Lisa Bee – Page 4 – Cannonball Read 17

A Back-and-Forth Mystery with an Interesting Buildup that Didn’t Stick the Landing

The Night Before by Wendy Walker

August 20, 2020 by Lisa Bee Leave a Comment

What we have here is a novel about how our relationships can shape us and the personal stories that we form about ourselves, often based on the perceptions and actions of others towards us. But more than anything else, it feels like a novel about a woman being gaslit in so many ways, to reinforce certain narratives about her character that she then can’t help but believe. The Night Before is told from two different perspectives. One is from the point of view of Laura, […]

A Decent Novel Unfortunately Weighed Down by my Comparing It to Other, Stronger Media About the Same Subjects

The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara

August 13, 2020 by Lisa Bee 1 Comment

If you are interested in the history and energy of the queer ball scene of the 1980s/1990s — such as was immortalized in the documentary Paris is Burning–, you may love this book. But then again, such as in the case of myself, you may simply think it is fine. I think this one really falls into a category of lesser-by-comparison. That is, I know these stories and have seen other media centered around this specific period of time and community, and found them all […]

Don’t Let the Whimsical Cover Fool You: The Hits Just Keep on Coming

The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O'Neill

August 11, 2020 by Lisa Bee Leave a Comment

I don’t think I’m the only person who read the description of this novel expecting something different than it was: the publisher’s blurb in fact draws a comparison to The Night Circus, which I did not feel whatsoever, not even in the fact that they both include circus-style performers. Despite the false comparison, this is not to say that The Lonely Hearts Hotel is entirely a bad book because it didn’t meet my expectations, but it certainly wasn’t what I wanted at this time. This is […]

Weaving In and Out and Back Around

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

July 28, 2020 by Lisa Bee Leave a Comment

Much like many fellow Cannonballers, I was highly anticipating this novel from Emil St. John Mandel after loving Station Eleven. Much like that book, The Glass Hotel offers a series of interconnected characters throughout different moments of their lives. The biggest difference, I felt however, was in the setting: while Station Eleven presents a hypothetical future world, The Glass Hotel is firmly rooted in reality and modern history, including the economic crash of 2008. Specifically, the narrative of The Glass Hotel centers on a woman […]

Your Familiar YA Dystopian Fiction Meets the Flavour of The Handmaid’s Tale

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

July 23, 2020 by Lisa Bee Leave a Comment

I will be honest: I am not into series right now. I genuinely didn’t know that this was going to be the opener of more than one novel (I just snagged it from the “available now” section of my library app after reading a short synopsis), so when the ending was approaching I just had a feeling I knew where it was going to lead: leaving things with that particular YA dystopian ending to lead you into act II. And while this book certainly kept […]

“The most important thing for you to do in the meantime is live. It is a very involving job, which takes much concentration and practice.”

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

July 15, 2020 by Lisa Bee Leave a Comment

The premise of this novel immediately drew me in (a vampire story examining race, sexuality, and female empowerment over time and space: who wouldn’t be interested!), but I soon found myself slogging through it, despite my initial excitement. The Gilda Stories starts with an unnamed girl who is on the run after escaping slavery in 1850s Louisiana. She is taken in and taken care of by a woman named Gilda who runs a brothel, and as time goes on it is alluded that this Gilda […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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