The Resting Place - Camilla Sten - Book Review

 

                Last week, while browsing the internet for some book recommendations, I came across this book by Camilla Sten. I was very much impressed by her first book, 'The Lost Village', and so decided to give this book a try.

                Eleanor suffers from prosopagnosia - a medical condition where the person is unable to identify human faces. As she reaches her grandmother Vivianne's home to meet her over dinner, she finds her murdered, and the killer walks past. Eleanor is unable to identify the killer. A lawyer calls and informs about a home that Vivianne has left her. She, her boyfriend, the lawyer, and her aunt visit the house to seek answers. With the killer still on the loose and the house holding some dark secrets, will Eleanor be able to get to the bottom of these forms the rest of the story.

                The first thing that captured my attention was the condition of Eleanor, which can be a perfect setting for a great story. I expected the story to move in that way. But when they arrive at the house, and the story tended to travel in two different timelines, there was a sense of amiss. On a positive note, the read was mostly engaging. The language was simple enough, and it kept us reading forward without many glitches. Yet, I did not get any edge-of-the-seat experience. The characters were portrayed well but carried a sense of mystery till the very end. As in many similar novels, I felt that the portions leading to the climax were stretched, and I was able to decipher the plot except for the last twist. Recently, I have this feeling that stories that carry multiple timelines in parallel tend to get stretched unnecessarily. The claustrophobic, isolated setting helped the story to a certain extent. Mental health was discussed superficially at times. There was a sense of wasted oppurtunity throughout the read, and that gets played in the back of our minds as we read the book. I think the first book might have set the expectation level at a higher level.

                Overall, a decent one-time read, which might not fully entice thrill seekers. The medical condition could have been effectively used in favour of the book. That, along with a toned-down pre-climax, could have given us a much more satisfying read.

Check out the review of other books by Camilla Sten.

The Lost Village - A Novel

A Master of Djinn - P. Djeli Clark - Book Review

 

                I was browsing for books of the fantasy genre when I came across this book. The name Djinn sparked interest, and I ended up selecting this as my next read.

            Egypt is a place in its fullest glory where djinns and people coexist. Fatma is a brilliant young woman who works for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities. A mass murder happens that involves some prominent people, and it is attributed to Al-Jahiz, a famous mystic who lived many years back and transformed Egypt into what it is at present. All hell breaks loose when a person claiming to be Al-Jahiz appears out of nowhere, spreading discord. He can control the Djinns like Al-Jahiz claimed to. Fatma, along with her team, should race against time to get to the bottom of what ensues. 

            The first thing that caught my attention was the whole setting of the story. Most of the fantasy books I have read are set in an English background with ghouls, monsters, ogres, etc. This book has an Arabic backdrop that piqued my interest from the start. The book starts with a bit of excitement, which tames down as it goes, maintaining the pace as the world is built around us. Halfway into the book, it surprisingly picks up pace and keeps us well excited all the way. The book is a surprise drift away from pine forests and Gothic castles to deserts and palaces. There are a lot of things talked about in the book - feminism, women's suffrage, war, economic marginalisation of society, etc. I liked how that dived down to the djinn community as well. The pacing was apt, like I said. But the climax felt a bit dragging and preachy. The writing style was simple enough, with a lot of Arabic words being used. The characters were interestingly written (human, Djinn and Angels). Every character had their own shades, which they carried around perfectly. I realized that two novellas precede the book, which I have not read. But it did not hamper the reading experience anywhere.

            In short, a wonderfully written fantasy novel set in the Arabian lands. It will be a welcome change for fantasy lovers. And, if this develops as a series, I would certainly be interested to read more.

Random Ramblings # 13 - The Secret Lives of Books

 

During this weekend, I was simply sitting in my favourite rocking chair, gazing at my bookshelves and talking to my books. It is a pastime that I find fulfilling. Suddenly, an interesting thought struck me. What if these books could talk?

What would the books on the shelves be talking about? What thoughts would have been running through their pages?
Here are some of my interesting thoughts.

