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Shirley Jackson – The Haunting of Hill House | Review

Title: The Haunting of Hill House

Author: Shirley Jackson

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 252

Rating: 4/5

Shirley Jackson – The Haunting of Hill House

I’ve been meaning to get to this book for a while now, but I just somehow haven’t found the time. Then the Netflix adaptation came out and everyone says it’s great, and I didn’t want to watch it without having read the book first. So here we are.

All in all, I thought this was great, reminiscent almost of a cross between The Turn of the Screw by Henry James and And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Jackson is a cracking writer, as I already knew from picking up some of her short stories, and her words are powerful here. It’s the kind of book that sticks in your head and gives you an almost physical reaction. It makes your hands go clammy and gives you goosebumps.

I wouldn’t say that this is a book that absolutely everyone should read, but it’s definitely a decent idea if you’re into horror. Jackson was a big influence for Stephen King and after reading this book, I can see why. But you shouldn’t pick this up because King is a fan or because of the Netflix show, even though that’s what I did. You should pick it up because it’s a great book, a short read and a lot of fun. Just try not to let Hill House get inside your head too much. Oh, and sweet dreams.

Shirley Jackson

Click here to buy The Haunting of Hill House.

Angie Thomas – The Hate U Give | Review

Title: The Hate U Give

Author: Angie Thomas

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 448

Rating: 4.5*/5

Angie Thomas – The Hate U Give

I was a little bit worried about picking this one up because there’s been a lot of hype around its release and I knew before going in that it dealt with a policeman shooting an unarmed black dude. I worried that if it wasn’t well-executed, the whole thing would just feel off somehow. But I needn’t have worried.

True, I did have occasional problems with the book, but it was mostly just where stuff didn’t relate too well to what things are like here in the UK. Even the way that the characters talked is so different to how people talk here in the UK, but at the same time it was consistent with itself, if that makes sense. I might not have heard some of the slang, but it definitely felt like the dialogue was realistic and true to the characters.

I was also worried to begin with that because Khalil is killed so early in the book that there was a risk we wouldn’t ever get to know him. Luckily, Thomas thought of that and made sure that we continue to learn more about him after his death, and that actually reflects what generally happens when a cop kills someone. Considering it’s such sensitive material, it’s really, really well handled.

Angie Thomas

Honestly, I can see The Hate U Give going on to be considered a contemporary classic, and while I did have a couple of problems with it here and there, there was nothing that I’d consider a deal-breaker. It took me a little while to get used to the dialogue, but the same thing happens when I read an Irvine Welsh book. And after the first fifty or sixty pages, it became hard to put it down, even though strictly speaking not a great deal actually happens. Or more accurately, the biggest thing to happen is what happens right at the start of the book, and they spend the rest of the book coming to terms with it. It’s a pretty powerful way to tell a story.

All in all then, there’s not much that I can say here that hasn’t already been said somewhere else. I also see a lot of people saying that because they’re not black, they’re less qualified to share an opinion as to the accuracy of its depictions of race and culture. I’m not sure if that’s true, because I think that being from a different culture to the one portrayed made me appreciate it even more. Ultimately, it made me want to be a good person. Excellent.