Books Read in 2024: Two-Star Reads

To be clear, my reading goal WAS 111 books. Eve and I are alike in so many ways, but we diverge sharply on numbers. She likes multiples of five and nice round numbers. I like primes and odds - I like my numbers spiky. Her goal for the year was 20, which is amazing considering her courseload. Her last read wasn't quite Steph's Night Before Christmas (which is completely valid, love it), but it was The Yellow Wallpaper, which is more of a story than a book. I sat down on the day before New Year's Eve to discover happily that a book by one of my favourite authors I had on hold as an ebook was available (A Minor Mage by T. Kingfisher), and it clocked in at an easily manageable 176 pages. Eve's goal is 20 again this year. I told her she could pick mine, and she picked 120 so we would kind of match. It makes me slightly twitchy, but I love her so I said okay.

Two-Star Reads

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse: Synopsis from Goodreads: You won't want to leave...until you can't. Half hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel.

An imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept. Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge--there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

Come oooooooon, how does someone screw up a hotel in an old sanatorium in the Swiss Alps DURING A BLIZZARD? Everyone was so annoying and the reveals were so blah. Someone mysterious gets attacked when there was no one around on the frozen hillside and I think it just turned out somebody, like, ran up really fast. I really hope I remember not to read another book by this author, but real talk, it's not a sure thing. 

One of Us is Back (One of Us is Lying #3) by Karen McManus: Synopsis from Goodreads: The third time’s a charm. It’s been almost two years since Simon died in detention, and the aftermath has been hard to shake. First the Bayview Four had to prove they weren’t killers. Then a new generation outwitted a vengeful copycat. Now the entire Bayview Crew is back home for the summer, and everyone is trying to move on.

Only, this is Bayview, and life is never that simple.

At first the mysterious billboard seems like a bad Time for a new game, Bayview. But when a member of the Bayview Crew disappears, it’s clear this “game” is serious—and whoever’s in charge isn’t sharing the rules. Or maybe there aren’t any. Bronwyn. Cooper. Addy. Nate. Maeve. Phoebe. Knox. Luis. Kris. Everyone’s a target. And now that someone unexpected has returned to Bayview, things could start getting deadly.

I believe after this I may bid Karen McManus a fond farewell. It wasn't terrible, but it was superfluous, and there was so much backstory needed (and then even backstory to the backstory!) and there were too many characters, and I couldn't remember who was dating who, and everyone good was almost sickeningly good and everyone bad was cartoonishly bad. I am probably too old for this kind of YA. I shall leave it to the actual youth. (That's what I wrote in my Goodreads review. As I remember, it WAS terrible, which is weird because the first two were really good, but also I have no faith that I won't read another Karen McManus ever again.)

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison: Synopsis from Goodreads: Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vesper Wright’s is truly...something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back—mostly because she was told that leaving the staunchly religious community she grew up in meant she couldn’t return. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep.

Inside is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper’s beloved cousin Rosie. It’s to be hosted at the family farm. Have they made an exception to the rule? It wouldn’t be the first time Vesper’s been given special treatment. Is the invite a sweet gesture? An olive branch? A trap? Doesn’t matter. Something inside her insists she go to the wedding. Even if it means returning to the toxic environment she escaped. Even if it means reuniting with her mother, Constance, a former horror film star and forever ice queen.

When Vesper’s homecoming exhumes a terrifying secret, she’s forced to reckon with her family’s beliefs and her own crisis of faith in this deliciously sinister novel that explores the way family ties can bind us as we struggle to find our place in the world.

I am utterly baffled at the positive reviews this got - not in the 'what the hell are you all thinking' way (a little bit in that way),  just in the ways different books hit different readers in completely divergent ways. I enjoyed the other book of Harrison's that I read well enough - this seemed like a mess in which I didn't care about anything or anyone. Someone called it a 'horror cozy', so maybe that's the issue - it wasn't dark enough OR funny enough. It was like it couldn't decide between being screwball and straight scary, and ended up not achieving either in a satisfactory manner.

Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine: Synopsis from Goodreads: Riley has not seen a single human face in longer than she can reckon. No faces, no eyes. Not if you want to survive. But when a new neighbor moves in down the road, Riley’s overwhelming need for human contact makes her throw caution to the wind. Somehow, in this world where other people can mean a gruesome, bloody death, Ellis makes her feel safe. As they grow closer, Riley’s grip on reality begins to slip and she can no longer fight her deepest desires.

All Riley wants to do is look.

I feel like I would maybe take another crack at this someday. At the time it just felt like a more tedious Bird Box, and I didn't even like Bird Box all that much. 

Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis: Synopsis from Goodreads: Temple Baker knows that evil runs in her blood. Her father is the North Point Killer, an infamous serial killer known for how he marked each of his victims with a brand. He was convicted for murdering 20 people and was the talk of countless true crime blogs for years. Some say he was possessed by a demon. Some say that they never found all his victims. Some say that even though he’s now behind bars, people are still dying in the woods. Despite everything though, Temple never believed that her dad killed her mom. But when he confesses to that crime while on death row, she has no choice but to return to his old hunting grounds to try see if she can find a body and prove it.

Turns out, the farm that was once her father’s hunting grounds and her home has been turned into an overnight camp for queer, horror-obsessed girls. So Temple poses as a camp counselor to go digging in the woods. While she’s not used to hanging out with girls her own age and feels ambivalent at best about these true crime enthusiasts, she tries her best to fit in and keep her true identity hidden.

But when a girl turns up dead in the woods, she fears that one of her father’s “fans” might be mimicking his crimes. As Temple tries to uncover the truth and keep the campers safe, she comes to realize that there may be something stranger and more sinister at work—and that her father may not have been the only monster in these woods.

”That book again, Hearts Stop by Cary Lauren, a book about a detective or a doctor or something killing people and being gay or whatever. Temple isn’t sure what makes the book so special other than Lauren being a local author.

There must be some kind of chemical in their brain that likes to read, and likes to read mediocre, gay books about murder. While Hearts Stop is way more relevant to Temple’s state of human condition than The Great Gatsby or To Kill a Mockingbird, she’s satisfied enough with her mediocre, gay life about murder.”

It SOUNDED like this was supposed to be a summer camp/ serial killer thing with black lesbian teenagers (black lesbian teenagers? Lesbian teenagers of colour?) Sign me the fuck up. But there were ghosts and possessions and people talking in weird voices and it all kind of devolved into a mess.

This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer: Synopsis from Goodreads: Four ambitious climbers hike into the Kentucky wilderness. Seven months later, three mangled bodies are discovered. Were their deaths simple accidents or the result of something more sinister? This nail-biting, bone-chilling survival horror novel is inspired by the infamous Dyatlov Pass incident, and is perfect for fans of Alma Katsu and Showtime's Yellowjackets.

This is going to be Dylan's big break. Her friend Clay, a geology student, has discovered an untouched cliff face in the Kentucky wilderness, and she is going to be the first person to climb it. Together with Clay, his research assistant Sylvia, and Dylan's boyfriend Luke, she is going to document her achievement on Instagram and finally cement her place as the next rising star in rock climbing. 
Seven months later, three bodies are discovered in the trees just off the highway. All are in various states of decay: one body a stark, white skeleton; the second emptied of its organs; and the third a mutilated corpse with the tongue, eyes, ears, and fingers removed.
But Dylan is still missing. Followers of her Instagram account report seeing disturbing livestreams, and some even claim to have caught glimpses of her vanishing into the thick woods, but no trace of her—dead or alive—has been discovered. 

"The only plants that survived its soil were those not meant to be ingested, were those that lapped up its poisons. Black elderberry with blood-red stalks poked up, drops of dew clinging to the succulent fruit. Misplaced manchineel grew near the creek, a suspicious, enticing yellow fruit dangling on its blistering branches, the oil so potent it could take your sight."

Ugggghhh, this sounded SO COOL. It suffered immensely from trumpeting the dark secret early and often and at great, overexplainy length. Did you ever see the movie Mission to Mars? I went with a group of people and we all devolved into giggles at the end over the extremely didactic sequence like "Get it? THEY WERE ALIENS." So this thing happened, and now the ground is evil and poisoned, and so this climbing trip is not going to go well, and did we mention why? It was because of the thing that happened and now evil and poisoned etc. etc. and so.... 

Time Squared by Lesley Krueger: Synopsis from Goodreads: in this time-jumping, genre-bending, challenging novel, Eleanor keeps finding herself in different times, living lives that are both similar and different to the life she lived in Regency England. Whether she finds herself in 1811, 1941 or 2010, she always lives with her aunt, she's invariably accompanied by her best friend Catherine, and her evolving romance with Robin leaves her both tense and joyful as he fights in yet another war. Meanwhile, carriages change to trains, the telegraph arrives, bicycles come into vogue, then motorcars, and suddenly Robin is fighting in the First World War when he started out fighting Napoleon in 1811. Yet both Robin and Eleanor remain in their twenties a century after their love affair began.

