This is a question I ask myself a lot. I still can't decide on an answer and so I continue to buy more.

Identical by Ellen Hopkins

Identical
Ellen Hopkins
Genre(s): Contemporary, Poetry, Young Adult
Published: December 21st 2010
Pages: 565
Rating: 4 stars

“Kaeleigh and Raeanne are 16-year-old identical twins, the daughters of a district court judge father and politician mother running for US Congress. Everything on the surface seems fine, but underneath run very deep and damaging secrets. What really happened when the girls were 7 years old in that car accident that Daddy caused? And why is Mom never home, always running far away to pursue some new dream? Raeanne goes after painkillers, drugs, alcohol, and sex to dull her pain and anger. Kaeleigh always tries so hard to be the good girl -- her father's perfect little flower. But when the girls were 9, Daddy started to turn to his beloved Kaeleigh in ways a father never should and has been sexually abusing her for years. For Raeanne, she needs to numb the pain of not being Daddy's favorite; for Kaeleigh, she wants to do everything she can to feel something normal, even if it means cutting herself and vomiting after every binge. 

How Kaeleigh and Raeanne figure out just what it means to be whole again when their entire world has been torn to shreds is the guts and heart of this powerful, disturbing, and utterly remarkable book.”

This is dark. This is heavy. This is triggering.

I feel bad about giving this any stars because, really, I didn't enjoy it. The subject matter is more than taboo - it's something that should never even be thought of - so giving it any stars feels like condoning it. Hopkins, however, manages to weave a chilling, gripping, moving - and disgustingly far too real - tale of childhood sexual abuse and incest.

Talk about jumping in at the deep end. I threw myself head first off a cliff into Ellen Hopkins' work by starting with this.

Whilst reading, I wanted to hold the book at arms length, pinched between thumb and forefinger. But much like roadside accident, I found myself rubber necking and compelled to read more in other to know what happened and, hopefully, gain some peace.

There's no arguing that, yes, while this is a disgusting story, it's a good one. The free-verse works well in telling the story in a poetic way, without being overly flowery (or, conversely, outright vulgar and obscene). Hopkins' managed to construct well rounded, interesting characters who you couldn't help but feel for whilst reading. Kaeleigh and Raeanne elicit multiple emotions - frustration, anger, disgust, and sympathy, to name but a few - in a few short verses, highlighting Hopkins' skill as a story teller.

Identical was a very quick read (despite being close to 600 pages) that has opened my eyes to novels in verse, something I never thought I'd say

Blameless/Deserving/Idle/Profligate

Last weekend, my mum and I went to Southwell Workhouse - one of the first established workhouses of Victorian Britain. 

On Mental Health and What it Means

Apologies for the length of this post (and anything that don't make sense), but it's long overdue. I'm not looking for pity or sympathy, and I'm not making up excuses. I'm merely telling a story that should have been shared a long time ago.

I'm not feeling good. I haven't been for a long time. I relapsed and I'm still clawing my way out of the pit, only, my efforts have started to dry up and I can feel myself slipping again.

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
Stephen King
Genre(s): Adult, Horror, Short Stories
Published: November 3th 2015
Pages: 483
Rating: 4 stars

“In The Bazaar of Bad Dreams there is a curio for every reader – a man who keeps reliving the same life, repeating the same mistakes over and over again, a columnist who kills people by writing their obituaries, a poignant tale about the end of the human race and a firework competition between neighbours which reaches an explosive climax.

There are also intriguing connections between the stories – themes of morality, guilt, the afterlife and what we would do differently if we could see into the future or correct the mistakes of the past.

Effervescent yet bittersweet, juxtaposing the everyday against the unexpected, these stories comprise one of King’s finest gifts to both his ‘Constant Reader’ and new audience. King introduces each with a fascinating autobiographical passage about its origins or his motivation for writing it, giving unique insight into his craft which will delight the millions inspired by his celebrated non-fiction title On Writing.‘

I made them especially for you’, says King. ‘Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth.’”

Stephen King really is the King of his craft. He's able to spin creepy, spine-chilling tales in 40 pages as he is in 400. This collection of short stories wastes no time in getting down to business, ensuring from the get-go you're in for a wild ride.

Mile 81 kicks off the collection with an anecdote of King's past travels and abandoned rest stops, which in themselves can be horror stories. It's perhaps reminiscent of Christine and From a Buick 8, but I wouldn't know as I've yet to read those. What I do know is that the slow build sets the tone for the rest of the stories: things are not what they seem.

I wouldn't go as far as to call the overarching theme 'horror', but it's definitely unsettling - in some cases more so than others. Before this, I'd only read one collection of King's short stories (Full Dark, No Stars) and while I loved it, I did find I preferred some stories over others. This again was the case with The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, with some of my personal favourites being The Dune, A Death, and Afterlife.

King has a way of switching his tone and style to suit each story. Some came across as more 'classically King' to me than others, but all were enjoyable in their own right. Characters felt well established and separate from each other, and things had just the right amount of believability coupled with the unnatural. 

Overall, a good place to start if you're new to King's work and don't want to be terrified.

Dresden/Berlin

11/04/16 - 15/04/16

Desert Island Tag

A few weeks ago, I saw this tag on several different blogs. It looked like a bit of fun so I decided I wanted to give it a go. Essentially, it's the book equivalents of all the necessities you'd need if you were stranded on a desert island.