LRRC Week 31
I feel like this week's post really runs the gamut. Apologies if it seems a little bit inconsistent or flip-flopping. Also, it's my birthday in a couple days! This has no bearing on the post, I just feel the need to mark time like this.
#61: THE SOUND OF STARS by Alechia Dow
OH BOY THIS BOOK.
Honestly, I almost DNF'd this book a couple times in the first 100 pages. The main thing stopping me was, well, I still haven't figured out how I want to deal with DNFs on this blog, and so I soldiered on.
This book moves at the speed of light. I don't mean that in a good way, though it is relatively fast-paced, and that does make it go down a bit smoother. I mean that it's impossible (or was for me) to get a hang on what the main tension is or what the story wanted to be, because it kept shifting and changing. It felt like the author didn't quite know what story she wanted to write, or maybe that she kept changing her mind? (Or, perhaps, that she was in a hurry to get to the ending and what I presume is the next book in the series?)
The story follows Janelle (or Ellie), a human in alien-occupied New York, who runs a secret library even though she could be killed for it, and Morris - sorry, M0Rr1S - the music-loving alien invader, and the romance that blossoms between them. (And also some alien rock stars. Sorry, that's kind of a spoiler.)
I didn't care about the main romance, and I found the moments of adolescent drama to be weird add-ons, making the tone jump wildly around. One chapter the main character is sneaking out to a party, and the next she's watching one of her old classmates be hanged by alien invaders. It's jarring, and not, I think, in a way that improves the story.
I like the idea of Ellie's love of books and Morris' love of music, but I felt like they could have been better integrated into the novel. Where Ellie's chapters begin with a book quote, Morris' chapters begin, not with a quote from a song, but just with a song name and artist - I laughed out loud when his first chapter had "Raspberry Beret - Prince" at the top of it, because my brain, primed to expect quotes, went "I mean I GUESS that's a Prince quote, yeah."
Also, while I appreciate that the main character is asexual (specifically demi, though I'm trying to recall whether or not "demisexual" is used in the novel), it almost creates a bigger issue in my reading. We establish that Ellie needs a deep emotional connection to feel attraction and to want to be with someone, and then within the course of...a couple days? A week? Develops that emotional connection with Morris.
I'm not saying that can't happen, but I didn't really buy into it. I didn't believe that this connection was so much stronger than anything else she's had with anyone (especially because her best friend is...just there...and whom she apparently has at least some romantic feelings for...). The characters become attached to each other almost instantly - it's almost like they know how the book is going to end.
Honestly, the best part of this book was the utterly buck-wild ending. I don't think the ending was good, per se, but I was at least having fun with it. I can't believe the author taunted me with time-travelling rock star aliens at the very end. If the whole book had been that, I'm not sure that it would have been "good" objectively, but I can pretty much guarantee I would've liked it more.
#62: MEXICAN GOTHIC by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
HELL. YES.
I read this book in two days, partially because it had to go back to the library then, but also because it's so goddamn good.
I enjoyed every moment of this book. There was not a second where I felt let down, or frustrated, or annoyed by it. I was all in from the beginning and that carried me through until the very end, I was wrapped up in the mystery and also invested in what happened to the characters. Not only was this book a joy to read but I am excited to REREAD it at some point in the future.
My advice is to just GO READ THIS BOOK NOW WHAT ARE YOU DOING but if you need more: the story follows Noemí Taboada, a socialite in 1950s Mexico. When her cousin, who married into a reclusive family in the middle of nowhere, falls mysteriously ill, she must investigate, and things go rapidly downhill from there. It's gothic horror, not sure what else you expected tbh!
As mentioned, I loved all the characters, I was invested in and rooting for Noemí and the other protagonists, and suitably disgusted by the evil characters. I was even invested in the romance, which, as you may know, is a bit of a rarity! (The romance itself is not a massive part of the novel, if that's a dealbreaker for you, but I quite liked it as it was.)
A couple other notes: cw for attempted sexual assault in the novel, and some gory imagery. I didn't find the book to be incredibly scary, more creepy and atmospheric, so if you, like me, are a bit of a weenie when it comes to horror, you're probably okay.
I've previously read Gods of Jade & Shadow by Moreno-Garcia, and liked it quite well, but this seemed on an entirely different level to me. I'm not sure if I was just really in the mood for this kind of story, but I absolutely loved it, 100% deserving of the hype in my opinion.
NEXT WEEK'S AGENDA
#63: Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
#64: A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry