JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Wearing Paper Dresses by Anne Brinsden

You can talk about living in the Mallee. And you can talk about a Mallee tree. And you can talk about the Mallee itself: a land and a place full of red sand and short stubby trees. Silent skies. The undulating scorch of summer plains. Quiet, on the surface of things.

But Elise wasn’t from the Mallee, and she knew nothing of its ways.

Discover the world of a small homestead perched on the sunburnt farmland of northern Victoria. Meet Elise, whose urbane 1950s glamour is rudely transplanted to the pragmatic red soil of the Mallee when her husband returns to work the family farm. But you cannot uproot a plant and expect it to thrive.

And so it is with Elise. Her meringues don’t impress the shearers, the locals scoff at her Paris fashions, her husband works all day in the back paddock, and the drought kills everything but the geraniums she despises.

As their mother withdraws more and more into herself, her spirited, tearaway daughters, Marjorie and Ruby, wild as weeds, are left to raise themselves as best they can. Until tragedy strikes, and Marjorie flees to the city determined to leave her family behind. And there she stays, leading a very different life, until the boy she loves draws her back to the land she can’t forget…

Wearing Paper Dresses is a debut literary novel from Australian author Anne Brinsden, set in rural Mallee in the 1950s, which explores notions of family, land, mental illness and responsibility.

Glamorous, sophisticated, talented Elise leaves the city and moves with her two children and her husband to her father-in-law’s wheat and sheep farm in Mallee. The townsfolk are instantly suspicious of her and her ‘city’ ways. She drinks coffee and not tea and she doesn’t understand what it’s like to live in such a harsh environment.

Most of the novel is from the POV of Elise’s daughter Marjorie, and over the years, we witness Elise’s mental health deteriorate. She starts talking to plastic flowers and wearing tea cosies on her head. Her husband and father-in-law acknowledge her health but pretend to ignore it; they assume it’ll solve itself. Wearing Paper Dresses highlights how poorly mental illness was received in the 1950s.

“The talk might have stopped but the hint of a glittery look didn’t. The tea in the teapot went cold from then on. But naked teapots and cold tea didn’t bother Elise because she drank coffee — and coffee percolators didn’t generally dress themselves in cosies.”

Through Marjorie’s perspective, we experience the hurt, confusion and the embarrassment that she feels growing up. But we also witness the solid bond she forms with her sister Ruby, and there’s definitely a strong sense of camaraderie there as they both work together to get through their mother’s troubling illness and the effect it has on their childhood.

This book certainly wasn’t what I expected it to be, after reading the blurb and looking at the cover. I anticipated this to be a chick-lit, perhaps a rural romance novel. And whilst there’s an element of romance in this book between Marjorie and one of the boys in her class, this book is about the relationship between Marjorie and her family, and about the events that lead to Elise’s many nervous breakdowns.

Wearing Paper Dresses is as much a character-driven novel as it is plot-driven. I was pleasantly surprised by this book, and found myself enchanted by the setting, the characters, and the plot. Whilst the book explores difficult themes such as mental illness and domestic abuse, you can’t help but fall in love with the characters.

“Marjorie stayed home from school after that and helped Elise. They dug and raked and swept. And Elise was alive and burning with energy. Their waking hours were consumed with garden making. They piled red dirt into neat garden beds all over the yard, Marjorie imaging all the while the rose garden to come.”

The setting is one of the strengths of the novel — Anne has perfectly captured the harsh, sunburnt landscape of the Mallee, and it’s easy to imagine just how difficult life would be like for Elise and her family. The setting feels incredibly isolating, but also claustrophobic at the same time, a juxtaposition that evokes great unease for most of the novel.

The writing is lyrical, funny and descriptive, the imagery drawing you in and holding you hostage with enticing vocabulary and prose. The pacing is on point — authentic and realistic to the storyline. Wearing Paper Dresses is an impressive debut.

