Fiction | Lost in a Good Book

The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty

14 Sep 2017 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, Australian Women Writers, Fiction Tags: #aww17, aussie books, australian women writers challenge, aww 2017, liane moriarty, two stars

Published: 1st October 2011 (print)/13th December 2011 (audio)
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia/BolindaAudio
Pages: 480/1 disc – 16hrs (MP3)
Narrator: Caroline Lee
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fiction
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

Ellen O’Farrell is a professional hypnotherapist who works out of the eccentric beachfront home she inherited from her grandparents. It’s a nice life, except for her tumultuous relationship history. She’s stoic about it, but at this point, Ellen wouldn’t mind a lasting one. When she meets Patrick, she’s optimistic. He’s attractive, single, employed, and best of all, he seems to like her back. Then comes that dreaded moment: He thinks they should have a talk.

Braced for the worst, Ellen is pleasantly surprised. It turns out that Patrick’s ex-girlfriend is stalking him. Ellen thinks, Actually, that’s kind of interesting. She’s dating someone worth stalking. She’s intrigued by the woman’s motives. In fact, she’d even love to meet her.

Ellen doesn’t know it, but she already has.

I have been told that the early works of Moriarty aren’t as good as her later stuff, which is good and bad because I started with her earlier works and thought what I’ve read so far had been mediocre. Which was a huge shame since I have been looking forward to reading her stuff for years. So it’s a matter of working through the back catalogue until they start getting better I suppose. That sounds quite terrible, and I didn’t dislike this one, it was ok. The premise of The Hypnotist’s Love Story sounded interesting, and it began promisingly enough, but I found it was a bit lacklustre soon after.

Because I listened to the MP3 I had no real way of knowing how much longer was left in the book. I found myself keep waiting for it to be over and it just never came. Even when I thought there had been a conclusion there was still more story to come. The book itself is 480 pages I discovered, which is why it felt like it went forever, it definitely was a story that could have been a lot shorter.

I found I grew tired of the characters, I felt Moriarty drew them out far too long, it could have been more impactful if the story hadn’t’ve dragged on. I couldn’t sympathise with any of the characters, not even Patrick which I’m sure I was supposed to. He was a bit dull and uninteresting and Ellen was no better, I felt that she was the kind of person who liked to poke the sleeping bear. She kept pushing and pushing, aggravating Patrick (and me) as she pushed for information to stave off her curiosities about the stalker.

Moriarty’s stories seem to work around the slow reveal, the teases and taunts and clues that something has happened but she’s not going to tell you what just yet. This is much the same, we know there is a stalker, the mystery is figuring out who it is. There are a few candidates and Moriarty makes sure a few possible people act as red herrings. Even with this tease of the stalker and the unknown about what could happen, I couldn’t engage with the story and the ending fizzles out quite remarkably. It was a strange conclusion to an ok story.

You can purchase The Hypnotist’s Love Story via the following

Dymocks | Booktopia | Fishpond

QBD | Book Depository | BookWorld

Amazon | Amazon Aust

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel or These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach

25 Aug 2017 2 Comments

by Amy in 2 Stars, Bookish Bites, Fiction Tags: Audiobook, Bookish Bites, contemporary fiction, deborah moggach, india, movie, two stars

Published: 15th April 2005 (print)/ 1st April 2013 (audio)
Publisher: Vintage/Clipper audiobooks
Pages: 288 pages/1 disc
Narrator: Nina Wadia
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
★ ★ – 2 Stars

When Ravi Kapoor, an overworked London doctor, reaches the breaking point with his difficult father-in-law, he asks his wife: “Can’t we just send him away somewhere? Somewhere far, far away.” His prayer is seemingly answered when Ravi’s entrepreneurial cousin sets up a retirement home in India, hoping to re-create in Bangalore an elegant lost corner of England. Several retirees are enticed by the promise of indulgent living at a bargain price, but upon arriving, they are dismayed to find that restoration of the once sophisiticated hotel has stalled, and that such amenities as water and electricity are . . . infrequent. But what their new life lacks in luxury, they come to find, it’s plentiful in adventure, stunning beauty, and unexpected love.

