Review: The Inverted Forest: A Novel

The Inverted Forest: A Novel by John Dalton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



One of the best books I've read this year. Beautiful writing with original, deeply developed characters. Some of them are intriguing, some are heart breaking, some are endearing and some are down right evil, yet none of them are one note. The story appears to be about a young man who, having spent his entire life living down to the expectations others have of him, takes an opportunity to rise above that. However, as the book goes on, the reader discovers that it's not just Wyatt that wants to prove that he is more than meets the eye, but almost everyone in this book, even many of the campers that fateful session at Kindermann Forest Summer Camp.

So why four stars and not five? The time shift at the end seemed unnecessary to me. It brought a supporting character into the main story when she wasn't needed, and added a level of superficiality that hurt the book's literary tone. The story was telling itself up to that point, and then suddenly we have someone who had stayed on the sidelines take over and not add anything that couldn't have been revealed by the main characters themselves.



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Review: The Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies

The Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies by Susan Wittig Albert

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Once again, great historical setting with details galore, told in the traditional cozy style of people first, plot second. I'm not a big fan of mixing true crime with cozies, so when one of a fictional member of Al Capone's outfit shows up in Darling to deal with a fictional ex-girlfriend of Capone, I lose all interest in the mystery aspect of the story. But the gardening and life in a small town in the 1930s kept me reading this very light and fluffy story.



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Review: Daughters of the Revolution

Daughters of the Revolution by Carolyn Cooke

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


More a set of linked short stories than a novel, there's so little solid story telling in this book that it goes nowhere. The settings are handled well enough, with obvious references to actual historical events thrown in to establish the time period, but the characters read like plot devices more than people. They're there to demonstrate the societal changes that were occurring for women, not to be flesh and blood lives of their own.



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Review: Before I Go to Sleep

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Intriguing plot about an amnesiac who begins to recover memories that don't fit with her current reality. However, the author seems to have confused loss of memory with loss of intelligence, because Christine is just too accepting of her current situation and does little to improve it without others giving her a shove in the right direction. It's not just that she waits to long to ask the obvious questions, it's that she takes so little action to take responsibility for herself. As to the mystery of why her slowly regained memories don't fit, it's no mystery, it's stock characters doing exactly what you think they're going to do.



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Review: A Choir of Ill Children

A Choir of Ill Children by Tom Piccirilli

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Southern gothic horror is a special kind of horror. It has no ghosts or demons, just the humans at their most monstrous. And that's what this book is about - people that look like monsters and people who act like monsters while looking perfectly harmless. The demons are plentiful but not supernatural, in fact, it's nature at it's best and worst that makes this book so darn scary.



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Review: Go the F**k to Sleep

Go the F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


100% perfect on the writing, but some of the kids in the illustrations were just plain creepy!



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Review: Once Upon a River

Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Once I realized that the title of this book is meant to give you a clue as to what type of story you're about to read, most of my criticisms evaporated. Margo's journey is a fairy tale, where only those that know her best are capable of saying no to her, and she always manages to meet people that will help her on her journey at just about the right time. If you're open to that story telling style, this is a wonderful bit of escapism reading about a place and a life that many would love to live, if only they had Margo's skills and tools (and incredible good luck with strangers).



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