Review: The Measure

The Measure by Nikki Erlick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the most intriguing books I think I may have ever read. The premise is that one spring evening, everyone in the world over the age of 22 awakens to discover a small box. For some it’s on the doorstep, for others it is outside of the homeless shelter where they are seeking refuge, while still others find it outside of their tents, apartments, etc. No one is spared the gift. Inside the indestructible box is an equally indestructible length of string, and the exterior of each is inscribed “The measure of your life lies within”. It doesn’t take long for people to postulate that the length of the string is equal to the length of one’s life. Scientists are eventually able to prove this theory, and the world is suddenly thrust into a society of “long stringers” vs. “short stringers”. How we as human beings square off and either lose or find our humanity when we know the exact time we will leave this earth is at the crux of the tale. Some turn to religion; some turn to one another. Some seek isolation and still others seek meaningful connections. There are those who take full advantage of the fear that grips the nation in an effort to further their own agendas. Some simply refuse to open the boxes at all. No matter the response, the fact remains that life for every living being is forever altered.

The characters brought to life by author Nikki Erlick are simply brilliant in their complexity. They each have just enough depth to be relatable without Erlick falling into the minutiae of their lives. Each has a story that is filled with heartbreak and hope, and though some of the plot direction is visible many pages in advance, the reader is nonetheless moved to shed tears for these fictional yet oh-so-real people whom Erlick breathes into being.

Whether or not you are a sci-fi fan, set aside any preconceived notions and allow yourself to get lost in the pages here. You won’t regret a single moment. Five big gold stars.

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Review: Schooled

Schooled by Ted Fox
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Whilst this book did offer some amusing anecdotes, the overall “feel” was that the author was just trying too hard and stretching for the laugh.

The upshot is that Jack, a recently unemployed father of two, suddenly finds himself a stay at home dad. His successful wife Kayla, an accountant, swings out the door each day and increasingly travels for her work (a scenario that eventually becomes tiresome for both husband and wife), as Jack spends his days changing diapers, doing the laundry and taking care of the kids. When Jack encounters his high school nemesis during a school drop off (Lulu, his oldest has just started kindergarten), the game is a afoot as both decide to jump into elementary school politics and run for president of the Active Alpacas Parent Board.

Without providing spoilers, suffice it to say that the reason Jack is unemployed is due to a ludicrous series of events that happen right out of the gate, setting the tone of “oh-come-on-now” that pervades the remaining pages.

Three stars, mostly for effort.

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Review: The Drift

The Drift by C.J. Tudor
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

As a rabid fan of post apocalyptic fiction, I was beyond excited to read this new release by CJ Tudor. I dove in feet first, but it didn’t take long to feel as if I was drowning in details that were too obscure to connect. From the first page, I was thrown off balance and truly puzzled about where Tudor was headed. I could find no frame of reference to allow me to place the characters into a scenario that made sense and instead spent an inordinate amount of time trying to manufacture connections that would allow me to find an actual story I could follow. There just wasn’t enough background to anchor the events. Whilst the writing itself is on point, the structure and lack of depth just made for a chaotic read. Add to that a series of similar characters who remained flat and lifeless, and the result is a selection I would recommend leaving on the shelf.

The book unfolds in cycling chapters that focus on three different locations where characters are caught in the aftermath of a viral epidemic. One group finds themselves trapped on a bus that crashed during a snowstorm, while the second group of six is stuck high in the frigid air on a stalled cable car.. All, in both locations, were volunteers en route to “The Retreat”, an isolated former ski lodge now functioning as a facility focused on finding a vaccine. It is at that research institution that the reader finds the third and final group, a diverse mix of men and women engaged in various nefarious activities. One fact is made crystal clear—in each location, and to a person, everyone is harboring secrets.

From the beginning, the chapters exist in isolation. No group has knowledge of any of the others, and so the reader is left with the impression that they are reading three separate stories, related only by the virus that has decimated the world around them. The expectation, of course, is that the reader is being set up for a grand intersection. I have seen this technique utilized successfully when links between those parallel plots are revealed before they again divert and gain traction as completely separate storylines. They eventually spiral down into a single event that melds them seamlessly together when the plots collide, leaving the reader wondering how they missed the connections. Here, however, Tudor waits far too long to offer the reader any common threads. Instead, the stories stand apart with no clear relationship to one another, each weaving distinct paths that at times become tedious in their ambiguity. There’s a fine line between expecting the reader to infer and dissect clues and making the clues so obscure that it is nearly impossible to follow them to any logical conclusion, Tudor never closes the gap between the storylines in any satisfying way, and when the big picture is finally made clear (too little, too late), the result was, for me, a big “so what”.

