bandysbooks's reviews
180 reviews

I have never previously read a book by Powers, despite owning a copy of The Overstory. I picked this particular book up in an effort to read the entire 2024 Booker Longlist. Upon finishing it, I’m not quite sure what to think.

Playground is a long, meandering journey. Nothing is straight to the point and at first everything seems disconnected, but the beauty is that as the story progresses everything seems to weave together through our 4 different main characters. It leaves the story feeling both fragmented and complete which is an odd combination.

For me, the best part of this story was Evelyne a forward thinking, deep sea scuba diver. I related very much to her for a multitude of reasons, but primarily in her breaking into the boys club attitude and her passion for the underwater world. As a scuba diver myself, I really loved the descriptions of the ocean. 

I did struggle with following everything that was happening in the book. This is clearly really smart writing and I think it would be easy for the average reader to miss bits and pieces. 

All in all, this was an interesting experience. I can’t say that I absolutely loved this book, but I didn’t hate it either. I appreciated a lot of its messaging around tech and nature in particular. 

Catalina is the story of a young woman who was born in Ecuador, lost both of her parents, was brought to the US illegally to be raised by her grandparents, and gets admitted to Harvard only to realize that she has no path towards citizenship and her grandparents might get deported. If it sounds like a lot going on, that’s because it is. 

I was very excited to delve into Catalina because of the themes. I love deep explorations of complex subjects and this book is loaded with them. Not only does this book discuss immigration, but it also talks about how “illegal” status affects varying members of the community, sexism/misogyny, classism, fetishization, and femicide. I love a book that makes me think and this definitely does that.

That said, when I opened it and saw that it was a stream of consciousness, I groaned internally. This is one of my least favorite storytelling methods. As expected, I struggled a fair bit with it. It made the book read as rambling and I felt like I was jolted from moment to moment. 

I also struggled a bit with Catalina. So she’s in a clearly difficult spot and despite her best efforts, she’s having a hard time. At times I felt it was hard to empathize with her because she was making some pretty toxic choices. I think that’s the point though. Essentially, look at this very smart girl and all the horrific choices she has to make to just exist.

All in all, this is a book that has good bones, but was not a stylistic match for me. I gave it a 3.5 because it covers so many important topics. That said, I think whether it resonates or not will depend on how you feel about the way it was written. 

After some really deep and emotional reads, I was looking for something light and fluffy to cleanse the palette. This is described as being for fans of House In The Cerulean Sea and Remarkably Bright Creatures, both of which I enjoyed, so I thought this might be just what I needed. I’m pleased to say that I genuinely enjoyed this. 

The premise is that our MC is the Phoenix keeper at the local zoo, but their breeding program has long since been defunct. When a robbery at another zoo leaves the breeding program in danger, our MC steps up and suggests her zoo as the replacement. There’s just a few problems. The Phoenix center is decrepit and needs major updates in an insanely short period of time. But worse than that, the potential breeding program thrusts our MC into the spotlight and she has crippling social anxiety. In order to save this endangered species and have a shot at her dreams, she must overcome both physical and emotional obstacles. 

So if you’ve read my previous reviews, you’ll know that I really appreciate books with deep themstic exploration. This is meant to be a fluffy read, so I wasn’t expecting a ton of depth. I was really surprised with its portrayal and handling of mental health. Our MC deals with severe social anxiety, but the book also touches on depression and burnout. It didn’t lean into stereotypes either. 

I also loved the diverse cast of characters. I can tell that MacLean did her research when writing this book. It wasn’t jarring or forcefully shoved into the book for brownie points. Instead, the characters felt fleshed out and genuine. This is, imo, a really solid example of how to provide a realistic cast of characters reflective of the real world within a fantasy world. 

Another thing that I thought was really good in this book was the amount of info about Phoenixes, griffins, kelpies, dragons, and other mythical animals. It really made the zoo environment come to life and helped me immerse in the world. 

I’m typically not big into romance and there is a significant romance plot. It’s even a trope that I don’t traditionally enjoy, but I will concede in this instance that I did enjoy it. This is very sweet romance and its given plenty of time to develop over the course of the story. It felt closer to what real life love can be like. 

All in all, I’m really happy that I picked this book up. It was just the right mix of fuzzy, cozy, and a touch of deep themes to make for a satisfying read. 

