Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

 

Reviewed by Kristin

Marcellus the giant Pacific Octopus begins his narrative with “Day 1,299 of My Captivity…” setting the tone for his perception of the state of affairs at the Sowell Bay Aquarium on Puget Sound. Marcellus was captured as a juvenile, and he has learned that his kind only live 3-5 years (1095-1460 days), so he assumes that he has maybe 160 days left, give or take. He is, after all, a very intelligent and methodical creature. Marcellus likes to stretch his limits, but he is very aware of “The Consequences” of poking his tentacles into forbidden areas.

Tova Sullivan recently lost her husband, and began working at the aquarium as a night cleaner just to fill the hours. Tova takes great pride in her work, eschewing the industrial cleaners for her homemade vinegar and lemon oil mixture. Thousands of little hands and feet dirty the glass and the floors of the aquarium every week, and Tova wipes away every trace of dirt, even in little seen corners and behind statues. She may be over seventy and tiny, but Tova would rather die than to do less than her best.

Cameron Cassmore has been told all his life that he’s a screw up. Sure, he keeps getting fired from jobs, but it’s really not fair that his boss got that mad when he was only ten minutes late. His Aunt Jeanne has his back, but it seems like nobody else in the world does. When he has a chance to finally find his father, a man he assumed just didn’t exist for the last thirty years, he has to take a leap.

These three unlikely characters connect in ways I did not expect. Tova is friendly to all the aquarium creatures, saying “Hello, dears!” to the eels and the sharks, but it is Marcellus who actually understands her, though of course she doesn’t fully comprehend. Cameron drives into Sowell Bay in a decrepit camper he bought along the way and stumbles into a part time job at the aquarium. Marcellus, Tova, and Cameron may differ wildly from each other in age and life experiences, but their stories are interwoven as they come to appreciate, and even heal, one another.

The audiobook narrators (Marin Ireland and Michael Urie) added a beautiful layer to the story. This is Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel, and I certainly look forward to more from this promising author.   

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

 

 

Reviewed by Christy

            A group of twenty somethings gathers at an abandoned mansion, purportedly haunted. They're there to celebrate the wedding of two of their friends but tensions between the entire group threaten to spoil the weekend. That is, if the ghosts don't get to them first.

            The legend goes that many years ago, a bride was abandoned by her groom and in her grief, asked to be buried alive beneath the house. As the years passed, she got lonely. Each year thereafter, a new girl was buried with her to keep her company. The present day bride is thrilled at the idea of having a make shift wedding in such a spooky location. Everyone else is just kind of along for the ride.

            I listened to this as an audio book from READS. The narrator, Suehyla El-Attar, does a fantastic job of bringing Khaw's prose to life. Though a little too flowery here and there, overall I really liked Khaw's vivid writing style. The audio book is short, under three hours, and I'll admit that was a draw for me. Though I favor too short stories over too long ones, I do think this particular book could've benefitted from some filling out. I felt as though I was plopped down in the middle of the story and had to play catch up. The characters clearly had rich histories with one another but we as readers weren't given much time to sit with any of it. Most of them didn't even seem to like each other all that much – to the point where they came across as nasty and unlikeable. Khaw touches on backstories briefly, but I may have felt more sympathy if the book had explored their motivations more.

            Nothing But Blackened Teeth did have some genuinely unsettling imagery, and I do think Khaw is a talented writer. However, I was left a little underwhelmed by this particular work.

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

 

Reviewed by Abby

How would you react if you received a phone call telling you that were going to die today? The caller does not tell you how or when you will face your sudden demise, just that you now have less than 24 hours to live.  Most of us would find this horrifying and frightening, but that is just how the world works in the universe of Adam Silvera’s They Both Die at the End.  Those who get the alert from Death-Cast (a call center-esque establishment) are known as “Deckers” and often receive special treatment in restaurants and attraction sites if employees know their status. There is even a messaging app called Last Friend which enables doomed people to reach out to others in the same situation.

As the book opens, it’s shortly after midnight in New York City. Mateo and Rufus have just received their End Day alerts from Death-Cast. Mateo is alone in the comfort of his own bedroom when he receives the news; Rufus is in the midst of beating up his ex-girlfriend’s current boyfriend.

Mateo and Rufus eventually discover one another’s profiles on Last Friend and agree to meet each other in person. They both have regrets they wish to overcome before their time is up. Mateo feels he has not achieved enough in his short life. Rufus has experienced a lot more while living with his foster siblings, but has long-lasting familial trauma.   They make the most of their final day by attempting to fit in as many fulfilling memories as possible. As is obvious from the title, this book does not have a conventional happy ending, but watching these two bond and create cherished moments makes it all worthwhile.  

