Review: A Likely Story

 



A perfectly compelling little contemporary novel following the daughter of a famous writer and the secrets she unearths in her quest to become a novelist herself. It does some strong analysis of privilege and the pressure that comes from successful parents, as well as the men who profit off women’s labor. The character arcs were all reasonably well done. But I was just never that engaged or gripped by any of it. Not much beyond that to say here, really – it was fine to read, but not particularly memorable.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Heartless Hunter

Image
  I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this one! It’s a fairly traditional enemies-to-lovers setup, and there’s not anything super out of the box, but I was shocked by how invested I got in Rune and Gideon’s relationship (I know – JAY getting invested in STRAIGHT PEOPLE?). There were also a few elements that I particularly enjoyed.  First, despite this being a YA romantasy, there’s actually a shocking amount of complexity and nuance that gets conveyed. We’re introduced to a world in which witches are brutally hunted and executed, which of course sets the reader up to side with Rune, the witch in hiding. But as the book goes on, it becomes very clear that the revolution that overthrew the witches was very much justified. The story does a really good job of showing the ways that privilege can change rapidly and how people can be talking about two entirely different things without even realizing it when it comes to power dynamics. Spoilers on this one! Another thing I tho...
Read more

Review: Never Whistle At Night

Image
Unfortunately it’s been a few months since I read this, so I just don’t remember it as well as I would have liked to (though that’s in part because some of the stories just aren’t terribly memorable). So I can’t do a detailed review of each story. The three that I remember most clearly are “Kushtuka” (Mathilda Zeller), “Navajos Don’t Wear Elk Teeth” (Conley Lyons), and “Snakes Are Born in the Dark” (D.H. Trujillo). Each one carried a nice eeriness to it, each in a very distinct way. But oddly, I actually think the major highlight of this book was the foreword by Stephen Graham Jones. I don’t really have the words to describe it, but it is easily the part of the book that has stayed with me the most. There’s an intensity to it, a really excellent take on the horror genre, and a fascinating connection between Indigenous history and horror. All the stories were fine to read, but the introduction is the absolute most important part. If you don’t read anything else, read that. Otherwise, wh...
Read more

Review: Knife River

Image
It takes a bit to get going, but once it does, this book is absolutely gorgeous. I should say – although this book is labeled as mystery/thriller, those genres are relatively small, subtle aspects of the story. The emphasis is much more on the main character, Jess, her relationship with her older sister, Liz, and the two of them navigating grief. There’s also a healthy dose of exploring small town prejudice. None of this is to say that there isn’t a mystery – there is, and the main characters work to solve it – but the mystery is for the sake of the characters’ growth, not the other way around. So I wouldn’t recommend going into the book with a mind towards a traditional mystery, because I don’t think that will get the best experience out of it. As far as what I really liked, I thought the depiction of grief was beautifully done – all the small things that bring it back, the way that it colors a person’s whole experience of life. I actually enjoyed Liz as a character more than Jess, be...
Read more