It’s equally popcorn reading and fiction that stretches you ever so much.įor more Quick Takes, be sure to visit Kelly at This Ain’t the Lyceum.I wrote a new template - any comments? I imagine this territory has been covered before, but I don't recall seeing it anywhere on the boards (probably covered in the BoVD). Yep, this is the kind of book you’ll read and then pick back up later. Very, very easily.) Instead, she let her characters live their lives, make their mistakes, and live with the consequences (or not, as the case may be). But in the themes throughout this novel, Grubb never leaned on the easy road of preachiness. It’s terrible to read a novel with a theme that’s being pushed down your throat. Whether they were intended or not, I don’t know. There are some themes in Soulless Creatures that really challenged me, that made me look within myself and examine a bit. 6. Yes, there’s a deep theme and a good message. They were people I got to know, who I was talking with in my head, who I cared about. She had me there and she had me with them. I was immersed in the plot and the story, and I was invested in the people she created. Again and again, when I’m trying to explain to people what I love about a book, I come back to characters as a strong selling point.Īnd, once again, I’m at that point. It’s refreshing: great writing, big adventure, some sparks, and yet you don’t have to worry about smut or slips-of-the-tongue. There’s a moral line she doesn’t cross…but they aren’t stuffy or stilted in any way. They’re packed with action and romance and great dialogue. But oh, I relate.Īnd the phrases! The songs! The pop culture references woven throughout! I wasn’t in college in the ’80s, but I was kickin’ around in junior high and such. It was highly entertaining to read about the ’80s as if they happened over 30 years ago. If you grew up in the ’80s, you’ll have A Moment. For Roy and Jonathan, college life in 1986 is richer, (both experientially and financially) than either of them expected. Roy spends the rest of the school year proving the existence of his soul, competing against Jonathan for Abby’s attention, dodging RAs who are curious about the fake ID ring in his room and dealing with his past.
Roy takes the bet because he thinks this is the easiest game he’s ever played. They make a wager: if Roy can prove that he has some poetic thought, some inner life, A SOUL, then Jonathan will give him the car he got for graduation. Jonathan thinks Roy could learn to be self-actualized if he’d stop flirting with every girl he meets. Roy thinks Jonathan could succeed in wooing Abby if he stopped obsessing over Walden.
Working-class future leader Roy Castleberry and pampered over-thinker Jonathan Campbell are 18-year-old freshmen at the University of Oklahoma who think they know everything. Had I only paid attention to the book’s blurb, instead of just fawning over the author and my love of her, I would have realized this. Her Twitter feed ( is always a hoot, and you can expect that and more in this novel. In the interest of celebrating Friday in true Quick Takes fashion, here are seven reasons Soulless Creatures by Katharine Grubb gets the Sarah Reinhard Coffee Cup of Approval (with a bit of baby drool on the edge, sorry) and why you will love it.Ī homeschooling mother of five, a novelist, a baker of bread, a comedian wannabe, a former running coward, PTSD survivor, and the author of Write A Novel In 10 Minutes A Day And I had some high expectations for this. Even though I had a pile of review books. And I couldn’t imagine why she was writing a horror novel, but I was all for reading it.Įven though my reading time was at a special low point, thanks to a certain vampire baby who sucked the life right out of me all. I’ve been a fan of Katharine’s writing since…well, it’s been quite a few years. When author Katharine Grubb included me in an email asking me to review her newest novel, Soulless Creatures, I had two thoughts:
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