Tag Archives: story

Book Review: Veronica by Nicholas Christopher

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Veronica Veronica by Nicholas Christopher


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
4.5 Stars
My first venture into a book by Nicholas Christopher produced a very good, if slightly confusing read.

Leo meets Veronica on a snowy night in Manhattan where Waverly place intersects itself. She leads him through a labyrinth of places and events in an effort to save her illusionist father. Her father has been sucked back in time and has communicated about his return. Leo is the savior of the family.

Leo’s first person narration is very well used in this book. The confusion he feels is absolutely portrayed to the reader. And that confusion, especially in the first hundred pages or so, can be off putting. It is really worth riding it out though. The book blends literary realism and New York’s grittiness and romantic qualities very well. Christopher’s prose is very poetic and lyrical. The chapters are very short and this lends itself to the poetic feel. The story moves into a fantastical realm and mystery feel all at once. This blur of literary writing and fantasy really worked for me. I like the poetic feel, I liked the characters, I even really liked the confusion that was in the early part of the book.

I found this book sexy and romantic. I think the story of Leo and Veronica is unusual and relatable all at once. The circumstances surrounding them and their story are impossible yet I really did feel a connection.

The book does get surreal from time to time. That is never off putting for me, but that may really push some away. It is moments like that I find if an author is really skillful; can they give us weird and yet keep us magnetically attached to the characters and story. Nicholas Christopher has done that for me.

Nicholas Christopher

Nicholas Christopher

I mean this when I say this, Nicolas Christopher has impressed me. A Trip to the Stars is on my very soon to read list as a result. It is considered his best. I am looking forward to reading more of his work.

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Book Review: Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician by Daniel Wallace

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Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician: A Novel Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician: A Novel by Daniel Wallace


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have wanted to read something by Daniel Wallace for sometime and decided on Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician as my first go.

The story follows a man named Henry Walker. The story opens at the end as Henry is confronted by three teens and disappears. We have his story recounted by the family of the circus sideshow that Henry has become part of.

I love stories that have a retell factor and produce a sense that the perspective is as important. A sense of “that’s not what I heard” or “Actually it really went like this” and each tale is a variation and expansion of the previous. The family of circus folk in this story are a warm, weird group of people that have a relationship with Henry that is unique to each and everyone of them.

The book is both very endearing and very creepy all at once. I am taken by Henry and compassionate to his past – and each version is emotionally distinct – and his story. And yet every time a new tale is told, you have a revision and your own expectation put in check. As it progresses you become more aware of this and the impact does wear thinner. But the book is a good length because as that starts to happen, you get a “truth” revealed and the conclusion is complete.

The emotional ride is also creepy as the horrid people and prejudices are revealed and manipulated through the discoveries of people and the history. The horrible things that are revealed are at times hard to swallow but make for a tragic figure.

Daniel Wallace

Daniel Wallace

Wallace writing is light and fanciful and even hopeful. The story counters this and is heavy and emotionally dark and convoluted at times. But I found the book as a whole rewarding.

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Book Review: Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida

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Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
After reading Jonathan Lethem, I wanted something with equally tight prose so I grabbed Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name from the shelf.

The story of Clarrisa is moving, both emotionally and pace. The story unfolds as Clarrisa’s father passes away only to discover that he was not her biological father. This opens a story identity that is, at times, overly extreme and at others surprisingly barren. Clarrisa follows her desires to find out “who she is” fully and travels to Scandinavia to try and find her biological father. The barren open land of the area known as Lapland is a great backdrop for this sense of “erasing and redrawing” on oneself.

I found Clarrisa at times an emotional wreck and at others having more fortitude than I gave her credit for. I found myself cheering her on, but at the same time finding her unlikable. I think that contrast actually worked and is hard to articulate well. Her travels and want to find her past to find herself is redeeming but ultimately she is no better than those she scorns. I found the end of the book very fast and out of pace with the initial portion. Granted, the story is about the identity crisis and not the before or after, they are there to round things out. But at the end I both felt redeemed and defeated. The author really threw an emotional curve ball.

