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magical (1 more)
tender
Jess Winters and her mother, Maud, arrive in the small town of Sycamore, Arizona hoping to start afresh: Maud is recently divorced from Jess' father and both are reeling from the event in different ways. Maud copes by sleeping most of the day away, but a restless teenage Jess wanders the town, searching for peace. Eventually she finds a friendship with Dani Newell, the local "smart kid" at the high school, and her boyfriend, Paul, the son of Jess' employer, Iris. Maybe, just maybe, Jess thinks, she could be happy here.
Flash forward nearly twenty years, when a new resident to town, another restless spirit, stumbles upon some bones in the local dried up lake. Residents immediately fear they belong to Jess, who disappeared shortly before Christmas: a young seventeen-year-old who was never seen again.
Oh, this is a magical book. I felt an immediate attachment to Jess from the first opening chapter. I was connected to her as a child of divorce, as someone who once had that urge to wander, who shared that restlessness as an adolescent. You quickly find that Chancellor has the power to create such real characters, who draw you in from the start.
The book--and the story of Jess--unfolds in snatches and snippets of these characters. Each chapter is told by a different inhabitant of Sycamore, and we get reminiscences and memories of their past, telling more about what happened with Jess, as well as their current life. We also get chapters of Jess' time as a sixteen-and seventeen-year-old in the town. In a way, it is as if we are being caught up backwards sometimes. I was captivated by the oddly suspenseful way they each tell stories from different times and varying viewpoints. It's an interesting (and effective) technique. You are piecing together a mystery, yet also reading a beautiful novel of interwoven characters.
One of the most amazing things about this novel is that for each different point of view, for each character, they have their own voice. Chancellor captures each one in their own unique way: the different way they speak. Some chapters are told in a distinctive sort of format and more. Every one has their own personality. It allows the characters--and the entire town--to really come to life so easily as you read. You can picture this entire small town and its inhabitants so clearly because of her beautiful, clear writing. It's just such a powerful book and so well-written.
There's a sweet tenderness to this book that I cannot truly describe. It really touched me. It's not always an easy read, or a happy one, but it's a lovely book in many ways. It's wonderfully written, surprisingly suspenseful, and a heartbreaking but amazing journey. I highly recommend it.
Flash forward nearly twenty years, when a new resident to town, another restless spirit, stumbles upon some bones in the local dried up lake. Residents immediately fear they belong to Jess, who disappeared shortly before Christmas: a young seventeen-year-old who was never seen again.
Oh, this is a magical book. I felt an immediate attachment to Jess from the first opening chapter. I was connected to her as a child of divorce, as someone who once had that urge to wander, who shared that restlessness as an adolescent. You quickly find that Chancellor has the power to create such real characters, who draw you in from the start.
The book--and the story of Jess--unfolds in snatches and snippets of these characters. Each chapter is told by a different inhabitant of Sycamore, and we get reminiscences and memories of their past, telling more about what happened with Jess, as well as their current life. We also get chapters of Jess' time as a sixteen-and seventeen-year-old in the town. In a way, it is as if we are being caught up backwards sometimes. I was captivated by the oddly suspenseful way they each tell stories from different times and varying viewpoints. It's an interesting (and effective) technique. You are piecing together a mystery, yet also reading a beautiful novel of interwoven characters.
One of the most amazing things about this novel is that for each different point of view, for each character, they have their own voice. Chancellor captures each one in their own unique way: the different way they speak. Some chapters are told in a distinctive sort of format and more. Every one has their own personality. It allows the characters--and the entire town--to really come to life so easily as you read. You can picture this entire small town and its inhabitants so clearly because of her beautiful, clear writing. It's just such a powerful book and so well-written.
There's a sweet tenderness to this book that I cannot truly describe. It really touched me. It's not always an easy read, or a happy one, but it's a lovely book in many ways. It's wonderfully written, surprisingly suspenseful, and a heartbreaking but amazing journey. I highly recommend it.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2336 KP) rated The Broken Spine in Books
Jan 21, 2021
Uncovering Secrets to Keep Her Own
Tru Beckett is the assistant librarian in her small town. She’s always loved books, so when the town manager comes up with a plan to turn the library into a bookless “technology center,” she does the only thing she can think to do. She saves as many books as she can to set up in a secret bookroom in the library’s basement. She and her friends are almost done with their book rescue mission when the town manager is murdered, killed under a shelf of DVDs in the main library. The police are looking at Tru as a suspect, certain she is hiding something from them. But in order to keep her secret, and the books, safe, True has to find the real killer. Can she do it?
As a book lover, I immediately sympathized with Tru in her quest to save the books, and I love how that secret added an extra layer to her motivation to solve the murder. A couple of times, I thought the plot was slowing down, but then something would happen to jump start it again. The result was a book I never wanted to put down. I loved how everything came together at the end. The characters were all strong, even a couple who only had a few scenes. This is a strong, fun debut, and I can’t wait to visit Tru again.
