A fun follow-up to Don't Want You Like a Best Friend and conclusion to the duology, I all but devoured this, especially once it started to pick up aboA fun follow-up to Don't Want You Like a Best Friend and conclusion to the duology, I all but devoured this, especially once it started to pick up about a third of the way in. There was less meddling from Gwen and Beth than I was expecting, and the depth of feelings seemed very quick, but that does all go hand-in-hand with the lighthearted tone of the duology overall.
I think my favorite thing about this book (and the duology overall) is that it both doesn't shy away from the fact that queer relationships were persecuted and had to be hidden, but also shows that these relationships existed, did find ways to be long-lasting, and could be supported. That there could be moments of queer joy and support and love. There's some that stretches the imagination, like the epilogue, but by that point it's all just so sweet that you don't mind.
I wasn't as fully on board with Bobby and James' relationship as I was with Gwen and Beth, mostly because their relationship is just a huge, huge pile of misunderstandings from the very beginning that never really get cleared up. As a dual PoV book, we as a reader get to see where the misunderstandings come from and get a sense of how they're cleared, but neither Bobby nor James actually ever get the words out to each other for why they were both so abrasive to each other at the beginning, which makes how quickly they fall into "I could see forever with him" feelings feel a little like whiplash and make the brief third-act separation feel like something that could keep happening. A lot of this could probably have been helped by tighter plotting - there's a sense of too much going on at the same time and trying to tie up too much at once - which makes me excited to see what Alban does next with more experience under her belt....more
I really love how T. Kingfisher always has such lived-in characters. They always feel like real, ordinary people who have just found themselves in fanI really love how T. Kingfisher always has such lived-in characters. They always feel like real, ordinary people who have just found themselves in fantastical situations, and here is no different with Cordelia, young and timid, and Hester, older and sure of herself. Neither of them are the archetypal young, brash heroes who populate most fantasy, but the story feels so much more relatable and accessible because of it. You know exactly who all the characters are and the story all but leaps off the page for it.
I think of this less of a retelling and more of a brand new tale that takes inspiration from the Goose Girl story, of breaking from expectations and familial abuse and finding the courage to carve out a place in the world for yourself.
The audio is perfect, bringing all of the characters even more to life!...more
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did - a food-and-sun-soaked summer tour of France, Spain, and Italy, with a second-chance bi-for-bi romance? HI wanted to like this a lot more than I did - a food-and-sun-soaked summer tour of France, Spain, and Italy, with a second-chance bi-for-bi romance? Here FOR it.
Unfortunately, a lot of this didn't work for me. I think first off I'm just not allosexual enough for this book - while I knew going in it was going to be two exes flirting their way through Europe and having a hookup competition, it was just /so/ much of it, to the point that it felt repetitive, and worse, much more along the destructive behavior side than the liberating queer joy it was intended to be. Especially since only a third of the way through the tour, Theo's chosen hookup for the night drops them because they're so clearly still hung up on Kit, which then causes them to spiral and view each subsequent hookup as a way of proving something, which then leaves a bad feeling hanging over each one. It means that for both Theo and Kit, their coming back together comes through a weird haze of longing and jealousy and through one-note set-dressing characters who are only there to be attractive and DTF, rather than seeing all the things they loved before and discovering new things to love about the people they've grown into once they've addressed the fight that broke them up four years ago.
