Alicia
After reading a slew of underwhelming new releases, I am SO glad this book came into my life. This world is vivid, the characters complex, and it does not easily succumb to many typical YA fantasy tropes. I could NOT stop reading, the action and plot keeping me turning the pages while the writing and relationships propelled much of the drama. I was also so impressed by Joy's careful handling of race, colonialism, and systemic oppression. If you like Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, you will love this. I am SO excited for the next one!
3.5 stars
The worst has happened and America as we know it is gone. There has apparently been some sort of climate crisis, referred to here as the Big Water which has drowned half of the United States. Navajo nation still remains having erected magical walls which each have different features that protect the territory. All is not perfect on this side of the Wall, however, and our main character Maggie Hoskie, the “monsterslayer” spends her time fighting monsters and trying to figure out who is bringing them into this world. There's magic, Diné gods, actual monsters, a hot, mysterious man who becomes her partner, Kai, and some all-around badassery.
This was a tough one to rate. First, I have high hopes for this series. The world Roanhorse has created is so vivid and rich with Navajo mythology that has never before been written like this. It's so unique, impressive, and expansive that I couldn't put it down, even when other aspects of the work bothered me.
The characters and setting are seriously compelling and the story is kind of like a cross between The Walking Dead, Mad Max, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer—except on the post-apocalyptic rez.
The pace was also incredibly fast with a lot of monster-fighting action which kept me hooked the whole way through. However, I did feel in many places like I didn't understand what was happening, how it started happening, and why it was happening (THAT. ENDING. ?????!!!)
Having said that this is a truly unique debut with an exciting voice that I can't wait to hear more from. It wasn't quite a 4 star read for me but let's say somewhere between 3.5 & 3.75.
3.5 ⭐️
This book was pure fun. If you like anything Victorian, involving vampires, Frankenstein, 19th century
“monster” stories, that's not too heavy and is totally unique, this will do the trick. A feminist, revisionist retelling of sorts of the classic tales, the members of the Athena Club set off of another set of epic adventures across Europe in this book, to exciting ends. I enjoyed the characters, feeling like they could all be dear friends, and the various twists and turns throughout. While the writing is not exactly groundbreaking, the mysterious plotting and quirky characters stuck with me regardless. It was exactly what I needed right now.
This is one of those books that you never forget. Leni and Cora, battling not only the Alaskan wilderness but the wild in her Vietnam vet father are two characters I will never forget. Hannah has a way of writing women characters in vivid colors, and characters who would be villains in a lesser writer's hands with cold humanity, in all its shades of grey.
As with The Nightingale, read with a box of tissues at hand.
This is how it started, with a sister weeping in her bed, a child so terrified she sold herself to a thief, a girl so lovely, the world went to war to possess her.
I never thought I could see a mashup of Les Mis, The Jungle Book, Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Six of Crows, but here it is. And it is not for the faint of heart. Eponine (Nina) has learned, at great personal cost, how to navigate the gritty Parisian underworld, the Court of Miracles, to survive. When her adopted sister, Cosette (Ettie), comes under threat, she will do everything in her power to keep her safe.
This is a story rich in atmosphere. It's gritty, grisly, smoke filled, and full of heart. I loved all the nods to Les Miserables and the Jungle Book, but Nina and the others are fully formed, fierce characters separate from those stories. The world here is rich and complex and I'm excited to see what's next for our cast of characters. If you're looking for something dark and different that will take you on a wild journey, read this book.
Rarely does a book come along that so completely transports me, who's characters are so alive they feel like friends, and in whose world you feel at home in. More than that, a book that reminds you why you fell so in love with books in the first place. For me, this was that book.
In fact, I believe the best way to read this is to simply dive in headfirst. You will quickly lose yourself to the world of Lazlo Strange and Weep. A world of war, of long-lost magic, heroes, villains, gods and goddesses, love and hope. It's a world you'll not soon want to leave.
