I may have given this an extra star solely because I read Masters of Death right when I needed to read something fun, frothy, dramatic, and ultimatelyI may have given this an extra star solely because I read Masters of Death right when I needed to read something fun, frothy, dramatic, and ultimately hopeful. I found it a light and easy read, and any difficulties with comprehending Blake's metaphysics was easy enough to move past, because the book, which is all about cycles, moves in a circular path.
I certainly do have critiques. While Blake is exceptionally good at characterizing her cast with a few broad strokes, I don't think the cast necessarily needed to be as large as it was (e.g. as much as I enjoyed Marya, she and Cal did not seem to meaningfully add much to the plot). Because of the size of the cast, certain character beats are rather abbreviated. For instance, while I liked the trajectory of Viola & Tom's relationship, it did not feel as earned as it could have.
Probably my biggest problem with the story is how ungrounded in history the flashback sequences felt. This really wasn't a dealbreaker, because I wasn't in it for a grounded portrayal of 19th century Germany, but it did make some of the sections feel decidedly odd. I never felt a good sense of which immortal characters were appreciably older than others, and I feel like that could have been interesting, but it also was very much not the point of the book thus I am noting it but otherwise giving it a pass.
That said, the emotional core of the story is absolutely one tailor-made for me and I cannot overstate how much it delighted me again and again. Furthermore, the ultimate thematic ending of the story really could have been twee, but I found it really lovely and well-rendered. Overall my eternal gratitude to my good friend who slyly handed this book to me when I was lamenting my inability to engage with a fictional world. I feel energized and hopeful....more
I'm not sure if Silence is something you can say is precisely good (the story drags its feet at the beginning and the reader is continually subjected I'm not sure if Silence is something you can say is precisely good (the story drags its feet at the beginning and the reader is continually subjected to the narrator's various rantings concerning tangentially related subject material) but it's certainly interesting. It's deeply fascinating to see medieval texts concerned with issues of gender and sexuality and engaging in them in surprisingly modern ways. The ending left me feeling wrong-footed and chilled, and I think there's a lot to be said about the issue of speaking/being heard, but that's for an academic analysis and not a GR review....more
Nearly excruciatingly good. Nguyen's art is standout, his characters are complex, layered, and real, and the way fairytales were interwoven with sexuaNearly excruciatingly good. Nguyen's art is standout, his characters are complex, layered, and real, and the way fairytales were interwoven with sexuality, race, and general identity was fantastic. The Magic Fish is beautiful and kind, not because there isn't darkness in the world but because there is also light....more
I think The Hanged Man was a little stronger in terms of pacing, but The Hourglass Throne is still excellent. My greatest critique is that the cast seI think The Hanged Man was a little stronger in terms of pacing, but The Hourglass Throne is still excellent. My greatest critique is that the cast seems a little too big--I feel like Max especially gets lost in the fray; I expected him to play a larger role (and he very well might in the future).
I read this too fast and stayed up too late finishing it and regretted precisely none of it. As the third act of the first act of a larger story it's solid, but as the final book in a kind of "trilogy" it leaves you with more questions asked than answered. They're interesting questions! I liked it a lot! And there's a certain degree of closure in the story, but more doors are opened than closed.
The Hourglass Throne is, like the rest of the tarot sequence, about family. It's more specifically about protecting people, about when to tell the truth and when to lie. About trusting people to grow up and be their own thing, about rethinking old assumptions. It's lovely thematically while also delivering punchy dialogue and solid action. I'll be picking up my own copies of these books, and I'm excited to see what Edwards does next....more
I finished this on Sunday and have been languishing unhappily whilst waiting for my library to get the next book in. I might as well write a review.
ThI finished this on Sunday and have been languishing unhappily whilst waiting for my library to get the next book in. I might as well write a review.
This one is pretty great. I absolutely devoured it. The setting really shines here (moreso than I felt it did in the previous book) and the humor hit home for me far more consistently than most books I've read recently. I did feel some mild frustration with Edwards copy/pasting one or two passages of lore from book one, but I can appreciate the utility there.
The thing that makes The Hanged Man really shine, though, is Rune's character growth, which is just phenomenal. Most of the cast the was introduced in the first book grows and develops here, but Rune is especially well-done. If The Last Sun didn't necessarily grab you, The Hanged Man is still worth picking up because I feel like it really ups the ante and delivers on the promises of the first book.