I'm also sad to say that even for a fun, summer escapist book (I'm totally willing to believe that everybody in Europe is hot and bisexual and DTF at the drop of a hat with just a small eye roll and a sigh for the sake of a light summer read, but also holy shit it's legit EVERYBODY), it just doesn't hit the mark for me. The place descriptions just don't capture the spark of each of these locations (this may work better if you haven't been to any of them, but even with sense and place memories of what McQuiston was trying to evoke, they just kind of jarred or felt superficial); there's obviously going to be a lot of telling with a sort of location-hopping, tourist-book-esque plot, but aside from some of the art descriptions and a passage from Theo about just standing with one piece and having that be your experience instead of trying to glut yourself on everything, it all just felt like skimming the surface and not connecting with what made it special. It's just flat, and unfortunately, boring in its repetitiveness. McQuiston's expertise lies in emotions, not in descriptions, and the food and meal descriptions show that the most strongly, mostly because they /don't/ tap into any emotions and end up more as lists. Granted, lists that do make your mouth water just hearing about them, but once again, there's no spark of connection about what they evoke, which feels particularly damning when the title is The Pairing and Theo gets a whole monologue about how a food and drink pairing should evoke an experience and be a whole sense memory. (I have a huge bias, but do not get me started on the Italian leg of the tour, I'll be here all night)
The last 20% of the book is probably worth an entire star on its own and almost turned my feelings on the book around, if I hadn't been so disenchanted by that point. This is the part that actually gets to the heart of the matter - the emotions, the different ways love shows and is expressed and traps, and how people grow and need to grow. Unfortunately it is also forced to butt up against the previously established "problems" Kit and Theo had, which weren't thoroughly explored enough to make a resolution feel anything other than both "this took you this long?" and "that's it? you're just...over it?" at the same time, which is a weird feeling.
On the plus side, this did inspire me to look up the first level of sommelier exam and realize I could pass it if I wanted to pay for the exam fee, so that's a weird plus....more
I love it when a second book really starts to shine - Ebony Gate laid all the groundwork for the worldbuilding, and Blood Jade really starts to dig inI love it when a second book really starts to shine - Ebony Gate laid all the groundwork for the worldbuilding, and Blood Jade really starts to dig into the political conspiracies and family connections and rivalries between all the jiaren, allowing both the world and Emiko to grow as we follow along.
Once again, it's a frenetic pace - I really want Emiko to get a rest (just a small vacation!!!) after becoming the Sentinel and immediately being throwing into the chaos of tracking down an assassin against the backdrop of her brother's graduation tournament and having to take a crash course in her powers.
While I was sad to not have much of the book set in San Francisco this time, since part of what I really loved about Ebony Gate was how much of its own character the city got to feel, we got to learn so much about the mythology and traditions of the world Vee and Bebelle have set up and it makes the tradeoff worth it. I just really hope we get to see both the fledgling magical city and its Sentinel come into their own together in the next book though.
Blood Jade hits all the wonderful urban fantasy beats again, bringing pan-Asian traditions in a modern way that are just /fun/. Each new piece of information, each reveal, each new power is just a delight to watch unfold, even if it just entangles Emiko further, and the reveals at the end of the tournament just have me absolutely clamoring for the next book....more
The second in the Guardians of Dawn series picks up right where the first left off once again following the intensely fun mashup of Sailor Moon, westeThe second in the Guardians of Dawn series picks up right where the first left off once again following the intensely fun mashup of Sailor Moon, western fairy tales, and East Asian mythology, and I am still so weak for the combination of the three. The Beauty and the Beast parallels really only come to play at the very beginning, quickly giving way to exploring the worldbuilding of the Guardians and their demonic counterparts as the rot we started to see in Zhara comes to the forefront. Now that both we as readers and Zhara and crew know more about the balance between magicians and demons, between ki and anti-ki, we get to dig further into the mythology of the world and get to the heart of just who the Sunburst Warrior is and what the Star of Radiance is. As mor of the prophecy gets revealed and we start to see how the different regions have interpreted the myths, just what we're building toward starts to take shape too.
This definitely feels like a second book in a series, but more than that, an immediate continuation. For all that Ami's name is in the title and we do get to learn quite a bit about her and the Guardian of Wood, it's almost as equally Zhara and Gaden's book. There are so many PoVs, and that some of them mainly dealt with threads from the first book made this feel less like Ami's book and more like just an expansion of Zhara's.
