~Review of Andrew Davidson's THE GARGOYLE~

Opening Line: "Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, often violently, just like love."

I really liked this book and found myself absorbed in the world that Andrew Davidson has created. THE GARGOYLE is a multilayered tragedy within a love story and it will affect you on many different levels; horrific, sad and gruesome it is also complex, funny, thought provoking and redeeming. Unfortunately any summery you read won't really do it justice.

THE GARGOYLE has been written in a first person narrative and although we never learn the narrator's name he is self-consciously and sometimes humorously aware that he's writing a book. We begin with our good looking and self absorbed narrator (N) driving his car while high on cocaine and with a bottle of bourbon between his legs. He subsequently starts hallucinating and to avoid the burning arrows flying at his car drives off the road. N's car flips several times and catches fire, burning him alive. The next half of the book takes place within the burn ward as N begins his long road to recovery.

The car accident and most of the burn ward scenes are detailed, horrific and at times hard to read but they're also so well written that you'll be able to smell the hospital and really feel N's pain and suffering. N has been burned so severely that he no longer resembles anything close to the gorgeous porn star that he once was and as he begins his therapy it's only in the detailed planning of his suicide that he's able to get through the day. The shots of morphine that silence the snake living in his spine help too but you'll have to read the book to understand that.

One day a strange and wild woman known as Marianne Engel escapes from the psyche ward and sneaks into the burn unit. She proceeds to tell N that she has known him for 700 years, that he has been burned before and that they were once lovers in medieval Germany where she was a nun and he was a wounded solider. It doesn't matter if he can't remember; she tells him, she will prove it to him. And so begins Marianne's tales of their past lives.

The book then begins to jump between time periods as Marianne Engel tells her life story which is set in the middle ages along with several other short stories about different tragic lovers. The flashbacks became my favourite parts of the book taking us to Germany, Japan, Italy and the Vikings of Iceland. The characters from these times are exquisitely interesting and the details of the era, amazing. The research Mr Davidson has put into this book is simply mind boggling.

N doesn't believe Maryanne, concluding that she is schizophrenic, nonetheless he comes to rely on her and in their own way the two begin a relationship. Throughout Maryanne's storytelling and hospital visits she continues her lifetimes work, that of carving stone Gargoyles. We are also introduced to several characters both within and outside the hospital all slowly becoming N's friends as he changes and becomes a man of worth.

The only part of the book that `lost me' a bit would be the several chapters during N's morphine withdrawal whereupon he enters the gates of hell and confronts all the characters from Marianne's stories and quotes Dante's inferno. This was bizarre and went on for too long but did tie up all the characters from Marianne's gripping stories. For me the ending was thought provoking and perfect. Cheers!

"Only after I was born into physical repulsiveness did I come to glimpse the possibilities of the heart."

~REVIEW of Luke Davies' CANDY~

Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction 

Opening Line: "There were good times and bad times, but in the beginning there were more good times."

Wow this was fantastic, in a watching a beautiful car crash sort of way. Following the day to day struggles, triumphs and ultimate decay of a heroin addict and his girlfriend. It was almost impossible to look away and put this book down even though it’s graphic, horrible, depressing and often pointless. Told in the first person with vividly poetic and just plain amazing writing there’s a surprisingly innocent love story told here as well and I found myself moved by their story. Pulling for our couple and hoping that they could just get clean long enough to come out on the other side of addiction with some kind of future together.

CANDY is a love story, a horror story, and an adventure. It’s darkly humorous and sadly moving. Filled with graphic descriptions of heroin use, vein hunting, needles, sickness, numbness, the endless cycle of finding your next fix, the selling of ones soul and the constant pain. I was exhausted just reading about the kind of stamina it takes to become a full blown junkie.

The scheming and scoring and stealing, the planning and begging and the sickness when you’ve either exhausted all options or you’re trying yet again to get clean (or maybe just not use quite so much) I could feel their pain and hopelessness in particular the mind numbing details as they lock themselves in their rundown apartment and attempt to kick on their own, this is what happens to you physically when you try to come off of a serious heroin addiction and it was tough to witness.

