June was a fantastic reading month. Not because I read many books, but because it’s the month during which I discovered the wondrous world of Netgalley and “Advanced Reader Copies”. Reading and reviewing books doesn’t earn me any money, but I love doing it. I love the feeling of reading a book before its publication date. Most of the books I read this month were on my tablet for that reason.
Stats
Books: 7 books
Format: 5 e-books and 2 audiobooks
Total Amount of Pages: 2.871
Authors: 6 new to me and 1 (Emily Henry) already known
Language: 7 English
David Quantick – Night Train (2020)
Horror
Sometimes you accidentally find a hidden gem. I requested this book from the publisher Titan Books who kindly provided it to me. Let me say that I’m super thrilled I found out about David Quantick’s Night Train!
The plot sounded really promising. First of all, it’s labelled a dystopian/horror/science-fiction novel. I have to say that I do enjoy a good horror novel every now and then. It doesn’t always have to take place in a realistic setting. Believe me, this one is not (I hope). Secondly, it takes place on a train. There’s something about horror stories that take place in one location that scare the heck out of me.
A woman wakes up, and she has no idea where she is. All she knows is that she’s on a train and she’s surrounded by dead people. All she can see outside are occasional explosions. She decides to take matters into her own hands and move to the front of the train. On the way she meets people and otherworldly things. Little by little she figures out what is going on.
What’s good about this book is the way the story is propelled forward by the moving train and the fact that the characters are always trying to move to the front. I didn’t find a reason to stop reading and I was intrigued until the last page to find out what was going on and how things would end for our protagonists.
There are gruesome scenes in here. Luckily, they’re not so bad I had to stop reading. There’s a lot of absurdity as well, I’m sure you’ll be surprised if I tell you there’s a scene with sparkling turtles… What, on a train? Yes, exactly. Sometimes, I’m OK when a horror story doesn’t make that much sense for me. Sometimes I just want to be thrilled, and I want to be shocked by what I’m reading.
This book delivers just that, with an occasional chuckle on the side.
This book will be published on the 7th of July. Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy!
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Stephen Graham Jones – The Only Good Indians (2020)
Horror
I’m having a hard time writing this review for Stephen Graham Jones’ The Only Good Indians. Sometimes you have to step away from the novel a little bit to let your thoughts simmer. I had to do that big time for this story.
In its essence I think the story is incredibly strong. It’s about four Indigenous Americans in their 20s who go hunting a forbidden part of the reservation that is only reserved for the elders. They find a pack of elk there, and mayhem ensues.
They think they get away with it, but when they’re in their 30s they come face-to-face with an entity bent on revenge.
It’s a horror story as old as time, but it works. I will never look at an elk as a harmless animal again, that’s for sure. The effect it has on the four men is all different and that’s where the great storytelling comes in. The book is propelled forward by gruesome horror scenes. I also enjoyed the fact that this is an #ownvoices story, which gives the reader a good insight into the Native American culture.
However, it’s also stopped by lengthy passages about the characters’ thought process and nothing in particular, really. It’s like riding a rollercoaster where sometimes the build up takes a bit too long.
The reason I had to take some distance from the novel, is because I didn’t grasp the full concept. I couldn’t really keep up with the author’s thought process. I have this feeling it’s me and not the book though.
This together with the slower parts of the rollercoaster made my reading experience a bit less pleasant than it could have been. I’m giving this book 3.5 stars and I’m rounding it up to 4, because it’s a solid read nevertheless. At the end of the day, all I will remember is the interesting revenge story and the horrible scenes that are written so incredibly descriptively I will not forget them very easily.
This book will be published on the 21st of July. Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Emily Henry – Beach Read (2020)
Romance
I know Emily Henry as a YA Magical Realism author. I’ve read A Million Junes and I absolutely loved every second of it. There aren’t many authors who like Henry can make me fall in love with characters and their storylines.
I didn’t know if her foray into romance would be successful for me. I don’t like romance as a genre. That’s why I don’t dive into it very often. However, Josie Silver’s books are always a hit for me and it turns out it doesn’t matter what Emily Henry writes, because I’m there for it.
