kingofspain93's reviews
302 reviews

How rough men were, how brutal in every word they dedicated to love.

after reading The Days of Abandonment last year and being way less into it than I hoped (imagine The Dry Heart but instead of shooting her husband in the head she remarries another man just like him) I was worried that maybe Ferrante wasn't for me. I hate to discard female authors, especially those who write in languages other than english. Thank goodness I really liked this! men are empty husks that are irresponsible and terrible at sex let's gooooooo!

Maybe it's because I have no exposure to Italian literature, maybe it's Ferrante’s style, maybe it's cuz I'm dumb, but there is something about her storytelling that I find slippery and hard to describe. It can feel so literal it is claustrophobic and yet she is working with these big complicated relationships so impressively. upon finishing this I felt stunned, like a dazed animal, when faced with the reality that I wasn't going to get to read about these characters forever. they're all so complicated and frequently boring or loathsome and yet I want to know what happens to them in a year, five, ten. what is this thing she does? I hope someone out there who is smarter than me can articulate it.

it feels fitting that the last book I hadn't read in the series was also the one I was most excited for. it didn't disappoint! the majority of the babies have a ton of personality. the turtle baby and robin babies are especially funny. I'm very excited to have stumbled upon this series and I'm psychologically prepared to read each entry one million times.

feels VERY similar to A Study in Scarlet in terms of structure but improves on that one in almost every way. Holmes is actually out in the field, for one, doing fun detective shit, and we see a bit of the elaborate underworld network he's established. while the crime is still committed by an earnest man driven to revenge against someone who grievously wronged him and we get waaaaaay too bogged down in backstory, the exposition at least doesn't take up ½ of the book. in addition to the richer world and the cleaner plotting the central duo also feel more realized: Watson's dry humor and stalwart attitude and Holmes’ showmanship and prissiness come through. 

I suspect that Doyle’s short stories will be stronger because he'll be forced to cut all of the tedious melodramatic chaff he seems to love but we will see. 

scads of horrific period racism in this one, but remember just because other white authors may not write out their racism so explicitly, that doesn't mean it's not implicit in the text!

a lot of top tier babies in here. several that have giant ears relative to their size which is a special treat. this is one of the series that I think has a really particular warmth to it, right up there with Desert Babies and Forest Babies. only one entry left! 😭

it turns out that baby fish just look like adult fish but smaller. while mammals, birds, and even some reptiles are extremely cute to humans as babies, fish are slightly too far away from us evolutionarily for it to be as pure of a connection. not a complaint, just something interesting I noticed now that I’m a connoisseur of animal baby board books. I’ve always been a coward about this kind of thing though so who knows. I still really want a Bug Babies board book even though it would have the same effect.

one of the charming quirks of this series is that because of the massive undertaking of getting photos of a wide array of animal babies (for example, I think wolves are famously difficult to photograph) the images are all by different photographers and of varying quality and style. most of them are very good and extremely cute; some of them are mid. the entire experience is charming though. I love how many of these books have a raccoon, apparently the cockroach of class Mammalia.

there are so many baby biomes I've never considered! there are some great surprise babies in this one. shout out to tern chick the cutest fluffiest thing I've ever seen.

No one else in the family seems to understand Mom’s emotions. Everyone else walks around clueless, never knowing which Mom they’re going to get. But I always know. I’ve spent my whole life studying her so that I can always know, because I always want to do whatever I can in any given moment to keep or make Mom happy.

McCurdy’s memoir about her own immense suffering is strikingly egoless. she spends no time selling the reader on her likeability or worthiness as a narrator. Instead she methodically describes the single object of study that has defined most of her life: her mother’s happiness and what it cost. 

anyone with a parent (or parents) like McCurdy's mother will recognize in McCurdy's authorial voice the simple desire to explain that yes, it really was that bad. while a lot of McCurdy's life is not immediately relatable, her ability to write unflinchingly and unselfishly about her defining relationships means that I felt like parts of the book were eerily reminiscent of my experiences and those of many of my friends growing up. it hurts to come face-to-face with the reality that your parents are in it for themselves, and that you have no identity beyond the one you carefully cultivated to please them.

as deeply sad as this book was, I'm so glad that the story is still going. I'm glad McCurdy got to write this and has plans to keep writing. I want the world for her and for all girls everywhere.

these animals were very cute but baby moose and especially Little Fawn stole the show. “hiding in the tall grass” like girl you're standing in a flower patch and looking cute as hell, don't deny it! the inclusion of a raccoon here challenges the idea I had that each book would contain a unique set of Babies, since there is a raccoon on the cover of City Babies (my most anticipated entry). maybe the City Babies will be similar to others but just look a little rougher? it's a joke but even thinking about it is making me sad lol

I couldn't have named a single prairie animal before tonight and I'm so happy to have been educated. great photos that live up to the Animal Babies brand. maybe it's because they use technical terms (skunk kit, etc.) but something about these books feels uniquely non-condescending. oh and good use of color throughout including the striking/enticing cover.