The Fireman by Joe Hill

If you've read pretty much any of my previous posts, you know that my favorite author is Joe Hill. With that being said, I'm so, so excited about writing this review, and if you only read one book for the rest of your life, you should pick The Fireman.

I'll start by saying that I'm going to be as unbiased as possible when reviewing this novel, because as I've already stated, my favorite author wrote it. But I'll go ahead and warn you, the review is extremely positive, because this is in the running for the most structurally beautiful novel I've ever read, and I'm calling it my favorite I've ever read, as well.

The Fireman is Hill's fourth full-length novel. It's a post-apocalyptic horror/fantasy novel about a spore that causes humans that are infected to spontaneously combust...literally. That's the only plot information I'm going to give, because I want you to read this book.

As always, the character development is phenomenal. Hill has a habit of lengthy descriptions, which usually bothers me, but he executes them in a way that is beneficial to the story as a whole, and really makes you feel more for the characters/places/things he is describing. There is a certain character present throughout the novel that has become one of my favorite literary characters of all time. From main characters to background characters, the way they are developed by Hill is beautiful and deep and I really felt as if I had developed a relationship with each one.

Another characteristic of this book that I really admired is that Hill took a really overdone concept (post apocalyptic worlds) and made it completely original. From the way the "world" seemingly "ends", to the societies created within the story, everything is new and fresh, steering away from the world ending to a brighter, more subtle existence. All the components of a post-apocalyptic story are present, but there are fresh twists that make them feel brand new. It's hard to decide who to side with in this story, the infected or the healthy, and that made the reading experience, for me, much more interesting and involved.

I don't use the word perfect often, but I would say that the way Hill ends The Fireman is almost perfect, if not completely. It is surprising and unexpected, and it fits perfectly with the entire mood of the story.

The last thing I'll say about The Fireman (because if I don't stop now, I never will..) is that it isn't at all like Hill's other works, which was also refreshing and showcased his ability to write something other than horror really well. It is more of a fantasy/sci-fi novel than a horror, and while he brings a new definition to the word "horror" for our generation, he has also shown that he is extremely gifted at writing a variety of different genres.

As you can probably tell, I loved this book, and I think that anyone who likes a good fantasy novel should definitely read it. The only suggestion I have is not to let a younger audience read--it is definitely geared towards adults, and the language/some of the plot points are more mature than a younger person should be exposed to. If you want to read a thrilling, beautiful story, pick up The Fireman as soon as possible.

I recommend 10/10 (as if I even needed to clarify that..)

 

My Favorites From This Month

I know this is a book reviewing blog, but I figured I would try and post a list of reads every once in a while that I've recently read that I may/may not have reviewed, but thoroughly enjoyed and recommend from 7 to 10 on a scale of 1-10. I will list the genres beside them so that you can choose from the list and decide what you might be interested in picking up. These are all MY OPINIONS, so you may/may not enjoy them, but I think they're well written, fun to read, and just all around good books.

Pick Em' Up:

1. The Beautiful American by Jeanne Mackin: historical fiction
2. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler: psychology, family, relationships
3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: classic, gothic fiction
4. The Fireman by Joe Hill: fantasy, horror
5. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey: young adult fiction, sci-fi, fantasy
6. Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon: detective fiction
7. The Host by Stephanie Meyer: young adult fiction, fantasy
8. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell: young adult romance
9. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven: mental illness, romance
10. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn: mystery, suspense, fiction
11. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins: psychological thriller
12. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah: historical fiction
13. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell: young adult, fantasy
14. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman: war fiction
15. Night by Elie Wiesel (Rest in Peace): historical fiction, Holocaust fiction, memoir

I really hope you will check out some of these, because I thoroughly enjoyed all of them. Happy reading!

xoxo

She Came From Beyond! by Nadine Darling

I'm usually a fan of books that have fun, exciting plots, or just plots in general. I mean, what's a book without a plot? Note: when I say "plot", I mean some kind of fluent story line where things actually happen. Sadly, She Came From Beyond!, Nadine Darling's debut novel, in my opinion, lacked any semblance of a plot.

The book is about an affair between sci-fi TV star Easy Hardwick, a rough-around-the-edges girl who lacks poise, and a man she meets on a message board named Harrison. Harrison is married with children, and Easy ends up pregnant by him WITH TWINS, and also inherits the two kids and a crazy ex-wife. You may think, "Oh! You're spoiling it!" but trust me, I'm not. I read all of that from the get-go on the dust jacket.

Now, a crazy affair and some kids caught in the middle may seem like a plot, but in reality, it felt as though I was reading a really wordy autobiography. Let's start with the one high point of the novel:

Harrison. The main male character was the high point, and this is because he was developed really well. It surprised me that the other characters lacked such development, making them extremely one dimensional and boring.

