Tag Archives: Death

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for book cover the fault in our stars

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance, Death, Young adult
Dates read: 12th – 14th February 2020
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Penguin Books
Year: 2012
5th sentence, 74th page: Um, Support Group Hazel?

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Synopsis

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

INSIGHTFUL, BOLD, IRREVERENT, AND RAW, The Fault in Our Stars brilliantly explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Thoughts

I knew as soon as I grabbed this book that it was going to be sad. I mean, it was all over the media how tragically beautiful it was a while ago. What I didn’t expect was that I would finish it and feel like my heart could have possibly grown ten sizes. Kind of like the Grinch. It was that moment of painful WOW that I just sat there in shock.

There is a great sense of honesty throughout this story. A lot of stories which talk about illness (let alone cancer), especially in a child talk about how wonderful and accepting the child is. How they’re an inspiration. Ya da ya da ya da. What happens in this story is that there is no sense of god-like hope and wonder to the child. Hazel isn’t always optimistic, but she is brutally honest. And I love this honesty. I’ve been around people with cancer and terminal illness… they’re dying, they don’t have this ray of sunshine all the time and it was so damn nice to read a story that was so freaking honest about that fact.

We all remember our first love. Whether it was the forever love, or puppy love. That first person is special. I love that this is a story about falling in love, even under the worst of circumstances. And then what happens when you lose the one person you love? That was the part I found hardest – imagining either myself or my partner going through the loss of each other. Imagining a world in which that one person you love above all else is gone… and yet, it didn’t feel completely sad. There is a gratefulness to the fact that they got to love one another. Even if it was just for a short period.

Even days after reading the book (I had to take a breath and a pause because of all the feelings)… I still don’t have words for how majestically powerful this story is. It will hit you in the heart, very potently. But not in the way that necessarily leaves you sobbing in the corner. Don’t get me wrong, you will sob. But you’ll also remember all of the wonderful, happy, joyful and loving things in life. It will remind you to live.

<- An Abundance of KatherinesLooking for Alaska ->

Image source: Amazon

Ashes on Her Lips by Edward Bryant

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for sirens and other daemon lovers book cover

Title: Ashes on Her Lips
Author: Edward Bryant
In: Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Death, Romance
Dates read: 10th January 2020
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: EOS
Year: 1998
5th sentence, 74th page: It always did.

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Synopsis

She lost the love of her life. But there’s a way to keep him with her… if she wants to do it.

Thoughts

I can’t imagine what I’d do if I lost the love of my life. Doing this though seems… well, uncomfortably wrong. Like seriously, uncomfortably wrong. But also impossible to stop reading. Kind of like a really horrific accident, you don’t want to see it, but you just can’t stop watching, or in this case, thinking about this.

This story really focuses on the dark side of the tragedy of loss. And gives a dark, twisted way to deal with it. Which is to use the ashes of a dead man… but I won’t explain how, because you just need to read the short story to discover this all for yourself. And be disturbed by the fact.

There is something both creepy and sweet about this story. I’m not entirely sure why I felt that this was so romantic. Normally tales like this would just completely freak me out. But we won’t think on this too deeply. Definitely worth a read this story.

<- WolfedMirrors ->

Image source: Goodreads

The Skinny Girl by Lucius Shepard

Book Review, , ,
Overview
naked-city

Title: The Skinny Girl
Author: Lucius Shepard
In: Naked City (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Death, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 17th December 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: No, it’s rather that he has yet to reach the point where life tips over into death, where the need for what she offers (be it surcease or something more graspable) outweighs everything else.

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Synopsis

When a photographer of the dead meets the skinny girl, he must finally face up to his obsession with death. But is she the real thing, or just a mimic? Only time will tell

Thoughts

I have a bit of a fascination with death and the macabre. However, I wouldn’t call it an obsession. I don’t hunt it out and I only truly appreciate it when the information is… well, there. But there are some people who have this obsession, and then there’s the character in this short story who just goes beyond what I would call an obsession to a whole new, fascinating realm. Also slightly disturbed, but the writing is so good that I choose to find it fascinating.