That said, my favorite thing from the first book is perfectly retained here - the sheer joy that radiates off the pages. Despite being an adventure story with demons and undead and the possible end of the world, there's just an unabashed joy that Jae-Jones gets to write this story and tell it, which I can't help but feel endeared to. The characters are at turns goofy and heart-felt, anxious and righteous. Sure at times they feel young, but they are also 16-year-olds thrust into literally legendary roles. There's also a great continuation of representation, which results in some of my favorite conversations in the book that really help make the growing group of Guardians and their allies feel like a family.
I'm super invested now, and I can't wait to see what happens when we turn towards the more political machinations now that the rebel group of the Heralds has been introduced and the assassination of the Warlord - given that epilogue, I'm curious to see if we'll deal with that and Yuli's story or the Guardian of Water next (and what some of those breadcrumbs of a false heir lead to!)...more
3.5 that I have to round down for just how out of nowhere the antagonist and resolution feel. I love the concept, of accidentally activating a spacesh3.5 that I have to round down for just how out of nowhere the antagonist and resolution feel. I love the concept, of accidentally activating a spaceship whose crew disappeared to the exploration of so many different relationships, romantic and platonic, and the whole spectrum of queer. It's really clear that Hamilton had a blast writing this, and it's hard not to feel excited or invested when it radiates of each page.
There are some things that part of me wants to let slide because it's a debut, but ended up getting under my skin enough that I can't. There's a mix of narration styles, from using articles to transcripts of videos to chat logs to a weird omniscient third-person narrator (who keeps breaking the fourth wall and at one point calls themselves out for being a weird omniscient third-person narrator), but there's nothing really tying it together as to why we're utilizing all of these different styles. Everyone has the exact same style of typing and sense of humor in the chat logs (and at times when they're all talking with each other to the point that it was down to pronouns to differentiate who was doing or saying what), and despite taking place in 2061, the media references (and at one baffling point, a TikTok callout) are all nerd properties or arguments or memes that could be pulled from the 2010s. It's not that I mind it so much, but when every piece of media is one nerds in their 30s are talking about /now/, and no one calls them retro or classic and somehow everyone knows and acknowledges them as relevant with only one piece of media with a character reason why they've fixated on an older movie, it's a weird sort of whiplash. It just made it really hard for me to place the characters in their time instead of ours, which then made it harder to make the scientific and environmental leaps.
I also have a few qualms about letting the "rom-com" part of this slide - while there's definitely a romance developing between Cleo and Billie, it's nowhere in the "rom-com" territory. It's much more their romance is part of the core in trying to figure out what they're going to do about accidentally ending up on a ship with a 7 year itinerary, what these weird powers are, and just why Billie, as a computer hologram, is so realized and who set that up. They do also jump from "attracted to each other" to "love more than anything else" very quickly, but that's a your mileage may vary depending on your tolerance/familiarity with romance plotlines.
Mostly I feel like there were a lot of moments where the characters and their relationships were meant to carry the weight of each of the actions and consequences, and that really didn't pan out. Instead we get a lot of exposition and a lot of telling of how things happen, which unfortunately culminate in the most whiplash moment, the antagonist reveal. The antagonist has the most cardboard cutout reasoning for why they need the dark matter drive and why they need Cleo and her friends and a lot of it feels completely out of nowhere and opposite of what we'd seen from anyone at all so far. It just feels like it's what the story needed, rather than actually coming from a character moment or motivation. It feels a lot like the whole setup of "oh the Providence I crew disappeared and then everyone just suddenly got scared of space travel". You have to go with it because the story requires it, but the idea that scientists who have been working on something for decades just...drop a huge, necessary project because they're scared of it happening again or companies are scared of losing money is...laughable. Especially if we're also supposed to believe that Cleo's generation grew up as extremely interested in STEM but it's still been another 20 years and nothing else has progressed? It just all felt flimsy, which was a bad start and lowered my investment and expectations....more
I always enjoy a good queernormative setting for a new fantasy, so that is a definitely point in The Gilded Crown's favor. The romance plotline is alsI always enjoy a good queernormative setting for a new fantasy, so that is a definitely point in The Gilded Crown's favor. The romance plotline is also an interesting take on the "I should hate her but I don't", with Hellevir giving up a piece of her soul each time she brings Sullivain back to life - there's also some emotion sharing each time they touch because of this, which lends to the draw between them. It's less of a romance and more of the two of them being pulled toward each other in a doomed situation, with no way forward in sight. Sullivain is meant to be her grandmother's heir, cruel when she needs to be to hold power, but also under her grandmother's thumb and afraid to follow fully in her footsteps at the same time. We see a lot of Hellevir thinking "she'd be a better queen" or "she wouldn't do this if her grandmother weren't around", but we also constantly see Sullivain choosing to stick to what she knows and rule with an iron fist, and very little of the softer side Hellevir swears is there.
