Sparrow Hill Road

Oooh, magical sad pretty ghost story! I'm not generally much of a ghost story person, but I do enjoy McGuire's other books, so I figured I'd give this one a try when I saw it. I have the next two checked out from the library now, started on the second one today. Rose is a great character and I love her, and I'm a big fan of the entire myth world that McGuire has created around her.

Interesting and very well told story. I will move on to the next one.

It's a Seanan book so it's technically well-written, with a cute, but kick-ass, femme-with-masculine-interests white female protagonist. But it's not one of her better ones. There's a lot of repetition, and not just in the “ooooh, symbolism” sort of way. More like “I'm trying to be symbolic and can't think of any other words for this”. Several characters receive extremely short shrift– they're used as plot devices in really annoying ways (Laura in particular, although Tommy and Emma are close behind). My irritation is not helped by the fact that I am really not a fan of the romanticized aesthetic of the blue collar, 1950s truck stop thing.

And I would give my left ear for McGuire to stop with the Japanese woman/Snow White thing. This is the second time, SEANAN. Cut it out already. Not all Japanese women look like Sadako.

Despite my annoyance, I finished the book, so I guess it's decent enough.