Finished 6 books with one DNF in February. In keeping with Women in Horror Fiction month, all the February reads were by or edited by women.
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. Flynn's first novel was much darker, and IMO better, than her smashing breakout novel Girl Gone. In Sharp Objects, a troubled young reporter returns to her hometown to cover what could possibly be a serial murderer of young girls. She is still getting over the death of her younger sister, and on returning home has to deal with an overbearing & overly dramatic mother and a conniving younger half sister she barely knows. Upon her arrival back home, the body of the second missing girl is found in a similar state to the first. As she delves into the murder of the two young girls the troubles of her past start to resurface. The story was fast paced and, similarly to Girl Gone, Flynn injects the story with some humor. Sharp Objects is the best thing I've read from Flynn so far. 5 / 5
Ghostly ed. by Audrey Niffenegger was for the most part an interesting collection of ghost stories. Niffenegger did a good job of mixing classic stories ('The Black Cat' by EAP, "The Beckoning Fair One' by Oliver Onions, & 'They' by Rudyard Kipling) with more recent selections ('Click-Clack the Rattlebag' by Neil Gaiman, 'The July Ghost' by A. S. Bryant, & "Secret Life with Cats' by Niffenegger). As with most anthologies there are peaks & valleys, but any reader with a preference for good ghost stories should find several appealing tales in Ghostly. 4 / 5
The Deep by Alma Katsu was a fictional (& supernatural) account of the sinking the Titanic & her sister ship the Britannic. It is fascinating that there was a woman who survived the sinking of both ships (Violet Jessop, who worked as a maid on the Titanic and later as a nurse on the Brittanic). However, I found The Deep to be too long & pondering to enjoy. The middle section of the story read too much like a historical romance rather than a work of supernatural fiction. The Deep did pick up in the last third, but was further hindered by an ending I found to be convoluted. Given the length of the novel, I thought the story needed a better connection to the supernatural myths it was based on. Overall, a disappointing read. Those looking to give Katsu a try should start with her previous historical retelling, The Hunger. 2 / 5
Phantom Limbs by Margo Lanagan is a collection of stories that would probably be best categorized as dark fairy tales. Fans of two other Australian female writers, Angela Slatter & Lisa Hannett, should enjoy the work of Lanagan. 3.5 / 5
The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste is a story interwoven between two timelines in a working class suburb of Cleveland. In the first timeline, set in 1980, a group of girls seemingly begin to turn to rust. There is no medical explanation for the girls' change, and needless to say, the girls begin to act strangely. The second timeline is set in 2008, were the main character returns to help her mother with packing up her (the main character's) childhood house after putting her father in a nursing home. The lead character's best friend & cousin was one of the girls who changed back in 1980. The return home leads to a revisiting of the events of 1980. I found The Rust Maidens to be a very compelling read, even though Kiste; a. never really explains what the change is the girls are going through or why is happening & b. there is very little action throughout the course of the novel. The Rust Maidens is a character driven story, and it exceeds very well at that. 4.5 / 5
Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers: ed. by Lisa Morton & Leslie Klinger. Very disappointed with this anthology of stories by female writers of weird fiction, especially after really enjoying the editors previous ghost story anthology. There were a few exceptions among the stories I did read (a reread of the classic ghost story 'The Old Nurse's Story' by Elizabeth Gaskell, 'What Was the Matter' by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps & 'The Giant Wisteria' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman), but I found most of the storylines & writing to be too archaic & instilled with too much of the religious & social mores of the times to be enjoyable. 'The Were-Wolf' by Clemence Housman proved to be the last straw for me on both of those fronts. DNF
The Tindalos Asset by Caitlin R. Kiernan was the third novella in her ongoing storyline, The Tinfoil Dossier, following Black Helicopters & Agents of Dreamland. For my money, it's the best the best of the three. In The Tindalos Asset, a broken down former agent with a special talent is recruited back into the agency to help foil a supernatural antagonist who almost killed her in their last meeting. The Tindalos Asset is a fast paced & compelling read, equal parts gritty and gory. Another excellent story by one of the best writers working in the weird genre today. 5 / 5