This novel is about two authors who know each other from college who meet again years later. They decide to challenge each other to write one book in each other’s genre. Normally, January writes romance novels with sappy happy endings and Augustus (Gus) writes dark literary fiction. Now, they switch.
I find the characters and their problems to be realistic. The writing is sarcastic, funny and heart-warming. The fact that Gus was planning to write about a cult adds another interesting layer to the narrative. Speaking of layers, this isn’t a light and fluffy read in the slightest. It’s about family secrets, cancer, divorce, death, regrets, should I go on or is your interest peaked?
The idea was born out of a writer’s block. I don’t want to be annoying, but am I the only one who hopes Emily Henry will have another one that inspires her to write another gem like this again?
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rusty Young – Colombiano (2017)
Historical Fiction
Colombiano by Rusty Young was never on my radar until Havelock & Baker Publishing reached out to me with a review copy.
The story sounded right up my alley. It’s been a while since I read historical fiction of such magnitude that takes place in another country; Shantaram is the first that springs to mind. Colombiano doesn’t take place in India, but has a setting in Colombia.
The premise is about child soldiers that are enlisted by the Guerilla and Paramilitary groups. It’s based on real-life because the author has had the opportunity to speak to people from those organisations to gather stories first hand.
I myself had expected a bit of a different story, but that’s because I’m not really good at reading premises. This is mainly a tale of revenge. It’s about a fifteen-year-old Colombian boy and his quest to avenge his father’s murder. Pedro joins the Autodefensas together with his best friend.
The next 600 pages of the novel are about Pedro’s growth in the ranks and his search for his father’s killers. The novel offers a painful insight into the lives of these young recruits, including the women who also join the fight.
I couldn’t put the book down even if I wanted to at times. A novel has the potential to be long-winded if it’s more than 600 pages, and this one doesn’t introduce any new characters at the 30% mark. It’s not a complicated tale, it’s shocking in its simplicity. It is what is down there, and there’s no need to paint a different picture. I was never bored. I wanted Pedro to get his revenge desperately.
In short, I liked the insights into the Colombian Paramilitary & Guerilla organisations, I liked the character build-up, I liked the overall story. Here’s what I didn’t enjoy that much.
I wish I had the thought process of this 15 to 17 year-old-year. Pedro outsmarts almost everyone including the military leadership of the different factions. I found that to be quite a stretch. It didn’t feel like a realistic tale of a young boy. The story goes from telling a horrible tale of young kids at army training to masterminds trying to take down multiple factions. It didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the novel, it did create a gap between me and the characters.
All in all I’m happy that the publishers sent me this book for review. I’m curious to read the author’s first book Marching Powder: A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America’s Strangest Jail as well, as the plot sounds incredibly promising.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Caz Frear – Shed No Tears (Cat Kinsella #3) (2020)
Mystery/Thriller
I don’t know why, but for some reason I had Caz Frear’s first novel Sweet Little Lies on my wish list years ago. However, from one day to the next it suddenly disappeared. I don’t even remember why I took it off. It might have something to do with the fact that I found out it was a series. I’m not usually one to pick up detective series. There’s one I’m fond off which is Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, but all others I try to avoid. I don’t like the feeling of being “stuck” to a series. I’m one of those people who can’t quit a series, even if they don’t like it. That’s why I have almost the full Harry Hole series in my bookcase by Jo Nesbo.
Anyways, I digress. The reason I had this book on my wish list is because the idea that Cat Kinsella is operating in the UK police force even though her dad is a hardened criminal in organised crime sparked my interest. When I saw the third book in the series on Netgalley I decided to jump right into it.
Shed No Tears is about the final victim of a serial killer who was active around and apprehended in 2012. Holly Kemp is found in a field near Cambridge. The discovery of the final body could potentially wrap the whole case up. However, the serial killer Christopher Masters had never confessed to murdering her and when inspector Cat and Luigi look closer at the victim, they notice quite a few discrepancies with Masters’ other victims.
