Sophia Sidway, Midcity’s most dangerous memory revisionist, seeks out the mysterious Monk in the wasteland beneath the Tangle turnpike, hoping for redemption… but it turns out that the Monk is not all that pious, and the turnpike is no turnpike at all.
I love when you read a novella with absolutely no
expectations what-so-ever. And then find that you just can’t put it down. That
it is impossible to forget. And introduces you to a world you didn’t know you
wanted to be a part of. For me, this was that kind of novella. It made me want
to go straight out and buy the rest of this series. But I didn’t, because I need
to learn some form of self-control… not something I’m admittedly enjoying at
this point.
The symbolism of the Tangle was something that drew me in
from the beginning. Not only was it a great and intriguing mystery, but the suffering
and confusion of the people was reflected in its dark, twisty interior. This
dark setting and overwhelming city almost acted like a third character in the
story, and one that I would love to meet again and again throughout this
series.
The many moral and ethical questions raised by
Kitten-Tiger’s power linger long after you turn the final page. I understand
why she decides to stop utilising it. But what if there were ways that it could
be turned for good? Should you still use it? Who gets to decide what is right
and good?
Title: Words Like Pale Stones Author: Nancy Kress In: Black Thorn, White Rose (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Fairy tales, Retellings Dates read: 6th May 2019 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Prime Books Year: 1994 5th sentence, 74th page: He had made me forget for a few minutes what awaited me in the morning.
A young peasant girl has a boastful mother. But, when that boasting gets her into trouble, she finds that things are going to go very, very wrong.
Rumpelstiltskin is one of my preferred fairy tales. There is just something about it that I love, and the fact that it was has been used across many of the different retellings and TV series that I have watched makes it even more thrilling. Which meant that having a Rumpelstiltskin story to open the collection Black Thorn, White Rose made me really happy. It was a great, slightly darker start to these adult fairy tale retellings.
Most stories of Rumpelstiltskin paint the young woman as an
innocent, and one that falls in love with the prince. Although she still begins
this story as an innocent, the prince isn’t so… pure. Actually, he’s a class A
a-hole. And then there’s the fact that she is supposed to give up her first
born. But, as in all good retellings, the reason why she gives up her first
born isn’t quite what is expected. Actually, I really wasn’t sure why she was riding
off with her child in readiness to give him away until the very last moment.
And even now, I’m not sure that I like the way in which it ends…
Title: The Wildflowers Author: Dorothy Koomson In: I Am Heathcliff (Kate Mosse) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Contemporary, Romance Dates read: 6th May 2019 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Borough Press Year: 2018 5th sentence, 74th page: This time my body remembers how to move and takes a step back and lets in the woman holding a very large knife.
She’s being taken at knifepoint by the love of her life’s mother. A series of flashbacks and ruminations will let her finally understand all that happened ten years ago. And what’s about to happen now with a modern day Heathcliff.
Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this short story. Most of the
stories in this collection have been really interesting and engaging. But not the
type of story that I would generally consider “enjoyable”. Which meant that I
was incredibly surprised when I enjoyed this so much. There was just a level of
sweetness and romance to it that the rest of the short stories in this
collection quite frankly don’t have.
I love the idea of a past love that was left, for a variety
of reasons in this case. But, the sweet revenge and poetic justice of the grandfather’s
“Heathcliff” revenge worked brilliantly. The complete turn around and the way
in which a really horrible family was forced to (maybe) attempt to become
better people worked brilliantly. And now I’m kind of sad that it’s over.
The Academy is teaching young police recruits about those odd cases. But one woman is about to be singled out… and it’s not for the reasons you’ll think.
It was surprising to read a cop story in this collection.
Mostly because it’s a collection that is surrounded by ideas of school and teaching.
And well, cops aren’t normally what I would associate with such a topic. Having
said that, it was still a thoroughly fun and exciting journey to be taken on. And
probably a little more enjoyable because it was such a surprise…
Since this was a cop story, I was kind of expecting a
typical one – you know, the cops outline an issue, pull a newbie in to help
them solve it. And after you turn the last page, you find that the bad guy has
been caught, stopped whichever. This didn’t quite work out like that. Actually,
it really wasn’t about the bad guy at all. It was more so about the battles
that are fought. About the woman who is caught up in a vampire’s snare. And the
ways in which the battle for good doesn’t stop, but sometimes does blur the
lines a little.