I was anxiously awaiting the scene where these characters would reach their end. I had no idea when it would happen, just Mateo and Rufus are also in the dark as to their final fates. Silvera does an excellent job at creating suspense by including minor characters’ perspectives in chapters while aligning Mateo and Rufus’s timeline with major, possibly fatal, events in NYC.  These opening scenes truly had me pondering the endless possibilities of where we could end up on the day we die.               

Listening to the audio book version, I was happily surprised to recognize two of the voice actors from other audiobooks I have borrowed from TN READS. Michael Crouch, Mateo’s narrator, has performed in many Young Adult and LGBTQIA+ novels in the past. The other actor I knew was Bahni Turpin, who commonly narrates characters who are women of color. Turpin is the voice of the numerous minor characters that break up Mateo and Rufus’s thoughts to provide more of a broader perspective into Silvera’s fictional world.  

This novel was an exciting, heartbreaking, and memorable read for me, and has become one of my favorite Young Adult titles to date. If you enjoy diverse love stories that don’t always turn into happily ever afters, I would recommend giving this book a try! It has a wonderful combination of sci-fi, LGBTQIA+ romance, and thriller elements. It reads as a more mature YA novel.

Just as a reminder, they both die at the end, so make sure to mentally prepare yourself beforehand.  

Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson

 

Reviewed by Christy

            Shirley Jackson is known for her quiet horror, specifically the novel The Haunting of Hill House and the you-probably-read-it-in-high-school short story The Lottery. While her horror writing is excellent, she also wrote about her family life and the chaos that is raising four children. I listened to her semi-autobiographical collection of short stories Life Among the Savages on audio from READS. It is in one word: charming.

            Having read a couple of Jackson’s domestic short stories, I expected to enjoy Life Among the Savages. What I didn’t expect was to laugh out loud several times, including when I read Jackson’s Wikipedia entry where she referred to this book as a “disrespectful memoir” of her children. I particularly enjoyed listening to their young son Laurie relay the horrible misdeeds of his classmate Charlie. Shirley and her husband are wrapped up in the many stories of Charlie’s anarchy, and Shirley is anxious to meet Charlie’s mother at the next PTA meeting to see JUST what kind of woman raises a wild child like that. Unfortunately, Shirley discovers that although those misdeeds certainly happened, there is no child named Charlie in her son’s class…

            Lesa Lockford narrates the audio book and does a wonderful job. She gives each child a distinct voice that is cute but not overly exaggerated. I think her delivery made the book even more enjoyable than simply reading it would have. But as always, Jackson’s prose is the real star. Whether writing about horrors or hand-me-downs, she is able to make the action or a character’s feelings vividly jump off the page. If you’re a mood reader like me, and need to break up heavier works with something light, I highly recommend these wholesome and delightful stories.

Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King, Audio

 

Reviewed by Christy

            When someone thinks of Stephen King they probably think of drain-dwelling clowns or ax-wielding dads or any a number of iconic horror imagery. A novel about an older woman telling her life story in one long monologue might not make the cut. But Dolores Claiborne has plenty of horror between its pages – mostly of the everyday, human kind.

            Dolores has been taken in for questioning by the police after her employer of over thirty years is found dead at the bottom of her stairs. Unfortunately, Dolores has already been under suspicion for decades after the strange, maybe-accidental-maybe-not death of her abusive husband.

            The novel is mostly made up of Dolores’ statement to the police. She begins with how she met her no-good husband Joe and goes into great detail about working for her employer Vera as a caretaker. Neither of these are particularly healthy relationships but Dolores takes it in stride. I could see how a book-long monologue doesn’t sound very exciting but Dolores is an interesting character whose story I was eager to hear.

            The book is written in a thick Maine dialect to give it some flavor, however I chose to listen to it on audio book which gave it even more dimension (and it’s easier for me to take in a dialect via audio versus reading it on the page). The narrator, Frances Sternhagen, does a fantastic job, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Dolores’ story through her. Dolores is a crotchety, out-spoken woman who is not without her charms, and I loved her.

            I think Dolores Claiborne is a good example of what people want when they ask for “strong female characters”: she’s not perfect by any means, but she’s a fleshed out, flawed human like anyone else, and she just wants a chance to say her piece.

            If anyone is interested, the audio book is available on READS, and the regular print book is available at Main. Main also has the 1991 movie adaptation starring Kathy Bates!