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poisonenvy's reviews
849 reviews
Richard III by William Shakespeare
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
My grandma has often talked to me about Richard the III, but this is my first time ever reading it. It was far more interesting than I had expected, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. The exchange between Richard and Elizabeth in Act 4, Scene 4 was really masterfully done, and the play really comes alive in the last couple of acts.
I had no real sense of... time though? The pacing was strange, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out whether or not all these events truly happened on the heels of one another or if there was supposed to be more time between them. I think I would also like to be a little more up in the know about the acutal history that happened rather than Shakespeare's propaganda haha.
Warnings for ableism and whatnot.
I had no real sense of... time though? The pacing was strange, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out whether or not all these events truly happened on the heels of one another or if there was supposed to be more time between them. I think I would also like to be a little more up in the know about the acutal history that happened rather than Shakespeare's propaganda haha.
Warnings for ableism and whatnot.
Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I just finished Pride and Prejudice last month, and after I finished, Libby recommended to me two very queer Pride and Prejudice related books: Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh which was very sapphic and not at all Pride and Prejudice minus the time period it half took place in, and Most Ardently.
I knew that Most Ardently was a gay retelling when I started, but what I didn't realize was that in this queer retelling, Elizabeth Bennett is a trans boy named Oliver. This was really an excellent choice all things said. Oliver's story is compelling and sucked me right in. His struggle with juggling his two lives -- the fake life where he has to pretend to be a girl, and his real life where he can sneak out and be a boy -- was very real and very heartfelt.
There were a number of changes to the original text that just seem either inexplicable or annoying to me (moving Longbourn to London for some reason and making the Bennet children younger than they are in the book being the former, changing characters motivations to motivations that make more sense in a modern context but wouldn't make sense in the 1800s for the latter), but overall I enjoyed this quite a lot, and devoured the book in short order.
I knew that Most Ardently was a gay retelling when I started, but what I didn't realize was that in this queer retelling, Elizabeth Bennett is a trans boy named Oliver. This was really an excellent choice all things said. Oliver's story is compelling and sucked me right in. His struggle with juggling his two lives -- the fake life where he has to pretend to be a girl, and his real life where he can sneak out and be a boy -- was very real and very heartfelt.
There were a number of changes to the original text that just seem either inexplicable or annoying to me (moving Longbourn to London for some reason and making the Bennet children younger than they are in the book being the former, changing characters motivations to motivations that make more sense in a modern context but wouldn't make sense in the 1800s for the latter), but overall I enjoyed this quite a lot, and devoured the book in short order.
Sandry's Book by Tamora Pierce
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Sandry's Book, and obviously the rest in the Circle of Magic series is very clearly a kids book. It was still enjoyable to read as someone in their mid-30s, but I'm clearly not the target audience.
It also seemed to lack... Well, a plot? For the story? The story follows Briar, Sandry, Tris and Daja as they're taken from whatever circumstances they were in (none of them good) and brought to a magic school. There, they learned magic and learn to become friends despite their entity different lives and circumstances.
There is very clearly going to be an overarching plot over the four books of the series, and it was sort of touched on in this one. But as far as having a beginning, a middle, and an end, this novel on its own did not. It is only a beginning.
Anyway! It was fun! I'm excited to continue on with this series, and I am very sure that this series is going to be one of those ones that matured with its readers, so I'm excited about that!
I read the ebook alongside the full-day audiobook. And the audiobook was... Fine? But Tamora Pierce did the narrator narration (whereas different actors did all the rest of the characters) and she is very clearly *not* an audiobook narrator and her reading was awkward. Not enough for me to not enjoy the series, but it wasn't great haha.
It also seemed to lack... Well, a plot? For the story? The story follows Briar, Sandry, Tris and Daja as they're taken from whatever circumstances they were in (none of them good) and brought to a magic school. There, they learned magic and learn to become friends despite their entity different lives and circumstances.
There is very clearly going to be an overarching plot over the four books of the series, and it was sort of touched on in this one. But as far as having a beginning, a middle, and an end, this novel on its own did not. It is only a beginning.
Anyway! It was fun! I'm excited to continue on with this series, and I am very sure that this series is going to be one of those ones that matured with its readers, so I'm excited about that!