At times frustrating (why can't the characters just do what I want??), heartrending (Helene! Elias!), thrilling, and romantic, this sequel book always kept me on the edge of my seat and turning the pages at lightning speed. If you're into adventure, romance, a little bit of magic, and captivating political twist and turns, you should definitely check this out. I can't wait (but am also afraid to) to see where these characters go next!
“We are all migrants through time.”
This is my first read from Mohsin Hamid and, boy, what an intro. This is a beautiful book, first and foremost. The writing here is lyrical, spare even, and poignant. I appreciated that, though it was clearly trying to tell the larger story of the global refugee crisis, and felt a lot like an allegory, it was still grounded in the relationship of Saeed and Nadia. Without them and their incredible story arc this would have definitely lost its laser-focus and felt a lot like other stories about global current issues.
My one and only complaint here were the odd flash-vignettes scattered throughout. These little stories about random people throughout the world had (what felt like) thin connections to the overall subject and, to me, did not serve to add anything to the story at all. To me, they were more of a distraction and I ended up skimming over the ones at the end. I thought, at some point, they might reveal some connection to the story but they never really did. I felt this book would have been much better off without them.
Overall, a powerful, quick read that will stay with me.
"You know, the voiceover continues, it would be nice if we were defined, ultimately, by the people and places we loved. Good things. But at the end of the day, there's the reality that we're not. Does the good stuff really have the weight that the weird stuff does? What makes the deeper impact—all the ridges and gathers—on who we are? Do we have a choice?”
Based on the cover, the jacket copy, and every other reference I've seen to this book, I was completely unprepared for what was inside. To hear it described as a novel about “female friendship” and road trips, is to do it a grave injustice.
This book was gritty, raw, unflinching in its view of its own characters, shining unflattering light on every nook and cranny of their psyches. There are moments that will leave you deeply disturbed, moments of really dark humor, moments that will make you cry, because, at the end, I felt like I was so with these characters and inside their minds that I knew them.
While the characters themselves are often chaotic, unreliable, and all over the place, I felt that the writing kept it all together. The writing was solid, never really veering off on stylistic flights, but adapting to the necessity of the story and pace at any given time. Would definitely recommend (with trigger warnings).
<>There is not a thin woman inside me, awaiting excavation. I am one piece.
Shrill by Lindy West is quite a book. Lindy is a smart, funny, brave, and vibrant woman. Reading this book was like sitting with her and some girlfriends, sharing crazy stories, sometimes veering into the deeply meaningful, over beers. The story itself is a powerful one and she has lived through some pretty horrifying internet abuse, live TV abuse, and the general awfulness of men towards “fat” women.
Having that awkward, babyish word dragging on you every day of your life, from childhood into maturity, well, maybe it's no wonder that I prefer hot chocolate to whiskey and substitute Harry Potter audiobooks for therapy.
explores the universality
made her stronger
Never preachy,
it was pretty damn awesome.
“There is no limit to what the heart can carry.”
This is a sweet tale of witches and Simply Enormous Dragons and swamp monsters who love poetry and an eleven year old girl made magic by moonlight. So sweet and compelling, this was a charming fairy tale perfect for days you need a little extra warmth in your life.
She stooped to pick a wild pink rose, avoiding the tiny spines that slivered like unseen glass hairs onto one's fingers. There was little scent, but the creamy softness of the petals like the insides of a dog's ear more than made up for it. She placed one on her tongue, and imagined she could taste the hills, the bittersweet tang of life.
This book started beautiful. I was completely mesmerized by the gorgeous descriptions of the prairies of Western Nebraska and Western South Dakota and the compassionate retellings of the sufferings of the Lakota Sioux. This book starts with a mystery that is one of the central conflicts of the story. The characters were complex and sketched with such subtlety and mystery that I was excited at the prospect of slowly unraveling their individual histories which led them to each moment.
She blew in like a hard west wind, the kind that dropped a man's bones to zero, froze his hair to his skull, and clogged his eyes with ice.
nuance and sensitivity
The ending itself was actually the biggest let down for me.
out
I feel that this could have been an incredible Western but which lost its way at the end.
