Hello, reader…
*Note to first time readers: the following is a summary of a discussion by friends who gather monthly in a virtual space called Second Life. Reading notes are lightly edited reflections shared in real time via text chat.
Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives by Mary Laura Philpott
This book begins with a very dramatic story about her young son’s first epileptic seizure, but continues in a more lighthearted manner. including a tale about the turtle named Frank that lives their backyard. Veyot said that it’s more like a book of essays than one long story. She didn’t like it. Also, as a trigger warning, it involves life during the COVID pandemic.
The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw
This may be one that Sierra ends up abandoning. She said that this book would kinda fit into that ‘dark academia’ genre. We can think of it as kind of a cross between Magicians (or later Harry Potter) and Battle Royale.
The premise of the story is that magic is real and while civilization somehow pushed that aside for a long time it made a comeback and when it did these schools arose as places for the magically imbued to go. Some students go there of choice but a lot are basically kidnapped.
At this school they are promised they’ll be educated/trained and be able to enter society and be accepted and all. “Graduation day” is really when the faculty attack the students (which is made clear very early on in the book). The book is violent…in a very supernatural horror way. Though that isn’t the main issue Sierra had.
The story is told kinda jumping back and forth in time…and some authors do that of course…but here one of the problems with that becomes evident –that she felt very lost in what is going on. And had a hard time keeping track of the different characters. The actual writing – the prose – is fine. The issues is in how the story is put together. This is one she doesn’t recommend.
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox
Set in 1928, this book is about a young Londoner who inherits a Yorkshire estate. She turns up and the estate is beautiful and mysterious. Something seems off though…
As it turns out, she’s also inherited a grand yet haunted library that is literally feeding on her – draining her of her thoughts, memories and feelings to trap them in a book for its shelves.
Zoe loved the premise. The general outline of the plot fascinated her. But the book was written from the protagonist’s point of view – and since the library was stealing her thoughts and memories, she was an unreliable narrator. This made the story difficult for Zoe to follow – though other readers might have a different experience.
Not recommended.
The Specimen by Jaima Fixsen
The story takes place in 1826. A woman’s son is sick with a very specific heart condition, and he goes missing. At the same time, a doctor has a collection he displays for his anatomy classes. A heart that has the same condition is in his collection. It’s about the mother trying to figure out what truly happened to her son. MAC wasn’t quite finished with it yet, but he has been enjoying it. It was a little gruesome with the medical stuff – and he has a feeling it may get a bit more gruesome. MAC recommends it to readers who like a mystery and don’t mind a bit of medical horror.
Strange Pictures by Uketsu
Sofia said that this is a creepy story. The author has apparently started a bit of a new phenomenon in which the reader feels as though they are the detective (though Sofia isn’t sure if it’s really a new phenomenon).
It’s about a guy who starts getting involved with some strange photos that seem to mess with reality. Supposedly, the more he looks into them, the stranger and more unsettling things get, both in the pictures and in his own life.
Sofia is two-thirds through and still not sure what she thinks. It feels like the story is still being set up. She does like the style and feels as though her inner detective is being called on. She will persist to the end. While it is a mystery, she isn’t perturbed or disturbed.
Our next gathering is on September 14 at 1pm SLT.
SLurl to The Reading Room: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gundeulbawe/41/164/45
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