Tommy Orange: Wandering Stars

Hi everyone

Wandering Stars is Tommy Orange's second book. It's both a prequel and a sequel to his first book There There which I have read before I restarted this blog.
I read this on my e-reader.

"Colorado, 1864. Star, a young survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre, is brought to the Fort Marion prison castle,where he is forced to learn English and practice Christianity by Richard Henry Pratt, an evangelical prison guard who will go on to found the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, an institution dedicated to the eradication of Native history, culture, and identity. A generation later, Star’s son, Charles, is sent to the school, where he is brutalized by the man who was once his father’s jailer. Under Pratt’s harsh treatment, Charles clings to moments he shares with a young fellow student, Opal Viola, as the two envision a future away from the institutional violence that follows their bloodlines."

This one is difficult to review.
The story itself felt real, harrowing, eye-opening. The characters were real people with real struggles, good and bad choices made, people around them and circumstances that influence and change them. 
I loved the generational aspect. Reading about multiple family members and how their life's choices, pain, friendships, trauma, ... influence their children, brothers, ...
But the writing was so bad. Orange jumps from one thing to the next, his prose is almost childish. The characters all blended together because they sounded the same to me, they had the same voice. Orange also switches from first to third person and back; and every time it changed I felt thrown out of the story. 
And the book felt unfinished. It goes too fast from one person to the next. I wanted more time with them, I wanted to find out more about their life. The book was ultimately too shallow and the writing bad enough to make the book forgettable. 

Happy reading!
Helena 

  

T. J. Klune: Under the Whispering Door

Hi everyone

I've been seeing and reading great things about T. J. Klune's Under the Whispering Door for months so I finally gave it a try.
I read this on my e-reader.

"When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.
And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.
But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days." 

I didn't love it. 
I didn't really like it. 

It's a combination of things. 
I disliked Wallace immensely. Of all the characters in the novel he was the worst cliché. From page one he read like a character and not as a realistic person. Every single character is shallow, there's no real depth to them. Sure, they have a background that gets talked about but they are all so one-sided, so very black-and-white, they didn't feel like real people. The characters are written as if in a book for children where they are supposed to be all bad, and turn all good out of nowhere.
Secondly, the writing and pacing felt off. The characters talk in sighs, stares and Instagram platitudes. It's all Hallmark quotes meant to be put on a fridge or a toiletroomwall. It could be inspirational but it's just trite and boring. The novel goes very slow; tediously so and suddenly wham, we're two weeks further. 
Thirdly; don't get me started on the romance. For the record, I do not care who you love, if you love someone at all or not. But I do care about the portrayal of love and this is not how it should be done. It was fake from start to finish. And it aggravated me no end.
Lastly, the ending. That's a nice fridge-quote. Complain enough to the manager and you get what you want. 

Not recommended. It wasn't big so I finished it but you should not feel like you have to. 

Happy reading!
Helena 

Wrap Up: July 2025

Hi everyone

July was a great reading month! We were on holiday for two weeks (and the first week of August) soI read a lot in the evenings because there are less chores to do when you're not at home. :) With two daughters and lots of fun activities it's hard to find the time and quiet to read during the day but once they're in bed and we're done with the cleaning up, it's time to read! Although I did read quite a lot during the day too, whenever they were nicely playing together. 

Here's what I read in July:

- Brian McClellan: Promise of Blood

- Yuval Noah Harari: Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

- Ilona Andrews: Magic Burns

- Peter Brown: The Wild Robot Protects

- Christian White: The Nowhere Child

- Terry Pratchett: Carpe Jugulum 

- David Dalglish: A Dance of Mirrors 

- Marie Brennan: The Waking of Angantyr 

- Margaret Atwood: Surfacing 

How was your month?
Do you read more or less when on holiday?

Happy reading!
Helena 

Margaret Atwood: Surfacing

Hi everyone

It's been I while I read something by Margaret Atwood so I wanted to try something I hadn't read before. Her books have been very hit and miss for me. For example; I love The Handmaid's Tale but I'm not sure I will read The Testaments, I had to DNF Oryx and Crake and I found Lady Oracle to be Ok.
I read this book on my e-reader.

"A young woman returns to northern Quebec, to the remote island of her childhood, with her lover and her two friends to investigate the mysterious disappearance of her father. Flooded with memories, she begins to realise that going home means entering not only another place but another time. As the wild island exerts its elemental hold and she is submerged in the language of the wilderness, she sees that what she is really looking for is her own past."

The only reason I finished this is because it was only 200 pages. But it was a struggle.
To me, it felt like Atwood wanted to write Great Literature; she really tried to write a deep, thoughtful and inspirational novel . Instead she ended up with a boring story that didn't go anywhere with characters I could not care about.

