Posts Tagged ‘Church of Marvels’

A Belated Foxy Book Challenge Update #11-17

My foxy reading challenge

I’ve been a once a week blogger lately, with distractions such as trying to find a flatmate who’s not a crazy psycho (only room for one in this house – me); winter finally get the best of me with a good old fashioned almost flu but not flu enough to take time off work;  and other stuff that I’m sure seemed important at the time.

So instead of my usual few books there are 7, good news is that I am up to date with my book challenge over on Goodreads (read 30 books this year which doesn’t seem like much but was a goal that seemed feasible at the time). There’s a few good’uns for you to chuck on your “to read” list!

**Disclaimer: All the books with wee little * beside them were gifted to me by Hachette NZ, an awesome publishing company who ask nothing in return. Some of the books they send turn out to be my favourites ever, and others fall a bit flat (some I don’t even read), but the fact that they are gifted in no way affect my opinions. Anyway, on to the good stuff!

My foxy reading challenge

  1. Day Shift by Charlaine Harris*
    Okay full disclosure, I read this without at any point realizing that I was reading the second book in a series. So when I critique it for being a little hard to keep up with, with characters that didn’t seem to have great introductions and a story that felt lacking in set up I say it knowing full well that those things are all my fault. Overall it was an enjoyable read despite me being an idiot, Charlaine Harris does a good job in the fantasy-mystery genre, and its pretty light reading which is always nice for a change. 3 Stars (but it may well deserve more).
  2. Church of Marvels by Leslie Parry*
    This is one that you should put on your reading list now. I did a full review over here (cause it was that good) but long story short its a fantastic novel set in 1920s New York with a cast of memorable characters and a trail of different story lines that all tie in together. Wasn’t expecting to love this one but love it I did (and you may well too). 5 stars
  3. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
    I’ve been loving the Outlander series over on Lightbox (and it’s not just those Scottish accents) and so when Edd got me the first novel to read for my birthday I wasn’t expecting to take 4 months to finish it. I’m generally quite a speedy ready (which is a surprisingly useless skill most of the time) but something about this book made it a little hard to get through. Nonetheless it was an enjoyable read, a little odd in places but great in others. I dunno, a little undecided to be honest and not sure yet whether I can commit to the rest of them. 3 stars
  4. Resistance is Futile by Jenny T Colgan*
    As the book itself proclaimed: Independence day meets Bridget Jones’ Diary…not what I would normally pick up for myself I must admit. This alienesque/maths nerd (and I say that lovingly) take on a rom-com read was actually pretty fun and easy to get through. I gave it only 3 stars because it just wasn’t my kind of book but it was enjoyable, and light-hearted although strange in places with a few funny characters and one of the weirdest “sex” scenes I think I’ve ever read. 3 stars.
  5. Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson*
    Best book of 2015 is already awarded to this Sci-fi novel by the author of the Mars series (which I am DESPERATE to read). Seriously this book was A++++, would read again. I rambled on about it a little while ago but long story short it’s amazing. The easiest 5 stars I have ever assigned to anything ever. 
  6. The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lipton*
    Another great read that I was sent which is one I never would have selected! This novel was a psychological thriller/family drama set in the spookiest setting of Alaska where a Mother and her deaf daughter, Ruby, go in search of her Father who has gone missing. This was such an incredibly tense read, and a quick one too as I couldn’t wait long to find out what happened. Ruby was an incredibly likeable character, and the writing was done in the perfect way to keep you on the edge of your seat.  4 stars.
  7. Half Asleep in Frog Pyjamas by Tom Robins
    Dad told me that he would refuse to take on any of my book recommendations until I read something by one of his favourite authors, Tom Robins (not the same as Tony Robbins so don’t get them confused). I I grabbed this one from his shelf and gave it a shot and it was … okay?? Tom Robins has an incredibly humorous way of writing and is far wittier than I could ever dream to be, so 5 stars for that. The reasons I didn’t really enjoy this that much were as follows: the setting was a stock market crash in the US which holds zero interest to me; it was centred around a character who I kind of ended up hating; and it was written in second person (you did this, you said that etc) which whilst genius and incredibly unique was a little weird and off-putting at times. I will happily read another one by him but maybe choose a little more carefully. 3 stars (sorry dad, I promise I tried).

So there you go, some great (some incredibly great) and some not so great. What have you read lately?

Book Review: Church of Marvels

church of marvels


church of marvelsChurch of Marvels by Leslie Parry

This book arrived at my door and from the moment I saw its beautiful cover, I had a feeling I was in for a treat. Lately, books have been taking me forever to read, regardless of how great they are. Church of Marvels was demolished in two days (this was achieved with sleep deprivation and some casual anti-social attitudes towards colleagues at lunchtime, sorry). It doesn’t take a magician to work out whether I enjoyed this… but I reviewed it anyway so read on.

Summary: This marvellous story revolves around 3 narrators: a twin from a spectacular freak show on a search to find her sister, a wife who has ended up in an asylum with little recollection of how she got there, and an orphan man who cleans up the city at night, and discovers a thread which ties them all together. Set in the dark, and yet enchanting, late 19th Century New York, these characters lives become intertwined during one gripping night that unravels during the novel.

My Thoughts: I  haven’t been this engaged with a book for a long time, and I forgot that feeling of truly losing yourself into a whole other world and time, a setting full of dark secrets, unique characters and twisted back stories. This novel was expertly woven together in a way that every chapter left me wanting more, each character’s snippet of their story was never quite enough. The twists and surprises were the perfect kind, subtly implied and presented, but it wasn’t until the reveal where all of the random threads suddenly made sense. This was a world like nothing I had read about before, dark and yet spectacular, dirty and yet magical. Coney island was the perfect backdrop for these characters to come together, and Leslie Parry’s writing was the perfect tool to do so, detailed enough to make each description irresistibly real but not too much so to detract from the rapidly moving story.

We can be a weary, cynical lot – we grow old and see only what suits us, and what is marvelous can often pass us by. A kitchen knife. A bulb of glass. A human body. That something so common should be so surprising – why, we forget it. We take it for granted. We assume that our sight is reliable, that our deeds are straightforward, that our words have one meaning. But life is uncommon and strange; it is full of intricacies and odd, confounding turns.

What I liked: I lose any semblance of eloquence when trying to write a review (I’m not sure I ever had any) but I loved so much about this book. The enchanting and at times disturbing setting, the courageous set of carnival characters and their world of opium dens, hidden identities, mysteries and revelations. Attention to detail, even for seemingly minor characters, made this story lush and complex. The pacing of this story and its surprises were also done really well, enough was given away to make me feel like I was gradually working out what was happening; until the secrets were revealed and then I realised I really had no idea of how deeply intwined the story was. I also really loved the physical appearance of this book…which seems very shallow (okay, it is very shallow) but it just made the whole experience something special.

coney island

What I didn’t like: This is tricky..the only thing that was a negative for me (and it’s a bit of a stretch) was that for the first bit of the book I was a bit slow at working out who each character was and understanding their story in relation to everything else. I have heard opinions from others who didn’t love this book as much as me, and I think it was because it has the potential to become confusing due to the interwoven stories and the use of some creative language that at times can feel a little inaccessible. Personally I found the confusing intricacies and the imaginative language of this novel part of its charm, but I guess for some, this made it hard work.

Worth a read: Yes. So much yes. Give Church of Marvels some of your attention and you will be rewarded with an evocative story that entertains just like a spectacular carnival.

Rating: 4.5 stars

*This book was provided to me to read, but as always this space is for my opinions, as un-organised and confusing as they can be. All thoughts and words are my own.