Review: "If I Fall, If I Die" by Michael Christie

Diane Cardiel used to be an acclaimed filmmaker, but now she is a hermit, imprisoned in her own house by her severe anxiety. Her young son Will sees himself as her protector, the one who makes the phone calls and answers the door for the grocery deliveryman. But even Will won't set foot outside. The world has myriad ways to destroy a small, fragile human body, as Diane well knows.

When Will not only steps outside, but returns unharmed, his small world is shattered.

As Will strains against the leash of his mother's neuroses, Diane's fear worsens. The industrial squalor of Thunder Bay has already stolen the rest of her family. And Will's ravenous, unsuspicious curiosity about the world beyond the walls of their house is leading him into danger.

***

If I Fall, If I Die by Michael Christie (2015)

3 out of 5 stars

Complexity of Writing: 3/5
Quality of Writing: 3/5
Strength of Characterization: 5/5
Logic of Plot Development: 3/5
Evocation of Setting: 2/5
Effectiveness of Pacing: 3/5
Resolution of Conflict: 2/5
Emotional Engagement: 4/5
Mental Engagement: 2/5
Memorability: 3/5
Bechdel Test: fail
Diverse Cast: pass
Content Warning: anti-Native racism, gang violence, sexual language

Overall Response: Forget Will's generic coming-of-age, tell me more about Diane!

***

More Thoughts: I have rarely seen mainstream popular literature deal in any depth with mental illness, especially not something so unglamorous as anxiety. If I Fall, If I Die, Michael Christie's novel about a mother and child and the long-reaching effects of the disorder, is both vivid and humane in its portrayal. 

And the plot itself is almost memorable!

Review: "House of Echoes" by Brendan Duffy

Turning The Crofts into a bed-and-breakfast is supposed to be a break for the Tierneys. Ben plans to work on his new novel in the rural stillness, while Caroline buries her struggles with bipolar disorder in renovating the historic estate and developing her culinary repertoire. Their older son, Charlie, spends hours roaming the woods of upstate New York, where there are no urban bullies to torment him.

But the promise of a new start eludes them at every turn. So does the hope of peace. 

The Crofts has too many dead animals to be explained away by coyote activity, and the village of Swannhaven has an unreal number of disasters in its few centuries of history. While Ben abandons his book in favor of a new project--researching Swannhaven--Caroline's paranoia convinces her that her own husband is a stranger. And Charlie claims he isn't alone when he plays in the woods all day. 

*** 

5 out of 5 stars

(grump + breakdown below the cut)

***

Never Look a Gift Book in the Mouth

A few times a month, on my friend Amanda's urging, I enter the Goodreads Giveaways in hopes of winning a copy of some new or soon-to-be-released book. Dear reader, if you're on Goodreads and you've never poked around the Giveaways section, you should definitely try it out! Who knows what fun new novel (or book of poetry, or cookbook, or self-help manual) will end up in your mailbox. Very often, you will be one of the first readers and reviewers of that book. It gives you book-hipsters something to brag about, and more importantly, your early reviews let other readers to know what to expect.

Yesterday I started reading my ARC of Brendan Duffy's House of Echoes, slated to be released in April of this year. The book has been delightful so far, with top-notch prose, a cast of genuine characters both fresh and familiar, and a certain sensory clarity that is rarely found in a first novel. I'm enjoying it greatly. 

But I have the growing sense that I have made a terrible mistake.

Now, remember what I've said before about how I take books on faith when they are recommended to me. I tend not to read synopses or back cover blurbs until after the book is finished. I like letting the book speak for itself, without having my own expectations color it. (This is no doubt hypocritical of me, given that I begin every review with a summary of the book in question.)

I read a brief synopsis of House of Echoes back when I entered the giveaway, a month or two ago. By the time it arrived in my grubby little hands, I no longer remembered it. (I'd entered a lot of giveaways that month.) I plunged into the book in open-minded innocence.

Too late, the suspicion has dawned on me: I believe this is going to be a horror story. It's certainly sidling that direction, one faint minor key at a time.

This is all to say that I may never sleep again, dear readers. If I survive, I'll know to double-check the backs of books before letting them suck me in. But if I have to die of fright in the next few days, at least it's at the hands of a book so skillfully composed. House of Echoes will get a postmortem five stars from me.

(Full review to follow... hopefully!) 

Review: "The Scar" by China Mieville

When her beloved city of New Crobuzon turns dangerous, linguist Bellis Coldwine lies her way aboard a ship bound for the distant colonies. Unlike the other passengers, she has no desire to make a new life anywhere new--only to lie low until the threat passes. But all hope of returning home is brutally ended when pirates attack the Terpsichoria. The ship and its passengers are forcibly integrated into the floating pirate city of Armada.

While Bellis rages at the loss of her way home, others of the Terpsichoria's passengers find Armada to be an unlooked-for reprieve. The convict Tanner Sack, cruelly surgically altered as punishment for his crimes, was destined to a life of slavery in the colonies--but Armada welcomes him with open arms. In a floating city, Tanner's amphibious modifications are a gift, rather than the curse the New Crobuzon judges intended.

But the rulers of Armada have set their sights higher than mere piracy. A tangled web of secrets, absurd myths, and arcane research surrounds their purposes. Willing or unwilling, Armada requires Bellis and Tanner's skills--even if their service could mean the end of everything they know.

*** 

4.5 out of 5 stars

(grump + breakdown below the cut)

***

An Aside: "Phantom" Search Terms

Dear unknown visitor who came here on the trail of the search terms "the phantom of the opera explained book grumps act 2":

1. I'm really touched you remembered Act 1. Honestly.
2. I'm sorry to disappoint. I do intend to give you your wish and finish my retelling... sometime. But I'd had other priorities for the past few months. But thank you for the reminder!

Review: "Alphabet of Thorn" by Patricia McKillip

McKillip's covers are so alarmingly twee.

A labyrinthine library tunnels through the cliffs beneath the castle of Raine, overflowing with the written flotsam and jetsam of lost civilizations. The foundling Nepenthe has spent her whole life translating these ancient texts. 

When one of the castle's mages delivers a puzzling new book in a new language, somethings in its twisting script speaks to her. Rather than turn the project over to her superiors, Nepenthe hides the book and translates it on her own.

While Nepenthe sinks further into the curiously unfinished record of an ancient conqueror-king, real conquerors threaten Raine's security. The squabbling lords of the realm view Raine's absent-minded young queen as no impediment to their ambition.

But the queen seems more inclined to hide from the threats than to deal with them.  

*** 

3.9 out of 5 stars

(grump + breakdown below the cut)

***