Happy reading!
Helena

Marie Brennan: The Waking of Angantyr

Hi everyone

The Waking of Angantyr is a standalone novel written by Marie Brennan.
I read this on my e-reader. 

" The bondmaid Hervor is used to dead men whispering in her sleep. They’ve been doing it for as long as she can remember; it’s the living she has to watch out for. And when a new arrival at her holding triggers her into a berserker fury, she’s forced to flee the contract that enslaves her and into the arms of an uncertain future.
Unchained from the living, Hervor goes in search of a way to silence the dead, but it will take much more than grit and determination to make that happen. She’ll need the help of a ruthless Viking, an ailing jarl, a mad witch, and more―for the treachery that killed her ghosts isn’t nearly as dead as they are, and the path to peace must first traverse a river of blood."

This had its ups and  (mostly) downs.
The pacing was definitely off. The book started out rather slow but it did pick up. The plot itself was all over the place and I didn't really like that. There was just too much she was trying to do. Brennan would skip months at a time and every time it felt jarring and I felt out of place.
The characters were mediocre too. Hervor herself was ok, and I love her strength and determination but she hasn't got a lot more to her, there's not much to like about her character. The other characters were very one-dimensional. By two thirds in I didn't care for anyone because they would all die so what's the point. And that made loose even more enjoyment.

The book didn't grip me. I never felt the urge to start or continue reading it. Once I was reading, it wasn't bad but I would get easily distracted and that's not the sign of a great book. It was boring to be honest. And that's a strange thing to say about a book filled with fighting and gore, but it was.

Happy reading!
Helena 

David Dalglish: A Dance of Mirrors

Hi everyone

A Dance of Mirrors is the third and final book in the Shadowdance series by David Dalglish. 
I read this on my e-reader. 

"Haern is the King's Watcher, protector against thieves and nobles who would fill the night with blood. Yet hundreds of miles away, an assassin known as the Wraith has begun slaughtering those in power, leaving the symbol of the Watcher in mockery. 
When Haern travels south to confront this copycat, he finds a city ruled by the corrupt, the greedy and the dangerous. Rioters fill the streets and the threat of war hangs over everything. To forge peace, Haern must confront the deadly Wraith, a killer who would shape the kingdom's future with the blade of his sword. 
Man or God; what happens when the lines are blurred?"

I did not enjoy this. I find Haern to be so, so stupid in his decisions and actions. He had me rolling my eyes countless times. How can he not see what his actions will bring? 
There's no depth to the characters, and contrary to what I had hoped, this doesn't get better further in the series. 
It's easy to read and a lot happens but then again, there's no real point to it all. It doesn't go anywhere.

I'm not sure I'll try anything else by Dalglish and if I do, what I should read. Do you have a suggestions?

Happy reading!
Helena 

Terry Pratchett: Carpe Jugulum

Hi everyone

Carpe Jugulum is the 23rd book in Terry Pratchett's wonderful, amazing Discworld series.
I've had my copy for years, it's an older edition but I so love their covers.
This was my third time reading Carpe Jugulum.

"Mightily Oats has not picked a good time to be priest. He thought he'd come to Lancre for a simple ceremony. Now he's caught up in a war between vampires and witches.
There's Young Agnes, who is really in two minds about everything. Magrat, who is trying to combine witchcraft and nappies, Nanny Ogg ... and Granny Weatherwax, who is big trouble.
And the vampires are intelligent. They've got style and fancy waistcoats. They're out of the casket and want a bite of the future. Mightily Oats knows he has a prayer, but he wishes he had an axe." 

I adore the Nac Mac Feegle. They are a wondrous, hilarious and genius addition to The Discworld. And their interaction with the witches especially never ceases to make me laugh out loud. 

Carpe Jugulum's plot is not my favourite; I find it to be a bit too slow.
But I love the witches, I adore the Nac Mac Feegle, Perdita is amazing, Magrat as a mother is quite an emotional read, everytime any Ogg is in a scene I can't help but smile, the humor is out of this world, the writing flows easily and I wanted to keep reading. I love the scenes where Nanny becomes 'the other one/witch' those were out of this world fantastic. 
Pratchett's take on religion (through the character of Oats) was once again thought-provoking, respectful, funny and introspective all at the same time.

It's not my favorite Discworld novel, but with so many to choose from (there are 41 Discworld books, not counting the little extra ones in between) I couldn't name one favorite, there have to be 10 number one books in my opinion. And this isn't one of those because of the pace, but it is amazing nonetheless.  

So. 
Go read some Discworld novels!  

Happy reading.
Helena