Station Eleven (13/08/14)

Station Eleven follows a number of characters affected by the disintegration of modern civilisation and society caused by a mutated flu virus which wipes out around 99% of the world wide population. Flitting back over a series of timelines, including the start of the pandemic to focus on the lives these characters had before the virus, what happened to them after this virus became apparent and beginning the destruction of the lives they knew. The story also skips into the future to see how their lives changed and how they had to adapt to their changing world. There are a number of characters to follow and as the book progresses links form between some of them, but this is not the focus of the story.

I won’t go overly into details about the characters it is best to discover them yourselves. I was pleasantly surprised by how good this book was. Receiving it as an advanced review, I didn’t really know much about the story other than it being based in a post-apocalyptic world. Upon receiving the book I was slightly put off by the blurb stating it was following a group of traveling actors and musicians and that it was trying to show how art still had a place in this post civilisation world. But don’t let this put you off, I’m glad I didn’t. Whilst the story uses the actors and musicians in this ‘Traveling Symphony’ as a point to allow cross country movement and show that some people as trying to survive but also to enrich other people’s lives, that wasn’t really what gripped me. It was the relationships this characters had made, the stories about how they used to live and what they had been forced to do in this changing world that kept me turning pages.

I would recommend this book, and I would probably re-read again and possibly try some of the authors other works. The author wrote beautifully and it never felt pretentious or like they were trying to over moralise things. If like me, you like a good end of the world, dystopian story but want something different from the general, zombies, vampires and hunger games type read, give this ago. It may surprise you, like it did me.

Eeny Meeny (22/05/2014)

I received Eeny Meeny from Goodreads as an ARC. I have to say firstly, that I loved this book so much. I loved the short, to the point chapters, which made me go, “I’ll just read one more.” Then an hour later I would still be going. This book is crime based fiction, and I had forgotten how much I like reading this type of story. Unlike other crime fictions that I have read in the past, I didn’t guess how the story would end, which is pretty amazing as I normally guess plot lines pretty early in books. This book had my thinking and second guessing right up to the end.

I was completely hooked on the premise of the story, seemingly random pairs of people, kidnapped and trapped in a situation where it is literally kill or be killed. The chapters based on these characters give you such a dark look at how dehydration and starvation can warp the minds of the average person. This book seemed to be based more on the characters and their feelings than going into, as is often the case in crime fiction, excruciating detail about the inner workings of detective work. This book, in my opinion had the right balance, there was enough detail so I knew it seemed realistic but not so much that I was getting lost and losing the pace of the story.

I would strongly recommend this book, it is written so well, and I never got lost with what was happening or thinking this is unrealistic. It is just an honest, good read that will give you some moments of “What the …!”

West of the Moon (24/04/2014)

West of the Moon is a lovely tale of two sisters who, after their father travels to America from their homeland of Norway, end up in the care of their Aunt. Whist living with their Aunt the two sisters get separated when the Aunt sells the eldest sister, Astri, to the local goat herder. As we soon find out he is as cruel if not crueller than the greedy Aunt. The story basically revolves around Astri saving herself, the spinning girl who is also being held by the goat herder, then rescuing her younger sister Greta and embarking on a journey to America to find their father.

Whilst I can see why many people are enjoying this book, and I will point out that I read an ARC proof so there may still be slight changes to be made, I just wasn’t fond of the writing style for the most part. This was such a small book compared to what I normally read but I just didn’t feel drawn to read it. Additionally, Astri, the main character uses folk tales and myths to deal with the situations around her and as a coping mechanism. Which I just found long winded and at times confusing. I would have preferred a childlike musing of the situations much like in Room by Emma Donoghue, than a child using stories to describe how she feels.

This just wasn’t for me personally and I understand it is aimed at younger readers but I don’t honestly think it would have been my thing even when I was younger. The last section of the book was much better as the folk tale inclusion was minimal and I finally felt like I got to understand Astri’s real feelings about everything that had and was happening to her. I wish it had all been written like this