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Book Review: The Greedy Three by Karen Katchur

 

The Greedy Three by Karen Katchur

Podium Publishing, Feb. 2023

ISBN: 9781039416307

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

(  Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

Poor Noah Weber!  All he wanted to do was transport an illegitimate baby (complete with a teenage stand-in mom) across the US border to sell to a wealthy Canadian couple.  A simple plan like that: what could possibly go wrong?  

 

Well, plenty!  When the money drop part of the deal goes bad on the US side, a local hermit (who happens to be baby-obsessed) wanders across the aftermath, takes the money and hides it.    Her cabin becomes the site of most of the book, as all three characters wind up there with their own agendas.  The hermit, Hester, wants the baby; the teenage fake mom, Eve, has the baby but wants the money; and Noah wants both, so he can complete the deal.  None of them trust each other, so it becomes a bizarre version of a Mexican standoff, with each of them looking to get what they want.  There is a bit more to the plot, but that covers the basics without spoiling anything.

 

It’s a fun read. Katchur has proven herself to be a good writer over the past few years.  The book varies between predictability, and wild unpredictability.  There are twists that the reader won’t see coming, and there are some that you can easily guess.  Example: since there is a baby in the book and most writers tend to loathe hurting kids or infants in fiction, you can probably guess what will happen.  But the fun maneuvering between Noah, Hester, and Eve doesn’t go where expected, and there is some darkly amusing humor throughout the story, which gives the book its own flavor.  The scene with the three of them fighting, while they are all suffering from a bad case of the trots and have to keep dashing to the bathroom is hilarious, warped fun.  The interactions and squabbling between the three of them are the best part of the book. They are quirky, fun characters, Noah being the most entertaining.

 

It’s the book’s unpredictability that may work against it for readers that expect realism.  One example is Noah and Hester.  She hid the money and won’t tell him where it is, but he has the gun and control of the situation.  Why not just beat it out of her, or threaten to shoot the baby, which Hester is obviously attached to?  But…he doesn’t.  Perhaps he really isn’t that bad of a guy after all, despite being involved in a sleazy business?  Or, is it just too unrealistic to be plausible?  That will depend on the reader.  There are a couple other scenes along the same line, but by not taking the obvious path, Katchur allow the unexpected to happen, and it helps the storyline.  Again, it may be too much for some readers, but most will probably enjoy it.

 

Although it is uneven at times, The Greedy Three is an engaging story of three people trying to double-cross each other, and the interactions between them are enough to carry the story across the finish line.  The majority of readers will likely get a kick out of this.

 

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on March 17, 2023 by , Reply

Book Review: Ruinsong by Julia Ember

Ruinsong by Julia Ember

Ruinsong by Julia Ember

Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2020

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0374313357

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition ( Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com) 

 

 

In this YA dark fantasy, Cadence is a corporeal mage whose magic comes through singing. While she comes from poverty, she is now the principal singer for the queen. Queen Elene, also originally a commoner, overthrew the previous monarchy and has forced the nobility to live in fear. Once a year they must all attend a Performing where the principal singer sings a song intended to cause pain and fear in the nobility. This is Cadence’s first year and when she sees the extraordinary pain her song is causing, she stops singing. Cadence’s disobedience leads to Ren, the queen’s torturer, murdering her dog. In return, Cadence has a tantrum that leads to the death of six people, and refuses to cooperate with the queen.

 

 

The scene of Cadence’s Performing is extremely dark and disturbing, and while we get some backstory on Elene that makes her behavior understandable, Ren and Elene’s cruelty was hard to handle.

 

 

Cadence’s mage training and social class separated her from her closest friend, Remi, who is forced to attend the performance. Remi is later arrested for going to the hospital, which is illegal for nobles, and her father is seized for treason. Elene tells Remi that if she can gain Cadence’s cooperation, she and her father can move to better quarters. Cadence is reluctant but doesn’t want Remi hurt. Despite Cadence’s monstrous actions and Remi’s position as prisoner, the two are falling in love. But Elene’s oppressive reign is about to fall to rebels, and Cadence is the one who has to decide how she will use her voice.

 

 

I like magic systems that involve music, but the magic system can’t stand alone. The character of the mage also matters. This year I have also read the YA fantasy Edgewood, which, while very different in its world building and overall plot, also has a main character who discovers she is a song mage, and she claims her agency even in the face of a cruel and capricious ruler. Cadence is passive, complicit, and easily provoked, so even though I felt sympathy for her situation, I couldn’t really cheer her on. This is supposed to be a sapphic romance inspired by Phantom of the Opera, but outside the mask wearing and the singing I didn’t see much of a connection to Phantom, and while Cadence and Remi did develop a romantic relationship, I don’t see how it could have a happy ending.

 

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on November 2, 2022 by , Reply

Book Review: Extasia by Claire Legrand

Extasia by Claire Legrand

Extasia by Claire Legrand

Katherine Tegen Books, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062696632

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

( Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com )

 

Extasia is a fiercely feminist dark novel of a post-apocalyptic community drenched in patriarchy and cult-like violent misogyny straight from The Crucible and Year of the Witching. The dogma is that women were responsible for the destruction of the world and thus four young girls are honored with the “sacred duty” of becoming saints, scapegoats who once a month face brutal mob violence from the community in order to expiate their sins. A serial killer has been murdering men, and the upcoming sainthood of Amity Barrow is expected to bless the community and end the killing. When the murders continue, Amity and her sister saints realize they must find a way to either solve the murders or escape. Just as things seem desperate, she is transported with her sister saints to a secret world, Avazel, and invited to join a coven and learn to wield the magical, dark power of extasia to end the killings and realize her own strength… but there’s more going on under the surface than she knows.

 

Extasia is visceral, violent, and disturbing in its intensity, but Amity is not completely isolated. She develops imperfect but strong relationships with girls and women from her community and the coven that survive even significant disagreements. While it’s somewhat heavy-handed, Legrand has outdone herself in creating a dark, powerful, horror story made even more terrible by the foundation of lies, grisly violence, and hate on which human survival after the apocalypse has been built..Recommended for ages 16+

 

Contains: violence to and killing of animals, attempted rape, torture, gore, murder, body horror, violence, gaslighting, religious trauma.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on March 7, 2022 by , Reply
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