"Her Body and Other Parties"

"Her Body and Other Parties" 
Written by Carmen Maria Machado
Review written by Diana Iozzia


When I receive a complementary galley from a publisher, I'm not always sure what to expect. I rarely read reviews of the book prior to opening it up, because I always feel I might become biased or read something I don't want to. I was very hopeful for this book, because my favorite type of reading to do is reading collections of short stories. The themes of romance, science fiction, comedy, horror, and psychological realism (that are mentioned on the back cover) intrigued me. There also is an underlying theme of LGBT, which was interesting, as well as a teeny underlying tone of feminism. Neither of which made me interested in reading the book, because those topics I relate to, but they don't interest me. 

Also, I rarely have ever rated something as a 5 star. My 5 stars are often set for books that I would re-read over and over again. I'll probably read this book another 10 times in my lifetime. I truly rate this as a five star book. A five star review does not mean that I think the book is flawless, that every story intrigued me, that I sat on my bed in denial that I had finished it, but I was kind of disappointed that there wasn't anymore. I can tell you for a fact I will be watching for more books in the future by this author. Anyway, let's begin.

The book is a collection of eight short stories. To review, I'll mention a little about each story, and my thoughts and opinions on it. 

"The Husband Stitch" is a great retelling of the classic kid's creepy story "The Girl with the Green Ribbon". I thoroughly enjoyed this adaptation, but was a bit disturbed by the lack of mentioning any resources or credits to this story, and the many other stories mentioned in the book, that were clearly ripped from "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" and "In a Dark, Dark Room". I loved this story as a kid, so I enjoyed the retelling, but didn't like the lack of citing sources.

"Inventory" was a woman listing her sex stories, but it frames around a viral outbreak and plague that engulfed the country. The sex stories were not the main focus, and I like how this was told to explain the plague.

"Mothers" is a very confusing and not very interesting story about a woman who adopts???? is given???? steals??? has??? a baby. I read through this twice, and I still really don't understand this story.

"Especially Heinous" is practically a fanfiction story of "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit", but with plots that have the lead detectives encountering supernatural beings. To be honest, I read about a page, and then skipped the entire rest of the story. Again, no credits. I'm surprised the author hasn't received a lawsuit.

"Real Women Have Bodies" is a very interesting Black Mirror-like story about a dress shop worker who discovers something strange about the dresses, in a world where women fade away randomly. It seems like it's a condition that's developing for all women, but I don't really understand the story fully, I think.

"Eight Bites" is about a woman who goes through bariatric surgery, who hallucinates that she sees the part of her person she removed from herself after the surgery. Weird. Confusing. Not the best out of the collection.

"The Resident" is probably the best story and most well-written story in this collection. I think it could have been wonderfully written into a novella or a novel of its own. In this story, our narrator visits a writer's retreat in the woods, meets many different and eclectic characters, and then suffers a very strange fever and a disturbing mental breakdown where she learns truths about herself. It's a very mysterious and strange read, and I don't know how to explain that anymore without giving it away. 

Lastly, the final story in the collection is called "Difficult at Parties". Our main character seems to have been raped or sexually assaulted in the past, and now she is trying to reappear and reenter the world she knows after her tragedy. She arrives at a party, and doesn't have the greatest experience.

In conclusion, I absolutely loved this book. Certain stories I liked less, but this is a really cool and unique collection of stories. I highly recommend this. I will be storing this book in my collection for years to come. 

"Little Secrets"

"Little Secrets" by Anna Snoekstra
Review written by Diana Iozzia


"Little Secrets" was a curious read, it's hard to describe this book, but you cannot at all use the back of the book blurb to describe this book. You can, but the blurb could have been written by someone who read the first chapter of the book, and that's it. 

The story starts out with our main character, Rose, a twenty-one to twenty-four year old woman, who takes more care of her siblings than her mom and step-father. Naturally, like all characters in fiction books, she hates her step-father, and he's a terrible drunk with no redeemable qualities. Upon the first few chapters, Rose reminds me of Fiona Gallagher from one of my favorite television shows, "Shameless".

Rose is an ambitious journalist, who is not yet succeeding. She soon finds out that a mysterious person has been leaving dolls on porches that match the appearance of the little girls that live in the house. (I won't spoil the ending, but Jesus, it's a stupid twist). Rose realizes that with her friends who are the police and her mysterious new tenant at the pub she works in, that she can create interesting news articles, capitalizing on the strange town events.

There are a few twists and turns, a pretty creepy torture sequence, awkward descriptions of sex, and very unlikable characters (including Rose 50 percent of the time). Mia, Will, and Bazza are very good, likable characters, however. This book is very ambitious with many different complicated characters, but there are at least 5 main sub-plots. When the book ends, there isn't enough closure.

One of the things I need to point out is that often in fiction, children are not portrayed as accurately as a real child would be. This one is no exception. Rose's twin siblings could have been 6, 12, or 16. They're meant to be 8, I think? They act like shells of children. Her youngest sister is Laura, who speaks like a strange four year old, but is supposed to be 6. I teach children from the age 4 to 8, and none of the children in the story are similar to the correct age.

