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reading update 6/27/22
Reviews only today because I have a lot of them!
The Abducted Alchemist by Makoto Inoue
4/5 This is a light novel that is adjunct to the main FMA manga. I reread it out of nostalgia--I recently rewatched Brotherhood and wanted more--and thought it was pretty good? The style doesn't quite work for me, nor does the book's fixation on instinct, which feels very out of step with the themes of FMA. But Edward pretending to be Roy's son is extremely funny, as is his rampage upon being kidnapped, which makes up for the book's weak start. Overall I'd say it's a fun read if you want more FMA content, though not as fun as a jaunt through AO3.
Men Who Hate Women: From Incels to Pickup Artists: The Truth About Extreme Misogyny and How It Affects Us All by Laura Bates
4/5. This is a brutal read. Bates lays out the stark realtiy of the manosphere and the very real danger it poses. It's long of descriptions of the horror and relatively short on solutions, so I'd say it's best for readers who don't know a lot about extreme online misogyny. From the perspective I think it's a necessary primer, and I salute Bates for writing it. If you already know about these groups and the harm they do, then this doesn't have as much to offer. Don't look at the Goodreads reviews unless you're ready to be mad.
The Monstrous series by Lily Mayne
Okay, so this series consists of 5 novels and a novella, which I devoured over the course of 24 hours. I then reread one of the novels and the novella the next day. These are dyspotian fantasy mlm romances set in a world where the apocalypse has occurred after Earth was invaded by monsters from another world, and each book features a different monster/human pairing as well as advances the main plot in some way.
Overall I would recommend these highly. I'll review each installment in a minute, but these all have solid worldbuilding, interesting plots, smut, and well-constructed romances. Personally I found some of the romances more to my taste than the others, but I really think that any of them could be someone's five star read, because Mayne does a good job of making each couple feel distinct. I will also add that I skipped a lot of the sex scenes in later books, but that doesn't mean they were bad, just that my threshold for reading a sex scene in a novel is relatively high.
Soul Eater
5/5. This is the one I reread, because unfortunately "violent monster falls in love with nice human" is my catnip. Danny is a soldier sent on a mission as canon fodder, but when he comes face to face (sort of) with the monster, it spares him. Danny and Wyn are my favorite couple for sure. This has a bunch of tropes I love: instant attraction that neither of them act on, the nonhuman characters actually being nonhuman, grumpy x sunshine couple, and some minor soulbonding stuff.
Because this is the first book in the series, it's a little heavy-handed on the exposition, and I think it's a bit repetitive in places. But Danny and Wyn have a compelling dynamic, and this one has the best smut in my opinion. I really liked the way Mayne dealt with Danny's PTSD, too.
Edin
4/5. This one and the two after it all have the same problem: the plot is way more interesting to me than the romance. Like, the romance is fine, but I was really invested in what was going to happen to Charlie! And less so with what was going to happen with Edin and Hunter. But I still read it in one sitting instead of sleeping, so it gets 4 stars from me.
The Rycke
4/5. I don't know that Aury quite landed for me as a character, to be honest. You learn a lot about him in this book, but it never quite came together for me. However, this book is set in a Raider camp, and I really liked Ghost and his whole crew, and this book does a really good job of setting up events in the next two. Once again, I liked everything but the romance...but I liked those things a lot!
Wyn
5/5. More Danny/Wyn content? Sign me the fuck up. Wyn is so deranged, just absolutely unhinged, constantly on the verge of murder but he can't because Danny won't like it. I'm also so glad the author changed her mind about the whole "the monsters are immortal and the humans aren't" aspect because frankly it made me sad. I think it's hard to make established couples compelling the way they are when they're not together and Mayne succeeds beautifully here.
Gloam
4/5. I have a pet peeve about Gloam and Edin, and that is that the monsters are just humanoid dudes with big dicks. Personally if you're going to have monster love interests, I think you should really lean into it, you know? That said I read more of the sex scenes in this one, because it felt like they were actually advancing the plot and relationship in an interesting way. Once again, great plot, great worldbuilding, and I thought Rig and Gloam's relationship was quite sweet.
Moth
5/5. Mayne came for my throat with this one! This reverses the dynamic earlier books have had with an experienced human and an insecure, inexperienced half-monster love interest...plus two POVs which are utilized to great effect. Mutual pining, casual sex that is not at all casual, Moth has a sword...literally what else could you want. This is the first one since Soul Eater where I felt like the romance really sucked me in, but it also advanced the plot and set up books 6 and 7. And I was glad to see Charlie get a good ending, since he was left up in the air at the end of Edin.
