Where They Found Her

Ridgedale, New Jersey is a quiet town until a dead newborn is found in the woods bordering the prestigious college. The whole town is sent reeling by the senseless tragedy. Speculation abounds, but no one seems to know anything about its origins. Molly Sanderson is a freelance journalist working for the Ridgedale Reader and recovering from a miscarriage and the depression that followed. She is unexpectedly is sent to cover the story and she's shocked at the discovery. The case obviously hits close to home and she is determined to find out who is responsible. Memories from her own tragedy resurface, but her determination doesn't waver. Her investigation will delve deeper than she expected into the town's past and unearth secrets thought to be long buried.

Where They Found Her is a well written and multilayered mystery. It's told from the point of view of three women: Molly Sanderson, the freelance journalist with a recent tragedy; Sandy Mendelson, a teenage high school drop out trying to cope with her drug addled mom; and Barbara Carlson, wife of the chief of police and busy body extraordinaire. All three of these women are fully realized with their own voices and points of view. Molly is trying to move forward from her depression by seeking justice for the dead, abandoned newborn. Her story is the most fleshed out with journal entries and transcripts from therapy sessions interspersed between chapters. She lets her personal feelings drive her and refuses to back away when others try to baby her or deter her. I admire her conviction and  rooted for her throughout the story. Sandy Mendelson is also very sympathetic. She dropped out of school to work so she and her mom could live. Her mom is an erratic and irresponsible drug user and alcoholic. It's sucks to live with her mom, but it's what she knows. Who knows how bad foster care would be. She works tirelessly to provide for her mom. I loved the reveal of her mom. She refers to her mom by her first name and they just seemed like roommates until she offhandedly called her mom. The revelation was shocking and put Sandy's life sharply into perspective: her mom's inappropriate sexual behavior, drug use, and irresponsibility with money. The two seemed the same age, showing Sandy's maturity and her mother's immaturity. I just wanted to shake Sandy and tell her to leave and never look back.

This brings us to Barbara. She's the parent I would hate to encounter. She puts a crazy amount of pressure on her kids to be perfect and doesn't care that they are both close to cracking. Quick to criticize others and put everyone else under great scrutiny, she is super offended if anyone suggests she's doing anything wrong. When her son starts acting uncharacteristically violent, she was quick to blame another mom. Then she brought him in to a therapist and she didn't want to listen to him. Her own preconceived notion of what happened had to be the truth no matter what anyone else told her. It was interesting to see into her head and witness her fall from what she thought was above everyone else. The revelations at the end of the novel directly affected her in surprising ways. Long buried secrets reemerged and just shows that even if something is decades in the past, you can never truly be safe from it. If things had been dealt with back then, a lot of lives could have been a lot better.

Where They Found Her is an engrossing mystery that had me constantly reevaluating my predictions and ended up surprising me. My only criticism is some of the red herrings where so obvious that they didn't even seem worth mentioning. Other than that, I greatly enjoyed the novel. I'm a sucker for a small town with lots of secrets. I would definitely read Kimberly McCreight's next book.

My rating: 3.5/5 fishmuffins

Penny Dreadful: Season 1

With the second season of the Victorian gothic show Penny Dreadful, I wanted to write a bit on how the first season fared. It's a bit of a mixed bag.

The Good

Victor Frankenstein and his monster

I am always interested in a good retelling of the Frankenstein story. This one starts with an amazing fakeout. The creature seems childlike and good and completely the opposite of the story until the real monster (who aptly calls himself Caliban) rips it apart. Then he starts making demands and such like the regular story. I like that the show seems to say "Yeah, we read the book too." to the viewer and plays with their expectations in cool ways. Both characters are sympathetic and you can see both of their perspectives. Caliban taking residence in a theater is pure gold and presented so many humanizing moments.

Dorian Gray

I initially thought he was a bland character with his aloof and bored attitude at his own sex parties, but he turned out to be very interesting. His conversations with Vanessa are always fun to watch. He takes everything in a reserved manner despite his extreme lifestyle. It was also surprising that his sexual appetites weren't completely heterosexual. Many cable channel shows seem to purposefully stay away from male/male relationships so as to not offend the audience with male nudity while at the same time adding in female nudity at every turn. It's nice to see at least one show not totally focused on the heterosexual male audience.

