Ashley
Not as twisty/turny as I expected. Also, not scary. Just a whodunit book. A good book, but not what I expected.
Good story with a nice resolution, but felt a little slow at times. I also didn't like the main character and the premise for one of the big twists seemed completely unbelievable to me.
Easy 5 stars and should be required reading. Chanel Miller is an excellent author and unflinchingly confronted and examined her rape and everything that happened after. I thought I knew a decent amount about how sexual assaults are handled by the police and the judicial system, but having to listen to Chanel navigate the entire process from start to finish brought out so many details that I have never thought about. People wonder why women and men don't report their sexual assaults, well, read this book and you will understand exactly why.
This book is centered on Chanel's particular case and experience, but unfortunately, her situation is not unique which means there are many takeaways on how we can apply the knowledge that we gained from this memoir to our own lives and how we approach the topics of rape, sexual assault, consent, victims, survivors, and the laws surrounding these issues.
This small book packs a lot into it's 118 pages. The story unfolds the way a mystery does, reads like a fantasy book, and contains the lyrical prose of contemporary fiction. I really enjoyed how the story was told; an old woman to a younger person whose job it is to collect stories and histories.
I didn't read this digitally, so here are some quotes I tabbed:
“You will never remember the great if you do not remember the small.”
“Sometimes the things we see do not make sense until many years have gone by. Sometimes it takes generations. We are taught to be content with that.”
“Being close to her was like being warmed by a bonfire, and I had been cold for a long time.”
“The Abbey at Singing Hills would say that if a record cannot be perfect, it should at least be present. Better for it to exist than for it to be perfect and only in your mind.”
“Submission but only to the truth.”
“Angry mothers raise daughters fierce enough to fight wolves. I am not worried for her in the least.”
I love witch books and overall I thought this book was okay and I can see why people would love it, but this had three issues for me. Two I think are unique to me and the other is a general criticism.
My first issue is that I felt this skewed too YA for my particular tastes. The main character is an older teen girl and I just don't care about reading the drama that comes along with that. This book didn't center on that teen drama, but is endemic to a teen girl growing up in a religious society in a household that enforces those ideals who happens to be interested in a boy from a different segment of society.
My second issue is the same issue I had with The Handmaid's Tale. I don't want to read fiction about religious societies that oppress women. It is too close to real life and I would rather read non-fiction with actionable items than have it incorporated into a fantasy book.
My general criticism is that I felt the book was kind of slow for the first 90% and then sped up and got real crazy in the last 10% and then ended. I wanted more witchcraft throughout the book and more world-building in that direction rather than reading about the Romeo and Juliet nature of her relationship with the secondary character.
This is classified as horror, but for me, it fits better as straight fiction. I didn't think this was scary, but it is gruesome and there is a huge supernatural component to the entire story. Maybe that is the definition of horror.
ANYWAY, I enjoyed this book and the story of why these men are being haunted/stalked by an elk which becomes much more impactful as the story progresses. I appreciated the blending of traditional and modern perspectives on Native American culture and the reconciliation of these modern Native American men dealing with their past and how to handle not only this supernatural force, but life as a Native American in the 21st century.
It's rare that I think the sequel is better than the original, but Evan Winter did a great job here. It was so exciting from start to finish and I could barely put it down. I loved Tau's character development, especially towards the end of the book, as well as his relationship with the other characters. Can't wait for the next one!
This book was not what I expected at all and I really enjoyed it. At the outset, I wasn't sure why I would care about Evelyn, but as her journey went on, I got completely sucked in and was along for the ride all the way to the end. Evelyn was a very complex character and she reminded me that what you see presented from people is not necessarily accurate or even close to the truth in some cases. The book also challenges you to think about how you would handle these situations if you were in Evelyn's shoes. The multiple narrators in the audiobook was also a nice touch.
Entertaining, but disjointed.
3.5. Enjoyable and entertaining, but the through line is hard to follow. I didn't mind the license Stephen Fry took in order to make each story simple and fun, in fact, I think it was helpful, but it mostly felt like a random selection of myths put together under one title.
Fun fantasy read. I wish I connected more with the group and the characters within it, but the world and the goofiness made up for it for me.
3.5 stars rounded up. The writing was beautiful and the narrators were excellent. I'm so glad I listened to this on audio, because it really brought the story to life. It is a pretty sad story about a family with great expectations for their children that doesn't work out as planned. I appreciated the incorporation of the land that was weaved throughout the book.
