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The Down Days
The Down Days: A Novel | Ilze Hugo
22 posts | 16 read | 31 to read
In the vein of The Book of M comes a fast-paced, character-driven literary apocalyptic novel that explores life, love, and loss in a post-truth society. In the aftermath of a deadly outbreakreminiscent of the 1962 event of mass hysteria that was the Tanganyika Laughter Epidemica city at the tip of Africa is losing its mind, with residents experiencing hallucinations and paranoia. Is it simply another episode of mass hysteria, or something more sinister? In a quarantined city in which the inexplicable has already occurred, rumors, superstitions, and conspiracy theories abound. During these strange days, Faith works as a fulltime corpse collector and a freelance truthologist, putting together disparate pieces of information to solve problems. But after Faith agrees to help an orphaned girl find her abducted baby brother, she begins to wonder whether the boy is even real. Meanwhile, a young man named Sans who trades in illicit goods is so distracted by a glimpse of his dream woman that he lets a bag of money he owes his gang partners go missing-leaving him desperately searching for both and soon questioning his own sanity. Over the course of a single week, the paths of Faith, Sans, and a cast of other hustlersincluding a data dealer, a drug addict, a sin eater, and a hyena manwill cross and intertwine as they move about the city, looking for lost souls, uncertain absolution, and answers that may not exist.
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review
Hooked_on_books
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Mehso-so

I have to echo several other reviewers here—strong start, great premise, but too many elements, not all of which worked well. I think some editing and trimming out of the supernatural bits would have made this an awesome book. What Hugo really gets is the human reaction to a pandemic—aspects of this (written pre-COVID) are exactly what we‘ve seen.

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LibrarianRyan
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Hello Group Q and Quirky Fantasy. Most my “quirky“ books are more Sci/Fi Fantasy, sorry about that...but here is what i have to offer. I will tag the books below so that you can read more about them.

@wanderingbookanneer @ozma_of_Oz and person 3.

See All 14 Comments
BkClubCare I really liked Down Days ❤️ 3y
BookmarkTavern I haven‘t read any of these but they all look fun! I‘ve had Heroine Complex on my TBR for a while! Looking forward to your choice! 3y
LibrarianRyan @laurabeth I should have asked have you done LMPBC before? 3y
ChaoticMissAdventures I had an ARC of Down Days and read it just a month before COVID left China, it was surreal. I am just now getting back into reading pandemic dystopian books. That one was interesting and I love that it is set in ZA. 3y
LauraBeth @LibrarianRyan I have (but it‘s been 2 or 3 years I last did it)! 3y
LauraBeth The Down Days had me at “character driven”. 3y
WanderingBookaneer Heroine Complex is the only one on my TBR, but I haven‘t read any and would be fine with any choice. 3y
Reggie I‘m not in the group but I loved Unicorn Space Blues. 3y
59 likes14 comments
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SilverShanica
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I am posting one book per day from my to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new - don‘t judge me I have a lot of books.
Join the fun if you want. This is day 246.
#bookstoread
#tbrpile
#bookstagram

2 likes1 stack add
review
rsteve388
Mehso-so

This book was interesting and had parts that intrigued me. And others parts of the story I skimmed over. I think this book had way too much going on and way too many characters and that's why I found it difficult to follow at times. 3.5 stars

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mklong
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Pickpick

This started so well, with amazingly prescient descriptions of life in a pandemic. Unfortunately, after the brilliant setup, we go off the rails in a wild tale that includes pony tail theft and ghost kidnapping. It isn‘t bad, it‘s entertaining in its way, but I can‘t shake the feeling that I‘ve just gotten off of a roller coaster. I can‘t tell if I enjoyed it or if it‘s just the adrenaline rush of the ride.

vivastory I agree, certain elements felt forced. I think this would have been a more interesting book without the paranormal aspect. I don't know if you listened to it, but this interview with Hugo helped clarify a few points for me:
https://lithub.com/ilze-hugo-on-writing-a-pandemic-novel-and-seeing-it-come-true...
4y
mklong @vivastory Thanks! I‘ll check it out. You follow the Tournament of Books right? I was sure the relevance of this one would see it through the play-in round, but I was totally wrong. Now I guess I‘ll have to find a way to squeeze in 4y
vivastory @mklong I do follow it. I'm currently reading Breasts & Eggs. Once I have finished I'll have read all of the entries for this year. 4y
43 likes3 comments
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Kalalalatja
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Mehso-so

I finished this yesterday, but completely forgot to review the book. This might be because I have been a bit busy the last couple of day, but it might also be because this book isn‘t very memorable.

It started out strong for me, and despite the many characters to keep track of, I was hooked and interested. However, the book got lost in trying to much and that ending was a complete mess.

#ToB21

vivastory Agree about the ending 4y
68 likes1 comment
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Ruthiella
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Mehso-so

My last #TOB2021 book and book two for #20in4 this month.

I enjoyed the vibrant setting of Cape Town, use of Afrikaans and the colorful characters in this novel about a pandemic where uncontrollable laughter is one of the symptoms of a deadly epidemic. So much is familiar-masks, elbow bumps, temperature takers at entrances...but the story never quite gelled for me. Great set pieces but I didn‘t find the whole convincing.

