[note] Greetings!

I like books and I need to practice writing, hence this blog. A place where I will post book reviews, reviews of nice places to read in and around Jakarta, and other book related reviews.

Please bear with me as I try and sort out the reviews I want to write, the previous two I posted were written around 2009 and really, in sore need of editing. But I wanted to post something first so that I'll be more motivated. Hopefully future reviews will be more coherent and a little more detailed.

So. Wish me luck! :)

[review] Thanks for the Memories - Cecilia Ahern

From the author of PS, I Love You, Thanks For The Memories features the broken pieces two character’s lives. One lost her baby, the other his way of life. Cecilia Ahern as usual, has a unique way of linking her characters, this time through blood transfusion and with it, the transference of memories. A bit surreal for you? That’s okay, her books often enough include a dose of fairy tale-esque plot-points, which usually makes them a unique take on the ‘chicklit’ genre.

From the general feel I got as I read the summary, I expected a heart wrenching, sob inducing series of simple words crafted into wave after wave of punches which takes your breath away with the amount of emotion you never knew you could feel about something you know nothing about. Some emotional PS, I Love You-shit, which by the way left me sniffling as I lay on a towel on a beach. 

Before we get to why this book is worth reading, let's take a look at what bothered me.

The loss of a baby is conveyed well enough, the confusion, sorrow and anger is there.. But it was a plot point. It was made a thing that wasn’t quite big enough to be the focus, but it was always there! This irked me a little to be honest. I dunno.. It was glazed over so many times, but used to emphasize the woman’s.. Joyce’s feeling enough that you begin to question what the author is trying to do. Does she want this to be an important bit of history? Or is it just something which happened and whoopsie-daisy, let all go get some ice cream now?

Once again the book features two opposites who serve as the main character’s best friends. Look at the PS. I Love You book, and Cecilia Ahern’s TV series Samantha Who. The formula works, but I’m beginning to feel that Ms. Ahern needs to find another combination that works for the lackey’s parts. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the best friends – Kate and Frankie. But I just feel that if she uses it in another book, I’m gonna chuck her with Dan Brown who basically uses the same plot points for all his books.

And now the main male character.. He who needs to be dashing, and as far as word-candy – and I keep using this to describe the oh-so delectable male character usually featured in romance books, so forgive me If I use it here! Anyway, as far as word-candy goes, Justin is certainly not the most annoying one I’ve encountered. He’s likable, if a bit pretentious.

This sort of made me think how the two would work in real life. Justin is the kind of guy who can spout Latin at the drop of a hat, and random facts on art and architecture. Joyce needed to be dragged even towards the university building for a visit. You just wonder if beyond this book they can make it.

 

As for whether or not I like the book.. It would seem I didn’t enjoy it. But I did. I really did. Cecilia Ahern has a touch of magic in her books which makes you sigh a bit and smile like an idiot, even if afterwards you might go ‘..hang on! But..’. I really didn’t notice time was passing, by the time I got to the last few pages, my ass was numb and it was dark outside.. I had just spent all that time in a happy trance. There’s a feel good quality to it, and it’s never preachy even as it delivers life lessons through Joyce’s aging father. And her characters are fun, weird people you come to like.

I like how she writes, but after reading PS. I Love You and A Place Called Here, this one just falls a little short. As far as chicklit-types go, Cecilia Ahern remains one of the few whose books I will touch willingly. Would I pick up something from her again? Probably. Because like I said - I like how she writes. A little sassy, a little whimsical, and a whole lot of fun. Even as you're kinda grasping at your chest wishing the hurt would stop. (Seriously. When she wants to make you cry, she will make you cry.)

[review] Simon R. Green - Haunting the Nightside

"It's always night in the Nightside. It's always three o'clock in the morning, and the dawn never comes. People are always coming and going, drawn by needs that dare not speak their names, searching for pleasures and services unforgivable in the sane, daylight world. You can buy or sell anything in the Nightside, and no-one asks questions. No-one cares."

Our man is John Taylor, not your typical hero. He's on the run from a world he's known since childhood and he's dirt-poor, living in his office which has a bullet hole on the window. He has no idea who his mother is - a plot devise you know will kick ass once it finally shows its head. But while he's literally nobody in our world, he's close to celebrity or royalty in his world.

You know - the one he's running away from. And I don't think its from paparazzis.

Now, I have very mixed feeling with this book so let me just start by saying: I quiet like the Nightside as a whole. BUT. But.. well, let me tell you what bugs me about this series.

I can't help but feel that the characters are a little bland.

I wont touch on the other characters as that would be a spoiler. So here's what I think about John Taylor.

John Taylor - supposed bad ass, shows weakness in a way that doesn't really convince you he's actually a bad ass. Just possibly someone who insists on it, but doesn't quite have what it takes. Of course he keeps saying that he likes letting his 'rep' speak more than his own actions, and how everything was exaggerated but that it helps when people fear him. I actually have a thing for wimpy heroes. I quite like that he's not all that, and the whole 'people fear me, but OMG! If only they knew...' is actually a fun plot device, but I feel like Simon R. Green overdoes it a little by spelling things out over and over again.

Here's a little spoiler: His relationships with people from the Nightside.

He keeps insisting he has no friends, just close enemies.. Well reading the two books I own, makes me think that he does have some very loyal friends. It would probably have packed more of a punch if John Taylor never mentioned that he had no friends, but casually mention acquaintances he has who have in turns helped then stabbed him in the back (or in one case, as we, the readers, find out very early on - shot him in the back).

And while I feel there's a huge need for character development, there's a whole cast of people I'm dying for you to meet. Shotgun Suzie, Razor Eddie, Cathy Barrett, and Alex Morrisey. Lovely people you wont want to meet in a dark alley, but fascinating all the same. His supporting characters are likeable and fun, and if I'm honest - the reason I read the books, more so than Sir Broodypants-I-Have-No-Friends.

As I said before - I do think it was a good read.

I liked the whole noir feel of the novel, and how he was all Dick Tracy in the beginning. Complete with a dingy office, and your quintessential dame (limited to the very first story, but I liked her so much, I thought I'd mention her). Note; not damsel in distress. But kick ass snotty dame. And I do like my snotty dames.

I also adored the whole idea of a world within a world, with it's own ominous name, Nightside. Yes, he's not the first one to ever use this concept (Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere comes to mind), but I think it distinguished itself enough with the whole range of inhabitants available for viewing. Seriously. I love the Nightside. It works. Its an intriguing world to peek at.

Plot-wise, I enjoy the fact that the stories aren't quite novel length. Three stories to a book works for Simon R. Green. And there's a wide range of cases, showcasing the sheer absurdity of the Nightside. It never quite delves into the macabre though, he seems to lack the words to describe the blood and gore and to turn it into something which turns your stomach, so you're sort of left detached to it all.

To be honest it does feel like a half assed effort at times, but its saving grace is the sheer number of possibilities available in the universe Green created. And the potential you can see peeking from the corner. At times I feel like I should maybe coo at the book and try to coax out the ability of writing horror I think Green possesses, because I did enjoy the book. I really did, but it was frustrating. Like getting a 3.97 GPA when you know you just need a little more oomph for a perfect 4.

On the whole? Read it. The genre needs more stuff like this.