Review: Devotion

Devotion by Madeline Stevens
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Well, that was anticlimactic.

Also kinkier than I was expecting.

It sets the scene like this: Ella becomes a nanny for a rich couple, and becomes a little obsessed with Lonnie. Ella has nothing and Lonnie has everything so Ella naturally covets Lonnie's life, and it begins to get a little creepy.

Now, firstly, we don't actually get all that much info on Ella. She's poor to the point of starving, yet we don't ever find out much about how she got to that point and it makes her character quite weak. I never really understood where she was coming from, because everything about her and her life was so vague.

Ditto Lonnie and James. Which is weird, because the book spends most of its time obsessing over Lonnie, but it's more about what she has and how she behaves. There's no history for any of the characters which makes them pretty bland.

In fact, the character building in general is kind of ... shallow. I never properly understood who I was dealing with, so it left me fairly detached from the story.

Ella's obsession with Lonnie is definitely unhealthy, and pretty creepy. She says some weird stuff, and it's evident very early on that she's going to cause some drama for the happy family.

Only ... she doesn't really?

Like, the whole premise of the novel seems to rest on Ella's unhealthy obsession getting out of control, but nothing ever really happens? Ella lusts after everyone and there is seemingly sexual tension in everything, but in the end ... nothing really happens. You expect there to be drama, but there is nothing. An eyebrow-raising scene that seems completely out of left-field, but overall not anything particularly exciting.

Honestly, I was waiting for a twist that would completely blow my mind, but all of my guesses could not prepare me for the absolute nothingness of the ending. This could have gone in so many crazy directions and instead it just tapers out. Pretty disappointing.

Honestly, the endings I created in my head were way more exciting, and probably made about as much sense.

It did keep me entertained throughout and there were some clever phrases and things, but in the end it just seemed like such a pointless book. I never really felt anything reading it except maybe slightly uncomfortable here and there.

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Review: The Ruin

The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am definitely getting a bit jaded with police procedurals, so this did an excellent job of actually keeping me entertained throughout.

The plot involves a few different crimes which are naturally all tangled up to keep you guessing. It always bothers me a bit, because it's hard to keep track of which characters refer to which cases (I legit kept wondering who the heck Maura was, especially since her name was so similar to Maude's) and you know that somehow the strangeness of the cop's personal life (including relationship with other cops) is always somehow tangled up with the case.

I guess the reason this novel still worked for me, though, was how it was tricky to puzzle out the connections. I knew everything was somehow connected, but spent most of the book wondering how.

It was also mercifully light on with the personal stuff, which does nothing for me at all.

The plot moved nice and fast, and the alternating viewpoints of Cormac, Aisling and Maude mixed things up a bit and made it more interesting. The Irish names and terms were a bit beyond me, but that's a cultural thing more than anything, I think. I had no idea how to pronounce half of them haha

All in all, an interesting, refreshing sort of crime novel. It's obviously building for a series with the scant personal details, but there's a lot of promise in the storytelling. I'd be interested in reading the second, just to see how it compares.

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Review: Usher's Passing

Usher's Passing by Robert R. McCammon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I STILL HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!

Great read, though.

Unsurprisingly, this book draws its influence from Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. A while back, a friend introduced me to Bradbury's Usher II and I fell down the Usher/Poe rabbit hole and ended up here. So I was very much looking forward to this one.

This novel creates an entire history for the Usher clan and fills it with mystery and intrigue with a decent dose of horror to wash it all down. I was captured from the beginning - particularly with the way it threw out so many questions that needed to be answered.

We begin the tale with Rix Usher returning to Usherland at the news his father is dying. Naturally, the place is super spooky, surrounded by secrets and superstition. Walen Usher's imminent death means everything must be passed on to one of his three children - Boone, Katt, or Rix. But strange things are happening around Usherland: children going missing, a murderous panther is rumoured to lurk, and then there's the mysterious Pumpkin Man. But how does it all tie in to the Usher family?

Honestly, there is so much to unravel. I loved how there were so many different elements to the story, and I kept wondering how everything was going to come together. There are little tidbits about the previous generations of Ushers, too, so it's interesting trying to puzzle out the secret history of the family. I really could have used a family tree, though.

I was quite interested in the history, and really wanted more of it. Erik Usher was a fascinating character and I wanted to know everything about him, Nora, and the rest of their generation.

The pace was quite enjoyable as it set things up really well to begin with then slowly kept upping the stakes and increasing the tension. You get to know the characters a little at a time and, well, they're all kind of despicable. I think New was the only one I actually halfway liked.

I do feel like I missed a few things, which meant by the time I finished it I really was still left with things I wanted to know more about. I felt like some things still weren't explained properly, and other things were neglected. This may have also been because I was switching between reading and audio, though.

On that note, the audio is pretty terrible. I liked that it meant I was more likely to pick it up (I'm notoriously slow with e-books) but it also meant I missed things when I got distracted, and also the voices get so ridiculous that it saps most of the terror from the story. Plus, the narrator just seemed to read the story differently to me. I would describe the narration as the film version of Dumbledore asking Harry if he put his name in the Goblet of Fire. Just a totally different vibe to what the words on the page give.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story, and how tangled it all was, but I really wanted to know more. I'd be tempted to read it again just to see if I pick up any extra info. I also would have enjoyed more reference to Roderick, Madeline, and the events of Poe's tale. That really would have tied it all together nicely for me.

