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Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Darius the Great is Not Okay in Books
Dec 25, 2018
This novel got a lot of hype before and after its release - and it deserves it. It has great minority representation, from Persian (and bi-racial!) to Zoroastrian and Baha'i, to clinical depression and male friendship. You could also read gay and/or asexual into it, but that's not explicitly mentioned. Romantic love is just never addressed; perhaps because the story just doesn't involve it, but you could definitely read the main character as ace.
Darius is a great main character. He's funny, self-deprecating, and complex. He has clinical depression, is medicated for it, and can sometimes tell when it's the depression making him think a certain way, but sometimes he can't. He's biracial, visiting Iran and his mother's Persian family for the first time, and adjusting to Persian social norms and traditions while trying not to lose sight of his American life. His connection with his father is tenuous and fraught with miscommunication, and lot of the book is spent wrestling with that relationship. His new friend, Sohrab, is a great foil to that, as his father is completely absent from his life, having been arrested and thrown in jail prior to the start of the story, largely for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and being part of a minority religion.
There are so many small things touched on this book - suspicion at customs when flying through, bullying at school for being Persian, not speaking his family's language because his mother didn't teach it to him (and feeling cut off because of it) - all little things that a lot of immigrant children deal with.
Aside from the cultural things the book addresses, there's also the mental health aspect. Both Darius and his father have clinical depression, and there's stigma attached to having the diagnosis, and to taking pills for it. We see how their mental states affects their relationship with each other and with the rest of their family, and it's quite powerful. The author talks about having clinical depression in an afterword, and includes some resources that helped him. This is an #ownvoices novel in more ways than one, and it really shows. Excellent book.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Darius is a great main character. He's funny, self-deprecating, and complex. He has clinical depression, is medicated for it, and can sometimes tell when it's the depression making him think a certain way, but sometimes he can't. He's biracial, visiting Iran and his mother's Persian family for the first time, and adjusting to Persian social norms and traditions while trying not to lose sight of his American life. His connection with his father is tenuous and fraught with miscommunication, and lot of the book is spent wrestling with that relationship. His new friend, Sohrab, is a great foil to that, as his father is completely absent from his life, having been arrested and thrown in jail prior to the start of the story, largely for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and being part of a minority religion.
There are so many small things touched on this book - suspicion at customs when flying through, bullying at school for being Persian, not speaking his family's language because his mother didn't teach it to him (and feeling cut off because of it) - all little things that a lot of immigrant children deal with.
Aside from the cultural things the book addresses, there's also the mental health aspect. Both Darius and his father have clinical depression, and there's stigma attached to having the diagnosis, and to taking pills for it. We see how their mental states affects their relationship with each other and with the rest of their family, and it's quite powerful. The author talks about having clinical depression in an afterword, and includes some resources that helped him. This is an #ownvoices novel in more ways than one, and it really shows. Excellent book.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Midge (525 KP) rated Before She Knew Him in Books
Mar 18, 2019
An Exceptional Psychological Thriller!
This exceptional psychological thriller from Peter Swanson (author of ‘The Kind Worth Killing’), is an absolute masterpiece!
Henrietta ‘Hen’ Mazur and her husband, Lloyd Harding, have dinner one evening with their new neighbours, Matt and Mira Dolamore, at their suburban Boston home. Following dinner, on a tour of their house, Hen notices a fencing trophy in Matt’s study that she believes was won by Dustin Miller, a college student who was murdered two years previous and who attended the high school where Matt is a history Professor. Matt claims that the trophy was bought in a sale, but Hen, who is obsessed with Dustin’s case, suspects that Matt killed Dustin. However, the next day when she visits Mira, the trophy has vanished, thereby reinforcing her suspicions. But Hen gets little support from the Police or her husband because of her history of mental health problems. An unlikely bond then develops between Hen and Matt, whose traumatic childhood adds tonnes of emotional interest to Peter Swanson’s superb narrative. Lots of twists and turns and an edge-of-your-seat plot keep the suspense in “Before She Knew Him” really high until the fulfilling and dramatic conclusion.
This brilliant psychological novel is a fabulous page-turner and a definite winner.
{Thank you to Edelweiss, HarperCollins UK/William Morrow and Peter Swanson for a free copy and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.}
Henrietta ‘Hen’ Mazur and her husband, Lloyd Harding, have dinner one evening with their new neighbours, Matt and Mira Dolamore, at their suburban Boston home. Following dinner, on a tour of their house, Hen notices a fencing trophy in Matt’s study that she believes was won by Dustin Miller, a college student who was murdered two years previous and who attended the high school where Matt is a history Professor. Matt claims that the trophy was bought in a sale, but Hen, who is obsessed with Dustin’s case, suspects that Matt killed Dustin. However, the next day when she visits Mira, the trophy has vanished, thereby reinforcing her suspicions. But Hen gets little support from the Police or her husband because of her history of mental health problems. An unlikely bond then develops between Hen and Matt, whose traumatic childhood adds tonnes of emotional interest to Peter Swanson’s superb narrative. Lots of twists and turns and an edge-of-your-seat plot keep the suspense in “Before She Knew Him” really high until the fulfilling and dramatic conclusion.
This brilliant psychological novel is a fabulous page-turner and a definite winner.
{Thank you to Edelweiss, HarperCollins UK/William Morrow and Peter Swanson for a free copy and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.}
Louise (64 KP) rated All the Bright Places in Books
Jul 2, 2018
I started reading this book as a group read, otherwise I would never have come across it, but I am glad I did. I read in three sittings probably would have been two if i hadnt been disturbed by my BF for coming to bed.
