A fun little what if, reminiscent of the Futurama episode with Yivo, the space alien who just wants to love you.
I found it a bit maudlin at times, andA fun little what if, reminiscent of the Futurama episode with Yivo, the space alien who just wants to love you.
I found it a bit maudlin at times, and I kind of wish we'd dug in a bit further into the what-if--as it is we sort of touched on a lot of elements that don't seem to to play well with a post-singular-identity world.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ loss of a loved one, substance abuse, racism, and I feel that there was some queerphobia, but now it's been too long for me to be sure of that part (hide spoiler)]...more
Okay so. I picked this up, thinking it'd be the spiritual sequel to House...Sea.
It is not.
It is a melodramatic, repetitive look on death, ChristianiOkay so. I picked this up, thinking it'd be the spiritual sequel to House...Sea.
It is not.
It is a melodramatic, repetitive look on death, Christianity, and what it means to be good. I found it both overblown and shallow, with a weird tacked on romance that I never really got.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ this is a book about death. Terminal illnesses, suicide, loss/grieving, loss of a child, weird moments of misogyny, sexual harassment and body shaming. Also there's a dead dog that somehow dies again in a very emotional way. I had to skip it, it was too sad. (hide spoiler)]
The only thing "going" for this is that it's about a sad and relatable topic with a sort of grumpy and the sunshine one vibe going on.
I found it trite, preachy, uncomfortable in how it approached romance and inconsistent in how it discussed hard things.
It should have been a novella, and the romance either needed way more to make it plausible or to be left out entirely for that relationship dynamic not to be stilted....more
Extremely very cute. A book about learning to love yourself and find your tribe. I always love books about kids who are "different" in some way with lExtremely very cute. A book about learning to love yourself and find your tribe. I always love books about kids who are "different" in some way with loving parents. Life is hard even if you are loved, and this did a good job discussing gender identity, queerness, racism, bullying and neurodivergence in a compassionate way.
I especially liked how people talked to each other, asking for consent for things like hugging, finding ways to communicate what would and would not help regulate emotions, and the support offered without strings.
It's still a romance, which is the only reason it's 4 stars for me. I think it succeeded on what it wanted to do, I just don't love love stories. But, if you like Dante and Aristotle Discover the Universe or Cemetery Boys, add this to the list!
Also, Vico Ortiz is one of the narrators and I flippin' love their style.
It was...fine. Inoffensive, interesting enough, the pay off was enjoyable, but I don't think it's terribly novel. It's essentially a Sherlock/Watson AIt was...fine. Inoffensive, interesting enough, the pay off was enjoyable, but I don't think it's terribly novel. It's essentially a Sherlock/Watson AU and I very much enjoy those, but it's not really moving the meter.
The world. We've settled a few parts of Jupiter! Because we also screwed up Mars! Jupiter feels delightfully and terribly too large, which I appreciate.
-The relationship. Former roommates turned lovers turned colleagues. Complicated and familiar and very honest feeling.
-The tone. If you like any of the Sherlock TV shows, this is reminiscent of them.
Things that let me down:
-The plot. A bit one note and moustache twirly.
-The twists/case breaks. Again, fairly linear.
It was fun, short and engaging, just not the sort of thing to blow your hair back....more
I get that this book was intended for a younger and possibly less discerning audience. I also get that it was trying to be very relevant to our day anI get that this book was intended for a younger and possibly less discerning audience. I also get that it was trying to be very relevant to our day and age. I think where it fell down was in how it didn't trust its readers with emotional authenticity, and instead went for melodrama.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ gang violence, harm to children, medical experimentation (consensual and non-consensual), loss of a parent, child exploitation, xenophobia (hide spoiler)]
Things to like:
-The world. I liked seeing a current-tech world with magic that is accepted by the mainstream.
-Brotherly love...kinda. I love books with fraternal love, as a general rule. I think it's something most people either understand or yearn for in a way, it's very strong and it's often stupid, which leads to good stories. But what I don't like is how often it rings false. This one rang false, but had some good elements.
Things not to like:
-The writing. Writing for children can be beautiful even if it's not overly complicated. This was rough.
