Paranormal – Page 8 – My Good Reads

‘Mayhem’ – Sarah Pinborough

After reading ’13 Minutes’ on a friend’s recommendation and enjoying it so much, I wanted to try other books by Pinborough. It’s at moments like this that I’m tremendously grateful for public libraries!

What has impressed me with Pinborough’s writing so far has been the versatility she demonstrates. Common to the novels I’ve read so far is great characterisation, and this is no exception.

It’s very unlikely that you won’t know something of Jack the Ripper and his awful crimes. This is, indeed, part of the focus of ‘Mayhem’, but it is so much more than that. At the same time as the police were being taunted by the infamous Ripper, there was another murderer on the loose. Dubbed the Thames Torso Murderer, his modus operandi was to butcher the victims’ bodies and leave parcels of dismembered limbs for the police to discover. However, the heads were never discovered.

While this lesser-known story would have been interesting in itself, Pinborough adds in a fascinating supernatural element.

Initially I found the shifting viewpoints a little hard to follow, but as it becomes clearer how the characters link this became less of an issue. The main character of Dr Thomas Bond was intriguing. Initially sceptical of the potential for something ‘other’, I found his story absorbing. Following him around the opium dens of London, and getting caught up with some rather unusual characters, it was never totally clear how much of what he described was real, and how much was the imaginings of a mind overweight with tiredness and increasingly addicted to opium. As events draw to their thrilling conclusion I found myself trying to read more slowly to draw the experience out a little longer.

I can’t wait to see how Pinborough carries this story on in ‘Murder’.

‘Eight Rivers of Shadow’ – Leo Hunt

The second in the series picks up some time after ’13 Days of Midnight’. Luke is now with Elza, and is doing his best to fit in (harder now he’s not popular).

When a foreign exchange student – Ash – appears, she eventually asks for Luke’s help in saving her twin sister. It’s quickly clear that Ash knows a lot more about necromancy than Luke does, and yet he doubts she can help him.

Luke has to make some difficult decisions, and he ends up relying on the help of people/spirits that he never wanted to see again.

Though I enjoyed the first novel, this was a real step-up. I loved the blend of humour and terrifying events, and really felt engaged with this story.

This is definitely a grower, and I’m curious to see where this goes in the next of the series.

‘Vampire Academy’ series – Richelle Mead

Vampire Academy #1

This is the first in a series of six books. I’m a sucker for a vampire story (Dracula has a lot to answer for), and I was curious to see whether this lived up to the hype.

In this first novel we are introduced to the Moroi vampire princess, Lissa, and her dhampir half-vampire friend, Rose. They have been on the run from the Vampire Academy, convinced their lives are in danger. Early on in the novel the girls are found and returned to the Academy to continue their studies.

From the start, the bond between these two is clear. Rose certainly has plenty of attitude, but she acts with good intentions and you can’t help but feel respect for her determination to protect her friend. Lissa irritated me as she is suffering, and shuts people out – with disastrous consequences.

Inevitably – oh, I’m so predictable – I developed something of a book crush on Dimitri, the guardian put in charge of training Rose. If you read it, you’ll understand why.

While this is a curious mix of more traditional vampire elements and modern high-school story, it works and certainly ends on a high note.

‘Everland’ – Wendy Spinale

This is a curious book, but one that I can see having its fans amongst teenage readers.

Gwen Darling and her younger siblings, Joanna and Mikey, are the only survivors of their family after London is destroyed by bombing. Most of the population has been killed by a virus, and those that remain alive are desperate to find a cure. The survivors of the bombing – who all seem to be children – are hunted by Captain Hook and his Marauders, who are desperate to find the one who has immunity to the virus.

Joanna is taken by Hook’s men, and Gwen is determined to get her back. She bumps into Pete who, along with his Lost Boys, vows to help her get to Everland to rescue her sister.

This was a well-written story, with plenty of action to entertain. My main problem was that, at least initially, I couldn’t see past the Disney images and associations…a curious blend of ideas to play with, some of which work more successfully than others. It certainly brings a refreshingly modern twist to a rather stuffy classic.

‘A Court of Mist and Fury’ – Sarah J. Maas

Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

While I thoroughly recommend A Court of Thorns and Roses, this is in a league of its own.

Upon her return from Under the Mountain, Feyre is broken. She is fading away, and Tamlin’s desire to protect her becomes stifling. As readers we are keen for her to get her happy ending, but when her marriage to Tamlin is interrupted we wonder how on earth it is going to happen. Bear with it, and you will see how Maas pulls off something more than a little unpredictable.

In the background of Feyre’s personal life we have the story of the King plotting to gain control of the kingdom. War is coming. Lots of characters tell us this, over and over again. Don’t worry, I think we can safely say what the focus is for the next in the series! It’s fair to say that not a whole lot happens but there wasn’t one point where I found myself bored.

