Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino

Pages (Paperback): 544 pages

Publisher: Vintage

Released: February 12, 2008

Quick Thoughts: Ever since I read Out, I've been a fan Natsuo Kirino. She has a way of taking writing things that you just don't expect, or taking a small situation and making it into something strange and crazy. I love it!

Review: Usually, I would write about the novel here and mention what happens, without spoiling the book, of course. But somehow, I feel like if I even attempted to do that I would ruin the experience of the readers who decide to pick up this book. For me, the story, which is intriguing and keeps you on your toes, isn't the main thing or the driving force of this novel. It's the characters. You have the Miss Hirata who is spiteful, and cruel. Her sister, Yuriko Hirata, a narcissist, who is incredibly beautiful, Kazue Sato, a sad individual, and Zhang, a Chinese immigrant who killed both Yuriko and Kazue.

Through these four people, the story unfolds and you slowly learn why Yuriko and Kazue, both of which were prostitutes, were killed.

Final Thoughts: This isn't as amazing or mind blowing as Out, but it did have its moments. One of the things that I loved about this book was how I didn't like anyone. I couldn't get myself to like Yuriko, and understood why her sister hated her. But she was an interesting character and shows how even though you are beautiful, life isn't always full of roses. I wanted to like the Miss Hirata, but she seemed so spiteful and hateful about her life and sister that I just pitied her. I understand why she hates her sister, I do, but after 30 some years, she should have gotten over it.

With Kazue, I felt so bad for her because I understood why she was doing what she was doing. She reminded me of someone who tries to fit in, who doesn’t think of themselves as good enough, even though they are at the top of their class and work incredibly hard to succeed in life. Had someone helped her and worked on her self-esteem issues, she might not have died. Zhang, the most interesting character out of the four, I won’t say much about him, but I will say that I loved what Kirino did with him.

This is truly a book where you won't like anyone, I know I didn't, but Kirino wrote it in such a way that even though you didn't like anyone, or relate to them, you wanted to hear their stories and see what happens next. The dark, ugly side of the characters truly represents the title of this novel, Grotesque. It’s not pretty and it’s disturbing for the most part, but there is something about the novel that I just a great time in reading. It’s not a book for everyone, but I for one, loved almost every minute of reading it. My only complaint is that it is a little slow to get into, but once the story picks up, you quickly forgive it.

Just a note, I was reading some reviews of Grotesque and found that the publishers censored the end of the book, which is a shame, since it did feel like you were missing something. Hopefully, there is a version that has the complete ending out there.

Grade: 9 out of 10

Is this review a little too big, read the shorter verison at 5 Line Reviews.

Skarlet by Thomas Emson

Pages (Paperback): 448 pages

Publisher: Snowbooks Ltd.

Released: December 1, 2009

Quick Thoughts: I've mentioned that if there is a book where the author takes a popular supernatural creature, but changes it in a way to make it their own, I will almost always want to read about it. I liked what Emson did with Maneater, so I had high hopes for Skarlet.

Review: It's a normal night in London for Jake Lawton. Jake, a disgraced ex-solider, works as a bouncer at a local nightclub called Religion. The club is popular with wannabe vampires and goths and it's up to Jake to keep the clubs free from vermin and drug dealers.

Fraser Lithgow, a drug dealer, is usually not allowed to go into Religion, but gets special permission to go on in. There, Fraser does what he does best, give drugs to people. The drug today is one called Skarlet. He doesn't know what it does or how good it is, all he knows is someone told him to give it out and that is what he's going to do. Things should be normal for him, but when club goers start dying after taking the drug, his life just went from bad to worse.

Everyone who takes the drug dies almost instantly. Fraser knows it's due to his drug and Jake knows that Fraser did something. But why was he allowed into the club in the first place and who gave Fraser the drugs in the first place?

48 hours later, the dead clubbers come back to life and they're hungry and kind of disgusting, but mostly just hungry.

It's up to Jake, Fraser, and a journalist who ruined Jake's career, to team up and figure out what is going on, before it's too late.