There is a bit of a Latin American theme threaded through this story. Specifically with the use of The Skinny Girl – I can’t remember what the other name for this death deity is. It was a nice departure from the normal mythos which I came across in my reading. Mostly they tend to briefly mention Latin America and then gloss over to the next cultural interest. It was nice to stay a little more (but not completely) immersed in one.

Although this story is about death, one’s obsession with it and their ultimate surrendering to the long night, I actually found this kind of poetic and sweet. Maybe because that’s a bit of my view of death anyway, it’s not necessarily a dark and horrible thing. Having said that, as romantic as I found this (in an abstract way), it is still a kind of dark story. One that I look forwards to reading again.

 <- Daddy Longlegs of the Evening ReviewThe Colliers’ Venus (1893) Review ->
Image source: Patricia Briggs

The Unwanted Women of Surrey by Kaaron Warren

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Image result for queen victoria's book of spells ellen datlow book cover

Title: The Unwanted Women of Surrey
Author: Kaaron Warren
In: Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5:  4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Death, Feminism, Gaslamp, Historical fiction
Dates read: 19th September 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Tor
Year: 2013
5th sentence, 74th page: We went walking early in the evening.

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Synopsis

In a house of unwanted women, the Grey Ladies have decided to make their presence known. But these unwanted wives don’t really know what the cost is going to be… will it be too late when they find out the truth?

Thoughts

This is kind of a strong story. It intertwines death, feminism and the choices we make in life. And it truly asks the question: what is right and what is wrong? Where are the shades of grey? Or in the case of this story, where are the shades of the Grey Ladies? After all, they haunt through this story in an eerily familiar way with each flick of a page.

The mix of a tale about women attempting to find their power and place in the world. the five women in this story are all unwanted by their husbands for one reason or another. In some circumstances, I think that this unwantedness is completely understandable (there was a potential murderer among them). But in others it is just kind of tragic. At the beginning of the story, all of these women are kind of just gliding through life with no real aims or decisions as to where they want to go in the world. By the end, that has changed and there is a sense of purpose and desire in all of their actions.

The use of the cholera outbreak and a mass murder gave this tale an entirely haunting feeling. And one that made you feel a little less comfortable with the decisions that are being made by the unwanted women of surrey. Yet, it also provides a great placement in history as this was a moment that actually happened. And houses provided for married, yet unwanted women was also quite a common occurrence within this time period. The fantastic blend of historical fact, and the fantastical nature of the Grey Ladies completely swept me away.

 <- Smithfield ReviewCharged Review ->
Image source: Amazon

A Little Bird Told Me by Pat Cadigan

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: A Little Bird Told Me
Author: Pat Cadigan
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Death, Horror
Dates read: 22nd April 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: “There’s no actual paper-“

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Synopsis

She’s a pen-pusher for the Reapers and Death. But when the birds decide to get involved, things start to get a little confusing.

Thoughts

I have a bit of an obsession with stories about death. Especially ones which personify the collectors of souls which are ready to pass on. There is just something about them that sits so… right with me. Which meant that from the beginning of this story, I was finding it thoroughly enjoyable. If not a little bit odd – after all, I normally tend towards the urban and paranormal fantasy retellings of death, not the horror ones…

Birds have never seemed especially creepy. After all, they’re kind of intriguing, have an intelligence all of their own and can do the cutest, most engaging things. That is until I read this story. Which kind of has a bird uprising against the current system of death. And one that I think could be of both benefit and horror to the masses. It certainly left me feeling a little confused and not at all comfortable with the birds that like to hang out in my front yard…

 <- Isobel Avens Returns to Stepney in the Spring ReviewThe Acid Test Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Great Blue Heron by Joyce Carol Oates

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for black feathers ellen datlow book cover

Title: Great Blue Heron
Author: Joyce Carol Oates
In: Black Feathers (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Death, Horror, Mental health
Dates read: 30th January 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Pegasus Books Ltd.
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: The wife is shivering, her feet are getting wet, she would like to turn back but the husband presses forward, he has something to show her.

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Synopsis

The Wife is mourning the loss of her husband. The Wife keeps on remembering moments together and seeing a Great Blue Heron flying free. As her grief and love for the birds collide, there is no telling what will happen next.

Thoughts

This story had my heart racing. Something about the pace of it and the way in which it was written felt like an intense horror story. That, and the setting is based around a lake with overcast days… the perfect setting for a horror story and a horrific murder if I ever did hear one.

