allmyprettybooks-new

Imaginary Things is a novel of the magic realism genre (which happens to be my favourite). This is Andrea Lochen 's second novel, and has achieved some good reviews on Goodreads, which is why I was drawn to it. Without really being able to put my finger on the reason, I feel a bit let down by this novel. The premise is brilliant: Anna Jennings moves to her grandparents' rural home for the summer with her four-year-old son, David. She begins to see shadowy creatures around David, making her fear for her own state of mind and David's safety. With the threat of David's biological father looming over, Anna needs to understand the mysterious phenomenon in order to protect her son, and learn something about herself. But... Although the story was interesting and worded well, it fell short of capturing my imagination. I couldn't engage with Anna, feeling like an outsider watching through class instead of the active participant I'd hoped for. After around the first h

The Loney is mostly set around the events which unfold at a Catholic retreat in Lancashire in the 1970's, with flash-backs of the narrator's time as an altar boy, and forwards to the present day through conversations with his therapist. Described as a "slow-burn British horror novel in the tradition of The Wicker Man ", I consider it a fantastic literary debut which will leave you thinking for a long time afterwards. Our unnamed narrator and his mute brother, Hanny, attend the retreat with their parents, devout parishioners and a newly appointed priest, Father Bernard. It has been some years since their last visit, which appears more of a pilgrimage in hope of "curing" Hanny's illness, and the landscape has changed much: it's barren and intimidating presence as much a reflection of a loss of faith as significance for the dreadful events which unfold. Whilst the adults in the party attend to the practicalities of the retreat, the two boys explore the

I was rather excited to have an opportunity to review The Shapeshifters . Over the past couple of years, I've read a fair amount of (translated) Nordic fiction, and after watching the movie Trollhunter , I should admit an interest in Nordic mythology concerning trolls! The Shapeshifters  presents an engrossing story where myth and folklore blend with reality in contemporary Sweden. It begins in 1978, when a young boy is stolen away from his distraught mother by what she claims to be a giant. He is never seen again. Twenty-five years later, another child goes missing, but this time there is a lead: a photograph taken on a wildlife camera by Susso Myren: granddaughter of a famous aerial photographer. Susso has devoted her life to proving the existence of trolls: a form of the legendary creatures known as Stallo , who can control human thought and shapeshift into animal form. Alongside her quest to prove the existence of these supernatural beings, Susso feels a sense of responsibilit