What does it take to be a good mother? A good neighbor? Straight answers are hard to find in this keenly observed short story by New York Times bestselling author Janelle Brown.
Polly’s fourth-grade daughter has been spending a lot of time with her classmate Sylvie—maybe too much. Sylvie’s clothes are a little…flashy…and her phone (a ten-year-old with a phone!) doesn’t seem to have any parental controls. It seems that Sylvie’s mother, with her vape pens and her too-high heels, may not be making good choices.
As Polly tries to exert a positive influence, she discovers just how little anyone can tell about a family from the outside.
Janelle Brown’s Trouble is part of We Could Be Heroes, a darkly inquisitive collection of short stories that examines heroic intentions versus their real-life consequences.
Suburban soccer mom, Polly, is concerned, because her ten year old daughter, Hannah, has made a new friend in Sylvie, a girl from the “other side of tracks” who she fears might exert a negative influence on her innocent daughter. Worse, is Hannah’s mom, blonder-than blonde bombshell Katrina, new to the community and not showing interest or involving herself in the children’s activities like the other suburban moms.
“Katrina was aggressively blonde, violet nails filed to violent points, a stubborn tightness to her jaw despite the fleshy invitation of her body. Katrina didn’t show up for back- to- school meetings, didn’t sign up for soccer, didn’t attend the spring carnival or the open house or any of the Wisdom Warriors speaker series events. She materialized only at drop- off and pickup, always at a distance from the other parents who lurked by the school entrance, her cheek glued to her cell phone and her mink lashes tilted toward the sky.”
I mean… can you blame her? Would you want to hang out with an established clique of women who call themselves the “Wisdom Warriors”, a social justice warrior wannabe group? It’s giving, “you can’t sit with us” vibes.
I’d keep my distance too.
“Sometimes, late at night, Polly would sneak into her daughter’s bedroom to watch her sleep, Hannah’s face a perfect mask of innocence, and feel a love so overwhelming that it made her queasy. How much there was to lose. How easily life could go sideways.”
Polly ultimately allows Hannah and Sylvie to have play-dates at her house and tries to befriend Katrina, but her attempts are unsuccessful. One day they have a semi-breakthrough, which only concerns Polly further, regarding Sylvie. She brings her opinions to the “hivemind” and they make a plan. Except, it’s the holidays — the ladies are far too busy, especially Polly vacationing in Hawaii with her husband and their children– so the serious matters concerning Sylvie will just have to wait… After all, at least they made a plan — they think and pat themselves on the back.
“Maybe Sylvie could benefit from Polly’s children’s good fortune. Polly had so much; it was only right to give some of it away.”
Cringe! Oh, Polly… money doesn’t make one “fortunate.” Your socioeconomic class doesn’t determine your worthiness and your daughter doesn’t need to bestow her “fortune” onto “poor,” “needy,” “lower-income,” and “lower-class” Sylvie.
The FMC, while happy with the life she has as a stay-at-home mom, feels unfulfilled, wishing she had a career like her husband, but is unable to communicate that to him because she doesn’t want to appear ungrateful for what he’s provided which she is very grateful for. Unfortunately, I think this led her down the social justice warrior, or Wisdom Warrior path, because it gave her a purpose — something to obsess over and take her mind off the mundane daily drudgery of wiping little noses and making healthy meals.
“…having little of her own life to convey to Eric because really, what was there to tell, except for what had happened to the kids in school?— and she couldn’t help resenting him for having a life, for being out there in the world while she was stuck here in the house, wishing she had something that showed her worth beyond simply raising two healthy, adjusted fucking children.“
I struggled connecting with Polly, the FMC, because she was so uppity, judgemental, and assumed the absolute worst about people based on very little, her suspicions amplified by the Wisdom Warriors who supported and encouraged her upcoming actions. I did feel for her when she struggled getting Katrina to warm up to the idea of a friendship between them and she felt outright rejected. But overall, she wasn’t a likable character to me. Katrina, with the “aggressively blonde hair” – Whatever that means, I did like, though!
““You fancy moms, you think you know everything, with all your smug pity. Believe me, you know nothing.”“
The twist was excellent, the story kept me guessing, and the truth was completely unexpected. The last lines of the book made me laugh out loud in a good way. Clearly my dislike for the FMC didn’t affect my rating. The story just wouldn’t have been the same without her cringe-worthy inner dialogue and embarrassing attempts to befriend Katrina!
I’d recommend this read to fans of thrillers and mystery, with children in peril themes.
When Father began to build the wall, we didn’t understand at first. We thought it was to keep something in—It couldn’t be to keep anything out. There wasn’t anyone on the island but us. But as the wall grew higher and higher, we began to wonder.”
📸 @aprillwoodauthor
Synopsis:
When a barrier between truth and illusion grows stronger, a family’s trust crumbles in this arresting short story by the number one New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in Cabin 10.
