RIP Mini-reviews, Round 1

Sixteen-year-old Jacob's boring life is completely turned upside down when his grandfather is mysteriously killed. He swears he saw a horrible monster attack his grandfather, but no one believes him. Jacob decides it is time to take his grandfather's crazy stories seriously and seeks out Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. He is determined to uncover what happened to his grandfather and what is going on with all of these students who are unlike any people he has ever met before.

I think I'm one of the last people to read this book. Since coming out six years ago, it's been a very popular choice for teen and adults looking for a bit of a creepy tale. The cover draws you right in, and Ransom Riggs used strange photographs throughout to add to the story. I am sad to say I found myself in the minority of readers who didn't love it. (Minor Spoilers Ahead!) The concept is so interesting: a group of people stuck in a time bubble where they repeat the same day over and over and those people happen to have special, magical abilities. But the idea never went anywhere, the writing didn't transport me into the story, and the characters fell flat. This story would be a good choice for someone looking for a book that is just creepy enough to count for a Halloween read without keeping you up all night, though.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
By Ransom Riggs
Quirk June 2011
352 pages
From my shelves

One night, Miranda and Eliot's mother is away on a trip. Eliot turns to his sister and tells her that they cannot sleep; if they sleep, their mother will die. Surely enough, when they wake up the next morning, their mother has been killed in a faraway act of violence. The children and their father attempt to live a normal life going to school and operating the family bed and breakfast. But there is a dark current running through their home--Miranda wastes away as she refuses the food her father prepares in favor of chalk and plastic. And the house itself is determined to protect Miranda, even at the cost of the people around her.

If you have read anything by Helen Oyeymi, you know that she excels when writing about the strange and supernatural. It's not unusual for a reader to not be 100% sure what is going on and that is true for White is for Witching too. The book rapidly switches narration between the siblings, a friend you don't meet until halfway through, and the house itself. White is for Witching is rarely terrifying but it is always eerie. It's bizarre and unsettling and shows how powerful and fascinating Oyeyemi is as a writer, even in her early stories.

White is for Witching
By Helen Oyeyemi
Nan A. Talese January 2009
230 pages
From the library

Mini-reviews: What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours and Summer Days and Summer Nights

Helen Oyeyemi is known for writing novels that are unexpected, a bit dark, and based on fairy tales. In What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours, the stories concern doorways and keys, sometimes in minor details and sometimes as an integral part of the story. Some characters jump stories, showing up as a protagonist in one and a minor character in another. As with many short story collections, I read some stories I adored and some that I really had to commit to finishing.

books and roses is amazingly executed and one of those stories I wished would spark a whole novel. It follows a young woman who was left on the steps of a monastery as a baby with a note and a key. She now works in a hotel doing laundry, where she encounters a wealthy painter who wears a key around her neck too. Their lives will intersect in incredible and magic ways. Oyeyemi seems to shine brightest when she is writing of the past, of fables and fairy tales like in drownings. But I also enjoyed the modern story a brief history of the homely wench society,where a group of young women prank a fraternity, and presence, in which a couple undergoes an experiment and sees the son they never knew. Helen Oyeymi is inarguably an incredibly talented writer and I will gladly explore any magic land she creates.

What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours
By Helen Oyeyemi
Riverhead Books March 2016
325 pages
From the library

YA writer Stephanie Perkins edited a story collection entitled My True Love Gave To Me, which features stories about falling in love during the magic of winter. The collection was so popular that a second one was released this May, which focused on summer flings. Summer Days and Summer Nights is a great way to find new YA authors and it features a wonderfully diverse group of characters.

In "Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail," a boy and a girl start a tentative romance in a summer town where a monster supposedly swims in the lake. It was the perfect start to a bunch of stories about summer. Libba Bray's "Last Night at the Cinegore" might be more of a horror homage than a love story, but it's a lot of fun. Perkins checks in with her characters from the winter book with "In Ninety Minutes, Turn North" and I loved seeing how the relationship between Marigold and North had changed. "Souvenirs" is the tale of two boys breaking up before going off to college at the amusement park where they both work. This is the perfect collection to relive the joy of your first summer love, while sitting on your porch with a cool glass of lemonade.

