A rollicking and satisfying conclusion to the Scythe trilogy with enough wiggle-room if Mr. Shusterman should ever decide to write a fourth. Read the first two so you know who all the characters are and what they're up to.
Okay, there is smirking and eyeball rolling but I'm willing to occasionally overlook that if the other writing is exceptional. Occasionally. That's not an excuse to smirk and roll eyeballs willy-nilly.
Being sexually assaulted followed by being devoured by dog/things seems like a trifle much for not being a "good girl." In this day and age, all kinds of behavior is more accepted.
Having grown up during the rise of feminism, my first thought about a book where adolescent girls who refuse to conform to "good girl" ideals meet horrific endings was that it should be a story set in the past, not one set in 2004 and 2019. Then, I started thinking of all the little digs I've gotten in my life, tearing down my plans and dreams and goals. Girls and women are still expected to act the way the masses demand.
I mean, look at all the body shaming that goes on on the internet. Look at all the makeup tutorials so we can all look alike.
And, talk about jobs and education. It seems like I've always had guys telling me I ought to do this, or that, or take some other career path. Why not grow some canine teeth and bite me while you're at it?
Even if it's not a grisly death, it's a death of the spirit when people constantly tear down others and try to rebuild them into something more to their liking. In Such a Pretty Smile, a husband can't support his wife's art because her art is better and more imaginative than his. A mother home schools her daughter because was kicked out of school for defending herself when a boy touches her inappropriately. More insidious than the boys and men, there is something feral and canine killing girls who don't conform. The moral to the story is if you don't want to conform, fight back.
Why do I write horror? Besides the meager pay? Just to see the look on people's faces when they discover I'm not the sweet little creampuff they think I am. Actually, I am a sweet creampuff...I just happen to write horror. Thanks to Netgalley and Saint Martin's Press for making Such a Pretty Smile available to me in return for an honest review.
Have you ever disliked the humans in a story so much that you're rooting for the ghosts? Five people go to a haunted mansion in Japan for a wedding. None of them like each other, or barely like each other, yet they're the only five people (including the bride and groom) invited to the wedding. I can see if 300 people are invited to a wedding that a few might be horrid guests, but there are only 3 invitees and the bride despises everybody but the groom. And then a ghost of a bride buried alive and a bunch of little animal/monster thingies invite themselves. Still, the humans bickered, fought with each other, and got drunk. Meanwhile, the bride/ghost and the spooky critters moved ever closer. If there were not ghosts and animal/monster thingies, this would be a typical story. A pity-party of "You weren't there when I needed you" stuff. Thank goodness for the little beasties and the ghost because they were the most fascinating characters in the book. The broken dolls were cool, too. In fact, I'm thinking of inviting them to my wedding. The ghost, the critters, and the broken dolls. Dancing at the reception ought to be interesting. Thank you to Tor and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review Nothing But Blackened Teeth.
Even if I'm not enjoying a book at the beginning, I always read on because books often get better part way in. This is how it was reading Faithless. Father Raul's drinking and drug taking seems to go on and on. I understand why he does it, it just seems to go on and on. When his friend, Felix, shows up, the story really begins to hop. Until Felix showed up, it was drinking, pill-popping, and hearing voices page after page. Felix makes the action happen. Bruiser, the cat, was a good addition, too.
There's movement once Felix arrives. He zooms his Harley to dive bars, seedy motels, fights, trades barbs with racist bikers and bartenders, visits the victim's neighbors and relatives, gets help, finds out the truth about the victim. Meanwhile, Raul drinks, hears things, and occasionally remembers to feed the cat. The middle of the story was exciting because there's action. A lot of times novels have a mushy middle, but this middle was great. The sidekick outshines the protagonist. Then, we get to the climax. It should have been exciting because there was gruesome violence, torture, shootings, stabbings, fires. But here's the thing--it went on and on and on just like the drinking and pill-popping did. Page after page of every kind of gory ick until I got tired of reading it. It seems like there should be a quick and exciting climax and get it over with, instead of brutalizing the protagonist page after page. The end of the ending was a deus ex machina and that's often disappointing. Middle of the book-great. Beginning and ending went on too long. Here's a book I'd read: Felix and a cat (he only tolerates cats) drive around the country on his Harley hunting demons! That would be a fun read and an exciting book. Go Felix! Go cat!
Thanks to Flame Tree Publishing and Netgalley for this chance to review an eArc of Fathless.