Now comes the bad: the most shining error Darling made was the corny, cliché dialogue that riddled this book. Every other line I had heard before, and every situation the characters were caught in has been done before--maybe even overdone. There was nothing "funny" about Easy's humor, lifestyle, or quips--it was all just really trashy and uninteresting. The children were stereotypical, as well. The young teenage girl was a stereotypical goth/emo teen, with black fingernails and dyed hair who hated authority and everyone else. The younger kid was a stereotypical little boy with grimy hands and cheap, overdone lines.

Darling did a fantastic job of making something as disgusting as adultery even more sleazy. The language was crude and over-used, the characters were cheap stereotypes, and the plot was, as I mentioned before, nonexistent.

If you want to trudge through a boring, crude book, then this one's for you. But, if you enjoy a good read, then I suggest staying far BEYOND this shelf in the library. (See what I did there? Hehe)

I recommend 1/10.

Penpal by Dathan Auerbach

Short, but scary. That's the best way to describe this book. It's not a short story, but it's not really a long one, either. Penpal was actually started as a thread on the popular website Reddit.com as an installment of short stories by Auerbach, a Reddit user. With the help of friends and a publishing company, he turned it into a book.

Penpal follows a young man who, as a young boy, comes into contact with a stranger, who quickly becomes a stalker that follows him throughout childhood. While it's short, the story is extremely creepy and almost made it hard for me to sleep!

This review, will be short, because there's only a few things I have to say. The major critique I have of this book is that the sentence structure and wording is very askew at times, and it seems as though the author could've spent more time arranging sentences, dialogue, etc. more carefully. Some parts of the book do not flow well at all, and it is also confusing at times because the story is told in a strange order, one chapter coming before the next chapter, but after the chapter after that? Confusing, I know. That's another problem I had with the entire structure of the work. It was a jumble.

The character development was almost nonexistent. The author spent a lot of time introducing characters, but never really giving them any significance in the overall plot line. I can think of three characters off the top of my head that were mentioned once and never heard of again. The development of the antagonist was the only highlight in the way of character development--he did a good, albeit obscure, job of making you terrified of that creepy stalking person that can really exist.

The highlight of the work was the absolute reality of it--while it had my skin crawling with the creepiness of the stalking, the whole situation is plausible, and could really happen to anyone. I think he did well by using that element, because knowing something could really occur is a lot scarier than say zombies or aliens. There is no monster with four heads, no ghost that kills, no strange creature from out of this world that takes over earth--there is just the average Joe, the strange, unidentifiable stalker that embodies people in the real world.

All in all, if you want to be scared witless, then this is the book for you. A suspenseful horror, it will make you lock your doors at night and check under your bed. (And no, I'm not giving hints that the stalker hides under your bed... that's just TOO creepy, am I right?!)

I recommend 6/10.

Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee

Most people would think that my favorite school subject is English/Literature, but they would be very, very wrong. My favorite subject is actually history, and historical fiction is one of my favorite genres to read! With that, I'll introduce Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee.

Samantha, a young Chinese-American girl, loves music, her father, and the city of New York. Set in 1840s Missouri, young Samantha wants with all her heart for her and her father to move back to that magical city to open a conservatory, her on the violin and him on the banjo/piano. A tragedy strikes, and instead of having her dreams come true, her worst nightmare does, and she is forced to flee the small Missouri town and hit the Oregon Trail with runaway slave Annamae. Posing as boys so as to not be noticed or captured, their experiences along the trail change both of the young women in ways they never thought possible.

This is a YA novel, so it is very simplistic and easily understandable. However, Lee tackles the subject matter in a grown up way that makes it feel as though you're reading a Louis L'Amour Western! In school, I've studied a lot about the Oregon Trail, and I also have read many historical fiction novels about it, including The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. While not going into the gory details as Steinbeck and L'Amour do, Lee outlines the challenges and hardships faced by the Argonauts setting out West for gold very well, and in a way that is more appropriate for younger audiences.

Lee's character development was great with the main character Samantha, but I was often left wanting to know more about the not-so-major characters, such as her companion Annamae, and several other acquaintances she makes along the way. This, to me, is an easy mistake for authors to make, especially when narrating the story in first-person from just one main character. Also, the fact that this is Lee's debut novel makes me a lot more forgiving.

My favorite part of the book was the descriptive nature of the story. Every single description was both historically accurate and pleasing to the mind. Whether it was the fur of a horse, the color of a friend's eyes, or the texture of the camp food, every sense was pleased. The descriptions of wagons, the trail itself, the people, and their possessions were also historically accurate, which I was not expecting from a YA novel.

I loved the themes used in this novel, as well. There are a lot of hidden themes that are really beautiful, such as gender equality, the importance of relationships in a family, life not always going as planned, but working out in the end, etc. The messages portrayed by Lee through her storytelling were very inspiring and beautiful.

