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The Fell and Summerwater by Sarah Moss: Book Review
“All the other plagues ended, sooner or later […] and people lived and loved and built houses and planted trees and made food and clothes – and stained glass, travelled, even made music and put on plays. Ring a ring of roses. […] And of course life won’t go back to the way it was,…
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In the Shadow of the Kogaionon by Sabina Lungeanu: Book Review
‘It was in those final days of black despair that they turned toward the heavens, seeking the help of the gods. That’s when they saw it, standing tall and proud on the peak of the Kogaionon: the sacred fir tree. Faith returned to our forefathers, for its colossal branches would provide enough fuel to last…
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Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal: Book Review
‘It isn’t the show that counts, but the story you spin.’ Elizabeth Macneal, Circus of Wonders One truly enjoyable thing about the Circus of Wonders is the way Elizabeth Macneal crafts her Victorian atmosphere around the subversive world of the circus with echoes of Frankenstein, Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, and the Brothers Grimm. …
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The Dutch House by ANN PATCHETT: Book Review
“I see the past as it actually was,” Maeve said. She was looking at the trees. “But we overlay the present onto the past. We look back through the lens of what we know now, so we’re not seeing it as the people we were, we’re seeing it as the people we are, and that…
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Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro: Book Review
‘Hope, he said. ‘Damn thing never leaves you alone.’ Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun It takes patience to read Ishiguro. Slowly, and carefully, as if trying to pull off a bandaid, he tells the readers a story and deepens their awareness of existential themes revolving around human nature, their inherent flaws, their fragility, and…
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Book Review: Dalia by Sara Badawieh
‘This filthy neighbourhood we live in is like a prison cell where men act as its iron bars, preventing women from escaping. Come to think of it, the women here seem fine; it’s only me who wants out.And getting out comes with a price.’ ~ Dalia, Sara Badawieh Sara Badawieh’s second book, Dalia, is a…
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The Discomfort of Evening – Book Review
‘Nobody knows my heart. It’s hidden deep side my coat, my skin, my ribs. My heart was important for nine months inside my mother’s belly, but once I left the belly, everyone stopped caring whether it beat enough times per hour. No one worries when it stops or begins to beat fast, telling me there…
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Five Autumn Reads Perfect for Halloween Week
It is the perfect time of the year to curl up with a mug of hot cocoa and a good book. These five books are wonderful pre-Halloween reads that will definitely put you in the right doom-and-gloom kind of mood! We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson We Have Always Lived in…
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Book Review: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s novel Mexican Gothic is deeply rooted in the ancient Mexican mythology, interspersed with references to gothic classics such as the Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and Rebecca, as well as the original, Grimm and Andersen fairy tales, while dealing with a topic that hits close to Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. Moreno-Garcia successfully…
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Some Demon of the Deep: Hiraeth by Sabina Lungeanu – Book Review
‘Some demon of the deep is stirring in its sleep, bellowing its grief through the thick layers of water that press it down and chain it to the bottom of the sea.’ ~ Sabina Lungeanu, Hiraeth This wonderfully poetic gothic novel starts off with the story of well-hidden madness and all-consuming flames. Only those meant…
Myths & Stories 