Character development, or lack thereof, is another disappointment. In each group, the characters aren’t just eerily similar, they are near carbon copies, down to their vocabulary and the cadence of their speech. Some of these similarities are eventually explained, but others are just the result of inadequate character development. It’s as if Tudor storyboarded four or five stock character sketches, then recycled them as he moved forward.

Overall, the promise of a post-apocalyptic tale was replaced with a story borne of revenge and violence, structured in a way that left me disconnected and unable to invest.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Random House Publishing (Ballantine Books) for allowing me to receive an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Publication is set for January 31, 2023, at which time I look forward to reading other reactions and reviews.

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Review: The Quarry Girls

The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I will admit that after the uncomfortable preface, I didn’t expect to enjoy this book one bit. Anout twenty pages in, however, I found myself completely hooked. Jess Lourey has taken all the parts of a small-town rural upbringing in the 70s and poured them onto pages that chronicle the lives of those of us who as children were also finding ourselves during that tumultuous time. The cultural references were spot on and also brought with them a profound sense of authenticity that made the tragic events of that summer somehow personal.

Lourey makes a few decisions in her telling of the story that may not sit well with some readers. She never offers in-the-moment retellings of the more difficult events in the book but rather chooses, in most chapters, to reside authentically within the mind of teenage Heather, the narrator. Lourey allows the reader to see the entire story unfold as if seen through Heather’s eyes and stays true to the teenage angst. Scattered chapters are told in a third person limited point of view from the perspective of a young waitress held captive, and those pages, too, reveal a depth of emotion and insight that allowed me to fully suspend any disbelief.

Quarry Girls is a title I expect to see on any number of “Best of 2022” lists—and deservedly so.

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Review: Over Her Dead Body

Over Her Dead Body by Susan Walter
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Well, I almost DNFd this after the first twenty pages. Unfortunately, I ignored my better angels and pushed through. Blessedly, it was short.

This is my first journey into the work of Susan Walter, and it also be my last. The work was tedious, repetitive and not as clever as she clearly thought. The characters were each abhorrent and wholly unlikable as well. Additionally, the unbelievable specifics in which the reader was asked to invest bordered on parody or satire—which, even if intended, was a hearty miss.

The structure of the novel led directly to the tedium experienced as a reader. The narrator shifts from chapter to chapter, which is a technique I’ve seen used quite effectively by other authors. Walter, however, has put her own spin on cycling narration by retelling a single series of events over and over, from each character’s “unique” perspective. As the detail changes between those chapters were subtle, the result is reading what were nearly identical consecutive chapters. I suppose it is a way to fill pages, but furthering the action with each narration shift would have been far more entertaining. 

As for the characters, I found each (save Jordan) to be flawed beyond redemption. Their life choices, as well as their circumstantial choices, revealed them as selfish, morally reprehensible people without a single saving grace. It would have been nice to have a single character to invest in and cheer for. That just didn’t happen.

Finally, the plot reminded me of Verity by Colleen Hoover—just so far reaching as to be ridiculous. I didn’t believe a single page. Again, it read as almost a parody of the suspense genre, like Walter was writing the extremes to show the banality of common themes and plot details. I have to repeat myself here, though—even as a parody it just doesn’t work.

I’m so glad I received this on First Reads. Had I purchased it, I’d be doing a slow burn about money wasted. As it is, the only thing I lost was time. Two stars for decent editing. Choose something else!

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Review: Such a Beautiful Family

Such a Beautiful Family by T.R. Ragan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

T.R. Ragan’s Such a Beautiful Family just wasn’t, for me, a hit. Whilst the prologue drew me in, from there things just never coalesced into an enjoyable read.

