Red Room Book Reviews

GENRE - Poetry. Young adult. Horror. Fantasy. Illustrated.  FIRST PUBLISHED - 1997 PUBLISHED BY - Faber and Faber THEMES - Outcasts. Deformity. Human hybrids. Estranged love. Abnormality. Warped beings. Macabre infants.  READING TIME - 15 minutes PURCHASED FROM - HMV (many years ago) MY REFLECTIONS - This is a reread. I first read this collection of dark, twisted poems as a teenager. I was a huge Tim Burton fan at the time and I loved this bizarre little book as much as his films. I would say teenaged is the perfect age for these morbidly gruesome tales and their entertainingly ghastly illustrations, although at 40, I still greatly appreciate them. Eccentrically and darkly timeless, this book would still make a great little gift for coming of age misfits and those of us with peculiar minds and a love of the unearthly. These strange mini stories and their characters are literary evidence of the wonderfully weird and warped imagination of Tim Burton.

Genre  Mythology | Retelling | Young adult | Short book | Fantasy  First PUBLISHED  2021, Bloomsbury  Themes Greek mythology | Romance | Feminism | Trauma | Sexual abuse | Masculinity and femininity | Jealousy  Reading Time Approximately 2 hours, 40 minutes Purchased From Waterstones Plot  This is a feminist retelling of the Greek myth of Medusa, which seeks to humanise the famous mythological 'monster', by providing an empathetic account of how a beautiful young woman, was mistreated and abused by the gods, and transformed into the gorgon with snakes in her hair.  Medusa hides in a cave on a remote island, with her sisters, away from the rest of civilisation, coming to terms with her past, present and future, and her identity, when the handsome Perseus finds her, and changes everything.  My Reflections As the story is aimed at young adults, the writing is quite simplistic, although poetic at times, and it manages to skilfully and sensitively addr...

GENRE - Literary fiction.  FIRST PUBLISHED - 2022  PUBLISHED BY 4TH ESTATE THEMES - Relationships. Dysfunctional relationships. Mental health. Love. Romance. Friendship. Sex. Alcoholism. Drugs.  READING TIME - Approximately 12 hours 30 minutes PURCHASED FROM - Waterstones PLOT - Set in the busy, bohemian city of New York, British Cleo meets American Frank (20 years older than Cleo) one night whilst leaving a party. It's an instant attraction and a whirlwind romance begins. They are  damaged people with dark sides and this affects their relationship. Many of the people and relationships around them are at least a little gloom-ridden or tinged with some form of negativity, such is life, for most of us have struggles - and this book is very much about that - life, relationships, and our responses to both.    MY REFLECTIONS -  This book has it all - it's devastating, it's funny, it's glamorous, it's sexy, it's elegant. It's deep, dark and meaningful - my f...

GENRE  Quick read. Thriller. Crime. Horror. Slasher. FIRST PUBLISHED  2013, Arrow Books  THEMES Woods. Friends. Survival. Murder. Sex trafficking. Crime. READING TIME One hour, 30 minutes (approx) BORROWED Cantley Library, Doncaster PLOT A group of friends are holidaying in a remote woodland area of Scotland. During a hiking tour they find a young woman, naked and terrified, unable to speak English. Half of the group want to help her, half don't. It's difficult to say more without spoilers. MY REFLECTIONS This is my first Kenrick read and the first thing that struck me was the fast pace of the writing - it's a quick read, and a thriller, so that's a positive. If you're looking for a horrific adrenaline ride that gets straight into the action and doesn't let up, you'll probably appreciate this. It made me think of a typical American slasher film, so much so that I kept imagining the dialogue between the friends in American accents, which they aren't.  The...

GENRE - GOTHIC FANTASY.  CHILDREN/YOUNG ADULTS FIRST  PUBLISHED - 2002 PUBLISHED BY - HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHERS  THEMES - HOME. FAMILY. SUPERNATURAL. CHILDHOOD. PARALLEL UNIVERSES. BUTTONS! READING TIME - APPROX 2 HOURS 30 MINUTES GIFTED PLOT -  Child protagonist, Corlaine has moved to a new home where she discovers a doorway to another world. At first, this other world seems wonderful; much better than her world back home, but Coraline soon finds herself fighting for herself, the souls of trapped children and her parents. She must outwit the 'other mother' to avoid buttons for eyes, and becoming stuck in a gruesome unreality.  MY REFLECTIONS - I have to mention the film first, because this book is very cinematic and because I watched the film when it was first released - I really enjoyed it. I always prefer to read a book before a film version, so that I can avoid what happened here - my own imagination fought for dominance over the movie imagery. There are dif...

GENRE - GOTHIC FANTASY FIRST PUBLISHED - JUNE 2022 PUBLISHED BY - TITAN BOOKS THEMES - FAMILY. BLINDNESS. ITALY. FRIENDSHIP. LOVE. COMING OF AGE. SUPERNATURAL. READING TIME - APPROX 9 HOURS 30 MINUTES PURCHASED FROM - WATERSTONES PLOT - The plot follows Luca Saracino, a teenager who is adjusting to becoming sightless, during his move to southern Italy with his family. His parents begin working on turning his deceased grandfather's old farmhouse into a hotel. Whilst they are occupied with their mission, Luca meets his new neighbour, Ada Guadalupi, and develops a close friendship with her. He discovers a troubled history between their families, and encounters 'the wanderer', whose hauntings, along with mysterious whispering winds, lead him deeper into dark and hidden truths.  MY REFLECTIONS -  Oliver K. Langmead calls this novel 'A sensory treat', which I completely agree with, since it left my senses exhilarated by the extraordinary experiences of the teen-aged and b...