We follow our couple over a ten year period starting in Sydney during their heady early days of first love. Its summer and the world is beautiful and new. Candy, a gorgeous aspiring actress wants to learn everything about her new love, including what its like to use heroin and despite an almost immediate overdose the wheels are set in motion. She wants more.

Through our narrators eyes we watch Candy go from aspiring actress to high paid escort to street hooker. It’s an easy natural progression that somehow seems to make sense for both of them. He remains a con, a thief and a dealer. They often talk of getting clean, having a baby. They move to Melbourne to start again, they relapse; they get married and are the coolest couple in McDonalds dressed in their wedding attire, wasted after using their wedding money to score. There are serious highs and desperate lows. From high-end apartments to slums, hepatitis and crabs, bad scams, arrests and the loss of their baby. Throughout it all they remain in desperate love with each other and heroin.

This did not end at all like I was expecting and was in fact sadder then I had thought possible. It’s haunting when everything turns blue and all that’s left is methadone, madness, loneliness, a job washing dishes and playing Frisbee in the sun.

~REVIEW of David Nicholls' ONE DAY~

Opening Line: "I suppose the important thing is to make some sort of difference"

So I’m going to try to write a somewhat sensible review here that doesn’t come across as all gushy fan-girl. I will say (hopefully only once) that I adored this book but you should know that I'm a bit of a sucker for a tragedy too. ONE DAY was brilliant in every way; making me laugh and cry while filling me with nostalgia and longing. And because I’m the same age as Dexter and Emma the time frame here was also totally relatable (see nostalgia) with little details I had forgotten about from the past two decades.

Equal parts heartbreaking and hilarious yet also suspenseful as each chapter takes place a year to the day after the last one so you have to figure out what’s happened in that time between. And of course you want the H/h to get together so you’re waiting with bated breathe for them to finally “see” each other too. In the end this also made me want to seize the day like it’s my last, phone up all my long lost friends and lovers and look at old photographs. Hmmm and I haven’t even gotten into the genius of the writing yet (how do you put that into words?)

I knew that writing a review here was going to be difficult (when you love a book this much there doesn’t seem to be enough correct words to do it justice) and I promised myself to just keep this short and to the point so here goes... This is one of the most hilarious, perceptive, witty, moving and heartbreaking books I have ever read.

Told in 5 parts in alternating POV’s and over a span of twenty years Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley meet in 1988. Em has just graduated from university and hooked up with that boy she’s seen around for ages. He is Dexter, beautiful, pretentious and in his mind destined for greatness. As the sun rises they drink wine and talk about their futures. They have their whole lives stretching out ahead of them in an endless number of days and isn’t it going to be wonderful they can achieve anything they want to.

Starting as lovers Dexter and Emma continue as friends and the book joins them on July 15th of each year (St Swithin’s day) through their 20’s and 30’s and into their 40’s. As anyone in their 40’s knows, life happens and it doesn’t always go as planned, missed opportunities and the like.

“When I was younger everything seemed possible. Now nothing does.”

Through phone calls and letters, in different countries and towns, through assorted relationships, jobs and life’s little surprises and ruts we join Em and Dex each year in a unique snapshot of their life. They don’t always get along but they do think about each other everyday in some way and in case you haven’t figured it out this is ultimately a love story.

I can’t say much more about this without giving it all away. But when I read the last word I wanted to start it again and nothing I’ve tried to read since compares. Cheers.

“Live each day as if it’s your last, that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that?”

~REVIEW of David Benioff's CITY OF THIEVES~

~FANTASTIC COMING OF AGE STORY SET DURING THE SEIGE OF LENINGRAD~

I came away from this feeling very cold, very hungry and with an inexplicable need to make sure my pantry was full. CITY OF THIEVES is a fantastic story; set in 1942 during the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad. It’s a coming of age story filled with adventure, suspense, friendship, romance and tragedy all washed down with (from what I understand) a historically accurate picture of Leningrad during the blockade.