The story begins with a teenage girl receiving a phone call from her best friend—Allina. Allina is panicked and needs a ride home from a party-gone-bad. The friend races to help, though the results of her efforts lead to catastrophic consequences. When the first chapter begins, that fateful evening is long passed, and the identity of the driver, as well as her fate and that of Allina, remain a mystery. We are, however, introduced to Nora and her family. Nora has recently been offered a new job, and though the woman extending that offer, Jane, is sending out “hell-no” vibes, Nora reluctantly accepts the position. Jane wastes no time insinuating herself into every aspect of Nora’s life, befriending Nora’s daughter and flirting shamelessly with Nora’s husband. As Jane devolves into even more of a nuisance and becomes a threat, Nora is forced to face the fact that she should never have accepted the job that now threatens to cost her her career, her family and perhaps even her life.

So the prologue connection is, I’m assuming, initially intentionally vague. The transition from it to the first chapter is so abrupt, however, that it is disorienting. I found myself turning back pages to make sure I hadn’t missed something. I then struggled through the next few chapters trying desperately to identify the thread that surely stitched the two storylines together. That intersection, however, takes FOREVER to emerge, and when it does, it’s so far-fetched that I resented having tried to make sense of it.

As for the writing itself, it struck me as far too informal and formulaic. Chapter 10 begins with “Nora sat”; 11 with “Nora sat”; 13 “Nora stood”; 18 “ Nora walked”; and the list goes on. This simplistic formula for a narrative was made worse by the repeated use of the word “look”, as it appears no less than 243 times. I desperately wanted to send Ragan a thesaurus.

Overall, this was clearly not one I’d be comfortable recommending without a total revamp. As publication isn’t set until December of 2022, Ragan still has a small window of opportunity through which to fix the deficits.

Thanks to Net Galley and Thomas and Mercer Publishing for providing me an ARC copy for review.

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Review: The Last Storm

The Last Storm by Tim Lebbon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Last Storm, by author Tim Lebbon, is a beautifully brutal collision of horror, science fiction, fantasy and environmental awareness. The characters are rich and complex, the plot is unique, and the structure is engaging.

In the Last Storm, the reader is first introduced to Jesse—a man who, through genetics and a hand-made apparatus, is able to conjure rain. His power is a reflection of the world at large, so unlike his mother and grandmother (who were able to produce gentle showers in a kinder world), Jesse’s creations are fraught with scorpions and spiders that accompany a rain of water and blood. The world is succumbing to climate change, and the power of the rainmaker has become destructive and angry. Jess realizes he can no longer allow himself the luxury of practicing his craft, but his daughter, Ash, has inherited the ability. In a time that is increasingly dangerous, when earth is warming on a global scale, Ash’s belief that she can control the rain and save those in peril leads her into a storm that threatens to envelope her and the world at large.

Lebbon’s characters are well developed, with rich backstories that bring them to life. Jesse and Ash are believable even in the throes of something as far-fetched as making the heavens cry. Jesse’s almost hermit existence and the touch of madness that inhabits the mind of Ash, are revealed through the consistent integrity of their behaviors. Jesse reacts to life and those around him in ways that remain constant; Ash moves through life growing in her self-awareness. Neither ever offer any dialogue or actions that betray who Lebbon has groomed them to be. It is in this consistency that the reader loses a sense of needing to suspend disbelief and falls into the story with a conviction that yes, there ARE rainmakers. Of course there are. It’s a brilliant technique that garners and maintains reader investment.

As a reader of post-apocalyptic lit, Lebbon’s approach is a refreshing change. This isn’t an EMP taking out the grid, or a nuclear blast poisoning the earth. It’s a gorgeous, almost poetic retelling of a time in the future when death is a casual occurrence that strikes increasingly more often and with utter disregard for the sanctity of life. The devolution happens so slowly that it’s accepted as the new normal—a sobering look at a terrifying scenario resulting from global warming. The single distraction, for me, was the narrative that led to the construction of Ash’s rainmaking apparatus. It felt forced and was the only point in the book where a fourth wall came down and removed me from the action. On the other hand, the horror Lebbon unleashes through the conduit of Ash is absolutely numbing in its grotesque depiction. I actually had goosebumps and felt the need to look over my shoulder on more than one occasion.

Finally, the structure here is built in chapters that rotate between perspectives of various characters. When their stories finally intersect, the tension is positively palpable. It’s always a risk when an author attempts to build a number of storylines that eventually come together. Readers can find it difficult to follow and keep track of the changing narrative. Lebbon doesn’t suffer in his approach, as it is meticulously built in a way that makes the transitions seamless.

This is a definite must-read for those looking for something innovative, frightening and fantastical. Thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for providing me with an ARC for review. Publication is slated for July 19, 2022.

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