Roger Hyttinen

Review of An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

November 24, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena follows a group of people who head out to Mitchells Inn located deep in the Catskills for a quiet weekend in the country. It’s a perfect place to do some skiing, work on a novel or simply relax.

So being in the middle of winter, the weather takes an abrupt turn for the worse, cutting off power and phone service. The guests remain in good spirits and make the best of it, settling in until the roads are cleared. The quiet serenity of the hotel’s paradise-like atmosphere is suddenly broken, however, when one of the guests turns up dead at the bottom of the steps.

It looks like an accident – an unfortunate tumble down the stairs. But one of the guests believes that the evidence indicates that this was not an accident. But when a second guest shows us dead — this one clearly murdered — the tension is instantly ratcheted up, and panic ensues.

Fear rises and tensions escalate as everyone is left to wonder: are one of the guests – one of them — the murderer? If so, which one? Or is there someone else hiding in the hotel, waiting to pick them off, one by one?

More murder follows and tensions — and tempers — rise even further as nobody is above suspicion, especially once secrets begin to emerge. Nobody can sleep. Nobody can trust anyone as they all wonder: Which if any of them will survive the weekend?

This was an excellent Whodunit in Agatha Cristie style. I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters along with the backstory as I tried to guess the identity of the murderer, paying attention to all the clues along the way. This alone made the book difficult to put down and drew me right into the story.

I loved that fact that the story was told from the point of view of each guest, which added to the richness of the story. Each character had a distinct personality and backstory that didn’t make POV switches at all confusing. Each character is fully fleshed out, and we end up knowing each of their secrets, thoughts, desires, and hopes. But we don’t learn everything.

In fact, the author reveals just enough information about each character to make you wonder about their true motivations and their reasons for coming to the lodge. The story was, however, an eerie, tension-filled and suspenseful story that was fully immersive as we put ourselves in the shoes of the hotel’s guests. It wasn’t at all graphic or gory though — just a fun though unsetting whodunit.

So I absolutely loved this book. It was a clever, atmospheric and fun Whodunit with vivid, engaging and relatable characters all in a realistic setting. I mean, how can you not love a murder mystery that takes place in the woods in the midst of a storm?

I’m so glad that I went into this knowing nothing at all about it and there were plenty of twists and surprises to keep me turning the page. The author does an excellent job at throwing you off track, and I was unable to correctly guess who the killer was. Which is good — I hate when I guess the ending when I’m only part way through a story.

And even once everything is neatly tied up at the end, the story continues further on for a few extra pages, revealing an extra squeal-worthy twist that I did not seem coming at all and that I loved.

Shari Lapena is a new author for me, and I look forward to reading more by her.

My thanks to the Viking Press for an advanced readers copy of this book.

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Review of Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

November 21, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Song of achilles book cover The Song of Achilles is a retelling of Homer’s the Iliad, focussing specifically on the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus. But this book is told from the point of view of Patroclus, Achilles’s best friend who, in this story, is cast as the lover of Achilles. So in this way, the story takes the Greek legends and the works of Homer and expands on them, turning them into something wholly new and different.

Patroclus, a young prince who accidentally kills the son of a nobleman, is exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect golden-haired son Achilles, whom we learn is a demigod, his mother being the fierce sea goddess Thetis. Achilles develops a friendship with Patroclus which deepens and becomes something more, much to the displeasure of Achilles’ mother who feels he is unworthy of being the companion of a future god.

I liked the fact that the romantic relationship between Achilles and Patroclus wasn’t rushed or forced but instead built up slowly and powerfully throughout the years. It was definitely a slow burn as these two first grew up together, learned about life together and even fought together, their bond deepening as they matured into young men.

But their world comes crashing down when Helen of Sparta is kidnapped by Prince Paris, the son of the king of Troy and Achilles is strongly encouraged to fight for Sparta. So he and Patroclus journey to Troy to fight with the Spartan army in spite of prophecy that threatens to destroy everything they hold dear.

What I enjoyed is that often, Achilles is portrayed as an arrogant, unsympathetic character but in this novel, we get the see his human and vulnerable side — someone capable of deep love and loyalty. We see his tenderness and his insecurities. It was interesting to see Achilles attempt to balance his duty as a prince and warrior with his love for Patroclus. Though an admirable character, it’s easy to see his weaknesses, namely his ego, excessive pride and errors in judgment.

But it was Patroclus’ character that I especially loved; he was brave, loyal, wise beyond his years and compassionate to the plight of others around him. I loved seeing him transform from a clumsy, socially inept exiled prince to the self-assured and confident lover of Achilles. Though he wasn’t skilled in battle like his demigod lover, he is skilled in surgery, empathy and helping others.