Unfortunately, a lot of the rest of the politics feels out of place - with a war for the throne only a few decades past, there's potential for some court intrigue as the other noble houses connive their way into schemes to kill Sullivain, the heir to the throne. You would think that this would be the main plotline, as the reason Hellevir gets thrust into the city and the politics is to keep Sullivain from falling prey to these plans, and potentially figure out who is behind them to nip them in the bud. Unfortunately, this leads then to the other plotline, the religious clash and Death's quests. You can see threads of where the quests for the treasures set by Death would be or were intended to be woven into the political storyline, but aside from the very first one, they end up feeling like side quests and a breather from the main plot. You can also see where the religious backstory is intended to inform the creation of the country as well as death himself and potentially a way to free Sullivain, but it also ends up falling flat, a strange mix of too little too late and out of nowhere in terms of the amount of power the fanatics are able to wield.
I'm a little curious to see what the next book holds, but I think it'll definitely depend on what sort of framing it takes for the rest of the story it wants to tell....more
3.5 that I'm rounding up because it's the sort of book I know I'll keep thinking about
A fascinatingly dark and twisting take on dark academia and secr3.5 that I'm rounding up because it's the sort of book I know I'll keep thinking about
A fascinatingly dark and twisting take on dark academia and secret societies - secrets both personal and historical abound, and the balance between which ones have to be brought to light and learned by whom and which are better left untouched tips back and forth as Cal is pulled deeper into Society and Essex.
I loved the take on Society on the surface (and for many of the members) being about exploration and about uncovering the secrets of the past (though having gone to a university with a flourishing urbanex community, I found it odd to have just /so/ many abandoned and unused buildings, especially just on the campus), obviously, though, being a secret society, also doing its fair share of manipulation and covering up of secrets (if at times the reach and caliber of the secrets felt more aligned with a college than a high school, but).It really spoke to the slippery slope of morality from "social engineering" and lockpicking just to uncover the school's secrets to using those skills for personal use or at the request of those more powerful.
Like the secrets uncovered, the writing takes a jagged pace, jumping from topic to topic and scene to scene until everything finally fits together at the end. Cal, who has had more than enough trauma in his life already, desperately wants to belong, dismissing red flags to the point of becoming an unreliable narrator. There are moments where you aren't sure what is a dream and what is real, who is saying what out loud and what is imagined. At times, this makes conversations and the point needlessly difficult to follow, but overall I did enjoy piecing everything together slowly, flipping back and forth as new nuances were revealed.
Almost everyone here is damaged, vulnerable in some way - early on, someone states that Society has a type they like to tap, and Cal thinks it's a certain socioeconomic, physical type, but we quickly learn there's two types: those with secrets to protect or traumas that make them easy to manipulate, and those with secrets to protect or traumas who will do anything to not be manipulated. And the line between who is who isn't as stark as any of them would like.
