Review: “The Sun Down Motel”
Brindolyn reviews “The Sun Down Motel” by Simone St. James.
“The Sun Down Motel” by Simone St. James was all over my Instagram feed last year, so I finally gave in and read it. It was … OK.
The premise is interesting. Carly travels to upstate New York to find out what happened to her aunt, Vivian, 35 years ago. Vivian, the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel, went missing during the middle of her shift. After Carly’s mother dies, the young woman uproots herself to move to Fell, NY, to solve this family cold case. Oh. And the motel is SUPER haunted.
This book was a struggle for me. It’s written in an unconventional format. The perspective shifts between first-person (when told from Carly’s point of view) and third-person (when told from Viv’s point of view). The perspective flipping is complicated even more as we hop from past to present and back again. I found it to be a little disorienting and hard to follow at times.
I did really like the mystery that spanned decades. Did Viv run away? Was she murdered? Is her disappearance connected to a string of other murders in the area? The murder-mystery thread that connects our protagonists definitely kept me on my toes.
Which is why I don’t understand the ghosts? The primary plot is enough on its own, so the addition of the supernatural element seemed … too much. The potential serial killer and the nearly abandoned motel are creepy and unnerving enough. Throwing in ghosts was unnecessary. The only reason for the haunting, in my opinion, is to propel readers through the ending in a haphazard attempt to fill in plot holes.
That being said, however, I didn’t hate this book. If you’re looking for a creepy, female-driven mystery, “The Sun Down Motel” checks that box.
3 out of 5 stars
Review: “Mexican Gothic”
Brindolyn reviews “Mexican Gothic” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
I’ve gotten a few recommendations for this one, so I decided to give the audiobook a shot and listen while sewing facemasks. I was too distracted to get many masks made.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s “Mexican Gothic” centers on Noemí Toboada’s journey to High Place – a faraway estate in the Mexican countryside – to visit her ailing cousin. Noemí is a socialite from a wealthy, well-connected family, and her father sends her to High Place after receiving a disturbing letter from her cousin Catalina … whom she hasn’t seen since Catalina married a charming but mysterious Englishman named Virgil Doyle.
From the first step Noemí takes into High Place, everything seems off and creepy. The house staff members are barely more than drones, and the Doyle clan is incredibly controlling and dark. This includes old, ill patriarch Howard, who has some very outdated (read: disgusting) views on race and ethnicity. Noemí also is tormented by strange, intrusive nightmares during her stay at High Place. Her foul mood is only exacerbated by her infrequent and heavily monitored visits with Catalina, who seems to be slowly descending into madness.
And that’s really all I can say without giving too much away. If you enjoy Lovecraftian horror (but, you know, in a way that doesn’t glorify racism and misogyny), you should give this a read.
“Mexican Gothic” is slow to start, but the multidimensional characters carry you through to the meat of the story. If you do decide to check out this story, I highly recommend the audiobook. Frankie Corzo does a phenomenal job narrating this ultra-weird story and gives each character a very distinct voice. Her ability to switch between accented dialogue is impressive and reason enough to give it a listen.
So if you’re looking for a beautifully written, super weird distraction of a horror story, “Mexican Gothic” is for you.
4 stars
Review: “The Guest List”
Brindolyn reviews Lucy Foley’s thriller “The Guest List.”
Clearly, I need to get invited to more English/Irish weddings because that shit is WILD!
In fact, the wildness was one of the things that stuck out to me about Lucy Foley’s writing. I loved the primal language she used to describe the dudes in this book, especially when they get together and talk about their boarding school days. It’s raw and animalistic and definitely adds to the danger and suspense.
Foley’s story takes us to a remote Irish island for the exclusive wedding of an influential blogger and a reality show star. This would not be the kind of story that typically draws me in. Add a layer of homicide, however, and I’m sold.
Also, y’all know I love a story told from multiple perspectives … if it’s done well. Foley nailed it. Her story is told from several of the characters’ perspectives. Each character narrative has a distinct voice and personality, which made it easy to track whose perspective I was following while keeping on my toes.
There were a few things I wasn’t super hyped about, though. Things felt a little too neatly connected, in a way that made the reveals toward the end a bit predictable. Don’t get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I even had a few “Oooooh, GIRL!” moments. But the way certain plot points tied together just seemed a little too convenient.
Overall, I recommend “The Guest List.” The writing is clean and clever. The story is wicked compelling. You can easily devour this in a single sitting.
4 stars