Also the epilogue hit every difficult, feel-good emotional beat I've ever wanted from a found family narrative (a narrative trope which I often don't like, honestly) and I have to really hand it to Edwards because I am a hard sell there....more
Very fun, though I think sometimes I felt like I was drinking from a firehose of magical concepts in a way that wasn't always pleasant. I also feel liVery fun, though I think sometimes I felt like I was drinking from a firehose of magical concepts in a way that wasn't always pleasant. I also feel like Edwards could've established a bit more about the Companion bond (especially since we only seem to see two instances of it). It was an easy read and I generally liked everyone, except for the characters I obviously wasn't supposed to like. I think Edwards could maybe fold in some more nuance in that regard, but I mean I'm not going to hold it against him....more
This is a fun read with a compelling central relationship. I found the humor hit about 40% of the time, which is more than expect from a contemporary This is a fun read with a compelling central relationship. I found the humor hit about 40% of the time, which is more than expect from a contemporary YA-adjacent romance, so I'll count that as a win. There's an enormous suspension of disbelief required at the outset: the political atmosphere is mostly set-dressing, though I think some of the high-rated negative reviews are a little ridiculous in their pearl-clutching about political realism. You have to be a normie Democrat (or at least a normie Democrat sympathizer) to appreciate the political fantasy offered by this book, but if you can clear that bar there's some enjoyable political wish fulfillment at play. I'm not above that, thus it didn't bother me. Obviously your mileage may vary.
I think McQuiston's writing is solid and at times lovely. I wouldn't call the prose literary but it's specific and effective. I felt like I recognized Alex as a guy I've met, if not in real life then on Politics Twitter. I liked Henry as a character, and I felt the book was strongest when it touched on the subject of grief. That said, as an American who talks often with a close British friend, there were certain things about Henry's dialogue that felt off. Obviously I'm operating off a sample size of one, but it was enough to throw me a couple times. The quickfire pop culture & current events references felt overwhelming at times, and there were a few notes that made me feel like I was reading about McQuiston's interests and opinions than Alex or Henry's.
The book is definitely fluff in the truest sense of the word and it probably would've been most successful set in a secondary world, devoid of the baggage (and sometimes puzzling logistics) present here, but I still enjoyed it. The romance held it together for me and it was exactly what I wanted at the moment....more
This is a comedy, and after two chapters in I hadn't cracked a smile at a single joke, so I decided it probably wouldn't be for me. I found Luken's usThis is a comedy, and after two chapters in I hadn't cracked a smile at a single joke, so I decided it probably wouldn't be for me. I found Luken's use of high fantasy and D&D tropes to be pretty shallow, but I've been knee-deep in genre classics for a couple months, so that could just be me.
It very well might be a sweet, fun book, but it is manifestly not for me....more
This is cute. It does exactly what it sets out to do and it does it competently. I read it in a few hours and had a pretty good time. Blaine is a fairThis is cute. It does exactly what it sets out to do and it does it competently. I read it in a few hours and had a pretty good time. Blaine is a fairly well-realized character and while I found some of the set-dressing twee and a little silly, it's a feel-good YA novel, so I can't hold it too against the author....more
I like Oyeyemi a lot and I think her prose is really breathtaking, but this collection was not it for me. Every story has the same shape, even as the I like Oyeyemi a lot and I think her prose is really breathtaking, but this collection was not it for me. Every story has the same shape, even as the content is drastically different, and I found that tiring and at times even irritating. There are some lovely themes and motifs here, but each story seemed to end abruptly. I think that is because no story actually ended, but they weren't linked together in a way I found particularly coherent or meaningful, and I found the reappearance of some recurring characters almost contrary to what I had previously learned about them....more
I suspect this probably functions best as an audiobook, but I read it in print.
The poetry sometimes works very well but often feels like prose with liI suspect this probably functions best as an audiobook, but I read it in print.
The poetry sometimes works very well but often feels like prose with line breaks. I am not a poetry purist; I like free verse poetry and I like narrative poetry, but I like poetry to feel intentional, and that kind of intentionality is hard to sustain over the course of an entire novel.
The voices of the two characters did not feel particularly distinct. Acevedo does some interesting blending in the final third of the book, but aside from the fact that one of the girls is written in three line stanzas and one is written in two line stanzas I had a hard time telling their voices apart. I don't know if Acevedo used any particular meter(s) here and if, when spoken, the voices feel more distinct, but it was not apparent from reading.
That said, while I wasn't a huge fan of the formalistic elements in Clap When You Land, my fundamental issues are with the narrative itself. I had two main issues with it: the pacing and the treatment of the topic itself. Both of these issues could be more me than the book. First, re: pacing: I picked it up because I was interested in the challenges of family in the wake of grief. The grief itself seemed secondary, at least from the jacket copy, but it is the primary focus in the book. Camino & Yahaira's relationship isn't a slow burn or a simmer--it simply does not exist for the first half of the story. When they finally do make contact that contact feels rushed and a little thoughtless. The way their relationship develops doesn't feel particularly organic, especially because so much of the text is spent on static grief.
The second issue, the topic, is sort of the same as the first issue, but I've separated the point out because I want to highlight the subjectivity of my response: it didn't feel real to me. The situation in which Camino and Yahaira find themselves is not entirely foreign to me, so I expected to find some familiarity there in their emotional responses. I, at the very least, expected to find something that felt like a plausible human response, but didn't. I can admit that I wanted at least one of them to be angrier, crueler, more difficult, but even when one of them is being complex or difficult, it's based not out of this horrible family secret but rather other plot goings-on. I think I fundamentally expected a different book than what I got.