Vendela Vida

Vendela Vida

I think Vida’s writing was as sparse as the landscape of Lapland. Though in the P.S. segment she mentions going three times to visit the area. Seems a bit extreme on the research end of things. Regardless, I found the text tight and the pace moved like a mystery novel (at times). The emotions run high and I did find myself afterwords putting the book down with a sense of wanting to be done but glad I went on the journey.

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Book Review: The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti

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The Good Thief The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
2.75 stars

The Good Thief is an interesting read that has elements of literary classics, elements of young adult literature and a writing style that I found at times pedestrian.

The story of The Good Thief follows Ren, an orphan with a slightly mysterious past and missing a left hand. He is adopted by someone claiming to be his older brother Benjamin with a “fish tale” of a story. Ren is swept away with Benjamin on his adventures.

I found Ren a likable character who was flawed but likable, thoughtful yet resourceful. I also like Benjamin, who I found overly clever but in a way that was endearing. The supporting cast is a motley crew of the greatest hits of rogues and varmit. We have the drunk who also is a former teacher, the side kick friends of Ren who are not to bright but loyal to a fault and of course the gentle giant. The bad guy is bad, and I think this is where the Young Adult part comes in.

The book has a YA feel in two ways. The characters are archetypical and the plot is very linear and while third person, it is restricted to views with Ren only. It echos YA habits of action following our lead (see Harry Potter). The characters are very archetypical. The villian is bad, and nasty and quite the ego maniac. He has his group of evil henchmen and they are thugs and mostly voiceless.

I found Ren a very very strong character and his story is interesting as layers are revealed and things discovered. His compassion is surprising at times and a fault, but it makes for a well rounded very human character. Benjamin is as well. I found him to be very “Artful Dodger”. And I think that describes things well.

There was some loose ends that pestered me. What about Mrs. Sands dwarf brother who lived on the roof? Why did Ren REALLY care for Dolly so much?

Hannah Tinti

Hannah Tinti

I also found her writing at time pedestrian. The books prose was plain. And I am not sure that the end result is a polished as I desired. Some critics have complimented this with phrases like “does not use devices” etc. etc. I personally found it at times dry as a result. This is also a reason for the YA references, as the writing has echoes of books that would be classified like that.

There is a great couple characters – nearly classic – Tom Sawyer, Oliver Twist, and a story to drive them forward, but the top of the chain of the villains and crew and the ultimate reveals are slightly contrived and convenient.

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Book Review: The Shadow Year by Jeffrey Ford

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The Shadow Year: A Novel The Shadow Year: A Novel by Jeffrey Ford


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have read three novels by Jeffrey Ford and this falls squarely in the middle of the three.

The book follows two brothers, an unnamed narrator and his older brother Jim, in the 1960’s on Long Island. They live in suburbia and all their time is spent being kids. The summer leads to fall which follows through. They have a younger sister who has “quirks” and could have a learning disability.

Jim has built a scale model of the town they live in on a table in the basement. Mary begins moving piece around the table that end up matching the events that happen in the town. The events start with a town peeping tom and progress from there.

This book reflects on better times and is the classic story of growing up and deciding what is real and what is not. The boys adventures and mishaps, thrills and deceptions, and very real deaths of friends shows them the world in all its rough and tortured edges. The story of discovering evil in the world and facing your fears, growing up and having to believe in yourself.

Though the story takes place in the 1960’s, I found myself relating to the summer time adventures to the woods, the creepy guy in the neighborhood and the general sense of both largeness and smallness of the world that I remember from that age. It reminded me a lot of the stuff my brother, friends and I would do.

This book echos loudly of Something Wicked This Way Comes from Ray Bradbury. The tone, the two boys, the mysterious outsider. The end result is different but the tone and writing and even pacing felt very “Bradbury” to me. Not a bad place to be.

I am really drawn to Ford’s work. I should dive into one of his earlier, much more fantasy driven books and see how that fares.

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