Welcome to Litsy!

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

Let me get this out of the way: you will never read a novel written prior to the Covid pandemic (& published during said pandemic) that is more eerily topical than Hugo's The Down Days. Elbow bumps in lie of handshakes, fashionable masks, PPE shortages, rampant conspiracy theories etc. But of course topical doesn't equate good, no matter how seemingly Nostradamus like Hugo might be. Set in South Africa, our characters are navigating the poverty👇

He thought about those American apocalyptic films he saw as a kid. Vicious viruses sweeping nations & the world coming to an end with a bang & a crash. One day you're going about your business, greasing the hamster wheel as a midlevel salesman in a pencil factory, & the next day everything is at a standstill. In a blink you've turned into some kind of gun-packing Rambo who trawls the countryside fending off cannibals & living off fried rats. 👇

I'm only 25 pages in, so I honestly have no opinion of the novel so far. It does seem eerily prescient. #tob21

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

Currently reading...and trying to decide if it‘s the right book for my current mindset. It‘s a bit too real 😷

mч вσσk ѕtσrє σpєnєd lαѕt wєєkєnd. ít'ѕ α mαzє. lítєrαllч. í hαd tσ ѕuppσrt thєm. єvєn thσugh thєч dσwnѕízєd thє ѕєlєctíσn.

I admit I bought this because this cover is absolutely gorgeous!

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.)

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.

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.

The waiting (room) game.

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

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.

Book mail: THIS COVER. I don‘t know whether to read it or eat it. (Insert ‘Why not both?‘ gif here.) 🧡