THE BUS ON THURSDAY by Shirley Barrett

 

The Bus on Thursday by Shirley Barrett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've had this book for a while and today, I decided to get stuck into it. Actually, I read it in a few sittings because I couldn't put it down.

Eleanor's life isn't going well. First, she broke up with her boyfriend and he moved on pretty quickly. Then, she's diagnosed with breast cancer and her friends aren't exactly supportive.

So, when she's offered a new job as the teacher in a remote mountain town, she decides to go. It's a fresh start in a nice place. Except, she finds herself in the middle of a lot of new stress...

Wow. This is one trippy, surreal and totally addictive book. I seriously fell right into this and couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next.

I really enjoyed Eleanor's snarky voice because she's so entertaining and has such a cool dark sense of humour. Also, a lot of her snark was very Aussie and it made me laugh even more!

The story is told via blog posts in a way that reveals important events as she remembers them. And sometimes doesn't. She often throws the reader all over the place. She's also not very reliable, and I had a great time picking up all of her inconsistencies.

Another awesome thing about this book is how atmospheric the small town vibes are. Talbingo is both eerie and beautiful. Seems like a place full of weirdos and also an idyllic place to live. Yeah, there's a lot of contradictory things going on in this book and all of them tie this fantastic story together in the strangest way possible.

The cast of characters is also great! Gregory and Ryan are two very creepy brothers she can't shake. Friar Hernandez the Praying Mantis is a strange and freaky man spewing weird shit all over the place. Daphne the Little Sparrow is an enigmatic woman who (for me) provided the biggest answers about what was really going on. And Glenda was an annoying character hung up on the past. Not to mention those freaky weepy kids.

All of these factors put together make an awesome story with several ambiguous, haunting paths. The storytelling reminded me of The Turn of the Screw, because it works on several levels. On one hand it's a nightmarish horror story, and on the other it's also very sad because cancer is so awful.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. And that ending was totally cool. 😳

Also, personally, I would say that this is more Bridget Jones meets Twin Peaks, or even The Shining. Not so much The Exorcist.


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