Recommended for literary fiction readers, and those readers who love a rural setting. Fans of historical fiction will also find much to love about this book.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wearing Paper Dresses
Anne Brinsden
October 2019
Pan Macmillan Publishers

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

The mesmerising adult debut from Leigh Bardugo. A tale of power, privilege, dark magic and murder set among the Ivy League elite. Alex Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. A dropout and the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved crime – the last thing she wants is to cause trouble. Not when Yale was supposed to be her fresh start. But a free ride to one of the world’s most prestigious universities was bound to come with a catch.

Alex has been tasked with monitoring the mysterious activities of Yale’s secret societies – societies that have yielded some of the most famous and influential people in the world. Now there’s a dead girl on campus and Alex seems to be the only person who won’t accept the neat answer the police and campus administration have come up with for her murder.

Because Alex knows the secret societies are far more sinister and extraordinary than anyone ever imagined.

They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living . . .

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo is an adult fantasy novel, and the first in a new series with protagonist Alex Stern.

Alex Stern is recruited to work for the mysterious and secretive Lethe society at Yale simply because she can see ghosts. Her job is to the oversee the other secret societies at the college, and make sure their rituals and practices are above board. When a young girl is murdered on campus grounds, Alex endeavours to uncover who murdered her and why.

The world is original and intriguing — at its core, it’s about a girl who needs to heal from her past. Alex Stern can see ghosts and she’s had some horrible trauma throughout her childhood/teenage years. This book is also about revenge, murder, conspiracy theories, magic, power, and secret societies at Yale university that work with magic.

“If they could find him. If they could somehow bring him home from whatever dark place he’d gone. In less than a week they’d attempt the new-moon rite. Alex didn’t understand the specifics, only that Dean Sandow believed it would work and that, until it did, her job was to make sure that no one asked too many questions about Lethe’s missing golden boy.”

After browsing all of the glowing reviews for this title, I definitely think there’s some sort of disconnect between me and this book. I thought it was…fine. I read it, enjoyed it, and finished it. Did I think it was exceptional? No. Was I underwhelmed after reading all the pre-publication buzz? Yes.

There is a distinct lack of introduction to the world, or credible world-building. Alex Stern has the rare ability to see Grays — ghosts who have yet to move on from their time on earth — and we’re thrown head first into this fantasy world with very little explanation. I had to reread chapters 1 and 2, twice.

The pacing is also incredibly slow throughout the book, and I’m not sure that the plot holds enough tension to justify the slow pacing.

“A cluster of Grays was mulling around by the gym. Alex let her eyes skim over them, landing nowhere, barely focused. A few were local Grays who could always be found in the area, a rower who had drowned off the Florida Keys but who now returned to haunt the training tanks, a heavyset man who had clearly once been a football player.”

Characterisation is a strength of the book — Alex is a high school dropout, drug addict, and her best friend recently died under suspicious circumstances. Her relationship with her mother is fractured, and her grades at Yale so far have been sub par. Her time at Yale helps her understand her gift — to trust it — and over the course of the novel, she grows and matures and comes to understand who she is as a person.

There’s a particularly fantastic moment in the book when Alex gets revenge on a sexist, abusive college boy called Blake — this could well be my favourite plot point in Ninth House. Lips are sealed!

Leigh’s language and prose is another strength in the book — the sentences feel decadent, indulgent, and inviting.

“As Darlington had known they would, the Grays began to appear, drifting through the walls, drawn by blood and hope. When at last the blood tide reached the end of the parchment, the Aurelians each lowered their sleeves, letting them brush the soaked paper.”

You’ve really got to love fantasy to read Ninth House. You’re thrust into a world with very little explanation, and to wade through that and continue on, you need to love the genre. Otherwise, you’ll just leave this book incomplete.

Personally, I thought this was just okay. I liked the twists at the end, and how it opened up for the sequel, but I felt quite let down with the book as a whole.

Recommended for fantasy lovers, 18+. This book is very dark, and deals with mature themes — rape, sexual assault, murder, suicide, drug overdose, self-harm — and is not recommended for children or young adults under the age of 18.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ninth House
Leigh Bardugo
October 2019
Hachette Book Publishers

Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls by Justine Ford

Can you catch a killer or find a missing person?