I read the ebook alongside the full-day audiobook. And the audiobook was... Fine? But Tamora Pierce did the narrator narration (whereas different actors did all the rest of the characters) and she is very clearly *not* an audiobook narrator and her reading was awkward. Not enough for me to not enjoy the series, but it wasn't great haha.
Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary by J.R.R. Tolkien
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I did it! I read this book in less than a year! One day short of a year, granted, but hey, a day counts. It wasn't that it was impossible to read or anything, but I read it solely during my free time at work and it went something like this:
a) Read the Beowulf poem/translation through over the course of a couple weeks.
b) Started reading the Beowulf poem again, this time in conjunction with Tolkien's commentary on it, which was more than twice as long.
c) Didn't touch the book at all for like, several months while I filled my free time at work with other things
d) Read the rest of the book and Tolkien's commentary in a couple of weeks when I realized I was coming up on the one year mark
e) read Sellic Spell and The Lay of Beowulf in a single day before the year mark.
I thought this was great. Beowulf is one of the first fantasy stories in history, and one of the only surviving stories that was written in Old English. It's a little dry, as is Tolkien's commentary, but hey, it's still worth reading.
I had no idea what Sellic Spell was, but it turns out it was Tolkien's Fix-It Fanfiction (which he then translated into Old English what a fucking nerd) and it was *way* more engaging than Beowulf and I flew right through it. And The Lay of Beowulf is rhythmic and once again shows what a master post Tolkien was.
Anyway, absolutely worth picking up for any fans of Tolkien or fans of mideveal literature/Beowulf.
a) Read the Beowulf poem/translation through over the course of a couple weeks.
b) Started reading the Beowulf poem again, this time in conjunction with Tolkien's commentary on it, which was more than twice as long.
c) Didn't touch the book at all for like, several months while I filled my free time at work with other things
d) Read the rest of the book and Tolkien's commentary in a couple of weeks when I realized I was coming up on the one year mark
e) read Sellic Spell and The Lay of Beowulf in a single day before the year mark.
I thought this was great. Beowulf is one of the first fantasy stories in history, and one of the only surviving stories that was written in Old English. It's a little dry, as is Tolkien's commentary, but hey, it's still worth reading.
I had no idea what Sellic Spell was, but it turns out it was Tolkien's Fix-It Fanfiction (which he then translated into Old English what a fucking nerd) and it was *way* more engaging than Beowulf and I flew right through it. And The Lay of Beowulf is rhythmic and once again shows what a master post Tolkien was.
Anyway, absolutely worth picking up for any fans of Tolkien or fans of mideveal literature/Beowulf.
Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh by Rachael Lippincott
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Audrey is in a rut: she's been waitlisted at the art school of her dreams and was recently broken up with by her boyfriend, and she cannot find the inspiration to do any art whatsoever.
Two hundred years earlier, Lucy is resigned to the fact that she is going to have to marry a man more than twice as old as her and a dick to boot, because her father demands it.
Can the two of them save one another? (Obviously the answer is yes, this is a romance novel after all).
This wasn't what I expected, but I didn't really know what to expect in the first place. Libby recommended it to me after I finished Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, so I expected a sapphic retelling of that novel, but that wasn't what this was at all.
But it was cute and sweet, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. I do have to wonder about why Lippincott, in a queer love story, chose to name one of her characters Matthew Shepard. That was... A choice.
Two hundred years earlier, Lucy is resigned to the fact that she is going to have to marry a man more than twice as old as her and a dick to boot, because her father demands it.
Can the two of them save one another? (Obviously the answer is yes, this is a romance novel after all).
This wasn't what I expected, but I didn't really know what to expect in the first place. Libby recommended it to me after I finished Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, so I expected a sapphic retelling of that novel, but that wasn't what this was at all.
But it was cute and sweet, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. I do have to wonder about why Lippincott, in a queer love story, chose to name one of her characters Matthew Shepard. That was... A choice.
Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook by Christina Henry
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There's a lot we don't know about Captain Hook, like how he came to Neverland, and why he hated Peter Pan as much as he does. Christina Henry's book seeks to answer those questions. What if Captain Hook didn't always hate Peter Pan? What if he used to love him? What if he used to be one of Peter's lost boys?
