reading update 4/1/2022
Apr. 1st, 2022 06:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penwallaBeen a while!
Read:
The Queen of Ieflaria by Effie Calvin
3/5. Eh. The romance didn't hit for me, and the worldbuilding is of the kind I dislike where every faction/culture has two personality traits assigned that all of its members have. Not bad but nothing to write home about.
The Unspoken Name by A. K. Larkwood
5/5. Reread! This is one of my favorites--it's a sapphic fantasy novel about a young orc woman and her struggle for agency and identity as she tries to build a new life after leaving the convent where she was raised to be a human sacrifice. I've seen this recced alongside Gideon the Ninth and I think that this is a great option if you've read GtN or the Masquerade series and want something lighter and softer, without the heavy focus on imperialism and the consequences thereof.
Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel by Julian K. Jarboe
4/5. This is a short story collection described as "trans cyberpunk". I'm not sure I really understood everything it was trying to say, and there were portions that were genuinely impenetrable, but it definitely provoked a lot of thought.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
1/5. Disappointing af. Absolutely nothing about this worked for me--it feels unrealistic in a way that's frustrating, not fun, all the side characters are paper thin, the main characters are also pretty underdeveloped, and neither character's arc ends in a satisfying way. The author is clearly trying to say something about diversity in academia, and I applaud their good intentions, but don't think they succeeded.
Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
4/5. Poirot mysteries are Poirot mysteries. But I do get frustrated by Christie's blinders re: British racism, which is prevalent in these novels in a pretty gross way.
The Thousand Eyes by A. K. Larkwood
4/5. I struggled to get through this one. I'd say the first and last thirds are great, but the middle is hard to get through--there's a big timeskip and a dramatic change in the tone of the novel that really jarred me. Overall I really enjoyed it and thought the ending gave me everything I wanted, and it ties up some stuff from the first book in an unexpected and delightful way. Tal gets to stab his shitty ex!
Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes
4/5. I don't think this is as universal as the author wants it to be, but it's a really useful tool for debugging and planning romances.
Read:
The Queen of Ieflaria by Effie Calvin
3/5. Eh. The romance didn't hit for me, and the worldbuilding is of the kind I dislike where every faction/culture has two personality traits assigned that all of its members have. Not bad but nothing to write home about.
The Unspoken Name by A. K. Larkwood
5/5. Reread! This is one of my favorites--it's a sapphic fantasy novel about a young orc woman and her struggle for agency and identity as she tries to build a new life after leaving the convent where she was raised to be a human sacrifice. I've seen this recced alongside Gideon the Ninth and I think that this is a great option if you've read GtN or the Masquerade series and want something lighter and softer, without the heavy focus on imperialism and the consequences thereof.
Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel by Julian K. Jarboe
4/5. This is a short story collection described as "trans cyberpunk". I'm not sure I really understood everything it was trying to say, and there were portions that were genuinely impenetrable, but it definitely provoked a lot of thought.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
1/5. Disappointing af. Absolutely nothing about this worked for me--it feels unrealistic in a way that's frustrating, not fun, all the side characters are paper thin, the main characters are also pretty underdeveloped, and neither character's arc ends in a satisfying way. The author is clearly trying to say something about diversity in academia, and I applaud their good intentions, but don't think they succeeded.
Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
4/5. Poirot mysteries are Poirot mysteries. But I do get frustrated by Christie's blinders re: British racism, which is prevalent in these novels in a pretty gross way.
The Thousand Eyes by A. K. Larkwood
4/5. I struggled to get through this one. I'd say the first and last thirds are great, but the middle is hard to get through--there's a big timeskip and a dramatic change in the tone of the novel that really jarred me. Overall I really enjoyed it and thought the ending gave me everything I wanted, and it ties up some stuff from the first book in an unexpected and delightful way. Tal gets to stab his shitty ex!
Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes
4/5. I don't think this is as universal as the author wants it to be, but it's a really useful tool for debugging and planning romances.
