June 2024 book reviews
By Alana
A real mash-up of genres and settings in my reads this month! My biggest takeaways? I don’t like thrillers. Ann Leckie and Ariel Lawhon can do no wrong. And it’s okay to give up on long books if I’m not enjoying them.
Reading around the world:
This year I’m trying to read books set in 20 different countries, preferably by authors from outside of North America or the UK.
Total 2024 count: This month I hit 20! Here’s the recap:
New countries this month: South Korea, El Salvador, Austria
Repeats: Ireland (an island off the coast), France (Paris and Auvergne), US, China, UK
Fictional: Ann Leckie’s Iraden where stones talk and gods walk amongst people
And now, to the reviews!
The Raven Tower – Ann Leckie
Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice series is some of the best sci-fi I’ve read recently, so I was excited to pick up her first fantasy novel, The Raven Tower. Once again, Leckie does fun stuff with narration; the book is primarily told in second person. I’ve never had to wait so long to figure out who the narrator is. And I don’t think I’ve ever read a book narrated by a rock before. A story about gods who went to war and the humans who remain fighting in their name, despite absence of proof that the gods still exist. The protagonist is a trans man and aide to a prince-like warrior. The prince’s throne is usurped by a scheming uncle. Hamlet-esque betrayals and murder abound this satisfying, inventive, standalone novel.
The Wind Knows My Name – Isabel Allende
One of the best books I’ve read this year. Allende’s cast of rotating and deeply human characters span 1930s Austria to present day on the US-Mexico border. The fate of a young Jewish boy sent far from home after Kristallnacht intertwines with an El Salvadorean daughter of refugees and a blind, Mexican girl who was separated from her mother at the US-Mexico border. Equal parts poignant and tragic, Allende’s novel weaves past and present to craft a chilling reminder of how history will repeat itself if good people stand by and do nothing.
Wild Swans – Jung Chang
An eye-opening must-read for anyone wanting to understand China in the 20th century. Jung Chang is a former soldier in the Red Army, the daughter of communist party members, and the granddaughter of the concubine to a feudal warlord. Her memoir follows three generations of her family through the Chinese civil war of the early 20th century, to the Long March and Cultural Revolution, to the ascendancy and Mao Zedong, to the tyranny of the Gang of Four.
Each generation faces unique struggles. The feet-binding and oppression of Chang’s grandmother. The prison sentences and denunciations Chang’s parents faced as members of the communist party. The indoctrination and stalwart rejection of intellectualism Chang grew up with. This book helped me understand the all-consuming fear of living under totalitarianism. Chang reflects on Mao and his last wife’s complex legacy, shares the brutal deaths of her peers and loved ones, and recounts her eventual relocation to England.
Code Name Hélène– Ariel Lawhon
Half love story, half hero’s myth, Ariel Lawhon’s impeccably researched novel recounts the real life of Nancy Wake, an Australian ex-pat who joins the British Special Operatives during World War II. Wake was air-dropped into the forests of occupied France, where resistance fighters spent their war sabotaging German supply chains, disrupting communications, and causing mayhem for their occupiers. Lawhon documents Wake’s incredible true story – from finding true love in the salons of Paris, to smuggling Jews across borders to safety, to England’s spy training camp, to juggling four code names and becoming both a commander in the French resistance and one of the Gestapo’s most-wanted. A story of grit and heart, well-worth the read.
The Heiress – Rachel Hawkins
Ruby McTavish, North Carolina’s richest woman, dies and leaves her massive estate to her adopted son Cam. Despite have swore off his family’s ill-gotten wealth, the prodigal son returns to McTavish’s southern gothic manor home. Cam’s douchebag family members grumble. Cam’s wife schemes. Ruby, via letters sent to an unknown reader, shares the story of her four husbands who died under mysterious circumstances. Everyone is kind of awful and fighting for millions of dollars only makes them worse. A short little thriller with twists and turns a-plenty. I sort of enjoyed it.
Almond – Won-Pyung Sohn
A short novel set in South Korea that follows the adolescence of two very different boys. Yunjae has a brain condition called Alexithymia which prevents him from feeling emotions or understanding empathy. Gon is a hotheaded teenager hellbent on defying authority figures and using violence to solve problems. Through tracing their unlikely friendship, Sohn’s quiet novel explores both dark and light sides of the human experience. What it takes to drive people to extreme violence. Parental love and disappointment. Discovering oneself through connecting with others. A thoughtful little read that stuck with me for a while.
Recommended by Melissa
A Discovery of Witches – Deborah Harkness
My brother put this on hold on our shared library account, and I liked the cover, so I gave it a go. Marketed as Twilight for adults (I didn’t know when I started it, okay?!) this book has all the hallmarks of a romantasy romp of the early 2000s. Creepily possessive vampire lovers we’re supposed to love. A limp noodle protagonist (who’s not like other girls and also a witch) who is supposed to be tough. Quirky family members that are actually just jerks upon closer inspection.
This massive book is for you if you like extremely long descriptions of fancy wine, knowing what everyone is wearing at all times, and extensive backstories for characters you only meet once. The most galling part was that at the end, something finally starts to happen! They’re about to time travel to hang out with Christopher Marlowe in Elizabethan England! A setting I adore! But I’m not falling for it and reading the next one in the series.
The Paris Apartment – Lucy Foley
This month, I discovered that I don’t like thrillers. I read two by Lucy Foley because she was at the KPL and the parking lot was so full that I assumed her books must be great. And The Paris Apartment was objectively good. The characters were compelling, if awful, and the protagonist, a dogged sister trying to find her missing journalist brother, was refreshingly rough-around-the-edges. The setting – contemporary Paris – was fleshed out with sumptuous cafes and skeezy nightclubs, sterile police stations and cinematic rooftops. The story had it all – a tight plot, a good mystery, random acts of public bathroom sex. Okay, that last one is not on my criteria list for good books. But I somehow wasn’t too invested in figuring out what’s going on in this creepy apartment where everyone seems to be related.
The Guest List – Lucy Foley
I also didn’t love this Christie-esque closed-door mystery. A bunch of rich people go to a remote Irish island for the It Wedding of the decade. Television darling Will to marry publishing mogul Jules. Rotating POVs treat us to a large cast - depressed younger sister, stoner best man, maybe-ex-boyfriend standing in as a mate-of-honour, and more. Told with a frenetic thriller pace, building to murder. Book ends just when I was getting interested. I’ve learned that thrillers aren’t for me – too many deliberately short chapters and intentional ambiguity for an emotional payoff that doesn’t seem worth it. Still, if you like this genre, you should check Foley out 😊