I think the best summation of this book is ‘eh’. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it. I’m not even 100% I liked it. I felt like it had the potential to be so much better. I think I liked 1 maybe 2 characters, the rest I felt I could have if they hadn’t’ve been so…themselves. The writing is at times cringeworthy, the characters are certainly racist and sexist, whether or not this is just their character “charm” as it is sometimes portrayed, but it’s gross to listen to. And India is turned into some mystical place that is romanticised by these white British while subsequently criticised by them on the next page.

The book’s title has been changed to coincide with the movie, it was originally These Foolish Things, but I think most physical books are retitled now too. Very rarely is this the case, but I have to say, the movie is so much better. Just watch that. This isn’t even really like it at all, it’s not overly enjoyable, there’s more parts that are offensive in some way or another, and there isn’t a grand plot to keep you interested. I listened to the audiobook and to her credit, the narrator was quite good, she used distinctive voices and emphasis as she told the story, and she brought to life each character’s individuality. It was just a shame that that what she brought to life wasn’t very enjoyable.

You can purchase The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel via the following

Book Depository | Dymocks

Amazon | Amazon Au

Booktopia | Wordery | Barnes & Noble

The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood

22 Aug 2017 Leave a comment

by Amy in 1 Star, Audiobook, Australian Women Writers, Fiction Tags: #aww17, Audiobook, australian women writers challenge, aww 2017, charlotte wood

Published: 1st October 2015 (print)/2nd June 2016 (audio)
Publisher: Allen & Unwin/Wavesound Audio
Pages: 320/1 disc – 7hrs (MP3)
Narrator: Ailsa Piper
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fiction
★ – 1 Star

The Natural Way of Things is at once lucid and illusory, a brilliantly plotted novel of ideas that reminds us of mankind’s own vast contradictions—the capacity for savagery, selfishness, resilience, and redemption all contained by a single, vulnerable body.

Drugged, dressed in old-fashioned rags, and fiending for a cigarette, Yolanda wakes up in a barren room. Verla, a young woman who seems vaguely familiar, sits nearby. Down a hallway echoing loudly with the voices of mysterious men, in a stark compound deep in the Australian outback, other captive women are just coming to. Starved, sedated, the girls can’t be sure of anything—except the painful episodes in their pasts that link them.

Drawing strength from the animal instincts they’re forced to rely on, the women go from hunted to hunters, along the way becoming unforgettable and boldly original literary heroines that readers will both relate to and root for.

Potential spoilers ahead.

I am learning the hard way that acclaimed and well awarded books are often the least enjoyable. People raved about this and it won The Stella Prize and so I finally got hold of a copy and read it. Well, I listened to the audiobook which I think actually made it worse.

It starts off with mystery which is fair enough, but Wood builds it up like there is going to be an answer. I was curious about how these girls had gotten into this situation, who it was that had placed them in the middle of nowhere and for what purpose. What happened was I put up with so much boring nothingness, and instead read an extreme version of big brother where no one gets voted off but instead sit around in their glib new life doing nothing whatsoever and do it with no food.

There are many girls who have been taken but the story is mainly told by two women, both who have different reactions to their circumstances, one becomes stronger and wants to fight back, the other becomes more animalistic as time goes on. There is a little mentioned about the other girls, as well as the “guards”, but none of these characters are that remarkable, it’s a bit unbelievable they even were there running the place in the first place. I kept going through the non-events and the general dull day to day nothing that was probably meant to show just how terrible these girls’ lives had been reduced to, but after a few chapters of it I was over it. I needed something to happen, something more interesting than illness and the ongoing mental reclusiveness of the characters.

I get that it is meant to be profound, and not having answers is ok. We don’t need everything wrapped up in a neat bow. Normally I don’t need answers, and I’m happy to have a bit of mystery or whatever, I think the reason I wanted it this time is because I disliked this book so early on I kept going in the hope I could at least get some answer for why I had to sit through such a boring and, frankly, gross book. A fair warning it is a bit graphic. Wood doesn’t hold back in her descriptions of trapping/cooking rabbits, again, in context I get, and for the emotional and mental state of characters it does fit. But I will say listening to it as an audio was very hard. There’s also some graphic detail about what people do and look like in terms of injuries etc just in case that isn’t your cup of tea.

It was a pain to keep going but I did and not only did it not get better, I feel cheated. In hindsight, I respect the absence of answers. I think not having answers gives it some power that these things could happen, but the fact we’re given almost no reason why any of it is happen irks me. I needed the answers as a reward for putting up with such a boring book.

