The Just City (Thessaly, #1) by Jo Walton

When the god Apollo seeks to understand the workings of the mortal mind and heart, he asks his sister, Athene to help him. She reveals a project in which she has gathered together philosophers from across time and space and put them in a settlement called, “The Just City”. In this city, set near a volcano that will one day explode and destroy all evidence of the project, a group of men, women and children will try to recreate the hypothetical state described in Plato’s “Republic”.

Apollo asks to join this group. And our story begins.

The city itself shone in the afternoon light. The pillars, the domes, the arches, all of it lay in the balance of light and shadow. Our souls know harmony and proportion before we are born, so although I had never seen anything like it, my soul resonated at once to the beauty of the city.” pgs 35-36

But what is perfect in theory turns out to be not-so-perfect in practice. Among the thornier problems, the city has shared marriages and children raised by the group, not families. This causes predictable jealousies and secret romances. There’s also something strange going on with the robotic workers Athene brought from a future time to help with the mundane tasks of civilization, like raking the roads and planting the vineyards.

“We are in a time before the fall of Troy. And we are on the doomed island of Kallisti, called by some Atlante.” Even I had heard of Atlantis.” pg 45

Another major issue, caused because they were pulled from different points in history, are the different philosophers’ views on gender equality. Consent in the Renaissance doesn’t mean the same thing as consent in the Victorian Age.

“You love this city,” Pytheas said. That was what we had been debating that day. “I do,” I said, spreading out my arms as if I could hug the entire city. “I love it. But Sokrates has made me see that it’s only the visible manifestation and earthly approximation of what I really love, the city of the mind.” pg 131

Though I enjoyed this book, the pace was what spoiled it for me somewhat. It marches forward towards an inevitable conclusion far too slowly. The debate scenes are interesting, but simply too plodding.

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There’s also a rape, so please be aware if you have potential triggers.

Recommended tentatively for readers who love the classics or historical fiction and can stand a slower-paced read.

Thanks for reading!

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

An engrossing historical fiction novel about a girl with extraordinary eyes named Chiyo and how she became a celebrated geisha named Sayuri. The path of her life was not always easy, but like water flowing over bumpy rocks, she braves the rapids and, eventually, reaches the ocean of her dreams.

“But the truth is the afternoon when I met Mr. Tanaka Ichiro really was the best and the worst of my life. He seemed so fascinating to me, even the fish smell on his hands was a kind of perfume. If I had never known him, I’m sure I would not have become a geisha.” pg 13, ebook

It is a coming-of-age story but also a romance. Some have compared this book to the fairy tale of Cinderella. I see the comparison, but feel as if this historical fiction is better than Cinderella. Unlike the made-up fairy tale, the land and closed world of the geisha actually existed.

“After a block or two I worked up my courage and said to Mr. Bekku, “Won’t you please tell us where we’re going?” He didn’t look as if he would reply, but after a moment he said, “To your new home.” pg 41, ebook.

To be a geisha was to excel at the arts. It was to demonstrate excellence in dance, music and the art of conversation. It was a way of being, and dressing. As a geisha, Sayuri transports the men she is with to another world, the world of “Flowers and Willows”.

I did some research into the history of the geisha and what I found was fascinating. From what I read, the history portrayed in Memoirs of a Geisha was rather close to the truth, minus the made-up characters.

“Because, you see, when a geisha wakes up in the morning she is just like any other woman. … Only when she sits before her mirror to apply her makeup with care does she become a geisha. And I don’t mean that this is when she begins to look like one. This is when she begins to think like one too.” pg 67, ebook

The whole culture seems so exotic to me. This book is truly an escape into a different world. I, of course, adored the main character, Sayuri.

Years ago, I saw the film version of this book and remember enjoying it very much. Fortunately, I forgot most of it except for one critical moment towards the end. That, however, didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the book. It is better, much better.

There’s more character development, more battles with Hatsumomo, more to the conclusion. Sayuri’s life completes a circle in the written version of the story — I seem to remember that the story felt a bit stunted in the film. I think I’ll watch it again to see if I’m remembering it right.

