The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen
My rating: 3/5 cats
an enthusiastic 3.5
erin was good enough to send me her copy of this book, which i had already requested from netgalley, but since i have had really poor luck lately getting approved in a timely manner, she offered to mail me hers. and wouldn’t you know – the day it arrived in my mailbox was the same day i got approved on netgalley.
and after all those folks throwing the book at me, i just wish i’d loved it more than i did.
i love the cover, the font, the premise, and when i read the list of comparisons on the back cover:
twin peaks, the brothers grimm, The Shadow of the Wind, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, The Secret History, Let the Right One In, i thought “this book is for ME!”
but when the words “chilling” and “creepy” are used, i have certain expectations. i thought this would be a perfect companion book to The Supernatural Enhancements – spooky and dark with a hook for bookish types.
and it’s a good book, but when it’s put in that lineup, there’s an element missing. i just didn’t find it sinister enough. it’s more
than
there’s a quirky charm to it that overshadows anything even a little creepy. so if you go in knowing that, i think you will have a more realistic expectation of what’s in store. there are things that are odd, whimsical, and eerie, but nothing to keep you up all night.
i like the writing, although there’s something about it that is also that ineffable “something” that i have found in pretty much every book i’ve read from a nordic country – it’s a stylistic similarity that leaves me feeling a little flat – like i’m missing something, like it’s written at a remove.
and be prepared for a lot of unresolved bits at the end. there’s a kind of abrupt twisty bit at the end that answers one question, but leaves a lot of danglers.
i know this sounds like i didn’t like the book, but i did. i enjoyed reading it, and there are parts of it still in my head, but i also feel slightly befuddled. i can point to the parts that didn’t work for me, but not the ones that did.
and yet i have a positive feeling overall when i think of this book.
perhaps this review will be improved with wine. it’s worth trying.
nope, wine just made me sleepy.
regardless, i enjoyed reading this one, and i would be really interested to hear other people’s reactions because for some reason, i am unable to articulate my own.