I like the fact that even though there are a lot of allusions to the previous novels, we’re actually getting enough information to understand roughly what happened and what feeling we have to have towards the people in Cat’s life, but not too much to want to make the two previous novels redundant. You can easily read this novel, and still get the “full experience” of Cat Kinsella. The stories of previous novels are intertwined with this one, so be careful, because it’ll get you wanting more.
Other things I liked were the easy banter between Kinsella and people she conversed with. I think she’s a fun person to be around and I really enjoy her sarcasm and wit. It never turns self-deprecating or too much. You know those female protagonists who are so snippy and snide almost no woman can identify with them? Artemis by Andy Weir is the first novel that comes to mind that has one of those protagonists.
Another important element I liked is the plot itself. Nothing is what you’d expect, in a good way. It twists-and-turns without it being overtly twisty. You simply find out new things throughout the course of the novel. The fact that those new things are completely unexpected show what a good writer Caz Frear is.
Highly recommended and aside from the fact that I will definitely read the first and second book in this instalment, I really hope more books are on the way. Sometimes it’s nice to read a book in a series and to know that the end is not yet in sight.
Shed No Tears will be published on the 23rd of July. Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Lauren James – The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker (2020)
Fantasy
I’m so embarrassed. Luckily, I huffed and puffed and scoffed at this book in private. I had read the premise, but not very thoroughly. At the start of the novel, I made the assumption that Lauren James was making a lot of silly mistakes. I thought she was accidentally depicting Harriet Stoker, the protagonist, in a weird and almost negative way. For example, Harriet would have a way of getting what she wanted by either flirting with people or by using them in other ways. There are so many more examples though.
It took me around 100 pages to realise that our protagonist is actually meant to be an anti-hero. That’s so clever!
The story is about a girl, Harriet Stoker, who goes to a derelict building to take photos for her Photography course. She accidentally dies in the building, and straightaway her spirit wakes up. A group of friends are “on the other side” to welcome her into the life of a ghost. They explain that every ghost has their own power, and if Harriet is patient, she will find hers. Harriet isn’t patient though. She wants to leave, and she wants to find her power even if it destroys everyone around her.
The premise that I’m giving you isn’t a spoiler, but as I said I didn’t know these facts going into the novel. I loved every bit of it though! I thought it was an incredibly clever way to make a break with the traditional friend group and I liked the diverse cast of characters and the world that Lauren James created. It makes a lot of sense for ghosts to feed off of energy, and to each have their own powers in order to explain why cultures have a different definitions for ghosts.
I didn’t necessarily enjoy the love triangle. That having been said, it’s wasn’t overshadowing the plot or development of characters in any way.
The novel is written from multiple perspectives. You hear the story from Harriet’s and from four or five of the friends’ point-of-views. There’s also one unknown character who gives the reader a bit more of an insight into the future and the past. I think that’s a clever addition to keep the reader guessing a bit more.
I didn’t expect to be giving this novel 5 stars. However, here we are with a very well deserved perfect rating! I can’t wait to read more of Lauren James’ work.
Many thanks to the publisher Walker Books for providing me with a review copy!
The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker will be published on the 3rd of September.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tayari Jones – An American Marriage (2018)
Contemporary
This book didn’t serve me exactly what I was expecting, and that’s OK. It became part of the Black Lives Matter narrative and rightly so. I recently watched 13th on Netflix and I’m happy I did because it taught me a lot of history, which I needed before diving into this book.
This book doesn’t give you a long story about the criminal justice system in the US. Instead it tells you about Roy and Celestial whose lives have been turned up-side down when Roy is put in jail for a rape he didn’t commit.
This book is a believable look at what would happen to a family when something like this happens. It’s told through the eyes of Roy, Celestial and their best friend Andre.
The book has a slow pace, but I think it fit the narrative. I can highly recommend this book especially if you watch it with the aforementioned documentary.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
How was your reading month? What books did you read in June?
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