Book Review: Axiom's End

Lindsay Ellis's novel, Axiom's End, follows Cora Sabino in an alternate history where - due to leaks from Cora's father, Nils Ortega - it is discovered that humans have made contact with an alien intelligence.  Cora finds herself interacting with her government and the intelligence after being briefly abducted.

So, I want to be upfront: I generally liked this book, but I have some issues.  Some of these issues could conceivably be addressed in the follow-up to this (it is part of a series, no idea how many), although some might just be an ongoing issue I have with the series - and one cannot be fixed.  So while this review will probably read as negative, it isn't.

The main issue I had with regard to the book was the agency of the main character.  While Cora is a great character - seriously, Ellis did a wonderful job crafting her - very little of the book is driven by her actions.  While this makes sense, it limits the reader's engagement in the action surrounding the character since she is basically thrown from scenario to scenario and reacts without having any real power to change her situation.  Even the action climax of the book reduces her participation to a degree that is unsatisfying since this is the only character we get any sort of inner thought process for.

This bleeds a little bit into the main alien character, Ampersand.  The readers need to be invested in this character, or at least invested in the relationship between them and Cora, but the opaqueness of the character makes it hard to do so.  Again, this is a specific choice made by Ellis, and it makes sense within the novel, but I can't help but feel that we needed more - more what, I'm not sure, but something to get us attached to this alien character.

There are several side characters - Luciana, Kaplan - that have the appearance of larger roles in the later books, and Ellis does a great job of crafting these characters through the viewpoint of Cora.  The reader's opinion of them is likely influenced by Cora's opinion, but there is room for there to be more to the characters than what Cora thinks of them.

The book has a quick pace - possibly a little too quick? - and the reader will not want for action.  Ellis does an excellent job of explaining what happens - a decent amount of the action uses alien technology, which had to be a challenge - without getting too caught up in details.  This somewhat overshadows the background political subplot, which really feels like it should be more relevant, but again - that might be a larger plot point in the next novel.

Which brings me to the unfixable issue I had with this novel - the ending.  One of the challenges of writing a multi-novel series is making sure that each individual novel has it's own individual plot while still having an overarching plot that connects all the novels together, and it feels like Axiom's End has too abrupt an ending without having the emotional climax that is needed to push the reader into the next novel.  It's so abrupt that it almost feels like the novel is unfinished - something is missing from the ending to bring it to a proper end.

I would recommend this book, despite my critiques of it because I do think Ellis is capable of addressing the majority of the issues I bring up - it wouldn't surprise me if she already had in the writing of the sequel.  This is a review that I could very easily see me revisiting and changing the score based off the later novels.

For now, 3.5 out of 5

Author Links:

No author link yet, but here is her YouTube page - I highly recommend watching her video essays.

Book of the Month: December 2017

Offered Books:

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

The English Wife by Lauren Willig

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Selected:

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

Also Purchased:

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

Part 1 of The Daevabad Trilogy, The City of Brass follows Nahri, a poor woman who commits scams who accidentally finds herself thrust into the world of djinns after unknowingly chanting a spell.  And man, what a great start!

I cannot express how great I think this book is: too often fantasy tends to be the orc and elf kind, but this novel - set in the Middle East and using the fantasy creatures of that area - is a breath of fresh air for the genre.  Fast paced and immaculate in its world-building, this debut novel from Chakraborty was a quick favorite of mine upon reading it.

Some might be a bit put off by all the dangling plot threads at the end of the book, but given that this is part one of a trilogy, that is to be expected.  While it might be preferred that the novel be more self-contained, it's the most minor of quibbles to have, given the scope of just this novel alone, much less just the first third of a larger story.

In addition to Nahri, the novel also follows Ali, son of the ruler of Daevabad and the political intrigue he is caught up in.  Chakraborty is clearing setting up for more to his story, but compared to Nahri, he isn't given as much to do, even if it is interesting.

This novel is a highly recommended one, and if you enjoy it, the other two parts of the trilogy - The Kingdom of Copper and The Empire of Gold - are also available.

5 out of 5

Man, what a disappointment.  I want to apologize to the recipient of this book for giving it to them as a gift.

