Melody Writes

It is impossible to read Meg Elison's Number One Fan without comparing it to Stephen King's Misery. Both feature a famous novelist kidnapped by an unhinged fan who grows increasingly terrifying over the course of the novel. Both books speak to toxicity in fandom and the entitlement some fans develop towards creators. I cannot recommend Misery enough - it is a fantastic book - but I'm going to focus on Elison's book here. It is more than just a "gender-flipped" Misery. Note: My discussion will include some spoilers, but I will do my best to avoid the major ones. Eli Grey is on her way to a speaking engagement when she gets kidnapped by Leonard, a man who she thinks is a stranger, but knows her all too well. For years, Leonard has been circling at the edge of Eli's life, and he has finally decided to make his move. What follows was one of the most harrowing, uncomfortable reads of my life. The level of entitlement and intimacy that Leonard expects of Eli is ...

Maybe I’m a sick person. Maybe there is something wrong with me. Because when I read the book’s tagline, “Twelve six-year-olds and their three adult chaperones head into the woods on a camping trip. None of them make it out alive,” it skyrocketed to the top of my to-read pile. When I read the rest of the blurb that promised a child on a murderous rampage, I got even more excited to read it. “Part fairy tale, part horror story” – it seemed perfect for me.   Unfortunately, what I got instead was a bit of a mess. The book does deliver on its promises – everyone dies, it has a fairy-tale flavour, it’s definitely horror – but the way the deaths play out felt forced and even at times, ridiculous. The balance of the tale shifted widely. Some of the deaths were almost slapstick in their delivery, while others were quite gruesome. There is one death right near the end that is particularly disgusting and drawn out far too long. I think even hardened fans of gore may struggle with this one, a...

This one made me nostalgic for my university days! Studying in the library, chatting with my friends about ancient history, hoping to uncover something shocking and cool! I admit the nostalgia may have coloured my enjoyment of the book, but even without that, it's a good story. Ayef dreams of being a Curator, historians who edit the past and present their version to society, but after a bit of a shake-up, her dream shifts to becoming a Historian. Curators obscure the past, while Historians reveal it. But first, Ayef must study under a Curator to learn what exactly it is that they are obscuring. This is the source of the main conflict of the plot and the mystery/reveal about the ancient secrets is interesting and complicated. The quote "history is written by the victors" is often tossed around (and it is mostly true). McMahon's story touches on this idea, and others, while exploring the complicated ideas around who should have access to what information. Considering t...

When I first went to Trent University, there was an introductory week where you could attend sample lectures to test out classes. I said to myself, "how smart would I sound if I knew Latin?" so I went to the Latin lecture. Out came this funny man with a bag of sidewalk chalk. His enthusiasm and charm immediately won me over and learning Latin became about more than just "sounding smart". That man was one of my professors, David Page. Each year I was at Trent, I made sure I had classes with David (as he preferred to be called). He taught me Latin and Roman history. He made each class interesting using that sidewalk chalk "to make it colourful" and explaining concepts so we could all understand. I struggled a lot with the languages and the nuances of translation, but his patience never ran out - or if it did, he hid it well! But because of him, I stuck with Latin. To this day, I can still chant Latin conjugations like he taught me. One year, I was not set to...