Title: Uncle Bob Visits Author: Caroline Stevermer In: The Coyote Road (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Tricksters Dates read: 5th May 2019 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Firebird Fantasy Year: 2007 5th sentence, 74th page: “Now is the winter of our discontent,” said Miss Lillegren stiffly.
A classroom is always full of mischief. But when Uncle Bob decides to visit, the mischief and mayhem crank up a notch.
It fits that a trickster story would take place in a children’s
classroom. After all, children are really good vessels of chaos. So having a
bunch of the little darlings all crowded into one classroom would surely attract
some kind of poltergeist to wreak a little havoc on our daily lives. Although I
enjoyed this story, I did feel incredibly sympathetic towards the teacher. Not
only does she have to try and corral a bunch of children who just aren’t
interested in grammar. But she also has to contend with a poltergeist who is definitely not interested in grammar.
I really like the idea of a grumpy, old man as the poltergeist.
Or at least, that’s how I’m picturing him as the story unfolds. Somebody who
loves to be around the school and the children but is a bit fussy about what he
wants to learn. And not all that great at understanding discipline of any kind…
Cami is just coasting through life, unsure of what her next step is. But when a chance encounter with a man promises to bring all of her fantasies alive, she is thrown back into a world that she knows nothing about, and a man she wants to know everything about.
At the beginning I really loved this story. And I even loved
it in the middle. The end though was just a little too open for me. It meant
that I could imagine a happily ever after, but I still wanted just a little bit
more to cement that idea for me. Something that made me understand a few of the
plot holes and made me feel that sense of happy anticipation that I felt at the
very beginning of this tale.
Not many stories that I read start in a casino. Even less of
them begin in a casino and are a time travelling romance. Which makes this a
thoroughly enjoyable, intriguing way to start a story. My first thoughts considered
whether or not she would be going backwards or forwards in time. I actually
assumed forwards when she met her mystery man. But that really wasn’t the case.
The part of this story that I loved the most was the fact
that although Cami absolutely adored the man she found in the past, she didn’t
ever want to stay. A man wasn’t enough for her to give up her life and happiness
in modern times. This seems to be frequently missing from a lot of time travel
romances – they’re all about women who don’t have much in their current lives,
so they choose to find their homes and happiness in another time, leaving
everyone and everything behind.
Title: The Radium Girls Author: Kate Moore Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Feminism, History, Memoirs, Non-fiction Dates read: 30th April – 5th May 2019 Pace: Slow Format: Novel Publisher: Simon & Schuster Year: 2018 5th sentence, 74th page: The girls of Radium Dial, outside their studio; forever young and happy and well.
All they wanted was the chance to shine. Be careful what you wish for…
‘The first we asked was, “Does this stuff hurt you?” And they said, “No.” The company said that it wasn’t dangerous, that we didn’t need to be afraid.’
As the First World War spread across the world, young American women flocked to work in factories, painting clocks, watches and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium. It was a fun job, lucrative and glamorous – the girls shone brightly in the dark, covered head to toe in dust from the paint.
However, as the years passed, the women began to suffer from mysterious and crippling illnesses. It turned out that the very thing that had made them feel alive – their work – was slowly killing them: the radium paint was poisonous.
Their employers denied all responsibility, but these courageous women – in the face of unimaginable suffering – refused to accept their fate quietly, and instead became determined to fight for justice.
Drawing on previously unpublished diaries, letter and interviews, The Radium Girls is an intimate narrative of an unforgettable true story. It is the powerful tale of a group of ordinary women from the Roaring Twenties, who themselves learned how to roar.
There are books that will completely change your world. Reconfigure
everything that you think, believe and feel and make the whole world slot into
a new form. That’s what this book was for me. When I bought this book, when I
first started reading it, I was fully expecting an intriguing tale. One that
would be about some amazingly strong women in the past. But not anything beyond
a really good read. I was wrong. I felt like my entire reality was shattered
and then remade as I read this.
I had no idea that radium was something that was once used
in industrial processes. Really, my only knowledge of this element comes from
the fact that Marie Curie discovered it. That, and I know that it is very, very
dangerous and kills people who come into contact with it. Beyond that
knowledge, all I knew about the potential for this story was that these girls used
radium paint and were all going to die. That in and of itself was going to be a
tragic enough story. But then the large companies and legalities of their fight
started to make its way into the storyline… cue a number of very late nights because
I couldn’t wait to find out how the bad men were going to get their legal
comeuppance.