Leah has spent her formative years isolated on a remote island with her family. But their quiet existence, far from the devastated mainland, is cracking. Father, sensing a coming threat, demands that a wall be built. As the stone blockade rises, Father’s paranoia escalates. So does Leah’s dread that the violence the family left behind has found its way to their sanctuary.
Ruth Ware’s Snowflakes is part of Hush, a collection of six stories, ranging from political mysteries to psychological thrillers, in which deception can be a matter of life and death.
Genre:
Psychological Thriller
Mystery
Suspense
Tropes & Themes:
“Live by the sword; die by the sword”
Isolated Island
Archnemesis Father
Rating:
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
“They’re coming” was all he said.”
Young Leah escaped her homeland with her brothers, Cain and Jacob, younger sister, May, Woof the dog and their father — in absolute fear for her life and the safety of her family. When they arrive at a desolated Island, she feels safe being so far away from the dangers of the mainland. But as time passes and her father’s demeanor darkens, he pushes his children harder to focus on building a rock wall instead of harvesting crops and milking cows. The danger they fled from arrives to the Island, and like good little soldiers, the children are prepared alongside their father.
I enjoyed this read, albeit it’s predictability and somewhat inconsistent storyline, Spoiler Alert ⚠ (where Leah remembers witnessing a traumatic event involving her mother versus the truth which was that the children were so confused and scared that they didn’t realize until after escape that their mother wasn’t present, which was told in the beginning.) End of Spoiler Alert ⚠
However, some of the predictability can be explained through the POV of Leah, a young child who believes her father is her world, and therefore the “point-of-view lens” was clouded not only by her allegiance to her father but also her immaturity.
I suspected the ending from the start, as there were MANY obvious clues, but perhaps that was the point. Overall, there’s a lot of suspense with the not-knowing-for-sure and the dysfunctional family dynamics and unpredictability of “Father”. In the end, there is a happily-for-now, which was a nice way to conclude this installment of the Hush Collection.
Title: The Green Witch’s Garden: Your Complete Guide to Creating and Cultivating a Magical Garden Space
Author: Arin Murphy-Hiscock
Published: 2021, Simon and Schuster
Cover Design: Frank Rivera
Cover Illustrations: Sara Richard
Cover Images: Eleonora Konnova
Hardcover Edition: 224 pages
The Green Witch’s Garden: Your Complete Guide to Creating and Cultivating a Magical Garden Space
Synopsis:
Create your own enchanting witch’s garden and draw energy from the earth with this guide to cultivating your very own magical ingredients.
A green witch embraces the power of nature, draws energy from the earth and the universe, and relies on stones, plants, flowers, and herbs for healing. In The Green Witch’s Garden , you will learn how to create your own magical space to enhance your witchcraft practice.
With information on how to plan and design your sacred garden and tipsAdd and tricks to growing and harvesting magical ingredients, this book will allow you to take control of your practice and more deeply connect with the earth. Let experienced witch and author of The Green Witch Arin Hiscock-Murphy guide you on your path to creating your personal piece of nature.
Green Witchcraft > Earth Witch > Elemental Magic > Earth, Air, Fire Water
Reference > Gardening > Plants & Wildflowers
Spirituality > Paganism
My Rating:
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
I’m a huge fan of both gardening and witches and when I saw The Green Witch’s Garden, by Arin Murphy-Hiscock, I knew I needed this gorgeous hardcover gardening reference book. I went into this with hopes of growing my knowledge of wildflowers and plants and learning their correspondence with the four elements but also planets and luminaries. And Murphy-Hiscock did not disappoint!
I have seventeen+ gardens — several of them pollinator gardens — on an 1/11th of an acre of land, plus many outdoor container gardens. Like my name, April, I too rebirth in Spring. It’s my favorite season and the beginning of life. As my sprouts bloom, so do I. Being outside, working in the dirt full of healthy bacteriums, under the sunshine, fully grounded, does something to me, transforming me into a better version of myself.
No weeds allowed! 📸 by Benjamin Wood of me ferociously weeding our winter-dormant Quickfire Hydrangeas
From this reference book, I discovered the magic of moon gardens further than just “white flowers”, as I believed, and solar gardens, a concept I wasn’t aware of. The beautiful illustrations of the moon garden are so inspiring, as are the solar, and elemental gardens. So if you’re looking for some witchy garden inspo, and want to try something fun and different in your yard, you might find this book jumpstarting your creativity!
For the green witch seeking to have a hand in curating their spiritual interaction with plants literally from the ground up, The Green Witch’s Garden provides a basic introduction to gardening while also offering a cross-section of gardening lore, folk traditions, and magic.”
