Julia

I wanted to like this more!! Obviously Lynch is in the midpoint of a sweeping epic, but this one felt too plotty to me in a way that detracted from how much I love Locke & Jean. I just want a swashbuckling buddy novel!! Saw another review that said Sabetha in reality is a disappointment, but I didn't feel that way - enjoyed both the awkwardness of their adolescent fumbling and the "will they or won't they" vibe of their adult interaction, including some good communication! The first two novels are also very plotty, too, but I think what makes the difference is the setting changes. Here, the mage, election, and play storylines end up feeling tedious as opposed to excitedly involved (although - do love where the mage storyline ends, and feel like Lynch has done great work foreshadowing how the Eldren history relates to all this throughout the series). I'll keep reading, but am taking a break.

I'm writing the review a few months late, so keeping it short because my memory is fuzzy. There was *quite* a plot twist at the end that I didn't mind, and I liked the setting, but the writing felt a bit "telling not showing." I don't think I would return to what seemed like the setup to a sequel unless it plopped into my lap.

I really like this part of Lidia Yuknavitch's blurb on the back: "A Physical Education performs power from the inside out." I've been reading Casey's column from back when she was "Ask A Swole Woman," and "She's a Beast" (https://www.shesabeast.co/) is the newsletter I am most likely to forward to friends. Casey is incisive, incredibly intellectually curious, and writes with a big wide open heart. None of the content of her memoir is surprising for a long-time reader, but stands alone in its own right, and is a book bound to make you want to go lift heavy things and feel the edges of your own power. Maybe actual weights, maybe metaphorical ones; I loved this start to finish.

This was great. I'd say like The Hunger Games for adults, but I think both deserve to be recognized on their own merits? Gong's world building is very evocative and the smaller details of this seamy, overrun city really pop off the page. Lots of "will they or won't they" tension, and a cliffhanger surprise that did indeed surprise me, but it's the kind I was thrilled by, not mad about. I think at some point the games are a plot inhibitor instead of propulsive thing? Interested to read #2.

This is my book club's 4th Simpson book (we've done Rehearsals for Living, As We Have Always Done, and Noompiming) and I just LOVE IT ALL. I also heard her at book tour stop at Tidelands in Seattle a few weeks ago, and was starstruck. There is so much wisdom in this book, and I think that all of Simpson's writing is love letters. This one is a love letter to water, her mentor & Elder Doug, and to the children of the future. Two quotes I especially love: "Perhaps racial capitalism has destroyed the humility necessary to see that humans are not the conductor of the euphony of life, but instead play the third chair of a bassline instrument? Perhaps world making isn't up to us, at least not on a planetary scale. Perhaps world making is a communal struggle," (p. 34) and "World making requires love, kindness, and care. It requires collectivity and relationality, and it is these practices that generate the knowledge needed to move on to the next step" (p. 41).

Read this with a friend for an impromptu two-person book club, and I agree with her - this is smut crack! Short on plot, long (hah pun intendd) on spice. The novella length really did mean that the plot was wrapped up too quickly/neatly, so the tension felt rushed/artificial compared to her novel length stuff, but I'm not mad about any of it!

What a cap to the trilogy! I felt a bit irritated by the dynamic of the two mains in #2, all redeemed by the steamy hot tension between the mains in #3! Both emotional and sexual, and a truly phenomenally well-written negotiation of kink/fantasy scene. Plus a nail-biting non-romantic plot re: the fate of all magicians in Britain, and Marske's sharp, sharp prose, like this gem: "Alan's annoyance gave an enjoyable lash of its tail." The trilogy as a whole is a delightful and wondrous accomplishment.

This is practically perfect Hazelwood. Not in Love definitely one of my top two faves of hers, and now the end of this duology makes for a very closely beloved top #3 (my other is Love, Theoretically). Classic Hazelwood banter, spice, the works. For me personally, making a finance bro sexy (even if he's technically a biotech finance bro) is a real tall order, and she delivered. Also, the title! Chef's kiss.

I...don't know if I'll return to this. It was fine, but my two main issues are that the world feels fairly derivative of Maas' Prythian, which definitely pre-existed it, and there's only one sex scene! But it's really just a glorified makeout! I want my spice spicier than that, what can I say.

