Review: The Halloween Tree

4 stars. On Halloween night, a group of boys gather in front of the town's haunted house to trick-or-treat - but their friend Pipkin is missing! They encounter the house's inhabitant, Mr. Moundshroud, and witness Pipkin being swept away in darkness. Mr. Moundshroud then takes them on a journey through time and space to save their friend and learn the true "meaning" of Halloween.

I really struggled on the rating for this one - on the one hand, the writing is absolutely beautiful. I cannot emphasize enough how much I enjoyed the prose. Bradbury is a master of metaphor and the way he evokes Autumn in this story is, frankly, unmatched. You will not find a book more appropriate for spooky season ... anywhere. 

On the other hand, I fell asleep almost every time I pulled this out. The characters aren't super engaging and the story itself kind of floats with not much to anchor it. The thing is - thematically, premise-wise, this should've been a home run. But it just wasn't. Something Wicked This Way Comes is much better, in my opinion. How do you rate a book that's all style - incredibly stylish, actually, BEST VIBES EVER, in fact! - and no substance? 

I landed at 4, because it really is a classic, and for good reason. And I have no regrets. It's a fantastic read. I highly, highly recommend it during October and the lessons hold up for kiddos, as well. There is emphasis on the evolution of tradition, and generosity, and the importance of embracing other cultures, and navigating one of the primary difficulties of life - death itself. Bradbury effectively illustrates how history stacks upon itself - and civilization changes - but the agonizing struggle of being human stays pretty much the same. 

The Halloween Tree on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph

Review: Perspective(s)

3 stars. Okay, I'm going to be honest - I'm writing this on a bad day, during a bad week, after a series of bad weeks - actually, it's been kind of a rough year. The point is that I'm feeling really, really grumpy and annoyed and sensitive, and I really don't want my book response to suffer unfairly. I do recommend it - for very specific readers, in a specific mood for something specific. Otherwise, forgive me for what might be a subjective review. My bad mood aside, books are always very much a good idea for rough days - and this one did offer a nice escape.

Perspective(s) is an epistolary novel, formatted as a collection of letters "found" and bound by a mysterious, unnamed character. It takes place in Florence, and chronicles the murder of an artist working on a series of controversial frescoes commissioned by the Duke. This crime reverberates politically across the city, and the investigation shakes up a shocking variety of subplots and scandals - forbidden love affairs, theft, power struggles; even an uprising against the elite. Eventually this cast of colorful characters collide: the murderer unmasked, the city flooded - with art, as ever, at the center of the turmoil. 

A lot of my irritation is self-directed. I could not for the life of me keep the names straight, even after writing down my own personal character guide. And I don't possess enough knowledge, understanding, or awareness around this particular part of Italian history, so many of the references and name drops and historical details were completely lost on me. This was annoying! I wanted to get it. I wanted to appreciate its full value.

But there are a couple of things that I think might irritate other readers, too. The ending, for example, or the answers to the who/what/why around the murder. It did not fly as believable, or even plausible, or even really that satisfying. And there's an odd sense of ... smugness in the writing here, detectible in all the voices represented. This book smells arrogant. It comes across as too clever for its own good. And maybe that's a quirk of the translation, who knows? 

Something I loved, though: the centrality of art. The importance of representation, and depiction, and the power of imagery, especially religious imagery, in a time when the church held sway over so many aspects of daily life. The relationship of art to man - the opportunities and possibilities (and handwringing) around interpretation - the acceptance of depiction as reality or fantasy - the questions around what is holy, who is God, who is man. All really fun stuff to chew on. Everything is politics! Everything is aesthetics! Everything is power! Everything is... perspective!

Pair that with an undeniable playfulness - especially in the depiction of several great Italian artists - and you have a fantastic read. It is a page turner, though I'd hardly agree with "heart-thumping" or "pulse quickening," as all the reviews say. I just couldn't get over the fact that it couldn't get over itself. But honestly, no regrets. 