📸 @aprillwoodauthor
The Green Witch’s Garden is divided into nine concise chapters about green witchcraft in the garden, magical goals, witch gardens, alternative indoor gardens and container gardens, preparing your sacred space, choosing what to plant, garden magic and deities, magical harvesting and cooking with produce from your garden, and lastly, practicing witchcraft in your garden.
The interior is full of beautiful full-color illustrations of indoor and outdoor plants, as well as the previously mentioned illustrated gardens. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this read and I look forward to incorporating what I have learned into my own gardening!
Everything smelled like cigarettes, raspberry liquor, and old blood.”
📸 @aprillwoodauthor
Synopsis:
When a stranger comes to town, secrets are sure to come out. New York Times bestselling author Tamsyn Muir spins a twisty—and twisted—short story of revenge and survival.
A fresh-faced newcomer arrives in an isolated, gang-run town and soon finds herself taking a job nobody else wants: bodyguard to a ghoul. Not just your average mindless, half-rotted shuffler, though. Lucille is a dancer who can still put on her own lipstick and whose shows are half burlesque, half gladiator match. But the stranger is no stranger to this particular ghoul. Both women are undercover in their own way. And both have something to lose if their connection comes to light.
There were moth- eaten holes in the abdomen and the neck, and one knee and one hip were fully defleshed. The raspberry lips parted to reveal the dancer’s teeth.”
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
In a dystopian society where ghouls, gangsters, and people live among one another, a woman with a secret accepts the position of bodyguard to a ghoul, employed by a hardened and cruel woman known as The Widower.
“You want me to— keep her alive . . . ?” Her voice died away at the Widower’s expression. The eyes were perfectly gray and perfectly empty.
“You’re to look after her and to be answerable for her,” said the Widower. “She needs to be entertained— don’t gape at me, girl, she gets bored— she needs to be fed and watered, and most of all she needs someone to keep her handled. She’s put down five handlers already… If you do good by her, I’ll make sure you retire wealthier than any woman in your line of business has ever retired. By God, you’ll be rich.”
Lucille — the undead ghoul who Starr is tasked with guarding, entertaining, feeding, and yes, watering — isn’t your ordinary zombie. She wears red lipstick, is brunette, and still retains some of the beauty she had when she was still alive. She’s also a burlesque dancer / cage-fighter, forced to dance before gangsters by Starr’s boss, The Widower.
“Once upon a time the dancer had been a good- looking brunette— before early decomp and the rigors of undeath had hit. Now she was only parts of a good- looking brunette. The face that peered at her through the mesh was a wild- eyed, idiot, predator’s face. There was something uncomfortably baby doll about it. Heart shaped. The big dull eyes bluish and glassy without much difference between pupil and white. Like you could pop them out and put new ones back in. Right now the mouth was a pursed little parody of a dolly mouth. Some sick individual had painted it raspberry red with a child’s hand, leaving waxy streaks right up to each nostril.”
This dark fantasy with an even darker FF romantic subplot is so twisty! There are several *big reveals* that had my jaw dropping, especially the backstory of Lucille the ghoul, who was not only a dancer, but also a wife. There is an extremely toxic romantic relationship with an imbalanced power dynamic, but to discuss it would give away too much of the storyline, ruining one of the surprises. But if you like darkly romantic horror shorts set in a dystopian world of gangsters and ghouls, I’d recommend giving this horror-short a try!
About the Author:
TAMSYN MUIR is the bestselling author of the Locked Tomb Trilogy, which begins with Gideon the Ninth, continues with Harrow the Ninth, and concludes with Alecto the Ninth. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the World Fantasy Award and the Eugie Foster Memorial Award. A Kiwi, she has spent most of her life in Howick, New Zealand, with time living in Waiuku and central Wellington. She currently lives and works in Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
In this dreamlike short story told in alternating prose and verse, number one New York Times bestselling author Tomi Champion-Adeyemi weaves a tale of a young woman’s journey to find her mother and uncover her secrets.
Fifteen years ago, Lęina’s mother, Yuliana, went searching for a mythical place called the Garden and never returned. Determined to learn the truth about what happened, Lęina travels to Brazil to search for the hidden realm, with Yuliana’s journal and a local tour guide leading the way. But Lęina soon begins to wonder if she’s looking for answers—or if what she truly wants to find is herself.
Lęina’s mother abandoned her daughter for “The Garden”, leaving behind an old battered journal with pressed flowers tucked between the pages, and old pieces of film, handwritten notes and maps, and other mementos that heartbroken, grief-stricken Lęina believes are all part of the puzzle that is her mother’s disappearance.
Lęina didn’t think there was a way she could sum up fifteen years. From the moment the journal first fell into her hands, she had committed herself to following its path. Its teaching broke through her barriers and lines. For the first time, there was order in her mind. Lęina had vowed to follow its pages to the bitter end. She had spent her nights piecing together the fragments of its secret map. Scribbles her mother left began to merge with the red ink of Lęina’s pen. This journal had taken her life and given her a journey instead.”
