charisma in a box

The Very Nice Box by Eve Gleichman and Laura Blackett

Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction

Review: Ava Simon is not, as the jacket copy would have you believe, another Eleanor Oliphant.  She's grieving, having lost her fiancée in a car accident several years ago, and has shut herself off from nearly all social interactions.  Her life is quiet, steady, and calm, consisting of engineering work that she loves at STÄDA (an Ikea look-alike), Monday lunches with a colleague, podcasts, and her dog.  But when Mat Putman blows into her office like a charismatic hurricane, this self-contained existence is quite upended.

The novel follows Ava as she somewhat grudingly re-enters the world, learns that it is possible to love again, and navigates the truly asinine corporate culture at STÄDA.  The office culture is almost a character in itself; think Eggers's The Circle, without the menancing undertones.  The tone here is much more lighthearted, although it's clear that Mat Putnam is not what he seems.  He's too goofy to seem truly threatening though, unless you count his misguided sense of self-worth to be a threat (and by the end, I'm not so sure that you'd be wrong to do so).  Ava and Mat's personal drama, and the scandal-in-the-making that's been building up at STÄDA all come together for a satisfying, if slighly ridiculous resolution.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

saving humanity

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Rating: 4.75 stars (out of 5)

Genre: science fiction

Review: Dr. Ryland Grace has been sent on a suicide mission to the Tau Ceti system to try to figure out why, of all the nearby systems, it remains unscathed in the face of an instellar infestation that's causing our sun to dim, which will result in another extinction event on Earth.  His crewmates have died, and he's got coma-brain, so it takes him a while to remember where he is and why he's there.  The reader follows along with Dr. Grace as he slowly regains his memory and sets to work.  As a narrator, he has an extremely accessible voice.  You can totally imagine yourself being friends with this wry, sardonic, and wickedly smart guy.

As engaging as Dr. Grace is, this book is not without its flaws.  For one thing, there is a lot of math in this book.  Like, a lot.  And I'm sure it's all completely correct, though I confess that I kind of skimmed those parts.  But as much as the author seems to think that we're all going to understand the math, he also seems to think that we need to be told that Venus is the 2nd planet in our solar system.  Also, the Hail Mary is the most advanced piece of engineering and technology ever assembled, but its computer isn't even as smart as my home assistant.  It doesn't help Dr. Grace do anything (except stay alive through his extended coma, which, ok, yes, is pretty important, but once he's awake, he's on his own).

Still, these are easily overlooked in favor of this compelling story, as we wait with baited breath as Dr. Grace holds the fate of humanity is in hands.  Can he solve this seemingly insurmountable problem?  You'll be rooting for him, and you'll find his experiences stay with long after you read the last page.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

a new light

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: historical fiction/fantasy

Review: This book made me really feel the need to re-read The Great Gatsby, or, more to the point, made me wish I had paid better attention the three times I've already read it.  Fortunately, I remembered enough to be able to glean the relevance of Nghi Vo's reinvention of the original.

Vo's imagination takes us to a 1920s New York where magic is real and Gatsby may or may not have literally sold his soul to the devil in order to win Daisy's heart.  Here, the story is told by Jordan Baker, and incorporates flashbacks to Daisy and Jordan's childhood in Louisville, giving more flesh to both characters.  Daisy remains largely the same as she was when we all read her in high school, but Jordan is queer and a Vietnamese adoptee, who wants to have her own agenda, but hasn't quite figured out what it is yet.  Oh, and when she's not playing golf or partying, she's been known to cut out paper shapes and bring them to life.

Perfect for fans who are ready for Gatsby with even more of an edge, what will really stand out to readers is Vo's sumptuous writing.  Her descriptions of the mundane border on magical, and her descriptions of the magic are so down-to-earth that the reader, like the characters, has difficulty telling which is which, lending the entire story a glittery shine that lingers even after the last page is turned.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

obsessive but immersive

Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Genre: historical fiction

Review: We know that early English settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were very religious and thought a lot about the state of their souls and the devil.  The historical record tells us so.  According to Chris Bohjalian, they were concerned about the devil a lot.  A good chunk of the first third or so of the book has them thinking about little else.

