The Shining Girls, Lauren Beukes - Audible Version

 

The Shining Girls

By: Lauren Beukes

Recommendation: 👍👍👍 - (Out of 5 👍)

Book Blurb:

'In Depression-era Chicago, Harper Curtis finds a key to a house that opens on to other times. But it comes at a cost. He has to kill the shining girls: bright young women, burning with potential. Curtis stalks them through their lives across different eras until, in 1989, one of his victims, Kirby Mazrachi, survives and starts hunting him back.

Working with a former homicide reporter who is falling for her, Kirby races against time and reason to unravel an impossible mystery.'

The Shining Girls was never a book on my radar until Apple TV starting advertising the limited TV series on their app. I have had a long standing rule, based on my own personal experience, that I must watch a movie or TV show before I read the book. In my experience the movie or show will rarely live up to the depth of the book. I watched the Apple TV show, which stars Elizabeth Moss of The Handmaid's Tale fame, and designated my Audible credit for the month of July to the book. 

The Shining Girls follows main character Harper Curtis, a man who gains the ability to travel back and forth through time using as his portal a house located on Chicago's west side. Harper has always been a demented man. His evilness escalates when he comes to believe that it is his responsibility to murder the women whose names are listed on a bedroom wall in the house. Harper is a time traveling serial killer. Kirby Mazrachi was one of the names on Harper's list of shining girls. Unbeknownst to him, she survived his brutal attack and has made it her mission to find out who her attempted murder is.

The audible version of the book is narrated by Khristine Hvam, Jay Snyder, Joshua Boone, Dani Cervone, and Jenna Hellmuth. Overall the narration is easy to listen to but I will admit that at moments the parts read as Kirby become a bit pitchy. There are a number of differences between the television show and the book, so much so that if not for the main synopsis the two versions could stand alone and separately. 

I think for the first time in my life I enjoyed the show more than the book. One aspect that the book did better was to explore the back stories of the shining girls. We didn't learn about all of Harper's victims in the television show and this was an aspect that could have only enhanced the story. Other than that, I think the impact of Harper's time travel on his one surviving victim, Kirby, was unique and was a better means for driving the main characters to the ultimate clash that ended the book.
 

The Luminaries, Susan Dennard

The Luminaries

By: Susan Dennard

Recommendation: 👍👍👍👍 - (Out of 5 👍)

Winnie Wednesday's family has suffered a fall from grace. At one time her mother was the Lead Hunter for the entirety of the Wednesday clan; that was until it was discovered that Winnie's father was a spy. Now Winnie's mom works two jobs to make ends meet and her brother is nothing more than a gofer for the President of the Luminaries. 

Winnie has a plan to restore her families reputation. In the month of her sixteenth birthday she has the right to enter the trials to become a Hunter. It won't be an easy feat, the woods around Hemlock Falls are filled with deadly creatures known as 'Nightmares'. Even the most experienced Hunters are risking their lives when entering the forest after dark. Winnie has not had the benefit of training but she is confident she will be successful. Her first night in the woods she encounters a creature never seen or heard of before but no one in Hemlock Falls will believe her. If that wasn't enough for Winnie to deal with she is attempting to rebuild old friendships with friends who seem to be keeping secrets of their own.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley and the publisher Macmillan-Tor/Forge for an honest review.

I absolutely loved Winnie Wednesday, her caring brother, and her quirky mom! School in Hemlock Falls is so unique; half regular classes and half hunter training. Winnie is so relatable I couldn't help but feel deeply for her plight as well as anger for those that mistreated her and her family the past four years. 

In the afterword of the book, Dennard shares a most interesting story about the origins of the Luminaries. Apparently the base idea developed from a series of posts, reader driven via polls. Dennard weaves into her story a perfect mix of everyday fantasy creatures, such as werewolf and banshees, with her own unique and original beings. Her characters are wonderfully developed, the backstory has great depth, and there is an element of mystery that keeps you guessing what will happen next. I am excited to visit Hemlock Falls and spend more time with Winnie in the second installment.

The Luminaries is due to release November 8, 2022. You can preorder your copy now...

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