Perspective(s) on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph

Review: Those Across the River

3 stars. Wow, what a wild ride. I absolutely worship Christopher Buehlman, darling of Reddit's horrorlit community, and have not lost an ounce of respect for him, even if this one didn't hit me perfectly. I will continue to savor his catalog - while all of his books are so, so distinct from each other, there's just something about his storytelling that hits so, so consistently hard.

Frank Nichols and his ex-student almost-wife Dora are looking for a fresh start after their affair and her subsequent divorce. He is a vet of the Great War, walking around with physical and mental scars, but he loves Dora and is excited to begin a life with her in an inherited house in a very small town in the Deep South. Who cares if his aunt told him to stay away? Who cares if the town feels a little backwards, and his writing isn't going well? Who cares if he gets a very, very bad feeling about the woods, and the river, and those who dwell across it?

I did have to dock a star for a UDD (had tears rolling down my cheeks on the Metro), but mostly I didn't give this 5 stars because it felt so... off-kilter. Uneven. I can't decide if it's because we barely caught a glimpse at who actually was on the other side of the river - but this had to have been intentional, right? Was the intention to create more of a character study, or an intimate portrait of a small town? Characters kind of came and went without much to anchor them - and so they felt expendable.

And while I don't agree with the way other reviewers have mocked some of the writing, and some of the characters, I truly am curious why so much ink was dedicated to certain proclivities of our heroic couple. Not offended - just a little bored. Maybe he did it to establish not just character but also the phase of their relationship; maybe to thicken or strengthen a sort of primal thread running through the book; maybe to just explore and make more interesting their dynamic; maybe to appeal to horny horror trope lovers who want at least one boob in-between all the slashing and maiming...

The racism, though, I feel more sure about: this is a piece of historical horror, and Buehlman doesn't shy away from the beliefs and atrocities of its time. Check TWs accordingly and just stay away if you prefer. It is uncomfortable. It is awful. But I don't agree that racism shouldn't exist in books because it's racist. Not to say whatever he tried to do here wasn’t clumsy, or easily misinterpreted, but racism is part of the point, I think.

ANYWAY. Mediocre Buehlman is miles and miles above everyone else. If you're looking for a dark, graphic, violent, bloody piece of historical werewolf horror with a vivid showdown and an ELECTRIC ending that crackles like lightning - look no further.

Those Across the River on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph

Review: The Elementals

5 stars. WHAT was THAT! I have so many questions and theories and ideas - but ultimately I can't help but just call this book fun at the end of the day. Spooky, Southern, darkly funny and atmospheric - there's a reason this is considered one of the great classics of the 80s. It delivers and then some. 

The book follows two families joined by marriage - the McCoys and the Savages - after a familial loss as they travel to their isolated vacation properties deep in Alabama. The property consists of three houses, the third of which has been swallowed by a sand dune on the beach. But there appears to be something in the sand, something present in the third house - something hellbent on bringing darkness and destruction to the family - as has happened before and will happen again.

So - the things to know before diving in. This is a book reflective of its time, and there are many racist elements and tropes in the dialogue and characterizations of certain players. The pacing is odd and the narrative developments are clumsy and strange. I cannot emphasize enough how bizarre this book is. But I think what McDowell really nails - and what readers appreciate - is the depiction of the South - both its geographic features and also its nasty inhabitants. It absolutely reeks of Flannery O'Connor's casually vicious Southern personalities.

Through this lens one could definitely identify plenty of metaphors, and I've loved considering a few proposed by other reviewers: sand = blood, dead babies = family secrets, the house = ignored family history or unresolved trauma. McDowell intentionally includes very little exposition about the supernatural entities themselves, so we don't know much about their motivations or capabilities. Only what they look like, sometimes, and that's plenty to leave you scared. They are monstrous and truly grotesque.

I am curious about the debate around Luker. I thought his homosexuality was super obvious from the beginning - the clues only add up throughout the story. Again, this could tie into the theme of family secrets in the South (see also the family patriarch's corrupt, adulterous ways), which I do think enriches what could have been a simpler, more straightforward haunted house story. 

