Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/reaction
Length: 352 Pages
Another self-isolation read and I got my dates muddled. After reading Boy Queen by George Lester and audio booking The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home, I craved a murder mystery. I wasn’t sure if I wanted anything heavy, but I was leaning towards Agatha Christie, only to remember I was approved to read this via NetGalley and with some people saying this has strong And Then There Were None vibes, I jumped at it.
It was when I was a good chunk into the story did I check release date and release that the book was going to be released in November of this year, so, I can release review now and be SUPER EARLY or hold off and hope my opinions on this book stay the same. I’m going to risk being early and, by the time this comes out, I will be more well-read in Ruth Ware’s novels so I can give a more honest and truthful reply/reaction.
Snow is falling in the exclusive French ski resort of Saint Antoine and the shareholders and directors of the hottest music app, Snoop, hope that, but the end of the corporate retreat, they will have decided their company’s future: a billion pound dot com by out or the not sell. But with a near split on what to do, a decision must be made.
But when one board member vanishes moments before an avalanche cuts the chalet, its guest and the two staff, off from help, business tensions turn to a desperate urge to survive. But something doesn’t feel right about the disappearance… it’s as if this was a murder. But was it murder, an accident or are they safe somewhere else? Because, if it was murder, that means the murderer is with them…
This, I am going to admit, is going to be hard to write. I'm not 100% certain where to start, truth be told.
Last year, Paris came under attack by a small group of terrorists. Antoine was at home, looking after his young son when he started getting text messages, asking if he and his wife were ok. He was fine, his baby was fine... but his wife, Hélène was out with friends at a music concert. Hélène was one of the people who died that night.
Three days later, Antoine wrote an open letter to his wife's killers on Facebook. He stated to them that he would not let himself or his 17 month old son cower or be defined by their acts. That his son will insult them by his happiness and freedom. That they will not have either his or his son's hate. The Facebook message went viral and this memoir follows both Antoine and his son, Melvin, in the days that followed.
I am going to admit that this isn't my normal reading. This is so far removed from my normal reading, I can't even really tell you why, when I got the email from NetGalley, I rushed there and requested it. This felt vital to read.
This isn't an easy read. This is a short novel, with short chapters (as Antoine describes it later in the memoir, these chapters are like polaroid shots of those days, touching on some events but not all), but I found reading them difficult. I would only read a few pages - maybe a chapter - before having to put my kindle down. This isn't an easy read - the event is recently, it's fresh in everyone's mind and with events that have recently happened, it feels more closer to the bone than ever.
But, saying that, there is a hopefulness to Antoine and his son's story. Yes, what they went through those days and the days/weeks/months/the year that followed and the future to come is hard and painful, but there is hope. There is hope, joy, love, kindness in the world and, no matter how dark the world is, we still have these elements and we must treasure them with every fibre of our being.
Antoine says he started writing this after Hélène's death to cope, and because of this, you can feel the rawness to it. And the fact this is felt through the translation work of Sam Taylor is beautiful.
Not everyone will like this book, but it is important to take the themes - hope, kindness, love - can carry them with us.
I have to admit something. I adore the Disney versions (both the animation and the Tim Burton version - "The Alice?"), but I have never read Lewis Carroll's stories of them. I knew they were two stories of Alcie adventures merged together, but never read them. So, when the lovely Emma from Book Angel Booktopia sent me a copy as a surprise (I love her because she thinks of books and shares them with people), I thought "Ok, I will have to read you in the near future." But it took reading several quite dark books and me beginning to feel I might slip into a reading slump to grab this.
I think we all know the stories. In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice falls down a rabbit hole, chasing the White Rabbit. Here she meets the Dodo, had tea with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, play croquet the Queen of Hearts and met (my fave character) the Cheshire Cat. In Through The Looking Glass, Alice walks through a mirror into world that feels like a huge chess game, meets the Red and White Queens, talk to some talking flowers, was told the tale of the Jabberwock ("She kills my Jabber-baby-wocky!?") and meets Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
It's very weird to read this as an adult because, I think, if I read this as a child, I would have loved it. And a tiny part of me love it. But while I was reading it now, as an adult, all I could think was "If Lewis Carroll tried to get this publish today, he couldn't. It would near impossible to get this publish today. So, how did this become a children's classic?" That was what I was thinking. I wondered how it became a classic. I think Disney help cement it, but I might be wrong.
