I’m sharing another instalment of my Mini Review Mondays, the most recent of which was the other week. In case you haven’t seen any of my previous posts, I do ‘mini’ reviews of books that I’ve previously read and am now ready to share my full thoughts about.
First up, I’d like to talk about Our Cut of Salt. Thank you to Run For It for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
There is something haunting Nuhad’s childhood home in Haifa. Cats avoid its perimeter, strange noises come from within, and residents have been known to disappear entirely in its walls without a trace.
Although Nuhad has not returned to her home since the Nakba in 1948, she always held a place for the house in her heart. And, in return, the house did the same for her.
After Nuhad passes away, her granddaughter, Marina, is determined to visit her grandmother’s home in Haifa after a lifetime of being kept in the dark about her culture and history.
Marina’s mother, Haifa-named for the city that was lost to their family-reluctantly agrees to her trip, though she knows first hand that some secrets are better left buried.
For this house is no longer a home, it is a wound.
Publication Date: 22nd September
CW: genocide, war, forced displacement, Nakba, grief, murder, violence, injury, drowning, colonialism
My Thoughts:
Our Cut of Salt will echo in your mind long after the final page. Helm’s vivid, stylistic writing brings together an endless void of rage and pain at real continued violence and oppression and intertwines it with a vulnerable, nuanced take on the haunted house story.
We move between three generations of Palestinian women grappling with the violence happening across time: Nuhad, Haifa and Marina. They each had distinctive and well-crafted voices, exploring themes of identity and sitting with what has happened to each of them in turn. They have to grapple with the deep-rooted trauma caused by the events depicted here and how it has fundamentally shaped them as people. There is this question of what homecoming might be, what their history means and their connection to their culture. I liked how Helm shows us through these three women that little has changed in the expanse of time their narratives cover. There is this fragility and this painful possibility of what might have been that haunts the narrative. The lives they might have had if their homeland were free.
The weight of that historical bloodshed combined with the horror of the present day forms the crux of the monstrosity here. It is deeply affecting because it is real. The events described in this book are not entirely fiction, they happened and continue to happen in our present day. It is a firm message that silence is complicity and we must recognise when we are repeating the same atrocities of our past. This embodies what the horror genre is about. We take unfathomable pain and suffering and we put it through a speculative lens to channel our rage, our grief and our inability to comprehend how someone could do this to another human. Helm pays homage to this by examining the current genocide, the Nakba and the ensuing intergenerational trauma through the lens of the haunted house story. We get the perspective of the house itself and this is a fascinating one. It is a space of all-consuming rage, expressing this in different ways and by giving us that voice, Helm allows us to see the way this violence has changed the very fabric of the land.
Our Cut of Salt reminds us of the power of horror to expose the monstrosity of humanity and hold a mirror up to our society. It is a must-read.
Next up, I’d like to talk about Tell Me Something True by Michael Robotham. Thank you to Little, Brown for providing an ARC of this title at Harrogate Crime Festival.
Small towns are quick to anger and slow to forgive, but Arlo Hackett doesn’t expect mercy when he emerges from a twelve-year prison sentence and makes his way back to Yulara, a waypoint on Australia’s Great Southern Road. The last time Arlo was home, his brother Luke was charged with a terrible crime and Arlo was found guilty by association.
His return to the former goldrush town is like cracking open a time capsule full of hatred and violence, along with memories of the people he loved – the ones he couldn’t save.
Yulara wants Arlo gone, or worse, but every insult and humiliation pushes him to confront what really happened all those years ago.
The truth will shock you, surprise you, and break your heart.
Publication Date: 29th September
CW: murder, rape, death, grief, suicide, terminal illness, harassment, sexual assault, paedophilia, grooming
My Thoughts:
Tell Me Something True was an emotionally intense, riveting character study and cold case combined into one.
I really loved this book. You move between Arlo’s return in the present and the build-up to the violent act of the past. Within both threads, there is plenty to uncover and Robotham has plenty of surprises in store. It is an emotionally devastating book and it lands so impactfully because of its exquisite characterisation. All of these beats are dependent on your investment in these people. For me, it also was a chilling look at the darker underbellies of small towns, close-knit communities and the secrets they may keep buried to maintain the facade. This is a dark book that goes right for the jugular. However it maintains a level of hope for humanity in the way it includes stories of love in all its forms and how it prioritises humanising the central victim, so you truly understand what a loss the world encountered.
This has all the hallmarks of a great storyteller. It has an incredibly compelling plot as you move between past and present to uncover the truth, it has characterisation that is off-the-scale brilliant and it has a writing style that feels both visceral and lyrical at the same time. For me, it was reminiscent of Chris Chibnall’s work in that epic scale of story that isn’t afraid to slowly unveil its secrets and it has such strong characterisation. These people feel like you could reach out to the pages and they would reach right back. They are messy and complicated and raw and vulnerable just like we are. You see the good and the bad of people in this story, with shades of nuance throughout. Don’t get me wrong, evil lurks in the pages but so does love and hope. While this may be the first book I’ve picked up from Robotham, it certainly will not be my last.
Tell Me Something True is something truly special. It is a devastating portrait of the lingering stains of violence on a family and a community.
Finally, I’d like to delve into The Finalist by Faith Gladwin. Thank you to Dialogue Books for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
There is no art as punishing as ballet – and no ballerina as punished as Eden. She is one of seven elite ballerinas invited to the remote, crumbling Deveraux Manor to compete for a solo of a lifetime.
The manor, a former retreat for dancers, has been shuttered for a decade. Now, its doors have been reopened by the legendary prima ballerina Leanora Karagianni. She is choreographing a new show, which will revitalise her career – and bring stardom to whoever survives her auditions.
Only one finalist will join Leanora’s prestigious new ballet and dance the lead. Eden wants it more than anything but not more than anyone. As Eden pushes her chronically ill body to its limits and fights a dangerous attraction to Leanora – who has her own history with Deveraux Manor, the other ballerinas take every advantage they can.
But the competition soon turns lethal and it becomes clear that the dancers are battling more than each other. For the manor has an agenda of its own…
Publication Date: 6th October
CW: murder, death, violence, injury, gore, blood, chronic illness
My Thoughts:
The Finalist is a slower-burning psychological horror that delves into the cost of ambition and the sacrifices we would make to get to the top.
The way this book talks about dealing with a chronic illness is fantastic. There is this palpable grief for the life you could have had, the person you thought you were going to be and the way the world diminishes you. Your body betrays you in the most insidious, embarassing ways and you just have to keep pushing through. Eden’s storyline is genuinely impactful. What Gladwin has chose to depict is brilliant, though you’ll have to pick it up to see how it ends.
This intertwines so beautifully with the choice to focus on ballet, a gruelling art form and sport that demands physicality and perfection but with a serene air of effortlessness. It is a test of endurance to perform and speaks to the endless sacrifice of bodies and time in order to achieve these feats. The story encapsulates this so well with the fierce competition bringing these girls together for their shot.
It speaks about class and privilege in being able to access the art form and a historical snobbiness about who gets to perform. There is still an element of who you know and the connections that can get you ahead, so this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Gladwin twists this with the horror edge that starts off subtle and grows into something truly horrifying. She uses classic tropes but often plays with them in unexpected ways. Not everything is as it seems here and Eden will have to push herself to the limit to survive.
The Finalist is a brilliant choice of book for this time of year as the cold grows closer. This ballet horror debut proves that Gladwin is one to watch.
A Short Book Lover 