2024.03.25 Meeting Notes

Great meeting last week to discuss Megan Goldin’s Dark Corners. I remember a meeting awhile back, where we asked everyone to write their score for the book down at the beginning of the meeting and then when we went around the room, we asked each person if their score stayed the same after the discussion or if it changed. For the most part, I remember that we stuck to our scores.
Not the case for this book! We didn’t take scores at the beginning, but everyone noted if their score went down after the discussion and for more than half of the 25 people in the room, the score went down. Sometimes by TWO points. 12 people stuck to their guns and gave the same score they came in with.
Why, you may wonder, was this the case? Well, Stephanie at the Whine Club did NOT help - she gave the book 2 out of 5 stars. I watched her youtube video prior to the meeting and she pointed out a lot of things that I agreed with and it really affected my score (see video link below). Watch the video to see the inconsistencies she points out (one of my favorites is when she read the dialogue between Joe and Rachel and they say each other’s names over and over).
Book review: Dark Corners
We didn’t think Rachel was a great investigator, we thought the book was annoying, there were lots of holes, we’re not sure why an Aussie writer needs to set her books in the US, the book seemed rushed, parts didn’t mesh, it was disjointed, the romance was a page filler, the Buzzcon people were ridiculous, and we didn’t like that we knew who the killer was from the beginning – the only ‘surprise’ was that the guy in prison wasn’t in on it. We also thought the 3 time periods were too many (Rachel, smelly guy murderer, and the podcast).
There were some observations by club members (including Whine Club girl) that Rachel seemed different in this book. Whine Girl said she seemed like she got up on the wrong side of the bed. The thought is that this book was written as a standalone book and then changed to be a Rachel book. So the protagonist was changed to Rachel but wasn’t quite written as her, so didn’t seem like her. There was less podcasty stuff in the book too, which could be explained by that theory as well. Many of us read Night Swim, the first Rachel Krall book, and liked it way more. Joel, however, liked this one more.
With all of that said, 12 people stuck to their scores, but I didn’t say they were high scores. There were one 4, four 5s, one 6, one 7, four 8s, and one 9. The four 8s and one 9 were our highest scores, so some of us enjoyed the book. I think it was helpful to just go with it, not think too much, and let it entertain you.
The people who enjoyed the book said that they didn’t dissect it, just went for the ride, it was entertaining, it was a quick read, and one person couldn’t put it down and ‘devoured’ it.
We did feel like we learned some things too. We learned about the stinky guy’s medical condition, we learned never to trust Uber, and that even with the lower scores, the book was no Cathy Martin. The pap smear thing was just way too much for us, though!
We are all wondering about the kitten and what happened to it. I really do think I will email the author. Stay tuned!
Thank you to Joel and Sharon Also for bringing snacks. We welcomed Melissa M (not to be confused with Melissa O) to the group and I don’t think we scared her off!
Lastly, I have a note that says “Rose Code good.” I can only imagine it’s a show that someone recommended.
We will meet on April 22 to discuss Exiles by Jane Harper. Jose will lead and Susan will bring snacks.
See you on the gram,
Kerry