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Candi Sary

Autor(a) de Black Crow White Lie

2 Works 26 Membros 4 Críticas

Obras por Candi Sary

Black Crow White Lie (2012) 16 exemplares
Magdalena (2023) 10 exemplares

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Membros

Críticas

Magdalena is one of those books that intrigued me because of the paranormal aspect and it was touted as a horror novel, one of my favourite genres. Thing is, what I got was more of a literary fiction, something that touched on relationships and emotional discovery and really didn't have a whole lot of horror or paranormal aspects to it. Yes, the whole town was supposed to be enveloped in this environment where ghosts try to stay and develop relationships with their loved ones, but the book didn't really focus on that too much.

First of all, I had a lot of difficulty connecting with Dottie as a main character. Yes, she's a very sympathetic character and you can't help but feel sorry for her, but there comes this certain point when I just started to feel annoyed and wanted to give her a good shake because she was kind of apathetic as well, doing little to improve her circumstances or her relationships. Dottie's husband was in a terrible accident and her parents left the town a long time ago looking for a cure for her mother's mental illness, something that haunts Dottie to this day, but while the author gives us some background information, it isn't enough to really develop enough empathy with Dottie to forgive her for her other actions.

The plot of the story doesn't put Dottie in a good light as the author has her make some pretty poor decisions. Why in heaven's name would you follow a 15 year-old girl around town and not expect anyone to notice your behaviour? She was stalking this girl, almost believing this girl was one of her lost children, and for a while I thought the story was going to delve into mental illnesses, but a golden opportunity was definitely missed here. As for some of the other things she does, they're just downright creepy, such as sitting in her backyard and staring through a fence hole for hours at a young girl. Honestly, who does that? And to believe that all these other things are signs of the divinity? Like birds hanging around your house? Well, if you don't want an animal hanging around, don't feed them meatloaf everyday. I just felt like there were better ways to show something was creepy or paranormal.

To me, I feel like the author didn't do justice to this character and as I've already mentioned, missed a golden opportunity to develop her and delve into mental health issues. I think some of the things she does are supposed to make you feel sympathetic, but all it did was make me wonder why no one was helping this woman, no one was encouraging her to seek help. There was a nun who had been helping Dottie for years, so why didn't she encourage her to talk to a psychologist, get therapy, get some help? When the accident happened to Dottie's husband, why did no one encourage her to get a job, join a committee, further her education, etc.... So, what does she do all day?

Now the plot. I tried to give it a chance, but it was more about Dottie and her lack of relationships than anything horror or paranormal. She latches onto this 15 year-old kid as if she's her lifeline and develops this unhealthy fantasy about being her mom and creates scenarios where she is hers. And then we have Magdalena, the 15 year-old, a character I also didn't care for as she seemed pretty selfish from the get-go, lying to get her way, and always sneaking around. To be honest, I had a hard time trying to figure out the plot as there were so many different threads looping around and I don't think the author knew exactly which way she wanted to take this novel either; therefore, at times we would get scenes that would hint at paranormal stuff and mysterious goings-on, then we would get these familial scenes without really developing either one. The setting itself was intriguing as I like it when you have a town that is eerie and perpetually covered in fog, but that is where the intrigue ends as the other plot lines kind of meandered all over the place. I couldn't actually tell the time period as Magdalena had a cell phone, but Dottie's house had an old tv that didn't work and everything that was described seemed like it came from the 70s. There was no mention of computers or the internet or anything remotely technological. I think the author was trying to show the town was secluded, but didn't quite know how to give off that vibe so it came across as confusing.

Verdict
Magdalena just didn't work for me as a horror or paranormal novel. I struggled to empathize with any of the characters and there were so many things that happened in the story that just didn't make sense. I thought Dottie's behaviour was creepy, but that doesn't make this a horror novel. There were a lot of aspects that I did like about this novel, but when you put them all together, they did not work and it was difficult to understand the point of the plot as it didn't fully make sense. It's not that loose ends were not tied up or anything, it's just that it left me feeling unsatisfied at the end. This is not a spooky book by any stretch of the imagination; my recommendation would be to try it and judge for yourself.
… (mais)
½
 
Assinalado
StephanieBN | Aug 7, 2023 |
Carson has grown up on stories of his past life, his hero father, his ability to heal, and the potential he has to become great. As a preteen he eats up his mother's tales as well as anyone else's that he comes across. He soaks up these stories and enthusiastically believes that he could truly be the greatest healer of his time. But, he knows that not everything that his mother says is true what with her obvious exaggerations once she has alcohol in her. She could be gone for days and when she is he feels this rage inside him that a healer like him should not have. As Carson branches out to heal people other than his mom he learns some things about himself that have him asking whether his life has any truth in it.