Vanessa Ives

Vanessa is the most magnetic character in the show. Her attitude is delightfully contradictory. She is severe and totally in control most of the time and then she becomes volatile and dangerous when possessed. Her inner demons put all she has at risk. Arguably the most powerful person on the show, she is clairvoyant, reads cards and tea leaves, and can act as a medium for spirits. I had high hopes for her origin and expected a Jekyll and Hyde adaption, but I turned out to be very disappointed.


The Bad

The Finale

So much set up and NOTHING HAPPENED. If the show was cancelled, nothing would be resolved at all. Vanessa isn't quite cured; Brona is about to be Caliban's bride; and Ethan just werewolfed out on a whole bunch of people with who knows what consequences. The only thing really resolved was the whole Mina/Master Vampire story line.

The Treatment of Vanessa

As I said, Vanessa is my favorite character, but her origin story is awful. She witnessed infidelity as a child, so she "embraced her darkness" and had sex with her sister's betrothed as a teen the day before their wedding. So Vanessa is blamed entirely for the incident and the families never speak after that. It does make sense with the time period, but it put a bad taste in my mouth. Later, she goes insane because of demonic possession (why? probably because of her evil vagina). Then she accepts help form a demon and has sex with it to make her vagina even more evil than it already was. When she finally has the opportunity to have a nice, consensual relationship with Dorian Gray, her evil vagina says no and it's too risky because she would open herself to being possessed again. Why can't she just be happy? Dorian and Vanessa are my favorite relationship on the show and the writers seem very intent on making her miserable and alone in a misogynistic manner. Dorian is kind of evil and can have all the sex we wants with whoever. Vanessa is slut shamed because of the time period and can't even have a semi normal and healthy relationship with someone she actually likes. She only gets gross demon sex because she basically still being punished for a youthful transgression.

So, while the first season isn't perfect, Penny Dreadful is a different show that features classic gothic horror in new ways. I hope this season is a little less hateful on Vanessa and actually resolves some of the plotlines. I'm intrigued by the Elizabeth Bathory character and if Caliban will finally have a mate. We'll see.

The Darkest Part of the Forest

Hazel and Ben Evans live in Fairfold, an odd town that lies adjacent to a magical forest. This forest is populated with faeries and supernatural monsters that usually lurk around the corners of human civilization. Chance encounters happen sometimes usually resulting in a person's good luck or death. Hazel and Ben embraced the magical danger as children as they teamed up to battle the monster as a knight and a bard. They also both made up stories about the horned boy in the glass casket in the woods. Nothing awakens him and nothing can even scratch the glass, so he lays there year after year. When Hazel and Ben have quit their adventuring and they view such things as childhood fantasy, the horned boy escapes from his glass prison. Hazel's whole world is turned upside down as she discovers those forgotten or rationalized memories of fighting magical creatures are shockingly real. Can she remember enough of her past to be able to fight in the present?

I've been a huge fan of Holly Black since reading White Cat and she has yet to disappoint me. The story immediately drew me in with the town that is both aware and in denial about the supernatural creatures and forces influencing the town in the periphery. I am a sucker for this concept. It brings to mind Sunnydale from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and New South Bend from Brenna Yovanoff's Fiendish. All of these works have a magnetic quality where the townspeople experience all this craziness, but rationalize it with normal causes. When confronted with the unbelievable reality, they tend to lash out and then go back to their comfortable, normal reality as soon as possible. Growing up in such a forest definitely affects the young people in the area while the adults seem pretty oblivious, only brought out of it by tragedy. The teens in the area are surprisingly normal despite the things they've experienced.

Hazel and Ben are pretty normal. Hazel gets herself into trouble by kissing boy after boy and living life to the fullest despite the consequences. Ben is the angsty artists type because was blessed/cursed by a faerie as a baby to have an exceptional musical talent and feels great guilt over how he has let it get out of control in the past. They are so similar in other ways. Both are boy crazy in their own way and want to find lasting love.  Both of them love each other fiercely, but also try to keep huge secrets to protect the other when it does the exact opposite. I loved reading these characters and their mistakes and blunders powered by their love. I forgave all of their sometimes frustrating mistakes because it came from a good place and they were only doing their best. I especially liked the way Ben was treated. His sexual orientation just was; no explanation or special treatment needed. No one in his life treated him any differently. The other character I loved was Jack, a changeling child all grown up and raised as human alongside the human boy he was meant to replace. The concept alone is amazing and one I haven't seen. Jack acts as the bridge between the two worlds and can't decide which one he belongs in. He has significant ties to both sides and either choice would be a betrayal.