“We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course. If I’d never met Mr. Tanaka, my life would have been a simple stream flowing from our tipsy house to the ocean.” pg 112, ebook

There’s also the development of the theme of water. The characters in the story attribute Sayuri’s startling blue eyes to an abundance of water in her soul. Throughout the book, she’s alluding to water — how it flows, bends and can wear down rocks. You really begin to view her life through this lens of watery inevitability.

“Here you are… a beautiful girl with nothing on earth to be ashamed of,” he said. “And yet you’re afraid to look at me. Someone has been cruel to you.. or perhaps life has been cruel.” “I don’t know, sir,” I said, though of course I knew perfectly well. pg 119, ebook.

Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction. Memoirs of a Geisha is a surprising treat, like a sudden rainbow glinting off the water into your eyes. Blink once, and it’s gone.

Thanks for reading!

The Secret Place (Dublin Murder Squad #5) by Tana French

Tana French writes another suspenseful mystery about a school full of girls, a murder and, of course, the Dublin Murder Squad.

“Detective Moran, there’s someone to see you,” pen pointing at the sofa. “Miss Holly Mackey.” pg 15, ebook.

We’re reintroduced to Stephen Moran and Holly Mackey, whom readers of the series will remember from Faithful Place. I highly suggest reading that book before this. The context is part of what makes The Secret Place so powerful.

Like in her previous books, French builds the suspense through in-depth characters and internal monologues. They carry an intensity that I’ve come to expect from her novels. Reading her stories straight through honestly gives me a bit of a headache. They’re so complex and she brings in small details that give you these “aha” moments.

Despite those potential headaches, I love it.

I said, “You came here because there’s something you want me to know. I’m not going to play guessing games I can’t win. If you’re not sure you want to tell me, then go away and have a think till you are. If you’re sure now, then spit it out.” Holly approved of that. Almost smiled again; nodded instead. pg 18, ebook

She’s also a master at building relationships, not just between the investigating detectives, but between the readers and the story. There’s a trust there — that she’s not just leading you down this path to distract you. There’s something important you’re supposed to realize.

In The Secret Place, readers are asked to contemplate the unknowable reality of young adult friendships. We wade right in to passionate, explosive moments that aren’t that big of a deal, if you’re not the right age. The feeling, no the knowing, that magic is real is a large part of this story. Also, that friendships define you somehow and are more real than your grades or your family or your name even.

Friends delineate the boundaries of your world at that age. And, together, you can literally make magic happen, if they’re the right kind of friends and if you do the right mystical things together like, for example, sneaking outside of a locked, private school to sit in a wooded glade and gaze at the stars.

“Girls need a safety valve, Detective Conway. Do you recall, a week or so after the incident” — small snort of laughter from Conway: incident —”a group of students claimed to have seen Christopher Harper’s ghost? pg 59

As much as I loved this book, I understand readers who didn’t. It is self indulgent in the sense that you get to know almost everything about everyone and when you’re dealing with a dozen main characters, that’s a lot.

I got the feeling, when Moran was on his eighth interview, that there had been a lot of talk about editing that section down, but it wasn’t. As I said, this story hinges on the characters, why they feel the way they feel and why they acted the way they did. If you don’t get to know those minutiae, then the story isn’t as intense.

But, admittedly, it does slow the pace waaaaay down.

There’s also the “living in a teenager wasteland” feeling of the story. Who cares about who’s dating who and who’s wearing what. To get through some of it, I put myself into the mindset of the detectives. It was important to understand because murder was on the line. Someone killed someone else and was walking around like nothing happened, while his victim was forever buried in the ground. There’s your motivation.

Photo by Du01b0u01a1ng Nhu00e2n on Pexels.com

I think I could listen to a lot of gum-chewing nonsense to solve something that important.

My favorite character? Detective Stephen Moran. He has so much to lose and so much to prove. All he wants is to do a good job on this case. And that seems so impossible at times. I was cheering for him all the way.

“For the first time, she smiled. Little crunch of a grin, the same one I remembered. It had had something pathetic in it, back then, it had caught at me every time. It did again.” pg 17, ebook.