The young woman is escorted to Brazil, by a local guide named Angelo, a chestnut-colored-haired-man with unusual feet. More on that later… ⚠ Spoilers ahead about my interpretation of The Garden ⚠
I think I’m addicted to sadness.”
The Garden
This is one of those stories where if you know, you know, and if you don’t get it, consider yourself fortunate. I believe this is a story about grief, sadness, depression, and being lost in your own mind. While reading this story I picked up on several themes related to mental health, and the state of Lęina’s was extremely poor.
I also believe that the local guide escorting her was loosely based on Brazilian folklore, specifically the Curupira, a red haired man-creature who guards the forest and leads people in wild directions, deep into jungles and forests. Above I mentioned Angelo is described as having chestnut curls, which essentially is a hue of red. He also has strange feet and per legend, the creature has backward feet. It’s of my interpretation that the author of this story used this bit of folklore when crafting Lęina’s journey with Angelo through Brazil. Misadventure and possibly a Curupira led her into a dark jungle and with only an old journal of her mother’s, she chases the “ghost” of her mother’s memory.
She could smell sadness like a fragrance sprayed in the air. Something young girls dotted behind their ears. She smelled the way men carried sadness in their chests, always given to them by their fathers, or a girl who broke their heart.”
The Garden
The “Garden” represents what I believe to be a conceptualization of the after-life. Sadly, I think her mother unalived herself and her daughter was walking down the same path, eventually meeting her own end, when she reaches the mythical Garden. (It should be mentioned that the reader isn’t taken this far into her journey through the jungles of Brazil and this is simply my interpretation of the story ending.)
I loved the dark poetry alternating with beautiful prose. Lęina is deeply introspective, inquisitive, and sadly, deeply depressed. She questions her tour guide about his thoughts on curses, ones on objects versus people. Her topics of conversation are bleak, the state of her mind depressed. She reveals a lot about her inner-being with her words. This was not a happy girl on a fun adventure. This was a literal su!c!de mission she felt had to take, desperate to get answers and ultimately pay for those answers with her soul.
⚠ End of Spoiler Warning ⚠
Overall, this story of magical realism mingled with dark fantasy resonated with me. I enjoyed the whimsical writing style and the inclusion of poems. I would definitely read another work by this Author.
“The shadow had definitely come out of the mirror, gone through the young woman and the dog, and disappeared. He stepped closer, trying to see more, but a white spot appeared in the middle and flared, eating into the picture until there was only white light.”
Garth Nix, Out of the Mirror, Darkness
Synopsis:
A cynical “fixer” for a silent-film studio must confront the shadows behind the bright lights in this noir-tinged short story by New York Times bestselling author Garth Nix.
It’s business as usual on the set of another cheap sword-and-sandal production by Pharos Pictures—until the lead actress suddenly falls into a deep, mysterious sleep. Jordan Harper can talk down high-strung starlets and knock sense into stuntmen, but this…this is the kind of uncanny problem that he’d usually bring to Mrs. Hope. Unfortunately, the preternaturally capable secretary is on a business trip with the studio head. Harper must get to the bottom of the mystery on his own before another cast member succumbs—or worse, they blow the budget.
📸 @aprillwoodauthor — The “Great Value” or “Wish” version aka my artistic impression of Out of the Mirror, Darkness. BTW, IG thinks I’m nude in this neck/arm/face close-up. Is IG OK? Someone needs to do a wellness check.
“He fixed things with talk far more often than with force. But what people remembered and talked about was always the action.”
Out of the Mirror, Darkness, by Author Garth Nix, is a noir-styled horror about a slumbering starlet, Miss Celine, and stunt dog, Ellsworth, who both cannot be awakened. This is a huge problem for “The Fixer”, Mr. Jordan Harper, because the show must go on! And he’s struggling with finding a solution to his problem, that may or may not be supernatural in origin.
“But the mirror was not reflecting the sunshine. It was dull and kind of greenish, probably from a layer of verdigris on the bronze.”
I’ll admit, it wasn’t until nearly the end that I realized Ellsworth was a dog (help me) and you wouldn’t imagine my confusion about all the sniffing! When it dawned on me that Ellsworth very much was a dog, I laughed out loud.
“When night falls, Ellsworth will seem recovered,” continued Mrs. Hope. “But he will not be. He will be under the sway . . . he will be controlled by . . . the monster that is within him…”
Overall, I enjoyed the themes and characters of this short story and the mystery behind what was “consuming” Miss Celine’s and the dog’s energy was fascinating. However, my mind wandered quite a bit while reading this, and my interest in the story didn’t pick up until the end when it was deep into the mystery. So, I have mixed feelings about this short story, but overall I liked it so I’m rating it 3 stars.
