Epilogue

I love an epilogue in a novel. It’s always nice to have a last bit of closure…or in some cases a final reveal that leaves you gasping. Those are the best epilogues!

I’ve reviewed all of the books I have enjoyed in the sub-genre I have dubbed the “Secret Society Mystery.” It’s really the “Elite School (often) Secret Society/Elite Clique Murder (usually) Mystery Coming of Age (usually) Story” but that’s just ridiculous. But what about the books I have read in the sub-genre that I didn’t happen to like as much? These are worth a mention:

Black Chalk by Christopher Yates

This is a first novel, and as I often seem to say – you can tell. It’s clearly influenced by The Secret History. A group of 6 friends at Oxford U begin playing a game of dares that gets more and more dangerous and eventually has tragic results. I enjoyed the first half or so of this one, despite some missing pieces of the plot. I liked the pacing, a few surprises that were thrown in, and the back and forth POV. But too much is ultimately left unexplained, the situation is too improbable, and the ending is pretty anticlimactic.

The Year of the Gadfly by Jennifer Miller

Another first novel that reads like one. It has good parts and bad parts and feels a bit uneven. The book jacket compares it to Special Topics in Calamity Physics as well as The Secret History, but it is not really like either one. Here’s what it does share with those  favorites: an elite academic setting, precocious teenagers who are far more intelligent then the adults around them and speak in a completely unrealistic way, a mystery, a secret society, and characters who are annoying. It seems like a lot when I write it out that way, but the plot here is very different. The author is clearly intelligent and she packs plenty of philosophizing and symbolism into this book. At times the writing is also engaging. Ultimately, this book has some interesting ideas, but didn’t quite come together as successfully as it could have.

Dare Me by Megan Abbott

This is a semi-entertaining book where the clique is a group of high school cheerleaders. The story examines the girls and their “friendships” with other girls, and a murder. At times I was reminded, vaguely, of Special Topics in Calamity Physics. Most of this book is completely unrealistic, although I have no idea how competitive cheerleaders really are so I can’t comment on that aspect of the story. If they are like this – keep your distance. There is some VERY clumsy writing here – numerous mistakes where you scratch your head and think….wait, didn’t I just read something totally opposite of this? There is also some lovely writing that really digs into the angst, the anger, the joy, and the confusion of being a teenager. But, overall I think this was not a very successful book. * I should add that I have read about 4 books by Megan Abbott and give them all 2 stars. She is just not an author who speaks to me.

Waking the Moon by Elizabeth Hand

This was tough to read. It was very weird and a lot of the story didn’t hang together for me. This one sits in the supernatural vein, with an elite school and a secret society that is actually a goddess of the moon cult. It has some fascinating ideas, but it just didn’t quite work.

And that is now, the end of my review series. I will continue my quest to read all books inspired by The Secret History and may add more reviews in the future if I come across anything brilliant!

Special Topics (Secret Society Mysteries Part 9)

For my final (except my epilogue!) review of the secret society/elite clique murder mystery sub-genre, I am looking at the book that started it all for me: Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. It was published in 2006 and I read it in 2009, over a decade ago. I reread it once since then, and will probably read it again at some point.

Blue van Meer has grown up moving around with her academic father. For her senior year, he has taken a job at an elite high school. Blue gets involved with a clique of precocious, pretentious, and dangerous teens who are largely unsupervised, just as Blue also lacks any real parental involvement. The group’s only real adult supervision is one of their teachers, Hannah, who encourages their poor behavior. Things eventually go awry, a murder occurs, and Blue learns a thing or two that certainly surprised me as the reader. It is definitely a coming of age story. This basic outline is why so many cried out that the book copies The Secret History plot. It certainly seems to be informed and inspired by it, but the two books are still different enough, for me.

Furthermore, to go off on a tangent for a moment…to my knowledge, The Secret History spawned an entire sub-genre. All the books I have reviewed thus far owe something to Donna Tarrt, unless there is an earlier book that I am not aware of that inspired The Secret History. But there has always been the first person who wrote a romance, or a horror novel, or a sci fi book. It’s easy to get caught up in yelling copycat, but do people complain about this with all the many, many police procedurals out there? There’s a formula for a genre, and Donna Tarrt established both a sub-genre and its formula with her book. For that reason alone, it’s probably worth reading.