It's a page-turner for sure, and while not perfect by any means (though that cover comes close), its jagged edges get under your skin....more
I am a sucker for trashy reality shows, and an even bigger sucker for queer romances based around them, and I absolutely devoured this. The balance ofI am a sucker for trashy reality shows, and an even bigger sucker for queer romances based around them, and I absolutely devoured this. The balance of two bisexual leads taking a very heteronormative show and spinning it on its head with their relationship as well as the wider cast was really well done, and while the challenges were a little weak and some of the production choices were odd (what was the reason for making so many drastic changes and bringing up that they were changing things? we never learn), I really enjoyed reading about all of the aspects of Cas and Ada's time on the show.
It was also really nice to see two bisexual women who were really secure in their bisexuality and none of the drama came from their sexuality or relationship choices (there's already PLENTY of drama given the reality show setting) and nice to see them in kind of a forced proximity setting getting to fall in love. Femi and Sienna absolutely melted my heart, and I wish we'd gotten to see more of Freddie and some of the others once a sort of "core cast" was established.
My issue comes with most of the setup of the show - the contract between Cas' company and the production team never quite made sense, and who was it who leaked the contract? Also everyone keeps saying Cas has never used a dating app, but she only actually says she hasn't had a successful date off of one and doesn't like them, and on top of that, there's no way the production team could have expected a show based around social media followings to not uncover someone's workplace, so expecting Cas to keep quiet felt really stupid. I almost think it would've been better if the production team hadn't been in on it? But by the point that it all comes crashing down, I was fully invested in Cas and Ada, so it's a minor bump in the end....more
I love a good heist novel, and while this comes down on the "more to say about society" than "fun heist hijinks" side, that's mostly due to its scope,I love a good heist novel, and while this comes down on the "more to say about society" than "fun heist hijinks" side, that's mostly due to its scope, the fact that it's not just an object in the balance, but the fate of multiple species and worlds.
I love the world Kitasei has set up here - I'm not sure how far-future it's meant to be, since a lot of the Earth scenes feel familiar enough to make it feel not /too/ far-future, but the galactic sense of it feels wonderfully developed. It's nice to get a sense of multiple cultures within an alien race, as well as a sense of multiple human cultures continuing even through settling new planets or moons, instead of smashing each species into one example.
I do wish we got to see more of Maya as a thief or get more of a sense of that part of her life before we meet her - the only previous job we get into detail is one that went badly and we get more of the aftermath than a sense of who she is as a planner, how she and Uncle typically went about jobs, how artifacts were repatriated, etc. We know she's the planner in this crew, but the addition of Medix and Wil is a new one, and I wish we got a better sense of Maya and Uncle's heist past.
That said, I love the addition of Medix and Wil, Wil as an excellent foil to Maya's rock-solid faith that she's doing the right thing in the face of an increasingly complex situation with literally alien morals and decisions, and Medix with a wonderful spin on "what does it mean to be human" when there are so many forms of sentient life to model.
"You cannot move throughout the universe without leaving footprints" is definitely a theme here as the heist starts to unravel into something much more wide-reaching and with much more historical repercussions than anyone initially assumed. The impacts of different cultural values and ways of communication get magnified when meeting new species, and the question of "when there is no right decision, how do you choose?" comes up in many different forms, giving the whole book a nice sort of weight in our time even while on a galactic scale....more
3.5 rounded up because I love the setup here and it's all about the vibes. It's much more of a historical fiction with fantasy elements in the shape o3.5 rounded up because I love the setup here and it's all about the vibes. It's much more of a historical fiction with fantasy elements in the shape of the Wasteland. One day the Wastelands just appeared, and while I'm not entirely clear on the boundaries of the Wasteland - though it is bordered by giant walls on the Russian and Chinese sides - everyone is fascinated by it. The only way to traverse it is via the train, owned and operated by the shadowy Company, and drawing passengers from all over - some just looking to take a faster route, some looking for danger and adventure, others looking to the Wasteland as an example of evolution or divinity, a new world order.
Through the various character PoVs, we start to unravel some of what is happening, both to the Wastelands and to the train (and by extension, the passengers and crew, who were aboard the disastrous last voyage, which no one remembers). There's a constant sense of creeping change, of things subtly shifting, of secrets working their way to light even as others try to bury them further.