1. They might be bragging about their genre. While horror books seek to thrill and scare people, mystery books might be happy to keep the readers on their toes. Self-help books might be proud to create an impact in their readers' lives, whereas cookbooks seek pleasure in bringing happiness to it's readers through food experiences. There might be genres that are jealous of the other ones.
2. There might be books complaining about how people treat them. While some take great care while handling books, some people do not got at respecting books. Such books might be complaining about the dog-ear marks, torn pages and moth-eaten parts.
3. Imagine a library at night. The books come to life and talk to each other through the ruffling of pages. They share the experiences they had throughout the day and the different types of people they encountered all day long.
4. I am a big fan of history books. I would love it if these books could talk to me and indulge me with a walk in time, taking me deep into the annals of how the civilizations shaped up.
5. The physical books on my shelf and my Kindle are holding a debate at night after I sleep. They might be pointing out each other's pros and cons. What would be the outcome? Are they going to fight it out or reach an understanding?
6. I would love it if the book could pull me into its pages and make me a character of the novel. It could be exciting, scary, funny, or sad. Imagine the multitude of emotions it can provide you with or indulge you in.

Books are constant companions, who, if properly taken care of, can be your friend throughout. Do you take time to converse with them? If they could speak, what would you be talking to them about?

Random Ramblings # 12 - The Dance of Shadows

 

As I sat by the window gazing into oblivion, I could see the sunshine spreading over the world around like waves. The trees and plants in the garden bask in the light, dancing to the gentle breeze. As the sun continued its journey, I noticed the shadows dancing in accordance with the path of the sun. That caught my attention. Shadows!

Have you noticed how the shadows move around you throughout the day? From early morning to noon till evening, we see shadows acquiring different textures and lengths. From soft and smooth shapes, they acquire sharper edges at noon. Towards evening, they seem to acquire a slight golden hue at the edges. Throughout the day, they seem to dance around everything from people to animals, towering buildings to small stones. The silhouettes and patterns that they create fascinate me every time I look at them.

Have you found shadows interesting? Shadows are largely neglected by people except while looking for one. But, I have always found shadows fleeting, mysterious and comforting. Shadows always remind me that nothing is permanent in life. As the shadows move, so does everything in our lives. Neither wait for our whims. The only thing light cannot touch is shadow, which means even in a lighted environment, there is bound to be darkness. Like how things can take a dip in our lives. Also, they do enlighten us with the fact that there are unseen truths. But if we see shadows as bad times in our life, realize that there is light around it, which ignites our hopes of good times being just around the corner. Shadows should not be seen as enemies but as equal partners to light, which causes a balance in them.

"Shadows are proof that light exists" – Socrates

As wise people say, there should be a balance in everything. The same applies to shadow and light. As Socrates beautifully points out, we need shadows to prove that light exists.

The next time you see a shadow, pause, ponder and listen. Even shadows may have stories to tell.

The Possessing Hour : Jeremy John Hayes : Book Review

 

            Last week, I was under bed rest due to a fever. Boredom led me to search for a book to read. As usual, a search for the horror genre led me to select this set of short stories.

         A journalist experiences strange visions at a stipulated time daily, and it starts getting worse day by day. These visions of supposedly real people are affecting him mentally. He writes down those visions to avoid going crazy. This book chronicles those visions - a couple living in an apartment building where neighbours are performing an exorcism, a box where a woman starts putting all the bad things around her, a boy kills a butterfly only to encounter something bad, etc.

         The first thing that attracts us to the book is the abruptness of the stories. They start and end ambiguously. I would say that it becomes the boon and bane of the book. The ambiguity sparks an interest in you initially. The subtle undercurrent of dark humour will also keep you invested. But as we read on, the ambiguity takes the steam off a few of the stories. The author has tried many tropes (vampires, cults, urban legends, ghosts, haunted houses, etc), most of which have worked out really well. But in some of them, I feel it is a miss. Another drawback was the pacing. Some stories did not connect with me, and those stories slowed down my pace. The author had done a good job of making us uncomfortable in some of the stories. I wished that some of the stories could have had a better closure.

           In brief, this book could have been a better one if there were a tad less ambiguity. Nevertheless, this is a good collection of stories with an interesting premise that can make you feel uncomfortable at times. A decent one-time read.