You know how The Walking Dead, at its worst, was guilty of constantly forcing cliffhangers at the end of episodes, only for it to mean nothing and be quickly resolved at the start of the next episode?  How irritating it was for whatever character to be in mortal danger only for it to turn into a gotcha moment?  This book is that trope in literary form.

The book flashes back and forth between the childhood and adulthood of main character Eddie, and Tudor feels the need to end every chapter with Something Dramatic happening, only for it to quickly resolved once it goes back to that time before moving on with the plot.

And the plot isn't bad - it's a bit of a murder mystery - but this constant fear that the reader will abandon the novel if the chapter doesn't end without a hook of some sort is a detriment that the novel cannot recover from.

The book has some strengths - most of the characters are clearly defined, and Tudor does a good job of changing the perspective of the character based on whether or not it is Young Eddie's or Older Eddie's view.  However, there are a few characters that seem to act as the plot requires, and a few others that feel interchangeable enough that I had to remind myself which one they were in the greater story.

I think the most damning thing about this book is that it has an opening that is meant to be an additional mystery to go with the central one, and I had it figured out before I had made it a third of the way through it.  And the central mystery wasn't hard to figure out either, even with the most nonsensical of plot contrivances used to get to that point.

1.5 out of 5

Author Links:

S.A. Chakraborty

C.J. Tudor

Book of the Month: November 2017

Offered Books:

Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich

Artemis by Andy Weir

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Bonfire by Krysten Ritter

Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks

Selected:

Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich

Others Purchased Read:

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

This book was hard to read.  So hard, in fact, that despite this being my Book of the Month selection from November of 2017, it was only in the past month that I was finally able to force myself to finish it.  I had attempted to read it multiple times beforehand, but just could not get into it.  It took an act of will to force myself past the 20th page or so and read through to the end.

I was not rewarded for my efforts.

The book follows Cedar Songmaker as the world finds itself in a unique situation: evolution is reversing itself, with women giving birth to a more primitive type of human and animals also reversing to previous evolutions.  Cedar is 4 months pregnant, and finds herself hunted by those trying to preserve the human race.

Sounds like an interesting premise, right?  Well, don't expect that premise to be explored much.  The character of Cedar is self-centered and boring, and the entire novel is written from her perspective.  And given that she is incurious about what is going on in the greater world, we only get the barest snippets of what is going on unless it directly affects her day-to-day life.

The main character of a novel doesn't have to be likable - there have been numerous novels told from the point of view of horrible people, not to mention the many that are unreliable narrators - but dear God I'd prefer it if they were at least interesting.  Cedar is probably the last person who I would want to read about in this scenario, which is terrible for a first-person narrative.

And it's not just that she is unlikable and boring - she's also kind of dumb.  She has gone into hiding because of pregnant women being hunted, and not only does she open the door for the mailman at one point, but she publicly goes to pray out in the open at a time where bounties are being offered for the capture of pregnant women.  The novel has an ambiguous ending for the character, and I can't be bothered to even begin to care about what happened to her simply because of how she behaves throughout the entire novel - she does not grow from her experiences at all.

The few instances of outside character perspectives - mostly from letters written to Cedar - are ten times more interesting than anything we get from her.  And they do not appear frequently enough.

I know I talked about the missed potential of The Power in October's Book of the Month review, but that is nothing compared to this novel.  I'm not sure what Erdrich could do outside of completely restructuring the novel to include multiple perspectives to fix the core issue of a terrible protagonist, but the novel we received doesn't just waste its premise, it makes one wonder why it was introduced given the complete lack of exploration of it.

This is the first book (chronologically) that got a 'did not like' rating from me at the Book of the Month website - and not to spoil future reviews, but the two others to have received that rating from me in the 3+ years I have been a member are actually worse than this one.  So when I say I would never recommend this book to anyone, imagine how bad the other books must be.

1.5 out of 5

First of all, thanks to my sister for loaning me this novel to read - I'd prefer not to have just a single exceptionally negative review for this month, even if that will happen eventually. looking at my future selections.