It was weird. And insane. And I needed that. So, this was the perfect book to have after reading dark books as it was a relief. There was no pressure. And, I watched Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and I kept going "Oh, this was in Alice in Wonderland" or "Oh! That's why her knights are chess pieces!" or "So, that's why we have the Bandersnatch, the Jubjub Bird and the Vorpal Sword! They're mentioned in the Jabberwocky poem!" (I didn't know Lewis Carroll wrote the Jabberworky poem so this was very new information for me!)
I did have issues when I first finished the book but, since then, I have watched an Alice In Wonderland so some of my issues have gone. Bar one. And this is aimed more at the publishers than you guys so...
To my knowledge, before a book gets published, publishers have editors and proofreaders to read the book and make sure that there are no mistakes in the book. However, I found TONS of mistakes. TONS! Most of them were grammar mistakes (for example, Alice would think something and then she would speak. Expect you had no idea when the thought ended and the speaking began because there was no quotation marks at the start of Alice speaking. Or the one sentence when Alice was playing croquet and the sentence read She she went in search of her hedgehog. Sorry, but she she? Only one she is needed). Small mistakes and yet, these slipped through and they got published. If this happened once or twice, I would have let it go, but these kind of mistakes happened ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE BOOKS! And that is very annoying to a reader. Well, to this reader. I can't speak for all of you guys.
I know this happens rarely (this is the first book that this has happened since I have started blogging - if not, ever!) but it's makes reading the book harder as you're going "Is that how it's meant to be...?"
While I do like it and I now truly "get" the Alice movies, I have been bought up on the Disney movies so my love is going towards them. But, if you want to read what the movies are based on, then get your hands on a copy (maybe not this edition, if you can help it)...
I have no idea when I am going to post this review. I am writing at the beginning of December but I have no idea when I want to post this. It's either going to be the first review of the New Year (happy 2013 everyone!), the last Thursday of the year or on the Winter Solstice (because that's the longest night - but that's very apt for Beautiful Darkness as well). So, whenever you are reading this, I do hope this makes sense.
I read this because of Twitter. I've always wanted to read this and bought it on my kindle earlier this year, but never got round to it. And I thought I wanted Twitter to choose my next read. So, I picked six books at random (3 books, 3 eBooks) and Twitter picked this. So, I owe Twitter...
The Circus arrives without warning. It just appears, as if by magic, and leaves just as quickly. Its black and white tents holds wonders so magical, you can't believe it. But underneath the surface, as war of magical wits is happening, and it is affecting the lives of everyone within the circus...
I'm not going to write any more than that. The reason for this is because no matter what my summary will be, it won't do the book justice. If I write one way, it makes the book sound like a thriller (and it's not). If I write it another way, it will sound like a romantic (and again, it's not). And I know, no matter how I write this, you guys will go "That's not right!" at me so, let's stop there!
First of all, let's get this out of the way. This isn't a story of the two magicians and their war with each other. It is a fraction of the story and it is the starting point of the novel, but isn't the story. This isn't a story of two people. It's a story of a thing - the Night Circus itself - and the people it affects. And while I completely get why everyone goes "There's no plot!", there is but it's so gentle interwoven into the Night Circus itself, you don't realise it's there. It's like life, in a way. Each of us are going somewhere but no idea knows how long the journey of our lives are, how quick the journey will be or how it will affect the people around us. Erin is very clever with this.
And the little chapters that are in second-person (I didn't realise this either but second-person is when the author doesn't use "I" or "he/she" but "you"). Apparently, that is a very rare and very hard to pull off. But Erin does it perfectly. I always loved reading these little chapters.
I'm sorry, but I loved this read. I know that there are people out there who will hate this read and complain that it's too slow or lacks plot or pacing, but I adore this book! There was something whimsy yet utterly compelling about this book. If you can, read it. It, like The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, enchanted me.