About the Author:
Garth Nix was born in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia, to the sound of the Salvation Army band outside playing ‘Hail the Conquering Hero Comes’ or possibly ‘Roll Out the Barrel’. Garth left Melbourne at an early age for Canberra (the federal capital) and stayed there till he was nineteen, when he left to drive around the UK in a beat-up Austin with a boot full of books and a Silver-Reed typewriter.
Despite a wheel literally falling off the Austin, Garth survived to return to Australia and study at the University of Canberra. After finishing his degree in 1986 he worked in a bookshop, then as a book publicist, a publisher’s sales representative, and editor. Along the way he was also a part-time soldier in the Australian Army Reserve, serving in an Assault Pioneer platoon for four years. Garth left publishing to work as a public relations and marketing consultant from 1994-1997, till he became a full-time writer in 1998. He did that for a year before joining Curtis Brown Australia as a part-time literary agent in 1999. In January 2002 Garth went back to dedicated writer again, despite his belief that full-time writing explains the strange behaviour of many authors.He now lives in Sydney with his wife, two sons and lots of books.
Annabelle Aster doesn’t bow to convention—not even that of space and time—which makes the 1890s Kansas wheat field that has appeared in her modern-day San Francisco garden easy to accept. Even more peculiar is Elsbeth, the truculent schoolmarm who sends Annie letters through the mysterious brass mailbox perched on the picket fence that now divides their two worlds.
Annie and Elsbeth’s search for an explanation to the hiccup in the universe linking their homes leads to an unsettling discovery—and potential disaster for both of them. Together they must solve the mystery of what connects them before one of them is convicted of a murder that has yet to happen…and yet somehow already did.
Annie’s new pen pal has been dead for over seventy years…”
The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster, a magical time travel misadventure story told in omniscient, or “all knowing” POV, by Scott Wilbanks, is a book I set down and came back to many times since I first received it for review, nearly ten years ago. — (Sorry Source Books!)
When I picked it up this time and began to read it again from page one, I couldn’t fathom why it was that I set it down last time with less than one hundred pages left of a four hundred page book?!
For instance, I was totally sweet on Annie, Elsbeth, Christian, Cap’n, and Edmund, the five misfits; four of which are Annie’s sidekicks but really were main characters in their own right. Annie Aster and Elsbeth were my faaaaaaaaavorites and I loved the mystery of the unexpected brass mailbox on a white picket fence, and how it connected them, even a hundred years apart! The worlds were vastly different between them, being one hundred years apart, and I found the historical time setting of 1895 to be a fun period to explore.
I wasn’t too far into the book when the magical sweetness bittered like a sweet & sour candy, leaving an unpleasant taste in my mouth. 🍋 It started with the letters shared via portal-mailbox, and Annie’s and El’s jokes about animal cruelty, specifically cats. Throughout the book, cats and kittens are mentioned or, later, handled in an abusive way. It was a hundred pages until the finish line when the weird cat stuff culminated in ridiculous cruelty, when one of the many villains in this story held an orphaned kitten over an oven burner. Really? No wonder I put this down. I have three rescue cats, two of which we took in this year, and I have no plans on stopping at three, (even though one of said rescues woke me up this morning by draping his huge frame across my body, right over the side I’m about to have surgery on, and boxed my nose with his paw until I got up). 🐾 😂
If all the weird cat stuff was edited out, and a few other things that lacked historical accuracy, this would easily be a five star read for me. It was unnecessary and added nothing of value to the fanciful and whimsical storytelling in this work of fantasy fiction. It seemed so out of place, like it was the author’s thoughts, and after reading his bio I understand he’s extremely sarcastic (so am I) and might have a little bit of a dark sense of humor, (also guilty –but not with cats!) so maybe, just maybe, that’s why?
This book is classified as Science Fiction and Mystery, but I’d argue The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster is also a Women’s Fiction. Women’s fiction is basically a story with a focus on the life journey of a FMC and her personal growth. Often there is a romantic subplot. Wilbanks’ novel has both. This was a plus for me. Annie, the FMC, has a rather unique and absolutely non-linear life journey, but it’s still a “life journey” and ultimately her personal growth is revealed and it’s wonderful.
The concluding chapters were heartwarming and just when I thought this book couldn’t possibly be more twisty, the reader is hit with yet another revelation and connection between the characters.
That’s excellent writing.
I also like the author’s interpretation of the phrase “if life gives you lemons” and his word, lemoncholy. I like to think of myself as a person who habitually makes the best of a bad situation, like Miss Annie Aster. The lovely title fits the whimsical storyline. Also, the art on the cover is so beautiful! I just love all the scrawled wildflowers, both on the cover and around chapter headings. I went nuts with my gel pens! 🖋 😁
The characters of this novel are truly what makes the story, and while there are quite a few to get to know through the omniscient knowledge of multiple POVs, each character was extremely memorable — and I’ve read this multiple times finishing at different marks, and starting again, for nearly ten years. I really can’t think of many other books I read ten years ago that I’ve remembered the details of the characters in the same way I have with this book.
