A Knock at Midnight is definitely making it onto the short list of the best books I have read this year. It is the remarkable true story of a young lawyer, Brittany K. Barnett, who takes on a racist criminal justice system and fights against the incarceration of Black people on drug charges in the US.
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I think fans of historical fiction will love Maggie O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait. One of the year’s more buzzed about releases, The Marriage Portrait is set in 1550’s Florence and is inspired by the short life of Lucrezia de ’Medici, who was married at age 13 to Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, and died at age 16. The official cause of her death was “putrid fever”, but it was rumoured that her husband murdered her. The Marriage Portrait is a well written and immersive novel, but how does it feel to read a novel knowing that the main character died young in real life? I spent the entire time reading The Marriage Portrait in nervous anticipation of Lucrezia’s death, but also hoping that O’Farrell would change the fictional Lucrezia’s fate and give her a happy ending.
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I decided to read The Ghost Woods by C.J. Cooke because the reviews I read about it said things like “Gothic”, “creepy” and “terrifying”. The Ghost Woods definitely has a Gothic vibe to it, but is it creepy and terrifying? Unfortunately, no. There was maybe one scene in the entire novel that had my skin crawling just a little it. But I still think The Ghost Woods is a good read. It had me fighting off sleep so could read just a little bit more each night before I went to bed. I appreciate how it leans hard into the supernatural elements of the story.
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If you have been following my blog this whole time, then you have probably noticed by now that I have a predilection for Greek mythology. Daughters of Sparta is about two sisters, Klytemnestra and her younger, more infamous sister, Helen. Helen is “the face that launched a thousand ships” and caused the Trojan War. Daughters of Sparta is presented as historical fiction, though; the Greek gods do not appear as characters in the novel. The gods are prayed to, and sacrifices are made to them, but they are otherwise useless and do not influence the outcome of the story. I read Daughters of Sparta because I was interested in reading about Klytemnestra and Helen from their own perspective, but I found this novel to be somewhat lacking.
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I have read Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere and thought it was a good, interesting novel, but I was not blown away by it. So, when Our Missing Hearts was released recently, I did not initially feel the need to read it. But then Indigo named it the best book of the year, and I knew that I must read it. I am not completely sold on it being the best book of the year, but Our Missing Hearts is a great, timely novel that tells a compelling story that I devoured in one day.
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Jonathan Franzen’s novels may not be for everyone as they are more character-driven then plot-driven. Crossroads is no exception as the main events take place on a single day, December 23, 1971, with introspective flashbacks that allow readers to get to the heart of each character. That is what I appreciate about Crossroads, by no means a joyous read, which is the opportunity to dive deep into the psyche of the richly imagined and authentic characters created by Franzen.
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Nothing to See Here is a cute, funny book with a highly improbable premise involving two children that catch on fire when they get agitated. It had me laughing out loud, which does not happen every often when I read. It is an easy novel to read and perfect if you are looking for a bit of levity after some heavy reading.
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I purchased The Witches while I was in Salem, MA from a bookstore called Wicked Good Books, which has a special section reserved for books about the Salem witch trials. A cute historical town overrun by tourists, it is sad how modern Salem has monetized a tragic piece of American history where twenty innocent people were executed on suspicion of witchcraft and hundreds more languished in prison. I have always been fascinated by the Salem witch trials. What caused a group of girls to writhe and contort their bodies and claim that they were being attacked by witches? Why did the group of men who presided over the trials give in to the hysteria and essentially murder a bunch of innocent people? The Witches is a fascinating and detailed nonfiction account of the Salem witch trials that does its best to answer both questions with the limited resources passed down from history.
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I hesitated a little before buying this YA novel, but Belladonna had me at “gothic”, so I could not resist. Unfortunately, Belladonna spends little time on the gothic and focuses most of its energy on the protagonist lusting after two different male characters. Seriously, this is one of the horniest characters I have read about in awhile. I found this novel to be a waste of time, and I definitely will not be reading the sequel(s).
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I was a little worried that this one would end up being a dud, but I am pleased to report that The Book Eaters is a good novel. I think bibliophiles like me will really like this one. It is a bit on the nose with respect to its themes, but it’s characters and world-building are interesting enough to make you overlook the obviousness of the novel.
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