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At the End of the Matinee by Keiichirō Hirano
Although At the End of the Matinee shares stylistic and thematic similarities with Keiichirō Hirano’s A Man, it makes for a far less intriguing read. At the End of the Matinee lacks the psychological edge that made A Man into such a compelling read. The story and characters of At the End of the Matinee…
2 STARS, 2000s, 2010s, 3rd pov, Adult, affairs, AT THE END OF THE MATINEE, Contemporary, drama, FRANCE, iraq, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, jealousy, journalism, Keiichirō Hirano, LITERARY FICTION, male authors, MELODRAMA, men who do not seem to know how to write women, music, musicians, published in 2016, read in 2021, ROMANCE, spain, star-crossed lovers, war related ptsd -
Blood Grove by Walter Mosley
“Life is one long side street with about a million crossroads, Sorry used to tell me when I was a boy. Every hour, sometimes every minute, you got to make the choice which way to go. Some of them turns don’t matter but don’t let that fool ya. The minute you start to think that…
1960s, 1st pov, 20th century, 4 STARS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, California, CRIME, DETECTIVE, HARD-BOILED, HISTORICAL FICTION, los angeles, male authors, MYSTERY, Noir, place as character, private investigator, prostitution, published in 2021, read in 2021, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, terrific prose, THRILLER, war related ptsd -
The Travelers by Regina Porter
The cast of characters and locations at the start of Regina Porter’s The Travelers is a tiny bit daunting as they promise to cover a far wider scope than your usual family saga. The Travelers explores the lives of characters who are either related, sometimes distantly, or connected in less obvious ways. Porter’s switches between…
1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 20th century, 4 STARS, abuse, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Berlin, Brittany, CHILDHOOD, class, Contemporary, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), f/f side, family, FAMILY SAGA, female authors, FRANCE, friendships, georgia, Germany, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, interconnected stories, intergenerational, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, MARRIAGE, MEMORY, new hampshire, NEW YORK, published in 2019, queer, RACE, rape, read in 2020, Regina Porter, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, tennessee, terrific prose, The Travelers, travel, unrequited love, Vietnam, vietnam war, violence against women, war, war related ptsd, WWII -
At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop
At Night All Blood is Black is a short yet certainly not breezy read. David Diop’s novel reads very much like the increasingly feverish confession of a man whose every-day reality is permeated by violence. He is both victim and perpetrator, cognisant of the violence that dominates his life yet somehow unwilling to truly consider…
1910s, 1st pov, 20th century, Adult, At Night All Blood is Black, Black & Black heritage authors, David Diop, DEATH, feverish, FRANCE, FRENCH, HISTORICAL FICTION, lyrical prose, male authors, morality, published in 2018, RACE, read in 2020, revenge, Senegal, Senegalese French author, stylised prose, TRANSLATED FICTION, violence, war, war related ptsd, wwi -
The Street by Ann Petry
“A woman living alone didn’t stand much chance.” Ann Petry is a terrific writer. The precise way in which she articulates the thoughts and various state of minds of her characters brought to my mind the writing of Nella Larsen and Edith Wharton. But whereas I could stand the cynicism and tragic finales of…
1940s, 20th century, 3rd pov, abuse, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Ann Petry, Black & Black heritage authors, class, female authors, HISTORICAL FICTION, modern classics, motherhood, NEW YORK, obsession, Poverty, published in 1946, RACE, read in 2020, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, stalking, The Street, tragedy, war related ptsd -
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
“We all lived in an unwalled city, that was it. I saw lines scored across the map of Ireland; carved all over the globe. Train tracks, roads, shipping channels, a web of human traffic that connected all all nations into one great suffer body.” This is the third novel I’ve read by Emma Donoghue…
1910s, 1918 influenza, 1st pov, 20th century, abuse, Adult, Dublin, Emma Donoghue, f/f, female authors, HISTORICAL FICTION, HOSPITAL, illness, IRELAND, IRISH AUTHOR, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, mental health, motherhood, netgalley, no quotations marks, Poverty, pregnancy, published in 2020, queer, read in 2020, sapphic, SEXUALITY, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, The Pull of the Stars, tragedy, trauma, war, war related ptsd, wwi -
Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese — book reviews
“In the Ojibway world you go inward in order to express outward. That journey can be harrowing sometimes but it can also be the source of much joy, freedom, and light.” It is difficult to describe Medicine Walk as a work of fiction as this novel reads like reality. In a gracefully incisive prose Richard…
1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 20th century, 4 STARS, addiction, Adult, canada, canadian author, coming of age, DEATH, dialogue heavy, family, fathers & sons, forgiveness, GRIEF, growing up, HISTORICAL FICTION, indigenous, indigenous author, LITERARY FICTION, male authors, Medicine Walk, MEMORY, native american & first nation, Native American & First Nation authors, nature, Ojibwe/Chippewa, Ojibwe/Chippewa author, read in 2020, Richard Wagamese, trauma, war, war related ptsd -
The Divinities: A Crane and Drake Novel by Parker Bilal — book review
The Divinities: A Crane and Drake Novel is the promising start to the ‘Crane ad Drake’ series. This events recounted by the narrative take place over the course of a few days which adds a sense of urgency and suspense to the storyline. We follow two somewhat disgraced figures, the recently demoted Detective Sergeant Calil…
3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, A Crane and Drake, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, british sudanese author, class, cultural dissonance, DETECTIVE, INVESTIGATION, Jamal Mahjoub, LONDON, male authors, murder investigation, Noir, Parker Bilal, police investigation, police procedural, politics, published in 2019, RACE, READ IN 2019, social issues, terrorism, The Divinities, war related ptsd
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