It's mostly an atmospheric book - while there are some truly tense scenes, the majority of the draw is watching this cast of characters work their way through the turning point of this particular journey, and how each of their decisions and motivations adds another piece of kindling to the fire until it is a blaze, as unstoppable as change itself....more
4.5 rounding down because I think it's such a specific type of humor and hijinks that it can get a bit polarizing and overwhelming at times. This one'4.5 rounding down because I think it's such a specific type of humor and hijinks that it can get a bit polarizing and overwhelming at times. This one's for the Our Flag Means Death fans, with those same vibes of taking a traditionally more "serious" genre in a wonderfully human, irreverent direction that feels completely natural and incredibly funny. A lot of this comes down to Avra, who as a character is A Lot: he's the sort that says what he's thinking, and what he's thinking is usually either a sex joke, trying to get attention, or charmingly sweet. He's an ex-spy with incredible (probably magical) luck, which everyone else recognizes and also uses to their advantage (at one point tying him up in the hold because "his luck wont let him drown and if we're attacked, the hold will be the first to flood"). There's also just the pirate society of the Cove, which features a hilariously insult-rich cake competition, fences who ask for blue dogs as a dare, and the sort of society where everyone knows everyone as well as everyone's reputation and it's usually played for laughs.
As in A Taste of Gold and Iron, while there's a lot of dancing around a relationship (this time with Tev and their on-again-off-again relationship with Avra and with Julian and his inconvenient vow of celibacy) and a lot of references to sex (though this time far more, and far more in the jokes realm), everything is closed door. So while Avra makes multiple comments about swallowing Julian's dick with a python or brings up Tev's spooky dildo collection (and has written a song about it), it's all referenced or commented on and not on-page.
There are so many times that I just laughed out loud (or yelled) listening to this - it's fun and funny and Casey Jones does a fantastic job of all of the different voices and accents - but I think a lot of the enjoyment will come down to if it is your taste in humor and where on the line of endearing vs annoying Avra falls for you. There are a number of quieter moments, especially between him and Tev, especially when references Tev's past and their reasons for becoming a pirate and a captain, which balance out the fast-paced hijinks of the rest of the book, but it still definitely comes down as a fluorescent (in more ways than one) wild ride as opposed to the muted political intrigue of A Taste of Gold and Iron...more
2.5 rounded up because at the end of the day, it's fine? I guess this is my year for sapphic Hollywood romance novels! Initially, I really liked the s2.5 rounded up because at the end of the day, it's fine? I guess this is my year for sapphic Hollywood romance novels! Initially, I really liked the setup of this, of Val and Maeve co-teaching a class on movie musicals and cult classics and having that be their meet cute, but I feel like too many things got thrown into the pot of their relationship. There's a weird intro of "oh she hates me because I didn't come off as professional" (because Val wore designer clothes?) that sets them against each other that segues into "she got off to my sex scene in this movie and now I'm getting myself off thinking about that and can I look her in the eye" which, maybe it's just me, but there's a lot of layers of separating character from person that made it feel uncomfortable and not at all sexy, then they're suddenly cool with each other, but both have a lot of past relationship abuse and trauma, and that's before we even get into the fame question, Val's thoughts on pulling back from Hollywood, her directoral debut, Maeve's academic career, and both of their futures, all of which factor heavily as obstacles to be overcome.
And then there's the fact that Val's unmedicated anxiety becomes a huge major part of the plot and tension and triggered so many miscommunications, which is one of my very least favorite tropes. As someone with medicated anxiety, it meant that almost all of her decisions and actions in the latter half of the book made me extremely uncomfortable (and made me wonder what her long-time therapist was doing, especially for someone with huge relationship trauma in her first long-term relationship since). Kudos for an impactful depiction of anxiety and those decisions, I guess? But the root of them just didn't match anything else set up or how Val had been set up as a character either. There were so many points where I would look at the sentence on the page and go "what???"