All in all, this book is great for all ages. It's historical fiction, so I think you will really enjoy it if you love history like I do! Some of the character development was weak, but the way she tells the story is its most redeeming quality, and for that..

I recommend 7/10.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

HEY. So tonight I'll probably be posting several posts, simply because I've been reading more than I've been reviewing lately. I'm also going to do an overhaul of the design of the blog, so yay for new things! :) Anyways, I'll start on this one now.

I honestly can't remember if I've ever reviewed a S.K. book for you guys, so I'll go ahead and state (maybe restate) that I absolutely love King, and even though he isn't my favorite author (his son is, Joe Hill), I respect him more than I respect any author. If I could sit down with one person to eat dinner with, it would be him. Picking his brain would be one of the greatest experiences of my life, because I have no doubt it would be bizarre.

Doctor Sleep can be called a sequel to The Shining, one of King's most renowned works. It follows a grown-up Dan Torrance, who developed a nasty drinking problem, probably taking after his father Jack, whose demise was brought on by the poison of the drink (and the fact that The Overlook Hotel was haunted..). Dan is called, just like his "mentor" Dick Hallorann was, to help a young girl with a shining even bigger and brighter than his. There's a group of antagonists called the True Knot who are a huge threat in Dan's life, and his, along with the other main character, Abra, battle with them is an epic stand-off that will forever stand out in my mind.

Now, everyone who loves horror loved The Shining, whether you read the book or watched the movie, or both. I'm a big believer in books always being better than their movie adaptations, but it's a really close race with that one. So we're all (hopefully) familiar with the premise of the novel, and one of the things I really liked about Doctor Sleep was that it really did continue in the way its predecessor did. There were familiar characters, but new characters were introduced that I really developed strong feelings for. That was important for me, because I didn't want the entire book to rest on the laurels of the old characters.

This is probably an unnecessary statement considering how original King is, but the plot line is so devious and new while still retaining elements of The Shining, and that was interesting to me, how he could so easily write a sequel that was nothing like but everything like its predecessor and still make it completely its own story--even if you haven't read The Shining or seen the movie, you could pick up Doctor Sleep and never miss a beat.

The symbolism in this novel is incredible. Whether he uses flies, cats (a theme he seems to enjoy), alcohol, red pickups, or even the infamous "REDRUM" line, the symbolism, while subtle, is always clear and easy to pick up on if you know what author you're reading. I won't go into the various meanings, simply because it would ruin the book, but you'll know em' when you read em'.

While I enjoyed the novel and the experience I had reading it, there were two big issues that I had that really interfered with the way I read.

The first extremely noticeable one is a problem that I have with most of King's works (and that isn't saying much, because he really is an incredible writer, but it's just a pet peeve of mine that I take issue with in any work). I don't feel like he needs to use as much description in his works, especially this one. There are things that he uses several paragraphs to describe/explain, when one or two sentences would have sufficed. But, I also tend to enjoy more minimalist novels, so it may not be a big problem for you when reading.

The second is the strain to connect two characters--I won't tell you which two, simply because you may not notice if I don't say, and that's what I want--in any personal way. It's almost as if he wanted the reader to emotionally connect these two characters so badly that he overwrote the entire relationship. It felt awkward and strained and in no way fluent to me. Sometimes two characters just don't have enough in common, or don't have enough story importance, to be connected and thought of more than in passing, and that's okay. I just don't think there should have been so much focus on the two, because in my opinion, their relationship in no way impacted the story at all.

Doctor Sleep is a twisted, sick, wonderful novel that is everything KING. Like I said, if you liked The Shining, you'll most likely love this novel, but even if you didn't read/see it, you can pick it up and be fully educated on the plotlines of both.

I recommend 6/10.

The Hanging Woods by Scott Loring-Sanders

Woah. I haven't read a book this twisted in a very long time. I picked this up from the YA section of my local library, and I didn't realize what a treat I was in for. The Hanging Woods is set in rural Alabama, in a mill town just outside of Lafayette. The main character is a young boy named Walter, and he has two very close friends, Jimmy and Mothball, who hang out every day and go on adventures. Their adventures eventually get them into trouble, and their polar opposite personalities begin to conflict--all the while, they are discovering things about their own families, their friends' families, and themselves that they never thought could be possible. Horrible, terrible things.

This plot line was completely original, and it kept me on edge the entire time. I wouldn't call it a fast read, but I read it really quickly simply because it was so interesting and I didn't want to put it down. The way the plot develops, with all its twists and turns, is so captivating. I couldn't predict what would happen next even once.

Sanders really did a fantastic job of inciting a relationship between you and the characters. I can promise you that you will love and hate and fear these characters, but all at different times of the book. Who turns out to be good? Who turns out to be insane? You'll only know if you read! Hehe. The way the characters are developed is very simple and easy to follow, but it's also complex enough to give you insight as to why they feel the way they do and do the things they do.

