Anna Tschetter
I am not sure why I finished this because I didn't like it much at all. I was interested because I like true crime and I like local stories but almost immediately I knew it wasn't going to be good.
It wasn't very well written and bordered on dull, mostly because I felt like I learned so much more about the cops investigating than the victims and their families. Boyle did spend time on the lives of the victims but also made sure to let the reader know how hard it is to be a cop or whatever, despite the fact that they did not solve this case. This is not uncommon in true crime but I guess lately I've read a lot of really great, sensitive, and thoughtful true crime books - or books that question the genre as a whole - that it really stood out as glaringly obvious.
She also barely touched on the fact that the police, the state, and society at large failed these women and their families. Perhaps if their experiences of rape and assault had been believed, and if we as a society didn't consider people with drug addiction to be lost causes, then there could have been a better outcome.
Finally, the parts that I really hated were Boyle's insistence on continuing to call the victims prostitutes, “hookers,” and “girls,” as opposed to sex workers and/or women. It wasn't all the time and perhaps I was missing the fact that these were quotes from cops from the 1980s but the book was written in 2017 so she should have known better. The last straw in this regard for me was a person who was clearly a transwoman in the middle of her transition and was still deadnamed, misgendered, and treated with contempt. Fuck ALL the way off, Maureen.
I found this compelling, devastating, and nuanced. Rosen avoids easy answers and solutions and it's clear that he loves/loved his childhood friend Michael Laudor. It sort of seems like he comes to the conclusion that Michael should have been forcibly medicated/hospitalized - or he hints toward that - and I don't really know how to feel about it. I can certainly understand his perspective.
It's complicated but I appreciated learning about it.
I think this is a great graphic novel for tweens and teens with climate anxiety (OK, and adults too) that doesn't give into easy answers but emphasizes community. I also really like how Wang portrayed Ash's deadname in text, with a black bar over the entire thing. It was an interesting way to both respect the character but also show their lived experience of hearing their previous name.
I think this was a very realistic portrayal of OCD: not every person with OCD has issues around cleanliness and intrusive thoughts aren't just like weird thoughts that pop into your head for a laugh, but can be really distressing and destablizing. To that end, this could be triggering for some folks!
I really enjoyed this and definitely want to read the rest of the series! I know some folks would call it “cozy” fantasy but I think it's probably a bit too violent and scary for that. I get what they are getting at because it's more like a fantasy with a smaller focus. Yes, there is political intrigue but it all takes place within one city and thus far, the fate of the entire world isn't resting on these folks as in other epic fantasies. The world-building is great and the characters feel really real and delightfully awkward. I also think that Grace's PTSD-esque blackouts were handled really well. I did really hate how they kept calling 37-year-old Stephen “middle-aged” but I guess that's my own problem with being . . . 37. :
This was a thoughtful true crime story that was keenly aware of the problematic nature of true crime stories. I'm sure some people will not like the connections the author makes with his personal life but it does seem like that sort of six degrees of whoever happens a lot in Ireland with it being a relatively small country.
I think that the way that the author approaches talking about the victims is an interesting one. He says that the current trend in true crime is to go deep into victims' lives to make sure that the murderer isn't the “star” of the book, reminding readers that the victims were real people with hopes and dreams before their death. He sort of takes the angle that victims still deserve privacy and, to my interpretation, filling in so many details of their lives is still exploitative. It gave me a lot of think about and as a true crime readers/consumer, I do appreciate (some) writers interrogating the genre and being really thoughtful about it.
I don't remember when I first read Hyperion but I know I loved it. It must have been before I started keeping really accurate records on Goodreads so possibly between college and starting a library job; maybe between 2008-2012? It only matters because I think I've changed as a reader since the first time I read it. I remember loving it in all of its wackiness. Previously, I had it listed at 5 stars but after this re-read, I'm bumping it down to four stars. I still really love parts of the book and think they are absolutely brilliant but to me, other parts don't hold it. Could it be that I just didn't notice them the first time I read it or was I so enthralled with the storytelling that any discomfort was easily ignored? It's hard to say.
