Hannah

4.5 stars - Originally posted to dragonsandwhimsy.co.uk

Over the past few years, I have been delving more and more into the horror genre. At one time I couldn???t get enough of it but I was too young to watch or read most things. Then I developed an anxiety disorder and found myself too easily frightened. However, my love of the genre never really went away. There is something about a dark, creepy story that gets under your skin. I still don???t know what it is, but I started keeping an eye out for horror novels when I checking the Kindle sales and that is how I came across My Best Friend???s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. 

That Cover Art, Though
Of course, the first thing you notice about this book is the cover. I suppose you can say the same for any book but this one, in particular, grabbed my eye. I???ve been finding myself enamoured with the 80???s retro vibe a lot of shows have been embracing the past few years, from Stranger Things to GLOW.

I just love the colourful nature of 80???s fashion, the big curly hair and the amazing pop music, the rise of some truly great horror and alternative music and fashion??? yes, the ???80s was a terrible decade in many ways, but there???s something to be said for it. And the cover art for My Best Friend???s Exorcism screams ???the 80???s does horror, and here???s the VHS from the back of your dad???s cupboard???. So of course my first thought was: ???oh hey, I wonder if this will scratch that Stranger Things itch,??? and the short answer is: no. It won???t. But it does many other things really, really well. 

A Friendship Like No Other?
The shining jewel of this novel is the friendship between Abby and Gretchen. They met as kids at Abby???s E.T. themed roller-skating party when Gretchen was the only other kid from class who showed up. They???ve been thick as thieves ever since. Gretchen is there for Abby when her dad loses his job and they fall into poverty, and Abby is there for Gretchen when her parents??? discipline turns violent. Beautifully, what divides them only seeks to make them stronger. Then comes high school when they have more friends, but they are still each other???s BFF. Until something changes and Gretchen starts acting really weird and then withdrawn until Abby loses hope of ever calling Gretchen her friend again.

Gretchen raised her head and looked at her bedroom door. ???I???m going to kill her,??? she whispered. Then she wiped her nose and looked up at Abby. ???Don???t ever tell I said that.???

The Midway Slog

The Horror is There

Who Should Read My Best Friend???s Exorcism?

Not a great book but it was relaxing and nostalgic to read. Review to come.

Just taking too long to really get started, the characters are not doing it for me, they're too real in a very “grimy” kinda way... Only characters I liked were Maggie and Lou, and poor Lou is fat, and we are told just how fat he is every damn time he's mentioned. To the point where the way he's described at times feels fatphobic, you know? And it's SO much. Jesus. Charlie Manx, also, very interesting villain. But again, it took way too long to get to the point. We get dribs and drabs here and there (I stopped at 43%, it may have picked up after this point but I'm so mentally checked out) and the narrative is so ... jagged. Lots of POV hopping, and changes in time period and such. It's messy. I just don't think this one is for me. Sadly. I was so excited, too.

 City of Glass is the third installment in Cassandra Clare???s Mortal Instruments series and also happens to be the one that made me a fan of hers. I found City of Bones an enjoyable enough read at the time, and City of Ashes was fine. They were easy reads and were exactly what I needed at the time, but I felt as though City of Glass brought it all together and almost went down a high fantasy route, which is always my jam. I had read that this one was due to be the last in the series but Clare ended up continuing with 3 more books, which makes a lot of sense as City of Glass feels like a natural end to this story.

You may have noticed that I skipped out on reviewing City of Ashes, which I read between this one and Raybearer. I enjoyed reading it but I really didn???t have a lot to say so decided not to bother. It was a book I???d started reading more than a year ago and picked back up over 100 pages in for an easy read to prevent slump from settling back in, and it did its job. In fact I enjoyed it enough to pick up City of Glass right after, which I almost regretted (apparently I can???t read a series in sequence right now) but ultimately, I had a great time reading, aside from a couple things which I???m not sure I want to talk about as they get into spoiler territory.