THE ENDING. OH MY GRACIOUS. The ending is the highlight of the book. It is one of the bigger plot twists I've read this year. Everything about it is completely and totally sensible, but you never guess it throughout the reading experience. It really is the climax of the book, and while I usually don't like it when the ending is the most exciting part, it works really well here. You'll never guess what happens.

The only fault I found in this book was the vernacular and the way it was adopted. Coming from a town about thirty, forty five minutes from Lafayette, I know how us Southerners speak, and the vernacular used throughout the book is exaggerated and almost comical. It portrayed the characters as "hillbilly", and I didn't like the way it was used, NOR DID I APPRECIATE IT. HMPH.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I wouldn't call it a murder-mystery, but I would definitely say that it was a thriller. It starts off slow with development, but if you give it a chance to fully develop and just let the story roll, you will not be disappointed!

I recommend 8/10.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

A short review for a short book. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a good book, but it's not one of my favorites I've ever read. It tackles a difficult subject matter in a way that is easy to understand for young adults, but it has some flaws that I found impossible to get over. While it was flawed, I will start with what I did like about the book.

I would mostly call this book "cute". There are a number of relationships explored that develop between the main character, Charlie, and some of the other characters. These relationships are nicely developed, while being only slightly cliché, and they really allow you to connect with the characters and what they may be going through--especially Charlie and his issues.

The character development was also nicely done--you learned everything you needed to know about the characters and their backstories without being bored to death by endless details and meaningless dialogue.

This book was written in the form of letters from Charlie to "a dear friend" who is never identified--I'm assuming that the reader is supposed to take the form of the "friend". While this is a turn off of mine, so I may be biased, I hated this part of the book. It was almost too informal to be a story. The subject matter and the letter format didn't fit well together.

I am also not a fan of the way mental illness was portrayed in this book. It was almost as if the mental illness could be cured by a good group of friends and having fun, which is in no way the way it works in real life. That was probably the biggest turn-off for me, and the main reason I didn't love this book.

All in all, it's a cute, fast read (I read it in 2 hours). The subject matter, although simplistic and understandably put, was grossly mishandled and the format just wasn't my cup of tea.

I recommend 4/10.

May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Holmes

I have a bad habit of going into bookstores and buying things at random without researching the content and/or author's bibliography, especially when the words "bargain" are involved. This is how I came to acquire May We Be Forgiven. As we drove home that day, I finally looked at the synopsis the author provided on the worn sleeve of the book, and it seemed interesting enough--a family ripped apart, a man struggling with existence and his past, and family secrets revealed throughout that made him question everything he ever thought he knew. I was intrigued, so as soon as we got home, I began to read.

I was so surprised when I finished the book about four hours later--it was one of the most captivating reading experiences I've ever had. I won't say it's the best book I've ever read, but it was extremely interesting and the story was one I had never heard before.

While this book had its flaws, my favorite part was the development of the main character. He was your average Joe, a man who did bad things but also did good things that he thought balanced out all the bad. He had an odd nuclear family, sure, but most of his life he dealt with it well and seemed pretty happy with how things were going. Then, tragedy strikes, and his brother becomes a nuisance that he just can't seem to shake. Throughout, Holmes does a great job of expressing the character's emotions and thoughts about everything going on without making the novel expressly about him. He is the main character, and you learn about him and his experiences, but the novel isn't consumed with him.

The other element of this novel I really liked was the way the author didn't leave you guessing, which, in a novel like this, is a good thing. You got all the details you needed without having to wonder about having missed anything important--it was not, in any way, ambiguous or left to the imagination. I usually like to be able to put the story together or finish it with my own interpretations, but with this one, it worked really well that the author was very detailed in all descriptions and all monologues/dialogues.

The one thing I really didn't LOVE about this novel was the unholy amount of profanity used--at times it was overwhelming and made parts of the story crude and almost cheap. There was a lack of grace in some of the passages that really didn't sit well with me. But, it didn't really ruin my reading experience, it just really made me stop and think about the abundance of profanity more than I should have. While it fits well in some parts, as some of the story points are really, erm, messed up, some parts lacked fluidity simply because of an obscenity stuck where it didn't belong.

All in all, this was a really good book, and I give major props to Holmes for tackling tough, unclean subject matter as well as was done. I was very pleased with the ending, and while it was more of an awakening experience for the main character, with no real climax or turning point, there were plenty of plot twists and interesting, albeit naaassstyyy, plot points that made it interesting and a real page turner. (I finished it in 4 hours, so..)

If you're a legal adult, this book is readable for you--don't let your preteens and immature counterparts NEAR it, simply because of the subject matter-- and did I mention the language? Hehe.
Read it though, it's really eye-opening, especially if your family is a little stranger than normal.

7/10 recommend.