What an excellently crafted picture book biography of poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the first Black woman to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize (among many other acWhat an excellently crafted picture book biography of poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the first Black woman to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize (among many other accolades). A beautiful story of passion and dedication in the face of adversity that really got me in the feels!...more
What a sensitive story that really acknowledges the importance of best friends and the pain that comes from being separated, while still being very swWhat a sensitive story that really acknowledges the importance of best friends and the pain that comes from being separated, while still being very sweet and hopeful in the end....more
3.5 stars. Goodness knows I love KJ Charles, and her writing here kept me entranced the whole way through. No one else can interest me in a traditiona3.5 stars. Goodness knows I love KJ Charles, and her writing here kept me entranced the whole way through. No one else can interest me in a traditional mystery the way she can.
But I'm feeling salty enough after finishing it to round down to 3 stars because of (view spoiler)[how open ended she left the relationship. I just........ hate series. So much. Give me my emotional catharsis!! I want it now!! Not two books from now!! I ended the book feeling emotionally unsettled, which is definitely not what I was looking for. (hide spoiler)]...more
The artwork is just as gorgeous here as in Julián the Mermaid, but I didn't think the text was as seamless or straightforward.The artwork is just as gorgeous here as in Julián the Mermaid, but I didn't think the text was as seamless or straightforward....more
Heck YES this was just as amazing as the first one. I haven't been in a can't-put-it-down love affair with a book in a solid 3 months, so this was likHeck YES this was just as amazing as the first one. I haven't been in a can't-put-it-down love affair with a book in a solid 3 months, so this was like a balm to my soul. Full review to come after I've done some pondering...more
I have a hard time with romcoms a lot of the time because I don't... really like funny books? At least not the kind that feel like they're actively trI have a hard time with romcoms a lot of the time because I don't... really like funny books? At least not the kind that feel like they're actively trying to break beyond the occasional appreciative smirk into full-on sustained laughter. So when a funny book does get me, it feels like the exception to the rule, and if any author is an exception to just about every rule I've got, it's Alexis Hall.
The reason his brand of funny works for me is that the main characters and the way they relate to each other never feel like the punchline. There may be ridiculous conversations or side characters or what have you, but the things that actually matter are solid. The emotions are all real.
And that's true here as it always is. You've got two people who are messed up and neurotic in their own ways figuring out how to be together gradually under the guise of a fake boyfriend situation, and it just worked for me. I was invested in these people, I was IN IT. I couldn't put this freaking book down, which is saying a lot these days.
And yes, I laughed, because Hall does situational social comedy with the best of them (even though one character in particular reminded me a little too much of the too stupid to live beefcake secretary, Kevin, from the 2016 Ghostbusters movie) But what keeps me coming back to Hall's books is his ability to portray emotionally vulnerability and intimacy like few other authors can.
While this won't overtake For Real or Waiting For The Flood for the top spots in my heart, it was still super enjoyable and compulsively readable!...more
I was super excited to get an ARC of this, seeing as Roan Parrish is pretty much my favorite when it comes to romance. Sadly, though, I have to say thI was super excited to get an ARC of this, seeing as Roan Parrish is pretty much my favorite when it comes to romance. Sadly, though, I have to say this wasn't my favorite of hers overall.
Pluses: once I got into the story it flowed well and I devoured it in about a day or so. It also has Parrish's usual flair for portraying neurodiverse characters with a ton of compassion; I always like how each character meets the other where they're at, doesn't push their boundaries or try to make them into something they're not. I also enjoyed the references back to her earlier books.
Minuses: I found the overall story to be a bit too low angst for my tastes (verging on saccharine), and the set-up was strangely underdeveloped. Honestly, if this had been by an unknown author I would have been tempted to DNF it early on (I'm glad I didn't). Also, maybe I'm not enough of a dog lover to appreciate this? I had a really hard time keeping so many animals and their distinct personalities straight. Overall I don't think was bad, it just wasn't really my cup of tea....more
Full RTC closer to publication, but basically this series feels like Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series in that it's got some beautiful fey magiFull RTC closer to publication, but basically this series feels like Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series in that it's got some beautiful fey magic to it that manages to keep me coming back despite some serious issues....more
3.5 stars. When all's said and done I really liked this- very atmospheric, well drawn characters, excellent cosmic horror. I just don't think I can gi3.5 stars. When all's said and done I really liked this- very atmospheric, well drawn characters, excellent cosmic horror. I just don't think I can give it more than 3 stars, though, because of the pacing- the first half literally took me a month and a half to read, whereas I devoured the second half in a single day. I'll probably write a longer review once I sleep!...more
I often have the hardest time reviewing the books I love the most. I'm tempted to just be like, "It made me cry. That's it, that's the whole review. 5I often have the hardest time reviewing the books I love the most. I'm tempted to just be like, "It made me cry. That's it, that's the whole review. 5 stars." But I think maybe I need to go a little deeper for this one.
So first off, I picked this up because a lot of the reviewers I trust were suddenly popping up giving it great reviews, so I went into it with an open mind but knowing I'd likely dig it. And of course I did; it was everything I hoped for and more- achingly beautiful, masterfully crafted, thoughtful, unique, quiet yet fierce. I think I would have liked it at any time in my life.
But it hasn't come at any time in my life. It's come during the midst of this quarantine nightmare, a time when I haven't been able to finish a book to save my life. A time when my fairly routine thoughts about the impermanence of life have shifted dramatically beyond the merely philosophical and into bone-deep neuroses. Breakdown level, for sure.
And in the midst of that, this book gave me a little window into a world that perfectly spoke to all those fears while also adding in so much tenderness and poignancy, and the soothing, healing perspective of time. There's one point in particular that now, more than a month after reading it, can still can bring me to tears in about a second flat- not the kind of tears that raw tragedy brings, the kind that come from the resonance you sometimes find with books that perfectly speak to your experience of life, its beauty and its pain, softened to a bittersweet suffusion that is somehow bearable and even welcome.
I don't want to spoil anything because it's such a spare thing at 112 pages, so I'm just going to wrap this up by saying that this book touched me deeply, and it sits with Kai Ashante Wilson's books, with Octavia Butler, with Circe and with This is How You Lose the Time War, and all of the other books that have found their way into the deepest parts of me....more
I really love all those beautifully crafted slice-of-life style observations that are prevalent in literary fiction, but I just can't seem to get exciI really love all those beautifully crafted slice-of-life style observations that are prevalent in literary fiction, but I just can't seem to get excited about them unless they're in the context of some weirdo fantasy setup. In that regard this book was just *chef kiss* perfect.
The story follows Thomas, a guy who had an encounter with an angel as a kid when the angel mistook him for a different boy she was there to collect. When he dies for real many years later, the angel that comes for him is (whoopsie!) the same angel, and it creates all sorts of clerical errors in the afterlife. Now for the next three months he's stuck on Earth in a body that looks like his but isn't, unable to contact people from his past life or make new connections lest he incur the dreaded "regrets". Complications happen, of course, in the form of Rachel, the girl at his bus stop who he becomes a little obsessed with.
So first off, I (obviously) loved the writing in this- there are so many choice nuggets peppered throughout that the screenshots folder on my phone grew significantly over the course of the book. I loved the flawed characters and how they reacted within this strange context. I loved the odd, floaty charm of it all, and the low-key humor that had me smiling on more than one occasion.
I will say that I think this started a lot stronger than it ended, and part of that comes down to a narrative shift about halfway through the book that I don't think was totally successful. The momentum slowed down at that point and I ended up putting it down for a few days before picking it up again. I'm glad I did go back, though, as I do think it comes back around in the end and I found myself overall satisfied with where it all went.
Overall, though, I just really liked this book. Even though I'm not going to be going around telling everyone that they ABSOLUTELY MUST READ IT, I feel this soft spot inside that's filled with nothing but a warm, pleasant fondness for it....more
This was so compelling and weird and morbidly fascinating. It captures a single night in rural India when a family (pregnant mom, dad, and son) appearThis was so compelling and weird and morbidly fascinating. It captures a single night in rural India when a family (pregnant mom, dad, and son) appears at the doors of the local rundown clinic and tells the doctor that they were murdered last night and that their only chance to live again is if the doctor can successfully fix their wounds overnight.
This is one of those books that makes me wish I had gotten an English degree so I could talk a little more intelligently about it. Like what is it when a plot is structured as a framework to explore philosophical ideas- life, death, human connection, corruption, etc.? Would it be an allegory? I think that implies more of an aspect of overt moralizing than this book goes in for, though; even though it's an excellent playground for some really interesting ideas, it isn't emotionally manipulative or trite. It could easily have gone Scrooge and the three Christmas ghosts, culminating in some convenient life lesson, but thankfully it doesn't.
The story's overall lack of sentimentality is one of the main reasons it worked so well for me. There are some really great moments where the narrative acknowledges the places where it could easily fall into the expectations for this type of story and purposefully doesn't:
The teacher's story was like a bizarre fable- something a priest might deliver in a religious ceremony. But there were no flowers here, no lamps or burning inherence to make the unreality more palatable.
Or
It was tempting to adopt the pharmacist's way of thinking about the world and everything in it. Whatever would happen would happen, she'd said... Or something similar, some aphorism of endless absolving circularity.
I also liked exploring a lot of the themes here- the concrete consequences of bureaucratic corruption, how people treat you versus how you percieve yourself, how you act when you are completely out of your depth and your yardstick for what's right and wrong has been utterly demolished.
A lot of this was represented well in the contrast between how the older, disillusioned doctor reacts to the situation versus how his young, religious pharmacist experiences it. And even though this feels fable-like in that the characters are all unnamed (the pharmacist, the teacher, etc.), I thought the characterizations were quite well done; they always felt like real people rather than cardboard metaphors.
The last thing I have to mention is how I loved the way it leans into the bizarre grossness of it all. The descriptions of the surgeries kept me absolutely glued to the page!
Overall just great ideas, great story, great characterizations, delightfully weird, couldn't put it down!...more
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