April book reviews
By Alana
Sometimes, without me planning to, my reading develops patterns. This month was a mystery binge, dictated by whatever was available at the library. I also made a bit of a dent into my reading-around-the-world challenge – I’m at 14 countries of my 20 countries goal. Here’s the recap:
New countries this month: Nigeria, Botswana, Australia, Fiji, Sweden
Repeats: France, the US
Fictional: Prythia the faerie kingdom, a future earth ruled by robots, and wherever the heck Silo is set
My Sister, the Serial Killer – Oyinkan Braithwaite
What secrets will you keep for those you love? Whether it’s safety from an abusive father or covering up the body of a dangerous boyfriend, Korede’s life revolves around protecting her young, beautiful sister Ayoola. Set in Lagos, Nigeria, this tale of two sisters and one man they are both interested in doesn’t offer a lot of closure, but it’s dark near-comedic tone made for a real page-turner.
Recommended by Grace
In the Lives of Puppets - T.J. Klune
A whimsical novel about the only human left in a world of robots. Not my favourite Klune, but enjoyable all the same for his trademark humour and quirky cast of side characters. Themes: what it means to be ‘human’, what we’re willing to sacrifice for those we love, and what makes for genuine free will.
Beartown - Fredrik Backman
A layered, touching story that turns place into character. Beartown is a rural Swedish hockey town, and Backman writes about exhilarating highs and the crushing lows of the sport with the authenticity of a player. The novel takes a hard look at sexual assault, racism, and homophobia in hockey and the ways that average citizens can be persuaded to look the other way. A rotating cast of flawed and deeply human characters. Poetically told with Backman’s usual melange of charm, heartache, and honesty. My favourite read in April.
I think I saw Michaela reading this on Goodreads, so I gave it a shot.
Homecoming – Kate Morton
1959 - a mother and her three children turn up dead on their country estate in South Australia. 2009 – Jess, a down-on-her luck writer returns home from abroad to support her ailing grandmother. Timelines interweave as Jess digs into the mystery of what happened on the Adelaide estate. Rife with unrequited love, family secrets, and a twisty plot. I enjoyed the past timeline way more than the present timeline in this mystery.
The Golden Gate - Amy Chua
A presential candidate is murdered in Claremont, an upscale Berkley, California hotel. Mixed-race Al Sullivan is lead detective on the case and chases leads that have him interrogating China’s First Lady and southern California’s social elites. Steeped in the history of the time – from the construction of the Golden Gate, to the forced relocation of Mexican Americans during the depression, to life in ration-era America during WWII. A complex read that taught me a lot.
Wool – Hugh Howey
The inspiration behind the TV show Silo. A claustrophobic sci-fi dystopia where people have been trapped below ground for so long that they no longer remember why they can’t go outside. A rotating cast of characters whose chapters get shorter as the tension – fuelled by class warfare, state secrets, and Big Brother surveillance – ratchets up. A page turner-that answers a lot more questions than season one of the show.
Murder by Degrees – Ritu Mukerji
A straightforward mystery set in 1875 Philadelphia. Follows Dr. Lydia Weston, a trailblazing female doctor investigating the disappearance of one of her patients. Mukerji is a physician herself, and her descriptions of historical medical procedures are incredibly detailed. This was an almost-interesting book, but the prosaic writing style wasn’t for me.
Cursed Bread- Sophie Mackintosh
A dreamlike novel about the true story of Pont-Saint-Esprit, a rural French town that suffered a mass poisoning in 1951 that was linked to tainted flour. Mackintosh’s novel imagines a nefarious potential cause for the poisoning and follows the baker’s wife, Elodie, in a heady tale of desire, unrequited longing, and unhappiness in marriage. A weird but compelling short read.
Recommended by Grace
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith
Smith was born in Zimbabwe and worked as a law professor in Botswana before he started his best-selling detective series. Precious Ramotswe uses her inheritance to open Botswana’s first women-led detective agency. While she solves numerous crimes in this first book of the series, the novel is more about family, the lingering effects of Botswana’s time as a British protectorate, and how justice can be a slippery thing to pin down.
Recommended by Crystal
A Court of Mist and Fury – Sarah J. Maas
Book two in this wild faerie romp. In which Feyre has lost her pluck and is racked with guilt over the events of book one. Turns out all she needs is a strapping, winged, broody-but-kind shadow faerie to help her through her grief. Better paced, with more character development than book one. While I obviously agree that Tamlin sucks, I wish we got a bit more insight into his radical personality shift.
Recommended by so many people!
A Disappearance in Fiji – Nilima Rao
1914, Fiji. An Indian police officer working for the British investigates the disappearance of plantation worker. Akal Singh is newly arrived in Fiji, navigating a hierarchical society where the British have imported imperial subjects both as colonial staff and as plantation workers. Singh teams up with a British ex-pat doctor and a Fijian cop to locate a missing woman; on the way, they witness abuses of power both in Suva, Fiji’s capital, and on the plantations. Rao explores the search for ethics under colonialism in this tale of murder, belonging, and trying to make your family proud.
My Husband – Maud Ventura
A neurotic and addictive little book about a woman who never got out of that ‘honeymoon’ stage of obsessiveness that happens early on in a romantic relationship. Our unnamed and unreliable narrator is besotted with her husband of fifteen years. Each chapter in Ventura’s debut novel peels back layers of the narrator’s anxiety and just when you think this book can’t get any more creepy and voyeuristic, it does. A compulsive read that denies closure.
Recommended by Grace
