Wulf's Book Reviews

We Do What We Do in the Dark by Michelle Hart My rating: 3 of 5 stars I’m really torn over this one: I liked Mallory, the queer protagonist of this story, and most other characters were also interesting. For me, the major let-down is the story itself: the first part tells us about Mallory’s affair with a professor, only ever referred to melodramatically as “the woman”, from her college and the affair’s circumstances. I found that mostly… boring. As problematic as this affair is due to power differences, conflict of interest, fairness to others, in the end it’s a “normal” affair - one partner (Mallory) silently hoping “the woman” will leave her husband (which she tells Mallory she won’t), the other hoping for non-disclosure and enjoying the hero worship by a younger person. We then shift to Mallory’s childhood and youth during which she discovers she’s queer. This part is relatable but, again, just not all that interesting. Finally, the story moves a few years forward and Mallory and ...

The Car Share by Zoe Brisby My rating: 2 of 5 stars A Feel-Good Road Trip Built on Unbelievable Shortcuts “ The Car Share ” by Zoe Brisby tells a rather simple story: Alex, a young man in his mid-twenties, is depressed and heartbroken by a rejection that didn’t even happen, offers a car-share ride to Brussels. Maxine (“Max”), a ninety-year-old woman from a retirement home who believes she has Alzheimer’s, joins him to undergo euthanasia while she still has capacity whereas Alex is trying to escape his emotional pain. Their journey is full of adventures and turns into a transformative friendship. Unfortunately, that promise is very sloppily executed: The “life-changing” trip consists of just two days. A recovery from diagnosed moderate depression in a mere two days is both belittling the illness and intrinsically questionable within the novel. Max, on the other hand, was married to a psychologist, is very scientifically minded, but fails to actually get a diagnosis instead of relying ...

The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin My rating: 3 of 5 stars Strong start, shaky middle, and an ending that can’t make it whole. Another New York Times recommendation... It started out so well: Effie is a policewoman. Having been born and raised in New Zealand (NZ) for her first 15 years, she’s now in her thirties, living in Scotland. Suddenly, back in NZ, a girl appears from out of the bushland. She looks just like Effie at that age. Of course, Effie feels she must go back and investigate. This is basically what the first third of the novel focuses on. It’s interesting and gripping; Effie “feels” like a self-reliant, competent woman. The descriptions of NZ’s bushland were brilliant and the writing was perfectly fitting. The pacing was good and the story full of promise. The second third deals with Effie’s investigation and discoveries in NZ, and that’s how the cookie crumbled for me: Effie, who did well in Scotland and whose instincts and experience from her earlier life in NZ came bac...