The parts that don't hold up for me are the things that I assume stem from Dan Simmons' right-wing politics - and I think he's gotten worse over time! The man has never created a female character without commenting on her breasts every time she is present in the text. His characters are pretty overwhelmingly white, the culture he draws upon from “Old Earth” is mostly Western-focused, and it's weird that everyone is apparently straight? In the future?! With evolved humans and AI and other things? That seems unlikely but perhaps that's just me.
Even though I'm sure no one cares about my second read of a science fiction book from 1989, I want to talk about it because it is a pretty influential book and the fact that when it's good it's SO GOOD and when it's bad . . . it's bad. It's so interesting and infuriating!
I'm going to talk pilgrim by pilgrim because that's how I think of the book and clearly Simmons' intention. Spoilers abound, so beware....
The Priest's Tale: “The Man who Cried God” - 5/5 stars. For me, this is the best part of the book! This is the story that hooks you, that pulls you into this wild, gory, and fucked up story, and gives you a high that keep you chasing the rest of the novel. I think Simmons does something interesting with the concepts of salvation and eternal life and turns them into horror, which makes a lot of sense from some points of view. Father Dure's eventual crucifixion on the tesla tree in an attempt to die sets up a looming tone for the rest of the book, with the characters and reading anticipating eventual suffering and crucifixion on the Shrike's Tree of Pain.
The Soldier's Tale: “The War Lovers” - 3/5 stars. I like this one and I like Kassad's character arc from soldier to anti-war activist. I really like the idea of the lovers meeting through time and war but I wish Mystery/Moneta was a real character. Truly, you'd think by Simmons' description she was simply boobs and a nice ass. It's so frustrating. I will also say that reading about a Palestinian survivor and badass in a time of genocide against Palestinians made me tear up.
The Poet's Tale: “Hyperion Cantos” - 4/5 stars. Martin Silenus is my least favorite character in the book because he's just so odious and annoying and self important. But I really like how his story touches the trials and tribulations of artistic inspiration, writing, and honestly just being a human.
The Scholar's Tale: “The River Lethe's Taste Is Bitter” - 5/5 stars. The Weintraub family's story is so tragic. I think the renewing of and commentary on the story of Abraham and Isaac is interesting and well done. The pain that Sol and Sarai go through as they watch Rachel forget and grow younger is truly heartbreaking . . . but I wish that Simmons hadn't been like, “Oh and Sarai died off page WHOOPS.” Come on! Rude.
The Detective's Tale: “The Long Good-Bye” - 4/5 stars. Brawne Lamia - a clumsy call back to Keats' fiance Fanny Brawne, in my opinion - gets less objectification than the other female characters, but it's still there. She is allowed to be strong and smart, as well as beautiful. This section is really great because it does do a lot of expansion on the worldbuilding of the TechnoCore and the AIs and how they are influencing Hegemony politics. Brawne and Johnny's love story wouldn't make sense without the Keats/Fanny Brawne connection so I wish it was a little more fleshed out.
The Consul's Tale: “Remembering Siri” - 2/5 stars. This one I struggle with. I find the jumping back and forth in time a bit hard to follow and feel weirded out about Merin and Siri's “romance” starting when she is 15 - Simmons talks SO MUCH about how she's barely sixteen! GROSS! - and he is 19 (?). I do like the Romeo and Juliet references within the fight between Siri's cousin and Merin's friend as well as the anti-colonialist and environmentalist message, I just think it just muddled in the narrative.
Overall, the stronger parts outweigh the weaker parts. I'm glad I re-read it and am excited to read The Fall of Hyperion. I never read Endymion and the Rise of Endymion because I heard they weren't great but maybe I will this go around.
Jane Hur writes the BEST historical mysteries with the swooniest romances. Everything feels meticulously researched and there is so much detail in her books. I especially love all of the details about clothing because I find that super fascinating. It's really fun to look up pictures/illustrations and imagine the characters wearing the clothes.
In addition to all of the details, her characters are well-rounded and still have agency even if living in a time when life can be really prescribed. Iseul is such a badass but in a believable way: she can hit a dude with a branch in a panic but also needs to be taught how to cook because she was raised wealthy.
If you're looking for a good mystery, a good romance, or looking to read something set in the Joseon period of Korea, this is a great pick!