A couple of details I am not over, in a good way: the baby's jewelry, India's photographs, and the face in the window.

Weird, but I highly recommend.

The Elementals on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph

Review: My Cousin Rachel

4 stars, but I highly, highly recommend this sharp, vivid classic. 

When young Philip Ashley's guardian travels to Florence for his health, he doesn't expect Ambrose to stay - nor does he expect to hear news of his marriage to a mysterious and distant cousin named Rachel. Mystified by this choice and by the idea of marriage altogether, Philip grows more and more concerned by Ambrose's letters and signs of declining health. When he travels to Florence to visit, he is too late - Ambrose has passed away, leaving cousin Rachel untethered and apparently alone. 

Philip returns home to England determined to find out more about cousin Rachel and her involvement, or lack thereof, in his beloved guardian's death. He invites her to stay at his inherited estate. But the more he gets to know Rachel, and the more she becomes involved in his life, the more his uncertainty - and interest - grows.

I'm of the opinion that the ending really makes this book - we spend the whole time circling, circling, circling the drain in an agonizing slow spiral and somehow she hits us with an immaculate gut punch of a throwback to the beginning - it's brilliant, genius, perfect. And there are so many clever details - literal seeds of doubt and dramatic gothic touches, like locked doors, buried letters, rattling carriages, black dresses... it's just a beautiful piece of work.

So - is Rachel guilty or innocent? Rumor has it even the author didn't know, but I think she's guilty. People are much, much more likely to be greedy, dishonest, manipulative, and good at acting than they are likely to be kind, gracious, or selfless. Maybe Rachel was a little bit of all of it, as Philip considers at one point - she contains multitudes! As does he! 

I'm trying to consider why this feels like a 4-star read for me, even with a UDD. I know many say it's du Maurier's most "technically" successful book from a plotting/pacing and character perspective. I can see that. I think I found it to be a bit of a feel-bad drag, maybe not as spooky or exciting as some of her other stories. I don't mind insufferable characters - and this book is full of them - but I think I am a bit sensitive about stories in which the protagonist is yanked about by hypocrites and ultimately not believed when he forms a thought for himself. I also didn't find it romantic, or full of romantic tension, as others have described. 

Still - what a fascinating thing to read. Like with all du Maurier books my heart was in my throat the whole time. It was like watching a slow motion train wreck. Philip offers an incredible - and incredibly awkward - headspace to occupy. Wild ride for sure.

My Cousin Rachel on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph

Review: A Song of Shadows (Charlie Parker #13)

I didn't enjoy this as much as The Wolf in Winter, but it's easy to call it a fantastic entry in Charlie Parker's story - by now, #13 in the series, John Connolly has sharpened his arsenal of storytelling weapons and deploys them very, very effectively. I've mentioned this before, but I like how the series deals with a variety of subjects - each mystery dives deep into something - and it inspires me to daydream about other possible settings for Charlie - the circus? Capitol Hill? Charlie Parker in Hollywood? Charlie Parker goes to Paris?

In this one: Nazis. Parker moves to a small seaside town in Maine to recover from serious injuries sustained in the last book, and - naturally - gets pulled into an investigation when a body washes up on shore. Navigating small town politics, his unfortunate and extensive personal traumas, and a growing awareness of what else is out there, Charlie pulls on threads that extend all the way back to one of the worst and most painful periods in human history. 

You can tell this book features a subject that interests Connolly greatly and his research is incredibly apparent. I was impressed with the ... maybe not nuanced, exactly, but the careful portrayal of Holocaust perpetrators in old age. Their stories are as fascinating as they are horrifying - Connolly does not shy away from the vivid and grotesque details of their crimes past and present, nor does he neglect to examine closely (and not always favorably) the way the world reacted - and continues to react. 

I liked the pacing and the balance in this one, too. I truly did not guess any of the twists and was very engaged start to finish. I was honestly a little confused here and there, trying to keep track of the characters and the details, but that could be thanks to pregnancy-fueled focus issues and fatigue. I'm very intrigued by where things are going next - I love that Charlie ends this one with a strong purpose.