Unlike Future Home of the Living God, I read this one fairly quickly after it was loaned to me all those years ago, so this review won't be as in-depth (or as long) as that one.  Which is a shame, because I really enjoyed The Rules of Magic.

A prequel to Hoffman's Practical Magic, it thankfully doesn't require the other novel to have been read - it works perfectly well as a stand alone.  Following two sisters and their brother as they grow up learning about the magic inherent to them, the novel has a slightly stylized format that, in my opinion, serves it well.

Each of the characters gets long parts of the narrative focused on them, while still weaving together with the overall narrative.  The journey of Vincent is my personal favorite, but both Franny and Jet are also engaging characters, so following them for chapters at a time doesn't feel like a chore to get to the character I really want to read.

There isn't a terrible amount of action in the novel, but it still moves at a brisk pace and one could easily make it through multiple chapters without realizing how quickly you made it through the story.

This novel is a definite recommend from me.

4 out of 5

Author Links:

Louise Erdich
Alice Hoffman

Book of the Month: October 2017

Offered Books:

After the Eclipse by Sarah Perry

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang

The Dark Lady by Sarah Bailey

The Power by Naomi Alderman

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

Selected:

The Power by Naomi Alderman

Others Purchased:

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang

Naomi Alderman's The Power follows various women - a mayor-turned-Senator, her daughter, a foster child w/abusive parents, the daughter of a mob boss - and a male journalist as women all over the world gain the ability to send electric shocks through their hands.  These shocks are enough to incapacitate or kill, and younger women have the ability to unlock this power in younger women.

This sort of change would affect the entire world, and Alderman does a great job of exploring how this affects various cultures, even if it does tend to focus on American/European ones.  This new ability for women to defend themselves upends society and, like any major change, has people that resist the new status quo as well as people who embrace it.

The first part of the novel - as the first women start developing the power and spreading it - is great.  It captures the fear and uncertainty this change brings and how those currently in power (i.e. men) try to control the development and spread.  The problem, however, concerns the latter half of the book.

Once the women of the world all have the power, it has them become corrupted by it.  Without giving too much away, there are several developments - gangs of women capturing and raping men, women dictators starting their own countries, even a cult developing around one of the characters - that seem to go too far into that corruption.  It's not to say that power (of any sort) wouldn't corrupt women just as much as men, but it feels like Alderman has all women give in to this corruption - leading to an ending that - while an interesting way to frame the story - strikes me as unlikely, even with all the world-building Alderman does.

It also introduces but doesn't follow up on various scenarios that might have been worth exploring.  Some men develop this power also, but it never explores what makes these men different.  And this unexplored thread could also lead to how this could affect trans women and their treatment in this new society.

This novel isn't bad, but it definitely feels like its potential wasn't met.  Alderman very obviously wanted to explore one potential aspect of this novel, but I can't help but feel that the book suffered for that singular focus.  I'd recommend it, but more for a discussion of what could've been rather than what we received.

3 out of 5

Author Links:
Naomi Alderman

Ruth Emmie Lang

Book of the Month: September 2017

Offered Books:

Lies She Told by Cate Holahan

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Sourdough by Robin Sloan

Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

Selected:

Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker

Others Purchased:

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Wendy Walker's Emma in the Night follows Cass, the sister of the titular Emma, as she returns home three years after both disappeared.  Told through a split perspective (Cass's and Dr. Abby Winters, a forensic psychiatrist), the reader is slowly shown snippets of what happened, while also being given allusions to a greater event also occurring.

This is a great novel.  I could try to tease it out, but this is a solid story with great characters that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time you are reading it.  I could barely put it down - each chapter end made me want to continue, without resorting to cheap cliffhangers that so many other novels of this nature do.

Solid characterizations abound, which must have been hard for Walker to do with the story told from the perspective of only two characters.  Walker also does a great job of making the reader question the reliability of her narrators without going to far and making them out distrust what they are reading.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery.

4.5 out of 5

This ended up being an excellent month of selections, as I could say just as many nice things about Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere as I could Emma in the Night, despite them being two drastically different novels.