I also loved his description of his epic love for Achilles in one passage:

“I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.”

I appreciated that fact that the author didn’t make their relationship perfect and without strife. Like all relationships, there was conflict. They quarreled, clashed at times, and even hurt each other, but most of the time, their disagreements were because of their deep love for the other — though Achilles’ god-like pride was often at fault.

It’s also interesting to note that Patroclus often played the role of Achilles’ conscience, causing him to consider his actions and evaluate his judgment. It also struck me that it was Patroclus who taught Achilles to be human, to be compassionate and most importantly, how to love. Patroclus cares deeply about people in an otherwise harsh and cruel world, and perhaps this caring for others rubbed off on Achilles, causing him to become more than just a cold-hearted warrior.

Now even though the romance between Achilles and Patroclus is an essential element in this story and helped to illustrate Achilles’ human side, this novel is not defined by that romance. Rather, this is also the story of a demigod driven by honor who grew to fulfill his destiny as a warrior and a hero — perhaps even someone who was tainted by war.

If you’ve read the Iliad or are familiar with the Trojan war, you know that the story has a tragic end; but in case you haven’t, I won’t tell you what happens. But even though I knew how it all turns out, the ending of this book still left me absolutely shattered and broke my heart into pieces. I was so invested in these characters that I couldn’t help but hope that they could somehow escape their fate, to somehow rise above it. So even though I thought I was prepared for how it would hit, it still wrecked me and left me breathless.

Though this ending was painful and heart-wrenching, it was also eloquent and beautiful, and I’m so glad that I read it. This is a book about joy, suffering, war, glory, violence, heroes and the cruelty of men. It’s about pride, hubris, and vanity. But it’s also about being loved and being remembered. The Song of Achilles is a beautifully written book with rich, lyrical prose and a captivating story with a lot of heart about a love so powerful it defies death and time.

The descriptions and settings were realistic and evocative, and because of the richness of detail, I felt at times that I was there with the characters, witnessing and experiencing the events right along with them. It probably helped that I listened to this on audiobook.

All in all, The Song of Achilles is a lush and expertly woven novel that fascinates from its opening words to its tender final scenes, and I ended up giving this five stars.

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Review of And The Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness

November 20, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

I love Patrick Ness, and when I heard that he wrote a re-imagining of Moby Dick but told from the point of view of the whales, I simply had to pick it up, even though I hate to admit that I’m not much of a fan of Moby Dick. Though to be fair, I was in high school the last time I attempted it.

And the Ocean Was Our Sky is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel that follows our main character – a female whale named Bathsheba, her fierce hunting whale pod and their ongoing war with humans. What made this story especially interesting is that the book is told entirely from the whale Bathsheba’s point of view.

This is a story where the whales hunt humans, and the humans hunt whales. The human world resents the whales because they’re killers, and the whale world resents the humans because they’re killers. And all of the whales tell stories about and live in fear of a monstrous human creature known as Toby Wick.

Patrick Ness shows the brutal and vicious cycle both whales and humans are caught up in an endless cycle of revenge. In this way, the story is grim and dark in places but definitely not without hope.

I thought the dynamic between the whales and humans was utterly fascinating, and this relationship was laden with deep symbolism and metaphor. I found myself setting down the book several times, to contemplate the deeper meaning of what I was reading. I appreciated the paradox of how both sides hunted the other in order to prevent from being hunted by the other.

I’ve seen this book this referred to as an upside-down retelling of Moby Dick and it description nailed it in my opinion — especially since the whales referred to the bottom of the ocean as their sky (hence the title) and the human sky as The Abyss.

What I especially loved about this book were the illustrations. They were beautiful and haunting, and added to the richness and depth of the story. I’d go so far as to say they’re integral to the story, so you definitely do not want to bypass them when working your way through the novel.

Now I will say that this is not a novel for children even though it is published in the Young Adult category. This is a novel with mature, complicated and intricate themes which may be better understood by adults and older teens. Additionally, the illustrations tended to be quite dark as the novel progressed…and by dark I mean blood and depictions of violence; so in this way, it was a raw and graphic story. What I found especially compelling was how the illustrations started out in complete black and white with increasing amounts of red as the tale became bleaker.

There were so many interesting themes to this story such as clinging to the past, obsession, war, the passing down of prejudices, the pursuit of violence, hatred of others different from ourselves and how often, we end up becoming the monster we think we’re fighting. There was also the idea of how getting to know our enemy is the key to stop fearing and hating them, which was well illustrated in the ending. The ending, by the way, was amazing and I love it.

