Wink Poppy Midnight » Book Review

You need to be in the right mood for Wink Poppy Midnight. Unfortunately, I wasn't. I looked at my stack of library books and thought, Wink Poppy Midnight is the shortest of them all. I'll read it, review it, return it, and the librarians won't hate me!

I wasn't having a great day, and I needed a book that would take me away from it all. I had this frantic sort of energy, the desperate need of an engrossing novel, but what I got was pretty words and a whole lot of nothing. If I had been in a softer and calmer state of mind, I daresay I might have enjoyed Wink Poppy Midnight a tad bit more.

Ellen reviewed it a little more favorably than I. Here is a link to her review.

Wink, Poppy & Midnight

The story is told in three alternating perspectives of varying length. We have Wink who is a strange red-headed girl who has many brothers and sisters and a mother who can read palms and tarot cards. Then there is Poppy, our resident mean girl. She is beautiful and cunning, and filled with a rage and sorrow she can't control. Lastly there is Midnight. He is an uncertain boy, torn between Poppy's beauty and Wink's whimsy.

As the description reminds us,
Every story needs a hero.
Every story needs a villain.
Every story needs a secret.

It is up to the reader to figure it out.

Writing & Pacing

The writing is intended to weave around your mind and bewitch you. At least that's what it seemed like was the purpose. My energy was too frantic to be soothed in that manner. I was just profoundly irritated. JUST SAY WHAT YOU BLOODY MEAN.

For a short book, it dragged on quite a bit. Nothing really happened in the first half of the book. The author took a long time to set up everything up. I found it difficult to stay focused and hold my interest. The 'action' only began much later and I wasn't very surprised by anything that happened. At that point, I didn't care for any of the characters anyway.

Last Thoughts

Surprisingly, I enjoyed Poppy's story arc the most. And while I didn't care for the characters, I could say that I had some semblance of understanding for Wink, Poppy and Midnight. After all, I'm a little like Wink. I am always searching for a captivating story, hoping to be the hero in my very own epic.

 

Wink Poppy Midnight » Book Review

Do you judge a book by its cover?

This book received a lot of buzz prior to its publication because its cover was so undisputedly amazing.  With its stretched, sharply serifed type, cut-out illustrations, and darkly muted color palette,  the packaging of Wink Poppy Midnight was making everyone ga-ga.  Add onto that the cool title and the success of the anthology Slasher Girls and Monster Boys, which Tucholke edited, and bloggers were hot to get ahold of this novel.

After the release, however, the reactions seemed to be mostly lackluster. Reviewers weren't responding well to the book. Because of this, I was expecting to be disappointed.  Maybe it because my bar was so low,  but I wound up liking Wink Poppy Midnight, enough to give it 3.5 stars. (The cover gets full marks, of course.)

Beyond the Packaging of Wink Poppy Midnight

The novel is character-driven, as can be expected — the book's title is the three narrator's names, strung together. Midnight is a lovely-faced, teenage boy who is experiencing a lot of growing pains.  He's been infatuated with his beautiful, yet cruel neighbor, Poppy, for as long as he's known her, but when his family moves across town, Midnight sees an opportunity to leave the mean girl in the dust.  Helping him along is Wink, the mystical eldest daughter of the Bells, a family renown for their fortitude.  Poppy, however, won't be forgotten.

What happens next is... sort of a muddle, but it's a nicely written muddle.  Many reindeer games are played and there's a lot of mystery over who's calling the shots.  Is manipulative Poppy in control? Or is Midnight coming into his own power?  And what about Wink — you know what they say about the quiet ones.

I suppose my main criticism with Wink Poppy Midnight is that it flirts with pointlessness.  There was a huge WHO CARES?! cliff that I almost fell into throughout the whole novel. If you happen to not respond well the characters, Wink Poppy Midnight won't have a leg to stand on. As it turned out, I was ambivalent towards Wink and Midnight, but I kept listening to the audiobook because of Poppy. I loved her fierce character.

I can't see Wink Poppy Midnight being a book that everyone loves, so I hesitate to recommend it. Nevertheless, the novel has given me plenty to think about. [rating stars="three-half-stars"]

Slasher Girls and Monster Boys » Review

Looking for something creepy to read? This is a rock solid YA horror anthology where the whole is greater than its parts. The individual short stories are very strong, and stacked together, they make something scary amazing. (See what I did there?) Reading this book over a series of weeks, I found it to be the perfect prolonged horror experience for the October season. Replete with ghosts, murderers, monsters, undead, perverts, and predators, the anthology provides a wide array of thrills and chills to get your skin crawling.

The Birds of Azalea Street | Nova Ren Suma | 2.5 stars

This opening story got raves from my favorite reviewers, but left me a little cold. It was perhaps a little too subtle and mysterious for my tastes.

In the Forest Dark and Deep | Carrie Ryan | 5 stars

Probably the creepiest story in the anthology, Carrie Ryan intertwines the past and present to slowly make strange, horrific sense.

Emmeline | Cat Winters | 4 stars

Cat Winters is the go-to girl for historic ghost stories and she doesn't disappoint withEmmeline. No one does ghost psychology like Winters.

Verse, Chorus, Verse | Leigh Bardugo | 3 stars

A bit of a disappointment from one of my favorite authors, Verse, Chorus, Verse took a long time to get to the good stuff. It was a while coming, but once I got to a scene featuring an asylum bathroom and a predatory photographer, I was hooked.

Hide and Seek | Megan Shepherd | 3 stars

Shepherd delivers a creepy beginning, a slump of a middle, and a decent ending.

The Dark, Scary Parts and All | Danielle Page | 3.5 stars

Page plays with a lot of tiresome high school stereotypes here, and fails to make that subject matter original, but she redeemed herself with the last few sentences, which spun off the imagination wickedly.

The Flicker, the Fingers, the Beat, the Sigh | Genevieve Tucholke | 4 stars

Tucholke, our editor, translates from her movie inspiration a bit literally, but nonetheless delivers a strong story with cinematic elements and a steamy high school affair.

Fat Girl With a Knife | Jonathan Maberry | 4 stars

Dahlia is a character well-rounded both literally and figuratively. And she can dish it back.

Sleepless | Jay Kristoff | 4 stars

Can I just say I hate, hate ,hate IM netspeak? Great portions of the beginning and middle of Sleepless featured IM conversations and it was terrible for me. All was forgiven though, when I came to one crazy, crazy sentence. I actually exclaimed, out loud, "OHHHH!!!" Definitely the best plot twist(s) of the anthology.

M | Stefan Bachmann | 3 stars

I found M to be a little boring, but the well-crafted children's rhymes lands M 3 stars.

The Girl Without a Face | Marie Lu | 3 stars

A solid installment, but it engaged issues that I'm passionate about, and left me feeling argumentative.

A Girl Who Dreamed of Snow | McCormick Templeman | 2.5 stars

This story's main virtue was in its brevity. I found it difficult to connect with the characters..

Stiches | A. G. Howard | 3.5 stars

A creepy little story with a decidedly Winter's Bone-esque setting.

On the I-5 | Kendare Blake | 2.5 stars

A story very similar to Kristoff's, but not as creepy and shocking.