3.75 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I have probably never felt less sympathetic for a main character-narrator than I did for this one. At least not recently. I am referring, of course, to Catherine West, the bored, lonely, self-indulgent, trust-fund baby that is the main focus of We Could Be Beautiful. I mean, these are the kinds of things she says:
When I said “I love you,” it might have been more for me than for her. I was making a serious effort to become softer. I was practicing. It made me so uncomfortable to utter these words that I actually felt dizzy for a second, and distractedly reached for my water glass to avoid eye contact.
it would have been incredibly easy for this character to veer off into unforgivable silliness and absurdity
This is not a thriller in the traditional sense
a steady ominous thrum surrounding William and “The Secret”
“And the worst of it is,” Bunny said, as if Kate hadn't spoken, “the worst is, it won't be any different from the fix you're in here—living with a crazed science person who's got a system for every little move you make and spouts off his old-man health theories every chance he gets and measures the polyphenols or whatever in every meal.”
Though it's not exactly the next “Great American Novel”, Vinegar Girl is a quirky, lighthearted, and quick summer read. It plays out far more like a modern romantic comedy with just a dash of Shakespeare rather than an overt retelling of the Taming of the Shrew as I at first thought. The story centers around Kate Battista, a 29-year-old preschool aide who seems to be thoroughly disappointed by life. It's only when her absentminded scientist father comes up with a truly hair-brained scheme that Kate's life takes a pretty big turn.
While some people seem to be objecting to some of the more controversial undertones to the novel, I found that they are no more than what is present in the original play itself. There were many laugh-out-loud moments for me and, overall, it was quite enjoyable. Exactly the thing to read on a 90 degree, bright summer day.
I can only describe this as kooky in the best way possible.
Extremely original and creative, I was so fascinated by all the backstories and worlds that the characters had visited that the main drive and mystery plot of the story was actually less interesting and important to me.
Reminiscent of creepy fairy tales and darkly comic old horror films, I'm so glad I picked this up!
At so many points along the way, I thought I knew exactly what David Mitchell was up to. I thought I had a pretty good grasp on what kind of novel this was. As it turns out, I didn't.
This is one of those works that was difficult for me to give a rating to and even categorize. Mitchell plays subtly with different prose styles, voices, and pacing, among other things. I was blown away by his ability to completely inhabit the voice and mind of his characters (which were numerous). Each section, honestly, could have stood by itself as a novella.
My one major complaint, however, is just that. Many times throughout reading I actually felt like I could stop. Sometimes I wasn't even sure why I should continue. For most of the book, it felt like the threads that connected these stories were so thin that I didn't actually care about them at all. After the big reveal at the end, I did feel-at last!- a sense of fulfillment but even this was somewhat dulled by the long final section.
The Moor's Account is a fictionalized memoir of a Spanish expedition to the “New World” as told by Esteban/Mustafa, a slave. It's a history of these types of journeys unlike any I've heard before. There is much detail here, both of the landscape and the myriad Native tribes with which the Spaniards have to contend. Esteban is a character that is easy to root for along his erstwhile quest for freedom that is the one shining light after tragedy after tragedy befalls the group. Lalami's writing is precise and fluid.
My main difficulty with this book came from the fact that while the detail is quite extensive and interesting, I felt the characters often got lost within the sheer volume of it. Even though told from the first perspective, it often read to me like a historical account, verging on textbook-like. I often felt distanced from the characters and not really attached to the outcome. I almost gave up a few times, especially during the dense mid-section where Esteban accounted every misstep and tragedy that befell the characters, to which, at that point, there was little narrative effect. My favorite sections were actually those chapters where Esteban lovingly recalled his family left behind after he became a slave and his intense desire to get back to them. These were the parts that felt most human and profound to me.
Read this is if you're looking for a nice, cozy place to escape to filled with tea, friends, raspberry jam, talking plants, and tea (of course). I loved that there was enough of a backstory for Kiela that I could see where she was coming from and understand her struggles. While I wish there might have been more exploration of some of the other characters and their histories, this book read exactly like it wanted to: a warm hug.
