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Desert Blood: The Juarez Murders
Desert Blood: The Juarez Murders
Alicia Gaspar de Alba | 2005 | Fiction & Poetry, Gender Studies
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A page-turner of frightening speed. (0 more)
A Mystery Unlike Any Other
Gaspar de Alba brings a fine writer's sensitivity and the open heart of her heritage. The result is a novel that takes your breath away, page after page, and grabs your heart.


Desert Blood is a mystery unlike any other. Gripping, heart-wrenching, set against the tough, lacerating reality of border-town engaging mystery, but it is more than well-written entertainment. It is an important book that sheds light on the Juárez murders--the ongoing slaughter of young Mexican women in the border city of Juárez by persons unknown. Desert Blood weaves together its fictional tale and the known facts of these notorious crimes in a way that reveals the cultural and political attitudes that have allowed these murders to continue with the indifference--if not the outright complicity--of Mexican authorities.
 
Gaspar de Alba not only crafts a suspenseful plot but tackles prejudice in many of its ugly forms: against gays, against Hispanics, against the poor. It's an in-your-face, no-holds-barred story full of brutality, graphic violence, and ultimately, redemption. Offering a powerful depiction of social injustice and serial murder on the U.S.-Mexican border, this is an essential purchase for both mystery and Hispanic fiction collections.
  
It Comes At Night (2017)
It Comes At Night (2017)
2017 | Horror
Full of tension and paranoia (1 more)
Great acting
Raises far too many questions (1 more)
Not a traditional horror
Tense and interesting, but ultimately disappointing
I knew little about this film other than it was billed as an 'end of the world' type horror, although as with most films I was fairly sceptical.

First off, this isn't a traditional horror so if you go in expecting a slasher flick, you'll be severely disappointed. However it is very tense, and I found myself feeling very uneasy throughout the entire film (but in a good way). The acting itself was great too and I think as a story, the main idea of the plot was good, I just don't think they quite pulled it off in reality.


I'm of the opinion that sometimes in films etc that less is more, that drawing your own conclusions is sometimes better than being spoon fed an entire story. My issue with this film is that it goes a little too far and it barely answers any questions. It doesn't explain anything and by the end it just leaves you with a "WTF just happened?". If they had just answered at least some of the questions raised, this review would've been so much better.
  
Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1)
Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1)
Simone Elkeles | 2008 | Young Adult (YA)
4
8.1 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
Welcome to Sap City!


This book is like Romeo and Juliet with a cute twist. in reality, if i really look at it from an author's perspective, it was pretty cute. the characters were developed instantly, and the sentinces drew me in. the prose was actually pretty good. aside from the sex, it was a good book.

yeah, it's got some sex in it. i mean, c'mon. it's about <i> chemistry </i> between the two most unlikely people. but whatever. it actually wasn't too bad.

though i could tell a lot about the author's morals. or lack therof.

the first paragraph in the book is: "Everyone knows I'm perfect. my life is perfect. my cloths are perfect. even my family is perfect. and although it's a complete lie, I've worked my butt off to keep up the appearance that I have it all." I mean, that pretty much develops a character instantly, doesn't it?

I'd have to go with these ratings:

storyline: 3/5
prose/sentences/grammar etc: 3.5-4ish/5
characters: 5/5

but again, sap city, people.
the weak points of this book:
the sex
the language
the sappy sappy sappy.

I realize this isn't my best review, but i'm trying to keep it honest here.

until next time,
~Haley

haleymathiot.blogspot.com
  
The Sixteen Trees of the Somme
The Sixteen Trees of the Somme
Lars Mytting | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Such a beautifully written and translated novel - I struggled to put this one down. It's another of those 'cooking one-handed' books (warning: this may result in burns of both person and food!).
Edvard has grown up with his grandfather on a remote farm in the Norwegian mountains after the mysterious death of his parents when he was a small child.
After his grandfather dies, Edvard decides to leave his solitary life on the farm and investigate what happened. His journey takes him to the northernmost Scottish Shetland Islands where his Great Uncle lived the last years of his life, and to a small woodland in the Somme, where his parents died.
The descriptions of the bleak Scottish islands, the lush woodland in the Somme, and Edvard potato farm in Norway are stunning. The Wars are described in heartbreaking terms: the loss and the grim reality of war, families torn apart and suspicions aimed at friends and family members. And at its heart, a boy without parents, orphaned with he death of his grandfather, trying to make sense of his familys past.
A truly gorgeous book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher (MacLehose Press) for my copy of this book.