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book review

Books! Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel

Apr 4th, 2017
by Marie Irshad.
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When I first heard of Sylvain Neuvel’s novel Sleeping Giants: Themis Files Book 1 (Themis Files 1) I was wary of all the hype surrounding it. It couldn’t be THAT good, could it? When I eventually picked it up I was swept away by the twists and turns and unanswered questions of the book. It was an action packed reading experience. Today I can easily say “Giant Robots! What’s not to like?”

The sequel  Waking Gods: Themis Files Book 2 takes place ten years later when an even bigger robot materialises in London with devastating consequences. Dr Rose Franklin is still coming to terms with the events of the previous novel and the mysterious unnamed interviewer is still there asking questions. Soon more robots arrive…

I don’t want to give much away here, especially in case you’ve not read the previous book, but Waking Gods: Themis Files Book 2 is even better than Sleeping Giants. There is a third book on the way, as well as two other stories from the Themis Files. I only hope I have enough patience to wait for the next book!

New Books! The Girls by Emma Cline

Jun 7th, 2016
by Marie Irshad.
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There’s been such a buzz around Emma Cline’s first novel The Girls, that when I started to read it I wondered if it would be disappointing. It’s worth all the fanfare. Set in the late 1960’s, fourteen-year-old Evie is bored with her life and becomes fascinated by Suzanne who is a member of a Manson Family type cult. The story flips between Evie as an adult and teenage Evie and I was struck by Cline’s ability to tap into exactly what it means to be a girl. The self conciousness, the willingness to please, the power that a crush can have over you. It’s all here and in unflinching detail. It was uncomfortable to remember those times through Evie and other characters.

In some ways I wondered if it should have been called The Girl because Suzanne casts such a long shadow. The Girls is very dark and not an easy summer time read but it is an exceptionally well written book. I can’t wait to see what Emma Cline writes next.

Emma Cline wrote this book in a tiny writers shed. You can check it out here

The Girls is published in the UK on June 16th.

Disclaimer – I received a digital galley of The Girls in return for an honest review. 

New Books! Some Possible Solutions by Helen Phillips

May 30th, 2016
by Marie Irshad.
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If there was a machine that could tell you the exact date that you’d die – would you use it? Would you tell your spouse what it said? What effect might it have on your marriage? That’s just one of the premises in Helen Phillips’ new short story collection Some Possible Solutions. In another, time freezes at a dinner party and a woman decides to kiss her friend’s husband. A young woman suddenly finds her love for her parents tested when she stops being able to see people’s skin. Her mother’s embraces seem far less welcoming once she can see her muscles, blood vessels and eye balls. A young mother starts to see her doppelgänger all over town. Intrigued? I hope you are because this is a great collection! Phillips stories feature science-fiction and dystopian futures but they’re also tales about marriage, friendship and family.

I don’t know if this was some sort of issue with my digital galley or not, but some later parts of the book were streams of consciousness and it was difficult to understand what was going on. It might be that my copy was corrupted in some way but I’m not sure.  It didn’t interfere with my enjoyment of the book, anyway. Phillips writing is wonderfully creative and weird. She really tests boundaries and I found that I read this collection rather quickly. If you want to have a taster of her work, she has several free short stories on her website.

Some Possible Solutions is published in the UK on the 13th of June.

 

Disclaimer – I received a digital galley of Some Possible Solutions in return for an honest review.