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The benefits of having put myself on a media diet for mental health are not just improved mental health, but a vastly improved attention span and more hours in which to deploy it reading. I finished over 1000 pages of novels this week, including the last two books in The Rosenholm Trilogy. Excellent life choices, Past Me.
What I Finished Reading This Week
Forget Me Not – Gry Kappel Jensen
This book is not well written in 365-degrees. Jensen completely ignores the plot- and worldbuilding elements that don't interest her (e.g., a coherent and consistent system of magic; a coherent and consistent curriculum at the novel's magical school; an explanation of how said school continues to operate when its students and teachers routinely end up severely maimed or dead; an explanation of how said school could even exist in modern Denmark to begin with; an explanation as to how none of the characters are crippled by severe trauma, PTSD, and survivor's guilt). But the storytelling aspects that do interest Jensen--the rivalries, friendships, jealousies, resentments, and loyalties of adolescent women; the various manifestations of adolescents' relationships with their parents; murders, conspiracies, and dark revelations; crazy plot twists and cliffhangers (some of them cleverly foreshadowed without being immediately obvious); an overarching mystery that spans all three volumes--shine. Moreover, Jensen's technical chops improved considerably in the second volume as compared to the first. These books are by no means literature, but they are a vastly fun read, and I look forward to starting the third.
Nightshade – Gry Kappel Jensen
First off, the bad. This book is poorly edited. Multiple characters' names are misspelled. Dialogue is misattributed. Verbs are routinely conjugated incorrectly. Some sentences are so garbled as to be incomprehensible. The jacket mentions Jensen's advanced degrees in Norse studies, but they're not much in evidence here--the magic in this trilogy is a la carte shopping mall mysticism, a mishmash of Celtic mythology, Greek mythology, Scandinavian folklore, and 21st century occultism (and not always accurate, either). The trilogy's Harry Potter roots are pretty evident in places, and at some important junctures the novel relies on idiot plotting to move the narrative forward.
This is a shame, because this is a cracking good book, and with a bit more attention to detail and internal consistency in the setting and worldbuilding, it would have been a great one. As it's actually written, it's not literature, but it's great fun. Nightshade really develops the plot that Jensen spent the first two books carefully putting into place: what initially seemed like a casual aside, an offhand observation, or a bit of inconsequential scene-setting in Roses & Violets or Forget Me Not often turns out to be anything but when viewed in hindsight in this third volume. There's a lot of good character development, some massive twists and turns in the plot, and certain characters' narrative arcs do not unfold along what would seem to be their preordained paths, a refreshing surprise that will keep readers guessing. There are also plenty of cliffhangers to keep you going for just one more chapter...and then another...and then just one more, until suddenly you realize you've been reading for two or three hours straight.
TL;DR - Neither this book nor the trilogy are perfect, but they are extremely entertaining reads despite their weaknesses: an MCU movie versus The Lord of the Rings. Approach them with the appropriate expectations you will enjoy the heck out of the read.
What I Am Currently Reading
The Chosen Queen – Sam Davey
I turned immediately back to this volume after finishing The Rosenholm Trilogy.
The Eagle of the Ninth – Rosemary Stewart
This is my current mass transit reading volume.
What I'm Reading Next
I did not acquire any new books this week.
これで以上です。
What I Finished Reading This Week
Forget Me Not – Gry Kappel Jensen
This book is not well written in 365-degrees. Jensen completely ignores the plot- and worldbuilding elements that don't interest her (e.g., a coherent and consistent system of magic; a coherent and consistent curriculum at the novel's magical school; an explanation of how said school continues to operate when its students and teachers routinely end up severely maimed or dead; an explanation of how said school could even exist in modern Denmark to begin with; an explanation as to how none of the characters are crippled by severe trauma, PTSD, and survivor's guilt). But the storytelling aspects that do interest Jensen--the rivalries, friendships, jealousies, resentments, and loyalties of adolescent women; the various manifestations of adolescents' relationships with their parents; murders, conspiracies, and dark revelations; crazy plot twists and cliffhangers (some of them cleverly foreshadowed without being immediately obvious); an overarching mystery that spans all three volumes--shine. Moreover, Jensen's technical chops improved considerably in the second volume as compared to the first. These books are by no means literature, but they are a vastly fun read, and I look forward to starting the third.
Nightshade – Gry Kappel Jensen
First off, the bad. This book is poorly edited. Multiple characters' names are misspelled. Dialogue is misattributed. Verbs are routinely conjugated incorrectly. Some sentences are so garbled as to be incomprehensible. The jacket mentions Jensen's advanced degrees in Norse studies, but they're not much in evidence here--the magic in this trilogy is a la carte shopping mall mysticism, a mishmash of Celtic mythology, Greek mythology, Scandinavian folklore, and 21st century occultism (and not always accurate, either). The trilogy's Harry Potter roots are pretty evident in places, and at some important junctures the novel relies on idiot plotting to move the narrative forward.
This is a shame, because this is a cracking good book, and with a bit more attention to detail and internal consistency in the setting and worldbuilding, it would have been a great one. As it's actually written, it's not literature, but it's great fun. Nightshade really develops the plot that Jensen spent the first two books carefully putting into place: what initially seemed like a casual aside, an offhand observation, or a bit of inconsequential scene-setting in Roses & Violets or Forget Me Not often turns out to be anything but when viewed in hindsight in this third volume. There's a lot of good character development, some massive twists and turns in the plot, and certain characters' narrative arcs do not unfold along what would seem to be their preordained paths, a refreshing surprise that will keep readers guessing. There are also plenty of cliffhangers to keep you going for just one more chapter...and then another...and then just one more, until suddenly you realize you've been reading for two or three hours straight.
TL;DR - Neither this book nor the trilogy are perfect, but they are extremely entertaining reads despite their weaknesses: an MCU movie versus The Lord of the Rings. Approach them with the appropriate expectations you will enjoy the heck out of the read.
What I Am Currently Reading
The Chosen Queen – Sam Davey
I turned immediately back to this volume after finishing The Rosenholm Trilogy.
The Eagle of the Ninth – Rosemary Stewart
This is my current mass transit reading volume.
What I'm Reading Next
I did not acquire any new books this week.
これで以上です。
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