Anyway. Back to Special Topics. Here’s what is great about it. In a word – atmosphere. This book and The Likeness, previously reviewed, are probably the best in the sub-genre at creating a dark vibe that envelops the reader. I felt the whole time I was reading it like I was on the brink of something spooky and sinister. The atmosphere Pessl is able to  create is excellent, and was better than The Secret History, for me. A book that makes you feel something is always better than a book that is merely interesting.

However, I soon got annoyed with her constant references to other literature, and by halfway through just skimmed those parts. What started out as a distracting, but interesting, characterization device eventually just seemed like the author’s way of saying “hey look how well-read I am.” It was just too much. Tarrt also plays with literary devices in The Secret History, but she is more subtle about it. Pessl hits you over the head with it. And then kicks you. And, just to be sure you are listening, she then throws it in your face. Unfortunately it made what was otherwise a really interesting and well written book, a somewhat irritating read at times.

Again, like Tarrt’s writing, the writing in Special Topics moved really slowly, but I liked it. It added to the buildup of tension. Despite all the similarities to The Secret History, there is still enough in the plot to feel original and I didn’t always know what was going to happen next, nor did I predict the ending, which is a rare surprise. Overall it was fun to read, and sparked my interest in this sub-genre, so it will always hold a special place in my mind!

The Basic Eight (Secret Society Mysteries Part 8)

One of the most memorable in the sub-genre, The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler is a disturbing, dark comedy that veers into full dark territory about 3/4 of the way in.

The Basic Eight starts out with an amusing dark tone, like the movie Heathers (which the cover also evokes). The book is all journal entries from our narrator, Flannery Culp, who we know has murdered someone. It’s also apparent fairly soon that Flannery is the classic unreliable narrator and is likely a sociopath, at best. With all this known from the first few pages, you keep wondering what the twist will be.

Flannery is part of a very precocious elite clique of rich teenagers (the Basic 8) and initially it’s all teenage angsty precocious fun and then suddenly, well before the murder actually happens, there are about 3 pages describing the murder that are absolutely chilling. From then on the book is on a roller coaster ride that is pretty terrifying. Flannery being unreliable due to fact that she is probably insane is fun – and then frustrating. You won’t like her or any of the clique very much, but they are definitely fascinating.

As usual there is little to no parental supervision of any of these teenagers. This is a common thread, especially when the book is set with the students being in high school. It explains how they are able to use drugs, drink regularly at each other’s houses, and commit atrocious acts, but in this book Flannery’s missing parents are never even addressed. They simply aren’t there and I think it’s a poor omission.

The ending disappointed me. I figured out the twist well before it was revealed since Handler drops so many hints. I think there was a missed opportunity to make the twist even more of a dramatic one, and I thought maybe he was headed that direction during the party scene where the murder happens. But, he didn’t take it as far as I hoped and so it ended up being a bit anticlimactic, for me.

Despite my disappointment with the ending, this book has stayed with me and is one of the most memorable I’ve read. It is a very dark addition to the sub-genre and a funny one at times as well. The pop culture humor might not wear well – it would be interesting to go back and read this one again since I last read it close to a decade ago and it was published in 1999. Do not read if you are squeamish!

The Secret History (Secret Society Mysteries Part 7)

I debated ending my review series with this book, the grandmama of the sub-genre, but I decided it is time to tackle this one next.

First published in 1992, The Secret History seems to be the genesis of these types of stories. We have a prestigious university, a group of very intellectual students who are too smart for their own good who form an elite clique, an instructor who encourages them in their pretentiousness and overall bad behavior, a narrator with questionable reliability who has a coming of age story mixed in with the rest of the plot, and we have a murder known from page one.

There is a LOT going on in this book; it is quite long and dense, which is Donna Tartt’s signature writing style. Her book The Goldfinch is one of the best books I have ever read. I felt like I lived in that book, and it holds a very special place in my heart. However, I did not feel that same love for The Secret History, which has a massive cult-like following of people who think it is perfection.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. At times the writing is very evocative and you have a looming sense of horror even though you know on the first page who is murdered and who does it. You know there must be more to the story so you keep reading. At times, there IS more and Tartt makes it worth your while. But too often she goes on and on and on describing things that have little to no bearing on the story and then gives meatier parts of the story only the barest glance. It was frustrating. And, I should note that she is overly descriptive in The Goldfinch also, but I never felt a word was unnecessary or wasted. Her style, for me, didn’t work as well in The Secret History.