The book is organized in an odd way. The plot isn't really solidified until much later than expected in the novel. The beginning is just establishing the world and exploring into the lives of the main characters. The plot moves forward and then there's intermittent flashbacks to show why characters are the way they are or background on what's presently happening. If you hate stories jumping around, this wouldn't be for you, but I enjoyed it. Things became clear the more the flashbacks happened and it just shows Holly Black's writing skill. The revelations are doled out carefully and bring clarity to the story. I really enjoyed the journey and exploration through Holly Black's unique world. I hope another book is in the works in the same world (because I would be all over it), but it works very well as a stand alone novel. It's one of the best reads of the year so far.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

Classical Fairy Tale Music

1) Sleeping Beauty by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky



Tchaikovsky's ballet setting of Sleeping Beauty is the definition of classic: beautiful, dream-like, and perfect. The waltz and other selections in the ballet are recognizable because the Disney film borrowed the tunes and set words to them for their 1959 animated film adaptation.

2) Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov



Rimsky-Korsakov tells Scheherazade's 1001 Nights through music. You can hear the domineering Sultan in the low, menacing opening theme, then Scheherazade can be heard in the virtuosic, playful violin solo that follows. These themes recur throughout the piece as the frame narrative as other stories are told in the different movements, like The Sea and Sinbad's Ship, The Kalendar Prince, and The Young Prince and the Young Princess. The very last movement brings in elements of all the other movements. The ending tonality of both character's themes represents the happy conclusion to their story.

3) The Firebird Suite - Igor Stravinsky



I've always like The Firebird Suite and even though I've studied the harmony and structure of the piece, I didn't know it tells the story of a Russian fairy tale. The legendary firebird helps Prince Ivan through the perils of a magical realm ruled by Kaschei the Immortal. Of course there is also a love story with a princess and it all ends happily ever after. I love that this Youtube video has a running commentary on what is happening in the story during the piece. The piece is more modern because Stravinsky plays with unconventional tonalities and chromaticisms along with his trademark bombastic rhythms.

4) The Erlking by Franz Schubert



The Erlking is a Goethe poem set to expressive and illustrative music. The Erlking or Alder King is an elf king who preys on children from Danish and German folklore, although apparently his daughter is usually the antagonist and it's been changed here. The story starts with a frantic father trying to get his sick, feverish son to a doctor. The son sees progressively more frightening visions of the Erlking and describes them for his father, who tries to reassure him. The musical setting is amazing. The opening piano part sets the scene of frantic speed and hoofbeats as the pair travel through the night. The son's descriptions of the Erlking rise in key as his fever worsens and his hallucinations become more severe. The Erlking is entreating and nice at first, but rapidly becomes threatening, always starting in the same key. The son's final cry is in the Erlking's key, followed by the funereal and sparse ending phrase. It's my favorite of his lieds and a wonderful setting to a sad but awesome poem.

Postmodern Fairy Tale Music

These songs go against happily ever after and deconstruct fairy tales.

1) After Ever After by Jon Cozart



Jon Cozart bases various Disney films in a more realistic setting and shows the tragically funny results. My favorite is Pocahontas since the film is so good, but incredibly historically inaccurate. He sings in four part harmony with himself with impressive intonation and timing. I love this medley of irreverent reimaginings of these classic tales.

2) Shalott by Emilie Autumn



Emilie Autumn takes the classic Tennyson poem, The Lady of Shalott and adds her own perspective. The poem is about a woman cursed to weave images without actually seeing the world. She then sees (and falls in love with) Lancelot and leaves, but dies before she gets to Camelot. That's a pretty screwed up tale and it's nice to see a modern perspective. Although it's about Arthurian legend, there are typical fairy tale stand bys here: spinning wheels, curses, a tragic woman, and a handsome man.


