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lanidon's reviews
1802 reviews
A River of Golden Bones by A.K. Mulford
4.0
The core of this book is a very beautiful, nuanced meditation on identity and gender both as an individual and I'm the context of society, but then there's this gloss of basic romantasy overtop that feels like it hinders the impact of the total package. It's like putting a candy coating on a beautiful, crisp apple and turning it sickly sweet and hard to bite into. I enjoy romance and, in fact, I enjoyed this romance, yet the gratuitous sex pulled focus from the lovely ripe fruit of story.
My one actual qualm with the story that really bugged me is that in the end
Calla's badge on left on the wagon is a fox, a symbol of Grae's vision of her. So much of the story is about finding and redefining herself outside of the people and society she was raised with, only to go and decide the only single image to mark her new life is someone else's image of her. Calla is more than Grae's little fox mate, so Calla should have a unique symbol
My one actual qualm with the story that really bugged me is that in the end
Calla's badge on left on the wagon is a fox, a symbol of Grae's vision of her. So much of the story is about finding and redefining herself outside of the people and society she was raised with, only to go and decide the only single image to mark her new life is someone else's image of her. Calla is more than Grae's little fox mate, so Calla should have a unique symbol
If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.
This has, without a doubt, the worst opening scene of any romance in existence. These characters suck so bad, the writing is awful, I can't believe anyone finished this book.
Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan
4.0
This is a very ambitious book and I really appreciate the big swing it took. The opening was so strong that I simply had to see it through, but unfortunately it lost me, just a bit, when we actually get deep in the fantasy world
There are three different types of perspective in this book:
There are three different types of perspective in this book:
- Passages from the actual story as published on earth when the mc read them
- the characters who are native to this world and do not know of the universe travelers
- the mc and other universe travelers, who have knowledge of the larger story and also of Earth, slang, jokes, etc
This creates a very strange element to reading it where the sections are ALL third person POV with a similar voice BUT just different enough for it to feel jarring when switching between. The writing is not consistent enough to create a smooth transition NOR varied enough to feel like unique sections. The mc POV sections are noticeably jokier, which I enjoyed, yet it makes the other sections feel a little dull and uptight in juxtaposition. I think I could actually use a first person POV to really immerse in the dual character study of the mc. Perhaps the author thought that would be too much, but you're already doing so much so might as well go all the way. I honestly would have even enjoyed some short second person sections that describe the brief life of more universe travelers. I think the book could go even bigger
Which brings me to my next point, a large part of this book IS the exact thing the mc complained about when reading it herself: it is a dense, slow, fantasy with too many characters who all have multiple names. The author is doing something very bold with the meta narrative, but the majority of the book is taken up with telling a less interesting story. The core story is just a fairly run of the mill big chunky political fantasy with the interesting multi dimensional timeline shifting intrigue and key character elements at the edges. I understand how hard it must've been to craft a story like this when we, the audience, do not know the world like the in universe Earth characters do; you must explain it to us, but the balance is just tipped a little too far for my taste. I wanted more of the struggles of the universe travelers and their memories of Earth and how they are trying to shift key plotlines or trying to hide from the narrative entirely. I think we got bits of that but not enough to dig it's claws in
Overall, I did really enjoy this book and I have faith that the next can work out some of these kinks since the world is now established. I loved the mc, I wanted more of her, I wanted more of her mental state, I wanted more of her humor, and more of her fears. I do recommend it if you enjoy BOTH political fantasies and very quirky, unique, meta narratives.
Which brings me to my next point, a large part of this book IS the exact thing the mc complained about when reading it herself: it is a dense, slow, fantasy with too many characters who all have multiple names. The author is doing something very bold with the meta narrative, but the majority of the book is taken up with telling a less interesting story. The core story is just a fairly run of the mill big chunky political fantasy with the interesting multi dimensional timeline shifting intrigue and key character elements at the edges. I understand how hard it must've been to craft a story like this when we, the audience, do not know the world like the in universe Earth characters do; you must explain it to us, but the balance is just tipped a little too far for my taste. I wanted more of the struggles of the universe travelers and their memories of Earth and how they are trying to shift key plotlines or trying to hide from the narrative entirely. I think we got bits of that but not enough to dig it's claws in
Overall, I did really enjoy this book and I have faith that the next can work out some of these kinks since the world is now established. I loved the mc, I wanted more of her, I wanted more of her mental state, I wanted more of her humor, and more of her fears. I do recommend it if you enjoy BOTH political fantasies and very quirky, unique, meta narratives.
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Did not finish book. Stopped at 42%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 42%.
I simply felt like I Got It™ within fifty pages and I wasn't going to get anymore out of it than that. I think this is a book written out of passion but perhaps not vision. I can viscerally feel how important it was for the author to write this as an exercise, but I'm not sure it is saying much to the audience except "hear me!" I am ready to listen when these feelings coalesce into thoughts rather than just screams, but girl keep screaming until then, I support you in that
Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni
Did not finish book. Stopped at 73%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 73%.
This expired from the library over a year ago and I haven't had the slightest inclination to pick it up since. I'm finally marking it a dnf, not because it was bad but because I felt no reason to finish