Australia is ‘the lucky country’. But not for everyone. Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls tells thirteen stories of people whose luck ran out in the most mysterious of circumstances.

It’s a journalistic deep-dive into Australia’s dark heart by one of Australia’s premier true crime writers, Justine Ford, the acclaimed bestselling author of Unsolved Australia and The Good Cop.

Why are four people missing from a Western Australian doomsday cult? Who abducted and murdered beauty queen Bronwynne Richardson on pageant night? And why is a cooked chook important evidence in the outback disappearance of Paddy Moriarty?

Key players are interviewed, evidence laid out and suspects assessed. Never-before-published information is revealed. Can you help crack the case and solve these mysteries?

Hold tight as Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls takes you on a chilling yet inspiring true crime rollercoaster ride where the final destination is hope.

Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls is a fascinating record of 13 Australians who have gone missing and have never been found, written by well-known Australian crime writer Justine Ford.

Each section of the book focuses on a different missing person, detailing their life and the final days that anyone saw them alive. If there have been any updates on the case in recent decades, Justine has included that. This book is very comprehensive, very detailed, and incredibly researched.

Additionally, the book features interviews with six key crime personnel, such as former police detectives, investigative journalists, private investigators, and criminologists. These interviews are fascinating, reading about their career trajectories, their experiences, and what they remember most about cold cases from their careers.

“When cops are described as ‘dogged’ it means they are the kinds of police who go the extra mile to crack a case. They are the investigators who spend sleepless nights wondering, Is there something I missed? They are the cops who struggle to accept it when they cannot find the answers.”

The book is a plea to the readers, asking them to read the stories and provide help with any clues or information they may see that has been missed. There are people out there who know what happened to these thirteen individuals — reading these stories may jog someone’s memory.

Generous rewards are on offer for anyone that can help with each case. Although, quite a few of these missing persons disappeared decades ago, so I understand it’d be very unlikely someone will read this and remember anything useful to police.

“What was unusual — for them, at least — was the strange entity they saw bobbing in the water on the starboard side of their boat. It must be an animal, they thought, maybe a dog…The men looked once, they looked twice, and then agreed: it was a human body.”

Justine’s tone is appropriate for the subject matter — she’s compassionate and caring, and you can tell she genuinely wants to find out what happened to these missing persons. She also does well to present all of the relevant information to the reader in a succinct, clear manner.

“For half an hour the police boat judders across the swell until what looks like a dot on the horizon — a farmhouse — comes into sight. It’s lonely out here and the ocean surrounding the property ahead is hundreds, if not thousands, of metres deep.”

At almost 300 pages, I grew emotionally exhausted by the end of the story. There are no solutions or answers to these cold cases. Reading about thirteen people who disappeared in strange circumstances and have never been seen again was mentally draining towards the end.

I’d recommend readers pace themselves with this book. Each section of the book is an appropriate length — long enough to include all the facts, information, and updates on the case, but not too long where you feel your attention waning.

Recommended for true crime lovers.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls
Justine Ford
July 2019
Pan Macmillan Publishers

The Institute by Stephen King

Deep in the woods of Maine, there is a dark state facility where kids, abducted from across the United States, are incarcerated. In the Institute they are subjected to a series of tests and procedures meant to combine their exceptional gifts – telepathy, telekinesis – for concentrated effect.

Luke Ellis is the latest recruit. He’s just a regular 12-year-old, except he’s not just smart, he’s super-smart. And he has another gift which the Institute wants to use…

But great events can turn on small hinges and Luke is about to team up with a new, even younger recruit, Avery Dixon, whose ability to read minds is off the scale. While the Institute may want to harness their powers for covert ends, the combined intelligence of Luke and Avery is beyond anything that even those who run the experiments – even the infamous Mrs Sigsby – suspect.

Far away in a small town in South Carolina, former cop Tim Jamieson has taken a job working for the local sheriff. He’s basically just walking the beat. But he’s about to take on the biggest case of his career.

Suspenseful and gutsy, The Institute is the latest horror novel from Stephen King, this time set within the walls of a facility tasked with testing children who show extraordinary abilities.