There’s a whole Classics/Dionysus/Greek/superiority thing going on and her words have meaning. The clique studies the Classics (which, ultimately, is what gets them into trouble) and I have thought many times that perhaps reading more about this subject could enhance a reading of The Secret History. I don’t reread books much these days, but this is one that might be worth a second read with some research done first.

By 3/4 of the way through the book you know that all of the characters are horrible people with no redeeming qualities. This is fairly common to the sub-genre. However, I found that their “superior living” and thinking came across as off putting and annoying, whereas in other books in the sub-genre, the appeal of the clique or society is much more apparent. I find myself responding more to books where you find yourself, inexplicably at times, wanting to be part of the elite group or secret society, even knowing what you know about the dark side of them. I never found myself wanting to be part of the clique in The Secret History.

Finally, I found the “timeless” feel of the book appealing and at other times confusing. For quite awhile I couldn’t even figure out what decade it was supposed to be set in. Finally I figured out it was the late 80’s. I think? The murky time period contributes to the overall hazy and slow feel of the book. If you like a fast pace, this is not for you.

Given the many positive reviews posted on Goodreads, I would strongly suggest reading this book, despite my review being lukewarm. When you see comments such as “I don’t even know what to say” “I can’t stop thinking about this book” “dangerously beautiful” “I’ve read it over and over” “why did I wait so long to read this” and so on, you know it’s a book that speaks to many people. Plus, as far as I know it has spawned an entire sub-genre of novels. Pretty impressive feat.

Ninth House (Secret Society Mysteries Part 6)

Well, I got derailed a bit by work and life and then time off from work, but I am finally back with my series of reviews on books with secret societies. My latest read was Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo and it’s a crazy ride!

Ninth House is a fun and dark fantasy novel that focuses on the secret societies that are found in real life at Yale University. In this book, the societies are actually all magical in nature and each house has a different magical ability, which, of course, makes them powerful. The fictitious “ninth house” is Lethe, tasked with keeping the other 8 societies (there are more than 8 but these are the oldest and most well known) under some semblance of control and ensuring their magic does no harm.

There are also ghosts, or grays, which can be seen by members of Lethe after ingesting a painful potion. They do this in order to help with their tasks – it’s complicated. Alex, our heroine, is able to see the grays naturally, without a potion, and is recruited by Lethe to be their latest protector. Alex is an unlikely candidate for Yale – a drop out drug addict with a sketchy criminal past. She accepts the offer at Yale as a chance to escape her life and start over. She finds herself caught up in a giant mess at Yale with a murder (perhaps more than one), more drugs, dangerous magical abilities, ghosts and their pasts, and a whole lot of buried secrets.

I found this book difficult to get invested in initially. Bardugo has the reader join the action midway, and then slowly reveals backstory. This isn’t an unusual plot device, but her methods tended to make the start of the novel rather disjointed and somewhat hard to follow, thus making it difficult to get into the story. Plus, we’ve got 9 secret societies to learn about and keep track of, Alex’s backstory, several other characters and their stories, ghosts and how they are important, and the murder and other crimes. There’s a lot going on here and at times it’s a bit overwhelming. Once I DID get into the story, and more character development had happened, I was fully invested.

Although this book obviously fully embraces the idea of a secret society and has many of them, the focus is NOT on the sense of community or belonging that a secret society can engender in its members. That sense of loyalty is examined, but the main point of this story is Alex, her feeling of NOT belonging and how that impacts her role in Lethe. Magic and ghosts are the other strong aspect of the story. Ninth House is quite dark: it doesn’t make secret societies or magic look too appealing. Granted, none of the books in my sub-genre make any of the secret societies or elite groups look totally appealing – the whole point is that there is some darkness lurking there. Ninth House is just much more upfront about that darkness.

I found several characters easy to root for, but they are definitely flawed. I happened to love the ending, which is a cliffhanger, but the drama of it made me smile. There is clearly a second book on the way and I will be reading it!