I wasn't quite sure how I felt about the prose when I started this book. It was a little simplistic for my tastes, but it quickly grew on me. This book is brutal and dark, and honestly everything I didn't know that I wanted. I enjoyed every minute of it. The pacing was great, the characters were great, and Jamie's -- the soon-to-be Captain James Hook -- slowly evolving frame of mind was really great to see.
I half read this book and half listened to the audiobook and the audiobook was also quite entertaining.
I wasn't quite sure how I felt about the prose when I started this book. It was a little simplistic for my tastes, but it quickly grew on me. This book is brutal and dark, and honestly everything I didn't know that I wanted. I enjoyed every minute of it. The pacing was great, the characters were great, and Jamie's -- the soon-to-be Captain James Hook -- slowly evolving frame of mind was really great to see.
I half read this book and half listened to the audiobook and the audiobook was also quite entertaining.
With a Little Luck by Marissa Meyer
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It is no secret that I'm a big fan of Marissa Meyer. I have, in fact, read every novel with her name on it. I enjoyed Instant Karma (though it was probably my least favourite of Meyer's novels) and was happy enough to pick up the sequel, With A Little Luck.
With a Little Luck tells the story of Jude, the twin brother of Pru, who was the main character of the last book. Like Instant Karma, it's a teen romance but with just a little bit of magic thrown in the mix to help our protagonist find love -- in Instant Karma, Pru is able to wish, well, Instant Karma on anyone, whether that Karma is good or had. I'm With a Little Luck, Jude -- artist and nerd, who DMs D&D games with his friends -- becomes supernaturally lucky after finding a mysterous D20 in his family's record shop.
It's, you know, typical romance. There's no twists, and everything is pretty predictable. That doesn't make it any less fun though, and I had a lot of fun following around Jude on his adventures. This book is generally pretty wholesome and sweet. And there was ONE delightful surprise for me, and I'm just going to come right out and say it (don't worry, this isn't a spoiler):
I often read books with both the audio, when I'm doing things like working or doing chores, and by sitting down and reading when I can. And if I hadn't, I would have never realized that the audiobook was, well, altered for listeners. Some of it is small (there's a fourth wall break where Jude acknowledges the reader is listening to an audiobook, rather than reading a book), but some of it is really quite phenomenal.
Throughout the book there are comics that are drawn by Jude. They're pretty cute. Obviously comics don't translate so well to audio format though, so in the audiobook you get bonus music and sound effects for them, as well as extra description. I took a lot of pleasure, any time one of them popped up, in reading the comic along with listening to the audio descriptions of them. It really helped fill out each scene. It was a really delightful touch that enhanced my reading experience by a <I>lot</I>.
Thanks for another great read, Marissa Meyer.
With a Little Luck tells the story of Jude, the twin brother of Pru, who was the main character of the last book. Like Instant Karma, it's a teen romance but with just a little bit of magic thrown in the mix to help our protagonist find love -- in Instant Karma, Pru is able to wish, well, Instant Karma on anyone, whether that Karma is good or had. I'm With a Little Luck, Jude -- artist and nerd, who DMs D&D games with his friends -- becomes supernaturally lucky after finding a mysterous D20 in his family's record shop.
It's, you know, typical romance. There's no twists, and everything is pretty predictable. That doesn't make it any less fun though, and I had a lot of fun following around Jude on his adventures. This book is generally pretty wholesome and sweet. And there was ONE delightful surprise for me, and I'm just going to come right out and say it (don't worry, this isn't a spoiler):
I often read books with both the audio, when I'm doing things like working or doing chores, and by sitting down and reading when I can. And if I hadn't, I would have never realized that the audiobook was, well, altered for listeners. Some of it is small (there's a fourth wall break where Jude acknowledges the reader is listening to an audiobook, rather than reading a book), but some of it is really quite phenomenal.
Throughout the book there are comics that are drawn by Jude. They're pretty cute. Obviously comics don't translate so well to audio format though, so in the audiobook you get bonus music and sound effects for them, as well as extra description. I took a lot of pleasure, any time one of them popped up, in reading the comic along with listening to the audio descriptions of them. It really helped fill out each scene. It was a really delightful touch that enhanced my reading experience by a <I>lot</I>.
