It wasn’t until a certain chapter that I was sure about this book- it had been good, but no one thing had captured my heart- until it had me crying for most of said chapter. And at that point I had to admit the quibbles I had over it didn’t matter as much as me crying for the last sixth of the darn thing. I do think it sped up a little too much at points but gosh dang if the second book that she’s hinting at as as good as I think it’ll be I can’t not give this one flowers for already wanting more from this world and these characters.

If you don’t write a sequel for this for the other couple Roshni, I will never let you live it down. Give me my sequel (pleasepleaseplease)

(I have removed all the angry rage parts of my review. What you see here is a condensed review of my feelings with this novel.)

Anyways, this review is about The Pallbearers Club. The issues in his first novel surface here and actually highlight MORE of his writing flaws rather than having improved from them.

Mostly I’m sad this was recommended as a ‘unreliable narrator talking about a friend who may be a vampire’. What this actually is, is a navel-gazing spiral of a man looking at his life through the lens of a friend he never learned much about and started using as a monstrous parallel for his own messed up idea of himself. This is a ‘analogue of grief’ book, not an unreliable narrator book

Paul needs to just get into literary criticism. His books that include whole sections of it are much better written than any of his fiction work.

You ever read a story and think ‘if this person actually made these characters more nuanced and a little less shallow, they might have something here?’

Because that’s my main issue with this story. Cool concept, great writing & translation work, but wow were these characters thin as a rail and it only felt like it was there for showing how messy this family line is supposed to represent.

I’m just sad there was more fcking than fantasy. Let me be able to have messy witches as well as messy b*****! You can have both!

3.25 ⭐️ rounded down

I’m so happy that Akwaeke got to publish an earlier work of theirs, but… I can see the flaws, especially in the pacing in this book that makes it a less than enjoyable read. The entire last third felt incredibly rushed and underdeveloped, like they didn’t give it enough breathing room to just be. And… a lot of the setup here reminds me of Akata Witch. I hate to compare but things kept happening that I couldn’t help but recall something similar that sparked my memory of that novel, and even worse, the other work had characters that I personally enjoyed a lot more, and had humor that this novel entirely lacked. So along with the characters, plot, and pacing, even the worldbuilding that was distinct and interesting couldn’t keep me invested because of just how short the story was. It’s not you, Somadina, it’s me. Maybe I should have waited to read you for another few years to separate the rather recent memories I have of that other series. But alas, it has led me to write the review you see here.

Characters were bland, plot twists were predictable, the plot was ok. I only vaguely see why it was compared to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but it doesn’t have the personality & charm of Buffy. I don’t think I’ll continue this series unless I am extremely bored and it’s at my library

4.25 ⭐️ rounded down

You ever read a horror book and go ‘this just isn’t a creepy crawly for me?’ Yep, I finally found a Caitlin Starling book I’m not going to obsess over and write a mini-dissertation about. Luckily the proto-relationship was enough to keep me going and I loved the description of a hospital as a living organism. Truly interesting stuff. Alas, as someone who isn’t spooked by hospital stuff, I will trust my friend who got a much bigger kick out of this. Caitlin Starling still has not led me astray, and here I am another book strong in her repertoire (thanks for letting me read it, friend!)

I finally have another ‘Good for her!’ book I can recc to people! It’s been far too long and the quota for one was WAY overdue.

This is a book with politicking like The Cruel Prince and characters with more nuanced, grounded stakes. I am impressed with the author’s deep grasp of character motivations and skill with the imperial court drama. There are some issues I have with some plot & worldbuilding that could have been easily resolved with another round of edits, however it only hampered my enjoyment of the story to bring it down half a star.

Talking about worldbuilding, I think that’s what was the weakest link here. It didn’t feel as though the external forces of the other countries or even the famine mattered that much the moment Wei stepped into the palace and started getting three square meals. I also wish the famine had been explored more in general, as this was a standalone and have no way to learn more about how to potentially help (without spoiling the information we do learn about it). It just feels like a waste of a potential storyline that had a deep connection to Wei’s original character motivation.

I only hope that she will take her strengths from this book and really kick me in the teeth emotionally in what she writes next, because what I was missing the most was a true emotional gut punch. One chapter came close but it wasn’t enough, unfortunately. Give me more emotional anguish! I can take it ;)

This is just predictable.

Someone who is used to the cacophony of multiple c4 bombs going off continually will not be frightened by the sound of a stick of dynamite, and this is exactly that- a regular ol’ powder keg of social fear and stupidity exploding. And unfortunately that is what the author relies on to make this book work- the tension and fear of that powder keg. Alas, the writing was on the wall when she made a piece of shit just a piece of shit. No nuance, nothing new, nothing exciting. I suggest The Wild Hunt for a similar premise (another debut author who wrote a book located in Great Britain with supernatural whisperings, but less about modernity vs hysteria than modernity from grief and loss) and simply because I would actually want to re-read that story. I will never want to read this again for the simplicity and lack of interest in the storytelling.

I hope she continues this series forever. As the only active UF series I have, I am SAT.

I would recommend EVERY English reader to read this book. It explains why reading is so different from digital app based reading and why it’s important to ‘deeply read’ aka read longer texts and put your own internal logic and meaning onto it. I wish there were more books like this back when I was in college because it’s an important thing to learn as someone in the ‘new’ generation of biliterate people (I was in the generation of late millennials who were given small doses of internet learning both at school and at home from my earliest memories). It’s such a short book too! Maryanne does not waste our time. Her eighth letter is more important than ever concerning the topic of an informed and functioning democracy.

I will note however, she is weirdly religious in this novel. I don’t think casually throwing around statements like ‘we come from Adam & Eve’ and mentioning religion in ways that are not important to the main text at all are helping highlight the research. It instead is a detractor that may impact your experience. She also worked with Israeli based scientists and schools, which is not an inherent negative, certainly strengthens why she might bring up religious beliefs so often. I would hope any authors writing books trying to write on such an important topic would remember not all of us want to hear about the writer’s ideas on religion when this book is not about religion, it is about books and the how & whys of reading.