For instance, there’s Elsbeth, an elderly widow and loner whose only company is that of a tattered scarecrow erected in her Kansas wheat field 🌾 outside of her cabin in the 1890’s. Her sarcastic pov and comments were side-spliting-ly HILARIOUS. She had me cry-laughing.
She said a quick prayer, ending it with an appeal for rain. Kansas was experiencing an uncommonly long dry spell, and she was starting to run out of patience with the good Lord. If he didn’t answer soon, she decided she wasn’t above stripping to her knickers and doing a rain dance in the pig pen to see if that would get his attention.”
Connected to Elsbeth is Annie, (the FMC), who begins her morning one day to discover a random brass mail box, on a mysterious white picket fence wrapped with greenery and healthy, established roses that definitely weren’t there yesterday. In the distance, Annie notices a wheat field and a smoky cabin. Stranger yet, is the letter threatening Annie with trespassing.
Trespass is dealt with at the business end of a shotgun in these parts!”
The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster
Unlike Elsbeth, Annie is portrayed as fragile, complete with a serious illness that isn’t partially revealed until the end. Her symptoms are shown and her use of syringes to deliver medication to herself are casually mentioned, sometimes a hundred pages between, eluding that something is very wrong with Annie but we are left in the dark as to what.
Loved the friendship between Annie and Christian, but it did add to her fragility because he was like a mother hen, tucking her under his proverbial wing. This was very endearing of Christian’s character, but did little favor to the perception the reader has of Annie.
The time travel theme is a fun element to any magical Sci fi or fantasy and while I loved the differences between 1895 and 1995, there were historical inaccuracies that were too glaring to ignore. For instance, Annie, an unmarried young woman, time-traveled back to 1895 and opened up a checking account.
Listen… I can accept that she time-traveled but I can’t accept that she somehow took the 1974 equal credit act back in time with her. In the 1960’s if a married woman opened a bank account, it was with her husband’s signature (permission). In 1974, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act changed this. It’s absurd that she would have been able to withdraw funds or open an account, unmarried in America, year 1895. Like I said, time-travel is more believable.
I loved Cap’n and the “Sandlot Gang”, the young street kids and orphan castaways of the 1890’s and how they rallied around Annie, protecting her from danger.
Nathaniel was a nice addition, as were the complications of a relationship between a man from 1895 and a woman of 1995. Their love story was for sure, complicated, and many misunderstandings ensued between then.
And of course Edmond, a man who discovers a new friend in Christian, after the most unusual of first impressions. These characters made up the fabric of this story, all connected by a single string. As the story unravels, it’s revealed how everyone is connected.
The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster is also a murder mystery, but one that transcends the bounds of time and space making this story unique and unexpected.
Overall, Wilbanks’ debut novel is a great blend of misadventure, time travel, magic, alchemy, and even romance!
Even though I’m rating this novel 4 stars, I’m reluctant to recommend it because of the Triggers I mentioned above. In addition, there were study group questions in the end that were completely inappropriate and random, regarding “sin”, homosexuality, and drug abuse. What?! Why was this included? I was expecting meaningful questions I could ponder and respond to and I get that.
So let’s make this quick:
1.) Sin is a socially/religiously constructed word that I don’t believe in nor subscribe to. So no, I don’t believe in “sin”.
2.) No. Homosexuality is not a “sin”. What does this have to do with the story?
3.) Yes, substance abuse is a disease. Again, and this has what to do with what?!
I received a complimentary copy from Source Books in return for my review. This did not influence my thoughts or rating.
She could hear Fogg River’s dead now, whispering under the crash of the water on the struts and the stones.”
What the Dead Know
Book: What the Dead Know
Author: Nghi Vo
Series: Into Shadow Collection, 4
As she looked down into the water, Maryse saw an arm flung up from the waves, the curve of a round dark shoulder and the flash of a pink palm rising from the froth before sinking away from sight. “Water women,” Vasyl said. “They have them here too.”
“They have them everywhere,” Maryse said absently, looking for others. “There’s never a shortage of unlucky girls who end up in the water.”
Synopsis:
A woman posing as a medium who can channel the spirit world comes face to face with the truth in this short historical fantasy by Hugo Award–winning author Nghi Vo.
