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amanda_lodden* Suture Self by Mary Daheim (17)
This book is another lesson in "Amanda's tastes have changed as she's gotten older." I read Daheim when I first started getting into mysteries, and I liked her. Now, mostly I see a whiny main character that grates on my nerves, a childish bitch of a sidekick who I repeatedly want to throttle, and a plot resolution so ridiculous I groaned and wished I hadn't bothered with the book at all.
* All Around The Town by Mary Higgins Clark (18)
The polar opposite of Suture Self-- I started reading it, and as soon as I realized that the main suspect has multiple personalities, I was sorely tempted to just put the book down and walk away. I *hate* multiple personalities in stories-- they're so rarely portrayed like actual MPD sufferers, and it's soooo easy to end up pinning the murder on one of the "hidden" personalities.
The general story was well-written up to that point, and there were some intriguing points of view being shown, so I stuck with it. Clark did not disappoint me-- the twists and turns kept me guessing, alternating between "oh, I bet that person did it" and "oh crap, she's going to make it a hidden personality after all." By the time I got to the end, there was enough reasonable doubt that I would have been satisfied with any one of several endings.
But there's still a "magic cure" for MPD and people get better right away when the initial cause of the psychotic break is removed. So minus one star for that bullshit.
* The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines (19)
Strong female characters, going out and kicking ass. Based on familiar fairy tales, but with a different perspective. I wanted to like this story SO much. I wanted to love this book.
I don't love this book. I don't hate it, but it's missing an essential spark that I can't quite explain. The characters have some actual depth to them (except Snow White's mother, who is just eats-puppies-and-kittens evil) and the three main characters manage to have a bit of character growth. But...... I dunno. Things end up feeling a little bit pat, even though Hines goes to great lengths to make them complex. Cinderella's dead mother is far too much of a Deus Ex Machina. Talia is just a little TOO skillful, even though the explanation given makes sense given her history. They go too many places, with too many things happening all at once-- I almost feel like it should have been two books with more description and side interests and character growth in between.
This book is another lesson in "Amanda's tastes have changed as she's gotten older." I read Daheim when I first started getting into mysteries, and I liked her. Now, mostly I see a whiny main character that grates on my nerves, a childish bitch of a sidekick who I repeatedly want to throttle, and a plot resolution so ridiculous I groaned and wished I hadn't bothered with the book at all.
* All Around The Town by Mary Higgins Clark (18)
The polar opposite of Suture Self-- I started reading it, and as soon as I realized that the main suspect has multiple personalities, I was sorely tempted to just put the book down and walk away. I *hate* multiple personalities in stories-- they're so rarely portrayed like actual MPD sufferers, and it's soooo easy to end up pinning the murder on one of the "hidden" personalities.
The general story was well-written up to that point, and there were some intriguing points of view being shown, so I stuck with it. Clark did not disappoint me-- the twists and turns kept me guessing, alternating between "oh, I bet that person did it" and "oh crap, she's going to make it a hidden personality after all." By the time I got to the end, there was enough reasonable doubt that I would have been satisfied with any one of several endings.
But there's still a "magic cure" for MPD and people get better right away when the initial cause of the psychotic break is removed. So minus one star for that bullshit.
* The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines (19)
Strong female characters, going out and kicking ass. Based on familiar fairy tales, but with a different perspective. I wanted to like this story SO much. I wanted to love this book.
I don't love this book. I don't hate it, but it's missing an essential spark that I can't quite explain. The characters have some actual depth to them (except Snow White's mother, who is just eats-puppies-and-kittens evil) and the three main characters manage to have a bit of character growth. But...... I dunno. Things end up feeling a little bit pat, even though Hines goes to great lengths to make them complex. Cinderella's dead mother is far too much of a Deus Ex Machina. Talia is just a little TOO skillful, even though the explanation given makes sense given her history. They go too many places, with too many things happening all at once-- I almost feel like it should have been two books with more description and side interests and character growth in between.
