Asghar Abbas's Blog - Posts Tagged "first-novels"
Until Her Darkness Goes, A novel by Rana Kelly
Funny thing and not many people know this, but Janet Fitch kinda introduced Rana and I. As in, we both loved her book White Oleander; we met on Fitch's Facebook page and became fast friends.
Heading into Until Her Darkness Goes, I really wasn't expecting to like it as much as I ended up liking it. Rana surprised me even when I was fully expecting her to surprise me. I knew I was going into a well-written, well-researched novel, but I really wasn't expecting the level of excellence she showed in Darkness nor was I expecting to enjoy it as much as I did, well the enjoyable parts anyways.
From very early on, it was quite obvious she had brought her A game (in fact Kelly had brought the entire alphabets for that matter) and this is her first novel, I can say with surety that it wasn’t riddled with the flaws that inevitability are there in nascent penning.
Already Rana writes with a sure hand and a sharper mind, with a knack for knowing what works and what doesn’t work in an overall structure of a book- all that comes at a cost but that’s another story.
Music is very important in writing, but what can you say about a book that makes music an important part of reading. The music featured in this book is very much a part of the settings and a separate character in itself. I adored the cute little chapter headings. Whether it’s her matured experience, or her talents Until Her Darkness Goes is really succinct and concise to the point where the words and sentences flow like water…often in a freefall of emotions.
Short and sweet; basically to the point, you won’t be skipping pages or get bored. Simply put it has no filler and you won’t find any of the bullshit that pervades even in good books by experienced authors who know better.
Down to earth characters with motives that are realistic. I found myself rooting for most of them. I even liked Nicky, which is rare for me since I don’t find male characters that interesting, unless they are actually interesting and Nick was certainly that. Even the monsters in this book were flawlessly human. Rana doesn’t have any filters, which is not a bad thing. I think Rachael is the most perfect avatar for her. She is everything that makes Rana an amazingly spirited person; gritty, dark, loyal, fierce, independent, shy, a devoted mother, blunt, an animal lover, and eventually vulnerable. I loved the character of Rachael so much that I named one of my cats after her and she swears slightly less than her book’s counterpart does. Haha. In Darkness, Kelly employs one of my favorite literary devices of all time, quite effectively I might add. That of the split narrative. I love that. It was the added touch that made this book even more special for me and fun to read.
This novel bespeaks of her passion for music, her commitment to her craft, and her ability to turn her words into ditties of her own, this work is almost lyrical in its absolute simplicity.
Why you might ask and it’s a valid question. It is really because Rana pours her heart and soul, from all the lifetimes previous or otherwise into her words, to give them the shape they end up with until there isn’t anything, not even a dollop of herself left in her. She empties herself out and I am not even being biased here, just a tiny little observation from knowing her a little bit.
Kelly writes like she loves in any form in any way, without reservation, and without fear, like she does everything else, without an ounce of superstition or cowardice.
OK no more digressing. So lemme return to this book like Kells returned to it in the finality of her own. In Darkness, she doesn’t really use the infamous Iceberg Theory, but when at last she put down her palette the end result is minimalistically beautiful, adding more haunting aspects to some of the scenes she had sketched.
Like the church scene with the bones, I hope that will escape the publishers’ scalpel. It’s one of my absolute favorite bits from her novel, of her darkness. Other being the birth scene that was just poetic in its starkness. Kelly’s editor really said it best when she aptly puts it that this is a horror novel. I think and feel it is about casual cruelty, the horrors of humanity, and ultimately the tragedy of being human.
In everything. Like I said, Darkness isn’t plagued by the mistakes the first novels invariably have. Until Her Darkness Goes survives the pitfalls of début novels; the downside of the magic of writing. This book, this bleak hopeful gorgeous book that featured delicious skull themes (it’s a rock n roll novel after all) and gave us the title Murder of Crows, how frigging cool is that, let’s take a minute to just admire that, is deeply grounded in reality, focusing on brittleness of everything that touches us, everything that is around us.