Recommended for readers who have enjoyed French’s work in the past. This murder-mystery may not appeal to everybody, but it did to me.

Thanks for reading!

Ladycastle by Delilah S. Dawson

Aeve, a princess of Mancastle, is locked in a tower by her father, King Mancastle, for her refusal to chose a husband. Aeve’s younger sister, Gwyneff, is free to roam the castle, until she turns twelve and is subjected to the same fate as Aeve.

But Gwyneff doesn’t understand her sister’s choice and blames her for their father’s time-consuming efforts to find a new husband for Aeve and his absence.

“Aeve ruins everything. If she’d married, father wouldn’t go out hunting new princes. He’d be here. All the men would.”

When King Mancastle and his men venture out to find a more suitable groom, and meet a foe they cannot overcome. One of the men returns to report to the women left behind — a curse has been laid on the castle and monsters will “be drawn as to a beacon”.

“For not only was King Mancastle cursed, but so was his domain. This castle shall be a beacon to terrifying monsters until the wizard’s curse is lifted.”

The blacksmith’s wife, Merinor, takes up the Lady of the Lake’s sword and becomes king. She and the women begin preparations to defend themselves from the approaching monsters. And thus our tale begins…

The artwork in Ladycastle is beautifully drawn with bright colors. I enjoyed the premise of the story. But Ladycastle doesn’t quite fulfill its promise in this volume.

Photo by Felix Mittermeier on Pexels.com

In the beginning of each section, the ladies’ inner monologue reads like a Disney or classic Broadway song, purposefully so. It’s distracting and derivative. I get that this work was attempting to point out the inherent bias of the other works, but I feel it takes away from the originality of this one.

The dark ages were brutal on women. I get it. Each lady in Ladycastle has a backstory of abuse or neglect from the man who ran her life, except for Gwyneff who hadn’t yet attained an age to be given away by her father for political purposes.

I liked how this comic flips that gender-issue on its head, the women rule the roost now. But the delivery of the lesson is heavy-handed, especially in the first two sections of the book.

As other readers have noted, there is a stab at diversity in this book, but no inclusion of LGBTQ characters. I can’t see any reason for this over-sight.

Recommended for readers who enjoy graphic novels, but with the reservations listed above. I felt like this topic was handled more deftly in the graphic novel for children, Princeless, Vol. 1: Save Yourself.

Thanks for reading!

The Cruelest Month (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #3) by Louise Penny

“But Three Pines itself was a village forgotten. Time eddied and swirled and sometimes bumped into it, but never stayed long and never left much of an impression. For hundreds of years the village had nestled in the palm of the rugged Canadian mountains, protected and hidden and rarely found except by accident.” pg 10, ebook

Readers are back with Chief Inspector Armand Gamache for another unlikely murder in the village of Three Pines. This time, it appears as if someone was scared literally to death.

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“Eight of them had gathered in the cozy back room of the bistro to raise the dead this Good Friday, and the only question seemed to be, who would do it.” pg 17, ebook.

Why is it that such a lovely place continues to experience such horrors?

“Was it possible the old Hadley house was full of their anger and sorrow? Was that why it attracted murderers? And ghosts?” pg 26, ebook.

Meanwhile, Gamache is haunted by a ghost from his past, the Arnot case. Claire continues to work on her painting while Peter tries not to be jealous of her talent. And for fans of the irascible poet, Ruth has a special role in this story.

I think what sets Louise Penny apart from other mystery authors is that she has created an entire community full of humorous and welcoming characters that I find myself wanting to return to. That’s not as simple as she makes it seem.

“One by one they entered the old Hadley house. It was colder inside than out and smell of mold. The electricity had long since been turned off and now the circles of torchlight played on the peeling floral wallpaper, stained with damp which they all hoped was water.” pg 35, ebook

My only criticism is that I didn’t enjoy the mystery in this book as much as the previous ones. There was a lot of side drama that did a lot to build the characters but not to advance the plot. Otherwise, highly recommended for readers who enjoy cozy mysteries.

Thanks for reading!

How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman

When two young men go to a party, the young women there are so much more than what they expected.