The Fogg River Seminary, a girls’ school in a small Illinois town, is supposed to be just another stop on Maryse and Vasyl’s endless travels. They’ve made lucrative use of Maryse’s “foreign” looks in their melodramatic séance act—and an act is all it is. Then, during their performance, a blizzard sweeps in and cuts them off from town completely. In the freezing halls, there’s a voice speaking the secrets of the dead, and Maryse has no choice but to listen…because this time, the voice is real.
“She is far away, so deeply in the trance of her ancestors that she will not be wakened by conventional means.”
Genre:
Historical Fic
Fantasy > Paranormal
Horror
Short Stories > Collection
Tropes & Themes:
“I see dead people”
Forced Proximity > Blizzard > Seminary School for Girls
The Con > Scams and Money Making Schemes > Silver Tongue
Paranormal > Seance Performance
Ghost Story
Time Period: 1899
Multicultural
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
“How lucky we are, then, to know what the dead say.” They didn’t, of course they didn’t, but it was a living, and thus better than a dying…”
What the Dead Know
Maryse and Vasyl are travellers, onto their next town to perform their morbid yet fascinating seance act, and quite the performance it is:
“Silence!” Vasyl boomed, and they quieted like startled children, taking in the view in front of them: Vasyl in unrelieved black with his pale hair glowing like a halo in the dimmed electric lights, Maryse on the table doing her best impression of a corpse.”
What the Dead Know
After five years of claiming to be a Medium and Spiritualist, Maryse has never even once actually heard the dead speak. However, after a performance with a little extra ✨ razzle dazzle✨ Maryse’s ears are wide open to spiritual communication — much to her absolute horror.
When a snow blizzard hits and she and Vasyl, (and attending guests), are forced to stay overnight at the Fogg River Seminary School for Girls, Maryse gets an earful of what the dead have to say. Knowledge she wished had stayed hidden in the shadows of her brain, now that she has no choice but to listen.
What The Dead Know, oh how I love thee!
This ghostly, historical fantasy surprised me in the best way possible. I absolutely loved Author Nghi Vo’s lyrical and poetic writing style. Spooky and atmospheric, Vo crafted a unique and magical story about a pair of travelers who swindle and con their way across America, and despite this, they are extremely likeable.
I only wish this read wasn’t so short because there were a lot of themes in this horror-short that I would have loved to see explored further, especially that absolutely intense, read-it-again-and-again-AND-again, Kindle-highlight of an ending.
Great story. I would recommend it to fans of paranormal horror, set in a historical setting.
About the Author:
Nghi Vo is an American author of short stories, novellas, and novels. Vo’s fantasy novella The Empress of Salt and Fortune has received acclaim and won the Hugo Award for Best Novella and the IAFA Crawford Award.
A teenage nobody crosses a line that will change her life forever in this short coming-of-age story by number one New York Times bestselling author Lev Grossman.
Ever since her dad disappeared five years ago, Persephone has quietly walled off the feelings she’d rather not feel. There’s no room for pain or anger when you’re just trying to get through the hell that is high school. But one day, the crush of taunts and disappointments is finally too much—and a power breaks loose inside her that she never knew was there.
It’s short for Persephone, a goddess who went out picking flowers one day and wound up married to the god of death because she ate some pomegranate seeds. My parents either read way too much Greek mythology or not nearly enough.”
Persephone: A Short Story
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
I’ll admit, this cover stunned me with the gorgeous pomegranate, referencing Greek Goddess Persephone, and other lovely whimsical elements, like the moss, twigs, butterfly, and more!
I’ve always had a fascination with Greek Mythology, Gods, and Godessses, and the intensity of their stories. I just had to borrow this read from Prime, reading the Into Shadow collection out of order, (as per usual).
Persephone is a less-than-popular high school girl in contemporary society who has a gift, or possibly even a curse — she’s not sure, and before her father disappeared, he hadn’t made that clear, either.
Unlike me, he always believed in me. He always told me I was special, that I had a gift, and I just had to wait till I grew up to find out what it was.”
Persephone: A Short Story
I didn’t ask for much. All I wanted was a part in the Winter Plays, even if it was an old- lady part. And I wanted a book bag without any rats in it. And I wanted to know where my dad was.”
Persephone: A Short Story
As mentioned, this is a coming-of-age (or rage) story and although this is a short read, I was disappointed that her magic was never truly explained; it just happened like a thunderclap headache and she was whisked away in a hush, hush / nothing to see here fashion. It’s unfortunate this wasn’t drawn out further.
I still didn’t know if it was a gift or a curse, I didn’t choose it, but it was mine, it was who I was. No returns. No going back.”
Persephone: A Short Story
I liked the FMC, Persephone, and the setting of Lexington, Massachusetts! As a Massachusetts resident myself, I enjoyed seeing my state represented. Definitely saw that sarcastic sense of humor representative of the North East in Persephone, making her a likable character and even a little bit relatable.
But I would be free, and I would be myself. Show me those f_cking pomegranate seeds, I thought. Come on. I’ll eat every last one of them.”
