she was going for. Was it camp horror or a thoughtful allegory on motherhood? I wish she had committed to full camp, because when she did veer into that territory it was the most entertaining. I thought the ending was pretty terrible, although I can see what she was trying to do there, but it was not well executed. The more I think about this book the more I want to rewrite it. It had so much potential!
I don’t remember how Pretend I’m Dead got on my list, but this is a real authors’ favorite and I can see why. Very dark humor and does not care about how likable its characters are. Hilarious and bleak and gross all at once. I thought I would love this a little more than I did, and I felt like it ended just as it was getting good, but still this was very very me and I want to be friends with the author. Super fun bonus for me that their was a character called Mr Disgusting because that’s what I used to call Rich when we first moved in together.
I’m now halfway through Then She Was Gone. This one is pretty hard to put down. I almost always love Lisa Jewell, and I’m very impressed that she can make me care about yet another missing girl thriller. I’m not exactly sure where it’s going; I’m almost certain that it’s going to end up very far fetched, but the writing is so good, I’m willing to suspend disbelief. I read 100 pages of it at the beach yesterday so you have my personal guarantee that this is a good beach book. Hoping the second half holds up!
