Posts

The Incandescent

Image
The Incandescent Emily Tesh, 2025 Premise: In an alternate present where some schools teach magic, Doctor Walden is teaching teenagers how not to get eaten by demons while dealing with constant bureaucracy and her own nonexistent love life.  I really, really liked this book. I'm not sure I loved it as much as the author's first novel , but that one was a truly unique experience. The two stories are different beasts, although there are commonalities, like occasionally unreliable narration and sapphic relationships. I liked the characters a lot, and I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the kind of nonsense that any elite school deals with - teenage drama spilling into the classroom, teacher infighting, the tension between kids from rich families and the handful of kids on scholarships, etc. - and potentially life-and-death magical incursions by extradimensional forces. As a stupid American, I did sometimes have trouble following the British school terminology (how old is a what number...
Post a Comment
Read more

Persuasion and Once Persuaded, Twice Shy

Image
Persuasion and Once Persuaded, Twice Shy Jane Austen, 1817 and Melodie Edwards, 2024 Premise: Anne Elliot was once in love. But someone convinced her that her beau wasn't right for her, and she broke it off. Eight years later, she hasn't found anyone who lives up to her first love, and now he's back in town and she's going to have to see him again. I've seen several lists claim that Persuasion is the best of Jane Austen's novels. It's been so long since I've read any others that I can't speak to that either way. Being in the habit of more modern writing, it took a bit of adjustment when I started this book, but I liked it fine.  It was an interesting portrait of a family with more pretensions to nobility than cash to support said pretensions. Anne's foolish father and sister insist on their own importance in a very obnoxious way, while pragmatic Anne is sad about renting out their family home, but ready to get on with what's necessary. It...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games)

Image
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games) Suzanne Collins, 2020 Premise: This prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy shows the youth of Coriolanus Snow. Explores the impact of war, deprivation, and propaganda on the children of the Capitol - choices are made and paths are set.  I really liked this, but going by the reviews, some people do not understand it. I empathize with a reader who doesn't want to read from the villain's perspective, but some people seem to think the reader is supposed to always identify with the protagonist.  The whole point of this book, as far as I can tell, is that there were a lot of factors shaping the kids in the Capitol, but Snow could have chosen differently. Yes, he was exposed to significant propaganda from a young age. Yes, he was under pressure from his family to be a certain way and from his society to think a certain way. But the book makes a point of showing other characters who find themselves with similar opportunities, and mak...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Electric State

Image
The Electric State Simon Stalenhag, 2017 Premise: Michelle is traveling to the coast to find something important. No one can help her. Many people are dead or nearly so, hooked into a VR technology that gave people something so much better than reality that they were lost to it. Accompanied only by a robot, she reflects on her life and tries to avoid ominous forces. After not finishing the recent Netflix adaptation because it's boring, I found many people online bemoaning how bad the movie was compared to how good the book is. So I asked the library to send it my way when there was a spare copy. A few months later, here we are.  It's a really cool book, y'all. It's largely an art book, made up of these huge, eerie paintings, depicting a tech-heavy world crumbling under its own inventions. Lonely vistas overseen by abandoned towers or half-buried robots, watched by ubiquitous advertising, but no people. The images are accompanied by text describing sections of Michelle...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mrs. Victoria Buys a Brothel

Image
Mrs. Victoria Buys a Brothel Talhí Briones, 2025 Premise: It's 1865 when Victoria finally leaves. She leaves her abusive husband with no destination and hardly any plans. A friend helps her flee Salt Lake City, and she ends up in a tiny Western town with only enough local cowboys to support a few small businesses. There, she'll find friendship, purpose, and maybe actual love. Awwww.  Say it again.  Awwwww!  This romance novel was super-cute. I loved the cast of quirky, complex characters, the setting, and the story. This wears its fandom origins on its sleeve, but that just means it doesn't apologize for spending time on characters' feelings or for packing the cast with a huge array of diverse backgrounds and personalities.  I like a romance that balances the romance storyline with additional plot elements and this definitely delivers. Victoria and love interest Natane are both older women with lots to learn about each other. Victoria challenges herself to do what s...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Pairing

Image
The Pairing Casey McQuiston, 2024 Premise: Theo and Kit haven't seen each other in four years, since their epic lifelong-friendship-turned-relationship imploded. Somehow, they each separately decided to finally take the European food and wine tour they had canceled due to their breakup, and now they're stuck on a gorgeous three-week vacation together. In an effort to let bygones be bygones, they decide to try being friends again (and to compete to see who can hook up with more hot Europeans while on the tour). But maybe nothing compares to having just the right partner. I'm not sure I loved this quite as much as I loved the frothy fun of Red, White, and Royal Blue or the paranormal adventure/history lesson of One Last Stop , but I did really, really like it.  I liked both protagonists. Wine genius, pop-culture aficionado, and self-described fuckup Theo narrates the first half, and we see their insecurity and their determination. Pastry professional and art geek Kit takes o...
Post a Comment
Read more

All the Murmuring Bones

Image
All the Murmuring Bones A.G. Slatter, 2021 Premise: Miren O'Malley (last true daughter of those O'Malleys, the ones who fortune used to favor) has always lived in the big house by the cliffs by the sea. That's where her grandparents raised her and where she expected to live out her days. But when her grandfather dies and her grandmother tries to arrange her marriage to restore their family fortunes, everything changes overnight.   This was a very cool book. I've seen Irish/Celtic elements in many fantasy novels, but this world was completely steeped in them. It was extensive to the point that early on I wasn't sure whether it was set in an alternate world or just Ireland with real magic. And just the feel of it - combining a generations-long story of family secrets with supernatural and dark fairy tale elements (and in-world fairy tales as well). Very cool. Much like some of the oldest tales and myths, the story does meander a bit, and ends up as a journey containin...
Post a Comment
Read more