2024 #42: Do Not Disturb (McFadden)

 

Do Not Disturb by Freida McFadden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Honestly more of a 2.5 - 2.75 for me. For the first 25 chapters I kept thinking, "Psycho called and wants its story back." I'm all for troping the classics, but it didn't feel clever or original enough to be an interesting take on Psycho, OR, as was often the case with the wonderful TV series Supernatural a tongue-in-cheek parody, which I would also have welcomed. That said, for such a quick listen, I wasn't about to declare it DNF, and was happy that things started to take a turn in Chapter 26. But then....things got a bit wonky--as if the plot was being improvised on the spot. I've read other reviews applauding the "twists and turns" and for me it felt more like a windy road under construction with detours that warranted other detours, until finally arriving at an "Epilogue" which reveals a major plot point, and somehow inexplicably turns it into part of a happy ending tied up with a bow. The detours also don't explain the road we start on when Claudia is first narrating, unless I missed something. I'm just not clear on how a character can narrate actions in one way, only to have them be something else. And I'm being intentionally vague here so I don't give any spoilers. The reason given for the "something else" was all fine and good, but that reason wouldn't cover the early Claudia chapters. Also, loose ends---just one, but I'm unclear on Naomi's raison d'être. There were also long tedious passages that read like the author had attended a writing workshop focused on scenic description of the banal --who knew a TV antenna warranted so much prose? See also: wet socks.

Now, adding to the problems is the audiobook narration. A random chapter given over to a presumably male actor was weird and jarring after habituating Holly Adams's "male" voices. I found her voicing of Quinn to be very grating (and I know I'm not alone in this), and as others have noted, there was a very unique pronunciation of "masseuse" that was not French, nor was it even Franglish. That, however, was a very small issue. Also, Greta, described in the narration as having a "very slight accent" sounded like every stereotypical depiction of a Romani fortune teller since the dawn of depiction of fortune tellers.

I kept listening partially out of incredulity and morbid curiosity. The major plot twist was more like a restart, and the epilogue was cloying, and ultimately rather disturbing. I'm not sure I could come away liking a single character in the story, with maybe the exception of Scott, but everyone seems to have a pretty broken moral compass. I've read reviews that say many of the author's other books are better and I will be happy to try another because I did get a sense that she has some good ideas and writes vivid characters (even if they all wind up rather unlikeable). I'm also going to read the next one in print, because I feel the issues with the audiobook tarnished the experience. But it was a freebie on Audible, so...I'm not sad I tried it!

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2024 #41: A Morbid Taste for Bones - Brother Cadfael #1 (Peters)

 

A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Given that I'm generally a fan of monastic medieval mysteries, I'm not sure why it has taken me this long to finally read Cadfael! Perhaps I was unduly biased against Derek Jacobi's rarely smiling face in the promotions for the TV series in the 90s. My mother pushed me toward Peter Tremayne's (aka Peter Ellis -- now THAT's confusing/strange) Sister Fidelma series, which I love, but somehow did not seem interested in Cadfael. I'm going to guess renegade Celtic nun beat out male Crusader-turned-monk in my mother's hierarchy of protagonists/sleuths.

I adored it--the audiobook, narrated by Patrick Tull, was wonderful in picking up the subtle wit of Cadfael's thoughts and generally didn't feel it necessarily to inject gendered artifice into the voicings, relying more upon character differentiation. Many of the characters were surprisingly loveable -- including the good-natured and impish Brother John, and Father Huw--the parish priest at Gwytherin. I also appreciated that it was four chapters before anyone died (it is a mystery, so that's not a spoiler!) It did make it a bit predictable as to who would be the victim, but it was refreshing to have so much character building first. I might quibble with the end -- a bit too much effort to ensure we get closure on the various subplots, but it is a small quibble. The pro-Welsh quips and writing of scenic detail more than make up for it. I'm excited to read the rest of the series (finally!)

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2024 #40: A Gentleman in Moscow (Towles)

 

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you told me that I would come to love a 462-page novel about an aristocrat held under house arrest in a luxury hotel in Moscow, I probably would have been skeptical at best -- visions of Eloise with a "touch" of Solzhenitzyn? How strange. But given the wide variety of personalities belonging to the myriad friends who recommended this book, I finally dug in courtesy of my local public library network.