You can purchase The Natural Way of Things via the following

Dymocks | BookDepository

The Recipient by Dean Mayes

01 May 2016 1 Comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Fiction Tags: contemporary fiction, dean mayes, ebook, fiction, four stars

Published: 1st May 2016
Publisher: Central Avenue Publishing
Pages: 416
Format: ebook
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

Casey Schillinge is a vivacious young woman on the verge of making her mark on the world. While backpacking, she is struck down by a tropical disease and suffers cardiac failure. But at the eleventh hour, Casey receives a life-saving heart transplant – and a rare second chance to begin again.

Three years later, Casey has become a withdrawn shell of her former self: she is estranged from her loved ones, afraid of open spaces and rides the line between legitimate and criminal work. The worst of her troubles come in the form of violent night terrors; so frightening that she resorts to extreme measures to keep herself from sleeping. When she can take no more, she embarks on a desperate search for the source of her dreams. In so doing, she makes a shocking discovery surrounding the tragic fate of the donor whose heart now beats inside her chest. As she delves deeper into the mystery of her donor, she realises her dreams are not a figment of her imagination, but a real life nightmare.

Note: I was provided with a copy of this book by the author for review.

I was engaged with this story from the beginning; Mayes’ narration pulls you in slowly and nicely into Casey’s life and the life of those around her. He tells the story with a great varying style and intensity based on what’s happening which really helps to enhance what’s going on.

Set in Melbourne it was great to read about trams and St Kilda and all these familiar locations, reading stories set in Oz is never tiring. Maye’s makes it feel like any other place though, and if you aren’t familiar with Melbourne or even Australia it doesn’t affect the story because Mayes creates a vivid picture in your mind.

Each character is interesting and defined, while not everyone needed a full back story their placement in the story and Casey’s life felt natural and solid. You easily accept the people around her and take them on their face value about who they are as a person. Seeing their patience tested and their love and support for Casey fracture brings them to life and seeing them try to cope with her demons tells you a lot about them and their different relationships. This is also added to by the occasional perspectives we’re given of people other than Casey.

These point of view changes are seamless and mostly brief. Mayes doesn’t dedicate chapters to different characters; instead he weaves tiny snippets and thoughts around Casey’s. These small brief moments of insight into other characters offer so much and offer a nice outside perspective to what she is experiencing. I really loved this because if was so cleverly done, it suited the story so well, but also because it was interesting to see the world outside of Casey’s viewpoint. Seeing Casey’s struggle, seeing her trying to cope was captivating on its own, but having it offset with thoughts and observations of those around her made it something greater, especially with her reluctance to divulge any information. Casey doesn’t know what she is dealing with, but she also doesn’t share what she’s dealing with either which adds another layer of complexity to the story. Even though we know about the nightmares in part, it’s fascinating to see it from the other side, with parents and doctors trying to break through to her and find out what’s haunting her.

I loved Casey in this, as terrible as it sounds I loved seeing her struggle and her anguish, I think Mayes tells her story so well you can’t help but admire even the bad stuff. Her isolation and her fears come across so well on the page and when she reaches breaking point it feels real and you totally get why she shuts herself down from the world. I loved so many of the characters, even with their flaws, I loved Scott’s devotion and Lionel’s patience, I loved her parents who try their best but can only do so much. It was wonderful seeing everyone grow and change together, for better and for worse.

Mayes has created a great story, it’s engaging and compelling, and there’s a strange mysteriousness about it without it straying too far from the contemporary fiction side, just the hint of the unknown. This is a great story because there’s so much filling it but not all of it’s important detail; it’s just everyday life filled with bobble head sasquatches and tense relationships with parents, but sometimes seemingly unimportant conversations can take on new meaning and it plays with what you think you know. I liked that not everything that happened was supposed to have meaning; it brings it down to earth and makes you remember not everything has an ulterior motive.

Having said that, while it doesn’t read like a mystery there is a mysterious element that needs solving. It’s a story of a woman who is trying to stop her nightmares any way she can and this is the only way she knows how. It’s easy to criticise Casey’s choices in this, especially once she starts following the clues, but when you realise that while those around her only have been dealing with this for a few weeks, she’s been tormented with this for three years so you understand why she wants to solve this, and for that you can forgive a lot of her actions.