Published by Amazon Original Stories, Seattle www.apub.com August 15, 2023
Series: Hannah Bauer 1.5
My Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Genre:
Horror
Mystery
Psychological Thriller
Suspense
Blurb:
From the bestselling author of The Perfect Child comes a short thriller about a couple faced with the terrifying return of a girl they once called their own who threatens everything they hold dear.
Janie is the last person Hannah and Christopher Bauer want to see again. But Janie’s moved back to Clarksville. She’s no longer the frail child Hannah and Christopher adopted over eleven years ago. The child who destroyed their lives.
Now Janie is out of juvenile detention—a beautiful, confident young adult—and publicly promoting her new tell-all memoir. At just eighteen, Janie has a violent and tragic story to share, brimming with grisly details. Details the public can’t get enough of…and that the Bauers can’t bear to relive. Janie has taken a new name and claims to have reformed her sociopathic ways. She’s ready to make amends. But when the Bauers refuse to meet with her, she takes matters into her own hands.
After the social worker formerly assigned to the case makes disturbing revelations about Janie’s calculated behavior, the Bauers brace for Janie’s next move, determined to protect their family—at any cost.
She’d been the worst case of child abuse and neglect I’d ever seen. Still to this day. That part was fact, and she described it vividly— tied with zip ties in a dark closet, a dog collar around her neck to shock her into submission or sometimes just to toy with her for fun, barely fed, never let into the outside world. Kept in filth and rot. And on and on it went. Her Adverse Childhood Experience score was off the charts. It was why Christopher had fallen head over heels in love with her when the police and paramedics brought her into the hospital where he worked. Why Hannah had given up her dreams of having a baby.”
A Welcome Reunion
A Welcome Reunion, by Clinical Psychologist and Author Lucinda Berry, is a coming of rage tale about an eighteen year old woman exiting “the system”, changing her name from Janie to Hope, and telling her story to the world, writing a memoir about her tragic experiences as a child and then with the Bauers–who she says gave up on her after welcoming her into their home as a family member. Rejected again, she became institutionalized, and eleven years later, Janie “Hope” is back in her old hometown, where her former adoptive parents live.
Hannah, Janie’s adoptive mother and a seasoned and decorated social worker, disagrees with most of her former daughter’s narrative. She and her husband, Christopher were good to Janie, she felt, but no amount of mothering would save her. It was true that Janie had been abused and neglected by her cruel biological family, but that no longer garnered any sympathy from Hannah; especially not after the absolute Hell Janie put her family through.
Whatever was wrong with her, you could no longer fix it, and I didn’t feel sorry for her, even if everyone else did.”
A Welcome Reunion
…when they first discovered her in a Walmart parking lot all those years ago wearing only a diaper and a dog collar. She’d been filthy, covered in scars and blood. Her body told a painful tale of years ravaged by abuse and neglect….”
A Welcome Reunion
I liked the trauma-bond dynamic between Christopher and Hannah. Their marriage was held together tentatively by strings that would wind tighter than wild Ivy during a tragic circumstance.
We didn’t talk about the Janie days in the same way veterans didn’t talk about their war days.”
A Welcome Reunion
With Janie back in town, spinning a wild web of all the abuse she suffered before and during her time in a juvenile justice program, Hannah and Christopher’s character is dragged through the mud in her tell-all memoir and during a TV interview, stirring feelings of anger. When Hannah catches wind of the behind the scenes master manipulation of someone who means everything to her, Hannah rages, her blood boiling as dark thoughts churn within her brain.
In A Welcome Reunion we also get the pov from Piper, a social worker who failed to follow up and blames herself for everything that has gone wrong in Janie’s short life. She’s friendly with Hannah and Christopher and is following Janie’s every move, offering them private info that could cost her her job, or worse, someone’s life.
I really liked this suspenseful read, especially because of it’s inclusion of childhood sociopathic behavior — an extreme psychological rarity. I love reads that offer a differing perspective, one that you might not expect.
I had no idea that this short is part of a series, starting with The Perfect Child. You wouldn’t imagine my excitement about getting to read more about “the beginning” and the origins of how it all came to be. I look forward to reading The Perfect Child!
📸 Goodreads
Overall, A Welcome Reunion is a well-crafted horror short about a young, violent girl, who had been failed many times in life, and the absolute havoc of terror she brings with her everywhere she goes. Now grown up, she’s back and seemingly more sociopathic than ever. Hannah won’t be deceived again, nor will her family — no matter what it takes to ensure that. I liked the decision she made but would have liked to see the aftermath and known Hannah’s fate. Even so, this was such a good read and I’d recommend it to anyone not triggered by the themes of child abuse, and to those who find it fascinating to read about psychological issues and personality disorders. 5 stars, without a doubt.
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