Thank you NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book, and for Christina McDonald for an awesome thriller novella!!
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ [ 4 Stars ]
— “I felt like I’d fThank you NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book, and for Christina McDonald for an awesome thriller novella!!
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ [ 4 Stars ]
— “I felt like I’d failed my partner. Sometimes, no matter how much you want to, you make no difference at all.” (The Stranger At Black Lake, pg. 58)
— For what this was, a novella set before the main storyline of Detective Jess Lambert’s story, this was fantastic. A psychological thriller mixed detective story mixed small-town crime, A Stranger At Black Lake is told from the point of view of Jess, an ex-paramedic who just moved to Black Lake with her husband Mac, and Him, a mysterious POV whom we follow around post a jail sentence in search of “Her.”
Okay…spoilers ahead.
Let me say one thing: I KNOW this is Jess’s beginning, a novella prequel, but I honestly think this story should have been told either from JJ’s POV entirely, or from Leah. And I say this because the whole thing with Leah really doesn’t make sense come the end of the novella, because we barely see her. And even in JJ’s points of view chapters, he just calls her “her” which makes sense (I wish he called her Mother, but that’s a different story), but he calls her “my Leah” once he’s back inside the house and everyone else is there. Her reveal would have added up more if there was more telltale signs in JJ’s point of view (therefore excusing the Jess POV chapters for me) but overall I felt blindsided by it, and kind of not in a good way, as we barely know anything about Leah except for exposition from Jess.
Also…when Jess calls her about Colin being released, she’s kind of bitchy and dismissive to Jess…yet JJ also got released? Wouldn’t she be more understanding because of this? It just didn’t read like a linear character, and the reveal wasn’t believable for me.
My most important question though: what was on the note Jess left for Sammy??? It seemed so important yet it was tossed around three times without any inkling to what was on it! I’m nosey and want to know!
But honestly overall, this was a gripping thriller tale, and amazing set-up work for Jess being a detective in her main storyline books. Reading this has made me want to read McDonald’s other books with Jess!! Can’t wait to see more of Jess :) !!...more
A huge thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for a copy of this graphic novel’s ARC in exchange for an honest review !!
☆ ☆ ☆ [ 3 Stars ]
— “DandA huge thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for a copy of this graphic novel’s ARC in exchange for an honest review !!
☆ ☆ ☆ [ 3 Stars ]
— “Dandelion” had such a good premise and such a cool set-up. In a dystopian world where the invention of sky pods where people could live - and later become exiled to - and free themselves of earth becomes polarized and popularized in society, “Dandelion” speaks of social and human issues. It was such a cool foundation, something I have not really seen in the dystopian, end of the world type genres and was super engaged with the summary.
But man did it fall short.
The art style was impeccable, I liked the range of diverse casting of characters we saw, but other than that — I feel like nothing really happened. We learn a few things about the history of the Dandelions and find out some secrets, but the varying different storylines ( and there are quite a few ) and the different pairings of characters, really make everything feel one-dimensional. I didn’t get connected to any of the characters or the storylines occurring, because after the first one ended and a new one began, I went into the next ones expecting the same thing ( and was right ). Henceforth it was hard to feel connected to the characters or really have them be memorable to me in any fashion, even the one who made the dandelions !!!!
Overall, the art style was great, and the premise was super cool, but the execution fell short of the promised outcome. I wish that there had been more fleshing out of one or two storylines rather than converging upwards of four - five different storylines of people. A cool read, though!...more
— “You only notice how astonishing that is when a part of you gets left behind." (The Whisper Man, pg. 296)
— As**spoiler alert** ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ [ 5 Stars ]
— “You only notice how astonishing that is when a part of you gets left behind." (The Whisper Man, pg. 296)
— As this is the first book of North's that I had read - and did so with my sister as a duo read/book club - I am pleasantly surprised. I have heard a lot of North around the last few years when it came to this book and "The Shadow Man," and when we actually picked up this book, I have to say this easily became one of my favorite books of 2024.
That being said, let's break a few things down. Also, if you are avoiding potential spoilers, I'd stop here and read the book. Totally worth it, and super good. Then come back here and we can hold hands as I unfold a few things for you.
That out of the way, let's talk about the end. After speaking with my sister for a long time about this book, I have mixed feelings about it. Not everything, just specifically the who, and how we get there. George Saunders - which I could not help but wonder if this was an ode to the George Saunders that wrote "A Swim In the Pond in the Rain," but that was all I could think about the entire time during that section, oops - was not who I was expecting. Which, isn't necessarily a bad thing, but also the fact that there were really no clues, that I struggle with. I do give North leeway though, as I blew through the last hundred or so pages in one sitting; so the storytelling and the how we got there almost makes me want to overlook that, but at the same time, I am a bit peeved at the fact that, as a thriller / mystery, there really were no clues that it was him.