First off I didnt cry! which is a disappointment after reading peoples reviews on this, I had my tissues ready but it just didnt happen, maybe I have a heart of stone or maybe there just wasnt enough emotion in the writing. This is what dropped it from a 5 star to a 4.
I loved Theadore Finch from the start and I slowly warmed to violet Markey who both attend Bartlett high and meet each other on the ledge of the bell tower,
Finch talking violet down, tells everyone its was Voilet that saved him and the relationship begins, mostly onesided at first but becomes more even throughout the book.
The main issues addressed in the book is suicide, accidentants, mental health and living, which makes me love the book and Jennifer Niven even more as she is trying to get across that your not alone and there are others and help is available. I don't often write reviews but I felt that I must.
I would recommend this book - but it's not like The fault in our stars as other reviews have noted, it's addressing a different message and the characters are not as pretentious.
First off I didnt cry! which is a disappointment after reading peoples reviews on this, I had my tissues ready but it just didnt happen, maybe I have a heart of stone or maybe there just wasnt enough emotion in the writing. This is what dropped it from a 5 star to a 4.
I loved Theadore Finch from the start and I slowly warmed to violet Markey who both attend Bartlett high and meet each other on the ledge of the bell tower,
Finch talking violet down, tells everyone its was Voilet that saved him and the relationship begins, mostly onesided at first but becomes more even throughout the book.
The main issues addressed in the book is suicide, accidentants, mental health and living, which makes me love the book and Jennifer Niven even more as she is trying to get across that your not alone and there are others and help is available. I don't often write reviews but I felt that I must.
I would recommend this book - but it's not like The fault in our stars as other reviews have noted, it's addressing a different message and the characters are not as pretentious.
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Corrupt Bodies: Death and Dirty Dealing in a London Morgue in Books
Oct 25, 2020
Very interesting
Have to give a big thanks to @AJaneClark for recommending this book following from Richard Shepherd’s Unnatural Causes. It was a great idea to read this straight after, as the similar themes and topics complement each other but yet still showing completely different sides of the post-mortem.
Everett’s book follows the workings of a mortuary, and focuses a lot more on the criminality involved both at the mortuary itself and of the crime scenes Everett attends. It’s fascinating and I never knew until now what sort of state mortuaries in the UK were in less than a few decades ago. To think black market organ dealing was still happening as late as the 1980s is crazy. What’s also crazy is the similarities between Everett and Shepherd’s personal stories. Whilst Everett doesn’t quite go into as much detail about his private life, it’s concerning to read about how their mental health was affected by working in this sort of profession.
I don’t think I enjoyed this quite as much as Unnatural Causes. I’m not sure why, it may be related to the writing style or the focus on the non-scientific side of post-mortems. But despite this I still really enjoyed reading about such an interesting topic and about all of Everett's cases, and it’s good to hear that his story turned out alright in the end.
Everett’s book follows the workings of a mortuary, and focuses a lot more on the criminality involved both at the mortuary itself and of the crime scenes Everett attends. It’s fascinating and I never knew until now what sort of state mortuaries in the UK were in less than a few decades ago. To think black market organ dealing was still happening as late as the 1980s is crazy. What’s also crazy is the similarities between Everett and Shepherd’s personal stories. Whilst Everett doesn’t quite go into as much detail about his private life, it’s concerning to read about how their mental health was affected by working in this sort of profession.
I don’t think I enjoyed this quite as much as Unnatural Causes. I’m not sure why, it may be related to the writing style or the focus on the non-scientific side of post-mortems. But despite this I still really enjoyed reading about such an interesting topic and about all of Everett's cases, and it’s good to hear that his story turned out alright in the end.
ClareR (5874 KP) rated The Bass Rock in Books
May 29, 2020 (Updated May 29, 2020)
The Bass Rock is based around three different women: Sarah, Ruth and Viviane - and of course, the Bass Rock seems to be a constant. It really exists, I've googled it, and it's off the coast of North Berwick in Scotland. This is where the story is set.
The novel looks at a lot of themes over the years: the role of women, both their expected role and what they actually want to do; relationships between men and women, and those relationships between women as well; cruelty and abuse; and mental health is an important theme, and indeed is central to a great many of the characters.
It's just the kind of book that I enjoy reading, both in style and thematic content. Sometimes you just need a book that ticks along, one that's in no rush to get where it's going. If that makes you think that this is a boring book, it really isn't. There's a lot going on in these timelines, the characters have a lot of things to deal with in their relationships and lives in general, but I never felt rushed. It's a book that I wanted to last. In fact, I really do think that this has been an ideal book to read during this coronavirus lockdown. I think that it will also be a book that I gift to other people.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me my ebook copy.
The novel looks at a lot of themes over the years: the role of women, both their expected role and what they actually want to do; relationships between men and women, and those relationships between women as well; cruelty and abuse; and mental health is an important theme, and indeed is central to a great many of the characters.
It's just the kind of book that I enjoy reading, both in style and thematic content. Sometimes you just need a book that ticks along, one that's in no rush to get where it's going. If that makes you think that this is a boring book, it really isn't. There's a lot going on in these timelines, the characters have a lot of things to deal with in their relationships and lives in general, but I never felt rushed. It's a book that I wanted to last. In fact, I really do think that this has been an ideal book to read during this coronavirus lockdown. I think that it will also be a book that I gift to other people.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me my ebook copy.