Book Thoughts - The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye

The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
published 3/31/12
480 pages

Synopsis from publisher -


1845: New York City forms its first police force. The great potato famine hits Ireland.

These two events will change New York City forever…

Timothy Wilde tends bar, saving every dollar in hopes of winning the girl of his dreams. But when his dreams are destroyed by a fire that devastates downtown Manhattan, he is left with little choice but to accept a job in the newly minted New York City Police Department.

Returning exhausted from his rounds one night, Tim collides with a girl no more than ten years old… covered in blood. She claims that dozens of bodies are buried in the forest north of Twenty-Third Street. Timothy isnt sure whether to believe her, but as the image of a brutal killer is slowly revealed and anti-Irish rage infects the city, the reluctant copper star is engaged in a battle that may cost him everything…

My thoughts -

Full disclosure? I almost didn't read this book. I saw it on the Publisher's Weekly best of 2012 lists and got it from the library, but when it came time to actually read it, I was torn. I just didn't know if I was really that interested, and sometimes these "thrillers" aren't really that well written.....

Boy, am I glad I took a chance on Gods of Gotham. This book is seriously good, folks. Faye tackles a lot - a real historical event, a fairly tense mystery, the slang used by the underworld in 1840's New York, a bit of romance, politics, and religion - and not a single aspect fell flat. I was engrossed from page one, and didn't want to put this excellent novel down until I'd turned the last page.

I was actually quite concerned by the novel's use of the "flash talk" that was starting to permeate society at the time this story takes place. I often struggle with books that rely heavily on a specific dialect - until I can get the flow, it is extremely difficult for me to actually enjoy the story, and I've been known to abandon a book simply because I couldn't crack the dialect "code". Faye does such a masterful job of integrating this slang into her story - with contextual clues and some small bits of explanation, I always felt like I knew just what each character was saying, and the dialect set the stage so well that I fell right into it and never looked back.

Faye's characters were rounded and interesting, with lots of interesting shades that made them quite real. I also found her writing style to be excellent - just perfect for the setting and voice of her novel. Because of her vivid descriptions of place and time, I was easily lost in the world of the Five Points, and felt the tension of each character trying to solve the tragic mystery.

"People tell me things. They tell me all sorts of things. About their finances, their hopes like torches in the dark, their tiny rages, their sins when the sins feel too much like shells and they want to break out of them. But never in my life had the new facts made me feel I weighed less instead of more, caught me op on a breeze. Maybe I would never understand Mercy, grasp why she spoke so glancingly or guess what she was thinking. Still. I only wished for decades to keep trying." (p. 203)

I only hope Faye plans to continue the story of Timothy and Val, Bird and Silkie - they are fantastic characters, and I can't wait to read what happens to them next!

Finished - 3/2/13
Source - South side library
MPAA rating - R for violence and adult situations
My rating - 9/10

The Re-Education of a Book Lover - Part Four - The Count of Monte Cristo

I have loved to read for as long as I can remember. Recently, however, it has come to my attention that there are some G A P I N G holes in my literary education. For example: I have read every Austen and Bronte you can get your hands on, but somehow had never managed to read a Charles Dickens novel in its entirety. So, with a little help from my mom, the English Teacher, and a couple of good friend, the English Majors, I am setting a course to re-educate myself by filling in some of those gaps.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
first published 1844
audiobook 

Synopsis -

One of the most exciting and best-loved novels of all time, The Count of Monte Cristo is a timeless tale of endurance, courage, and revenge. Falsely accused of treason, the young sailor Edmond Dantïs is arrested on his wedding day and imprisoned on an island fortress. After years of solitary confinement in a cramped, dank dungeon, he befriends an Italian prisoner who, with his dying breath, reveals the location of a vast treasure on the island of Monte Cristo. Dantïs stages a daring and dramatic escape, retrieves this fabulous fortune, and returns to France to exact revenge on his enemies, posing as the Count of Monte Cristo. Dantïs pursues his vengeance to the bitter end, only then realizing that he himself is a victim of fate.

My thoughts -

First of all, I am in love with reading classics via audiobook. If you are interested in starting to read more classics, I strongly encourage you to give the audiobook  format a try. It has made some of these challenging novels so much more accessible for me - I am honestly looking forward to reading them for the first time. 

Now, on to the novel - holy cow, don't mess with Edmond Dantis! I don't know if this would be considered the grandfather of all revenge tales, but it is certainly one of the great ones. I was, once again, surprised at the ease of the language - I have a preconception that all "classics" will be hard to read, but this flowed along very easily. I think much of that ease is due to choosing the audiobook format, but I am also learning that classics are not nearly as intimidating as I'd thought they would be. I was especially happy to be listening to this story that takes place in France and Italy, so that I didn't have to try to figure out in my own head how to pronounce all the names!

It was fascinating to watch all the pieces of this complicated puzzle fall into place, as each of the Count's enemies was brought to his own specific type of justice. There was also interesting political and cultural machinations going on, and just enough love story to satisfy the romantic in me. There were a few places that I didn't quite understand what was going on, but nothing that ruined my enjoyment of this extremely entertaining novel.

I checked this audiobook out from my local library, and unfortunately didn't pay enough attention to which copy I selected, so I don't know the name of the wonderful narrator, but he was just right for this novel. It was an interesting recording - I suspect it was old, and it certainly would not be up to the high standards of most of today's recordings - there were several times that background noise, including traffic, were clearly audible as the narrator was reading. I would love to see a better quality recording made with this same excellent narrator.

Once again, my journey with the classics is delightful. This novel was fun and entertaining, with lots of interesting history and politics thrown in as well. I highly recommend this one if you like a good thriller - and if you like to see people get what's coming to them!

Finished - 2/20/13
Source - South side library
MPAA rating - PG-13 for revenge-y-ness
My rating - 8/10

Book Thoughts - Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen

Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen
published 1998
320 pages

Synopsis from publisher -

For eighteen years, Fran Benedetto kept her secret. And hid her bruises. And stayed with Bobby because she wanted her son to have a father. And because, in spite of everything, she loved him. Then one night, when she saw the look on her ten-year-old son's face, Fran finally made a choice — and ran for both their lives. Now she is starting over in a city far from home, far from Bobby. And in this place she uses a name that isn't hers, and cradles her son in her arms, and tries to forget. For the woman who now calls herself Beth, every day is a chance to heal, to put together the pieces of her shattered self. And every day she waits for Bobby to catch up to her. Because Bobby always said he would never let her go. And despite the flawlessness of her escape, Fran Benedetto is certain of one thing: It is only a matter of time....

My thoughts -

I have to admit to feeling rather disappointed in this novel. I think Anna Quindlen is a fantastic writer, and I felt like this novel was a very superficial depiction of an extremely serious issue. I think Quindlen had the opportunity to really delve into something that could have been quite powerful, and instead chose to write a novel that was perfectly average. I'm not sure I would have stuck with it except I was reading it for a book group and wanted to be able to discuss. I think perhaps if I didn't KNOW about Quindlen's skill, I wouldn't have had such high expectations, but knowing what she is capable of, this wasn't up to par.

Finished - 2/19/13

Source - my shelves

MPAA rating - R for violence and adult situations

My rating - 6/10