Set in Shaker Heights, Ohio, the novel follows various members of two families: the affluent Richardsons and their renters, the Warrens.  While the meat of the novel focuses on the interactions between the various members of the two families, there is also a background-but-not-really plot focusing on the adoption of a baby and the reappearance of the birth mother that adds a bittersweet richness to the story.

Ng does a great job of making the day-to-day life of both families interesting without stretching the realism of their realities.  She really delves into the characters when she focuses on them, but doesn't neglect to build any of the side characters, which only deepens the plot.  One gets the feeling that Ng could've written a second novel focusing on these characters without repeating much of what she had already written.

Again, I cannot recommend this book enough - it's a great one.

5 out of 5

Author Links:
Celeste Ng
Wendy Walker

Book of the Month: August 2017

Offered Books:

Eat Only When You're Hungry by Lindsay Hunter

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert

The Blinds by Adam Sternbergh

Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips

Selected:

Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips

Others Purchased:

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

Fierce Kingdom follows Joan and her son Lincoln over the course of three hours, as their visit to a zoo turns dangerous when a shooter appears.

Right off the bat, that is a compelling narrative that seems easy to pull one in - An easy to relate to protagonist, a tense situation, a location that has not been overused to provide uniqueness to the story - but the novel never quite comes together to be anything other than okay.

It isn't a terrible novel, but it certainly isn't great.  Large parts of it drag and Joan is not an especially interesting character for us to follow during this heightened scenario.  While there is tension by the nature of the circumstances, Phillips has a hard time capitalizing on it.

It's hard to recommend this novel.  While I think most would have an easy time reading this - the structure is fairly basic - there isn't much to keep the reader engaged after the inciting incident.  It can be finished, but it would be more out a sense of obligation to see the story through rather than an enjoyable experience.

2 out of 5

If you did not notice in the picture at the top, this novel ended up winning Book of the Year for 2017 after voting by Book of the Month members.  And it is a great book.  There's nothing offensive about it winning the top honor - even if it isn't the book I would pick.  The author, John Boyne, has ended up being a problematic personality, so I doubt I will pick up more of his books - and it makes it hard to recommend this one despite it being fairly good.

The novel follows the life of Cyril Avery from his birth in the late 1940s through to the current day.  Cyril is a gay man in a time when it is not only frowned upon but an actual crime.  He has to navigate various relationships - including the one with his best friend Julian - around this fact.  It's amazingly well done and having the novel be told through the narration of Cyril gives a keen sense of why he makes choices that otherwise would seem strange minus that inner thought.

The novel does require a bit of a suspension of belief with regards not only to Cyril's parents, but how various other characters talk to him - they give far too much information to their inner thoughts, and not in the most believable way - but it does convey, somewhat realistically, how many people react when they discover someone they have known for a long time is gay.  So that is appreciated.

If I had one major critique, it's that the book has several points where it could come to an end but... keeps going... and goes a little further.  I get that Boyne is trying to tell Cyril's full life story, but the constant dragging out of the ending keeps the book from coming to a thematic close.  Moments that should be climatic/character defining sputter a bit as Cyril's journey continues and the character appears not to grow so that the latter parts can be justified.

It's really a conundrum - but all accounts this is the type of book that I would recommend to anyone interested in long novels - but given that John Boyne kind of sucks as a person, I don't really want to encourage people to give him money.  I guess that choice will ultimately lie with each individual.

4.5 out of 5

Author Links:

Gin Phillips

John Boyne

Book of the Month: July 2017

Offered Books:

American Fire by Monica Hesse

Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong

The Windfall by Diksha Basu

The Child by Fiona Barton

Final Girls by Riley Sager

Selected:

Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong

Others Purchased:

Final Girls by Riley Sager

This novel has the distinction of being my first ever selection from Book of the Month.  Granted, I was leaning towards Final Girls until I learned my sister had purchased it, but whatever the circumstances of the selection, this novel still has pride of place.  I also have not re-read it since the month I got it, so this is a review from memory.  Apologies if some details are wrong.