In addition, the location of the story is very ambiguous. In the blurb, it's said to be in Australia, but the dialogue is consistent with a melting pot of English, American, and Aussie. 

I had picked this up, thinking it would be similar to "Little Children" by Tom Perrotta. I was mistaken. It's an okay book, but it's more about Rose's ambitions and sex life and interrupting the police investigation than anything else.

*I received this book as a complementary ARC courtesy of the publisher.*

"Needful Things"

“Needful Things”
Book written by Stephen King
Review written by Diana Iozzia

Be prepared, because this review of “Needful Things” is going to be a very honest, very long, and kind of mean one. “Needful Things” by Stephen King had a lot of promise in my mind. I was really hoping to like this, because if I had to pick a favorite author, I’d pick Stephen. Can I call him Mister King? Can I call him Stephen?

The plot follows the small town of Castle Rock, the infamous Castle Rock that appears in a large percentage of his books (I can’t be bothered to look up the exact percentage). Castle Rock is famous for being a small, little strange town created by King. The characters are numerous, some have appeared in “Needful Things” when they have appeared elsewhere. For example, we are reintroduced to Alan Pangborn from “The Dark Half” and Ace Merrill from “Stand by Me”. With a book having at least 20 characters to remember, you can imagine that it might be hard to keep track of certain characters. Alan, Polly, Leland Gaunt, Brian Rust, Lettie, and a few others are most memorable, but it becomes difficult in Part Two of the book to remember many of them. Part 3 is absolutely atrocious for mentioning characters. The main ones were easy to remember, but I lost track of certain plot lines.

Mr. Leland Gaunt, a peculiar fellow, opens a shop called Needful Things. He begins selling items to townsfolk that could be an item they’ve always lusted over or an item that symbolizes their main desires. From baseball cards to fox tails to a framed picture of Elvis, they are not ordinary objects that you’d imagine people would be driven insane over. Mr. Gaunt accepts money, but he also creates an agreement with the customer to do him favors and “pranks”. These favors and pranks eventually pit the citizens of Castle Rock against each other, ensuing in crimes, violence, and different types of murder.

This was a fantastic premise, but the book could have done well with having 50 percent of its material cut. The copy I have has about 500 pages in very small print. This took me a month to struggle through. The first part was great. It set up an interesting plot, that became less interesting the less I read.

I think this book reminds me of “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”, an episode of the television show, “The Twilight Zone” where aliens pit neighbors against each other and cause havoc on one small street. Stephen King seems to “take inspiration” from many different stories, but this one felt eerily familiar.

I’m glad I read this book, because I had wanted to read it for some time. But I’m much gladder that I finished it. I could say I recommend it, but I can also say that you should steer very clear. Proceed with caution. I still can’t tell how I actually view this book, if in a positive light or negative light. I have heard that the short story “It Growns on You” in King’s book, “Nightmares and Dreamscapes” is a sort of epilogue to “Needful Things”, so perhaps I can find some closure there.

The aspects I liked:

Polly Chalmers and Alan Pangborn were great main characters.
The feud between Wilma Jerzyck and Nettie Cobb was a great storyline.
The climax and resolution.
“Answered Prayers”
Leland Gaunt’s Faustian personality.

The aspects I didn’t like:

Ace Merrill, terribly rotten in personality and plot line.
About 75 percent of the book. It was very descriptive to a fault.
Too many characters to keep track of.

The aspects I’m not sure on:

Danforth Keeton
The Rust Family

"The Woman in Cabin 10"

"The Woman In Cabin 10"
Written by Ruth Ware
Review written by Diana Iozzia



"The Woman in Cabin 10" was a good read, but in no way is this my newest favorite psychological thriller. This book starts out with a burglary for poor Lo Blacklock. As she's recovering, she's invited to cover and report upon a beautiful, glamorous cruise. This book unfolds like a game of "Clue" as if written by a writer inspired by Agatha Christie. Who was the woman pushed over the balcony into the water? Who pushed her?

There is a handful of guests upon this cruise, reporters, businessmen, and the hosts. Naturally, everyone becomes a suspect. However, all too quickly, the book becomes predictable and it is quite obvious how the book will unfold. I guessed the plot solution, before I had even finished the first half. I'm not sure if that is how Ruth Ware would like it to be, but I am not one to enjoy a book with a surprise twist that twists only half way into the book. The last half was the solution to the problem and the twist, but it was a poor solution. It felt very similar to an episode of Law and Order, where you know who the villain(s) are, and then you can predict how the villains will be stopped. It felt very procedural, and I was not as pleased as I was when I read Ware's first novel, "In a Dark, Dark Wood".

As I mentioned, this plays out like an Agatha Christie rip, and it wasn't too pleasing. I like the setting of a cruise, but hardly any of the glamor is there. Practically the entire time, Lo is drunk or hungover or tired or nervous or uncomfortable. Or she's flirting with her ex, and then fighting with her ex. This feels very soap opera like to me.

In conclusion, I liked the book, but I equally disliked it.

* I purchased my own copy of this book. *