Reviews and Comments

I love all of Schwab’s work. This continues the story set up in The Shades of Magic series.

That series got a teeny bit muddled by the end for me, but Schwab’s growth as a writer is evident here. Except for the monarchy, which I’m just more impatient with these days in my entertainment, (enough of the in-born virtue of royals), such a pleasure to re-visit this world and characters.

I’ve wanted to learn how to mend (more), but wasn’t sure how to get started. Specifically, in a way that would be interesting to me. Someone on Mastodon mentioned this book and I put it on hold at the library.

It’s so, so sweet! 🥹 Instructions interspersed with stories and illustrations. I’ll share what I do once I get started. ❤️‍🩹

The Wayward Children is always a solid series to return to. This entry is more of a stepping stone: set in our world instead of another on the other side of a door that a child stumbles through. It feels like a necessary, if slightly less compelling, step to prepare a larger stage. But McGuire still gives us unsettling glimpses into the particular deliverance/torments each person finds on the other side. 💔

Yes! More stories about trans Blatinas! Carlotta Mercedes transitioned while in prison on jumped up charges and is released into a changed world.

The writing randomly switches from first person unfiltered stream of consciousness to third person, the former often without punctuation. But it works since Carlotta’s voice is so distinct. And funny as hell, even when what she faces is no joke.

I mean, this cover, that title: how could I not? I read Cooper’s “Closer” and Frisk” in the 90s, and it felt transgressive, dangerous: everything the world told me gayness was. This was also a heady time of increasing representation, navigating sex, morality, pleasure while narrowly missing AIDS’ clutches.

But Cooper’s only got one set of tricks, as it were. The same repugnant characters preying on each other … psych! 🥱

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Rural fantasy (new genre for me) that follows a Navajo monster hunter as she deals with deities and witches with a hot medicine man on the rez. There’s a second book already out that I can’t wait to read.

Books like this give me hope. That it’s possible to talk about being a queer, (South) Asian immigrant without retreading the same self-pitying tropes. That stories POC tell and share can show all our messiness as we try to figure out how to treat each other and be in the world. That nuance, community care, and sex can all be part of it. The best ending to an opening chapter ever.

A retelling of a Tyrolean folk tale. So sweet! Both the story and the illustrations. I love his art style.

Before making this, Klassen revisited the book where he first encountered the folk tale and the ending was totally different from what he recalled. This version is what he remembered.

I realize now that I have no idea what #DarkAcademia is as a genre (see my journey in my 2023 reviews feed). This is supposedly the best example. Magic really isn’t part of it.

This book isn’t for me. Outside of my mistaken expectations, the characters are assholes (a requirement!) and it went on way too long. The writing at the start made me take notice—Tartt can write—but I just didn’t care for this world and its people.

A Kentucki is a little animal toy with cameras and mics, randomly paired with a “dweller” somewhere else in the world. The dweller can observe but not (meaningfully) communicate with the “keeper,” whoever owns the Kentucki.

You can imagine where it goes from there given how fucked up humanity can be, either the dweller or keeper. It’s pretty bleak by the end. People really are the worst. Fascinating and horrifying.

Ended up really enjoying this despite the shaky second quarter when it struggled to maintain its opening premise: murdering abusive husbands! 🔪

There wasn’t automatic sisterhood among the women (caste, religion, marital status, etc.), which was refreshing. Their ability to work together and support each other, in their own ways, felt grounded and real. And it’s got jokes too!

Kept waiting for the central allegory to explain itself: things disappear on an island, then the memories of them, all enforced by the titular authority. Felt similar to Miéville’s “The City and The City” but fuzzier. There’s no logic to what disappears—birds, stamps, green beans, roses—and people give them up with no resistance. Seeing how the banning of books and critical race theory played out, I think I get it now.

Never read DeWitt before but apparently she’s a big deal? This lives up to the hype. I’m a petty bitch and this was licks fingers DELICIOUS.

Part of the publisher’s slim hardcover fiction series that “aims to deliver the pleasure one felt as a child reading a marvelous book from cover to cover in an afternoon.” Truly marvelous. If they’re all this good, I feel a strong urge to buy every single one.

Really enjoyable, and only the second book in this series. This one follows two characters from the first book, and like the first, devotes good time to their arcs. Unlike the first, the plot moves quicker: it jumps back and forth in time to explore one character’s history.

I think it works as a standalone book, but even better if you read the series. Taking my time to read the next one to prolong it.

Read this after learning a Mastodon mutual is in it. Tend to have a hard time with short story collections, but this one slowly grew on me. I loved the author bios and having a better sense of what informed their pieces, especially as POC authors in this genre. “New Suns” makes up for some of its less successful parts by gathering these voices together into a greater whole.