I should point out that despite the events of the time this is also a surprisingly funny read as our two main characters; Kolya the romantic optimist and Lev with his random internal observations both have an interesting way of looking at life around them during the absurdities of war.

The story begins with a powerful opening chapter; a writer asks his grandfather to tell him about his experiences during the war. All the narrator knows -and he doesn’t remember anyone telling him its just one of those family folklores that he always has. Is that his grandfather, "the knife fighter" killed two Germans before he was eighteen and is missing a finger. And so Lev begins to tell his story to his grandson. Talking openly for the first time about his childhood, coming to America and sex. Mostly though he talks about a two week period in 1942 when he met his best friend, the woman that would become his wife and killed two Germans. I actually referred back to this chapter several times during the course of the book and again when I finished.

Its January 1942 Leningrad is under marshal law, surrounded by the German army and what’s left of its inhabitants are starving. Our hero 17 year old Lev Beniov has just been arrested for looting and placed in a cell with a handsome friendly deserter named Kolya Vlasov. Both of their crimes are grounds for execution and as our heroes get to know each other that’s what they expect come morning. However in a twist of fate they are given a chance to save their own lives, a secret mission for a powerful soviet colonel. All they have to do is find a dozen eggs for his daughter’s wedding cake.

A dozen eggs in a city cut off from supplies, a city resorting to cannibalism and eating glue from book spines to survive. It is of course a ludicrous and impossible task one which takes our new friends far into German occupied territory, through the bitter cold of winter and countless adventures and atrocities. The outcome didn’t really surprise me but I haven't stopped thinking about it either.

“One moment I thought I had a few minutes left to live; the next a sniper was flirting with me. Was she flirting with me? The days had become a confusion of catastrophes; what seemed impossible in the afternoon was blunt fact by the evening. German corpses fell from the sky; cannibals sold sausage links made from ground human in the Haymarket; apartments blocs collapsed to the ground; dogs became bombs; frozen soldiers became sign posts. I had no food in my belly, no fat on my bones and no energy to reflect on this parade of atrocities. I just kept moving, hoping to find another half slice of bread for myself and a dozen eggs for the colonel’s daughter.”

~REVIEW of Rob Sheffield's LOVE IS A MIX TAPE~

~Heartbreaking and hilarious bit of 90's pop culture~

Opening line:"The playback:late night, Brooklyn, a pot of coffee, and a chair by the window. I'm listening to a mix tape from 1993."

Before I-pods and ripped CDs we all made mix tapes. I'm sure most of us over a certain age still have them safely hidden away somewhere, never quite having had the nerve to throw them out (broken cases and all) We named these tapes, gave them away to friends or lovers and assigned them different purposes. Remember the break-up tape, the I'm so infatuated with you tape, the party tape, workout tape, road trip tape, stolen off the radio tape etc, etc. It took hours to create a mix tape, attempting to get the songs in perfect order without cutting off the last one. Now imagine, nearly 20 years later having the courage to scour through and listen to all those tapes again. The joy of rediscovery, the nostalgia, the OMG I forgot all about that song which reminds me of that party, boy, girl, car moment. You might also experience pain or sadness over that long lost love. Well this is what LOVE IS A MIX TAPE is all about.

I absolutely adored this book. Rob Sheffield style of writing is so honest, natural and funny that you'll feel like your talking with an old friend. He manages too capture the spirit of the 90's perfectly too as he tells a moving autobiographical account of his years spent with wife Renee. Anyone who lived through that time and is into pop culture will find something relatable here.

  

This is also a tragic love story and on the very first page we learn that Renee has died, we just don't know how or why. We then flash back to the time to before they met as Rob experiences an awkward adolescence and discovers his love of Indie rock. One night Rob meets the sweet Southern girl of his dreams and although only 25 they soon marry. It's not a perfect marriage however; they're broke most of the time, they fight, they get a dog, they drink Zima (remember Zima?) but they always listen to music as one. Rob and Renee ultimately get 7 years together and even though I knew that Renee was going to die when it actually happened I was left stunned. Sheffield depicts the ache of new love and utter helplessness of losing it beautifully and following Rob through the next grief stricken chapters was at times hard to take.

