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A review by ladyofways
Carniepunk: The Cold Girl by Rachel Caine
4.0
It's difficult to give an overall rating to an anthology, but I ended up with a 4/5. The good stories were fantastic, and there was really only one that I wish hadn't been included. The rest were all pretty similar to each other and therefore predictable (my character goes to a carnival and EVIL happens!). But if you like the carnival, with the magic and strangeness that it popularly evokes, keeping in mind that beauty and wonder are just the other side of the coin from horror and evil, then this is definitely worth the read!
Individual reviews for each story included below:
"Painted Love" - 5/5. Very cool story with a twist I never would have guessed, and a lot of real sweetness mixed in with the horror!
"The Three Lives of Lydia" - 5/5. Again, twist I wouldn't have guessed, and a main character with a surprising depth. Bizarre as the actual "Blud" series seems to be, they're characters I could actually really get interested in!
"The Demon Barker of Wheat Street" - 4/5. Main character wasn't quite my cup of tea, but it was a fun story with cool side characters. Plus I liked the mythology, both in concept and in presentation, as Hearne manages to keep exposition from overwhelming the admittedly pretty awesome action.
"The Sweeter the Juice" - 1/5. Okay, how the fuck did zombie gore-porn get in this carnival anthology? The main character was okay, I didn't have any problems with the trans stuff, but the plot and weirdness was way too far off the deep end for me, especially when it's not at all what I was expecting. And the only thing making it carnival-themed was having stuff happen at Coney Island, when it obviously could have happened anywhere at all. Maybe if I was intending to read an anthology of fucked-up crazy zombie stories, but not here, thank you.
"The Werewife" - 3/5. Interesting but fairly predictable. The freaks were cool, and the notion of a demonic rape-and-revenge carnival in general, but the characters were fairly one-dimensional. I liked the actual ending and the decision Brad ended up making.
"The Cold Girl" - 4/5. Sweet, sad, and realistic protagonist. Her voice has been one of the stand-outs in the stories so far, and I enjoyed reading this one through to the end. I think I'm getting a little worn out from Surprise!Murderer&Rapist Dude plots, though.
"A Duet With Darkness" - 3/5. There's a little too much going on in this story to comprehend without knowing the world it's from. I like fiddling for the devil stories, though, and I loved her description of musical synesthesia, so that was cool.
"Recession of the Divine" - 3/5. I get not wanting to reveal who Olivia is right away, but I think Jacques went a little too far in obscuring it, and I couldn't really get into the story for trying to guess the reveal. Still, ancient gods responding to modern worship is always a cool theme, and my Classical degree felt like it got a little work.
"Parlor Tricks" - 4/5. This is another world I wouldn't mind visiting again; seemed a little 'Rizzoli & Isles do paranormal romance'. The magic system seems cool, and was presented with exactly the right amount of information for a short story (where I'm neither overwhelmed nor uncomprehending, and want to know more). And the plot moves along nicely, with a perfect amount of foreshadowing and action. I can see why this was one of the featured stories for the anthology as a whole!
"Freak House" - 3/5. I find I'm liking the ones where the paranormal elements are the protagonists, even if this ends up being yet another Evil Circus Imprisoning Things. I liked the main character's voice, and this feels like an explanation of backstory for the main series? I could be wrong, but that's how it came off. I'd probably enjoy it more if it was a series I had read already.
"The Inside Man" - 2/5. This is a bizarre urban fantasy world, where manticores are mob bosses and ex-goddesses are sidekicks. I liked the characters well enough, but the rape stuff seemed a little tacked on. I'm sure it would work better if I knew the side character for whom it was Important Backstory, but as an intro to her and/or the series it was a bit much. The actual carnival was a cool interpretation, and I liked the mirror-world.
"A Chance in Hell" - 2/5. The plot and resolution of this one seemed pretty convenient, as though it hadn't really been thought through entirely or was done last minute. The main character is just okay and the beginning is hella contrived, but the descriptions are good (especially of the circus itself) and the demonology was cool.
"Hell's Menagerie" - 4/5. I'm a huge sucker for people whose magic power is communicating with animals, so while I'm not sure I'd care for the main series this is based around, I loved Emma a lot. The overly-complicated father figure I could do without too, but please give me more about a tiny twelve-year-old and her best friend the big nasty hellhound! The main disappointment with this one was I selfishly wanted to see her going to talk to all the different monsters at the end so we could get the descriptions of the insides of their heads. It totally made narrative sense to stop where the story did, but I wanted more of the cool part. (The plot was not the cool part.)
"Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea" - 5/5. Yeah, let's be honest; this story is why anyone's reading the anthology at all. Why else would it be at the end, like a perfect cream-topped dessert to end on a sweet note? I loved it; I love McGuire's descriptions, her visions of non-humans, her lack of a complete explanation on any point that the main character wouldn't have seen or understood. I love Ada, I like being in her head. And I love to listen to McGuire talk about the things she loves, like autumn, carnivals, and mermaids. It's perfection!
Individual reviews for each story included below:
"Painted Love" - 5/5. Very cool story with a twist I never would have guessed, and a lot of real sweetness mixed in with the horror!
"The Three Lives of Lydia" - 5/5. Again, twist I wouldn't have guessed, and a main character with a surprising depth. Bizarre as the actual "Blud" series seems to be, they're characters I could actually really get interested in!
"The Demon Barker of Wheat Street" - 4/5. Main character wasn't quite my cup of tea, but it was a fun story with cool side characters. Plus I liked the mythology, both in concept and in presentation, as Hearne manages to keep exposition from overwhelming the admittedly pretty awesome action.
"The Sweeter the Juice" - 1/5. Okay, how the fuck did zombie gore-porn get in this carnival anthology? The main character was okay, I didn't have any problems with the trans stuff, but the plot and weirdness was way too far off the deep end for me, especially when it's not at all what I was expecting. And the only thing making it carnival-themed was having stuff happen at Coney Island, when it obviously could have happened anywhere at all. Maybe if I was intending to read an anthology of fucked-up crazy zombie stories, but not here, thank you.
"The Werewife" - 3/5. Interesting but fairly predictable. The freaks were cool, and the notion of a demonic rape-and-revenge carnival in general, but the characters were fairly one-dimensional. I liked the actual ending and the decision Brad ended up making.
"The Cold Girl" - 4/5. Sweet, sad, and realistic protagonist. Her voice has been one of the stand-outs in the stories so far, and I enjoyed reading this one through to the end. I think I'm getting a little worn out from Surprise!Murderer&Rapist Dude plots, though.
"A Duet With Darkness" - 3/5. There's a little too much going on in this story to comprehend without knowing the world it's from. I like fiddling for the devil stories, though, and I loved her description of musical synesthesia, so that was cool.
"Recession of the Divine" - 3/5. I get not wanting to reveal who Olivia is right away, but I think Jacques went a little too far in obscuring it, and I couldn't really get into the story for trying to guess the reveal. Still, ancient gods responding to modern worship is always a cool theme, and my Classical degree felt like it got a little work.
"Parlor Tricks" - 4/5. This is another world I wouldn't mind visiting again; seemed a little 'Rizzoli & Isles do paranormal romance'. The magic system seems cool, and was presented with exactly the right amount of information for a short story (where I'm neither overwhelmed nor uncomprehending, and want to know more). And the plot moves along nicely, with a perfect amount of foreshadowing and action. I can see why this was one of the featured stories for the anthology as a whole!
"Freak House" - 3/5. I find I'm liking the ones where the paranormal elements are the protagonists, even if this ends up being yet another Evil Circus Imprisoning Things. I liked the main character's voice, and this feels like an explanation of backstory for the main series? I could be wrong, but that's how it came off. I'd probably enjoy it more if it was a series I had read already.
"The Inside Man" - 2/5. This is a bizarre urban fantasy world, where manticores are mob bosses and ex-goddesses are sidekicks. I liked the characters well enough, but the rape stuff seemed a little tacked on. I'm sure it would work better if I knew the side character for whom it was Important Backstory, but as an intro to her and/or the series it was a bit much. The actual carnival was a cool interpretation, and I liked the mirror-world.
"A Chance in Hell" - 2/5. The plot and resolution of this one seemed pretty convenient, as though it hadn't really been thought through entirely or was done last minute. The main character is just okay and the beginning is hella contrived, but the descriptions are good (especially of the circus itself) and the demonology was cool.
"Hell's Menagerie" - 4/5. I'm a huge sucker for people whose magic power is communicating with animals, so while I'm not sure I'd care for the main series this is based around, I loved Emma a lot. The overly-complicated father figure I could do without too, but please give me more about a tiny twelve-year-old and her best friend the big nasty hellhound! The main disappointment with this one was I selfishly wanted to see her going to talk to all the different monsters at the end so we could get the descriptions of the insides of their heads. It totally made narrative sense to stop where the story did, but I wanted more of the cool part. (The plot was not the cool part.)
"Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea" - 5/5. Yeah, let's be honest; this story is why anyone's reading the anthology at all. Why else would it be at the end, like a perfect cream-topped dessert to end on a sweet note? I loved it; I love McGuire's descriptions, her visions of non-humans, her lack of a complete explanation on any point that the main character wouldn't have seen or understood. I love Ada, I like being in her head. And I love to listen to McGuire talk about the things she loves, like autumn, carnivals, and mermaids. It's perfection!