All in all, And The Ocean Was Our Sky is a wonderful, multi-layered thought-provoking fable with gorgeous illustrations and beautiful writing that is well worth the read. The emotional, physical, and ethical challenges of the characters pulled me right from the very beginning and didn’t let me go until the end. It was an immersive, compelling, and complex read that I ended up loving. I ended up giving this phenomenal book five stars.

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Review of The Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

November 18, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Heart shaped box cover image For those of you who don’t know, Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son. This was my first Joe Hill novel, and I definitely plan on reading more.

The Heart-Shaped Box follows an aging rock star, 54-year-old Judas Coyne who is a collector of macabre objects. So when he sees a notice on an auction site stating that they are selling their stepfather’s ghost to the highest bidder, how could he refuse? So for a thousand dollars, Jude becomes the proud owner of the dead man’s suit, which, the ad claimed, is haunted by a spirit.

So yeah, that didn’t work out so well for him.

When it arrives, Jude and his most recent girlfriend Georgia (whose real name is Mary Beth – he always nicknames is girlfriends from the state their from: Florida, Georgia, etc.) quickly learn that this suit isn’t some relic that you can tuck on the top shelf of a closet and ignore.

Nope. This is the real deal, and they soon learn that the ghost’s name is Craddock McDermott and he isn’t only impossible to get rid of, he is vengeful and extremely dangerous — and he is scary as hell.

The ghost soon begins messing with their minds and taking over their thoughts (turns out he was a sadistic hypnotist in life) all the while bringing that gleaming razor blade that he dangles on a chain from his bony hand ever closer. I found this part especially terrifying: how in the hell can you battle a ghost that has the ability to take over and control your mind?

From this point on the story moves with a spine-tingling urgency. Jude wants the ghost gone, and the ghost wants Jude — and anyone who interferes — dead.

It’s difficult to talk too much about this type of book without giving away the story. Let me just say that pretty much each chapter is a battle for survival and this fast-paced story grows more and more intense and more and more frightening and vivid. The tension continues to escalate as there is a desperate race to somehow stop this relentless ghost before it kills both Jude and Mary Beth. This is a haunting that goes to extremes.

The Heart-Shaped Box wasn’t just a scary ghost story. It also ended by being a deep and self-revelatory story for our characters and Hill took us on an amazing ride to do so.

A word of warning — this is by no means a cute little ghost story. The novel is a gritty, dark and sinister tale of revenge from beyond the grave with some gory bits even thrown in. The characters of Jude and Marybeth were flawed, real, and relatable and Craddock….well, Craddock was utterly chilling…spine-tinglingly so. So in this way, the book was an excellent characters study as well as a frightening ghost story.

All in all, I loved this engaging book though it scared the hell out of me. It had a clever plot, gripping twists and turns, beautiful prose and the ultimate creepy villain. This is the kind of book that makes you want to keep all the lights on.

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Review of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

November 17, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a historical novel that takes place in Brooklyn at the beginning of the 1900’s to about 1920 and chronicles the life of young, bookish Francie Nolan and the rest of the struggling, impoverished Nolan family. Francie’s father (whom she adores) is an alcoholic and works intermittently as a singing waiter, and her mother works as a scrubwoman cleaning local apartments.

Francie’s mother encourages her and her brother Neely to read and to study as much as possible because as she tells them, education is the only way they can lift themselves into a better life. That being said, Francie’s mother makes Francie read pages from Shakespeare and the Bible every night, and because of that, Francie develops a voracious reading habit. Her intelligence and her razor-sharp observation skills cause her to develop a maturity far beyond her years, and I found it fascinating to watch her mature as the story moved forward.

But It’s not always very easy going for Francie. Being sort of a misfit, she is bullied, mocked and often criticized by both her family and society. Yet she’s a resilient girl and is able to keep moving forward regardless of her hardships.

Actually, Francie’s world is pretty tough overall as her family has to struggle with finances, brutal work and unexpected death. The Nolan family is poor — very poor — but they manage to eke out a living for themselves with plenty of hard work and sacrifice. In spite of being so impoverished, I found it interesting how Francie’s mother was entirely against any form of charity even if it meant some hungry nights for all of them. She was determined to get by on her own hard work and not on handouts.

Though at first glance, the novel seems to be a series of snapshots anecdotes portraying the family’s hardships and Francie’s growing pains, we also see an evolution of the Nolan family as the years pass and the children mature and become more and more educated. And despite the hardships and challenges of daily life, there is also a great deal of happiness. Happiness resulting from the love of family. Happiness coming from successes and triumphs here and there that provide not only hope but a desired to strive to better our circumstances.

