Review of 'How to Stop Time' by Matt Haig

I've been following Matt Haig on twitter for a LONG time, and I love his honesty and ability to really get to the heart of things even in as short a writing format as a tweet. However, it wasn't until this year that I actually read one of his books, and now I want to read them all. 

Haig is a big advocate for improving mental health services, talking about men's mental health and living in a way that is positive for you. Though this isn't the main message of the book, or even really at its forefront, I think it's there in the way the main character presents his outlook on the world.

The book follows the story of Tom Hazard, a man with a rare condition that means he ages much much slower than the average person. Born in Shakespearean times, Tom's story line flits from the present day back to when he was a child, and explains why Tom behaves the way he does. Over time, he's learnt that nothing really matters apart from love and that it's the only thing that isn't completely transient. Having lost his wife to the plague when he was young, Tom knows that his daughter Marion is someone like him and he's desperate to find her.

Tom was discovered by an agency that protects people with the same condition as him. He's assigned to seek out someone that is suspected to be the same, and either recruit them or make sure they're not able to tell anyone that people like him exist. 

I honestly LOVED this book and gave it five stars. I'm a massive fan of back stories for characters (honestly the more in-depth the better, and don't even get me started on prequels). I'm also a big fan of historical fiction, and learning more about history, so this was right up my street, albeit in a heavily fictionalised version kinda way. The book took us through Shakespearean times to Tom meeting F Scott Fitzgerald, and all around the world too. 

Sometimes books like this delve too much into the side of creating a really nice back story for a character without any real plot, but I loved learning about the dark side of the society that Tom ends up a part of, and I felt this added some much-needed drama to the story. I could honestly read book after book from this world, and I'd be SO into hearing the story of Tom's daughter and how she's grown up differently in a world that hates people that are 'different'.

It reads a little like YA fiction, though I'm not sure if it's intended as adult literary fiction. I think as something that comes across a bit YA-ey, it's important that this isn't a traditional romantic love story. but a familial love story because those are honestly so rare in the genre.

I would recommend this to YA fiction fans, especially if you enjoy historical fiction too!

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Review of 'The Essex Serpent' by Sarah Perry

It kind of seems as though 2019 might be the year of literary fiction for me? I'm actually reading books that have been brought out ~fairly~ recently (aka in the past five years) and they are real adult lit fic? Am I alright?

For real though, this is a genre I've largely steered clear of in the past just because other ones interest me more. Now that I've got my teeth sunk in a little though there are SO MANY that I want to pick up and give a go. 

The novel kicks off with a mysterious death of a man, which is later attributed to be caused by a mythological beast named the Essex Serpent. The main story then starts with the death of Cora Seaborne's abusive husband. Set in 1893, Cora lives in a time where she couldn't leave this man, and inwardly rejoices that he's lost his hold over her.

Desperate to leave her boring, restrictive life behind, Cora takes her son Frances and his governess to Essex, to be a little removed from the hustle of London life. She is an inquisitive woman, who places reason and science before religion. When a couple of friends suggest that she stay with a priest and his wife and children so that she can find out more about this Essex Serpent, Cora is a little apprehensive, but decides to go for it.

The book questions the boundaries between fact and fiction, faith and science, and where the boundaries lie between morality and immorality. Cora's own sense of what is right is put in jeopardy by her desires, and she loses sight of the strange behaviour of Frances. On the surface, he's a naughty little boy who won't do what he's told, but deep down he's a little troubled, and much more interesting than at first glance.

I've given this a 3/5 stars, because although it's a very good imitation of a Victorian novel (my fave), and at times I felt as though I could be reading an Austen novel, there were some jarring anachronisms that totally took me out of the world of the book and made me remember that it is a modern novel. 

I did love the questioning of where the boundaries lie between being masculine and feminine, and I felt this was a real strength. However, the plot was spread very thinly throughout the book. I feel as though it might have worked a little better being 50 or so pages shorter, but I can see that the level of detail was part of the aura of it being a Victorian-esque novel.

I've heard so many people rave about this, and maybe if I'd gone in without this idea in mind it might have come across a little better! 

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Review of 'Dracula' by Bram Stoker

Aaaaand on to the first re-read of the year. I am a BIG Dracula fan. I took my time getting about to reading it the first time, and held off until I was 20. Basically I was still in the teenage phase of not wanting to like something because everyone said it was good so I didn't read it (so many regrets) until way after pretty much everyone on my uni course had given it a go. 

Anyhow, the first time around I read it for a first wave feminism module at uni and it was so interesting to approach the book from that perspective. This time around, however, my reading felt a little less focused and it allowed me the chance to notice a whole lot that I'd overlooked the first time around.

Dracula begins when Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania on business to meet a Count. When he arrives, the locals seem to fear him, wearing garlic around their necks and crossing themselves. He is attacked by wolves on his way to the Count's castle, but saved by the Count himself. Once he's there, he begins to notice that things aren't how you would expect. He never sees the Count during the day, most of the castle is closed off to him, and Jonathan ultimately realises he's trapped.

Back in England, his betrothed Mina Harker is staying with her closest friend Lucy Westenra, who is trying to deal with the (so hard) problem of having three very different men seeking her hand in marriage. However, soon Lucy's behaviour starts to become very concerning. She sleepwalks, and when she returns to her bed she seems pale and almost lifeless. 

Soon begins a battle between one of the most esteemed doctors of the time, Professor Van Helsing, and a force making nightly visits to Lucy, intent on draining her blood ...

This is one of the key Gothic horror novels, sitting alongside the likes of The Monk, Frankenstein and Edgar Allen Poe's poetry. It has all of the key elements of being an OG Gothic novel: a gloomy moody setting, supernatural elements, the sublime, the question of morality vs depravity, and a side helping of sexually depraved women. The language isn't too dense or antiquated, and whilst the book is quite lengthy, it does switch between various narratives to keep you on your toes.

I am such a big fan of the book, and would put it in my top ten all-time reads. I love how much popular fiction has come from the idea of Dracula put forward in this book, and thinking about how much of an impact it has had globally and across time just blows my mind. Basically, if you want to get into Gothic fiction (who doesn't?), this is a great book to start with, or use to delve deeper into the genre. 

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