As the class is a major part of a third of the book, we do get to hear a whole lot about musicals, but it also kind of goes nowhere and leaves you wondering why it was in there other than Greenwald really wanted to get those thoughts across and namedrop a bunch of movie musicals. Instead we get in-depth on things like that and absolutely skimming over things I wish had gone into more detail, like Val and Maeve's early relationship, or Maeve actually getting used to being with someone famous. It all just felt a bit slapdash and rushed, and mixed with Val activating my fight responses, I never really got to a place where I enjoyed this....more
3.5 rounded down just because I am older than the demographic I feel like this would be most impactful for. A sweet, sometimes cheesy, book about find3.5 rounded down just because I am older than the demographic I feel like this would be most impactful for. A sweet, sometimes cheesy, book about finding yourself and learning to look at life through your own lens rather than other people's. Especially in a world where everything seems to move so fast and there seem to be all these rules about what to do and milestones to achieve to be "successful", learning to look at success in terms of what makes you happy rather than expectations is a very heart-felt sentiment . Rosie has such an idea already embedded as to what she has to do to be successful, to be grown-up, to be happy, that she's begun pushing away practically everyone in her life and not realizing that she's also contributing to her own problems. It takes a series of shakeups, the hardest-hitting being Dotty's death, for her to start to sort out her true priorities.
There's a number of nice things in this, that sometimes people just aren't right together romantically, or at that time, and just because it's not forever doesn't mean anyone was in the wrong and you can't stay friends or appreciate the impact you had on each other, to stop chasing jobs you think you "should" have that make you miserable.
There's also some things that get on my nerves, like how Rosie never really takes responsibility for her role in her actions or choices or pushing people away, instead just wallowing in her own pity party. Also that everyone keeps bringing up the sad or struggle parts of Dotty's life, but we don't actually see any of that in the emails? We mostly see her forming life-long connections with people and collecting a family, and while yes, there are some partings beyond her control, neither she nor those involved frame those partings poorly in the emails, so it feels a little weird to see a life described as "the only regret was that she didn't start living life her way sooner" and with a central theme of making choices that make you feel fulfilled and happy as anything less....more
A deceptively complex tale of grief, revenge, bonds between people, choices, and healing, this one definitely took some time to grow on me, but once iA deceptively complex tale of grief, revenge, bonds between people, choices, and healing, this one definitely took some time to grow on me, but once it did, I couldn't stop listening. I loved the growing found family that blossoms out of this and the way it highlights all the different sorts of important bonds between people and how impactful each one can be.
The tethers are one of the most interesting parts of the worldbuilding, and for as much as we get about them, I wish there had been more - if most people can't see their tethers, are a lot of bonds just taken on faith, or assumed, or just a nice side detail to their lives? I wish it had been a little more woven into what we got about the worldbuilding, especially with the politics and the rebuilding of the planet. The politics are also a little simplistic - there's a controlling of information, but we only see one Chancellor - how did he get to power? How long has he been in power? If people were only sent back to the Isles within the last 10 or 20 years, why would Idrian's legacy have become a children's game with an established rhyme? How far does the corruption go? It doesn't seem very deep, but then how is that sustainable through potential power changes?
Thankfully, that's mostly just the background against the choices Remy and Idrian have to make - having already been the few sacrificed for the many, do you continue that cycle? When is that sacrifice justified? When is it not? What is that tipping point? And then the important question - will you recognize it when it comes? It's lovely to see both Remy and Idrian's mindsets shift and change throughout the course of the events and their knowing each other, the ways they challenge each other and trust grows. It's also a joy to see so many platonic and found family bonds and so many different flavors of them....more
After loving Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves, I was so excited to get to read The Pecan Children, and Quinn Connor did not disappoint. There are a lot oAfter loving Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves, I was so excited to get to read The Pecan Children, and Quinn Connor did not disappoint. There are a lot of elements that speak to the same themes - of rural small town decay, of stewardship of land, of familial relationships and queer ones in navigating a place in the world, and that slow sense of magical realism that creeps over the setting and the characters. There's a wonderful twist between parts 1 and 2 that I definitely didn't see coming and actually gasped out loud at - it's crafted and set up wonderfully, and going back to re-read the first few chapters was the first thing I did after finishing.