Isn't it interesting to reflect back on Every Dead Thing? That book was super, super long and winding and sentence heavy... Charlie hadn't grown into his character's skin yet and there was such a 90s flavor to it. We've come such a long way! I'm thrilled there's more and I am thrilled to see where the story continues - even though I have a feeling it's going to be very, very dark. Bring it on.

A Song of Shadows on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph

Review: A Gathering of Ghosts

4 stars. Maitland is an incredible author - y'all are begging and screaming for anything that smells even REMOTELY like Between Two Fires and she's RIGHT HERE! This is the deeply researched, immersive, medieval horror you're looking for! And she has a ton of books to choose from - this was a little more up my alley than Company of Liars, but both = very memorable, enjoyable reading experiences. 

England, mid-1300s. The Priory of St Mary is visited by a series of unexpected visitors: a Knight of St John, dispatched to review the Priory's financial activities and accounts related to the church; a young girl, alone and impoverished who lands in a nearby camp of tinners but feels called to something more; and a child, blind, whose arrival coincides with a violent death. In a rough landscape made rougher by the tinners, the Priory's inhabitants are caught between honoring the church and protecting their own survival. 

I particularly loved the lack of traditional heroes/villains in this story. You really are plopped down in the middle of a situation where characters orbit each other and interact in interesting - but not necessarily archetypal - ways. I also really loved the interplay of old and new religions - it's a Big and Common Theme, and in this case, one religion is literally stacked on top of another. The author dramatically paints the conflict around traditional beliefs evolving and blurring into something new, and the intersection of all that with economics and politics and power, and gender, of course...

Okay, so one quibble: multiple times I found myself wanting this book to get to the point. It's not that it dragged, exactly, but there was a lot of ... circling the drain, so to speak, and we spent a lot of time inner monologuing in repetitive ways. Character motivations were well-established 75% of the way through, we didn't need to keep wallowing in their wallowing. I would also mention that the author asks a lot of you - there's a handy glossary, and a historical guide, but there are terms and concepts and references here that will be unfamiliar to anyone but a medieval expert. I didn't mind - for me it didn't detract from the story. In fact, that helped make it compelling. 

This is a medieval fairy tale without a single drop of romanticism: it's gritty, muddy, dank, gross, dark, wet, dreary, mossy, smoky, smelly, dirty, cruel, bloody, and terrifying. Wrong and right are twisted and twisted again into a fascinating knot. There are multiple types of horror: atmospheric, religious, supernatural, demonic, animal horror, body horror, human horror... I highly, highly recommend. 

A Gathering of Ghosts on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph

Review: The Diamond in the Window

5 stars. This book captivated me when I was younger - both my sister and I inherited it as a particular favorite of our mother’s. A family mystery, dream clues, an attic bedroom tucked away? We re-read it many times. We were also read other books in Jane Langton's repertoire (I can practically hear my dad's voice...) and enjoyed them all immensely. So I opened this with intense curiosity, hoping it would hold up. And it was... a fascinating experience.

Eleanor and Edward live in a very special house in Concord with their Aunt Lily and Uncle Freddy. They live a peaceful if somewhat sad family life, as several relatives are missing - having disappeared under mysterious circumstances years ago. When two very unpleasant townspeople threaten to repossess the house due to taxes owed, the children embark on a vivid, fantastic, dangerous treasure hunt to find their family and save their house.

From a writing perspective, this book is pretty much perfect. The descriptions are imaginative and colorful and captivating, the pacing is great for kids, and the way E&E's real-life experiences informed the dream games was honestly really fun. There are some important lessons embedded maybe not so subtly around selflessness, sacrifice, identity, knowledge, and choices - I stand by them. 