Summer Days and Summer Nights
Edited by Stephanie Perkins
St. Martin's Griffin May 2016
400 pages
Read via Netgalley

Review: Boy, Snow, Bird

Boy, Snow, Bird

By Helen Oyeyemi

Riverhead March 2014

308 pages

From the library 

Boy Novak finally gathers up the courage to escape her tyrannical rat-catcher father and the cold loneliness of New York City. She finds a small town, a job, and a handsome widower to love. Boy marries Arturo and becomes part of a long-established family and stepmother to a beautiful little girl named Snow. But when Boy gives birth to her own daughter Bird, she discovers that the Whitmans have been keeping a big secret. Tension builds until Boy makes a choice that will forever change their family. Boy, Snow, and Bird must confront their most closely held beliefs about themselves and each other. 

Boy, Snow, Bird is marketed as a Snow White retelling and in a sense, it is that. At a very basic level, Boy becomes the wicked stepmother when she finds her loyalty divided between her own daughter and the daughter of another woman. But this book is so much more than that. Oyeyemi looks at racial, gender, and familial identity through a very unique lens. She also grapples with questions of beauty and perception. This is seen most strikingly through the Whitman women and their interaction with mirrors. Boy very much enjoys looking at herself in the mirror. Snow does sometimes, but worries that she can't see her reflection at certain times. Her half-sister Bird discovers that she rarely has a reflection - she can't be seen by herself or other people.

This story focuses heavily on the things that aren't done or said. It is one of those stories where not much seems to be happening, but everything is happening to these characters in small, quiet moments. Fairy tales and their retellings can be difficult because we get seemingly one dimensional characters, moments of magic next to moments of real life, and sometimes inexplicable plot points. That is certainly the case with this book.

Oyeyemi has a very distinct writing style and I found myself intrigued for much of the story. Towards the end, though, she reveals something very crucial which left me scratching my head. It just felt incredibly out of place as if the author decided that this thing should happen, regardless of whether or not it fit with the tone or plot of the rest of the story. 

Boy, Snow, Bird  is a novel that is difficult to describe. Whether you actively enjoy it or not, this book is one that begs to be considered, to be re-read and to be thought about as the author subtly raises questions and leaves you to answer them. The writing is captivating and this is a story that demands to be noticed. 

My review of Mr Fox by Helen Oyeyemi

Review: Mr. Fox

Mr. Fox

By Helen Oyeyemi

Riverhead September 2011
324 pages 

From the library

St. John Fox is an acclaimed novelist who seems to have difficulty keeping his heroines alive at the end of his books. Mary Foxe is his muse, at least she is until she comes to life. She objects to his treatment of women in his writing. The two start a compelling game of story and words where they meet in different times and places. The battle is in good fun (mostly) until Fox’s wife Daphne enters into the game. How can Mr. Fox love the woman he is married to and the woman in his mind?

This book is different than anything I have read before and I loved it. I didn’t always understand what was happening, but I was happy to be invited for the ride. Instead of being frustrated by my lack of understanding, I think of it instead as one of those novels that you can go back to time and again to find new insights.

The novel seems to start off traditionally, until we break into the stories created by Fox and Mary. Each one is so engaging that I wished it was an entire novel itself. I don’t want to say that I was in a reading slump because that is not quite true. What is true is that this untraditional format reignited my love for stories. Oyeyemi is an incredibly gifted writer. She manages to balance so many variations of Mary and St. John and so many different styles of writing. Each one is nuanced and beautiful. I’m so happy I discovered this writer.

I love the little love notes that Oyeyemi sends to writers and readers. A character writes a love letter all over a bed’s sheets and pillows. Mary Foxe rejoices over the understanding relationship between a writer and their typewriter.  In another story, she finds comfort in fairy tales. “Miss Foxe’s other passion was fairy tales. She loved the transformations in them. Everybody was in disguise, or on their way to becoming something else. And all was overcome by the end. Love could not prevail if the order of the tale didn’t wish it, and neither could hatred, nor grief, nor cunning. If you were the first of three siblings, then you were going to make a big mistake, and that was that. If you were the third sibling, you couldn’t fail. Here is the truth about everything , Miss Foxe would think…”

Mr. Fox is not your traditional novel. It is an examination of the people and situations that could be. The fun part is that the reader is never 100% sure what is real and what is story. Make sure you pick up this beautiful book. I know the year is young, but I think this might be a strong contender for one of my favorites of the year.