At its heart is the relationship between Lil and Sasha, twins who are both bound to the land through their family pecan orchard, but also constantly set just outside of things by their single mother, their Puerto Rican father, Sasha's queerness, and Lil's rebellious streak. It's an exploration of how to love a place and people but still want to escape it, and the balance between romanticizing the familiar to the point of ignoring its flaws and accepting change.
Once again, I love the atmosphere set up here - you can all but feel the change in the air during autumn, the shift in humidity and temperature, the smell of the broken kudzu vines, of the baked goods. It makes the subtle wrongness that starts to set in the longer the story goes feel that much more poignant. The way my heart broke for all of them at some point...
I do wish we got to explore the pecan children a little more, especially their links to the town and the bird traps, but overall I was utterly fascinated by the story Connor tells here. Also very charmed by the Summer Graves cameo!...more
This sits in a weird place between the premise, cover, and marketing wanting it to be a romcom, but the actual text wanting to be litfic, and the two This sits in a weird place between the premise, cover, and marketing wanting it to be a romcom, but the actual text wanting to be litfic, and the two not matching up at all. There are parts of it that were really lovely and times when it felt deep and thought-provoking, but it just kept getting trapped between not quite sticking to a genre. This wouldn't be a problem if the two things it were trying to be weren't such a tonal shift - the comedy beats of a romcom don't quite match up with the slow moments to sit with what it means to know someone and the necessary changes of life, and the constant switching left me entirely unsure of how to feel in regards to the story or the characters. Add to that that the characters are supposed to be in their 30s, but feel and talk like their high school days were 5 years behind them, rather than 13. There's also a weird balance on the slow-burn nature of their relationship - they both know they need to get their lives and decisions settled before they jump into a relationship, but they're also talking about their masturbation habits within their first conversation reunited after 13 years. So that immediately destroys any tension about the "will-they-or-won't-they", but they also don't talk about it and just sit in a "well we can't", so it just doesn't go anywhere.
The last act of the book also feels like a tonal shift, which I guess is par for everything else that's been set up so far. It's a shame, because I really wanted to like this....more
Kei X Yaku vol 1 does an excellent job of setting up its premise and the tension - working together to try to uncover the truth behind a disappearanceKei X Yaku vol 1 does an excellent job of setting up its premise and the tension - working together to try to uncover the truth behind a disappearance three years ago, a government investigator and a yakuza boss enter into a fake relationship once it becomes clear that both sides are hiding something and they can't get to the bottom of it alone. I all but raced through this volume - there's an excellent balance between banter between the leads and the suspense of the case that really pulled me in and kept me engaged. I'm definitely going to be keeping my eyes out for the next volumes!...more
Parts of this are absolutely fascinating and wonderful. There’s a genuine sort of creeping terror regarding all of the horrors, both imagined and realParts of this are absolutely fascinating and wonderful. There’s a genuine sort of creeping terror regarding all of the horrors, both imagined and real, human and spirit-based, that really grounds this in the gothic genre. I loved the interplay of the sisters and the push and pull between what is “good” and what is “bad” and how the heroine of the story changes with your perception.
What didn’t work for me was how heavy handed a lot of it felt. Especially by the time we got to the midway point, the themes felt hammered in, and while there are genuine twists, the marketing comparisons have you looking out for them, so they feel a little less impactful (and honestly, it’s not a strong enough novel to stand up to Fingersmith, so that kind of hurts it). I also would have loved to see some more of the sibling relationships and past relationships explored a little more, since they do very much impact everyone’s present actions and choices.
That said, I did enjoy this thoroughly and flew through it, so rounding up a solid 3.5...more
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