Moonbow

Books read in 2024

Started off very strongly, but I felt it did lose momentum when, at times, it felt more like a series of character analyses rather than a novel. Having said that, because of Nolan's skill as a writer and her great empathy for her characters, it never felt boring or tiresome.

I appreciated that the "twist" was that there really wasn't a twist. It felt very realistic and perhaps almost an antithesis to the modern obsession with True Crime and murder mysteries. The ending too was realistic, hardly happy but quite hopeful, which was welcome after the bleakness of the majority of the novel.

Overall, it didn't have quite the emotional impact on me that Acts Of Desperation had, but it was still a good read and I was impressed by Nolan's bold departure in style and genre from her first book.

Medea
Rosie Hewlett

I enjoyed Rosie Hewlett's Medusa and was excited to see her take on Medea. Her prose was definitely more polished, at times very elegant but at other times overly descriptive, and some times too explanatory. The writing was definitely at it's best when it was sharp and concise.

As for the character of Medea, I think she did a good job of creating believable motives for her darkest acts without condoning nor sanitising them. When I began to suspect Jason's manipulative behaviour, I was worried Medea might be watered down to one dimensional victim and all her wrongdoings blamed upon a man, but as in Medusa, Hewlett was not afraid to write complex, imperfect victims and explore the ways in which trauma can, sadly, further the cycle of violence. This was true of both Medea and Jason. Framing their relationship as a toxic co-dependency worked very well as an explanation for the events in the original mythology, and was very realistically written too. Genuinely painful to read, at times.

Some other elements I liked was Atalanta's characterisation and prominence in the story, and her dynamic with Meleager. The description of Hecate was also pretty cool.

The Dove in The Belly
Jim Grimsley

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Loki
Melvin Burgess

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