This short story by Neil Gaiman, adopted in a graphic novel format, perfectly captures (in a science fiction-tinged bubble) the bewilderment that goes along with communication and young adulthood.

Sometimes, when you’re trying to chat up members of the opposite sex, it’s as if you’re talking to someone alien from yourself or even just the idea of a person. Gaiman takes this concept and, in typical Gaiman-fashion, runs with it.

He is even able to touch upon the darker side of young, romantic flings. The popular young man in the story gets all the female attention he could want, but at what cost to both him and the young women he leaves behind?

The other young man, referenced in the title because he is hesitant to “talk to girls at parties”, is the one who the narrative follows. His adventure into the worlds of the mind is certainly as wild as his friend’s experience.

This is a quick read, only 10 or 15 minutes, but I found it stuck with me. I was wondering at the layers of meaning in it.

The artwork is beautiful but strange. The women’s eyes are drawn slightly too large for normalcy. It set me on edge and made most of the story unsettling, which I suppose is also the point of the thing.

The story made me think about how much of our relationships take place because we’re brave enough to face that unsettling feeling. And by experiencing “the other”, we come back home a new person than who we were when we left. Maybe not a better person, but different.

Recommended for teens or adults who enjoy science fiction. I think anybody who has faced down their own fears to talk to someone they find enchanting will find something to ponder in this graphic novel.

Thanks for reading!

Animosity, Vol. 3: The Swarm by Marguerite Bennett

In the world of Animosity, the animals became sentient one day. In some areas of the world, this transition occurred more smoothly than others. Strangely, all of the bees disappeared.

This issue sheds some light on where they went.

As this series continues to get darker, I can’t help but be reminded of The Walking Dead, Book One. (Especially with the rumors of a “walled city” in this issue.)

You have a world, much like our own, but with unexpected dangers and predators around every corner. Some have adopted in strange ways to survive, sometimes at the great expense of others. Cultures have entirely changed or adopted to embrace different manners of communication and family.

The strong are thriving, but so are the smart. What matters most are your relationships and how you interact with others.

My one criticism of this series is how dark it seems to be turning. If animals became like people, wouldn’t they get some of our most positive characteristics too, instead of mainly or entirely the negative?

It’s still a fascinating premise in that the carnivores still need to eat meat even though they now have the cognitive abilities of a human. There’s a few panels in this issue showing krill having a conversation about the dangers of trying to communicate with the deep ocean creatures shortly before being swallowed by a whale.

How small does the sentience go? To one-celled organisms? We don’t know yet. But it is a mystery the series is working on solving.

Recommended for adult or older teen readers because of some violence, not too graphic, and stressful situations. This issue ends on a cliffhanger so if you can’t handle the uncertainty, you may want to wait to read these until the series is complete.

Thanks for reading!

The Blue Salt Road by Joanne M. Harris

The Blue Salt Road is where the selkies dwell as kings and queens of the deep. When a young woman named Flora needs to find a husband, she despairs of choosing any of the men on the small island where she lives. They’re hardened by work on the whaling ships and unrefined.

But when Flora’s grandmother teaches her a secret about mysterious beings called the selkies, she knows her search will soon be over.

“In tears he was summoned, salt as the sea,
In silver was his binding. In blood and betrayal, his calling he found.
In cedar, his salvation.” pg 87

Unlike other selkie stories I’ve read, like Sealskin, the person summoned from the waves is male, not female. I’m sure the fairytale has been told both ways, but it’s a nice change from other versions.

Joanne Harris writes interesting and nuanced fantasy in which she takes a look at older stories and puts her own spin on them. If you haven’t had a chance, you may want to read her duology about the Norse god, Loki. (The Gospel of Loki and The Testament of Loki)

“This is my story. The story of the land-folk and the seal-folk, and of treachery, and of the call of the ocean.” pgs 4-5

There’s quite a lot to unpack in the symbols of The Blue Salt Road and the selkie myth. (Warning, spoilers ahead for those unfamiliar with the selkie myth.) In Jungian psychology and dream interpretation, water is a common symbol for the subconscious mind. What floats or comes to the surface is what you’re aware of. Swimming about in the depths of the ocean, are the feelings or situations you’re perhaps unwilling to confront.

