The Monsters in Our Shadows, by Edward J. Cembal

The Monsters in Our Shadows, by Edward J. Cembal, is a dystopian, paranormal horror novel set sometime in the not too distant future. This story is a creative plot about the extinction of humanity caused by predation of what people come to call “shivers.”  Indeed, these creatures, or entities, do make one shiver in fear. Shivers are a mystery that people try to shun and avoid talking about. Some people are afflicted with shivers, and it is a bad stigma, as though the afflicted somehow deserve their fate. 

The cover of this book may have affected my perception of this novel, because it looks like a Rorschach test. I felt that the plot contained symbolism for confronting mental fears, such as fear of the unknown, and finding a way forward when life gets depressing and scary. Incidentally, the afflicted people in this novel did not have identical shivers. 

This story is a memorable one for me, even though I felt that the character development and background information were thinner than I typically like in a novel. Also, I thought that the pacing was a bit uneven and I was left with a few questions. Though this  was out of my usual comfort zone, it was an interesting read for me. Thank you very much to Netgalley and Book Whisperer for  the opportunity to review this creative novel.

The City and Its Uncertain Walls, by Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami’s latest novel is one of the most thought-provoking I’ve read. In these pages, we meet a man whose name we never get to know, which seems fitting, since this character feels that he does not know who he is.  As a teenager, this main protagonist meets and falls in love with a girl, who is also never named. Together, they dream up a town that is surrounded by a high wall and populated with people who have been permanently separated from their shadows. His girlfriend informs him that she herself is just a shadow of her real self, who lives inside that walled town. 

At this point, I started to expect a fairy tale infused with magical realism. However, the narrative  became something more complicated. There are many issues to mull over here, and it’s hard to know where to begin. 

Eventually, when the main character finds his way into this walled town, he experiences its many quirks. For instance, there are the town walls themselves: they do not stay in a fixed position. Also, the clocks have no hands. At first, I suspected  that this was all a dream, and that it’s a statement about how reality is up for interpretation and perhaps there is no such thing as time. Later, it becomes apparent that this is not simply a dream, that the protagonist must choose his reality for himself, and also believe in his own existence.

Many events take place in this novel, and there is much to ponder. Actually, I haven’t stopped pondering, and will not be forgetting this story anytime soon. It’s a most intriguing read. Many thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and Netgalley for providing me the chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.