Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi - you can read it, but don’t expect to like it (despite the rave reviews elsewhere)
I read this book as a part of an email book club I’m in with a few friends. While I enjoyed the act of reading the story, I can’t say I enjoyed the story. The writing isn’t a style I particularly like, so I found it hard to really dive in and connect with the characters. Plus the ending is just absolute craziness… I believe I described it as, “cray” in the emails.
Lexicon by Max Barry – read it now I really want to talk to someone about it!
This is a very biased review as I’ve loved Max Barry since reading Company years and years ago. One of his other novels, Machine Man, remains one of my favorite books! Plus he’s charming, funny, and engaging. I’m mostly writing that because I stalked his website after reading Lexicon and was reminded of why I love him so much. Look up how Machine Man became a book – it’s brilliant.
Anyway… I loved every second of reading Lexicon. It is one of those novels you just can’t put down and when you do, you spend the rest of the day thinking about it. The writing is engaging, and filled with action, but the action is framed by beautiful descriptions, and sharp, witty dialogue. I really enjoyed piecing together the story through the disjointed narrative, as two journeys are told in alternating chapters until they catch up with each other. It made the thriller even more thrilling as you saw every piece come together. I laughed, gasped, and even yelled, “oh my god!” a few times!