I was charmed by Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, who has been in exile in Paris, only to be arrested upon his return to the mother country after the Bolshevik revolution. It is the arrest that starts the narrative, and Towles artfully employs flashbacks to fill in the backstory of the Count. According to Wikipedia, the formal structure of the novel is what we might call arch form in music -- the time intervals between each chapter double until we reach sixteen years later, and then it reverses, with the time intervals halving (16, 8, 4, etc...) until the final day. I will confess I did not notice this, nor have I confirmed it (having returned the book to the library), but if it is true, it is just one more delightful aspect of this subtle and enthralling book.

Yes, indeed -- perhaps subtly enthralling might be a better description. A few chapters in I was healthily invested, marveling that there were so many pages to go and yet very little had happened. But then we meet Nina, and Towles writes one of the most wonderful relationships between adult and child I've ever read. We don't need third person narration to see what happens to the Count. And what is so wonderful is that this is not a cliché tale of a child warming the stone-cold heart of the cantankerous adult. The Count is seemingly a constant model of affability and good cheer, taking his (relative) misfortune in stride, finding comfort in routine, books, food, wine and the ordinary miracles of the everyday. The relationship reminded me of one of my other favorite books (The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery), although Nina is far less precocious than Paloma , and the Count has social graces absent from Barbery's genius-in-disguise, Renée Michel.

While 98% of the novel takes place in the hotel, we see the Metropol as few do, courtesy of a "borrowed" key and later, as the Count takes up a job in the hotel. Without resorting to maudlin sentimentality, there are some significant shifts in the plot that other writers might lean into, but Towles casts both the dramatic and the mundane through the eyes of the Count, who remains even-keeled and debonaire, but NOT--and this important--NOT aloof. That's what makes him such a wonderful character. He is invested in loving what (and whom) there is to love. By the time we get to the "intrigue" of Book Five, we are already on board with wherever Towles wants to take us -- a planning meeting with the head chef Emile and the maître d' Andrey, or a meetup with the actress Anna Urbanova, or a game of "Zut" with Sofia--and we barely notice the shift into a different genre!

This book is, in short, a piece of art. It deserves to be read even by those who don't think they will enjoy it. Yes, it is literary--allusions and references abound -- to Russian literature, world history, and the movie Casablanca. It is not plot-driven until the last part of the book, but instead an opportunity to read beautifully rendered characters--even the antagonist (such as he is) is entertaining seen through the Count's general bemusement (and occasional amusement). Unlike other books garnering a five star review from me, this wasn't a book I "couldn't put down" but more of a book I "had to pick back up." I only read a few pages at a time (largely because I read before bed and I'm middle-aged), but I always looked forward to tuning in the next night. I was disappointed to say goodbye to the Count, but also pleasantly sated--a rare feeling with books these days.


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2024 #39 A Court of Thorns and Roses (Maas)

 

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Definitely an entertaining ride, with some interesting world-building. I found myself enjoying the evil characters the most, or at least the "good" ones who had an edge to their personality (like Lucien and Alis, and even Night Court guy*). Feyre reminds me a bit of Lyra from Pullman's His Dark Materials series, but her pendulum swinging between totally trusting and ferociously suspicious started to wear me down.

Some of it felt a bit cliché, capitalizing on well-worn tropes of snobby sisters**, high fae and various curses. Tamlin's curse was WAY too specific and seemed to function as a scapegoat for the plot. I got tired of the reliance on glamours. And while I know the genre has its fans of the bodice-ripping passionate scenes, that's really not my thing. Particularly when they walk a VERY fine line when it comes to consent. 

I was mildly annoyed at the naming of the puka/pooka (audiobook, sorry) --- that's what you call a cute furry animal, not an evil thing.

I am glad I checked it out because I have so many friends who really loved it. I might even check out the next in the series because there are certain characters I'd love to see again. Ikeda's reading was quite solid and engaging.

*Disadvantage of the audiobook --- I have to look up spellings. Unfortunately, when I looked up Feyre, I got a major spoiler (although it became obvious before it actuallyhappens in the narrative), so I am not looking up how to spell "Reese/Rhys?" Hence, Night Court guy.

**Yes, I know that one takes an interesting turn, but I was so annoyed by her character I didn't care by the time we got there.

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