-The relationships. There were just too many things. There are teens/early twenties romantic partners who share a bed, there are siblings who love each other, siblings who hate each other, parents and children, friends, crushes...I think this should have foregone a lot of the romance and focused on the rest.
-The premise. I think this one could go either way, but it just felt convenient rather than cool to me.
In short I found this sloppy. It's not the worst, it's fine for teen readers, but it's a bit on the violent side and a lot on the emotionally exploitative side, so not one I'd recommend, personally....more
This book is horny on main. But also very angry in a classic horror way. I absolutely applaud the sideways look at the vampire myth this gives us.
CONTThis book is horny on main. But also very angry in a classic horror way. I absolutely applaud the sideways look at the vampire myth this gives us.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ sexual assault, queer antagonism, serial killer, suicide, limited masculinity, extreme homophobia, harm to children, murder. (hide spoiler)]
Things not to love:
-Gay man as predator. The only thing I think that was perhaps not as sophisticated as the rest was that we see our main character force himself upon his lover. His lover ends up reciprocating, and I think we're meant to explore what it means to want something forbidden, and how a cursory "no" shifts villainy from one person to another (see also: Baby It's Cold Outside) but this is a delicate thing since there is such a living stigma around gay men being predators vs. just being people who love in ways that someone else finds objectionable.
Everything else:
-Language. This book is beautiful. Even in translation the parallels, imagery, and subtle allegory are masterworks in the use of language.
-Exceptionally smart. So, something about me, I cannot but love books that use folklore/myths to explore the core fear that monster represents. Vampires are beings of lust. They're horniness in a world that shames those who enjoy their bodies, they're sexual assault/predators, they're ecstasy in victimhood. Every culture has a vampire-esque creature, because this is a core human experience, and while we may focus on slightly different things, it's the same set of fears--our confused and eternal struggle being sexual beings in a world that has put so many rules around intercourse, and insufficient protections around those who do not reciprocate, or who reciprocate too readily. This book swan dives into this rhetoric in a way that paints no heroes, no winners, and no one worthy of Hell.
-The horror. My second favorite thing was the multiple avenues of horror this book explores. First and most in line with source material, imagine what it would be like to be the ship's captain on a ship that is seeing deaths of his crew every night and not being able to attribute a source. Sailors are a superstitious lot as a rule because the sea is capricious and awesome in the sense that it cannot be viewed without awe. On top of that we have a man who has a guilty conscience and a desire for love he cannot express. We have parallels and contrasts between being closeted gay in a time when homosexuality is a death sentence and being an actual predatory monster, and how isolating and maddening it would be to have human desires for love and fulfillment and yet be seen in the same light as an undead and soulless monster.
I think this is a must-read for those who enjoy spec-fic as a space to explore hard topics, or who love horror-as-social-commentary....more
The first book was a sweet book about finding family, and it was extra sweet because you knew it was for the whole future. I think this one was a bit The first book was a sweet book about finding family, and it was extra sweet because you knew it was for the whole future. I think this one was a bit more bittersweet because we knew it was timebound, but there's also something beautiful in finding joy for the time being too.
-Ensemble. Plucky bookseller, reclusive eccentric, sailor with a poet's soul, brazen baker, griffin pup, and, of course, Viv.
-Plot. This time there's a necromancer that Viv's team is hunting. She gets injured and stays to learn the joys of town living, finding ways to be useful, and, obvi, learning more about that there necromancer. It had the same flow for me as L&L, where it's a big bad, but also very low stakes, somehow.
-Bibliophilia. Like L&L had the first coffee house, here we get the first book club. I love my book clubs, and if you do, too, this will make you all mushy about them.
Why this wasn't a 5 star:
-A bit cursory. I give this the same rating as L&L. The thing is, in order to make hard things cute, we can't linger too long on the hard things. Where Becky Chambers might invite us in to witness and support each other through the hard things, this one just models that support. Which is great! It's truly lovely. But there's a slight gap between loveLY and loveD and this series so far sits on the one side.
Some have said this one isn't as strong as L&L and I posit that this is because of the timebound nature of this. We know these relationships will end, and that this will not be the story that changes Viv's trajectory, which I can imagine might make it feel inconsequential to an extent. I found it to be of consequence, I just had to accept that this, like so many parts of life, was just a layover in our larger story. Accepting that about it made it as beautiful to me, because our heroine could find joy and meet people where they were even if she knew that they were not going to be hers forever.
A joy to read and a nice hug to have in winter....more
A hard one to rate. On the one hand, it's got brooding boys, found family, "I might be a monster but I'm your monster" vibes, and sweet characters. OnA hard one to rate. On the one hand, it's got brooding boys, found family, "I might be a monster but I'm your monster" vibes, and sweet characters. On the other hand, it's exploitative, brutal without reason, and very handwavy.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ extreme, graphic gang rape. Loss of a parent, child abuse/molestation, coercion of will, enslavement, drug use, eating disorders, subtle homophobia. (hide spoiler)]
Things to love:
-Main characters. Rune and Brand are great. They are monsters, and the only check on their humanity is essentially each other. It's great to see guys who love each other simply because they love each other. And YES okay I admit it, I'm not impervious to the allure of people doing terrible things in my honor. It's not healthy, but it's a thing and you know what, it's fiction leave me my simple pleasures.
-Straightforward good guys. So yeah our main characters are decidedly antiheroes, but there are some folks in this book that are just...nice.
-Magic. This book has Magic. It has magic that makes sense and magic that doesn't but that's fine because it's clear that there's MAGIC and there's everyone else and they are not the same.
Problems I had:
-Rape as backstory. To say more would be a huge spoiler, but suffice to say, at least one of our main characters was traumatically abused as a teen and it haunts him. I hate this in general, but here the focus on it feels either way too personal without any concern for who else gets pulled into this trauma, or intentionally shocking. I can't judge which, but what I can say is that it is EXTREMELY hard to read and its significance to the story is such that you can't ever look away.
-Nice guy. The first problem I had makes this part hard. There's a seduction here, and it follows close on the heels of the nice guy learning his conquest was brutalized. If someone says they're thinking of their debasement, DO NOT PURSUE SEX WITH THEM!! I can't believe I have to say that. Even if the person consents, it holds the same weight as being altered. The times we swing from reliving an assault to engaging in sexy times was really offputting.
-Handwavy magic. You put magic in a thing unless you have an Aspect. But you can also do things without a thing or an Aspect? Dunno. Unsure. I think it's mostly whatever sounds cool, which is fine but makes it hard to judge how cool a thing is since I never know what is or isn't possible.
Keeping this at 3 for now since the premise of the series is quite bleak and I'm not sure I can live in that world. If I go back and do not regret my decision, I reserve the right to move this to 4 stars, because it was intriguing, just riddled with things that I can't in general stomach....more
-The world. With a sort of resurgent look at a world with competing religious doctrines that are in fact potent and life changing as it mingles with those who are refugees of such religious fervor, this book was very smart and real feeling in a high satire sort of way.
-The characters. They almost felt Jungian in how well they fill their archetypes without becoming stereotypes.
-The writing. Fluid, engrossing, dancing between surreality and satire.
Things that detracted:
-Focus shift. At some point we switch from one focus to a more absurdist one and I didn't make the jump well.
-We never buy in. We learn something that is huge, but just then the book pulls away never to interrogate the meaning of that huge thing again.
Smart, different, but slightly unsatisfying....more
Delightful. Jewish "Good Omens" with all the attendant humor that suggests, plus lots of queer representation and a cool take on angels. Lots and lotsDelightful. Jewish "Good Omens" with all the attendant humor that suggests, plus lots of queer representation and a cool take on angels. Lots and lots of loving banter, and a reminder that hardship is not the same as being hardened. ...more
I really wanted to enjoy this as I love another series by this author. I think this one is for the film majors only, though, and I am not one of thoseI really wanted to enjoy this as I love another series by this author. I think this one is for the film majors only, though, and I am not one of those. I really wanted to find the world interesting, but it felt hazy to me, and I never grasped the significance of this memoir-like story....more
This book, about the strength and sorrow in the human spirit, has no humanity in it. The characters are wooden without depth or emotion, and it vascilThis book, about the strength and sorrow in the human spirit, has no humanity in it. The characters are wooden without depth or emotion, and it vascillates between melodrama and the painfully blunt observations that I'd expect in a first draft, not a final one. If any two things that happened in the first 14 chapters of this book happened to any individual person, it would be a life that Hemingway would have sent us all to drink about. All together, they lose scope and nuance both.
Time of death 20%
content warnings as of then: (view spoiler)[ dead fetuses, miscarriage, loss of a loved one, infertility, hate crimes, war, explosions in space, discussions of misogyny and queer antagonism. (hide spoiler)]...more
This was cringeily self-conscious and did nothing I found new or exciting.
Horror without the horrific, romance focused on the surface level, anti-capiThis was cringeily self-conscious and did nothing I found new or exciting.
Horror without the horrific, romance focused on the surface level, anti-capitalist like young Simba scratching at an adult hyena awaiting a parent.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ loss of a loved one, capitalism, high cosmic dread, misogyny/ queerphobia, mental health concerns. (hide spoiler)]
I'd been looking forward to this one, but the best I can say about it is it's very quick and hopeful horror. It's way too "pick me" to engage with this author further without compelling evidence so 2.5 rounded down....more
I was stoked for this book. A political fantasy about forbidden magic? Hell friggen YES. Alas. Alack. It was...fine. Potentially even good if you likeI was stoked for this book. A political fantasy about forbidden magic? Hell friggen YES. Alas. Alack. It was...fine. Potentially even good if you like your kinks front and center in SFF.
-Genderless fantasy. Yay!! Men and women, hetero or whatevero, everyone is everything here!
-All about who you know. So there are a couple battles, but most of this is kind of a whodunit, but with chimeras.
-Occasionally very smart. A few lines really resonated, a few mysteries where I was like dang, well done Beaton.
-Our MC. She's an unlikely but likeable heroine.
-Fun tropes. If you're a millennial who whispers (I like epic fantasy) into the dark, this heard you and yes, it has that sort of scene in it. Which? Oh yes, that one, I promise!
Things that were a let down:
-Bobs and bits. Have you ever been like "my best friend's dead, I have to save a kingdom, I don't know who's on my side but I for sure need some cocaine and a dick?" Me neither! Not to say you NEED a dry spell to deal with that but I'm just saying it wasn't at the forefront of my mind.
Bad at diplomacy. What is it when it's competency porn but just lucky? This is that. In fact, much of the story hinges on everyone just deciding of their own volition that the thing that threatened them yesterday isn't the same thing today.
-You see it coming. Have you ever played hide and seek with a toddler? Then you know how this book will end.
It was fine, just too long and too obvious and too keen on making the worst fucking day of your life sexy....more
Not at all what I anticipated. I generally hate multiverse/time travel stories, but this one was quite smart.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ domesticNot at all what I anticipated. I generally hate multiverse/time travel stories, but this one was quite smart.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ domestic violence, child abuse, rape, sex work, drug use, overdose, murder, war, gang violence, serial killers, queerphobia, racism, classism, child soldiers, religion. (hide spoiler)]
Things to love:
-Multiverse as metaphor. This is, as I read it, mostly a metaphor for healing generational trauma, and how circumstances and perception are so important when you're trying to break out. Sometimes, the spirit is willing but the body is trapped. And sometimes, vice versa.
-Very human. A lot of this felt very compassionate towards those in pain, and hopeful about a future for even the most downtrodden.
-Interesting narrator. Did it make perfect sense, the world and what she was? No. Was I willing to suspend my disbelief for this MC? Yes!
-The balance. A complaint was that this is yet another story about Black pain. And I do see that and don't disagree, but from where I sit, I also admired the love and the triumph in it. So, for me, this worked nicely.
The missing star:
-Bad guy. Very moustache twirly. Compelling evil is, I think, more soul-sucking to write than obvious evil, and despite being obviously capable of writing compelling evil, we did not see that in the actual big bad.
-Plot. I loved it until it got a railroad plot. About half way we go from a character study in an interesting space to a thriller-esque story about stopping secondary murders and it felt very intrusive. Actual spoiler here: (view spoiler)[ I wish it had been something more immediate, or that we'd walked into it more naturally...maybe the reason this Cara was here was because Adam had ordered a hit on her family on her own world or something. Something to make this feel more immediate. (hide spoiler)]
Definitely worth a read, just shields up on this one, friendos!...more
A very ambitious story that wanted to juggle first contact, motherhood, the Jewish diaspora and exodus, gender, capitalism, ecology, statehood and polA very ambitious story that wanted to juggle first contact, motherhood, the Jewish diaspora and exodus, gender, capitalism, ecology, statehood and politics, and managed to do so, but a couple of the balls fell during the act.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ transpobia, arachnophobia, entomophobia (fear of bugs with lots of legs) climate disaster, kidnapping (hide spoiler)]
Things that were cool:
-Moms as diplomats: It was cool that science and obvious displays of the traditionally feminine were seen as powerful here.
-Watersheds: I do love me a conceptual model of industry and control outside of capitalism with focuses on socialist policy distributed through the hands of the many instead of the oligarchs. Rational anarchy, man, love to see it.
-Very alien aliens. Hard to do, but fun to see, and I liked how this was approached. I often think...if someone from outerspace comes to Earth, why would anyone think that Terrans would control the mode of the meeting? Obviously the aliens would have done more research and have more tools, so we'd follow their lead, no? Emrys seems to agree with me.
-First 40%. This was really good, strong world building, cool interactions, believable characters.
Things that detracted:
-Lots of filler. While this is likely not incorrect in how humans would hem and haw and posture should something large like alien contact occur, it's really boring to read about. Especially since our POV is not someone who understands or is good with politics.
-Shifted to tropes. At some point the ambition outgrew motivation and the author moved from a nuanced look at the ways humans interacted and gave in to moustache twirling and highhandedness.
-Holes in research. We're supposed to be getting this story from the POV of a mom of a toddler who is also an ecological biologist focusing in water ecology. Now, I don't think an author needs to be an expert in the same things their characters are, but I do expect some light Googling when obvious bits of the work would interact with the story. Similarly, the idea of co-parents needing to be physically intimate, and indeed how co-habitation would work was just very off.
-Romance. This is when things went downhill for me. It felt very sudden, tacked on and gross. Granted, I dislike romance and I hate spiders, so all the antipathy from me personally, but from a technical perspective, I didn't think this worked.
-Plot point intrusion. The book was so plodding that anything that moved it forward stood out like a beacon. Aha, the next plot point! Something unrelated to anything that came before that will get us to the next area to explore! It felt very shoehorned in, with transitions like in PowerPoint, not in cinema.
2.5 stars rounded down because I ended up skimming the last 30%. I can't say it was good if there were literally no chapters after the halfway mark that I felt were strong enough to re-engage me fully. ...more
I loved this. People think I love Arthurian legend stories, and that's not really true. What I love about it is that it's a cultural touchstone that aI loved this. People think I love Arthurian legend stories, and that's not really true. What I love about it is that it's a cultural touchstone that allows us to follow a story without too much exposition or worldbuilding, and in that newly freed space we can explore humanity or interesting history. And this novella used that space well.
-Folklore. This book used the Arthurian legend to explore Welsh and Scottish folklore, and goddamn do I love a fairy story from a new angle.
-Queerness. I love how lived in the queer space felt. No, it wasn't like everyone was gay and there were Pride events in Camelot, but as has always been the case in every human space, people understood what they saw and at the very least minded their own business most of the time. It's just always nice to see stories where internalized homophobia isn't the norm.
-Nimue. I think Nimue is a fascinating character because everyone of the cohort seems to have a slightly different opinion of her and what she's done. So glad to see her here.
I think honestly my only note that kept this from perfection is that I wanted a bit more substance and a longer telling. Absolutely brilliant....more
This was such a good mash up of the stuff you like from dystopias. Or at least, that I like. A hard world that's a bit on-the-nose social commentary, This was such a good mash up of the stuff you like from dystopias. Or at least, that I like. A hard world that's a bit on-the-nose social commentary, a big what if that stays through, solid friendship and a revolution! With mecha giants and video games!
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ climate disaster, poverty, medical experimentation without consent, war, chemical attacks, loss of family (hide spoiler)]
I really liked that friendship was a big part of this, and that we don't get a sense of this being "easy" for anyone. Not sure I'll read the next one because I'm not sure how it could add, but one of the most balanced and interesting dystopias I've read in awhile....more
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