This is the fourth story in this series of bird-based horrors (I never knew that there was such a thing, or that it could be this TRULY scary… but I digress). And it is the second story that has an essence of grief and loss in its heart. This feeling of loss and grief is intense and the slightly broken way in which this story is told really drives this idea home. There is an almost ethereal quality to the storyline which makes it both solidly real and wispily dreamlike.

 <- Something About Birds ReviewThe Season of the Raptors Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Greylands by Isobelle Carmody

Book Review, , ,





Overview
Image result for greylands isobelle carmody book cover

Title: Greylands
Author: Isobelle Carmody
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Death, Fantasy, Mental health
Dates read: 1st – 2nd January 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Ford St
Year: 1997
5th sentence, 74th page: She stroked the bundle of rags tenderly, and a strange thought entered Jack’s chilled mind.

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Synopsis

One wakeful night in the aftermath of his mother’s death, Jack enters a land devoid of colour or scent. Here he meets the tragic laughing beast and Alice, a strange girl with a secret.

Will Jack escape before the terrifying wolvers find him? Or is he destined to be trapped in the Greylands forever?

Only the cats know…

Thoughts

I really had no idea what to expect from this novel. I know that I love Isobelle Carmody’s writing, but this is the first truly young novel that I have read by her. It is also, weirdly enough, the first standalone story that I have read. And man, I wasn’t disappointed. This was one of those stories that left me thinking, contemplating and wondering long after I turned the final page. This is certainly one of those stories that lingers long after you finish, in the best way possible.

The fragmented nature of this story highlights Jack’s misunderstandings and confusion beautifully well. As do the mystical and dreamy scapes in which he moves – both the real world and the Greylands. The settings are so incredibly vivid and yet vague that you can see the hazy contrast perfectly in your minds eye, and it emphasises the symbolism behind Jack’s confusion and grief.

Even if you don’t fully understand what is happening throughout Jack’s adventure, the beginning, middle and end (literally named this) give a great account as to what the symbolism means. And also the ways in which this reality bisects with our own. Having the character write his own story is a new-to-me ideal, and I loved how well it worked.

Dealing with grief and issues of mental health can always be quite difficult. And there are few literary pieces I’ve found that deal with such topics in an open, accessible way. The fact that this is done in a language that young children can access is all the more impressive and is exactly what helps this story to linger in my mind’s eye so strongly.

 <- Green Monkey Dreams ReviewMetro Winds Review ->
Image source: Ford Street Publishing

Mort by Terry Pratchett

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Mort

Title: Mort
Author: Terry Pratchett
Series: Discworld #4, Death #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Comedy, Easy reading, Fantasy
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Corgi
Year: 1987
5th sentence, 74th page: And so Mort came at last to the river Ankh, greatest of rivers.

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Synopsis

Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job.

Henceforth, Death is no longer going to be the end, merely the means to an end. It’s an offer Mort can’t refuse. As Death’s apprentice he’ll have free board, use of the company horse – and being dead isn’t compulsory. It’s a dream job – until he discovers that it can be a killer on his love life…

Thoughts

Death is always considered such a horrifying and exacting end. But, in the case of Mort, it’s really just a beginning… and an apprenticeship. With Pratchett’s unique and entertaining take on it.

Alright, that introduction to this review feels very confusing and convoluted. But, honestly, that’s generally how I feel before, during and after reading one of the Discworld novels. They’re weird, they’re confusing, and they have a completely unique take on the world. Even when I feel like there may be a far better, more amazing message than what I’ve absorbed, I feel like I’ve learnt something interesting and fantastic after I turn the last page. The fact that this story is about the personification of Death, something that I have been struggling to deal with a little lately, just makes it all the more fun and poignant.

I loved the princess in distress with her noble rescuer theme throughout this. Yet, it was the fact that the ending wasn’t quite one that I expected that was really enjoyable. After all, the typical story would be tall, suave rescuer saves princess, they live happily ever after. Nothing goes like this throughout, and although Mort makes blunder after blunder in his apprenticeship, there is a really nice happily ever after (of a sorts) at the conclusion.

<- Equal RitesSourcery ->

Image source: Penguin Books Australia