Bob @ Beauty in Ruins
PLEASE NOTE: I'm rarely active here anymore, but please feel free to follow me on Goodreads, where I post regularly.
These are the chronicles of a book addict, a photo junkie, and an aspiring author, rewriting the very fabric of reality one page (and one snapshot) at a time. From the strange to the unusual; the abandoned to the abnormal; the haunted to the historic; the supernatural to the surreal; the forests of dark fantasy, the cemeteries of gothic horror, and the post-apocalyptic ruins of science fiction are the landscapes of my imagination.
Currently reading
Horror Review: We are Wormwood by Autumn Christian
While I always regret shelving a title as DNF, I really feel bad about We are Wormwood. There's absolutely no doubt that Autumn Christian has a plethora of talent displayed upon the page here. In terms of narrative, she has a way with words that is fluid, lyrical, and absolutely dense with imagery. This is the kind of book where you can pour over each paragraph, pick it apart, and find something even darker and more magical in the construction.
The problem is, it's one of those books that (for me, at least) falls into the dreaded 'admire it, but didn't enjoy it' category. That's likely a bit unfair to Christian, and I really hope it doesn't sway anybody else's decision about giving this a read, but it does reflect where my head is at. I've got a lot of sorrow and more stress than you can imagine in my life right now, and I'm looking for entertainment . . . for excitement . . . for escapism.
As much as I appreciate the technical skill with which Christian has built her narrative, the struggle to connect with the plot was just too much to keep me fully engaged to the end. It's a shame, but even after a month of third, fourth, and fifth chances, it's just not something that's working for me right now. Honestly, I do suspect this is an exceptional book, and for those with the patience and curiosity to unravel its strands I wish you all the best.
2