A really fascinating premise wherein mammoths are successfully brought back to life but dying off, and so they import an elephant conservationist's brA really fascinating premise wherein mammoths are successfully brought back to life but dying off, and so they import an elephant conservationist's brain into a mammoth in hopes that it will help them stay alive. Nayler's prose is incredibly evocative, tactile - you feel like you're in the mud and the snow and the ice and blood right there with them. It took me a bit to get in a groove with the different character perspectives, but once I did, I breezed right through it. No real complaints, except that I kind of wish it had been longer - which isn't a bad thing....more
I read Seven Days in June for the BIPOC Romance square of the Seattle Public Library's summer book bingo, and is, in truth, a great example of somethiI read Seven Days in June for the BIPOC Romance square of the Seattle Public Library's summer book bingo, and is, in truth, a great example of something I might not have picked up otherwise, but I'm glad I did.
The premise and structure is very engaging - two writers, Shane and Eva, see each other for the first time in 15 years at a literary event in Brooklyn. The book that follows mirrors a week they spent together as teenagers, and the week they spend together as adults, after admitting they've been writing about and to each other through their novels.
The concept is really fun and inventive, and the chemistry between the two characters sizzles off the page. There are some corny moments - it is a romance after all - but I've read a lot of romance this summer for assorted reasons, and this is one of the better ones so far....more
As someone who's big into mythology, I love the concept of this - a retelling of Hades and Persephone - but the result fell a bit flat for me. I'm somAs someone who's big into mythology, I love the concept of this - a retelling of Hades and Persephone - but the result fell a bit flat for me. I'm someone who's happy to suspend disbelief and doesn't look to pick things apart, but there are wild inconsistencies even just a page or two apart that are pretty hard to ignore. It was also hard to buy some of the characters' motivations, and there were things that felt a little too convenient or two good to be true, even for a fantasy. The chemistry between the leads was decent and was probably the main saving grace of the story that kept me turning the page, but I don't know that I'm invested enough in the outcome to keep reading all of the sequels. We'll see. ...more
This was fine. It definitely could've benefitted from an editor doing a thorough pass. It takes so long to get to what is sold as being the crux of thThis was fine. It definitely could've benefitted from an editor doing a thorough pass. It takes so long to get to what is sold as being the crux of the story - a hockey player needing to step in as a figure skating partner (how very The Cutting Edge) - but by that point the drama between the main characters has mostly resolved itself. I did appreciate how charming the side-characters were, who doesn't love Henry, but it felt like the author was just trying to do too much in one book: smut, romance, drama, buddy comedy, college comedy, motivational sports story, family drama, etc, whatever. It just felt much longer than it needed to be and a good editor could've helped organize and focus it better. There was also a lot of narrating "This happened" as opposed to showing things as they play out, and that contributed quite a bit to it feeling like it went on and on.
Still, the bar is pretty low for me for these kinds of books. I don't go in expecting fine literature - I just want something that's going to turn me on and melt my little soft heart, and it did a good enough job of that....more
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