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Queenpin & The Song Is You
Feb. 23rd, 2019 11:52 amTwo more of Megan Abbot's old school, pulpy noirs! I was more excited for Queenpin, but as it turned out I liked The Song Is You better. Like Bury Me Deep, both of these books revolve around very brutal murders or attempted murders; The Song Is You is a mystery and Queenpin is more of a thriller.
Queenpin is also the shorter of the two books. If I hadn't had school and homework and other things to do I probably would have finished it in a couple of hours. On its own, the premise is basically crack to me--a poor but ambitious girl who cooks the books for her shady bosses gets caught up in more than she bargained for when she crosses paths with Gloria Denton, a courier for the mob--and even though you can see the less-than-happy ending coming from a mile away, it's still a lot of fun to watch Gloria mentor the girl and the girl eventually learn to double-cross her. The girl never gets a name (since she narrates the story and even from the beginning knows to play her cards close to her chest, it makes sense) and her backstory isn't developed in much detail either. That does work for the type of story this is, but it left me a little less emotionally involved than I wanted to be. The same goes for the setting. Lots of perfectly seedy descriptions of bars and racetracks and casinos, except without the name of a specific town or state I had a really hard time picturing something solid while I was reading. Which says more about me than the book--both Gloria and the girl hide themselves to the point that, even at the end, you don't know exactly who they are, and they probably don't, either. Since they're so distant, it makes sense that their story would be distant, too.
On the other hand, The Song Is You has a setting that feels incredibly solid, down to the last detail. It's also like Bury Me Deep in that it's based on another true crime case, the disappearance of Jean Spangler. Jean Spangler was an actress who worked in Hollywood during the 40s, and the narrator of The Song Is You is a publicist who knows more about Jean and her disappearance than he's letting on. I liked Queenpin, but I loved this book, I think because of the setting and the fact that the main character, Hop, is much more accessible and likable than the girl, despite the fact that morally he's not all that much better than her. Also, his name's Hop. The story's otherwise about as far from Stranger Things as you can get, and I think Jim Hopper would kind of hate this guy, but it was nice to be reminded of him on almost every page. The ending of this one was really great, too, morally all over the place and melancholy. Still a little more hopeful than Queenpin's ending, I think.
(Oh, and I forgot to mention--another similarity between these books and Bury Me Deep is that all three have female characters who get involved with charismatic, manipulative men and pay a steep price for it. When it comes to character tropes, Megan Abbot definitely has a type.)
Queenpin is also the shorter of the two books. If I hadn't had school and homework and other things to do I probably would have finished it in a couple of hours. On its own, the premise is basically crack to me--a poor but ambitious girl who cooks the books for her shady bosses gets caught up in more than she bargained for when she crosses paths with Gloria Denton, a courier for the mob--and even though you can see the less-than-happy ending coming from a mile away, it's still a lot of fun to watch Gloria mentor the girl and the girl eventually learn to double-cross her. The girl never gets a name (since she narrates the story and even from the beginning knows to play her cards close to her chest, it makes sense) and her backstory isn't developed in much detail either. That does work for the type of story this is, but it left me a little less emotionally involved than I wanted to be. The same goes for the setting. Lots of perfectly seedy descriptions of bars and racetracks and casinos, except without the name of a specific town or state I had a really hard time picturing something solid while I was reading. Which says more about me than the book--both Gloria and the girl hide themselves to the point that, even at the end, you don't know exactly who they are, and they probably don't, either. Since they're so distant, it makes sense that their story would be distant, too.
On the other hand, The Song Is You has a setting that feels incredibly solid, down to the last detail. It's also like Bury Me Deep in that it's based on another true crime case, the disappearance of Jean Spangler. Jean Spangler was an actress who worked in Hollywood during the 40s, and the narrator of The Song Is You is a publicist who knows more about Jean and her disappearance than he's letting on. I liked Queenpin, but I loved this book, I think because of the setting and the fact that the main character, Hop, is much more accessible and likable than the girl, despite the fact that morally he's not all that much better than her. Also, his name's Hop. The story's otherwise about as far from Stranger Things as you can get, and I think Jim Hopper would kind of hate this guy, but it was nice to be reminded of him on almost every page. The ending of this one was really great, too, morally all over the place and melancholy. Still a little more hopeful than Queenpin's ending, I think.
(Oh, and I forgot to mention--another similarity between these books and Bury Me Deep is that all three have female characters who get involved with charismatic, manipulative men and pay a steep price for it. When it comes to character tropes, Megan Abbot definitely has a type.)