"It was rare that she was without a book - she favored nineteenth-centuty novels: George Eliot, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens - but this was one of those times she lacked printed matter (...) Ever since she could read, Emer had felt the compulsion to read and even reread - cereal boxes, toothpaste tubes, subway ads. She was a reader. It defined her"

Ok, can David Duchovny write the script of my life? Cause that’s how good of an author he is.
“Miss Subways” was such an intense read for me. Emer and I are very similar in a strange way, even though she’s a lot older than me, Duchovny’s description of her personality – her love for printed material, her nostalgic soul, her ability to care about inanimate objects and even her faith in God – were very personal subjects to me. I think that’s why I could related to her in every page of this beautiful – almost poetic – novel.
Duchovny’s idea of a mythological being – Sid – making a deal to Emer, so she could save her boyfriend’s live – Con – was just brilliant. Also, everything about Sidhe was amazing, he was such a great/fun character with his sarcastic personality. As a reader, I didn’t know what to expect after Sid and Emer’s deal. Everything was so unpredictable that it got me hooked since the first page.
Loved every single aspect of Duchovny’s writing and how he was able to turn a simple love story into a present-day novel. Since politics, immigration, technologies, faith and love, this is a book that has it all. One of the greatest novels of all times. Everyone should read it.

This was definitely a love letter to the life a NYC straphanger. However, while I could feel the desire to connect the mythology to modern day New York City, it felt like a bit of a stretch at times. While billed as funny, I didn't necessarily find it humorous although perhaps knowing more of the original mythology may have helped my enjoyment. In general the mythology/fantasy aspect of the novel was my favorite part.

If you are willing to suspend belief and believe in the mystical, then Miss Subways is a pretty good read.
Emer is a second grade teacher who has to save her boyfriend from Ananzi the spider. Yes, 'the spider'.

This is, at the core, a love story. It's funny, it's a New York story, inspirited by W.B. Yeats. David Duchovny is a good actor and dare I say, an even better writer.

This was a fun read-the writing was good, there were quite a few clever jokes based around word play and a knowledge of classic literature, and the main character, Emer, was very well-drawn. I found myself surprised more than once throughout the novel when I remembered that the author was a man. The descriptions of New York were quirky and wonderful--I don't know the city that well myself, but this definitely gave the city a personality that made me want to visit it again.

The story itself was exactly the type of story I love--a reworking of classic folklore and myths and bringing them into the present day. In the case of Miss Subways, unfortunately, the main conceit of this novel, that Emer is interacting with gods from the old world who have come to America with entering immigrants is the exact same concept used in one of my favorite novels ever, American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

Now, in general, that shouldn't really have made a difference to my enjoyment of the story--the plot line of this book and American Gods are completely different, after all. However, as I was reading, several times I caught myself questioning Emer's intelligence--hadn't she heard of American Gods? How could she not immediately know that these odd characters she was meeting were reworked versions of old folklore?

The experience was something akin to seeing a boom mike drop into the frame while you are watching a movie-it immediately drew me out of the world of the novel, and back into reality. And I that bummed me out, because I really wanted to submerge myself into this world that Duchovny created. I really wished he would have done some sort of call-out to American Gods in the book, acknowledging somehow that this book lived in the same universe as that one. That might have transformed my feelings about the similarities into how I feel when I read one of Stephen King's books and he references events that happened in one of his other books-it would have turned this into a (meta) wink to the reader acknowledging that these specific elements overlapped, and I would have been able to move past this issue as I was reading.

With that said, I still definitely recommend this novel; it was a great read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Inventive for sure but it wasn't for me. I somehow missed on the blurb that this is really fantasy and while I do read some of the genre, this didn't gel for me. I'm sure, however, this will be perfect for some other readers.

I first dismissed this book out of hand, because, David Duchovny!? But, based on netgalley reviews and blurbs that referenced some personal favorites, I made my request. Unfortunately, this one just didn't make magic for me. Slow to start and with prose that I found sluggish. Ultimately, I bailed on this one to make room for something else.

I knew David Duchovny had started writing, but I'd never picked up one of his earlier releases. Therefore, when I saw this one on NetGalley, I decided to give it a try. Miss Subways was a delightful read that had me laughing out loud on several occasions. I loved the way Duchovny wove various myths into his principal tale, and the characters were all well drawn and great fun, including the city, which almost became a character in its own right. The plot held my interest throughout, and I was eager to see how things would end for Emer and Con. If you are looking for a myth retelling with a good dose of humour, Miss Subways is the book for you. Based on this, I would certainly read more of Duchovny's writing in the future. A solid 4.5 stars.

I admit, I am slightly negatively biased against celebrity written fiction, having been burned by it in the past. That being said, I clearly wasn’t expecting Miss Subways to be anything special, and yet it was. Many sections of it were perfect, and I do not say that lightly.
The protagonist, Emer, has to save her man, Con, from the clutches of Ananzi the spider.
Blend Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and Neverwhere, then switch the beta male characters for an incredibly normal woman with normal flaws and insecurities and you will have a vague inkling of the book’s mood. In fact, I was a little blown away at just how realistically female Elmer’s inner dialogue was written. I’ve seen a trend of male writers making their female characters either madonnas or whores— Emer refreshingly fell into neither of those categories. She is the hero on the quest. This is her odyssey to traverse and she steps up into the role. Only she has the power to save the king. Reality blurs with myth, legend, and religion.
The main reason I can’t give this a full five stars is because the anti-political correctness message felt preachy after awhile. It was out of place and took a little magic away from the rest of the book.
Warning: Duchovny placed not one, but TWO earworms into my head while reading today. All morning I hummed, “Yes, We Have No Bananas.” Then he did not even pretend to be sneaky when he stuck The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go” into my head. That was the soundtrack to the writing of this review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an unbiased review.