There are surprises and twists in this that you really don’t expect and the thrill only heightens the closer you get to the end. Mayes takes us on Casey’s journey, through the before and the after and from start to finish it helps you understand her, sympathise with her, and want to help her. It’s a wonderful read and one that keeps you entertained and guessing all the way through.

You can purchase The Recipient via the following

Amazon

The Solomon Twist by Dan Hammond Jr.

25 Jun 2015 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Fiction Tags: dan hammond jr, fiction, four stars, satire

Published: 17th February 2015
Publisher: Solomon Texas Press
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
Genre: Fiction/Satire
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

Twin sons of different fathers?

Sure, the chances are slim and none. But to Mazel McDonald, it sounds like a good idea at the time.

In the west Texas town of Solomon in 1965, Mazel doesn’t have many options being unwed, pregnant, and unemployed–due to being unwed and pregnant. When she finds herself in early labor with two men laying claim to the title of father, an unexpected situation arises. Mazel discovers she is having twins.

Jump to 1991 when Mazel’s husband, known as Daddy Two, is found dead in their living room. Who shot Daddy Two? That question acts as a loose backdrop throughout the novel as suspects come to the forefront. But deeper questions of identity, reunion, and recovery gain traction, transforming the story into one of self-realization and redemption.

Combining humor, exuberance, and an incisive poignancy, THE SOLOMON TWIST is packed with characters who are insightful, clueless, sensitive, and cynical. With two mysteries unsolved until the final pages, Hammond masterfully weaves a tale that leaves readers both satisfied and not wanting to leave the people of Solomon, Texas.

Who killed Daddy Two? The more important question becomes: who’s your Daddy?

Note: I was provided with a copy of this book from the author for review.

Following a strange series of events, this story follows Mazel, her boys, and the town of Solomon from the 1960s to the early 1990s. There is no gradual progression through the decades, from introductions and scene setting in the 1960s the story jumps to the 1990s where the main narrative kicks off. I quite liked that this story was different and unconventional. The whodunit aspect was there and there were other mysteries to solve all wrapped up in this strange town with strange people, but Hammond uses this unusualness to his advantage and it works rather well.

The town of Solomon is filled with a range of people who are strange in their own way. Each character is unique and likable, even with their peculiarities and misguided moral compasses. There are a few characters to keep track of but they each fill their role and fall into place easily enough. Some characters also get more attention and depth than others but it’s not a real problem, Hammond writes it so it’s easy to gain an understanding of who these characters are and sometimes the little that is given is more than enough.

With every character their own version of peculiar, Mazel is no different. She is a sweet woman, a bit odd, but given how her life has turned out it isn’t surprising. She is kind of vague, not absentminded or dreamy so much as just there, participating and doing her job. There are moments when she is alert and involved, and it is moments like this where Hammond uses characters and situations well, demonstrating moments of freedom and release in who they are depending on their circumstances. Hammond also addresses these moments in character which give it another level, seeing Mazel analyse herself is great because it works in two parts, for her and for the reader. To credit Mazel though, she is not as daft as she appears, noticing things around her and making negotiations for the security of her boys. It’s these little moments that made her interesting and perplexing, she is difficult to pin down.

These strange characters and the odd way they live their lives are what make this novel. The interactions and connections between everyone also makes this work because it becomes a mixture of everyone’s lives, intentions, and self-interests, with this apparent murder to solve on top of that while still keeping everyone’s arrangements in place. Deals are made, situations are bargained, and everyone is in it for themselves.

I love how Hammond has constructed this and put this story together because it doesn’t go where you expect and yet it is oddly fascinating at the same time. Even with the death of Mazel’s husband looming in the background and suspects being questioned, it becomes second to the wants and interests of others, and a whole other story emerges.

The conclusion is where Hammond’s true skills shine. There is a moment when you think you are going to finish the book unsatisfied but suddenly everything comes together, things happen and pieces fall into place that provide a turning point not just for the story but for the characters as well, all the while maintaining the little eccentricities that have been present from the start.

This will certainly not disappoint as a whodunit, albeit in an unconventional manner, and the mysteries of fathers, and all the other quirkiness that goes on in Solomon makes this a read that is much more than it appears.

You can purchase The Solomon Twist via the following

Amazon

Amazon Aust