Less is a book that seems like a contradiction. It’s a not-so-serious reflection on the life of a just-past-middle-aged author who has recently had his heart broken. He is having a sort of existential crisis and is on a trip around the world trying to find himself. It has some romcom elements to it without being explicitly focused on romance. And this not so serious book somehow won a Pulitzer Prize. I knew I had to read it.

This book ended up being a mixed bag for me. In some ways, I really related to Arthur Less, the main character. His anxieties and insecurities were particularly realistic. So were his heartbreaks. I could imagine Less being a good person to have a cup of coffee with.

That said, at times I found the book a bit slow moving and dull. We meandered from location to location without much happening. The whole focus was Less reminiscing about his ex and it got a bit tedious. One single conversation could’ve fixed the whole thing and to me that is the most frustrating romance trope.

All in all, Less was enjoyable and light, a nice break from the heavier reading. If you’re looking for something easy with a bit of humor, this might be a good read for you. 

Hera is such an integral character within mythology and she seems like a character who would be perfect for the feminist spin so popular in recent retellings. She is the daughter of Kronos, sister to Zeus, and invested in ruling on Mount Olympus. Once she and Zeus overthrow the titans, Zeus takes power and forces Hera into a position where she must become his wife. In traditional stories, Hera is portrayed as a jealous spouse, exacting unfair revenge on Zeus' lovers and victims as well as any children from these affairs, but what if there was more to it? This is the question that Saint attempts to answer in her recent book. 

Sadly, while this book initially seems promising in redefining who Hera is, it eventually does almost the exact opposite. I'm not sure it's intentional, but Saint reinforces the idea that Hera is wholly focused on Zeus and his affairs. It's portrayed as revenge for his forcing her to marry him, but eventually it amounts to the same thing. She doesn't truly punish Zeus who cares little for the women he sleeps with and instead torments the people he victimizes as well as their children in some instances. She lacks the insight to see how her actions affect anyone outside of herself and becomes blinded by her own rage. It felt like a huge fumble in the handling of her character.

Additionally, this book suffered from being overlong. I get that Hera has a massive presence within mythology, but I felt like Saint was summarizing everything she ever did and it made the book tedious in the middle. I think it would've been better served had she focused on 3-5 integral moments and delved more into depth with how they were important to Hera's story. I didn't need to watch her exact revenge on every nymph, mortal, and Demi-god that slept with Zeus. 

That said, it wasn't all bad. This book shines when it talks about Hera's relationship with Echidna and her monster children. I loved the parallels drawn between the two of them despite their massive differences. It's one of the few points in the book that Hera actually express any level of compassion or empathy as well. It had the affect of making her feel less flat which is something sorely needed within this narrative. 

I also thought that Hera's relationship with Athena was handled well. They aren't friends, but there is a begrudging respect between the two of them and they ally with each other when convenient to their motivations. Unfortunately, I actually felt Athena outshined Hera in the book which is frustrating since Hera is the titular character.

Naomi Frederick narrates the audiobook and is possibly the best part of it. Her voice really brings the characters to life, telling the story in an easy to follow way. I always listen to audiobooks at 2-3x speed, so I appreciated that her narration still sounded good sped up. 

All in all, I wanted much more from this book. It felt more like the spark notes summary of Hera as told by Greek mythology instead of a new, fresh take. I don't know if Saint is under an inordinate amount of pressure to turn out a new retelling every year, but I think slowing down her publishing rate and taking the time to really challenge the traditional portrayals of her characters might result in a better book. Clearly, she is a talented writer and well-versed in mythology and I wish she was given time for that talent to shine. 

*Thank you to Netgalley, Flatiron Books, and Jennifer Saint for the ARC. This in no way affects the objectivity of my review. 

I read The Fox Wife earlier this year and enjoyed it, so my mom let me borrow her copy of The Ghost Bride. I’m glad I read it because I enjoyed this book! 

I thought the concept of what a ghost bride is was fascinating. Initially, it doesn’t sound like a bad deal, but as the story progresses I came to understand why our MC is so set against it.

Sfpeaking of which, I enjoyed the MC. I like the way she reflects on the world around her. I thought her thoughts about her luck, her life, and the men she might be forced to marry were accurate.

The magical realism elements in this book work really nicely as well. They’re subtle and don’t pull you out of the story.

