Taste the Books: Review Morsels #60 Dete Meserve, Samantha Mabry, Kate Alice Marshall

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 Memory Collectors by Dete Meserve (ARC Review)

★★★

Four damaged people apply for a jump in the past via a time-travel technology that allows consciousness to relive a random (and hopefully happier) hour, but they end up getting stuck in their most fateful day and racing against the clock to change its outcome.

***

Rated 3.5 really.

First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Crooked Lane Books for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

I'll start with the positives: The Memory Collectors is a book that will hit the spot for a lot of people. Anyone who's ever dreamed of a chance to go back and set right something that dramatically changed the course of their life will be invested in these characters' journey, though their attempts to flip the script should be doomed from the start - but are they really? and if they are, was it all in vain? The individual stories intersect brilliantly, if a bit too conveniently, and though it isn't hard to solve the mystery behind their collective and timely jump, there are still other possibilities at play. Then again, a few things didn't work for me. First off, the narrative voices are very similar. Secondly, the two male protagonists feel like the stereotype of the "good stalker", which isn't something that should exist, but here we are. I mean, even if you think that someone is your soulmate based on something that happened in the past - YOUR past, not theirs, due to the time jump - that's no excuse to force yourself into their life, and I'm surprised the women in question would give those men the time of day. Which brings me to...instalove - another big turn-off for me. Furthermore, I found the overall message (if commendable) to be too on the nose, and the ending (if uplifting in a lot of ways) too simplistic. Finally, there's at least a loose thread related to the thriller writer's story, and I wasn't a fan of the disabled ex-adventurer's self-deprecating language, though I sympathised with his feelings. But the whole thing is extremely bingeable, and if you're drawn to character-driven speculative thrillers with a pronounced emotional angle, you'll probably enjoy this one.

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

Clever Creatures of the Night by Samantha Mabry

★★★

In the aftermath of a natural disaster, a 17 y.o. girl reaches an isolated house at the invitation of her best friend, only to be met with her baffling absence, a group of teens keeping secrets, and an inexplicably hostile wildlife.

***

Rated 3.5 really.

I'm in two minds about this book. On one hand, it's different, atmospheric (even in its more violent moments), blissfully void of romance, with a headstrong, resourceful and realistically flawed protagonist who will do everything it takes to find her missing friend. I love how the story is set on the backdrop of a local "soft apocalypse" but basically happening inside a bubble (a bubble that wouldn't exist without the apocalypse itself, yet feels oddly disconnected by its reality). I appreciate the lack of a clear-cut ending (also because I think we do get our answers, if we know how to look at it). However...this is a gloomy book, with very little action until the end (if you don't count the animals going ballistic), little emotion (Case seems to care more for Drea's letters than for Drea herself) and not enough room for side-character development (then again, it's a short book). So, this one is just shy of 4 stars for me, but unlike other novels that didn't make it to that rating, I'm sure I won't forget it anytime soon.

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

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

★★★★

A girl whose sister disappeared while on the tracks of a local ghost legend goes searching for her with a group of estranged friends, following a supernatural road full of twists and (deadly) turns - except death might not be the worst outcome, and even cameras might not be able to record the whole truth...

Rated 4.5 really.

***

One of the best supernatural thrillers I've ever read, taking a bunch of horror tropes (the ghost urban legend, the impossible road, the creepy village, the maze house, and much more) and giving them a fresh spin, or at least a fresh coat of paint. I got sucked into all the pocket dimensions, I never knew what was going to happen, and I loved how, even if the plot cleverly incorporated video media evidence, the ultimate truth managed to stay out of sight (for the reader too) until a certain character was forced to remember it. I also loved how siblinghood and (mended) friendship were at the center of the story, and how it brimmed with (casual) diversity of all kinds - from ethnicity to sexual orientation to speech and hearing disorders. RFV only needed characters I could fiercely love instead of liking in order to be exceptional. But maybe it's just a matter of personal preference.

Full review to come.

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?