Throughout this story it is always about the music and each chapter begins with a dated mix tape complete with side A/B track listings. Some of the tapes were made by Renee others by Rob but you're sure to have a lot of moments remembering your own life's soundtrack as you journey along with the music. You might even find a couple of new favourites. Cheers

~REVIEW of Megan Hart's: BROKEN~

~THOUGHT PROVOKING, UNIQUE, AMAZING AND JUST WOW~

Opening line:"This month my name is Mary and apparently, I'm as contrary as the nursery rhyme"

Broken is one of the most amazing books I’ve read in a long time, and author Megan Hart, well wow, I’m just in love with her writing. Reading Broken felt like eating dessert or chocolate, as she has a way of making her words delicious. So perfectly descriptive and achingly beautiful, I only wish I could put my muddled thoughts into sentences the way she does.

This is a unique, very real and somewhat heartbreaking story that will definitely make you stop and think and although categorized as erotica I never felt that the sex scenes were gratuitous instead they seemed to help move the story along which lets be honest is a rare thing. Really, it’s unfortunate that this needs a label at all because it is just so much more the erotica or romance or even a tragic love story -yet it is also all of these.

Despite the complex subject matter I also think we could all find a piece of ourselves in Hart’s multi-dimensional characters. In fact I became so involved with the characters that I felt like I knew them and literally ached along with them. They also had me laughing, crying, sighing, feeling angry, surprised and more then once left me downright stunned. When an author can pull actual emotions out of me then yeah, she’s got a fan.

Sadie and Joe first met on their lunch break, two strangers each needing something from the other. Now over the course of their evolving friendship they continue to meet once a month on an atrium bench and over a bagged lunch Joe tells Sadie about his latest sexual conquest. As the reader we get to hear Joe’s erotic story in first person from his female companions POV (this month my name is Brandy etc…) Joe’s character is left vague in the beginning, because this is after all Sadie’s story however as she gets to know him better so do we, picking up tidbits about his life from his sensual accounts. This stranger that Sadie can’t stop herself from meeting, in the end becomes a fully rounded empathetic character.

Sadie knows that she’s deceiving her husband by living vicariously through Joe’s stories yet she hasn’t physically cheated and at this point it’s the one bright spot in her life helping her deal with a stressful, sleepless and for the most part crumbling marriage.

Sadie met Adam in college and while we do get a few flashbacks to them as young lovers and a general feel for who they were as a couple in and out of the bedroom I personally would like to have seen a bit more of their relationship before Adams skiing accident rendered him a quadriplegic and changed things forever.

Their relationship is complex and Hart is genius here at peeling back the many layers of a marriage that has persevered when so many would have failed. We get Adams seclusion, rage and utter frustration with his body and the world in general, Sadie’s loneliness, guilt, fear and coping mechanisms. I felt like a fly on the wall with this couple, yes it was uncomfortable to bare witness to at times, but also magnificent. I’m really not going to say much else here as this is worth discovering on your own.

This was an absolute pleasure to read and as Megan Harts newest fan girl I’ll definitely be coming back for more. Cheers!

~REVIEW of Dan Maloney's SUNRISE ON KUSATSU HARBOUR~



.5

Opening line: “I have always loved my wife”
Wow, this was one of those short sneaky books that you devour in a day and then can’t stop thinking about. At about 130 pages SUNRISE ON KUSATSU HARBOUR has a huge story to tell and with about 200 more pages it would have made for an epic read. As it stands though it felt rushed and important events that I would love to have read about in greater detail were glazed over. However the narration style almost dictates this as it's the retelling of a story from a third person and the underlying message does still manage to shine thorough.

Sunrise is a frightening, tragic and haunting story of star crossed lovers. Encompassing love and hate, revenge and prejudice but most of all forgiveness. It’s a small book with a big message and a twist at the end that will really leave you wondering. I also think that this book would make for a fantastic movie, regardless I’m just glad I found it.

