Review: Gerald's Game

Gerald's Game by Stephen King
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Honestly? Not one of his best.

This felt like it was trying to do Misery but failed.

The premise is interesting - a woman ends up half-naked, handcuffed to a bed in a quiet lakehouse where no one can hear her scream.

Ok, cool.

But then we get an agonisingly slow account of her weekend, as she thinks a lot of thoughts, reflects on her life's traumas and hallucinates a bunch.

It was sooooooo slooooooooow.

I love Stephen King's writing and he's excellent at turning boring, mundane things into tense moments but he was really just trying too hard here.

Then finally towards the last 20 or so pages of the book things get hectic?? New ideas are introduced??? And while it was captivating it was just too little, too late. I appreciated it in a curious sort of manner, but since I'd already experienced the rest of the book it didn't really mean a lot to me.

So a long slog for not a lot of payoff.

This is probably the first King book that I've rated this low, but it really was my worst experience of his work I think.

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Review: I, Medusa

I, Medusa by Ayana Gray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I quite liked this. I could have used a little more vengeance, but I liked what I got.

This story humanises Medusa a little more, giving her a tale prior to the fearsome gorgon we know from Greek mythology. Here, we learn how 'Meddy' became a priestess of Athena and the path that led ultimately to her destruction.

There are some beautiful ideas here, and Meddy is a likeable character. She has some fun moments of righteous anger which I really enjoyed, and I liked seeing a character that was a little more unforgiving.

Given her 'relationship' with Poseidon, there are also some extremely relevent moments allowing for a better understanding of rape culture and manipulation. I thought it was handled brilliantly.

I did find some of it a little questionable - Apollonia's place in the story suited at first but the second and third portions of her involvement in the story left me scratching my head a little. I don't think it was necessary, and I felt it detracted from Medusa's story.

I loved her relationship with her sisters, and would have liked more there, but what we had was still fun.

Ultimately, the ending was a little too off-track for me, but nevertheless I really enjoyed this retelling. We need more righteous vengeance in these retellings, I think.

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Review: Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Wow, Tom King really thinks he's a genius, doesn't he?

The amount he blathers on in this book is ridiculous - especially when the art is telling such an exquisite story by itself.

Bilquis Evely does ALL the heavy lifting here. The art is absolutely stunning, with vivid colours from Mat Lopes. These two carried the story, and it's a real shame their art is defaced with far too many chunky text boxes.

5/5 for the art, 1/5 for Tom King's writing.

Someone please tell DC to stop letting this man write female characters. Or better yet, stop writing altogether. He has some interesting ideas but I've yet to read something from him that was well executed. This just would have been so much more powerful with about a fifth of the word count.

Sigh.

Get it for the art though. 100% recommend solely for the art.

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Review: Harness the Power of the Invincible Mind: Spatial Strategy to Success and Happiness

Harness the Power of the Invincible Mind: Spatial Strategy to Success and Happiness by Alex Neumann
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

DNF @ 21%

This is another old NetGalley read that is really just not working for me.

It feels clunky, repetitive, and written awkwardly. There are a lot of big words here that don't really make a lot of sense in the context they're used, and each section so far just seems to be the same thing said as many ways as possible. Just in the section I read, the word adversity is used far too liberally.

It seems to have some fair ideas but it reads like an essay working too hard to make the word count so I'm not taking much of it in. Just really feels like too much effort for pretty run-of-the-mill suggestions. I've read better books giving the same kind of message in a much more concise form.

Not for me.

With thanks to NetGalley for a copy

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Review: Dreamland

Dreamland by Olivie Blake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An interesting idea, with a unique protagonist, but I think it was just trying a little too hard to be artsy and delivered the story in too confusing a manner.

Anya is a wannabe film star, but so far it's mostly failed auditions. Fortunately, she knows what Hollywood takes so she finds herself in the orbit of William De Witt, renowned movie star. But it comes with a job - keep an eye on William's recluse son, Jude.

What follows is a twisted foray between 'awake' and 'asleep' with no clear explanation of anything that's happening. We get Anya's viewpoint, but also that of Jude talking to 'you'. Anya's experiencing strange things at the De Witt mansion and despite every single person in her life telling her to get out, she has to burrow deeper because she still wants to be a star.

There were some really interesting ideas here - Anya is not a particularly likeable protagonist, but we can acknowledge her drive as something familiar and while we may not like her there is a certain degree of understanding. The secrets surrounding the De Witts were intriguing, and Jude is strange enough to keep you reading. But there seems to be so much happening between the lines that it becomes almost impossible to get a clear timeline of events and work out what is happening and why.

I really love the idea of this story, but I think with that title I wanted something more whimsical, rather than 'artfully patchy so it feels like a half-forgotten dream'. It's clever writing but difficult to follow, meaning lasting impressions are mostly confusion.

I think there'll be readers who can appreciate the 'not like other books' approach, but for me it missed the mark. I enjoyed reading it throughout, but just really wanted more explanation of what was happening and why.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

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Review: Colombiano

Colombiano by Rusty Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

DNF @ 10%

I got this one from NetGalley yeaaaars ago, but had a lot of download/device issues so was never able to read it. Then recently I discovered I could still access it via Kindle so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Unfortunately, I think it's just not for me. It's a big book, with my 10% read being the first 14 chapters. It's well written and intriguing, but the subject matter no longer interests me and it's too big a commitment for something I think might be a little too full on for my tastes these days.

For NetGalley's sake, I'm giving it a rating based on the little I read. I can easily see the potential of the story and what kind of themes will be tossed around. It flows well from action to more emotional scenes without stalling, and still takes time to set the scenes brilliantly.

On the whole, it's setting up to be a violent story about a boy forced to grow up too fast, aging in a world of violence and easy bloodshed. Not for me, but I can see others appreciating the hard truths in this one.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

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Review: Strange Houses

Strange Houses by Uketsu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An intriguing, ridiculously far-fetched novel, using illustrations of floor plans to supplement the mystery.

I enjoyed the read, but the concept was a little too much from the beginning, so I kept waiting for new theories to emerge.

The floor plans are a great visual tool in parts, but at other times it just seems like it wasn't a necessary inclusion. Like the previous novel, Strange Pictures, this too felt more gimmicky than clever.

That said, I did enjoy following along as more clues came to light and the mystery began to reveal itself.

It's not a strong story, but it does hold the interest and keep you invested in what happened and why. If you can suspend belief, you'll get a unique mystery to entertain you for a few hours.

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