We have some dark moments in City of Glass, some actions that make me want to yell at the characters, and I did at some points (boy do Clary and Jace frustrate me), and some tropes, some of which I didn???t mind, while others grated on me a little. There are also plenty of twists and turns in this book, many I saw coming, but a few I actually did not, which was a really nice surprise. I also found the story took a while to pick up. The entire first part, actually, felt slow to me and contained situations that I wasn???t enjoying reading and was almost reading to put the book down and move on. I didn???t though, and I???m glad for it because once it picked up, I enjoyed myself a bunch.

What really stood out to me in this book were some of the side characters. I believe Magnus Bane is pretty widely beloved so it???s likely no shock that I loved his character. I felt like he was given more depth in City of Glass, more life, and he actually made me laugh out loud a few times which always helps. Plus I love me a magic user, that???s no lie. I also loved seeing Simon???s growth as a character, how mature he is about situations that in other YA romance books the guy would have flipped out and gone full angst, but Simon just doesn???t do that. He takes the punches and grows, and ends up being a great friend for Clary. We love a non-toxic relationship!

Then in the other column, we have the book???s villains. I despised Sebastian. I didn???t trust him, he was obviously evil, and hoo boy is he slimy. Then we have Valentine, who genuinely seems to believe his delusion that he is doing the right thing somehow, when what he???s really working towards is genocide and his own personal glory. He???s frustrating. And this is a good thing, in my eyes! Yes I love a lovable villain, but villains you can really hate and root against? They are well written villains, simple as.

Finally, I want to talk about the writing. Honestly, when I first started reading the series I wasn???t sure. The writing style was good enough to pull me in but with all of the clich??s and stupid actions from the characters, I was concerned that the Mortal Instruments books were yet another example of teen paranormal romance pushed out to hit an audience rather than because they???re actually any good. I have read my fair share. Yet here I am praising book three, so to past me: you were wrong. Clare???s writing style is actually really interesting. It???s simple enough to immerse you and be enjoyable to follow, even if you???re struggling with focus and such like I do, and yet she has these moments in her prose where she paints a beautiful image with her words, very reminiscent of Clary and her mother???s artistry. It???s pretty clever, frankly.

The book also utilises multiple points-of-view which ordinarily I despise. I find most books do not gain anything from using a different character???s perspective, all it does is give me narrative whiplash and make me feel frustrated. Yet in Mortal Instruments, I enjoyed them. Each POV added something to the story without feeling needless. Moments that we would never have seen, making later moments in the story pack a much harder punch. And yes, a break from Clary???s stressing was honestly refreshing.

And the ending of the book. Wow. It does not rush itself, rather, it takes its time, making sure to wrap up each loose thread and build up such a rise in tension that when the story comes to the climax, it feels so satisfying. It actually feels epic.

So those are my thoughts on City of Glass by Cassandra Clare. In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book. It???s not perfect (what book could claim to be anyway?) and certainly not for everybody, but if you don???t mind a little teenage angst and some trash Nephilim just trying to do right in the world, you might enjoy it too. Now I???m going to give the series a small break so I don???t burn out but I do have books 4 and 6, so at some point I???ll absolutely get into those, and probably the other series in the same world as well. 

 That was great! Wow. Inspired by a short story called “The Willows” by Algernon Blackwood, somebody who inspired the likes of H.P. Lovecraft, T. Kingfisher weaves an absolutely bonechilling story of other worlds that appear in the walls of her strange but king Uncle Earl's Wonder Museum, full of bizarre taxidermy and other such artifacts.

I'm still stewing on it, really, but I can say that it takes a lot for horror to get under my skin these days, but The Hollow Places creeped me out. And I love every moment of it. Nothing felt out of place, or bland. Kingfisher writes with so much colour and knows the perfect moments to tone it down and... damn. The atmosphere.

Read this if you're a fan of horror, particularly the Weird.