talonsontypewriters's reviews
317 reviews

Falling in Love with Hominids by Nalo Hopkinson

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adventurous fast-paced

3.0


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Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0


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What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

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informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0


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Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

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mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25


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The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0


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The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5


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The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

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dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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Common Bonds: An Aromantic Speculative Anthology by C.T. Callahan, B.R. Sanders, RoAnna Sylver, Claudie Arseneault

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reflective medium-paced

2.5

Was super excited for an aro-centered anthology (especially one that doesn't treat aromanticism as synonymous with asexuality), but most of these are just... not very good :-( I get the sense a lot of the authors might not have had much experience with original short stories -- there's a certain awkwardness to the pacing of quite a few included here, particularly regarding character/relationship development and worldbuilding, that would indicate as much.

Besides that and the Generic YA Style™ several share, there's not much tying them all together either; I think I can actually easier count the ones that explicitly or heavily implicitly describe at least one main character as aro than the ones that don't. Stories with protagonists that happens to be aro without that factoring into the actual plot are all well and good, as are ones that just center around platonic relationships/lack romance, but somehow I expected a little more from something literally titled "an aromantic anthology"?

Only actively liked a couple of pieces, feel pretty "meh" about the rest. The poems are fine but again don't really fit the expressed theme.

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What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5


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