B
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. Flynn's first novel was much darker, and IMO better, than her smashing breakout novel Girl Gone. In Sharp Objects, a troubled young reporter returns to her hometown to cover what could possibly be a serial murderer of young girls. She is still getting over the death of her younger sister, and on returning home has to deal with an overbearing & overly dramatic mother and a conniving younger half sister she barely knows. Upon her arrival back home, the body of the second missing girl is found in a similar state to the first. As she delves into the murder of the two young girls the troubles of her past start to resurface. The story was fast paced and, similarly to Girl Gone, Flynn injects the story with some humor. Sharp Objects is the best thing I've read from Flynn so far. 5 / 5
Ghostly ed. by Audrey Niffenegger was for the most part an interesting collection of ghost stories. Niffenegger did a good job of mixing classic stories ('The Black Cat' by EAP, "The Beckoning Fair One' by Oliver Onions, & 'They' by Rudyard Kipling) with more recent selections ('Click-Clack the Rattlebag' by Neil Gaiman, 'The July Ghost' by A. S. Bryant, & "Secret Life with Cats' by Niffenegger). As with most anthologies there are peaks & valleys, but any reader with a preference for good ghost stories should find several appealing tales in Ghostly. 4 / 5
The Deep by Alma Katsu was a fictional (& supernatural) account of the sinking the Titanic & her sister ship the Britannic. It is fascinating that there was a woman who survived the sinking of both ships (Violet Jessop, who worked as a maid on the Titanic and later as a nurse on the Brittanic). However, I found The Deep to be too long & pondering to enjoy. The middle section of the story read too much like a historical romance rather than a work of supernatural fiction. The Deep did pick up in the last third, but was further hindered by an ending I found to be convoluted. Given the length of the novel, I thought the story needed a better connection to the supernatural myths it was based on. Overall, a disappointing read. Those looking to give Katsu a try should start with her previous historical retelling, The Hunger. 2 / 5
Phantom Limbs by Margo Lanagan is a collection of stories that would probably be best categorized as dark fairy tales. Fans of two other Australian female writers, Angela Slatter & Lisa Hannett, should enjoy the work of Lanagan. 3.5 / 5
The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste is a story interwoven between two timelines in a working class suburb of Cleveland. In the first timeline, set in 1980, a group of girls seemingly begin to turn to rust. There is no medical explanation for the girls' change, and needless to say, the girls begin to act strangely. The second timeline is set in 2008, were the main character returns to help her mother with packing up her (the main character's) childhood house after putting her father in a nursing home. The lead character's best friend & cousin was one of the girls who changed back in 1980. The return home leads to a revisiting of the events of 1980. I found The Rust Maidens to be a very compelling read, even though Kiste; a. never really explains what the change is the girls are going through or why is happening & b. there is very little action throughout the course of the novel. The Rust Maidens is a character driven story, and it exceeds very well at that. 4.5 / 5
Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers: ed. by Lisa Morton & Leslie Klinger. Very disappointed with this anthology of stories by female writers of weird fiction, especially after really enjoying the editors previous ghost story anthology. There were a few exceptions among the stories I did read (a reread of the classic ghost story 'The Old Nurse's Story' by Elizabeth Gaskell, 'What Was the Matter' by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps & 'The Giant Wisteria' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman), but I found most of the storylines & writing to be too archaic & instilled with too much of the religious & social mores of the times to be enjoyable. 'The Were-Wolf' by Clemence Housman proved to be the last straw for me on both of those fronts. DNF
The Tindalos Asset by Caitlin R. Kiernan was the third novella in her ongoing storyline, The Tinfoil Dossier, following Black Helicopters & Agents of Dreamland. For my money, it's the best the best of the three. In The Tindalos Asset, a broken down former agent with a special talent is recruited back into the agency to help foil a supernatural antagonist who almost killed her in their last meeting. The Tindalos Asset is a fast paced & compelling read, equal parts gritty and gory. Another excellent story by one of the best writers working in the weird genre today. 5 / 5
B
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