This is a huge turn-around from book 1 but it makes perfect sense in light of what we learn in this novel. We spend a lot of time in the Court of Rhysand, and come to learn an awful lot more about him. Rhysand is a deliciously complex character, and there is a definite sense of Maas having fun writing this one. While we come to this novel seeing Rhysand very much as the villain, it’s soon clear that things are never quite as straightforward as we might think.

There will be some readers who will criticise the explicit sexual content in the later stages of the novel. It is a long time coming, but Feyre certainly makes up for lost time! In the context of the novel it does make sense, and it’s hardly groundbreaking that Feyre gets to have a healthy sex life only once a clear bond is established. My main concern is that it seems this series is being marketed as young adult fiction – typically focusing on readers of 14 and upwards – and I think some parents might appreciate a bit of a heads-up about the graphic sexual content beforehand.

In addition to admiring the shift in focus that we get here, which does hint at a truly interesting next book, I am completely in awe of the ending. At this point I feel there should be a cue for my maniacal cackling and rubbing of hands together in anticipation. I, for one, cannot wait until the next part is out.

‘The Modern Faerie Tales Trilogy’ – Holly Black

As a fan of Holly Black I was keen to read these, though reviews are definitely mixed.

Tithe, the first book in the series, was not off to a good start if I’m being truthful. Kaye didn’t seem to be very well-drawn at first, and I can’t believe that nobody seemed to find it weird that this girl spent her early years claiming to see fairies. Of course, when, at sixteen, she discovers she is actually a pixie things start to make a little more sense – but not much! The whole thing felt quite disjointed for me as a reader, and I don’t think I really got my head around who played what role/how the world was set up.

‘Valiant’, the second book in the series, is the one that most reviews seem to be quite negative about. I’m not sure what it says about me that this novel was, in my view, a more appealing read. Though it was a little off-putting initially to have a new cast of characters, I found Val and her friends much better developed. The way in which they band together to try and puzzle out the plotting taking place in the faerie world was engaging. There was a clear sense of things being drawn together for the final part of the trilogy.

In ‘Ironside’ it is time for Roibin’s coronation, and Kaye risks telling him how she feels. When she is sent on a seemingly impossible quest to find a faerie who will lie, Kaye tells her mother the truth about who she is. I loved Corny and Luis in this, and this was a fitting end to the trilogy. Some parts were really creepy, but this was a definite hint of the great writing to come.

‘Half Lost’ – Sally Green

I’d adored ‘Half Bad’, was less enamoured by ‘Half Wild’ and was keen to see where Sally Green would send Nathan in this final instalment of the trilogy.

At the start of this novel, Nathan is desperately seeking revenge on Annalise for her part in the murder of his father. He is the linchpin in the Alliance’s plan to bring down Soul, but those closest to him are concerned as to whether he can cope with the pressure he’s putting on himself.

This is full of action, and there are some great moments as we see Nathan drawing closer to his ultimate goal. I loved watching him come to terms with what has happened to him, and realising that it’s okay to be wrong sometimes.

Inevitably, there’s a lot of deaths in this novel – some of which I was more upset by than others. Though there were some unresolved questions (leaving things open for a return to this world?) I felt the ending was a fitting conclusion to Nathan’s story.

‘Pet Sematary’ – Stephen King

Described by King himself as his scariest book, I did most of my reading of this book during daylight hours. I know my limits!

Horror is not a genre that I’m particularly comfortable with, for obvious reasons. I’m not keen on the slasher-style violence that seemed to mark my teen experiences of horror movies (Freddie Krueger still creeps me out), but I find myself completely sucked into King’s novels. He seems to tap into our greatest fears and voice what we never dare to. For these reasons I have found the few books of his that I have read compelling.

‘Pet Sematary’ focuses on Doctor Louis Creed, his wife and two children and what happens when they move into their beautiful new home in rural Maine. The woods behind their home harbour a terrifying secret, and power that you cannot imagine.

King tells us virtually straight away what is going to happen. He drops not very subtle hints about things that will turn out to be of utmost importance. This might suggest that there are no surprises, but that is definitely not the case. As we wait for what we know is coming, the tension is masterfully controlled. The horror comes from the contrast of the innocent and the corrupted, and the sense of inevitability that weighs heavily as you turn every page.

By the end I was desperate for things to end, just not quite as they did. I think I need to go and re-read something very different to just shake off that uneasy feeling I currently have (and I’ll not go into the woods behind my house today!)

‘The Lie Tree’ – Francis Hardinge

I picked this up because it was on the Carnegie 2016 Short-list, and I was not surprised when it won the Costa Award.

Though it owes much to fantasy, this is a meticulously researched novel that offers a fascinating insight into the historical setting of the novel.

Faith wants to support her father in his research as a natural historian, but being female she is regarded as less than those around her. Her frustrations with the expectations of those around her made me so angry, but I felt the novel raised so many important questions.

Her father is forced to leave his home, accused of lying, and Faith is determined to prove his doubters wrong. Sadly, Faith comes to learn that things are not as simple as they seem. A dark yet delicious novel, that I think will appeal to many female readers with an interest in the world around them.