Month: January 2019

The Couple Next Door | Shari Lapena

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The Couple Next DoorThe Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Imagine you decide to leave your baby sleeping alone in their crib and go next door to have drinks with neighbours you don’t even really like…

What’s that? No, you couldn’t imagine doing that? Well no, because no one in their damn mind should imagine doing that after what happened with Maddie McCann. And as you can guess, that sets the premise for what is yet another incredibly stupid thriller probably written in the space of three weeks on a subway.

The book doesn’t get much better.

So now you know. The two main characters (I can’t even remember their names, that’s how unremarkable the book was) decide to go have drinks with their neighbours and leave their baby at home. Bringing the monitor will be just fine (no it won’t, don’t even do it), so off they go.

Naturally HE gets White Girl Wasted and makes out with the wife of the neighbour. Meanwhile, SHE, sits politely and thinks about how much she doesn’t want to be there. Eventually they return home and tada! Baby has disappeared.

Thus ensues the usual trite thriller ridiculousness. SHE punches a mirror, cuts her hand, vomits, forgets what happened that night, HE is obviously caught in something somehow.

Slowly the family starts to unravel (naturally) and things begin to catch on fire (not literally though obvi).

Here’s the biggest problem with this book.

The most likeable character is the missing baby.

That’s right. The cute six month old baby girl who doesn’t make a sound or say a word the entire novel is the best character there. HE and SHE are horrible annoying people who are self-involved and legitimately crazy (won’t say who and I’m not mental health shaming here).

Not only that, the surprise moment or whatever you call that in these types of novels was predictable. I could write all the spoilers here, but honestly, you’ll probably already have guessed them if you’re reading this book at the moment.

There are many better thrillers out there with more interesting characters. This was like a Gillian Flynn novel, which I utterly despise. Where are all the good writers in the world anymore?

2/5 stars. Never again RIP.

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Some Great Thing | Lawrence Hill

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Some Great ThingSome Great Thing by Lawrence Hill
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have followed Lawrence Hill’s works avidly. I was first introduced to his writing through Book of Negroes and have since read *almost* all of his works. I have never found myself to be disappointed by his works. Unfortunately, I was unable to rate Some Great Thing higher than 3/5 stars.

Some Great Thing is the story of Mahatma Grafton, a young adult man living in Winnipeg, dark skinned without knowledge or interest in his heritage. He rolls his eyes at his father’s proselytizing over their shared heritage and the discrimination that black people face in Canada.

Unfortunately, Mahatma is not very well fleshed out. He is a journalist for a Winnipeg paper and spends his time chasing stories as we are introduced to several other “funk” characters. Despite Hill attempting to grow his large cast of characters, I felt that having so many varied people with different characteristics spun out of control quickly. I wanted to enjoy the characters and learn more about them, but there were just too damn many.

Furthermore, on top of the characters being too confusing and poorly rounded, the plot was lacking. Mahatma spent his time attempting to break a story on the French culture in Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba, but nothing really comes out of that. Some random tragedies occur that you don’t care much about. People die quickly and you’re left scratching your head.

At the end of the book I paused and I couldn’t place my finger on *what* exactly this novel was about. Yes, your eyes are opened to the fact that minorities in Canada face discrimination (and that’s important to raise awareness of), but other than that, the comparison of the French discrimination and the black discrimination was confusing and didn’t segue well into each other.

In my humble opinion, Hill writes best when he focuses on a smaller cast of characters in his novels versus a large jumbled assortment of people that he tries to draw together in a forced way. I still enjoyed this novel though…just not as much as his other ones.

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Sea Prayer | Khaled Hosseini

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Sea PrayerSea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have loved all of Khaled Hosseini’s previous works, specifically The Kite Runner. Even though Sea Prayer is a short book with 48 pages that only hold a few sentences, I did not find myself disappointed yet again. As I read to the last page, I was somewhat surprised to find such a short little book, perhaps even more aptly described as a poem or prayer, would overwhelm me with so much emotion. Again, I was surprised to wipe some tears out of my eyes.

My husband asked me if it was an appropriate book to read to our 3 year old and I didn’t know how to respond. The illustrations are stunning and the book raises global awareness. Though there are heavier nuances to it, can the raising of awareness to the plight of those around us ever be wrong? I have not read it to him yet and I probably would not read it ad verbatim as some of the language might be scary or overwhelming, but this is a stunning book that should be instituted in schools.

I hope those who complain about the cost of the book compared to the size of it’s content are aware of two things. One, the book is being sold to raise money for a charitable cause. Two, the quantity of a book does not measure it’s quality and vice versa.

Sea Prayer is the first novel I read in 2019 and I believe it will set a good tone for the rest of the reading I do this year. Please buy this book to support UNICEF and to enjoy something beautiful and moving.

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