Josh Krysak
*2.5 stars This started out compulsively readable and had a setting and trope I enjoy, so I was quickly in and thought it would coast easily to at least a 3.5-star rating and maybe a 4. But the book comes off the rails in the later half with too many twists to even stay invested and a closing act that I was just annoyed by. Sager writes good popcorn novels, but you have to find that sweet spot with twists and their plausibility to avoid too many suspensions of disbelief or you end up just not caring.
Another solid effort from Hendrix, who I trust to take me to interesting places with well-drawn characters and a nice dash of creepiness typically factoring in. The underlying, real-life horrors here far outweigh the witchiness, but Hendrix does important work bringing this forgotten story that faced so many young girls in our nation's history and weaves an intriguing tale around it.
*3.5 stars. I recognize the significance of this work for its time and appreciate the Lovecraftian writing style. There is so much more I want to know, but will forever be left wondering. Any enjoyable foray into one of the first works of bizarre fiction that helped pave the way for modern horror masters.
This book is legitimately scary. The concept is great and the execution is there. I didn't care for these people all that much, outside of Bela, but I thought that Malerman was mining some pretty deep concepts through his stilted engagements between this oddly coupled couple while also doubling down on frightening sequences with just the right pitch and repetition. The ending wasn't perfect and not what I wanted, but was plausible, all things considered. Malerman's use of the word piqued about half dozen times in places that were suspect grated on me and piqued my interest about that artistic choice and what might have prompted it. Still, overall, the novel really marked a return to form for me with his work. Not since Birdbox have I found myself so invested.
Pitch perfect. Sweet, life-affirming, and filled with low-stakes adventure underscored with kindness and heart. Exactly what I needed and what we all could use. This is on par for me with Legends and Lattes and has further cemented cozy fantasy as a feel-good palate cleanser whenever I need one. A charming and magical found-family debut.
*1.5 stars. This is not good. Not the thriller I had hoped for at all, but one riddled with poorly-conceived inner monologues from an unlikable protagonist with twists beyond ridiculous and a jumbled mess of an ultimate premise that proved truly unwieldy for Feeney. It is not a feminist manifesto disguised as a page-turner either, as I would posit may have been the overarching idea. I would love to visit the island of Amberly, the only thing in the book I cared even remotely for and which was wildly undiscovered by this author. Disappointed.
Golden is my white whale author - I have loved the start of so many of his novels but I am always disappointed in every second-half and ending. I want him to finish one of his promises one of these times. If he keeps writing them I'm gonna keep opening them and hoping, because the imagination and the writing ability is there. This one came closer than most, but it still fell flat by the final third, for me.