Emson has a way with writing and the short chapters help make the novel fast paced. The action is amazing, and the Babylonian myth that he weaves into the story was nicely done. The characters, for the most part, are developed nicely. You may not like them, but you do understand where they are coming from. Jake is still bitter after being wrongfully discharged from the army. Fraser, well...Fraser is just stupid (but I like him that way) and thankfully, he does grow a bit as the novel goes on.

The story behind journalist, Christine, was the most realistic. I don't like journalists doing whatever they can to get a story, even if they have to ruin people's lives, and while I didn't like her, I did sympathize with her situation. Her home life, while frustrating to read, had a lot of truth in it. I know that there are a lot of couples going through what Christine is going through and I liked how Emson added this in.

The villains in the novel are human and hearing about them is one of the best parts in the novel. The first chapter is both horrifying and yet so satisfying at the end of it. You hear about the villains from the present, which was interesting, but it didn't have the impact that the flashback chapters about them had on me. They do some really bad things, but due to their actions from the flashbacks, they had redeeming qualities about them.

Final Thoughts: If you are a fan of vampire novels and enjoy horror, then definitely pick this book up. While Maneater had the theme of revenge, this one had survival and you could really feel it as you read the novel. I will say that the same problem that I had with Maneater did continue here, as there were some words and phrases were overused and made some of the dialogue repetitive. However, there were many things that I did like; the chapters remain short, keeping up with the fast pace of the novel, the characters were fleshed out nicely, and there is just so much action in this that it was just so much fun to read. The ending does leave you with some questions, but seeing as this is the first in a series, I'm sure we'll be seeing the answers soon. Can't wait to read more from this series and from Emson.

Grade: 9 out of 10


Need less bite? Read the shorter review at 5 Line Reviews

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Pages (Paperback): 608 pages
Publisher: Vintage
Released: June 23, 2009

Quick Thoughts I remember reading this back in my book blogging days (can I still say that if I came back to blogging?) and I remember being really excited for this because it was new and getting rave reviews. I think during this time, I was reading more international novels, so his name popped up and after reading the summary I wanted to read it.

Review: Carl Mikael Blomkvist, journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium, is convicted of libel and the lose of revenue, readers, and his slowly his reputation. If that isn't enough, Mikael also has to serve some jail time. This is all too much for him, so he steps down and leaves the magazine. It's then when he is contacted by Henrik Vanger. The deal between the two is simple, Henrik will provide the proof that Mikael desperately needs to restart his reputation and in return, Mikael will have to spend a year in Henrik's estate and write the Vanger family history and to help solve the case on who murdered Harriet Vanger.

With the help of hacker, Lisbeth Salander, Mikael will have to solve the case in order to restore his reputation and ease the mind of old man Henrik.

There are an assortment of characters, but I'll deal with the two main ones, Mikael and Lisbeth.

Mikael is smart, passionate, and a hard worker. But, despite all of his good qualities, I didn't particularly like that he would occasionally bed his best friend and business partner (who is married). The whole situation, even though everyone, including the husband, was fine with this, was a little off-putting to me. I understand there is a strong connection between them, but that doesn't mean it has to go this far. If they were single, I don't think I would have minded too much.

Lisbeth, what can I say about her, she's awesome. Simply awesome. Throughout the story, you learn more about Lisbeth and her past and you realize that this is a girl who had to do a lot in order to survive in the world. She made the story for me and when she came into Mikael's life the story picked up and I couldn't putting it down.

Final Thoughts: Minus the libel case, I loved the book. The mystery was interesting and the Vanger family were intriguing and mysterious in their own way. After that case was solved and Mikael goes home, the book starts too lose some of it's fire and it drags the book down. Other than that, it's a great book and I like what Larsson has done with Lisbeth.

Grade: 9 out of 10

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first book in Stieg Larsson's series and is available in bookstores and Amazon.

Compact, but with the same energy, check out the 5 line review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo over at 5 Line Reviews