Hidden deep inside the American forest, more specifically in Maine, the organisation is responsible for kidnapping hundreds of children across the United States — shortly after killing their parents — and keeping them contained in the facility while they force them to undergo terrifying and sometimes painful tests.

The book begins with ex-cop Tim Jamieson, a loner who lost his job years earlier in an unfortunate incident. He arrives in DuPray, South Carolina and accepts a job working for the local Sheriff. Before too long, the POV shifts and we spend the bulk of the book following Luke Ellis’ story. He’s a twelve year old boy who is that latest kidnapping victim of the institute. Before too long, Luke and Tim’s stories will intersect.

“He ordinarily didn’t show off — it was the worst way in the world to win friends and influence people — but he was upset, confused, worried, and (might as well admit it) scared shitless. It was getting harder and harder not to label this experience with the word kidnapping.”

The Institute evokes ‘Stranger Things’ vibes and brings really incredible characters to life. All of the children at the facility are unique and three-dimensional, and the antagonists of the institute are all genuinely terrifying and believable as villains.

At its core, this book is about the power that children contain when they come together — when they combine forces and utilise their potential. This sounds like a preach, but Stephen King achieves this rather well, and the messages of the book are incredibly subtle.

“Gladys was small and pretty, but for all Luke knew, she was a black belt who could throw him over her shoulder if he gave her any trouble. Even if she wasn’t, they were watching, and he had no doubt reinforcements would show up in a hurry.”

Structurally, I think the novel is flawed. The pacing is appropriate and realistic for the first three quarters of the book, but then everything happens quickly and the conclusion of the book feels rushed.

Additionally, the book is so long that by the time you get to the conclusion you’re pretty exhausted and ready for it to finish.

“The ice machine. Where Maureen had spoken to him yesterday. That was sort of interesting. According to Kalisha, there were several places in Front Half where the audio surveillance worked poorly or not at all, but Maureen seemed to favour that one.”

Not overly violent, so suitable for young and old readers. Fans of horror and thriller will love this, as will Stephen King’s existing fans.

Recommended 14+

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Institute
Stephen King
September 2019
Hachette Book Publishers

The Treehouse Joke Book by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

Andy and Terry live in the world’s craziest treehouse. They like making books and telling jokes. And now they’ve made the world’s funniest jokebook!

From bears to birds, penguins to pirates and skeletons to space, there are gags galore. Perfect for fans of the Treehouse series! A bumper book of hilarity and craziness, and the perfect Xmas stocking filler.

Q: What’s grey and powdery?
A: Instant elephant mix.

Clocking in at almost 300 pages, The Treehouse Joke Book by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton is a compilation of hilarious jokes and riddles for children and adults. The Treehouse series may be aimed at children, but this joke book will not just humour kids — adults will find themselves laughing as well.

I’m almost 30 and I have no children and I found this book incredibly enjoyable. I laughed out aloud at many of the jokes, and when I next need to buy a present for a young child, this is what I’ll be getting them.

Here are a select few of my favourite jokes from the book:

Q: Why did Tigger go to the bathroom?
A: He was looking for his friend Pooh.

Q: Why can’t you hear a pterodactyl go to the toilet?
A: Because it has a silent ‘p’

Q: Why do some fish live at the bottom of the ocean?
A: Because they dropped out of school

The book is split up into sections — Bear Jokes, Sheep Jokes, Space Jokes, Food Jokes, Monkey Jokes, etc. There are 26 sections in total. Some jokes I’d heard before, but most of these were completely new to me.

Every single page of the book features some sort of illustration from Terry Denton, and they’re the perfect accompaniment to these jokes. His illustration style is unique and recognisable, that scratchy-looking drawing style that children love to look at.

Many of the illustrations feature further words, jokes or speech bubbles, so a child could spend hours reading this book because there’s so much in these pages for them to browse through. This book is well worth the $12.99 price tag.

Recommended for parents and children.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Treehouse Joke Book
Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton
October 2019
Pan Macmillan Publishers

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