As a book lover, I immediately sympathized with Tru in her quest to save the books, and I love how that secret added an extra layer to her motivation to solve the murder. A couple of times, I thought the plot was slowing down, but then something would happen to jump start it again. The result was a book I never wanted to put down. I loved how everything came together at the end. The characters were all strong, even a couple who only had a few scenes. This is a strong, fun debut, and I can’t wait to visit Tru again.
Beast (Six Stories, #4)
10.0
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A frozen girl A haunted town A deadly challenge Six Stories Which one is true? In the wake of...
Write Christmas
6.0
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“[A] heartwarming fantasy … Christmas enthusiasts will find this hits the spot.” ~Publishers...
Adult Contemporary Fantasy
Darren (1599 KP) rated Door in the Woods (2019) in Movies
Nov 7, 2019
Characters – Evelyn is the mother that is preparing to start her own internet business, she redecorates the random door they find and starts experiencing the events, she learns the truth and sets out to get help. Redd is the father that has moved here to start a new job hunt, he tries to help with the behavioural problems and joins Evelyn searching for the truth. Uriah is a pastor that has come to bless the house, he is turned to, to help deal with the hauntings knowing how to end the problems they are facing. Kane is the troublesome child that often finds himself getting into trouble at school, becoming the target of the sinister nature of the door.
Performances – When we look at the performances, we don’t have the strongest ones here, Jennifer Pierce Mathus and David Rees Snell do struggle to make us believe the situations and life they have lived with these characters, while CJ Jones is the standout performer in the film.
Story – The story here follows a family that are looking to start a new life in a small town only to find a door in the woods, inviting evil into their own home needing to get rid of it before it is too late. The start of this story is really good, with creepy elements of hauntings in the house, the problems start when the story tries to break out of following this trend and spends way too long with the final act that is more talking than anything thrilling, which is could have been. This is a story that could have become a lot deeper, but gets caught up in the middle of the two ideas and not using enough of the horror involved.
Thriller – The opening half of the film does offer plenty thrilling horror moments, only to spend more of the second half of the film trying to make up and discuss what has been happening.
Settings – The film uses the small town setting for everything to unfold, showing people can try to escape for a new life, but every small town has a secret.
Scene of the Movie – Background walking.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Would you really take that door home.
Final Thoughts – This is a film that has a lot of potential only to fall short in how everything unfolds.
Overall: Doesn’t hit the marks.
Performances – When we look at the performances, we don’t have the strongest ones here, Jennifer Pierce Mathus and David Rees Snell do struggle to make us believe the situations and life they have lived with these characters, while CJ Jones is the standout performer in the film.
Story – The story here follows a family that are looking to start a new life in a small town only to find a door in the woods, inviting evil into their own home needing to get rid of it before it is too late. The start of this story is really good, with creepy elements of hauntings in the house, the problems start when the story tries to break out of following this trend and spends way too long with the final act that is more talking than anything thrilling, which is could have been. This is a story that could have become a lot deeper, but gets caught up in the middle of the two ideas and not using enough of the horror involved.
Thriller – The opening half of the film does offer plenty thrilling horror moments, only to spend more of the second half of the film trying to make up and discuss what has been happening.
Settings – The film uses the small town setting for everything to unfold, showing people can try to escape for a new life, but every small town has a secret.
Scene of the Movie – Background walking.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Would you really take that door home.
Final Thoughts – This is a film that has a lot of potential only to fall short in how everything unfolds.
Overall: Doesn’t hit the marks.
The Long Way Home (Coming Home #1)
7.0
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Marcus The love of my life made me promise to fall in love with someone else. How’s that for an...
Contemporary MM Romance Small Town
Tim McGuire (301 KP) rated Sweet Virginia (2017) in Movies
Jan 21, 2020
377. Sweet Virginia. Pretty great random choice by me, again. Twisted tale of a small town murder plot. Three friends are hanging out at a bar playing cards. I'm assuming they own the place, because when a guy wanders in off the street and asks for a bite to eat and a drink, one gets up and tells him they're closed and be on his way. Instead of leaving the stranger asks him, Are you Mitchell? The response is what you expect, who wants to know, blah, blah. Slightly bothered, the stranger leaves. Mitchell goes back to the card game, until the door opens once again and the stranger comes in guns blazing, and all three end up dead. It was here I thought, Mitchell should have locked that door! So that happened, the news quickly spreads through the small town, and we meet Sam, a former rodeo champ now motel owner operator, and he is having an affair with the wife of one of the dead men, yea. And oh yea, the killer, Elwood, is staying at guess who's motel? Also, guess who recognizes Sam from his rodeo days and start a pretty decent friendship. Elwood is actually a semi normal dude when he's not out killing people for money. So who hired him? Well, I can't tell you everything! It really was a well told tense tale. Well acted, Jon Bernthal as Sam, Christopher Abbott as Elwood, were pretty awesome, with Imogen Poots and Rosemarie DeWitt great as the supporting cast! Cool flick, I say, do.
The Damselfly
Book
An unsolved murder. A community turned against each other. A killer close to home...Katie Taylor is...
The Night Swim: A Novel
7.5
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After the first season of her true crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent...