On the wind-battered isle of Altnaharra, off the wildest coast of Scotland, a clan prepares to bring about the end of the world and its imminent rebirth.
The Adder is coming and one of their number will inherit its powers. They all want the honor, but young Eve is willing to do anything for the distinction.
A reckoning beyond Eve’s imagination begins when Chief Inspector Black arrives to investigate a brutal murder and their sacred ceremony goes terribly wrong.
And soon all the secrets of Altnaharra will be uncovered.
LITTLE EVE
Catriona Ward
I really struggled initially to get into LITTLE EVE. I tried reading an ebook copy but I could not get into a reading rhythm and kept picking it up and putting it back down.
So I requested an audiobook copy to see if that format would help me get into the story.
It did not.
The entirety of my reading experience felt trying. I recommend you look up content warnings if that’s something you do or even if you normally don’t. There is a lot that happens to the characters in the book that may be triggering to readers.
That was not the problem though.
The very first problem I came across was the way this book is written. Ward highlights a lot of people, places, and things and it’s difficult to tell what is important and what can be filtered out. There is an excess of pointed information.
Or at least that’s what it feels like. And it feels like that because a lot of what’s written is indecipherable.
There are descriptions that are metaphors. Turns of phrases, creatures, and places I’m unfamiliar with. No sentence is clear and says what it means. Everything has a few meanings and I got stuck repeatedly in that muddy water.
It felt like work!
If we look at the characters they are constructed haphazardly in fragments. It is entirely up to you how the picture of your character comes out all Ward is doing is giving you the paint.
And for almost every reason I’ve stated as making it difficult is exactly why I liked it.
There are more than a few things that I liked in fact.
There are little Easter Eggs embedded within the text. Little treats to consume that help to keep your attention. It’s structured like a sequence of parables and the text feels otherworldly. Almost written in a different language.
If you’ve never read Ward I don’t suggest you start here. This book is not for everyone but if you are already a fan of Ward and her creativity, you will enjoy this book and these exploits.
Overall, I liked LITTLE EVE but did not love it. It felt arduous at times, and a little rough around the edges.
LITTLE EVE…⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire for the advanced copies!
Little Eve is out now!
A recurrent, unidentifiable noise in her apartment. A memo to her boss that’s replaced by obscene insults. Amanda—a successful architect in a happy marriage—finds her life going off kilter by degrees. She starts smoking again, and one night for no reason, without even the knowledge that she’s doing it, she burns her husband with a cigarette. At night she dreams of a beautiful woman with pointed teeth on the shore of a blood-red sea.
The new voice in Amanda’s head, the one that tells her to steal things and talk to strange men in bars, is strange and frightening, and Amanda struggles to wrest back control of her life. Is she possessed by a demon, or is she simply insane?
COME CLOSER
Sara Gran
It’s quiet.
The way the possessed become that way. And Sara Grans’s short horror novel, COME CLOSER, is quieter than most.
Perhaps that’s why it’s one of my favorites to revisit year after year.
It’s short but extremely effective. In a book as short as this every word matters, every sentence is a supporting structure, every paragraph is intentional.
My copy of the book is around 200 pages. A mass-market paperback that still has a lot of white space for its size. The print is larger than most. It’s easy to read and it can be done in one sitting, perhaps an afternoon. But its effects will last much longer than books twice its size.
Let’s talk about the book.
COME CLOSER stars Amanda. An interesting character from the jump. She is both someone you like and something else entirely. She is married and her life is such that a dance with the devil is the most interesting thing to happen to her lately.
We follow as she slowly goes from tightly wound to unraveled short time. The pace is both deceivingly slow and extremely fast. It’s over before you know you’re enjoying it.
Which only leaves you wanting more.
I love to read this book at the beginning of fall. It always sets the tone for reading spooky books. This year I listened to it in audiobook format and found it to be quite a treat.
It’s a quick read that’s very impactful. If you haven’t read Sara Gran yet, now is your chance.
COME CLOSER…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In Persian myth, it is said that Akbar the Great once built a palace which he filled with newborn children, attended only by mutes, in order to learn whether language is innate or acquired. As the year passed and the children grew into their silent and difficult world, this palace became known as the Gang Mahal, or Dumb House. In his first novel, John Burnside explores the possibilities inherent in a modern-day repetition of Akbar`s investigations. Following the death of his mother, the unnamed narrator creates a twisted varient of the Dumb House, finally using his own children as subjects in a bizarre experiment. When the children develop a musical language of their own, however, their gaoler is the one who is excluded, and he extracts an appalling revenge.
THE DUMB HOUSE
John Burnside
It opens with a line you’ll have to read twice. And even then you still won’t know what lies ahead of you in this very short, very loud book.
I’m not sure if this is a horror book or simply a macabre literary piece of fiction. It’s one of my favorite books yet has under 3000 ratings and only about 500 reviews. It was published in 1998. It’s under 200 pages and it’s rich content.
Let’s talk about it.
We’re introduced to our main character with our eyes fully open. There isn’t much hidden. He is easily one of the most disturbed characters I’ve ever read.
As a reader, you know more than you want to and are privy to unforgettable details that will stick with you beyond your finishing the book.
As disturbing as the material is-it is doubly inspiring to read. There is an art to what Burnside does and it’s incredible to experience it.
You’ll wish it was longer!
THE DUMBHOUSE…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
