What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

Sworn Soldier #1, 165 pages

⭐⭐⭐/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruravia.

What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.

Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.

Review

I don't think I've ever read "The Fall of the House of Usher," but that did not stop me from enjoying the story. This has fungal horror mixed with a teeny bit of body horror, so not so grotesque that I had to put it down, but I did wince a few times. It was very atmospheric and a good, short book to get you in the spooky spirit.

Incense and Sensibility by Sonali Dev

Incense and Sensibility by Sonali Dev | 400 pages | 2021

Yash Raje, gubernatorial candidate for California, has always known exactly what he wants—and how to use his privileged background to get it. He attributes his success to a simple mantra: control your feelings and you can control the world. But when a hate-fueled incident at a rally critically injures his friend, Yash’s easy life suddenly feels like a lie, his control an illusion. When he tries to get back on the campaign trail, he blacks out with panic.      

Desperate to keep Yash’s condition from leaking to the media, his family turns to the one person they trust—his sister’s best friend, India Dashwood, California’s foremost stress management coach. Raised by a family of yoga teachers, India has helped San Francisco’s high strung overachievers for a decade. But this man—with his boundless ambition, simmering intensity, and absolute faith in his political beliefs—is like no other. Yash has spent a lifetime repressing everything to succeed. 

They had one magical night ten years ago—a too brief, too bright passion that if rekindled threatens the life he’s crafted for himself. Exposing the secrets might be the only way to save him but it’s also guaranteed to destroy the dream he’s willingly shouldered for his family and community.

A very sweet retelling of Sense & Sensibility (obviously). The characters were very well written, and I'm a sucker for a book with some deep emotional wisdom. India's inner dialogue was a delight to read, and I found all the conflict believable and relatable. The spice level was much lower than I expected, but that makes it a great pick for my book club!

Arch-Conspiracy by Veronica Roth

 

Arch-Conspiracy by Veronica Roth, 126 p.

"Outside the last city on Earth, the planet is a wasteland. Without the Archive, where the genes of the dead are stored, humanity will end.

Passing into the Archive should be cause for celebration, but Antigone’s parents were murdered, leaving her father’s throne vacant. As her militant uncle Kreon rises to claim it, all Antigone feels is rage. When he welcomes her and her siblings into his mansion, Antigone sees it for what it really is: a gilded cage, where she is a captive as well as a guest. But her uncle will soon learn that no cage is unbreakable. And neither is he."--Goodreads blurb

""A city of seven districts:

Seven houses crumbing on a thieving street.

One's got no fire, one's got no heat.

One's got no water, one's got no meat."

This dystopian/scifi reimagining of the classic Antigone introduces us to a world of wastelands, the opportunity for immortality, yet somehow the potential end of humanity. When Antigone loses someone close to her, she conspires to follow through with his last request. But when that conspiracy goes sideways, others in her life conspire to keep her safe.

This impactful retelling of Antigone was a look into a future in which none of us would want to be. We got to hear the story unfold from several characters' viewpoints. Roth tried to do a lot in a very short story, and I'm not sure she was entirely successful. I wanted more. I wanted more fleshed out stories, more action, and more emotion. I like the basis of trying to explore women's rights and bodily autonomy, but it just felt rushed and incomplete. However, I'm glad to have read this new take on an old tale, and think I may go read some Sophocles now. This was a 3.5 rounded up to a 4 for me.