We begin with a man finding a video tape at a garage sale. Instead of the tape containing the movie he was expecting it instead shows the confession of an older Japanese man. And so our story begins with the writer of this tale telling us Meiko’s story via the video diary. Taking us back to Japan during the 2nd world war where we watch a young couple fall in love and make plans for a promising future together. One fateful day our hero Meiko is called to serve in the army, he pledges his undying love to his girlfriend Tori on Kusatsu beach, vowing to always be true to her and return and get married as soon as Japan wins the war. Meiko then leaves his peaceful village in Hiroshima to help create biological weapons for the war effort.

So, now that we know where they are, we all know what’s coming next and it was very interesting to see life from the other side of the war. On the day the US drops the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Tori is in Kusatsu harbour, missing her man. The blast knocks her from the beach and into the ocean saving her life. However everyone and everything else she has ever known is now gone. Deciding that she must try to find Meiko, Tori then travels many hundred miles to where he is stationed in Nagasaki only to learn that just the day before Meiko went AWOL and is now trying to find her back in Hiroshima.

That is when the 2nd bomb drops on Nagasaki, leaving Tori alive but horribly burned and disfigured. She is hospitalized for a long time. Meanwhile Meiko has of course not been able to find his true love and can only assume that she is dead. When the Emperor of Japan surrenders Meiko makes his plans for revenge, sailing out of Kusatsu harbour on a boat bound for America. Little does he know that the figure watching from Kusatsu beach is his Tori. As I said this a star crossed lover’s story and our couple cross paths many times before finally meeting again far away and under unusual and fateful circumstances. For such a short read this book is decades in it’s telling with Meiko paying a huge cost for his revenge. Not easily forgotten.

     

~REVIEW of Sara Gruen's WATER FOR ELEPHANTS~

 Star read

In the beginning of Water For Elephants Jacob Jankowski tells us that he is ninety or ninety-three. One or the other. He's not really sure anymore? His body betrayed him years ago and Jacob now fears that his mind isn’t far behind. Shuffling along miserably behind his walker, he’s living out his final days in the nursing home and hating every minute of it. Just another invisible senior citizen who’s family and the world as a whole has forgotten about.

When the circus comes to town and sets up its Big Top tents across the street Jacob comes alive and through a series of flashbacks begins to tell us his life’s story. Taking us back to when he joined the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show On Earth, a traveling circus he toured with during the great depression. So step right up folks because this old man has quite the story to tell.

At the age of 23 Jacob had a predictable future set out ahead of him, one that certainly didn’t involve joining the circus. However with his parents untimely death and the bank foreclosing on his family home Jacob soon finds himself homeless, heartbroken and mentally quite unable to sit his final veterinary exams. When an exotic, animal filled train steams toward him Jacob doesn’t even think. Flinging himself aboard the boxcar and inadvertently changing his destiny forever.

I absolutely adored this book, alternately falling in love with both Jacob, the crotchety old man and Jacob, the young, moral and penniless circus veterinarian. Water For Elephants transported me to another time and quickly became one of those books I never wanted to end.

Author Sara Gruen has researched the depression era circus life down to the smallest of details and I feel that this captivating and vivid story will appeal to almost anyone. Filled with action, adventure and a sweet forbidden romance there is also a fascinating sideshow of secondary characters including a clever Polish Elephant, a grouchy little person as Jacob’s roommate and a cruel and schizophrenic animal trainer whose wife Jacob just happens to fall in love with. All of this has been wrapped together with a compelling and innovative behind the scenes look aboard a travelling circus train. Showing us more often then not the darker side of circus life after the big top closes down. This is a love story, a life story, an animal lover’s story but above all it’s a circus story and who of us hasn’t dreamed about running away and joining the circus at some point in our lives? And the ending… *sigh*

I can't say enough good about this book, its easily one of my favourite reads this year and with Robert Pattinson now taking on the upcoming movie role version of Jacob, I was able to picture him while reading, making it all the more sweeter. Cheers!