BkClubCare I dared to say this was fun! 4y
Ruthiella @BkClubCare It was fun in its way, for sure. I was also thinking, the book‘s resolution could also be seen as a metaphor for modern South Africa and the need to live in the present while also being aware of the past. 🤔 4y
34 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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BkClubCare
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Just started this one and am hooked! Made it to 25% before sleep overtook. I dreamt about being in line for vaccinations and people dressed in robes! #TOB21 #pandemic #AfricanLit #DogsofLitsy #EstherAssisting #LovetheCover

BkClubCare I am more into the characters of this read than many of what I‘ve read lately! Go Faith, go Tomorrow, oh no Lucky! Omg where IS Elliott?! Even Sans is a sympathetic guy. 4y
kwmg40 I loved the characters in this book! 4y
27 likes1 stack add2 comments
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kwmg40
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Pickpick

This book from the #TournamentOfBooks shortlist is perfect for the current times, as it is about an African city devastated by a contagious and deadly laughing sickness. I loved the crazy characters and the mix of science-fiction, supernatural and mystery elements.

#tob2021 #ShutdownReadathon
@Squidget

rwmg Wishlisted 4y
DieAReader 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 4y
27 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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emilyhaldi
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Currently reading...and trying to decide if it‘s the right book for my current mindset. It‘s a bit too real 😷

Soubhiville Wow, crazy cover! 4y
BiblioLitten What @Soubhiville said! 😮 4y
See All 10 Comments
ChasingOm This sounds amazing!!! 4y
mdemanatee I read an ARC right after first Chicago lockdown like “whelp this hits different than it was probably meant to“ 4y
emilyhaldi Right?? @mdemanatee this book was published in May 2020, which is still a bit early considering some of the points re:pandemic that the author hits on quite accurately... it‘s easy to imagine that things could start getting as scary as the book (underground markets, mandatory government health tests, etc...) 😦 4y
MicheleinPhilly That cover is wild! Naturally, I‘m intrigued. 4y
Reviewsbylola I may need to borrow this when you‘re done. I LOVE pandemic books and the cover is 😍😍 4y
emilyhaldi Lol I‘m done @Reviewsbylola skimmed through a lot of it so that I could get it over with today 😂 i will drop it at your house sometime this week! 4y
Reviewsbylola So are you saying it sucked? 4y
73 likes2 stack adds10 comments
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LibrarianRyan
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mч вσσk ѕtσrє σpєnєd lαѕt wєєkєnd. ít'ѕ α mαzє. lítєrαllч. í hαd tσ ѕuppσrt thєm. єvєn thσugh thєч dσwnѕízєd thє ѕєlєctíσn.

TheBookHippie 😍😍😍 4y
Bookish_Viking The kind of maze I‘d get lost in... on purpose. 4y
Leftcoastzen Strange days indeed. 4y
TobeyTheScavengerMonk Those are some righteous covers. 4y
79 likes4 comments
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akaGingerK
This post contains spoilers
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Mehso-so

Enjoyable, but not quite a rec. After my attempts at escapism failed, I went all-in on a book set far into a pandemic. While there were fantastical elements from the start - the illness‘s notable symptom is unstoppable laughter- the early worldbuilding laid out a secular near-future city. But the conclusion leans much more into fantasy & spirituality than scifi, & the change from “hallucinations” to “weird but real” just wasn‘t organic for me

akaGingerK #AdvanceListenerCopy from Libro.fm- the two readers were great, and definitely pulled me into the book 4y
1 comment
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TheBookStacker
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I admit I bought this because this cover is absolutely gorgeous!

Cathythoughts It is 👍🏻❤️ 5y
Megabooks Definitely! 5y
rachelsbrittain I don't blame you, it really is. And hey I've found a few unexpected favorites just because I knew I needed that particular cover on my shelf 😅 5y
46 likes1 stack add3 comments
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akaGingerK
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Time for a novel about the aftermath of a pandemic in a fictionalized analog for South Africa. Working my way through this #advancedlistenercopy from Libro.fm ... but I‘m starting to get impatient to just read it with my eyes instead! (The readers are great; it‘s just that I can read faster than I listen, and I wish to gallop ahead.)

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mdemanatee
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This book is not about a sin eater, just a casual reference. But interesting that I had never heard of sin eaters before this year (or at least never clocked the reference) and now have 2 literary references within about a month.

Mitch Me too ! Saw this new book and hadn‘t heard of the idea before ... 5y
mdemanatee @Mitch I loved Sin Eater! But it was definitely my first interaction with the concept. Weird how you can notice little patterns in reading without even trying. 5y
6 likes2 comments
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ChaoticMissAdventures
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Mehso-so

This is not like The Book of M. Got my hopes up.
There were too many characters, and the chapters were too short, I was over a third of the way through before I got them all straight.
The premise is very cool, but it just was not executed well.

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ChaoticMissAdventures
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The waiting (room) game.

This is why we always carry a book (or a Kobo!)

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Maude
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Pickpick

First off, I loved this cover! The story within was great too. I thought the different character perspectives were done very well and I liked how they intermingled. My only complaint was some of the pacing lagged a bit in spots, not enough to put me off the book but just enough to make the middle part of the book take awhile to get through.

Thank you #netgalley and Gallery books for providing an ARC to review.

Hooked_on_books That is one heck of a cover! 5y
58 likes1 comment
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Liberty
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Book mail: THIS COVER. I don‘t know whether to read it or eat it. (Insert ‘Why not both?‘ gif here.) 🧡

batsy Wow! That's a cover. 5y
sudi That cover looks amazing 😍 5y
DimeryRene Ack! I stacked it for the cover, but I hope it‘s wonderful inside too. 5y
readordierachel This book sounds incredible. 5y
Zrmom Haha that cover almost gives me a migraine! 5y
101 likes5 stack adds5 comments