Thanks for another great read, Marissa Meyer.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Am I vaguely ashamed that as a self-proclaimed book worm, and lover of Regency/Napoleon era fiction, it has taken me until my mid-30s to ever read any Austen at all? Yes, vaguely. But I'm glad I finally did it!
The writing is dense, but not displeasing to read, and while I knew in broad strokes some of what happened from cultural osmosis (namely Mr Darcy's initial terrible proposal), I have managed to steer clear of enough spoilers these last 30 years that I was still surprised by a lot of what happened (I did t even know that Bingley was courting Elizabeth's sister and not Elizabeth herself!).
Anyway, this was a lot of fun, and while I may not be picking up more Austen immediately, I'm excited to read her other books (and to *finally* be able to read all the billions of published Pride and Prejudice fanfiction, like Miss Bennett's Dragon, which I've had in my audio library for like, a year now)
I read LitJoy Press' special edition of this book, and the illustrations were really quite beautiful and really enhanced the experience.
The writing is dense, but not displeasing to read, and while I knew in broad strokes some of what happened from cultural osmosis (namely Mr Darcy's initial terrible proposal), I have managed to steer clear of enough spoilers these last 30 years that I was still surprised by a lot of what happened (I did t even know that Bingley was courting Elizabeth's sister and not Elizabeth herself!).
Anyway, this was a lot of fun, and while I may not be picking up more Austen immediately, I'm excited to read her other books (and to *finally* be able to read all the billions of published Pride and Prejudice fanfiction, like Miss Bennett's Dragon, which I've had in my audio library for like, a year now)
I read LitJoy Press' special edition of this book, and the illustrations were really quite beautiful and really enhanced the experience.
Butter Honey Pig Bread by francesca ekwuyasi
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
4.5*
I have a lot of thoughts about this novel, but I'm not really sure, exactly, how to articulate them.
This novel follows the lives of three Nigerian women, two twins and their mother, who have been estranged for some time. The story is meandering and disjointed (this is NOT a bad thing by any means, the story is woven together in a way that it really works), and is told in a non-chronological order that really worked for me.
I'm a white, queer Canadian women, and while the story was so clearly a story of these Nigerian women as they lived abroad and lived at home, there were still a lot of pieces that I could relate to, especially in Taiye's story. I guess that just shoes that some human experiences are universal, no matter what your background. But even the stuff that I couldn't directly relate to was told brilliantly, and I was intrigued throughout the novel.
I've got a lot of mixed feelings about the end of the story that I won't get into here (especially since this was a book club book and we'll be discussing it on Monday; don't want to spoil my thoughts for my book club!), but I saw it coming and so it fits with the story, no matter what my personal feelings on the matter are.
I have a lot of thoughts about this novel, but I'm not really sure, exactly, how to articulate them.
This novel follows the lives of three Nigerian women, two twins and their mother, who have been estranged for some time. The story is meandering and disjointed (this is NOT a bad thing by any means, the story is woven together in a way that it really works), and is told in a non-chronological order that really worked for me.
I'm a white, queer Canadian women, and while the story was so clearly a story of these Nigerian women as they lived abroad and lived at home, there were still a lot of pieces that I could relate to, especially in Taiye's story. I guess that just shoes that some human experiences are universal, no matter what your background. But even the stuff that I couldn't directly relate to was told brilliantly, and I was intrigued throughout the novel.
I've got a lot of mixed feelings about the end of the story that I won't get into here (especially since this was a book club book and we'll be discussing it on Monday; don't want to spoil my thoughts for my book club!), but I saw it coming and so it fits with the story, no matter what my personal feelings on the matter are.
Bad Moon on the Rise by Annie Bellet
adventurous
fast-paced
4.0
Picked this book up from the library as it is a spin-off series of Annie Bellet's Twenty Sided Sorceress series, which I enjoyed quite a bit recently. It follows Alek's hitman sister, Kira, who we see briefly in the series.
This was fun. Kira is vicious, but an excellent character, and I enjoyed following her adventures and her character growth. I hope that we'll see more of this series in the future.
This was fun. Kira is vicious, but an excellent character, and I enjoyed following her adventures and her character growth. I hope that we'll see more of this series in the future.