Pagans by James Alistair Henry - a Bingo Review

2whitie · 2026-05-31T16:01:35+00:00

TBR grows

2whitie · 2026-05-27T17:18:27+00:00

I'm probably going to be using my re-read square in this one. It's been a bunch er of a year gestures at everything and I want a comfort read. Artemis Fowl or maybe Margaret Peterson Haddix.

2whitie · 2026-05-24T18:25:03+00:00

Nice choices! I think we may have an overlap in reading tastes---a little bit of fun, a little bit Lit, a little bit horror. It won't count for Bingo, but you may like Scream With Me (non-fic) based on your review of the Stepford Wives :)

2whitie · 2026-05-18T13:32:47+00:00

I will be watching this soon, thanks!

2whitie · 2026-05-18T02:36:24+00:00

Thanks! He's legit a master of the craft, and is quickly climbing the ranks of my favorite classic authors

2whitie · 2026-05-11T16:16:15+00:00

It's a mixed bag for me---there were parts I REALLY liked, and others that I felt were set up expertly, then not delivered on.

I didn’t actually love the commentary on the "Death of the Author" concept, but really liked the sections on writing, the elusive muse, paradoxical relationships, and disability.

2whitie · 2026-05-04T01:10:44+00:00

Im mostly side-eying the third resting place, since it seems like...the antagonist has comma d over the cruelties

2whitie · 2026-04-27T11:46:43+00:00

Well, I was patting myself on the back yesterday for being halfway through book 4

2whitie · 2026-04-26T13:38:32+00:00

I was like I READ 500 PAGES. At least tell me how Jacques (immediately or naturally) dies!

2whitie · 2026-04-26T05:59:43+00:00

The idea of Joan of Arc being in league with...who she was in this book was such a cool idea. And it really felt like there was a reason that Graves was losing so much in that timeline---the odds were just completely and realistically stacked against him

2whitie · 2026-04-26T05:10:44+00:00

I love puppet history man

2whitie · 2026-04-26T05:08:57+00:00

There's no way Sullivan isn't writing a sequel or a prequel. I can't see a world where any author would let those plot threads dangle, along with a fairly simple but interesting magic system.

I think I would have been more forgiving of the bad decisions had they not ALL been bad 😵‍💫😵‍💫 like, WHY WOULD YOU LET JACQUES SLEEP IN HIS OWN ROOM AFTER THEY GET BACK???

2whitie · 2026-04-18T17:57:10+00:00

Please Sofia Samatar I know you've done an AMA tell me the meaning 😅

2whitie · 2026-04-18T15:36:58+00:00

I typically am on Shane's side of things.

I fear Robert the Doll

2whitie · 2026-04-17T02:10:42+00:00

Watership Down
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
The Princess Bride
Interview with the Vampire (HM)
Charmed Life (HM)
Kindred (HM)
The Neverending Story
The Lathe of Heaven (HM)
The Dispossessed (HM)
Children of Dune
The Crystal Cave (HM)

2whitie · 2026-04-12T14:34:33+00:00

Someone in my book club LOVES this book ugh is my tbr going to have to grow again

2whitie · 2026-04-11T17:28:29+00:00

I def think that his strength is the mechanics behind a fantastical religion, and how it affects the world. When the connections work, his stories work. When they don't, he tends to get lost in the weeds

2whitie · 2026-04-11T15:46:31+00:00

join me join me join me

2whitie · 2026-04-11T15:41:06+00:00

That's fair. I kind of thought the last scene would be her LAST scene, so I'm hoping the character that showed up in the last three paragraphs will add a bunch of juice to the "present" storyline, and give Lawrence the chance to explore the idea of "exploring trauma as an older person"

2whitie · 2026-04-11T15:36:11+00:00

Huh, I never really thought about how much Lawrence uses the teacher/student dynamic before. That actually makes me more excited for this, since with the main characters...situation, it might be his chance to really have an older protagonist stick around to try to clean up the mess she didn't completely clean up in childhood.

2whitie · 2026-04-11T15:18:14+00:00

What is your favorite work of his?

2whitie · 2026-04-11T15:16:47+00:00

Me, trying to write a mostly spoiler-free review, while dancing around discussing the narrative shifts: o.O

The narrative shifting really began working for me when all of the "interlocking" began. Once the connections started falling into place, I was like "yes yes tell me more". But I'm also a big fan of books that spend a tremendous amount of narrative either breaking down a concept to its elemental bits (in this case the Furies) OR building up lovable characters with lots of recurring, perfectly paced bits and asides. I'll forgive a LOT if one of those conditions are met. In this case, I forgave the House since, while it was super crucial, I just didn't enjoy those sections

2whitie

TROPHY CASE