Things start to get more interesting when Mary Deerfield sues her husband for divorce on the grounds of cruelty.  Even here, though, the question soon becomes more about whether she's been consorting with the devil (much of the evidence has to do with a three-tined fork, which is, as we all know, the devil's own instrument) as much as it does about whether her husband abuses her.

And there is intrigue as well.  It is clear that someone is trying to cast a spell on someone in the Deerfield house, or trying to frame Mary for doing so.  But who?  And why?  Though Mary's ruminations on whether she is unknowingly the devil's tool quickly become tiresome, Bohjalian is quite deft at drawing the reader into this mystery and in making the reader care about Mary's fate, both in life and after.

Of course, the reason that Mary faces such troubles from her community is, of course, that she's a smart woman who occasionally speaks her mind.  That truth is lurking behind almost every word in the book, but Bohjalian is subtle in reinforcing it.  So don't read this expecting a great deal of outrage about the subservient state of women in 17th century Boston.  Do read it for an immersive look into one woman's life and attempt to be more than just a Goodwife to a cruel man.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

the fourth sister

Beth & Amy by Virginia Kantra
Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction

Review: In the world of Little Women adaptations, many authors/screenwriters get caught in what I'm going to start calling the "Beth trap".  In the original, Beth is the "good" sister, which often means she's seen as the "boring" sister, so adapters try to make her more "interesting" (usually while still having her die).  Kantra does not avoid the Beth trap, but in her sure hands, Beth is able to be a full character, and a full member of the sisterly quartet (and she doesn't die, either).  I shouldn't have doubted Kantra, whose first book, Meg & Jo, was was far and away the best written adaptation I've come across.

Once again, Kantra has embodied the spirit of the original, while bringing the March sisters into the modern era.  In this book, Beth and Amy share the spotlight, and we even get some insight into the question of how Jo, Amy, and Laurie (in this book, Trey) all manage to reconcile their erstwhile love triangle.  Once again, Kantra handles this deftly and elegantly; everyone's feelings are respected and the reader gets a satisfying resolution too.

Once again, Kantra has given us a good book and a good adaptation, although this one perhaps stands less on its own without Little Women than did Meg & Jo.  Certainly, one should read Meg & Jo first.  But Little Women fans will enjoy this book alongside readers who have no familiarity with the original.  It's sweet, and light without being too light, and generally wonderful.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

history repeats itself

The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray

Rating: 4.75 stars (out of 5)

Genre: historical fiction

Review: In her author's note and throughout the book, Dray talks about the "Spirit of Lafayette," which, even as an American history major, I'm ashamed to know I knew very little about until reading this book.  Now, I know a lot more, and am inspired to continue my learning with non-fiction (to me, this is a mark of good historical fiction).  Dray's research is exacting, but she avoids the well-researched novelist's abyss of needing to share everything she's learned.  Instead, this is a deep and rich portrait of three women, each of whom embody the "Spirit of Lafayette" throughout three different wars.

Dray bit off a lot with this book, which weaves together three separate stories, that of Adrienne de Lafeyette during the American and French Revolutions, Beatrice Chanler during WWI, and the fictional Marthe Simone during WWII.  Each could have sustained a story on their own.  And it might have been less confusing if Dray had made this into a trilogy, rather than a single, interweaving story.  In fact, my only teeny complaint about this book is that I sometimes forgot which war we were in.  (My actual thoughts several times during the book: "You can't go to Paris now, the Nazis will get you!  Oh wait, this is WWI...")  I can only imagine that people who lived through both wars might have felt the same way.  But I understand that each story gained power from being told alongside the others.

To say that this book moves slowly doesn't do it justice.  Think of it like a lazy, meandering river.  It'll take you a long time to get from one end to the other, but the journey is more than worth it.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

getting her due

Octavia E. Butler, one of my personal favorite SF writers, is getting a lot of posthumous recognition these days.

Her work has been featured in The New Yorker, NPR's Codeswitch and Throughline, and The New York Times.  NASA even unofficially names Perseverence's Mars landing site after her!

And, FX will be adapting Kindred for the small screen (and The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, another absolutely fantastic piece of SF)!

Have you seen other interesting articles about Octavia Butler, or heard interesting podcasts?  Tell me in the comments!