"I liked stories. I liked the way they had the power to make sense of life. You could go through a chaotic experience and come out of it feeling confused, but once you tell it to someone as a story, somehow it starts making sense. And I liked watching people cross over to that place that made sense as they retold their tales. I felt like I had company in that safe place away from chaos."

Black Crow White Lie was definitely a very unique book since the protagonist believes he has powers. He heals his mother whenever she asks. He is drawn to light not only outside but inside of him. He uses these stars that gather in his hands to heal his mother and later others. It sounds very strange yet it fit perfectly with the message of the story.

You know how you are told all these things from your parents that you later find out aren't real? Or sometimes you are protected from the harsh realities of life then, at a certain age it all comes crashing down on you? You learn that the world isn't as magical as you thought it was. There is this growth and realization that Carson discovers in this story that we all have felt once before. There's this anger inside him because he knows something is wrong with his mother and his view of the world, he just doesn't understand it yet.

I really like the growth I see inside of Carson. He is odd but, he is just a kid needing some direction. His friends try to give him that. Faris is an old tattoo artist that looks after him and listens to his stories from time to time; Casper is a head shop owner who sees his potential to help people. Both of these two see that Carson needs a little guidance so they try to help him out in their own way. I think Carson really needed these two male role figures even if they are also odd in themselves. Everyone is a bit different in this story which is what captured my attention most. Black Crow White Lie is a very unique and sweet story about a boy realizing that nothing and no one can change who he really is and who he wants to be.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
AdrianaGarcia | 2 outras críticas | Jul 10, 2018 |
This is a story that's hard to pinpoint, but I'll do my best. It begins as a magic infused reality blended with an edge of fantasy and ends as a life molded by stories that enabled the magic of the everyday world to shine through with merely a touch of the otherworldly. Confused? Sorry...but some of the tale will leave you that way and it's purely on purpose because the author is putting you right in the shoes of young Carson.

The life he's lead is a hard one. His mother is less than able to cope with the world and her heavy hand with the bottle does not make things better. Her relationships with men are no point of guidance either, nor the man she places above her son.In the end, she had her reasons, were they good enough? They never are but unless you're in the situation there is really only so much that can be said...and trust me, you'll want to see the big picture here in the end. I'm not saying you'll feel sorry for her or forgive all her transgressions, but it'll be a more level playing field for analyzing how and why things went the way they did. Moving forward...

In conclusion, a story that is much more than it seems on the surface, filled with grit and strife, and yet able to deliver a male lead that teens and adults alike will cheer for as he seeks to discover his true self and claim his future as his own. It reminds us that looks can be deceiving, stories are often to be accepted with a grain of salt, and the true magic in life is there...just not always how we pictured it. Recommended read for older teens through adults due to content; it's not about the language here, more about the anger issues, drug use, drinking and such; a few life lessons younger eyes don't need a gander at too early on.

**review copy received in exchange for my honest review - full post can be seen on my site**
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
GRgenius | 2 outras críticas | May 9, 2013 |
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this review, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

Other small presses might get more publicity and do flashier things, but I have to say that I've been quietly impressed the last several years with the unassuming Casperian Books, and especially for their habit of picking up great little stories that would otherwise get lost in the shuffle because of their overly general subject matter. Take for example Candi Sary's highly readable Black Crow White Lie, which in synopsis form is a pretty generic dysfunctional-family coming-of-age tale -- namely, preteen boy deals with his alcoholic New Age single mother, who has convinced him that he has special supernatural healing powers, as they shuffle from one motel to the next among the seedier sections of southern California, while she disappears for days at a time to be with her boyfriend and drinking partner. But it's in the details where this book really shines, because Sary has a fine-tuned understanding of what makes a story like this work; among the little moments, that is, like the time Carson spends with a sympathetic tattoo artist in front of his Hollywood shop, or his dealings with the hard but cute girl at school he has a crush on, or his growing sense of empowerment over what seems to be a successful string of actual psychic healings, the truth of which we don't learn until the very end of the book. Eventually, though, this novel does build to a bigger climax, as the now thirteen-year-old Carson makes plans to cross the country by himself so to visit his dead father in a Washington DC military cemetery; and this too is handled in a very satisfying way, as Sary takes all these little character-building moments from before and applies them to what is suddenly a much grander plot, the final kicker that elevates this story above the multitude of only mediocre coming-of-age tales that now exist out there. A former semi-finalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, it's easy to see why such mainstream publications as Publishers Weekly has called this "praiseworthy [and] poignant," and I have to admit that this was one of the most emotionally satisfying reads I've had all autumn. It comes strongly recommended to one and all.

Out of 10: 9.2
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
jasonpettus | 2 outras críticas | Dec 11, 2012 |

Prémios

Estatísticas

Obras
2
Membros
26
Popularidade
#495,361
Avaliação
3.9
Críticas
4
ISBN
5
Línguas
1