Look, I love a shipboard caper! So much about this is so good, and Marske's prose is razor sharp and very, very funny. My main beef with this book is I really resented one of the female main character's commitment phobia, which impacted by feelings about the (excellent, queer) spice. But honestly, that's a personal problem.

I'm not mad I read this, and think I would eventually read the other half of the duology, but am not in a rush to do so. I liked the world and the parts of the plot related to politics and persecution. Still, could have used more spicy scenes (a chronic lament for me), and I'm not sure what it is, but was just missing the compelling plot elements that propel me into going to the sequel right away in oher series.

Really enjoyed this trilogy. My star ratings would be higher if the murder-y parts weren't riiiiiiiight at the edge of my tolerance for violence in romance. I especially love how Weaver attends to the non-romance relationships, both between the female main characters (pre-existing and developing friendships), and the male main characters (brothers). Also, her spice is GREAT.

Collective Liberation Book Club pick for May. I liked this! Not as gobsmacking as some of the other things we read (like the powerful punch of Norma Wong earlier this year), but self-reflective, meditative, and grounding. I think my favorite part was a relatively small detail about how the world is also interacting back with us, and climate crises may expand the Overton window very rapidly, and how we might rise to meet those crises/that expansion.

A delightful romp! Save for the scary mystery bits (which were also great, just legitimately nerve-wracking). Love these characters, love the slow build, love the world. Marske had me at "queer magical Edwardian romance." Excited to read the rest of the trilogy.

I think this is a tremendously valuable book and my trainees have given me feedback that's definitely true for their experiences, as well. My read dates are wrong, though - it actually took me over a year to get through! I'm not sure why. I do think that Mullan's repetition, which I think works for me in some contexts and not others, led me to drag my heels a little bit when I was wanting the power of her ideas and practice to be more condensed/concentrated. I'll definitely be returning to parts of it again and again, especially the practical elements.

Oh dear. In a "spicy pepper book club" with 3 friends, and none of us loved this. Too much telling, not showing, and the characters were a bit wooden. I liked the concept of the world, though!

This series is growing on me? I can't tell if I'm desensitized or it was slightly less gore-y, but that part felt more tolerable. Spicy was also spicier in some fun and creative ways. I still really don't buy the premise that vigilante murders are different than "regular" murders, but overall, I'll finish the series.

Good, but not my favorite Tibbert. Should have seen that coming - I'm not a monarchist! Neither is she, but it's obviously central to the plot in a way that irked me more than I anticipated. Still, it's sexy like Tibbert always is, and her most adventurous in terms of dynamics (e.g., power exchange).

I basically underlined this whole book, therefore defeating the purpose of underlining. Wong just transmits so much wisdom that hit me at the perfect time. The trick will be being brave enough to keep jumping into the slipstream, as she puts it. What a gift this book is to the world.

My star rating here is ambivalent, not average. This moved at a really nice clip, was very funny, and I liked the romance! The parts I didn't like were that it really was just shy of too gory for me, and even if they're motivated by vigilante justice, I'm still not on board with serial killers. I'll still finish this series, though, so I wasn't excessively bothered.

WOW. Read this for book club, and was gobsmacked. Benally's writing is more poetry than prose, and he is idealistic, uncompromising, visionary, and incendiary. This was so powerful and I'll return to it frequently.

Okay, I am stating in writing for perpetuity that I need to focus my energy on COMPLETE D series. It's not that I can't stand a cliffhanger, but it's gotta be a GOOD cliffhanger, and my primary beef with Onyx Storm (other than it's hard to maintain same spice intensity when the protagonists are in a committed long-term relationship hah) is I can't tell if there were lots of loose ends that we're going to get AMAZING plot cohesion on in the next books, or if there are loose ends because the editing should be tighter.

Oh, interesting. This is by far Hazelwood's kinkiest, and I liked the collegiate/Olympic athletic subplot. It's not as explicitly feminist as her STEMinist ones, but that's just an observation, not a criticism.

Cute! I think you can tell reading this that this is early Hazelwood - not as many sex scenes as she writes in later books! Still, great banter, good politics. I think I'm always going to want to read what she writes.

Read for collective liberation book club. Beautiful & thought-provoking. I am most struck by Coates' humility. He realized (through feedback) after "The Case for Reparations" how much he still had to learn about Palestine, and then wrote a book as his apology-through-education. I do wish there was a little more in the book about the time between this first feedback and the trip to Palestine he discusses, but you can't have everything!