Twenty-two-year-old Linda Wise escapes her overprotective parents and hometown where everyone knows of the sexual assault she survived as a teenager, by marrying the charismatic Ron Brunson, a newly ordained Methodist minister who catches her eye with his passion for social justice. Set in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the story alternates between the early days of their relationship, when Lin moves with him to a church in Minnesota, to a few years hence when Lin takes their son Tavis to an apartment in Hopkins, west of Minneapolis. Though they live apart, they are still clearly together, and the first thing Lin does upon arrival is check on the emergency kit Ron has packed and use a payphone to let him know they’re safe.

I really, really wanted to like Becoming Lin. The summary touched on many topics I like to read about — a woman coming into her own, major political events in history such as the Freedom Riders for civil rights, the fight for women’s rights and the challenge to traditional expectations around marriage. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t the book for me. I read about a third of the way through, and flipped forward to several chapters at random to see if it captured my interest any better later on, but ultimately decided not to continue reading.

That being said, there were a couple of gems in the early pages. In particular, I love Lin and Ron’s early flirtation. At a church buffet, someone brings up the subject of Ron needing a wife for a better chance at a church appointment. Someone else suggests that a wife could also help with typing church bulletins and

Mr. Sloan laughs. “You should put a Wife Wanted ad in the paper.”

“I type. I can do the bulletins,” Linda says and the table goes quiet. She’s always had terrible timing. [p. 21]

Her timing may be terrible for social niceties, but it was such a perfect, snappy response to the conversation and a not-so-subtle hint at her suitability for the role of wife that I wanted to cheer out loud.

I also like that Lin is a plus size woman, “more curvy than jiggly” though many in her hometown still think of her as weighing over two hundred pounds. I’m always for more plus size heroines in fiction, and from what I’ve read, she seems to grow out of her shyness at some point in the story.

The main reason that I ended up not enjoying the story as much as I expected to is that it’s just really slow. The story flips from one point in time in Lin’s story to the other without clear time markers, which was confusing and disorienting at first. For example, I went from reading about Lin and Ron’s flirtation to Lin taking her son and leaving Ron for some unnamed reason within the space of two chapters, then back to Lin’s father talking to her on her wedding day in Chapter 3. The “present day” sections were especially boring to me, and I found the detailing of the minutiae of Lin building a new life (settling into her new apartment, finding a job, etc) tedious. I didn’t know enough of the character at that point nor of the circumstances under which she left her husband to care much about what she did, and having to flip back every other chapter to the time when the couple began their life together was an unwelcome distraction.

It’s possible that the story picks up later on, but I think I’ve read enough to know that the story and the author’s style just aren’t working for me. I should point out that based on Goodreads and online reviews, my opinion is in the minority and many other readers thoroughly enjoyed the story. So if you enjoy meditative literary fiction about a woman coming of age as a wife and mother, do check out some of the other reviews and decide for yourself if it’s worth a go. The author has also written an earlier novel Stony River, about Lin’s teenage years, so if you’ve read and enjoyed that one, you’ll likely enjoy reading more of Lin’s story. But I’m afraid I’ll pass on finishing this one.

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Thank you to Caitlin Press for an advance reading copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored Nilanjana Roy’s The Wildlings, so you can bet I gasp-squee’d with joy when I saw the ARC of its sequel and conclusion The Hundred Names of Darkness at a recent Penguin Random House Canada event.

Book table at the Penguin Random House Canada Blockbuster Books event

It’s a story about alley cats in a Delhi neighbourhood called Nizamuddin. A house cat Mara serves as their Sender, which means she can use her whiskers to travel across great distances and communicate with other cats without ever leaving her house. In Wildlings, Mara’s powers prove instrumental in the Nizamuddin cats’ battle against a group of feral cats threatening to take over their territory.

Hundred Names of Darkness takes us deeper into Mara’s psyche. Human habitation threatens the neighbourhood hunting grounds, and Nizamuddin cats are struggling to find enough food to survive. The clan faces the very real possibility that they may need to find a new neighbourhood to call home. Traditionally, such big change is guided by the clan’s Sender, but all too aware of how odd her clan views her status as an indoor cat, Mara keeps herself apart. While Senders in other cities patrol their streets at night, ensuring the well being of their clans, Mara remains terrified of venturing beyond her home, and knows very little of the struggles her clan faces.

A parallel storyline involves a golf course a few neighbourhoods away, where cats, peacocks, bandicoots, rats and other wildlife live together in relative harmony, with plenty of hunting to be found. When a rogue bandicoot amasses an army to rise up in revolt and there aren’t enough cats and peacocks to defend the space, the delicate balance between the species is threatened, and the animals face the risk of humans taking the territory back away from them.

The title of the novel comes from a feline myth recounted midway through the book, about a powerful cat who travelled the world and, feeling empty, decided to seek out the cat who lives on the other side of the night. A battle with darkness itself ensues, and provides a beautiful metaphor for what it is Mara has to do in order to conquer her fear.

Original cover (Aleph Book, 2013)

New cover (Penguin Random House Canada, 2016)

If I loved The Wildlings, I adored Hundred Names. What a thrilling and beautifully written conclusion to the Nizamuddin cats’ tale! It’s fantastic to see Mara grow up, from a frightened kitten who broadcasts her thoughts to random neighbourhoods, to an adult cat who embraces her destiny and explores the full extent of her powers. I also loved seeing old favourites again, the warrior queen Beraal now a doting mother, the trouble-making Southpaw now a full fledged hunter with a strong sense of duty to his clan, and warriors Katar and Hulo now aged and while still strong, definitely weatherbeaten. We also meet Hatch, the child of Wildlings’ Tooth and Claw and a cheel afraid to fly. His muttered “whatever”s bely the depth of his fear, and I loved seeing Mara draw from her own experiences to help him face his fears.

