Time for another round of Yvonne’s Shorties! This time around a detective thriller novella of a favorite series I loved and the first book of a popular series that was sadly a total dud.

Title: The Cutting Season
(Washington Poe #4.5)
Author: M.W. Craven
Genre: Novella, Mystery, Thriller
First published: April 14th 2022
Publisher: Constable
Finished reading: November 18th 2022
Pages: 105

‘Fine’, she said. ‘Tilly can go inside the house. But if this comes back on me, I am going to buy a Sergeant Poe voodoo doll and I will stick pins in it tonight.’


myrambles1reviewqqq

It’s no secret that this series is on my list of absolute favorites, and I’ve been saving this novella for a rainy day. I was hoping this would be closer to the publish date of the next book, but I was craving a dose of Tilly and Poe and ended up giving in early. Whoops? Anyhow, as always I loved my time with this fantastic character duo, and The Cutting Season turned out to be another great success. The case itself is rather gruesome and involves topics including cannibalism, gang violence, suicide and what is basically extortion. Poe seems to have gotten himself in a spot of bother as well, but we all know he doesn’t go anywhere without Tilly being closeby to save the day… And as always, there is plenty of banter and brilliant interactions between Tilly and Poe to lighten up the mood. They are once again the star of the show, and the reason this series is such a success in general. The Cutting Season is also surprisingly well rounded for a novella and at no point I felt like things were rushed or elements were missing. A very entertaining read indeed, and just the crime thriller slash dark humor dose I needed! And now the long wait for book six begins…

Title: El Pistolero
(The Dark Tower #1)
Author: Stephen King
Translator: Jorge Luis Mustieles
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
First published: June 1st 1982
Publisher: Plaza & Janes
Finished reading: December 3rd 2022
Pages: 296
(Originally written in English: ‘The Gunslinger’)

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”


myrambles1reviewqqq

WARNING: unpopular opinion ahead!!

I’ve been meaning to start this popular series by Stephen King for ages now, and I thought that owning a copy of the Spanish translation of the first book would be the perfect excuse to finally do so. I really liked the sound of this dystopian western slash fantasy, and I had high hopes for it. Sadly, I ended up struggling considerably with The Gunslinger, and I came close to DNFing more than once. I don’t think the ‘magic’ was lost in translation either! I wondered more than once what on earth I was actually reading, and I can’t say that I understand the hype behind this series… I’ve heard more than once that I just need to get past the first book, because the rest of the series is excellent; the thing is, I’m not sure if I’m able to find the motivation to do so any time soon after such a lackluster (and honestly boring) start. I was surprised by the lack of proper world building and there was no real plot to speak of; it’s basically Roland’s journey through the desert with random flashbacks incorporated. I found the character development to be rather lackluster as well, and as a whole I really struggled to find the motivation to keep reading. Reading the Spanish translation might not have helped, but I don’t think that was the real problem here… All I know is that I won’t be returning to The Dark Tower any time soon (if at all).

You can also find me at Goodreads. Twitter. Instagram. Bloglovin’.