3) Fairy Tale by Sara Bareilles



This jazzy song shows how happily ever after isn't all it's cracked up to be. Fairy tale love isn't anything close to reality and wouldn't have turned out well in real life. I especially like the Rapunzel verse where she just wants to be alone. Sara Bareilles shows a variety of fairy tales in the video with a theater flair. She ends the song in modern clothing with just herself and the piano on the stage, without the false trappings of fairy tales.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Feyre and her family are living in poverty. Her father used to be a successful merchant, but disaster struck, leaving their debts unpaid and her father grievously attacked and disabled. Feyre is her family's only source of income, so she hunts to provide for them. One fateful day, she finds a huge wolf in the woods about to attack her quarry. She chooses to kill the wolf and the deer to sell the pelt and eat the venison over a couple weeks. Things seem to finally be looking up until a faerie in wolf form named Tamlin bursts into their house demanding recompense for the murder of his friend. Feyre has two choices: either be executed or go to live in the faerie land of Prythian for the rest of her life. Of course she chooses life, but faeries are inhuman, cruel, and horrible creatures who used to enslave and use humans as playthings. Feyre braces herself for torture, enslavement, or just incarceration, but Tamlin proves to the opposite of her expectations. As they develop a relationship, it becomes clear that all is not well in Prythian. A blight that has robbed the faeries of most of their power is moving towards the human realm, posing a threat to everything and everyone. Can a weak mortal like Feyre help save her world?

A Court of Thorns and Roses is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast that subverts a lot of the expectations of the fairy tale while staying true to the spirit of the story. Our Beauty is Feyre who is unlike any iteration of the character I've read or seen. She is pretty joyless, but not outright bitter. Her family needs someone to step up and get the money and food necessary to survive. Feyre is a pragmatist willing to do whatever it takes no matter how it effects her personal happiness. She has the strength and determination to hone her skills in hunting and other important skills even though she doesn't enjoy them. When she moved to Prythian, she became almost a different person. She was suddenly without direction. Her family was taken care of and she didn't need to do anything anymore, so she loosened up a bit. She focused her energy at first at trying to escape, but realized her family is better off with her there as the faeries provide for them. So then she learns and hones more unnecessary skills that she actually enjoys like learning to read and painting. She starts to tell jokes and actually get to know the faeries, who she has considered flatly evil and dangerous creatures her entire life. Her outlook completely changes and she starts to fall in love with Tamlin, the Beast. Despite some superficial changes, the core Feyre is basically the same. Later in the story, she also takes on momentous tasks to attempt to save her love and her friends despite prolonged suffering.

Tamlin, our Beast, is a mix of sensitive and callous. He was raised to be a warrior to survive his world while his true interests were in music and the arts. War and hardship have been such a part of his life that it's easy for him to forget who he is outside of all of that. He has to present a hard shell and make difficult decisions to succeed as a ruler in Prythian, but he changes as Feyre does. Both become more sensitive and learn something about each other and the culture they come from which causes both to shed their prejudices. The romance develops organically and over a large chunk of the book. That part does move a little slow, but if it were any faster, Feyre's actions at the end simply wouldn't make sense. It takes a lot of time to completely change your outlook on something that's been hammered into your head since birth. Also, I LOVE the way sexuality is treated in the novel. Feyre is very matter of fact and comfortable with herself. She had one partner in the human world who she liked but didn't love. For both of them, it was a convenient escape from their respective hardships, a spot of joy among all the misery. With Tamlin, things are more fiery and passionate because of love. I like that both sides are portrayed as positive instead of having a preachy message against different types of sexual relationships.

