Taste the Books: Review Morsels #54 Joshua David Bellin et al., Codie Crowley, Dawn Kurtagich

Intro

Hello beauties!

Welcome again to my own brand of mini reviews! I never thought I'd do minis, until I recapped a few of my long reviews in some digest post in 2014, and then guest-posted some shorties for a blogging event in 2015. And Karen from For What It's Worth started praising my short recs/recaps 😊. Just to be clear,  I'm NOT taking a break from writing long reviews - no such luck LOL (though for anthologies, shorter books or books that I didn't enjoy/I don't have enough to say about, I decided to stick to minis). But while I'm making up my mind about a new book I've read, I might as well give you the short version 😉. Just be warned - this feature will be VERY random!

Note: all the mini blurbs (in italics) are of my own creation.

The Accidental Time Travelers Collective Volume 3 by Joshua David Bellin et al. (ARC Review)

★★★★

Thirteen authors celebrate time travel or use it to spin cautionary tales, explore the possible ramifications of a single altered detail or the ethics of exploiting the past, tackle predestination paradox and interactions of multiple selves, and much more, in this collection of sometimes humorous, sometimes emotional, often sharp stories.

***

First off...DISCLAIMER: the editor Joshua David Bellin (whom I got acquainted with when I reviewed his time-travel novel Myriad) offered me an eARC of this one. This didn't influence my review in any way.

As it's often the case with anthologies, not every story here will work for everyone, but I'm happy to report that the overall level is high - though personally, I found that some didn't bring much novelty to the table (Box 13 - I kept expecting a twist that didn't come) or were a tad confusing, though imaginative (Reels Through Time), or leaned more on the fantasy/romance side than I prefer (The Fountain of Youth). The ones doubling as social commentaries were some of my favourites, especially Timeline Tours, Unicorp., and the End of Time, where the way a tragedy tourism agency deals with a fault in their well-oiled gearing elicits a reflection on our current (and probably future) lack of empathy, and on corporate greed. Ghost Life, a prequel to Joshua David Bellin's Myriad (a smashing sci-fi/noir blend I reviewed last year), offers a different, somehow melancholic perspective on time travel, and will work well even for readers who aren't familiar with the main novel (the flipside is, they might want to read that too afterwards 😉). A String of Pearls is a fun (if a bit challenging, but it comes with the territory) spin on the casual loop trope with an engaging protagonist, which prompted me to look for her previous, free-to-read adventures on the net (the author has grown a lot in these seven years, but he showed promise even then). Bottom line - if you love time travel but (like me) you often struggle with short stories because they leave you wanting more, this anthology will have you covered 🙂.

Note: definitive review (I don't have enough to say to justify writing a full-length one later; also, due to time commitments, I've decided not to write full-length reviews anymore for short stories, novellas and anthologies, except in special cases or unless they're part of a series).

Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch by Codie Crowley

★★★

A 17 y.o. girl with a bad reputation finds herself dead - but still apparently alive - and tries to uncover what happened to her (and to locate her missing best friend) with the help of a motley crew of other ghosts.

***

I absolutely ADORE dead/undead characters (especially those investigating their own demise), and I'm totally on board with "unlikeable" heroines, but this one was a mixed bag for me. There are some powerful scenes (Annie coming across her own dead body; Annie and her best friend Maura's reconnection, for lack of a better word), a feminist message (though without much nuance), but the rules the ghosts abide by are unclear, some plot points are dropped without any explanation, and the romance is pretty cookie-cutter (not to mention the early-YA-era-reminiscent mix of "lust and mistrust"). Add to it the overuse of '50s jargon from the long-dead love interest, the forced quirkiness of the ghost twins, some other deceased characters who are pretty much only there for the count, and the bad guys' lack of shades of gray, and you get a middle-of-the-road book. With a couple more editorial passes, this could have been great, and I still encourage you to give it a try if you like ghost lore, fierce female friendships and "bad" girls getting their revenge.

(Small aside: though the book is clearly set in our present - see cell phones/internet, and the love interest mentioning he's been dead for 66 years - the main character listens to Black Sabbath (so does her brother, for that matter) in her car...on a cassette player. And apparently, punk is all the rage among teen musicians...).

Content note: the author's site has a comprehensive list of trigger warnings here.

Note: definitive review (I don't have enough to say to justify writing a full-length one later).

Naida (also known as The Naida Tapes) by Dawn Kurtagich

(companion novella/semi-sequel for The Dead House)

★★★★

Locked up in a high-security psychiatric hospital for conspiracy to harm, interference with a police investigation, and suspected aiding of an arsonist, 17 y.o. Naida knows she's the only thing that stands in a demon's way, and the sacrifice she's already made might not be enough to contain it...

***

If you go into this novella expecting closure about Kaitlyn/Carly, you're going to be disappointed (and it's OK - two of the reasons why The Dead House works so well are its ambiguity on the split-personality front and its potentially open ending). If you hope to be given an explanation for what Naida did after a certain ritual in the main book and to understand its ending better (though, as I said, it stays open), you're in the right place. I didn't expect the story to play out as it did, and to be more heartbreaking than horrific. Some incidents (so to speak) are a bit convenient, and since this is a very short novella, two major plot points happen offscreen or are rushed through; but if you enjoyed The Dead House, you'll find a lot to love here (including the mixed-media format).

P.S.: re.: cover: as a matter of fact, Naida has got curly hair...here we go again 🙄. Curly hair erasure...

Note: definitive review (I don't have enough to say to justify writing a full-length one later; also, due to time commitments, I've decided not to write full-length reviews anymore for short stories, novellas and anthologies, except in special cases or unless they're part of a series).

So, have you read/are you planning to read any of the above? And if you have, what do you think of them? Do you post mini reviews? Do you like to read them?