We don’t think much about many of the health and safety
legislations that we all tend to obey. Or at least, I know that I don’t. I don’t
really worry all that much about whether my place of employment is adhering to
the laws. I just figure that they are, and I’m not going to get sick and die from
their activities. Mostly, I still want to believe this, but after reading about
a bunch of young girls who felt the same thing, and got burned for it… I’m a
little less willing to follow anything on blind faith. After all, even when the
girls questioned whether their activities were safe, they were still reassured.
Repeatedly. And then they died.
This story might not have had an overarching happy ending.
But it did have a triumphant one. Though so many women lost their lives before
they could gain compensation for their trauma, many more were able to stand on
the shoulders of those before them and find a way to get justice. And their
legacy remains today in every moment that makes businesses culpable for their actions.
In the amount of knowledge that we now have about the long-term effects of
radioactivity, and in the understanding in why it is important to fight for
what’s right. Even in the face of insurmountable odds.
Title: Flotsam Author: Caitlin R. Kiernan In: The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2 (Trisha Telep) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Oceans, Romance Dates read: 5th May 2019 Pace: Fast Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 2009 5th sentence, 74th page: But it’s all the same, really, as I am hers to do with as she will, no strings attached, no farthest limits to my devotion; I made that promise the first night and have not yet regretted it.
Sometimes we make promises that are hard to keep. Other times, it’s the easiest decision we’ve ever made.
I found this tale a little hard to get through. Which was a little weird when I considered that so far, I have loved every Kiernanshort story that I’ve read. And then I realised that this entire story was a single block of text. No paragraphs or breaks of any kind. Just a big wall of sentences and text that reflected the vastness and overwhelming sense that the ocean provides.
There are so many ways in which the ocean is idolised and picturesque.
Yet this story doesn’t really highlight that aspect of the vast horizon, rather
it shows the idea that the ocean likes to take. As well as give. But, in the
case of this story and partnership, it takes and hurts, and in some, weird,
roundabout way, manages to make the giver feel more alive and vibrant. Makes them
feel that they’re vital in ways they weren’t before.
Title: In Lieu of a Thank You Author: Gwynne Garfinkle In: The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk (Sean Wallace) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Dieselpunk, Strong women Dates read: 5th May 2019 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 2015 5th sentence, 74th page: Clearly he wasn’t expecting such a response.
He thinks that he deserves thanks and recognition for saving his fiance. But she has other ideas…
At the beginning of this story, I knew that things would be
a little bit different than expected. Or at least, that’s how it seemed to me. She’s
saying you should be thanked, but it kind of comes across as incredibly angry
and sarcastic. The spitfire attitude of the woman made me immediately like her.
Her slightly tenacious and sarcastic ways in which she recounts those moments are
in very much the tone that I would use for a moron (which I’m assuming her
fiancé is) and I love that she eventually rides off into the sunset alone.
Any story that focuses on the power of women and their
ability to be strong, independent and smart is immediately going to get my
attention. Featuring a woman who is in an era where women aren’t supposed to be
anything more than arm candy is always a nice way to juxtapose this mentality. Her
admittance throughout and frustration that she was only ever meant to be a
blonde on her future husbands arm hits close to the heart for many, many women.
Which means that I loved how she was able to find her own happily ever after… with
her mind and intelligence for company.
Title: Oh Have You Seen the Devil? Author: Stephen Dedman In: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories (Maxim Jakubowski) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Crime Dates read: 5th May 2019 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 2015 5th sentence, 74th page: The carter probed the darkness with his buggy-whip, crying something in a foreign language as the tip of the shaft poked Liz’s lifeless body.
Michael and Liz are having a few relationship issues. Yet, when there is a horror stalking the streets at night, their relationship is truly put to the test. In ways that Michael could never imagine… and it brings him face to face with the devil.
This is an incredibly easy Jack the Ripper story to read. A
lot of the literature, mythos and understanding around the man is kind of
convoluted. A little bit confusing. And a lot bit intense. This was a much
easier short story to deal with. It was more approachable, written in a far
more current form of language, and actually incredibly relatable. So it was a
nice change of pace compared to the other stories in this collection.
A disproportionately large number of attacks made on women
is done by their significant others, or someone close to them. Which means that
it kind of makes sense to have a villain in this story who is a significant
other. There have even been some theories that there was an intimate
relationship (beyond sex) with at least one of the Ripper victims which made
him… well Ripperish. This provides a slightly different take on that, but still
highlights the idea of a victim being ended by the man she is intimately
involved with. Highlights the idea that maybe not everything in the murders was
quite as they seem…
Earth and Skye 