David Sines
Contains spoilers
It took me a while to connect with the lead character. The story kept me intrigued. Once she kidnapped Daniel, it was hard to put it down. Some of it I could see coming, but it was still an enjoyable read.
This wasn't my typical reading choice. But I did enjoy it. From the beginning, the narrative is so convincing that I had to seriously consider if this was based on a real event. The present-day story is surprisingly short. The bulk of the book relates to Helena's childhood, so you're reading both storylines as well as how it has a similarity to the fairytale of The Marsh King's Daughter.
This is definitely not for the faint of heart. The worst gore in the book relates to hunting (I wouldn't call it graphic, but it is disturbing), and Helena's mother giving birth. Kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder are at the core of this book. However, Karen Dionne does not go into detail about these events other than letting the reader know that they happened.
I wasn't overly impressed by the story. It felt dry to me and I was looking forward to finishing it. Not bad, just lacking. If I read it before, I don't remember. I'm still glad to have read it.
The chapter where it switches to the Doctor was weird. I still don't understand why that was done.
The ending was odd too. Are we to believe that Jim has the parrot? Or is it part of his nightmares? The world may never know.
It was a real effort to get myself to read this. First I tried watching the spoof—couldn't do it. Then I tried the movie while multitasking—couldn't get into it. The idea is so appalling and thus didn't interest me in the slightest. But finally, I found the book for sale dirt cheap at the local library and knew this was the only way I'd make myself get through it. Here are my thoughts.
The first half of the book was surprisingly slow. Knowing that the horrible Hunger Games were coming, the intro seemed to drag a bit. So I was almost looking forward to it. Perhaps that was the plan? I had a general idea of the ending of the games—and thought I was going to be disappointed at one point—but the ending was done well. It paid off very well in my opinion.
I don't recall any profanity.
Obviously, there's violence. Plenty mentions of blood and types of wounds. More than necessary, but it doesn't linger on these events for long unless it's for trying to stop the bleeding or the like.
Would I read the next one?
I'm not eager to, but I'm curious. I probably will at some point.
It took me a long time to get into this book. The writing is very good. Very leisurely too. I did enjoy it. But I didn't find it enthralling.
There is profanity in this book, but not vulgar and constant. It is though, frequently—if not entirely—from the kids. It also mentions topics of death and rape, but not in depth.
The underlying message about racism and prejudice is done very admirably.
Absolutely fabulous—literally the first non-fiction book I had a hard time putting down. If you're a writer, editor, or interested in the structure of storytelling, you should read this.
https://open.substack.com/pub/davidsines/p/end-of-storybook-review?r=1yhj5f&utm_medium=ios
I love the idea of this series. The characters are very fun, the stories adventurous. The writing style is very hard to get through. Thus, I've only finished this one and Redwall. But this book is my favorite of the two. I think the story felt more realistic to me. It was a fun read.
By this book I was getting tired of the series and could have easily stopped reading at any point. My favorite part was the ending—not because it was over. The ending was surprising and very well written.
Rachel is in a mental hospital and believes herself to be responsible for parents deaths. When a reporter becomes a friend and interviews her, new evidence comes to light that makes her question everything. Returning to her home, she begins to remember.
This is a great psychological thriller. My first impressions were that it was odd after a casual mention of a talking spider. As it goes on, there are more talking animals but it starts to make sense, and then you begin to wonder if you are right or wrong–it gets cleared up at the end nicely.
This story is also very clean–aside from the obvious murders. There is one slightly disturbing instance involving ‘the wicked sister' writing words on a belly with a knife, but that's honestly the worst and not too bad–easily skippable.
Simply excellent writing and a very unique imaginative story. No complaints–which is extremely rare for me.
Even better than “The Maid.” This book was not disappointing. For a more detailed rating with commentary, see my post on Substack.
https://davidsines.substack.com/p/the-mystery-guestbook-review?r=1yhj5f
Sadly, I can't recommend this book to anyone. The writing is very good. But honestly, I had to stop reading it. The language was constantly vulgar. Plus, there is a whole chapter dedicated to the process of one of the characters planning and, I have to assume, committing adultery–I gave up before finding out for sure. HARD PASS. Would have been quite enjoyable otherwise.
