Genre: Magical Realism

This is one of my first forays into the magical realism genre compared to my past reads that are solidly fantasy adventure or straight fiction which is a group of character leading seemingly unrelated lives and stories whose only surface level connection is their shared residence at the Dellawisp Manor/condo. New to the island and fresh out of high school Zoey moves into her late mom’s condo and spends the whole novel discovering parts of herself and finding her place in life through learning about her other neighbors on Mallow Island. The magical realism contributes the presence of certain characters as ghosts who have their memories and stories in-tact but really only exist to connect with those who are actually alive. The story jumps between different characters perspectives in the present tense as well as slowly introducing their backstories which surprise, isn’t as unrelated as things appear. I found the characters backstories and arcs to be quite varied but there’s common themes of broken or flawed familial life, rough upbringings, and a sense of abandonment. The story focuses on the concept of found family and although there are dark elements of child abuse and substance abuse, Other Birds still feels…

Tom Hazard has been alive for four hundred and thirty nine years and over the course of history has spent many of them caught up in the past, protecting himself and loved ones from potential harm in the future, all while rarely truly living in the present. How to Stop Time is a unique read that presents the reader vignettes across Tom’s life (sometimes in and out of chronological order) loosely divided between five arcs that each focus on a particular theme and state of his life. While there are a lot of fun cameo appearances by famous historical figures that pop-up in the narrative (my personal favorite is William Shakespeare, I wish I was more cultured to have appreciated other cameos more), most of the bulk content involves Tom in a state of existential crisis. The overall story reminded me a lot of the 2015 movie Age of Adeline in concept while executed in a more introspective manner. While Age of Adeline was firmly focused on a romance drama, How to Stop Time’s romance serves more as a foundation and event pushes Tom to be the person that he is… hundreds of years later. This is first and foremost…

Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. I had a hard time trying to figure out why I couldn’t really get into this one despite the novel having all the elements to be a compelling and romantic read and I think the biggest problem I had was finding the protagonist August and her love interest Jane to be bland and uninspiring. There’s quite a colorful variety of characters of various ethnic backgrounds and sexualities that provide fun group dynamics and banter which help pad out the novel (the side characters are frankly more interesting than the leads), but I felt like the actual core story and romance was thin and lacking development. To their credit McQuiston tries to pull some creative scenes to break up the monotony of repetitive constant scenes all taking place in a subway train car, but I often found myself applauding the effort that went into the book rather than actually enjoying the book. I also felt like there was very little plot progression in the first 250 pages other than establishing that August is out of place in a big…

I am obviously far from the target reader demographics this book is intended for but I still found it to be an pleasant, if not predictable read. It’s a comforting feel-good romance novel ironically focusing on a protag who believes love is dead after being betrayed and taken advantage of by a insensitive ex/aspiring author. I’m not a typical fan of the romance novel genre so take my opinions with a grain of salt, but I picked this up based on intriguing synopsis and the extended pun on “romance is dead.” Also the concept of a ghostwriter having to write a novel while in the presence of a ghost of her editor, genius. Despite my initial excitement for the book’s concept and plot, majority of the time I wished the novel dug a little deeper (get it-) into the themes of coping with loss, healing from betrayal (both romantically and socially) and returning to one’s roots. I acknowledge the primary purpose of this book is the romance, but during some of the quieter moments it often showed signs of being something more profound and touching making it all the more frustrating when it settles for skimming the surface of these…

Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. An incredibly ambitious novel with wonderful writing that is also incredibly niche. Erin Morgenstern certainly has a set style as I found this novel shares many of the same strengths and drawbacks as The Night Circus amplified. Beautiful and otherworldly visuals combined with a multiple layers of symbolisms, unfortunately the novel’s plot is slow, complex and vague. Are you interested in a passionate queer romance story? How about multiple factions with cult-like tendencies? Multiverse-style dimensions or dreams within dreams with a clear resolution? A fantasy adventure across land and sea to reach a final goal? An engrossing page turner? If you answered yes to any of the above, the Starless Sea is not for you. There are so many compelling elements that have mass appeal, but the delivery will likely alienate all but the most patient readers who appreciate the essence of literature. The chapters are also broken up jumping between the primary narrative focusing on several main characters and short fables, stories or exerts that seemingly have no connection to the main story or each other. Each…