The book is lengthy and goes through a lot of different changes. It almost feels like it's multiple books in one due to the changes in location and tone. I read it in about 2 days because I had to know what happened next. Sarah J. Maas knows how to construct a book and I was invested from the first chapter. The fairy tale aspects are handled very well. The general story line is similar with the curse being the most obviously Beauty and the Beast aspect, but the story is free to move into past the plot of the fairy tale. I also enjoyed all the different types of faeries shown, mostly of the horrific variety. The ending is satisfying and at the same time leaves some loose ends that make me want to read the next book immediately. In the time before the next book comes out, I'll be reading all of her other books.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

Wayfarer

Ellen Sinder is miserable. Her father recently died and before she could even begin to heal, her evil stepmother revealed her true colors. This marked the beginning of Ellen being treated as a servant in her own home and being subjected to all kinds of verbal, emotional, and physical abuse. She can't just leave because her school enrollment in high school and university are dependent on living in her family home. A few things are keeping her sane: her two best friends Ruby and Cami, her magical talent to charm, and the hope that she can eventually get away and make a real life for herself. Unfortunately, her situation is getting worse and worse as her stepmother gets more oppressive, her friends seem more distant, and her life is just disintegrating before her eyes. When will the downward spiral end?

Wayfarer is the follow-up-not-quite-sequel to Nameless (which I absolutely loved) and focuses on Ellen Sinder. This retelling of Cinderella vastly expands the unique fairy tale world that draws upon many recognizable tales and combines them in interesting ways. Again, Lili St. Crow just throws the reader into the deep end of her world with Families, Jacks, Twists, and the Deprescence. Things gradually come into focus, but the beginning is a little disorienting, especially having read the first book over a year ago. The Deprescence occured in the 20's and was an explosion of magic that ruined a lot of the world and a lot of people in it. People were Twisted into monsters and Jacks, which made them no longer fit to be a part of normal society. The positive side is that some people have Potential that means when their power settles, they can do wonderful or terrible things with their magic. Magic is used in everything from clothing and fashion production to medicine. The magic system is more explored here through Ellen's eyes and it seems to be a mix of magic and science, but without any specific explanation to really blend the two together. I liked the apprentice system for beginning Charmers and the way magic and Charms are integrated into their everyday lives.

Lili St. Crow takes the flat, stock characters of fairy tales and gives them dimension and at times unexpected characteristics. Ellen is obviously Cinderella, but she isn't the stereotypical enslaved but cheerful princess. The abuse definitely takes a toll on her. Hearing day in and day out that she is useless and unwanted wears on her and she subconsciously internalizes the insults. Leaving home isn't as easy as her friends make it sound. The abuse may be bad, but the unknown may be worse. At least she knows what to expect at home. Leaving could have her be without food, education, or even a place to sleep. She's determined not to be a burden or charity case to her friends. So many people are blind to Ellen's abuse that she feels completely helpless. This sentiment is repeated often, but is misguided since her friends only want her to be safe and happy. I grew annoyed with Ellen's insistence that her friends only wanted her around as charity or as some cruel joke when they showed time and time again that they were worried about her and cared for her, She also lashes out at them again and again until I was surprised she even had any friends left. I would have liked Ruby and Cami to have a more major role in the book. Most of the book has Ellen making horrible decision after horrible decision and simply ignoring or hiding from the consequences. This part was incredibly frustrating to read and I just wanted to talk some sense into her. Once she figured some stuff out and realized her own worth, I began to enjoy the novel again. Although it infuriated me, this portrayal of the effects of abuse is pretty accurate.

The other characters are equally dynamic.  Cami and Ruby are amazing friends who couldn't be more different from each other. Cami is quiet and sweet while Ruby is loud and brash, but they both care for Ellen in their own way. I felt so sorry for them when Ellen refused to accept their help or listen to their advice. Avery is the Prince Charming here and while he was sweet and nice, the romance could have been developed a bit more. The evil stepmother is the only character that is completely and flatly evil. She has the ability to charm other people, especially adults, into not seeing her horrible side, which definitely reminded me of some real people I know. I loved to hate her and the depths of her evilness surprised me, The fairy godmother Auntie is my favorite of the minor characters. She's a weird mix of a typical fairy godmother and the witch from Hansel and Gretel.

I didn't enjoy Wayfarer as much as I did Nameless, but it has the same magical world, darkly humorous writing, and realistic language. Some may be offended or condemn the language as too adult, but it's the reality of how people speak. It was nice to see a YA not censoring itself for its audience for once. My main problems were with Ellen's refusal to see sense for much of the book and the slow pace at times. I still liked the book and devoured it within a day. I can't wait to read the next book, Kin.

My rating: 3.5/5 fishmuffins