But I don't love that Eleanor's mirror path led her to motherhood, and Edward's reflected him as President. There were some odd religious overtones (or maybe undertones?)… just some intense/weird religious imagery that confused me... but honestly didn't phase me for a second as a kid. That stuff went right over my head - I never once connected it to religion in any way. So much for being “exposed” to dangerous concepts... I guess I was too dumb to be "corrupted."

So, yes, halfway through I was feeling 4 stars. But the ending wraps things up so beautifully - so, so beautifully - I can’t help but give it 5. It's a wonderful, transporting, adventure story. There are some dark and spooky moments which only add to the thrill. And these characters - you cannot help but love them, deeply. Uncle Freddy forever.

The Diamond in the Window on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph

Review: The Egypt Game

5 stars. Could not have enjoyed this more - it had me staying up late, "one more chapter" and all that! I wonder if this book kickstarted my Egypt phase, back in the day? Regardless, I highly, highly recommend this for readers of all ages - it's a timeless classic, an important story, and a ridiculously fun, good time. I cried at the end (pregnant). 

When young April Hall moves to town, she quickly befriends Melanie Ross, discovering a mutual love for all things Ancient Egypt. Together with Melanie's younger brother Marshall they invent The Egypt Game, adopting an old storage shed behind a junk shop for their rituals and ceremonies. But as the Game grows, strange things happen, and the players start to wonder if they've conjured the magic of Ancient Egypt after all...

I actually cannot believe how well-written and clever this is. The author really channels - successfully - the quirks and voices of the kids, infusing some really important and powerful lessons into the narrative. The representation - for a book published in 1967 - is incredible, and I nearly dropped the book when I realized there's a MURDER SUBPLOT?! What do you mean? Could this book be any further up my alley?

There's plenty for adults. It's a throwback to the joy of immersive, imaginative play, and there are clever references to the tensions of its time: the Civil Rights movement, for example. I don't think it's an accident that the murderer turned out to be a white ginger from a well-respected family. It's funny, and insightful without knocking you over the head, and don't even get me started on Mr. Ross calling April "the cruelest month...." 

I loved this book as a kid, and I love it now. There's so much to read, out there, but let this be a sign: revisit the good ones, occasionally. It's very rewarding.

The Egypt Game on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph

Review: The Wolf in Winter (Charlie Parker #12)

4 stars. This series tells some fascinating stories of different shapes and sizes. I normally prefer consistency, but I appreciate the variety here: some are more focused on Charlie, some on his associates; some are more focused on the crime or mystery at hand with Charlie as a secondary character; some are more horror, others more procedural; some are cut-and-dry as a bone while others include supernatural components. I guess I'm trying to communicate what to expect, but it's also an observation around why I think this series is so successful: it keeps things interesting.

The Wolf in Winter zooms in on a small town in Maine called Prosperous. The town has experienced good fortune over the years, despite economic downturn and global conflict, thanks to the inhabitants' commitment to an old god who demands a lot more than worship every Sunday. When a girl goes missing, Charlie Parker gets involved, poking his nose in the dark corners of a church with strange carvings and inviting a lot more trouble than usual. 

Connolly pays a lot of attention to Prosperous itself - its residents, its enforcers, its crimes. It's not exactly the most unique premise, but I found the power squabbles, tensions, and clashing personalities endlessly fascinating. We have an anti-hero, of sorts, bumping up against an egomaniac pseudo-pastor, decision makers who enjoy the bloodshed a little too much, and one of the best and most irritating villains in the series - their leader. There are echoes of The Lottery in the bureaucracy of it all. I really, really enjoyed this aspect of the story. And The Green Man is always, always, always of interest, to me.

That being said, I had to dock a star for a UDD (or a UWD as it were), and because - despite being pretty tight and shorter than other Parker books - it could've used maybe a bit more editing/less meandering. But that's par for the course here and I was immersed, as usual, in the unexpected familiar and safe space that is Parker's world. It's less of a whodunnit but the way these characters orbit each other had me chomping at the bit to find out what happens next. Also, I know I've thrown my support behind this series being adapted before, but SERIOUSLY, THIS IS THE ONE. 

The Wolf in Winter on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph