User Profile

Alex Cabe

CitizenCabe@books.theunseen.city

Joined 2 years, 6 months ago

It's not like I'm a preachy crybaby who can't resist giving overemotional speeches about hope all the time.

This link opens in a pop-up window

Alex Cabe's books

Currently Reading

2025 Reading Goal

46% complete! Alex Cabe has read 14 of 30 books.

Claire Keegan: Foster (2010, Faber and Faber) 5 stars

A small girl is sent to live with foster parents on a farm in rural …

Lyrical and Cozy

5 stars

This was very cozy and comforting, but also bittersweet. This is the most on-point narration from a child's point of view that I can remember since Room (the child is older and more aware, here though).

Each character had emotional depth, and it was a joy to see the narrator become more confident.

Listened to as an audiobook in one sitting. Author's voice sounded like how I imagined the character. Definitely a re-listen in the future.

Andrew Joseph White: Hell Followed with Us (2023, Peachtree Publishing Company Inc.) 4 stars

Prepare to die. His kingdom is near.

Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run …

Body Horror Book, Not a Cult Book

2 stars

I was excited about this book because I expected it to be primarily about cults, but it was much more of a body horror/monster book.

The thing I look for in a work about cults in some understanding off why people joined the cult. Cults appeal to psychological vulnerabilities, and everyone has them. For, e.g., The People's Temple or Heaven's Gate, I primarily see the grave evil they did while still understanding what they offered and how they convinced people they were improving the world and themselves. The Angels are all stick and no carrot. I don't see what their members get out of it. I don't exactly need their systematic theology, but I need to know more about how they arrived at such an extreme belief and what's in it for the common person in the pews. A simple change here would be to make the Angels the only …

Hannah Gadsby: Ten Steps to Nanette (Hardcover, Allen & Unwin) 3 stars

Gadsby's unique stand-up special Nanette was a viral success that left audiences captivated by her …

Could have used a tighter edit

3 stars

I enjoyed the insight on the comedy writing process, but the long early sections about Hannah's childhood made the book difficult to get into.

I did respect how the author set boundaries and kept the memoir focused on things she wanted to talk about. Some of the repeated bits (Stop! __ time) got tiresome.

I went into this wondering if there would be a sudden twist like in Nanette and there wasn't, which I think was the right call. Don't want to get put into a box.

Zeyn Joukhadar: The Thirty Names of Night (Hardcover, 2020, Atria Books) 4 stars

Five years after a suspicious fire killed his ornithologist mother, a closeted Syrian American trans …

Capitivatingly Written

4 stars

I thought the written and description were very strong and the magically realism elements worked well.

It took time for me to get invested in the story, but it accelerated toward the end. I wish a bit more had happened to the characters and the characters were a bit more distinct from each other.

I enjoyed the historical sections a bit more than the present one. It was interesting to read from the transmasc perspective, and I'd like to read more in the future.

reviewed Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #3)

Martha Wells: Rogue Protocol (EBook, 2018, Tordotcom) 4 stars

Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris …

Characters and Action Stand Out

4 stars

Sometimes I have trouble following action scenes in other books, here I thought they were mostly well written and exciting.

Miki was a very interesting character, I enjoyed spending time with here and seeing Murderbot's reaction to her.

The narrative felt a little tighter and more straightforward than Book Two.