Taste the Books: Review Morsels #57 Emily Yu-Xuan Qin, Dawn Kurtagich, Courtney Gould

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.

Aunt Tigress by Emily Yu-Xuan Qin (ARC Review)

★★

In Canada, the daughter of a Chinese immigrant family, half human and half supernatural tiger, who renounced her tiger roots but can still perceive the supernatural world, starts investigating the death of her old mentor Aunt Tigress, while coming to term with the harm she caused in her company.

***

Rated 2.5 really.

First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley and Edelweiss, and got approved on both sites. Thanks to DAW for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

I'm so, so bummed (more so because I was approved for this one on both the galley sites!). The blurb and the Seanan McGuire comparison had me very excited for this book, and I can see the merit in it (the book - the comparison, not so much), but I wasn't enjoying myself, and I decided to call it quits at 25% for a few reasons. First off, the story and the writing didn't manage to grab me - both the supernatural world and the imagery felt too crowded, for lack of a better word, and at times confusing, or it may be that my eyes glazed over because there wasn't a single element that stood out enough to hook me on the narrative. Secondly, while I'm a seasoned horror reader, I was often grossed out by the specific brand of horror employed here (like, for instance, women with a hole-shaped disease on their arms, or fetus-like creatures preserved in jars and described in detail). The story-within-the-story device didn't help - it isn't one I'm particularly fond of, because it takes me out of the story, and if my interest is already waning, it only exacerbates the matter. Last but not least, I need to forge a strong connection with my characters (especially when I have issues with the plot), and Tam didn't came across as a compelling enough protagonist for me to do that. I saw what this book was trying to do (especially in regard to themes of heritage and cultural appropriation), and I'm sure it will resonate with a number of fantasy readers, but I couldn't find it in me to continue reading.

Note: definitive review (I don't have enough to say to justify writing a full-length one later, and of course I don't plan to reread this book).

The Thorns by Dawn Kurtagich (ARC Review)

★★★

A disabled bestseller author reckons with her painful experiences as a thirteen y.o. in boarding school when her abusive friend from back then reenters her life, causing her to risk everything she's built.

***

Rated 3.5 really.

First off...DISCLAIMER: this title was up for grabs on NetGalley (in the Read Now section). Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

As usual with Kurtagich, it's a challenge to write a review - or even a simple blurb - without spoilers. One has to dance around the truth and to use words in a clever manner, which I hope is what I'm doing...

Told in a double-timeline narrative, The Thorns is a well-written, brutally honest, disturbing book. I'm glad I read it, and at the same time, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I thought I was in for a mostly contemporary story with a supernatural thread woven in, but Glass Man and the titular thorns mythology turned out to be inconsequential (this is not the spoiler you may think it is, and I feel like it's right to include it in order to prevent false expectations). On the other hand, the abuse, obsession and manipulation were very real. The author lists "bullying, sexual violence" (not of the graphic kind), "gaslighting, self-harm, chronic pain, minor alcohol and drug abuse, reference to animal harm, and mental health crises" as triggers, but even those fail to prepare the reader for the relationship between a 13 y.o. girl and a 28 y.o. man and the level of toxicity it entails - or for the equally toxic female friendship. The Thorns has a lot to say about a young girl's desperate need to belong, and how the world (sometimes even her peers, sometimes even other GIRLS for goodness' sake, but mostly older men) preys on it while casting HER in the role of the villain. This is praiseworthy, but not something that makes a book enjoyable in the strict sense of the word. I have to say the main twist didn't caught me by surprise, because early reviews had me on the lookout for one, but I only figured half of it (on the other hand, there's a scene that doesn't make sense, in retrospect, even taking delusions into account), and the ending left me speechless, though I feel like it sacrifices good mental rep for a last shock (then again, that can be said for premise of The Dead House as well, and I loved that one...).

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

Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould

★★★★

A teen, with her younger sister in tow, travels to the tiny town that had her late journalist mother obsessed for years, hoping to crack the mystery behind her fixation - but while she painfully unburies the town's shocking secret and falls in love, she risks becoming similarly entangled with the place.

***

A quiet (yet disquieting), atmospheric, gorgeously written story about grief, family/sisterhood, and having to choose between living in the past or accepting the present/opening up to the future. Gould builds on a sci-fi premise that stays on the light side - we aren't exactly given explanations for what happens in Backravel and the mechanics of it - but that's not the real point of the story, though it sets it in motion. I'd describe this one as a contemporary/coming-of-age narrative with a sci-fi core and a magical-realism feel...which sounds complicated, except it's really not 😉. Come for the intriguing mystery and the lost, yet ultimately strong girl who wants answers; stay for the magical prose, lesbian romance, sisterly dynamics, and characters breaking out of the comfortable, yet poisoned cocoon of their grief.

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?