Thanks to my friends over at HA for the Buddy Read :)

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Review: The Fall of the House of Usher

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**Re-read 11/20**

Just a quick re-read as intermission for Usher's Passing, in the hopes it will help me put some more pieces together!

I really do love this story. It's so atmospheric and gloomy, the tension is stifling and it's so strange and unusual. It really does spurn the imagination, and I think Robert R. McCammon's story is proof of just how far that imagination can take you.

The only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is because, like so many of Poe's tales, I wanted MORE.

**Original review 03/17**

Aside from a forced reading of The Tell-Tale Heart in high school, this is my first experience of Poe's work, and I must say I think I've been missing out! The writing creates such a chilling atmosphere that the story is almost secondary. It's a little twisted and confusing, but envisioning the scenes painted by Poe's words makes the whole sordid tale come to life, with the smaller details filled in by the reader's own imagination. The language is pretty ancient so it's best appreciated by reading slowly, allowing each word to sink in.

A great, creepy short story from one of literature's finest masters.

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Review: FireWorks

FireWorks by Oliver Smuhar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

DNF @ pg 180 (69%)

It's not terrible, just not really for me I'm afraid.

The plot talks about the impact of the 2019/20 bushfires that ravaged Australia, with particular focus on the Blue Mountains area. Only the story is told for younger ones by the koala, Illuka, who survived 'Alinta' and now passes the story down to the new generation.

The book is aimed at younger readers aged 9-14 so is designed to be educational and includes some fantastic illustrations and authentic photos, accompanied by interesting animal facts and statistics. As an added bonus, the launch of the book coincides with the author's fundraising campaign called the FireWorks' Fund - proceeds of which go towards conservation efforts for Australian flora and fauna, as well as to sustainability and the wellbeing of communities and individuals. The release of this book marks an attempt to make a positive impact on the world we live in, and I support that effort 100%.

You can learn more about the campaign HERE

On that note alone, I encourage you to look into this book and the FWF campaign, and consider contributing.

Now, the story itself.

Things that worked:
- Animals
- Illustrations
- Plot formula bringing the crew together slowly
- The crew itself
- Humour
- Genuine facts
- The reality of the impact

Most of my reason for not wanting to continue with this one is that it was just a little too ambitious for me. As a book aimed at middle grade readers, I expected it to be quite simple and easy to digest, but this packs in details that started to weigh the story down. The flora and fauna are detailed minutely but all at once, so rather than setting the scene it blurs it into a haze of names and descriptions, thus lessening the impact. A lot of animals are named straight away, so it's easy to lose track of which name corresponds to which animal. The illustrations do make this easier, but they're peppered throughout the story so mostly come a little too late. For a children's story, I felt it was drowning in the details. On the other hand, older readers will likely enjoy creating their own mental image with the plants and animals they recognise, so those who enjoy detailed descriptions will find themselves immersed in an authentic Australian bush setting.

The other way ambition strikes is through trying to teach readers how to be a better person in a lot of different ways - kindness, patience, selflessness, compassion, understanding ... they're all great ideas but after a while it does start to feel a little repetitive. I'm glad the story took the time to instil these great qualities in the characters, but when they all turn out that way it does take away some of the more interesting dynamics. They're all so altruistic and selfless that it becomes a bit cheesy. On this particular point, I believe children will receive the story better than adults. Whilst older readers may be a little tired of these do-gooder animals, kids will learn great lessons about treating others with respect and kindness, which is a message that can never be scorned.

Finally, the story itself is quite ambitious - it details Illuka's quest to warn other creatures of the bush of Alinta's impending arrival, so we travel with him as he makes new friends and faces down the danger of the scorching flames. I felt there was a lot of superfluous detail that bogged the story down, and while I loved meeting all the new characters as they came together, I lost sight of them often amongst all the other things that were happening in the story. They were such a fun cast of characters, but the story is so serious and dark that it drags the tone down, so it's hard to enjoy the playfulness of Coda or the sass of Myaree when there's danger all around. I wish there had been more focus on interactions between the five main characters as a reprieve from the danger of Alinta. It just wound up being a bit too 'doom and gloom' for me, and that's a huge part of why I chose not to continue with it.

That being said, I did really love Coda, and I think young ones will love all of the characters. They are a cute sample of Australian fauna, and the illustrations will help kids get to know the local wildlife. I enjoyed the way the characters all came together, and I feel they are the greatest strength of this book.

Overall, I feel there is a lot of merit in this story, though it was a little too dense for my tastes. It's full of realism to convey the genuine impact bushfires have on the environment, but at the same time you've got a whole lot of different species of talking animals congregating together. The contrast was a little jarring. I think it would have worked better if the story had been simplified - the repetitive details could have been edited out, and perhaps the gathering of animals reduced, spread out more, or just detailed in an illustration rather than in the text. The story could have been condensed easily, and more fun with the characters would have created a stronger investment in the story and the real Australian animals they represent. I believe there could have been a way to make this story shorter without lessening its impact - even, perhaps, increasing the impact.

This is an ambitious story brimming with authentic details, brilliant illustrations and characters you can fall in love with. It moves a little slow and can seem a bit complex, but its noble intentions make it a worthy addition to the bookshelf and I encourage adults and children alike to check it out.

Releasing 4th March, 2021. With thanks to the author for a copy to read and review.

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