Like YES, I understand it was probably going to be Carter's son, as that was mentioned a bit, and Pete did say several times alongside Amanda Beck, that the person a child is kidnapped by is often someone they know, but there was ZERO mention or notice or glimpse of Carter's kid prior to when Tom storms the school. I struggle with the reality of it, when I admittedly thought it was Dyson, as everyone we had seen in the story somehow played a part in the grand scheme of it all, and in each other. Pete with Tom, Tom of course with Jake, Karen being with Tom and also a reporter, Amanda being the one to kinda stand and replicate Pete's shadow...all of it felt connected, so it felt like when Tom finally got his hands on the fact it was someone from the school who had seen Neil's remains and knew of the butterflies and had drawn them for Jake, that it was a bit of a cold slap in the face.
Now don't get me wrong. I was still very much jaw on the floor type moment and strung from page to page, I just also enjoy being able to notice and connect back to breadcrumbs from previous sections and pages, no matter how small or minuscule of details it may be. This just felt like I could have read less than what was actually presented, because a lot of what we were told, aside form Frank Carter's visits with Pete, didn't pertain too much to the climax and finisher of the novel.
Otherwise, aside from that, all the twists and turns, the reveals of the Packet of Special Things, the photos, the boy in the floor, was jaw-dropping. North has a fantastic way of telling something unfold, all while sticking to very distinct - in both character and POV style - POVs and voices in each chapter. Everything, aside from the above mentioned quirk, felt cohesive and connected, and everything falling into place left me wanting more.
I'm excited to pick up North's other books, really seeing how the connected universe plays its own role, and remember, keep your doors closed, for a door closed halfway is an invitation to the Whisper Man....more
"We can wipe our minds clean...but we can't scrub our experiences out of our souls." - "Death's Country"
MANNNNN. What a great first read for 2024. An "We can wipe our minds clean...but we can't scrub our experiences out of our souls." - "Death's Country"
MANNNNN. What a great first read for 2024. An ode to Eurydice and Orpheus told in a polyamorous and queer way and told in the form of novel-in-verse...what a beautiful and captivating experience. Reading this book was beyond reading, it was finding things within oneself, it was thinking about what it truly means to love, and it was such a beautiful experience. Andres, Liora and Renee will live in my mind rent free for the rest of forever.
Romero has such a way with words and descriptions and novel in verse has always been one of my favorite ways of reading a novel. Ever since reading Ellen Hopkins when I was a teenager, it has always been such a beautiful form, and Romero really takes the idea here and RUNS with it. I am very honored to have gotten an ARC of this, and highly recommend it to anyone searching in their own darkness for a shred of light....more
**spoiler alert** SPOILERS ( somehow I don’t think you’d believe me anyway )
I will say with disgruntled feelings that I really loved Ori and Carl here**spoiler alert** SPOILERS ( somehow I don’t think you’d believe me anyway )
I will say with disgruntled feelings that I really loved Ori and Carl here and think their characterization really worked well with the environment and their circumstances ( with as crazy as they are. Trust me you could throw a dart at a board trying to guess what comes next and I assure you, you can’t ). They made the polyam in this so funny and silly ( they’re not even HUMAN BRO. ) though Anne fell a bit flat in this one compared to the first one. HOWEVER, let’s do some math here for this:
+1 point for Carl -3 points for omegaverse ( Ori afterwards immediately being like: okay what’s next ...more
"Once that fear was in your body, that knowledge that someone wanted you dead, it never entirely left." - What Lies in the Woods, pg. 31
* * * *
I have suc"Once that fear was in your body, that knowledge that someone wanted you dead, it never entirely left." - What Lies in the Woods, pg. 31
* * * *
I have such a toss and turn feel about this book; I truly loved the reading experience, the story was gripping and I was engaged almost the entire time, BUT....the ending pay off was so overwhelming in a bad way. I felt like all the pieces we had received throughout Naomi's stay in Chester and everything she was unraveling was...all for nothing? And maybe it's the point, maybe the point is that we never truly know anything and even our own memories can't be trusted sometimes, but as someone who predicted who Ethan was on page 137, I am not convinced this is true. Red herrings are fun and I love untangling them and being humorously disappointed when I'm wrong, but to have an egregious amount of information being thrown at us and almost NONE of it being imperative or relevant did not sit well with me as a reader.
Even the reveal at the end in the woods...the scene fell flat because I was so busy trying to understand what the hell was going on before trying to understand the emotional relevancy; how can I understand a scene's impact if we're being presented with so much information that was not relevant before? And even the things that felt like the most important: Ethan, Alan Stahl, etc, literally fell into obscurity by the end, that I almost wish this were two separate stories about everything.
As I said, this was a good read and definitely kept me hooked, but the pay off is what made me change the higher rating I initially had to this. 3.2/5...more
SHANE ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
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