3.5 stars. I knew this was going to be funny, but I thought it would be a more genuine letter to her daughters. It was still enjoyable and very Ali Wong. I appreciated the discussion on representation in the media as your authentic and non-white self and not fitting into a stereotype.
Sidenote: I'm pretty good with raunchy topics, but even I got a little grossed out at times. I know this was the intention, but it still took me a little by surprise. This also may have been more dramatic from listening to the audiobook version.
3.5 rounded up to a 4. Pretty amusing, but felt like it should have been a serialized podcast rather than an audiobook.
Fast-paced, but still deep. A perfect criticism of classism wrapped up in one young man's quest for vengeance.
The battle scenes were well written and I didn't want to skim them to get back to the larger plot. There are several jaw dropping moments throughout the book and there is also a bit of a mystery that is revealed towards the end that I appreciated.
Highly recommend even if fantasy isn't a genre you normally read.
I love N.K. Jemisin and I love the idea of this book, but the execution fell flat for me. I think the characters being stereotypes of their neighborhoods, although it makes perfect sense for the concept, didn't help me connect with the characters and I found each one pretty obnoxious. I think that if the book had been longer, I would have been able to see more redeemable qualities in the characters and been more invested in the outcome of each of them.
I also might not like urban fantasy, which I never knew before. Combining such fantastical elements with a real world setting was difficult for me to get into. Also, all the New York insider knowledge required to understand the references was annoying to me.
Overall, the concept will stick with me and the story moved at a quick enough pace for a three star rating for me.
Difficult to read, because of some of the trauma that these characters have experienced, but well worth it, in my opinion. Roxanne Gay's writing style is excellent and I'm excited to read more from her.
This book sounds like it is written for me; zombies, talking animals, general hijinks. Unfortunately, I could not get into it! I just didn't care about any of the characters or what they were doing. It was also trying very hard to be funny and the humor just didn't land for me. The premise behind the zombies was very silly, although not very important to the plot so not a big deal.
My other issue was the writing itself. I felt like half of this book was just a list of different animals and the names for groups of animals. That combined with all the adjectives, similes, and metaphors, made this read like a high school English paper that had a very specific science prompt.
I really thought I was going to love this book, but it just didn't work for me.
3.5 stars rounded down. I will continue on with the series because I think the characters and the world is interesting, but this first book was pretty confusing. I couldn't keep all the characters straight between at least two people from each of nine different houses and a lot of them felt like fodder. I am pretty tolerant to not knowing what is going on in fantasy books, but if I am at the end of the book still trying to remember who is who, that's not a great sign for me. That being said, I liked the story, the relationship between Gideon and Harrow, and the narratives for the characters.
Wacky stories about love, not just romantic love, either. You have to listen to the audiobook version because all the narrators are different and excellent, many of them comedians and actors. I think you will enjoy this if you liked John Dies at the End, which is a weird comparison, but I promise, it does make sense.
This had a slow start for me, although I was intrigued and then picked up a third of the way through. I was also personally frustrated with the main character's gender role and relationship with her husband, because it felt so antithetical to how she started and how I think a smart, progressive woman would act. I give the author due credit for this, because there is so much nuance as to why she is behaving this way and it makes sense for the scenario, but I wanted to scream at some points.
The magic was really interesting and I think intuitively made sense so it was easy to pick up and the world isn't so different from ours that you struggle to understand what is going on. There is a fair amount of politics on the edges of everything happening that lends a lot of realism to the book and the scenarios in it.
The fight scenes and battles were excellent and the author pulls no punches in them (pardon the pun).
My biggest issue was how quickly a certain character changed their behavior; it felt so jarring, but eventually the change is further explored and explained which made that change make more sense.
Highly recommend.
Still love this series. I feel like these are the types of stories I would love to be able to write. Seanan McGuire creates fantastical worlds where kids, who have real issues, get to have adventures, but with very high stakes.
3.5 stars rounded up. This was like a collection of black mirror episodes that dove deeper into the science or technology that it would take to get to these points and then explored the limits of these scenarios morally and ethically. I enjoyed it even though sometimes I struggle with the science part of sci-fi and I can easily recommend it for sci-fi fans who enjoyed Black Mirror.