I loved every minute of this very English, original, lighthearted adventure. If you're looking for something that is whimsical and just takes you away for a while. Like a mix of Nevermoor (another amazing children's book!) and Neil Gaiman.
I covered the night and its secrets and regrets in coloratura cavatina, until all that could be remembered was me.
In the acknowledgments for QOTN, Chee writes that this novel is meant to be a “reinvention” of the Mozart opera, The Magic Flute. This is probably the best way I could put it. It's the tragic story of ‘Lilliet', somewhat of a constant damsel-in-distress cum woman of her time. She constantly is trying to escape the tragedy of her circumstances and is constantly chained by them.
Firstly, the writing here is gorgeous. While it is never flowery, and I could agree with those who've called it detached, it is always evocative. I mean, there are sentences like this:
This was how he'd always imagined operas, not as stages filled with women and men in wigs, but a storm, woods, a woman lost and in love singing somewhere in the dark.
The overwhelming feeling I got from the character was helplessness, which very much came from being a woman in the late 1800s in Paris. Many times over she is hurt and allows herself to be hurt by men, which can be frustrating to a modern reader.
The way in which Chee brings the magic, glittering, decadence of Belle Epoque Paris, courtesans, empresses and divas, together with the tragedy of war, loss, and grief is truly remarkable.
However, I found myself losing my appetite for all this about halfway through. I felt that that the main tragedies of the plot became too redundant and lost their edge. Personally, I felt this story could have been far more powerful had it been edited down. Six hundred pages of pure operatic tragedy was a lot to swallow at times.
Overall, though, a dramatic, strong, and decadent read.
I struggled with what to rate this book. It's not a literary masterpiece; it's not breaking any new ground or doing anything particularly special with the writing. It's fluffy, a little violent, a little smutty. But it's fun. I genuinely enjoyed reading it and sped through it pretty quickly.
Comparisons in other reviews to Twilight , Beauty and the Beast , and even “True Blood”, are probably fair. Maas uses the Beauty and the Beast fable as the broad outline for her story. Instead of vampires, we get “gorgeous” and powerful faeries, with a human girl, Feyre, thrown into the mix.
If you don't mind something close to those stories with a bit more fun thrown in, you will like this book.
I really struggled with what to give this book. From the first, I was hooked.
“When your mama was the geek, my dreamlets,” Papa would say, “she made the nipping off of noggins such a crystal mystery that the hens themselves yearned toward her...”
I devoured it. The words were electric, dysfunctional, odd, and out of place, much like the characters. Crystal Lil and Al Binewski, in all their twisted striving, make a carnival out of their family. An albino humpback dwarf, Oly, and the narrator, conjoined twins, Iphy and Elly, a boy born with flippers for arms and legs, Arty, and a telekinetic called Chick. Together they are the story. The crazed, wild, tender, and heartbreaking story.
Despite its wackiness–or maybe because of it–I was hooked. You can't look away. My main problem with came about 3/4 of the way through where it felt like the light had gone out and the electricity had died. Perhaps this was meant to reflect the simultaneous decay of the Binewskis but, nevertheless, it made me want to quit several times. Still, the overall story itself is so dark and colorful and alive that, ultimately, that's what I won't soon forget.
“They thought to use and shame me but I win out by nature, because a true freak cannot be made. A true freak must be born.”
Wild by Cheryl Strayed is an honest, raw, memoir of one woman's journey across the grueling Pacific Crest Trail. I must confess; I picked this up thinking it would be another Eat, Pray, Love and was surprised to discover it was definitely not that. Yes, it's a woman undergoing a somewhat extreme journey far from home after some serious emotional upheaval. Yes, she learns some profound things about life, herself, and the world along the way. But Cheryl Strayed somehow manages to keep all this aspiration firmly grounded in the West Coast earth.
Though it's not the greatest book I've read this year, it's still a thoroughly enjoyable read where I often felt like I was hiking right along with Cheryl.