Mockingbird

I read this book for one of my bookgroups--it's very interesting the skeptical reaction i had to a man writing in a female voice--i never seem to have that reaction to a woman writing in a male voice--reverse sexism? Anyway Sean Stewart totally pulled it off and i loved this book.

The premise: ganked from the publisher: Sometimes you have to go back home.

Elena Beauchamp used magic the way other people used credit cards, and now that she’s dead, her daughters Toni and Candy have a debt to pay. Set in modern-day Houston, Texas, this is a funny and moving novel of voodoo, pregnancy, and family ties. While Toni sorts out the mess that Elena left behind, she must also come to terms with her childhood and with the supernatural and dangerous gift that she has inherited from her mother.


Mockingbird: A novel of voodoo, pregnancy, and Houston.

My Rating: Couldn't Put It Down

I loved this so much that I promptly ordered two more Sean Stewart books off of Paperback Swap before remembering that I have a monthly cap on the show more number of books I can get in a month! Oooops… old habits, they die hard. Oh well, it'll be well worth it, though I suspect I will space the reading of those books out so as to not glut myself entirely on his fiction. Be that as it may, this book had me from the first page, and it's what I crave from so much small-town and/or Appalachian fiction that I simply don't get. Not that Mockingbird is in any way small town or Appalachian fiction: it's set in Houston, Texas, for goodness' sakes! But what this book does: fuse character, setting, and place in such a way to create a unique atmosphere is what I want and crave from those aforementioned styles of fiction, but that I never quite seem to get. Toni was a character I immediately related to, and her rather magical-realist journey is one I can see myself reading again and again. This was very, very close to getting the top rating of "My Precious," and only a few things held me back from awarding it said top rating. But no matter. It's rare that a book other than a YA or other serial book gets the "couldn't put it down" rating, but when it does, you know just how damn happy I am with it.

Spoilers, yay or nay?: Vague-ish spoilers, because this is the kind of book you really don't spoil, you know? The full review is in my blog, which I've linked to below, and as always, comments and discussion are most welcome!

REVIEW: Sean Stewart's MOCKINGBIRD

Happy Reading! show less

I read this during my bookstore excursion last night... I started reading it to decide whether I wanted to buy it or not, but after 30 pages the story wasn't moving as quickly as I liked but there were a few intriguing bits I wanted to know more about.

So I sat in the nearest chair, and proceeded to read the book in the store from cover to cover. Granted, I speed-read a few parts, but I don't think I missed much, because long-story-short, I'm glad I didn't spend the $5 on it. I don't feel the time reading was wasted, but I just don't think I would recommend it to anyone.

The most unfortunate part of the story is that the best character -- the mother of a pair of sisters -- is gone when the book opens. We get glimpses of her through show more memories of the main character, but overall, she's the best character of the whole book. And she's dead. Well, that's too bad.

The main character is "gifted" her mother's magic, which mainly consists of Riders who take over one's body for a period of time... like multiple personality disorder, but with fetishes and called magic.

Why is this happening? Well, we're told the mother is a witch of sorts, so her magic costs something... and each Rider is the price of the magic. When the mother dies, not all of her "magic debts" have been paid, and she passes the Riders on to one of her daughters.

If this is all sounding very cheesy, it wasn't that bad, and done rather well in the first third of the book. The problem is, the rest of the book becomes a random mish-mash of family drama, author promises that aren't kept, and strange resolutions. And not in a "this is a quirky little volume, eh?" kind of way. More in a "...say what?" way.

We don't get resolution on the Riders. In fact, they just go away once the main character has a baby. By artificial insemination. Without a partner. She does it "just because", without any forethought. Then two thirds of the way through the novel, the main character's sister pulls out a bunch of porn magazines and demands her sister to tell her whether she's turned on by images of sexual violence "because she might be a repressed lesbian." Which she isn't, so what was the whole point of that scene?!?!

Yeah... that's when I started skimming. Also, the store was going to close in 15m and I had a difference purchase to make, so I wanted to finish it regardless.

In the end, I was disappointed that such an intriguing beginning didn't deliver in the end. I felt that it delved too far into family drama after building the book up as focusing on magical realism (the first 30 pages strongly suggest it will be a large part of the book), rather than incorporate the two together. Honestly, the main character only gets fully possessed by Riders twice. Twice!!! After all that buildup! And then, POOF, they're gone.

Argh. I'd give the author another shot, but those first 30 pages had better be brilliant. show less

"Mockingbird" was an interesting read. It follows the life of Toni, a 30 year old who's mother has just died, and tells of the legacy she inherits from her mother. Her mother had been that was possessed by several different gods, at different point in time, and she passes on this "gift" to her daughter.

The story is full of emotion. Often there is anger, confusion, and even desperation. I thought it was very interesting the way the author wove the threads of the past in with what was currently happening in the story, and the growth in the characters over the course of the book was interesting as well.

I can't believe I finally finished this book. It was too long and drawn out and the story didn't focus enough on the voodoo end of things. The main character was very boring...kind of a waste of my time.