All in all, if you like magical realism or the author’s other books, you’ll likely enjoy this one too. 

I have recently been seeing a lot of buzz for Orbital by Samantha Harvey and that it might get Longlisted for the Booker Prize. Since it’s literary science fiction, that had me intrigued.

This book is not the typical science fiction book full of action and adventure. Instead, it is a quiet, meditative book about six people orbiting the earth in a spaceship. What it lacks in plot, it makes up for in interesting observations. 

The prose in Orbital is really lovely and creates a very unique reading experience. I’ve never been on a spaceship, but I could clearly see what the astronauts were seeing. I could imagine watching the earth rotate from space. 

All in all, I recommend this book for people who like slow books that ponder life and the characters existence. It’s a short, quiet read that I’m not sure everyone will get. 

Stuart Turton is an author I’ve been wanting to read for quite a while. I’ve heard so many people rave about his writing, so when I saw this pop up on Netgalley I knew I wanted to give it a try. I’m glad I did. 

This book is set on an island after a post-apocalyptic scenario where a poisonous gas cloud killed off most of the world. There are 122 survivors and 3 scientists on a small Greek island. The scientists have created strict rules for how the society should function and everyone has a role. Then one of the scientists is murdered and it triggers a short period of time before the island’s defenses drop letting the poison gas in. Only solving the murder can prevent it.

Look, I won’t pretend this is a perfect book. This is very twisty and unrealistic, so it requires a fair amount of suspension of disbelief and there are a few plot threads that never get tied up. That said, I had a good time with this. 

I appreciated the mixture of post-apocalyptic scenario with murder mystery and even a sprinkle of police procedural elements.It created a really unique vibe that was conveyed really well by the narrator of the audiobook. 

Speaking of which, I really appreciated the main focal character. That added to the uniqueness of the book and once again was captured perfectly in the audiobook. 

I will say that some elements were a bit predictable and there were some twists and caveats thrown in to try and keep things surprising. That wasn’t always successful. 

Ultimately, this wasn’t the best book I read this year, but it was a fun read. I would recommend this to people looking for a fun mystery/thriller with post-apocalyptic elements. If you decide to give this a try, consider checking out the audiobook as the narration was done well.


Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and Stuart Turton for the audio-ARC.

This was my first time trying Fosse’s writing and I’ve since come to find out that he typically writes character driven, reflective books. This isn’t the type of book that I always gravitate toward, but the type that I really enjoy when it’s done well. 

Our main character, Johannes is likable enough. We follow him as he sort of slogs through his days. It seems that as he’s aging and having lost his wife, he no longer feels any real purpose to living. I know this can be a common issue with elderly people, so I applaud Fosse for capturing it so effectively. The loneliness really radiates off the page. 

There isn’t much in the way of plot, at least not until the twist at the end is revealed. Then you realize that there was something happening beside just an older man reflecting. I thought that was a cool trick.

That said, it was the sort of book I admire, but also find myself getting restless with. It’s very gray and dreary. And I just wish I had gotten to know a bit more about the MC and what he was like before this apathy overtook him. 

If you are a fan of slow-paced, character driven novels that muse on the human condition, perhaps you will enjoy this one. 

I had heard good things about this book from some friends who have similar tastes in books, so I went in with high expectations. Somehow, this still far exceeded said expectations.

Annie Bot is a brilliant novel that follows an AI who is auto-didactic and programmed to be a personal companion. As she experiences more and more, her consciousness begins to grow and shift to the point that people no longer can tell that she’s not human. What follows is a musing on sentience and bodily autonomy. 

Ugh. Some of these scenes in this book were hard to read. Some heartbreaking things happen to Annie and the author does not shy away from depicting them. As a woman reading this, there were certain aspects that made me cringe and have to take pauses while reading.

Midway through the book the tone of things start to change and I had an “oh shit. This author is going to ruin this book with some cliche ending” I’m glad I stayed with it though because the twist at the very end was a gut-punch. It was such a fresh and satisfying ending for a book that really digs into some uncomfortable places.

Consider me a new fan of Sierra Greer’s writing. This absolutely won’t be the last of her books that I pick up. And if you are interested in themes of power dynamics, sexism, bodily autonomy, sentience, and artificial intelligence, this is a must read.