Although I did have plenty of time for reading this week, I have very little for writing about it! So here is a list, accompanied by very brief of comments on each book.
La part de l'océan / Dominique Fortier
J'ai été franchement déçue par ce livre. Je pense que c'est en partie parce que les personnages principaux sont masculins. L'auteure emploie toutefois magistralement le courant de conscience pour donner à Lizzie Melville (née Shaw) une existence qui tient autant de la présence que de l'absence.
Good Girl, Bad Blood / Holly Jackson
I read this sequel to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder in less than two days! The clever yet credible use of digital resources to both create and reveal clues was even more deftly featured in this instalment. I loved seeing how Pip's self-understanding as a "good girl" continued to evolve and how she learned to channel her anger. Also, her relationship with Ravi is so wholesome! I'm really looking forward to the third volume in this series.
Give Me Your Heart / Joyce Carol Oates
This collection of short stories was my first encounter with this author, so I had no idea what I was getting into… While I appreciated the ingenuity of the narratives as well as their truly unnerving and disturbing qualities, I couldn't help feeling disappointed by all stories except the one called "Strip Poker"… I simply don't enjoy not having an answer.
How to Survive Your Murder / Danielle Valentine
This proved a very absorbing and seasonable story that combines an ingenious twist on horror movie tropes (particularly that of the "Final Girl") with a critique of the exploitative aspects of true crime podcasts. While I figured out the solution about three quarters of the way through the novel, I still had a good time reading it.
The Inheritance Games / Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Less enjoyable was this book, the first in a series. Part of the problem may reside in the fact that I listened to the audio version, as the narrator — who is supposed to be a 17-year-old girl — sounds like a woman well into her thirties… I couldn't for the life of me tell the four brothers apart, and despite (or perhaps because of?) the multiplicity of puzzles involved in arriving at the solution, the overall plot bored me. Alas, it had none of the entertainment value of a Rube Goldberg machine.