The novel follows Ruth and her family over a year as her father starts to lose his mental facilities (it is hinted that it is Alzheimer's, but I don't recall it being outright stated).  Ruth, fresh off a breakup, moves home to help take care of her father - who is resistant to the help.

The novel is very similar to Chemistry in its structure - it is not told linearly and skips around - which could be a bit of a wall for some readers.  While more happens in this compared to that other book, it is still more of an emotional journey than anything else.  There is also humor in this, but it doesn't feel natural to the story, more as an attempt to lighten the mood in between the heavier scenes.

Which is not to say the novel is bad - it's actually quite good for those that aren't thwarted by the narrative structure.  But it wouldn't be a 'fun' read.  Nevertheless, I'd still recommend it as a solid book.

3.5 out of 5

The second novel from this month follows Quincy, one of three 'Final Girls' - women who have survived a massacre - that saw all of her friends killed.  While there was an attempt to get the three all together for a media event, Quincy cancels her attendance and attempts to move on from the tragedy.  While she kept some contact with one of the other girls, she has spent the last ten years working to put the tragedy behind her.

The novel starts at that ten year mark, but does let us know what transpired on the night Quincy gained her infamy through flashbacks scattered throughout the book.  But a major event from that night is blocked from Quincy, which threatens to come out as she finally meets and interacts with the third final girl - Sam - when she appears on Quincy's doorstep.

The novel takes many twists and turns as Quincy deals with Sam and her incomplete memory, and keeps the readers on their toes throughout.  None of the twists feel forced, and the conclusion of the book works wonderfully with the hints dropped earlier in the book.  The characters are great - in addition to Quincy and Sam, we meet the cop who saved Quincy and Quincy's fiance - and the novel never feels slow, even in the quieter moments.  Despite being one of the first books I ever received from Book of the Month, I still consider it one of my favorites.

A definite recommend for anyone - even those who don't love thrillers.

4.5 out of 5

Author Links:

Rachel Khong

Riley Sager

Book of the Month: June 2017

Offered Books:
A Million Junes by Emily Henry
The Sisters Chase by Sarah Healy
White Fur by Jardine Libaire
Chemistry by Weike Wang
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Selected:
Chemistry by Weike Wang

Others Purchased Read:
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

So, to be honest, I didn't actually select this book - I didn't officially join Book of the Month until July.  But my sister gave me this book during the same month, and I joined starting in July, so it felt appropriate to include both it and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo since I ended up purchasing and reading that one also.

Chemistry follows an unnamed protagonist (all of the characters save one are nameless) as she faces a crises regarding her future - involving both academics and her relationships.

One thing I like about this novel is that it is scattered a bit in the telling.  The protagonist is in the midst of a breakdown, so having her skip around her story - flashbacks and events do not happen linearly - adds an authenticity to the voice of the main character.  Wang captures the disorganization of thought that occurs in such a situation.

This narrative method may be hard for some to get into - there is less action and conflict and more explorations of the emotions and thoughts of the main character, but it isn't a maudlin book - there are moments of humor scattered throughout.  For those willing to brave the off-kilter structure, the reward is worth it.

3.5 out of 5

The second book purchased from this month (at a much later date) is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.  This book ended up being a finalist in 2017 for Book of the Year, rightfully so.

The book follows magazine reporter Monique Grant as she interviews film star Evelyn Hugo after having been personally selected by the star.  Once they meet, Evelyn begins telling her history: Each section of the book is broken by the husband Evelyn is married to, with intermittent snippets of the present day, with hints of a connection between Monique and Evelyn.

Reid does a great job of quickly engaging the reader, from Evelyn's beginnings in Old Hollywood through the various marriages and scandals that followed a star of her stature.  It would be easy for the story to become repetitive, but Reid does a good job not only of differentiating the various relationships, but also the background aspects of each marriage - the movies, charities, etc that Evelyn is involved in.

Despite being a more passive part of the story, Reid still does an amazing job of giving Monique a full characterization - especially since the latter part of the book hinges on the reader being invested in her.

All in all, Reid does an amazing job with this novel, and I cannot recommend it enough.

5 out of 5

Author Links:

Taylor Jenkins Reid

Weike Wang