In short, this book is real. About real people. For real people.
It’s no secret that the majority of readers around the world are females and yet the publishing world from every angle is brutally male-dominated. Women writers are given a role, a nice little niche to work in. Anything outside of that comfy little alcove is simply unacceptable and not to be tolerated. Few women rebel and make their own mark, carving out their own identity that falls outside the norm (Tawni O’Dell , Janet Fitch among the fewest of few) and certainly, female writers are not given proper due respect or any benefit of a doubt. I firmly believe Rana will not be playing that role or play by any of their rules. I really believe she would break every stereotype. So pay close attention and watch this Celtic warrior-poet break every glass ceiling there is.
Long after you are done reading Until Her Darkness Goes, the fragrance of Kelly’s words will stay, leaving behind renewed hunger for music. For good music. And the music that is her words.
Thank you my friend for letting me read this book. It was a pleasure through and through.
p.s. really excited about her next project. I won't spoil anything but let's just say it's in the genre that is often overlooked and is fallow and quite ripe for the taking. Fresh stuff in the literary world.
Heading into Until Her Darkness Goes, I really wasn't expecting to like it as much as I ended up liking it. Rana surprised me even when I was fully expecting her to surprise me. I knew I was going into a well-written, well-researched novel, but I really wasn't expecting the level of excellence she showed in Darkness nor was I expecting to enjoy it as much as I did, well the enjoyable parts anyways.
From very early on, it was quite obvious she had brought her A game (in fact Kelly had brought the entire alphabets for that matter) and this is her first novel, I can say with surety that it wasn’t riddled with the flaws that inevitability are there in nascent penning.
Already Rana writes with a sure hand and a sharper mind, with a knack for knowing what works and what doesn’t work in an overall structure of a book- all that comes at a cost but that’s another story.
Music is very important in writing, but what can you say about a book that makes music an important part of reading. The music featured in this book is very much a part of the settings and a separate character in itself. I adored the cute little chapter headings. Whether it’s her matured experience, or her talents Until Her Darkness Goes is really succinct and concise to the point where the words and sentences flow like water…often in a freefall of emotions.
Short and sweet; basically to the point, you won’t be skipping pages or get bored. Simply put it has no filler and you won’t find any of the bullshit that pervades even in good books by experienced authors who know better.
Down to earth characters with motives that are realistic. I found myself rooting for most of them. I even liked Nicky, which is rare for me since I don’t find male characters that interesting, unless they are actually interesting and Nick was certainly that. Even the monsters in this book were flawlessly human. Rana doesn’t have any filters, which is not a bad thing. I think Rachael is the most perfect avatar for her. She is everything that makes Rana an amazingly spirited person; gritty, dark, loyal, fierce, independent, shy, a devoted mother, blunt, an animal lover, and eventually vulnerable. I loved the character of Rachael so much that I named one of my cats after her and she swears slightly less than her book’s counterpart does. Haha. In Darkness, Kelly employs one of my favorite literary devices of all time, quite effectively I might add. That of the split narrative. I love that. It was the added touch that made this book even more special for me and fun to read.
This novel bespeaks of her passion for music, her commitment to her craft, and her ability to turn her words into ditties of her own, this work is almost lyrical in its absolute simplicity.
Why you might ask and it’s a valid question. It is really because Rana pours her heart and soul, from all the lifetimes previous or otherwise into her words, to give them the shape they end up with until there isn’t anything, not even a dollop of herself left in her. She empties herself out and I am not even being biased here, just a tiny little observation from knowing her a little bit.
Kelly writes like she loves in any form in any way, without reservation, and without fear, like she does everything else, without an ounce of superstition or cowardice.
OK no more digressing. So lemme return to this book like Kells returned to it in the finality of her own. In Darkness, she doesn’t really use the infamous Iceberg Theory, but when at last she put down her palette the end result is minimalistically beautiful, adding more haunting aspects to some of the scenes she had sketched.
