Search Results

#mysterysuspense, #southern, #gothicnoir, #threestarbookreview

#mysterysuspense, #booksaboutbooks, #gothicnoir

The dark, seemingly bottomless water is the standout, creepy element here: a source of relentless, hungry power that straddles the worlds of the living and the dead. When Jax, a social worker, receives a series of frantic missed calls from her sister Lexie, she assumes that Lexie is having another manic episode. She has a lot on her own plate, and she'll have plenty of time to deal with her estranged sister's mess later. But disaster strikes, and Jax finds herself trying to unravel the twisted, complicated history of her family and its land--a history Lexie had been researching and had become obsessed by. McMahon's modern-day ghost story leads the reader into the family's pivotal 1929 decisions, when Jax and Lexie's ancestor Ethel Monroe, desperate to have a baby, made a dark bargain that would have terrible repercussions echoing for generations to come. There's a dark, spring-fed pool at the heart of this book, and its seemingly bottomless depth and impermeable black water (which characters regularly swam in--I died inside!) were horrifying to contemplate. Spooky tales are passed down through doubting generations, and characters persistently suffer losses and tragedies related to this pool. Yet the water provides enough twisted miracles and temporary healing to keep characters greedily coming back. It's both a salvation and a destructive force. I took issue with Gram's unapologetic and outrageous favoritism toward Lexie, which could have possibly been attributed to Gram's understanding of her mental health (and inability to hold a job or provide for herself), but was never said to be. Lexie's sabotage of Jax's friendships at a young, vulnerable age seemed too easy for Jax to move past--although I suppose the later wishes and granted wishes that occur were a revenge of sorts. Lexie is the captivating character here, although she exists largely off page and in the main protagonist's mixed-feelings memories. Lexie was the excellent swimmer and student and musician and had lots of friends and was their parents’ favorite, Grandma’s favorite, and family friend Ryan’s favorite (all despite her mental illness/schizophrenia and its challenges). Most of what Jax does is in reaction to Lexie, while Jax herself feels somewhat nondescript. The lead-up to the ending feels odd, as characters are ignoring alarming occurrences. I'm not sure I believe that the characters would have behaved the way they’re said to at end of book in order for the denouement to work cleanly. (Would those characters be at the house?) The pool is the standout element here: a source of relentless, hungry power that seems to straddle the worlds of the living and the dead, persistently pursuing victims within the wholly haunting atmosphere McMahon has created. It's wonderfully creepy. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Gallery Books and NetGalley. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? The Drowning Kind is the newest story by McMahon, the author of The Winter People (and many others). There are many instances within the book in which a character begins to share key information and is interrupted or stops abruptly, and I find myself becoming increasingly frustrated by this method of prolonging a mystery. I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 3/29/21 Edition.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading three books that are about to be published: Cory Anderson's debut, a dark young adult novel about young brothers desperately trying to stay together and stay alive in rural Idaho; Wendy Heard's fast-paced California-set thriller about an infatuation between two young women, dangerous risks, and a web of lies that may get them both killed; and Jennifer McMahon's dive into a family's haunting history that has mysterious, powerful present-day repercussions. Which books are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms? 01 What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson In the young adult novel What Beauty There Is, Jack and his brother are painfully poor and living alone in rural Idaho. It's winter, it's cold, and it's tough enough to simply survive. But if Jack can't find the drug money his father stole before heading to prison, things will get worse: his younger brother will be sent into foster care. There's no real choice to make--Jack would never allow his brother to go. So now he just needs to do some dangerous digging into matters that seem to generally end with jail time...or death. Meanwhile, nearby, Ava's been kept quiet and controlled by her father her whole life--and he's after the same money Jack so desperately needs. Ava must decide whether she'll stick by her cruel father or if she's willing to help the brothers save themselves. Cory Anderson's debut is a story about darkness, desperation, loyalty, and cobbling together something close to hope. I'm mesmerized by this gorgeous cover art. I received a prepublication edition of this book (its publication date is April 6) courtesy of Roaring Brook Press and NetGalley. 02 She's Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard Heard's young adult thriller follows the twists and turns at the intersection of three volatile young people--bored photographer Veronica; her best friend, mischievous performance art rebel Nico; and their new friend, Mick, who hasn't quite found her place in the world outside of being a competitive swimmer. Mick, whose mother is emotionally unavailable (and hardly physically present), has a lot to figure out and responsibilities weighing her down, meanwhile Veronica is pushing Mick past her comfort level into vulnerability. The girls fall hard for each other--but they've built their early relationship on lies that could destroy their connection. With Nico's troublemaking and incessant challenges to the status quo serving as a catalyst for fast-paced changes, the girls will have to figure out if they can trust each other as everything begins to spiral out of control, threatening both their lives. I received a prepublication edition of this book (to be published March 30) courtesy of Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley. 03 The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon The Drowning Kind is the newest story by McMahon, the author of The Winter People and many other books. When Jax, a social worker, gets a series of frantic missed calls from her sister Lexie, she assumes Lexie is having another manic episode. She'll have plenty of time to try to cope with her estranged sister's mess later. But disaster strikes, and Jax finds herself trying to unravel the twisted, complicated history of her family and its land--a history Lexie was researching and had become haunted by. McMahon's modern-day ghost story delves back into the family's goings-on in 1929, when Jax and Lexie's ancestor Ethel Monroe, desperate to have a baby, may have made a dark bargain--with terrible repercussions echoing for generations to come. I received a prepublication edition of this book (its publication date is April 6) courtesy of Gallery Books and NetGalley.

There's brutality and bravery in this spooky tale--and the atmospheric descriptions of the remote, tiny town setting created an eerie, claustrophobic feeling. The stories Immanuelle hears about her deceased mother Miriam all have one thing in common: her defiance of the Prophet. She was cut with the mark of the Prophet and was promised to him, but she was far from the submissive, obedient young woman held up as ideal in the land of Bethel. She became pregnant with Immanuelle by a man outside the small, secluded community and died when Immanuelle was born. When Immanuelle ventures into the Darkwood, she encounters the legendary witches she's heard tell of her whole life--and finds that her mother's rumored encounters with the coven really happened. She's given a long-lost journal detailing her mother's exile, thirst for vengeance, and plans for enacting evil spells against those who treated her poorly. Immanuelle also unwittingly offers power to a set of curses that threaten to destroy all of Bethel--unless Immanuelle can use the clues in her mother's devastating journal, her own hard-won realizations about her mother's intentions for her, and her new-found determination to defy the witches of the wood and their deadly vendettas and save her faulted community that is all she's ever known. I listened to Henderson's spooky book as an audiobook, and this dark, witchy tale felt perfect as winter is coming. There's brutality--facial mutilation for the multiple wives of the Prophet, burning wrongdoers on pyres, and other cutthroat approaches to justice--as well as incredible bravery on the part of Immanuelle and her friend Ezra, the Prophet's son. The twisted interpretations of the scripture by the Prophet and his unchecked, cruel power were disturbing, and the atmospheric descriptions of the remote, tiny town created an eerie, claustrophobic feeling. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? This was truly spooky. The descriptions of the witches alone may give me bad dreams, yeow! There's another book planned for this series; I hope the tides of power have turned in Bethel in book two. I mentioned this book (along with Notes on a Silencing and I'm Still Here) in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/14/20 Edition.