2023 Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake is by far the best book I’ve read this year, maybe my favorite fantasy book I’ve ever read. It’s been on my TBR for well over a year, but I was super intimidated to start it until now. Its title is misleading, as the story follows not Titus himself, but rather, the inevitable events that follow his birth. Cracks deepen, animosities brew, and the very ground shudders as the ancient House of Groan is torn apart from the inside. I find Peake’s writing to be stunningly descriptive, and the inhabitants of Castle Gormenghast are raw, hilarious, and addicting to read about. For many people, Titus Groan has a reputation of being too verbose for leisurely enjoyment or even merit. I couldn’t disagree more. Just savor this passage!

“The library appeared to spread out words from him as from a core. His dejection infected the air about him and diffused its illness upon every side. All things in the long room absorbed his melancholia, the shadowing galleries brooded with slow anguish; the books receding into the deep corners, tier upon tier, seemed each a separate tragic note in a monumental fugue of volumes.”

This passage and many others convince me that this is how fiction, at least fantasy, should be written! I thank Goodreads librarian J.G. Keely for praising Peake so adoringly in his review, else I never would have known the existence of this amazing novel. If you like gothic, medieval, literary, and fantasy, then you have got to try this out!

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw is a dark fantasy retelling of the Little Mermaid. I found this novella using StoryGraph’s recommendations, and it looks like something right up my alley. In this modern, gruesome twist, the mermaid’s daughters have devoured and desecrated the cruel prince and his kingdom. In the aftermath, the mermaid and a mysterious plague doctor travel on the lam and encounter disturbing and traumatic situations.

I was sorely disappointed when I read Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko. My boyfriend bought the hardcover edition for me at an outrageous price because I mentioned one day that I wanted to read it. It would be silly to label this book as a Harry Potter ripoff, but at the same, it doesn’t have anything special to offer. Poorly developed characters, flavorless dialogue, exhausting school drama, and above all, a pretentious and unnecessarily convoluted magic system that includes memorizing gibberish, reciting abstract (?) equations, and transforming to into what, I don’t freaking know! In short, Vita Nostra is so many of the reasons I typically steer clear of young adult fiction packed into a single wallop.

The Secret History by Donna Tart has been on my TBR ever since I got on Goodreads. I usually don’t like to read Tik-Tok/social media-popular books because romance and young-adult fantasy aren’t my jam. Despite all the hype around this book, all I knew about it was its dark academia “aesthetic.” I never expected a truly wonderful, crushing read. In my review, I discussed why classics are classics, and why I’m skeptical about including 21st century works in the conversation. In other words, I don’t take anyone’s word on it until I can read the book myself. Indeed, The Secret History is singular in its depth and horror. I found Tartt’s writing to be somewhat plain, but at the same time, her characters disgusted me in the most admirable way possible.

My two new favorite characters complement each other in nearly every way. Titus Groan is a story of duality,of old and new, proper and crude, and in the case of dear Fuchsia and Steerpike, of imagination and cunning. Fuchsia Groan, princess of Gormenghast, dazzles with a vitality that runs through her spirit and into her signature crimson dress. She has a eternal faith in a bright future and undying loyalty to her family, even at their worst. Steerpike is loyal to no one. Nothing interests him but the pursuit of power over others. He is all things corrupt, but is he past redemption? The fates of these two powerful teenagers are forever intertwined as the new age of Gormenghast unfolds.

For all of the problems I have with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I cried so hard while reading its last 30 pages. In exchanging book recommendations with my older cousin, I strongly advertised Titus Groan to her, and she shot back with Evelyn Hugo. As I flipped through the first few pages, I skimmed multiple gushing blurbs citing it as “the perfect beach read.” I scoffed and decided to finish it in under 5 hours. What I thought was going to be a quick, shallow read turned out to have a lot more to say than I expected (despite being quick). I don’t personally identify with any of these characters, but I found myself empathizing with certain people in my life on a new level. And it’s wonderful when fiction can do that.

The Langoliers is the first novella in Stephen King’s 1990 collection “Four Past Midnight” and the greatest of the four in my opinion. The story follows 10 passengers on a red-eye flight who come to discover that they are the only lifeforms in the sky and on the planet. Equal parts creepy, equal parts tragic, equal parts hopeful. In true thriller/escapist form, there is nothing particularly concrete to take away from this story. Instead, it finishes as quickly as it starts, and you’re left alone with feelings of surreality. It’s an experience in and of itself to imagine yourself stranded in time. Out of all the novellas I have read by King, The Langoliers ties for my favorite along with Apt Pupil (another must-read for any King fans, old and new).

Check out this edition of Jeff Vandermeer’s Ambergris Trilogy! It’s hardbound with the most vibrant mint green cover (mint green is my favorite color, could you tell?). I don’t plan to read it any time soon because I want to finish the Southern Reach Trilogy first, but it will be high on next year’s TBR for certain. The Ambergris Trilogy is Vandermeer’s fantasy magnum opus. I’m a fan of his writing in Annihilation, and I’m interested in trying out urban fantasy.