Like the church scene with the bones, I hope that will escape the publishers’ scalpel. It’s one of my absolute favorite bits from her novel, of her darkness. Other being the birth scene that was just poetic in its starkness. Kelly’s editor really said it best when she aptly puts it that this is a horror novel. I think and feel it is about casual cruelty, the horrors of humanity, and ultimately the tragedy of being human.
In everything. Like I said, Darkness isn’t plagued by the mistakes the first novels invariably have. Until Her Darkness Goes survives the pitfalls of début novels; the downside of the magic of writing. This book, this bleak hopeful gorgeous book that featured delicious skull themes (it’s a rock n roll novel after all) and gave us the title Murder of Crows, how frigging cool is that, let’s take a minute to just admire that, is deeply grounded in reality, focusing on brittleness of everything that touches us, everything that is around us.
In short, this book is real. About real people. For real people.
It’s no secret that the majority of readers around the world are females and yet the publishing world from every angle is brutally male-dominated. Women writers are given a role, a nice little niche to work in. Anything outside of that comfy little alcove is simply unacceptable and not to be tolerated. Few women rebel and make their own mark, carving out their own identity that falls outside the norm (Tawni O’Dell , Janet Fitch among the fewest of few) and certainly, female writers are not given proper due respect or any benefit of a doubt. I firmly believe Rana will not be playing that role or play by any of their rules. I really believe she would break every stereotype. So pay close attention and watch this Celtic warrior-poet break every glass ceiling there is.
Long after you are done reading Until Her Darkness Goes, the fragrance of Kelly’s words will stay, leaving behind renewed hunger for music. For good music. And the music that is her words.
Thank you my friend for letting me read this book. It was a pleasure through and through.
p.s. really excited about her next project. I won't spoil anything but let's just say it's in the genre that is often overlooked and is fallow and quite ripe for the taking. Fresh stuff in the literary world.
Follow this White Rabbit, Iva Gyongy did, so you know you're perfectly safe. Full and complete synopsis. When She was dreaming it was Wave of a Dark Ocean ; working title. When She woke up it became Beyond Desire ; actual title.
Wave of a Dark Ocean
What happens when you are push to the limits?
She has One Day to come up with ten thousand dollars.
CAUGHT BETWEEN DESIRE, HOPE AND DEATH,
November fifth is the hardest day in Iva Gyongy's life; she has to come up with ten thousand dollars for a loan shark, money she doesn't even owe. In a dire situation made desperate, she's dealing with twisted siblings who are always just one step ahead of her. She is beginning to have doubts about her move to New York from France and if that weren't enough, she has to come to terms with a decision she has to make just to survive. Threatened by her past, she has no choice but to carry on in a strange land far away from everyone she knows and loves.
All alone in search for peace, contentment and answers for all the questions haunting her life. Standing at the crossroads of her existence, she must decide which road to take.
Disarmed by self-discovery and loss of innocence. It's about the choices you have to make with the flow of fate. It's about the darkness that all of us have but keep under control. It's about dreams and the questions we ask ourselves, the answers we all seek deep in the night but forget as soon as we wake up.
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
What happens when you are push to the limits?
She has One Day to come up with ten thousand dollars.
CAUGHT BETWEEN DESIRE, HOPE AND DEATH,
November fifth is the hardest day in Iva Gyongy's life; she has to come up with ten thousand dollars for a loan shark, money she doesn't even owe. In a dire situation made desperate, she's dealing with twisted siblings who are always just one step ahead of her. She is beginning to have doubts about her move to New York from France and if that weren't enough, she has to come to terms with a decision she has to make just to survive. Threatened by her past, she has no choice but to carry on in a strange land far away from everyone she knows and loves.
All alone in search for peace, contentment and answers for all the questions haunting her life. Standing at the crossroads of her existence, she must decide which road to take.
Disarmed by self-discovery and loss of innocence. It's about the choices you have to make with the flow of fate. It's about the darkness that all of us have but keep under control. It's about dreams and the questions we ask ourselves, the answers we all seek deep in the night but forget as soon as we wake up.
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
