Warning: you'll want to read this book again

Here's a look at the second book I remember re-reading immediately after reading it the first time. 

Book Review:  Planetfall by Emma Newman
 
“Someone’s coming toward the colony.  From outside.”

Lee Suh-Mi felt called to establish a colony on a world far beyond Earth and 1,000 people felt called to join her.  Something happened when they arrived at the planet in Suh-Mi’s vision however, and a couple of decades later, Ren is still haunted by it.  She and Mack are the only two who know the truth; whatever happened was considered so potentially devastating that the other members of the original landing team were murdered to prevent them from telling the other colonists.  Or were intended to be murdered.  When Suh-Mi’s  twenty-something grandson approaches the colony, it’s clear that at least some members of the team managed to survive.  What’s not immediately clear is what Sung-Soo knows.

Sung-Soo’s close resemblance to Suh threatens Ren’s ability to continue playing along with Mack’s carefully constructed tale.  Told from Ren’s perspective, hints at what happened are slowly revealed, as she reflects back to the beginning of her relationship with Suh, what she left behind back on Earth, and the events of that first Planetfall.

There’s a lot to love about this story.  To begin with, it’s beautifully written and stunningly subtle.  Set in the future, it features advanced technology including 3D printers capable of printing everything a self-sustaining colony requires, and chip implants capable of connecting individuals to the web and to each other.  It also features an environmentally-friendly, successful colony established on an Earth-like planet.  It’s not a utopia — while there are advantages to being as connected as they are, the story points out that there are disadvantages as well.  And people will always be people.  Add a mysterious alien structure,  a slow reveal from a character slowly cracking under the burden of guilt, and a twist I didn’t see coming, and you have a story worth reading again and again.

The question of religion versus science underlies the story but the reader isn’t pushed one way or the other.

I was exasperated by Ren but that’s not a bad thing.  Tormented by whatever happened, she can’t face it directly, but the arrival of Sung-Soo won’t let her continue to bury it.  Hence the slow reveal.  I like having to work for my mystery so I was hooked even though I was never able to connect with her.   I didn’t pick up on her illness right away and when Sung-Soo discovered it, I knew it was important but I didn’t realize how important it was — I was mostly stuck on not understanding the illness itself. 

I love it when an author can genuinely catch me off-guard and Newman did just that when the book hit its climax.  The clues were there — I just didn’t pick up on them.  Stunningly subtle.  Reading the book through a second time, I couldn’t believe that I’d missed what was so obvious.

I did have a few quibbles with the book but they were minor.  There was a detail that seemed like it would be bigger than it was — ah well.  In addition to Planetfall, there was another “event” that was mentioned but never really fleshed out.  And for all of the description provided, there wasn’t any about the local wildlife — it’s mentioned on a few occasions, so you know it exists, but that’s it.  I want to know what’s roaming the grasslands and why nothing ventures close to God’s City.

The first time I read the book, I thought the ending felt rushed.  The second time, I appreciated it more.  I would love to see a sequel.

*Originally posted on my first blog (Lighthearted Librarian) in February 2016.

The Perfect Ghost? The Perfect Twist

Here's a look at the first book I remember re-reading immediately after reading it the first time.

Book Review:  The Perfect Ghost by Linda Barnes

Em Moore is painfully shy.  As the silent partner of a successful writing team, she’s able to live a mostly solitary and self-sufficient life; she does the writing, her partner Teddy does the information gathering and the PR.  When Teddy dies in a mysterious car accident, her world changes drastically.  Determined to finish their last project together, the biography of reclusive movie director Garrett Malcolm, she leaves the safety of her apartment and resolves to complete the interviews with the man himself, despite everyone’s doubts.

The story unfolds slowly but deliberately, told by Em and addressed to Teddy in absentia.  Details from her past seep into the narrative and they aren’t pleasant.   Em is a survivor, but will she fall victim to a fatal accident herself?  Malcolm clearly has secrets, and it seems more and more likely that Teddy’s accident wasn’t an accident at all.  Did he discover something scandalous?  Was he up to something scandalous himself?

This book was impossible for me to put down and the ending caught me by surprise — I love it when an author can do that!  I immediately began re-reading and became even more impressed.  It takes a lot of skill to show readers everything they need to know but lead them in an entirely different direction.  Linda Barnes just made my “Must Read” list.

*Originally posted on my first blog (Lighthearted Librarian), December 2014

Three parts, four twists, one gripping read

Book Review:  The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
 

There are four books that I've re-read immediately after reading them for the first time.  This is one of them.

Richard is Vanessa's ex-husband and Nellie's fiancé.  The Wife Between Us begins with alternating chapters between Vanessa and Nellie, each detailing their relationships with Richard.  It's obvious that he is a charismatic but controlling partner.  While his manipulations appear considerate on the surface, they are not.  Richard has a dark side that Vanessa is well-acquainted with and Nellie is soon to discover.

Despite the warnings to assume nothing, there is one assumption that I believe every reader will make and it will lead to Twist 1.  I loved Twist 1 the first time I read the book.  I liked it the second time.  It's a good twist; the only reason that I went from loving it to liking it is that we're dealing with an unreliable narrator.  When I read the book again, immediately after finishing it the first time, I was expecting to notice clues that I'd missed the first time. Instead, I discovered that the version of events was inconsistent -- at least it appeared that way.  Going back through my notes now, as I'm writing this review, I'm reminded that the inconsistency was largely due to my interpretation of the narration.  Very little means what you think it means in this novel.  I may give this book a third read, to fully appreciate the dexterity of the authors in leading us astray.

Twist 2 is closely related to Twist 1.  If Twist 1 was clever, Twist 2 is brilliant. 

Readers more attentive than I may suspect Twist 3 as they are reading.  There are a few hints regarding Twist 4.  There's one more revelation that some might count as a Twist but it's fairly small and it didn't have a huge effect on events, so I'm just counting it as a reveal.

Highly recommended!