This is a captivating story of a girl’s coming of age under more than challenging circumstances. I felt that Francie’s story is still surprisingly captivating and relevant today in spite of taking place over a century ago. The reasons for this, I think, is that Francie and her family experience the same things we all do: love, birth, death, difficult circumstances, marriage, struggle and striving to better ourselves. It’s an inspiring story about the resilience of the human spirit and how determination, self-awareness, and sacrifice can help us improve our circumstances.

The book is bleak in some parts, heartfelt and hopeful in others. It’s tragic and funny, heart-wrenching and heart-warming. It does deal with some serious topics such as poverty, alcoholism, exploitation, sexual abuse, child abuse, grief, and death but there is also success, aspiration and ultimately hope.

All in all, it’s a heartfelt, well-written story about a young girl’s coming-of-age at the turn of the 20th century and I thoroughly enjoyed being transported to another time to catch a glimpse of what life was like for the Nolan family. The lyricism in this book flowed beautifully, and I’m so glad that I read this classic.

Now I will say that this book wasn’t heavy on plot or action and it took me a while to get into this story. I was about 40 pages in and considered DNFing it. But I’m happy I stuck it out as I found it to be a compelling, moving story full of rich, interesting characters.

This review originally posted on my book review blog at rogersreads.com.

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Review of What If It’s Us by Becky Abertalli and Adam Silvera

November 15, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

What If It’s Us is a collaboration by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera, two authors that I’ve enjoyed in the past, especially Adam Silvera’s They Both Die at the End and Becky Albertalli’s Simon vs. The Homo sapiens Agenda.

What If It’s Us follows two boys, Arthur and Ben. Arthur, who is from Georgia, is visiting NYC for the summer and is working as an intern in his mom’s law firm. Ben is recovering from a breakup with his boyfriend Hudson and attending summer school. The two meet one day at the post office, where Ben is mailing back his ex-boyfriend’s things. They chat, and the two immediately hit it off. Unfortunately, chaos erupts inside of the post office, and before Arthur can get Ben’s phone number, he has disappeared.

From there, we follow the two young men as they attempt to find each other, which of course, they do; otherwise, we wouldn’t have much of a novel, now would we? In fact, it almost seemed as though the Universe was conspiring in their favor to bring these two together — and the question of “destiny” comes up many times in conversation.

But it’s not a smooth ride for our two protagonists. The two of them go on a series of bad dates all fraught with drama, hurt feelings and a series of misunderstandings. There are all sorts of awkwardness and complications: strange relationships between their friends, the unusual relationships between each of the boys and their friends, there’s Ben’s ex-boyfriend Hudson who Ben may or may not be over, and both sets of parents.

Arthur and Ben do embark on quite a roller-coaster of a relationship with them both trying to “make it right” before Arthur has to leave at the end of the summer. What I found especially interesting was the friendship dynamics in the books. The authors did such a good job with them that I found them almost more interesting than the central romance. I especially enjoyed Dylan’s character, who was Ben’s best friend. In fact, I would love to see a book featuring him as the main protagonist.

The story is told in alternating points of view, so Arthur gets one chapter, Ben the next, then Arthur and so on. I found this more than a bit challenging at times as it was often difficult to tell the two boys apart. The problem is that I don’t think their characters were different enough and because of that, I often forgot who was speaking. So I had to flip back to the chapter heading to see whose chapter it was which annoyed me and yanked me out of the story on many occasions.

I know that a lot of people hate pop-culture references in their fiction novels so if you’re one of those people, you may want to stay clear of this one. There were numerous references to Hamilton, Dear Evan Hanson and lots of Harry Potter. Though pop-culture references don’t usually bother me, I think they may have overdone it a bit, especially with the Hamilton references. I found myself thinking a few times, “Okay, enough already with Hamilton.” In this way, the book became a tad repetitive in places.

But all in all, “What If It’s Us” is a super-sweet coming of age YA romance about two boys finding love and in so doing discovering themselves. So I ended up liking this story a lot — but not loving it as I had hoped. I don’t know; perhaps I was expecting a little more from these two authors. It was cute with likable characters but not really earth-shattering. I enjoyed the romance between these two boys but outside of the romance, there wasn’t a whole lot going on — there weren’t any additional plot lines.

So though it was an enjoyable story and I am glad I read it, I didn’t love it as much as I had hoped. Now to be fair, I’m not typically a fan of romancey contemporaries so I’m probably not the ideal target reader. But if you enjoy YA contemporary novels that are heavily focused on the romance, then you may very well enjoy this book more than I did.

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