In the sad fairytale of the selkie, the fairytale creature emerges from the ocean as a free being, but then is prevented from returning to the depths where it belongs. He or she forced to live a life on land unless she can find the magical item, her sealskin, that allows her to return to the waves.

The added twist to the tale, sometimes, is the selkie has a child that either gets abandoned when he eventually returns to his home or he takes the child with him and the land-bound parent never gets to see the child again.

So, we have a fairytale examining the complex relationship between men, women, and how people handle having a child together. In addition, it looks at the loss of freedom some experience when a single person adopts a life with a family and how some people can’t deal with it.

It also speaks to the individual ways that people deal with growing up and choosing a trade or growing old and growing apart from the people and things they used to cherish.

In Joanne Harris’ version, there’s a family component with the secret passed between mothers and daughters, grandmothers and grandchildren.

“I told you that within the year I should catch myself a prince, and bear him a pretty princeling,” she said. “Now I shall be the envy of all the maids on the island, and all the young men who missed their chance will curse their evil fortune.” pg 44

These secrets that we carry are unique as well and help create cultures among family groups. Sometimes, the spouses we choose to add to the mix don’t adapt well to these cultures and eventually leave, not because there’s a loss of love, but because they are never truly accepted into the family group.

All of this is symbolic goodness is packed into a story that is appropriate for young adults to read. There is nothing overly graphic in here, just layers of complexity that a tween might not be able to grasp.

Highly recommended for young adult and adult readers of fantasy fiction and mythology.

Thanks for reading!

Animosity, Vol. 2: The Dragon by Marguerite Bennett

The plot thickens for Sandor, the hound dog, and his human, Jesse, as they attempt to make their way across the country to reunite Jesse with her half-brother.

“Jesse is growing up, and signs of it frighten Sandor more than they even frighten her. Sandor fears, so much, that he will be unable to protect Jesse from all pain, all terror, aware that he will not be there for her adulthood.”

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Now that all of the animals are sentient, the lines between human and animal, predator and prey have blurred. Certain species are starving to death. Other species are being farmed for their meat. It’s a dark story, but still fascinating in the way it flips reality on its head.

“The honeybees have retreated to some secret place, and the ants threaten blistering violence for the paw that reads the wrong mound, yet each seem unusual in their clannishness to their own kind.”

Along with their new sentience, some of the animals are considering the state of their souls… do they have one, and where do they go when they die? Others are banding together to fight against the humans or each other. And still others are protecting the only person or thing they care about, like Sandor.

My favorite part of this issue was the series recap at the end where the author, Marguerite Bennett, gives a brief glimpse into what’s going on in every state and country since the animals “woke”. Highlights include my home state of Illinois trying to figure out how to regulate the new reality (you know they would) and her description of the new Mongolia: “Little has changed.”

Honestly, this book is worth reading if only for that section. I can’t help but be impressed by the imagination it took to combine the cultures, unique creatures and people of each corner of the world and provide its own mini-story.

The artwork, as you can tell from the cover, is haunting in places. You see animals wielding human weapons and wearing clothing. But it’s not cute, the overall effect is very disturbing. I won’t soon forget a deer lobbing a hand grenade into a group of shadowy figures in the forest and I think that’s probably the point.

Recommended for fans of dark science fiction graphic novels. Thanks for reading!

To read more of my reviews of graphic novels, go to
https://thehelpdeskbookblog.wordpress.com/category/comic-or-graphic-novel/page/1/

The Help Desk Book Blog

Sharing reviews and deep thoughts about life.

Category: Fiction

The Just City (Thessaly, #1) by Jo Walton

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

The Secret Place (Dublin Murder Squad #5) by Tana French

Ladycastle by Delilah S. Dawson

The Cruelest Month (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #3) by Louise Penny

How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman

Animosity, Vol. 3: The Swarm by Marguerite Bennett

The Blue Salt Road by Joanne M. Harris

Animosity, Vol. 2: The Dragon by Marguerite Bennett

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