I'm guessing book 6 will be Lilac/Seraph and then 7 will be Cat/whoever, so I'm looking forward to those :D
The Abducted Alchemist by Makoto Inoue
4/5 This is a light novel that is adjunct to the main FMA manga. I reread it out of nostalgia--I recently rewatched Brotherhood and wanted more--and thought it was pretty good? The style doesn't quite work for me, nor does the book's fixation on instinct, which feels very out of step with the themes of FMA. But Edward pretending to be Roy's son is extremely funny, as is his rampage upon being kidnapped, which makes up for the book's weak start. Overall I'd say it's a fun read if you want more FMA content, though not as fun as a jaunt through AO3.
Men Who Hate Women: From Incels to Pickup Artists: The Truth About Extreme Misogyny and How It Affects Us All by Laura Bates
4/5. This is a brutal read. Bates lays out the stark realtiy of the manosphere and the very real danger it poses. It's long of descriptions of the horror and relatively short on solutions, so I'd say it's best for readers who don't know a lot about extreme online misogyny. From the perspective I think it's a necessary primer, and I salute Bates for writing it. If you already know about these groups and the harm they do, then this doesn't have as much to offer. Don't look at the Goodreads reviews unless you're ready to be mad.
The Monstrous series by Lily Mayne
Okay, so this series consists of 5 novels and a novella, which I devoured over the course of 24 hours. I then reread one of the novels and the novella the next day. These are dyspotian fantasy mlm romances set in a world where the apocalypse has occurred after Earth was invaded by monsters from another world, and each book features a different monster/human pairing as well as advances the main plot in some way.
Overall I would recommend these highly. I'll review each installment in a minute, but these all have solid worldbuilding, interesting plots, smut, and well-constructed romances. Personally I found some of the romances more to my taste than the others, but I really think that any of them could be someone's five star read, because Mayne does a good job of making each couple feel distinct. I will also add that I skipped a lot of the sex scenes in later books, but that doesn't mean they were bad, just that my threshold for reading a sex scene in a novel is relatively high.
Soul Eater
5/5. This is the one I reread, because unfortunately "violent monster falls in love with nice human" is my catnip. Danny is a soldier sent on a mission as canon fodder, but when he comes face to face (sort of) with the monster, it spares him. Danny and Wyn are my favorite couple for sure. This has a bunch of tropes I love: instant attraction that neither of them act on, the nonhuman characters actually being nonhuman, grumpy x sunshine couple, and some minor soulbonding stuff.
Because this is the first book in the series, it's a little heavy-handed on the exposition, and I think it's a bit repetitive in places. But Danny and Wyn have a compelling dynamic, and this one has the best smut in my opinion. I really liked the way Mayne dealt with Danny's PTSD, too.
Edin
4/5. This one and the two after it all have the same problem: the plot is way more interesting to me than the romance. Like, the romance is fine, but I was really invested in what was going to happen to Charlie! And less so with what was going to happen with Edin and Hunter. But I still read it in one sitting instead of sleeping, so it gets 4 stars from me.
The Rycke
4/5. I don't know that Aury quite landed for me as a character, to be honest. You learn a lot about him in this book, but it never quite came together for me. However, this book is set in a Raider camp, and I really liked Ghost and his whole crew, and this book does a really good job of setting up events in the next two. Once again, I liked everything but the romance...but I liked those things a lot!
Wyn
5/5. More Danny/Wyn content? Sign me the fuck up. Wyn is so deranged, just absolutely unhinged, constantly on the verge of murder but he can't because Danny won't like it. I'm also so glad the author changed her mind about the whole "the monsters are immortal and the humans aren't" aspect because frankly it made me sad. I think it's hard to make established couples compelling the way they are when they're not together and Mayne succeeds beautifully here.
Gloam
4/5. I have a pet peeve about Gloam and Edin, and that is that the monsters are just humanoid dudes with big dicks. Personally if you're going to have monster love interests, I think you should really lean into it, you know? That said I read more of the sex scenes in this one, because it felt like they were actually advancing the plot and relationship in an interesting way. Once again, great plot, great worldbuilding, and I thought Rig and Gloam's relationship was quite sweet.
Moth
5/5. Mayne came for my throat with this one! This reverses the dynamic earlier books have had with an experienced human and an insecure, inexperienced half-monster love interest...plus two POVs which are utilized to great effect. Mutual pining, casual sex that is not at all casual, Moth has a sword...literally what else could you want. This is the first one since Soul Eater where I felt like the romance really sucked me in, but it also advanced the plot and set up books 6 and 7. And I was glad to see Charlie get a good ending, since he was left up in the air at the end of Edin.
I'm guessing book 6 will be Lilac/Seraph and then 7 will be Cat/whoever, so I'm looking forward to those :D