THE END OF MR Y By Scarlett Thomas

Well, that started the 2014/15 Six Book Challenge of with a bang didn't it?

This is the story of a young PhD student / part time teacher at the university who happens to come across one of the rarest and possibly most cursed books in the history of literature. Did I mention that the author of said book, was also Ariel's favourite author and subject of her PhD? Now all things considered, what would you do? Read the cursed book of course! She spends every penny to her name on this book, her supervisor and tutor has been missing for over a year and she figures she has nothing to lose. As it turns out, love, time-travel and having the ability to read other people's minds isn't as great as you would initially think so.

This has been a phenomenal book, and if there was a Fandom for this book, I would consider myself par of it. It was amazing and being an English language student myself, I was amazed and overwhelmed (in a good way) by this world that had been created entirely out of language, science and the science of language.

Initially I was a little confused when it first switched from narrator to the first extract of the book because there was very little to differentiate between the two. No font change or subheading, not even a chapter change in some case, and I was very confused by this, but Thomas has done a very neat job of tying this up quickly as Ariel continues to explain about how reading this particular book doesn't allow her to switch between herself and the character, she feels as if she is or should be the character in the book and therefore the mix of narratives are totally in the right place and let the reader experience as much as they can of Ariel's confusion while maintaining clarity in the bulk of the novel.

I thought that the presentation of the girls school was very interesting, and I'm even sure why if I'm honest. I only remember being particularly interested in the way that part was written and it stood out to me possibly more than any of the rest of the book did. What do you think?

I love Adam's character, he's just so lovable and stoic. Initially, I just overlooked him a little, but towards the end I genuinely felt that I wanted him back as much as Ariel did. Although; without giving anything away too much, I feel that the last few pages spoiled Adam a little for me. I feel that he strayed too far from his roots, but ultimately I think that was what Adam wanted, to stray as far away from his own life as possible, until he found something that made him happy, or at least content with his life.

I am genuinely struggling to find the words to rave about this book to the extent that it deserves!

I just love this book for its complexity, yet despite it being complex, it really isn't that hard to follow. I think the hardest part it trying to remember how to pronounce some of the scientific jargon. (just reading about quarks made me feel intelligent :P). The End of Mr Y. is a fantasticly academic book which I would recommend to most people, however:

I would just like to add a note onto the end of this here review to recommend that this book is not read by children or even 'young' adults. This is definitely one for the more mature readers due to its graphic sexual content.

Find out more about the Six Book Challenge here >>>>>  http://sixbookchallenge.org.uk/

LONG LANKIN by Lindsey Barraclough

Firstly let me say that I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and a good start to the new year. I'm sorry its taken a while for me to post this, but it took a little longer to read than I expected it to.

If you have read my previous post about DANCING JAX by Robin Jarvis, you will recall that I mentioned this book; LONG LANKIN, saying that it was the only book creepier than the novel by Jarvis that I have ever read, intact, reading DANCING JAX inspired me to go back and read LONG LANKIN for a second time.

It has been a good two years since I had last read this novel, but the impeccable writing and storytelling contained within its pages meant that I had hardly forgotten the terrifying tale, and the most loveable of charters, my favourite being Mr Haldane Thorston and his garden.

Barraclough tells the story of two young girls (Cora and Mimi) who are sent to live with they're Great Auntie Ida, who at first appears to hate the girls and wishes to have nothing to do with them. In the end though it turns out that the harshness and the anger that she shows towards them is born out of fear for their safety and her own. She has already been plagued by the horrific Cain Lankin and the ghosts of the children he took, long enough, and is terrified that history will repeat itself because of the two young girls, who innocently and unknowingly bring danger and the possibility of death unto the hole of Bryers Geurdon. I believe that the thing that makes Lankin such a terrifying thought is that he preys in infants and young children. Children are the thing that we most care for adore with everything we have. Most parents would do anything for their children, putting them first and doing everything possible to protect them from danger. So for Barraclough to create this monster that is virtually unstoppable (save for the lych gate), that will tear through anything that gets in his way, and will hunt down the children is horrifying. The thought of a parent/guardian not being able to do anything but what and wait while an evil, twisted creature of a man hunts down their child is a very scary thought which many people would rather not have.

I found the thought of Ida Eastfield rather interesting and insightful, as through out the book, she slowly reveals more and more about the situations, her intentions and her reasons behind her actions. The first time we hear directly from Mrs Eastfield, we begin to agree with Cora, that she is just an angry old woman who hate children, but towards the end, Ida's bitterness and harsh facade, crumbles into sorrow and regret and most importantly, eventually into determination to do what should have been done centuries ago.

The actual description of Lankin himself is enough to send a shiver down your spine, just the thought of his feet slapping the ground as he walks, the idea of his weeping, half decayed body trying to survive the half life he has is completely grotesque. On occasion, towards the end of my book, I did find myself glancing into the darker corners of my bedroom if I was reading it in bed, of looking out of the window and across the garage roof, checking the darkness for anything that wasn't the dog skulking around, miffed that he'd been kicked off the bed. When an author is able to take something completely and utterly fictional and make it seem real to the reader while they're reading it then its a pretty clear indication that they have done they're job properly.

One thing that I admire about this author is the variety of story telling voices that she has incorporated into the story, Gussie, Mr Thorston, Ida, Mrs Jotman, they all recall the same story in a different voice, revealing new parts of the story and hiding others. In many ways, Long Lankin is written more as a documentary of events than as a novel, switching between past and present tense, looking into the future and recalling history. This novel is a brilliant lesson in learning from mistakes, how and why not to do things again, or equally learning what should be done should there be a second time around.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a book that sends a shiver down your spine and likes reading during the daytime. LONG LANKIN is a brilliantly terrifying read and I think that Barraclough is a fantastic author whose work I shall be further watching out for in the future.

This book may be unsuitable for younger readers.