The House of Fortune

Book Title: The House of Fortune

Author: Jessie Burton

Series: The Miniaturist #2

Date Started: November 23rd 2023

Date Completed: December 30th 2023

Genres: Historical

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

When the BBC television adaptation of The Miniaturist finished, I remember asking when the next episode was - I was so sure that it couldn’t be Nella’s ending. I read the book as I’d loved the show so much, and felt similarly. While I loved it, there was always more story to tell, and now we have it.

What stands out most to me of Burton’s writing is how gorgeous the flow of prose is. It feels like water you’re floating through with almost no effort, spinning on its wheel to tell us the story like we’re in a dream. And the beautiful gentle magical realism, just like the first book, is there just to offer a few possibilities to the characters that would otherwise be out of reach (which is exactly what magical realism is for, and so rarely executed to proper affect).

There are some ways in which the story was a little predictable, but no less enjoyable. I found it especially interesting that, just as the characters do, I felt that my empathy for everyone’s position and understanding of the situation as a whole evolved throughout the book. To begin I felt far more aligned with Nella and found Thea frankly spoilt and naive, but by the end there’s a far more balanced and sympathetic view of everyone, and that’s really the point of the story itself. That’s really sophisticated writing to make a reader feel that, as well as understand.

The House of Fortune stands as it’s own story, though you probably do want to read The Miniaturist first for the full breadth of what’s going on. It does take a few steps away from the political core of the first novel, and is ultimately playing with lower stakes, but it’s more involved in generational trauma, different generations of women, and the moving landscape of time and how that affects how people are forced to evolve to prosper, and even just survive.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Book Title: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Author: Suzanne Collins

Series: The Hunger Games #0

Date Started: December 14th 2023

Date Completed: December 24th 2023

Genres: Dystopian, Action, Romance

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

It’s been a long long time since I read the original Hunger Games trilogy and, revisiting this series after a long time, I’m impressed by how well it holds up and how nuanced it still persists to be. Collins’ stories really are the pinnacle of Young Adult fiction, even if the genre has grown and changed in its own ways - it’s actually curious how harrowing and grim some of the original gamechangers in YA could be, but still execute heart wrenching hope. I’m not here to moan about the current landscape, but I think it’s fair to say that achieving that balance is sometimes massively underrated and often forgotten.

Prequels to existing series - especially ones about the villain’s origins - are often not for me. Many authors find it hard to write their protagonists truly escalating to the levels of predisposed evils required to fit into the main series. But damn, Collins pulls it off. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is really a fantastically well executed exploration of entitlement and toxic masculinity. And one where, lo and behold, the woman doesn’t have to tragically die to motivate it!

Of course, my brain can’t help but compare it to the movie adaptation, which I saw first but did persuade me to jump back into Collins’ writing. The adaptation smooths out some of the unnecessary bulk and fiddly strings of events, but also misses the real depth of entitlement that motivates Coriolanus through most of the novel. I also found the more overt camaraderie and teamwork in the Academy students - even when pitted against each other - really interesting as that was mostly revamped into pure poisonous relationships for the film.

Similarly to how impressed I was by the film (quite by surprise I have to admit!), I’m so happy I was persuaded to read this prequel. It’s an exciting, political, well-balanced and thoroughly enjoyable addition to the original trilogy, strong enough to stand on its own with its own story but actually adding depth and understanding to just how much Snow really must hate Katniss all those years later.