No one but Eleanor notices the time jumps, and she struggles on her own to figure out what’s going on. Is she feverish? Hallucinating? Losing her mind? Only when she reaches the 21st century does Eleanor understand that she and Robin are being manipulated through time.
But who is doing this and why? Desperate, Eleanor sets off to confront the ones she finally discovers are behind this — chessmasters who are playing her like a pawn. Eleanor’s goal? To free herself from this quantum experiment to live out her life on her own terms, with Robin by her side.

Neither sci fi nor romance, but a critically-acclaimed literary mash-up, Time Squared reveals the roles women are forced to play in different centuries, the power they’re allowed, the stresses they face — and what this does to their relationships. Shakespeare famously wrote, "Love alters not when it alteration finds."

”’You really don’t want your own household, dear?’ Her aunt pushed back Eleanor’s hair to look in her face. “Husbands are quite pleasant, if properly managed. Not that I want another one.’

‘I suppose I want the usual thing,’ Eleanor said. ‘I don’t know what else a young lady is supposed to want. But I dislike the manner of getting a husband. I prefer not to be artificial.’

‘But of course we all are. It’s another word for educated.’”

I only have myself to blame for this. I read the reviews and for some reason thought I was more evolved than the negative reviewers, and then discovered that I was not in any way more evolved. Am I now going to complain that this book suffered from too much subtlety after complaining that many preceding books suffered from not enough subtlety? Yes, yes I am. What can I say, I'm complicated.

The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton: Synopsis from Goodreads: Solve the murder to save what's left of the world.

Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched. On the island: it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three scientists, living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what they're told by the scientists.

Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. And then they learn that the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island, the only thing that was keeping the fog at bay. If the murder isn't solved within 107 hours, the fog will smother the island—and everyone on it.But the security system has also wiped everyone's memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer—and they don't even know it. And the clock is ticking.

”’You should tell her how you feel,’ I say.

Clara ignores me, as she always does. It’s a shame, because if she’d just find a little courage, she could be happy with Hui. I don’t even need to model the future to see it. Love is simply a matter of what people need and what they lack. It’s two broken things fitting together for a time.

Some authors stick to the same formula book after book. Some authors like to switch it up. Either can be good. Sometimes when an author switches it up, I love one book and hate the next. That is okay.

This one reminded me superficially of a tv miniseries I watched called A Murder at the End of the World, which was quite good. This didn't really work for me, although I'm not sure I can quite articulate why. The premise was really intriguing, but really nothing else caught my interest. It just seemed to go on and on and on without any tension building, and the reveal should have been shocking but was not. I got it as an express ebook, and then got it back a few times and then finally just powered through to be done with it. Yes, I an still bad at not finishing books, but I can read really fast when I want to, so it doesn't take up too much time. 

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman: Synopsis from Goodreads: Noah Fairchild has been losing his formerly polite Southern parents to far-right cable news for years, so when his mother leaves him a voicemail warning him that the “Great Reawakening” is here, he assumes it’s related to one of the many conspiracy theories she believes in. But when his own phone calls go unanswered, Noah makes the long drive from Brooklyn to Richmond, Virginia. There, he discovers his childhood home in shambles, a fridge full of spoiled food, and his parents locked in a terrifying trance-like state in front of the TV. Panicked, Noah attempts to snap them out of it and get medical help.

Then Noah’s mother brutally attacks him.

But Noah isn’t the only person to be attacked by a loved one. Families across the country are tearing each other apart-–literally-–as people succumb to a form of possession that gets worse the more time they spend watching particular channels, using certain apps, or visiting certain websites. In Noah’s Richmond-based family, only he and his young nephew Marcus are unaffected. Together, they must race back to the safe haven of Brooklyn–-but can they make it before they fall prey to the violent hordes?

This ambitious, searing novel from "one of horror's modern masters" holds a mirror to our divided nation, and will shake readers to the core.

"Oh well. Won't be long now before you're attacked and your skull is cracked and your brains are bleeding out all over the pavement like that guy. Or that gal. Or..

Or what about that man walking his dog? Nope, sorry, eating his dog. Definitely eating.

Or what about the lovely couple across the street, holding hands as they --

Nope, scratch that. He just ripped her arm out from his socket."

I got a review copy of this from NetGalley. I thought I had read one other book by this author but it appears I was wrong. It wasn't terrible, and the ways it took misinformation and the nefarious results to their extreme logical conclusion is well taken, but it would have done better as a short story or novella, because it kept hitting all the same notes over and over and my core remained resolutely unshaken.