Mara’s Bigfeet play a somewhat more visible role in this story, and there are a lot more references to Indian food and to other Delhi neighbourhoods, which I loved because it gave this story a much stronger sense of place than Wildlings. Whereas Wildlings felt like it could have been written about one of many other neighbourhoods, Hundred Names gave a much clearer picture of Nizamuddin, and its use of human markers made the place feel more tangible to its human readers.

I also loved meeting Senders from other neighbourhoods. These scenes give Mara a chance to learn more about her role as Sender, as well as situate the Nizamuddin cats among a much larger community of cats across the region. And I absolutely loved learning more about Mara’s mother and the circumstances in which she ended up at the drain pipe where her Bigfeet found her.

The duology’s story seems to grow up in this instalment much like Mara does. Whereas the conflict in Wildlings is tough and exciting (feral cats encroaching on territory!), the conflict here feels more subdued, wistful, un-winnable without necessarily being hopeless. It’s time for the Nizamuddin clan to move on, and fight though they might, there’s a sense of inevitability about it as well, for how much can they really fight against human progress? If Wildlings is about fighting for what’s yours, Hundred Names is about knowing when the fight is over and it’s time to move on. The ending is filled with hope, but the taste is bittersweet, and even Mara’s exploration of the extent of her powers is tinged by the realization of the responsibilities that come with the role of Sender.

I can’t say enough good things about this book and this duology as a whole. If you loved The Wildlings, you’ll enjoy this book and delight in returning to the company of Mara and the Nizamuddin cats. If you haven’t read The Wildlings yet, I highly recommend giving it a try if you like cats and stories of magic, friendship and the importance of home.

As an aside, in my review of Wildlings, I mentioned my disappointment that the Canadian edition didn’t include the beautiful illustrations that I hear were in the original edition. Hundred Names also likely misses out on many of these sketches, but I thought the two they did include are beautifully evocative. You can almost feel the softness of the cats’ fur. (If anyone sees this edition still in print, I’d love to know!)

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Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What better book for my first ever midnight release party than the new Harry Potter? I should thank fellow blogger Michele (@JustALilLost), whose tweets about her Slytherin outfit and matching grey lip colour made me so curious about what was going to happen at the #IndigoMidnightMagic event that I decided to attend myself. So I dug up my Slytherin necktie, invited my sister who was a fellow Harry Potter fan, and set off for what I hoped would be a fun, magical evening.

And am I ever glad I did! The entire lower level of the store was decked out with magical activities. I joined a really long line for tarot card readings (“Are you headed to Divination?” a costumed employee enquired). The waiting was at least as entertaining as the actual reading. An employee with a crystal ball asked if I wanted to test my powers of divination by reading my future in her ball. I gamely said that the crystal ball revealed a large golden owl flying quickly towards me, to which she predicted that I would soon have news of a large fortune coming my way. “This is a fun game!” she exclaimed. “I can’t believe they’re paying me to do this!” Her enthusiasm was infectious, and I loved seeing a staff member geeking out over the whole thing as much as I was!

A magician also stopped by and did some card tricks. The best part was where he had a blank deck of cards that he suddenly transformed into a real deck of cards, and then transformed again into a deck of cards with the same face on it. “You look very confuzzled by all this,” he told me. “Would you like to help with my next trick?” Of course I did! So I said a magic word and changed the colour of his handkerchief, and then he did more tricks with cards and candy, and the whole experience was just an utter delight.

Waiting in line for Divination

My tarot card reading was a lot of fun as well, and well worth the wait. Having ascertained my financial security with the crystal ball earlier, I asked the tarot card reader to tell me about my romantic fortune. The first card he turned over meant enthusiasm, and the second card was The Lovers, so I take that as a good sign.

Behind Divination (see that crowd gathered behind the table?) was Ollivander’s Wand Shop, where the store had laid out wooden sticks with gobs of glue and a range of art supplies so you can create your own wand. That was a bit crowded and the paint took forever to try (though thankfully washed off easily), but it was well worth it and I ended up with a coppery brown wand with silvery black knobs.

And check out that Sorting Hat! Indigo had printed off Pottermore questions in a quiz format, and a costumed staff member tallied up your answers to tell you which House you’re in. I snuck a peek at the tally sheet and noted I appeared to have tied in two of the Houses, but after a few added computations, the Sorting Hat staffer declared me… a Ravenclaw!

From the tally sheet, I also found out that I scored lowest at Hufflepuff, which made me cheer and made the staffer protest that she actually liked Hufflepuff. (Again, I love how geeky the booksellers themselves are! I can only imagine how exhausting it must have been to plan and run the event, so I love that they are still big enough fans to defend the Hogwarts’ Houses.) The staffer also admitted I was really a “Raven-rin”, since I was borderline Ravenclaw and Slytherin, so my green and silver tie was appropriate.

Overall, I’m so happy that I went! I devoured the book in a single day, and it was even more amazing than I’d hoped. I will refrain from posting a full review or revealing even the most minor of plot points, partly in deference to #KeepTheSecrets and also because I recommend going in completely cold like I did. But I will say that the story is captivating, magical and moving and that reading the script made me wish I could see it live as I can just imagine how incredible some of the scenes will play out onstage.

You may also want to check out this video of the photo shoot with the original London cast of the play. The characters we knew and loved from the books have grown up, and I enjoyed having these actors in mind as I read.

Happy (magical) reading!