And, really, the plot of Clap When You Land is overfull and lackadaisical at the same time. There is some tension as the sisters circle the fact of one another's existence, but I mostly felt frustrated, not invested. Camino faces several difficult trials, but they are divorced from the main emotional journey. Yahaira's story is mostly exposition, and then mostly in flashbacks. It all added up into something narratively uneven, messy, badly focused. This is obviously not a common opinion, and I will again state that this is very much not the book I expected, or wanted, but for me Clap When You Land failed both as a story and as a work of poetry....more
At the risk of revealing my weaboo tendencies I will state that this is probably the most straightforward sports anime volume of Fence thus far. That At the risk of revealing my weaboo tendencies I will state that this is probably the most straightforward sports anime volume of Fence thus far. That is not necessarily a bad thing (I like sports anime) but it does have certain implications about both character development and pacing, i.e. one ought to buckle in for a long ride. I had thought that after the initial arc had finished up the pace would increase, not decrease, but I was mistaken and I don't that was the best choice. I drew the sports anime comparison because sports anime (or, in this case, manga) moves at a similar pace and also tends to be at least 20 volumes long (and manga volumes generally have a higher page count than trade paperbacks like Fence). This pace and length seems untenable for most creative teams working in the tradition of western comics, and thus I'm a little concerned about how the longform narrative will ultimately play out.
Of course, in a more concrete way, it just becomes sort of frustrating. I like the sport element of Fence, but I don't think the artist's style is capable of sustaining the long-form visual storytelling that's required to make a sports comic really work. There was enough character work in the previous volumes that it didn't bother me as much, but it felt glaring here. I also felt that the art, which has always been uneven, was more inconsistent than ever. I really love Pacat's writing, and I'll continue picking these up as long as they keep making them, but in a lot of ways the format seems to work against the story rather than for it....more
Probably my favorite installment yet; I think the pacing has solidified and the low simmer of rivalry & friendship between Seiji and Nicholas has becoProbably my favorite installment yet; I think the pacing has solidified and the low simmer of rivalry & friendship between Seiji and Nicholas has become compelling enough for me to invest somewhat heavily into it....more
It took until this volume for Nicholas to cohere into a character I could really dig into, but once it did I found myself enjoying him more. I liked hIt took until this volume for Nicholas to cohere into a character I could really dig into, but once it did I found myself enjoying him more. I liked how the other characters developed as well and I feel like the story found its groove here....more
Not the most compelling start to a sports manga (because really, that's what this is) but compelling enough that I did seek out the next volume via HoNot the most compelling start to a sports manga (because really, that's what this is) but compelling enough that I did seek out the next volume via Hoopla immediately after....more
I really, really, really loved this book, and Pacat remains an astonishing writer. That said, as much as I appreciate Pacat wanting to include other cI really, really, really loved this book, and Pacat remains an astonishing writer. That said, as much as I appreciate Pacat wanting to include other characters, I think Dark Heir is just so fundamentally Will's book that other PoV diversions only serve to weaken the story. The weaknesses aren't critical, by any means, and the pacing still worked just fine for me, but I think Pacat could've given us the breathing room we needed without spending time with Elizabeth, whose perspective mostly served to be vaguely tiring to read through and impart necessary information....more
Cute and fun, I really liked the general shape of the story. It does do the thing I hate where parents who have been pretty not great are forgiven morCute and fun, I really liked the general shape of the story. It does do the thing I hate where parents who have been pretty not great are forgiven more easily than I think they deserve, but that is very much a me thing....more
I bought this sight unseen because I have loved selkie stories my entire life and I'm happy to support queer stories, especially charming queer middleI bought this sight unseen because I have loved selkie stories my entire life and I'm happy to support queer stories, especially charming queer middle grade stories. I'm glad I did. It was a cute, quick read. Not, perhaps, as complex or well-paced as comparable middle grade coming-of-age graphic novels but very enjoyable nonetheless. I think Ostertag's skill really comes through her art; she says so much about her characters through clothing and body language, which really enriches her storytelling. I'm looking forward to reading more from her and will probably buy her other graphic novels sight unseen as well....more
I enjoyed Winter's Orbit immensely; it's a breezy, fast read with good character work and an emotionally satisfying ending. Maxwell's writing is solidI enjoyed Winter's Orbit immensely; it's a breezy, fast read with good character work and an emotionally satisfying ending. Maxwell's writing is solid and Jainan specifically is an extremely well-rendered character who resonated with me a lot. That said, the book's pacing feels a little off--the author spends a bit too much time trying to establish stakes that never feel particularly real. Indeed, some of portions of the book that are more concerned with intergalactic politics feel more like Maxwell is writing an explanation trying to convince me that things matter than her being confident that she's made her case.
However, none of that particularly matters because Winter's Orbit is primarily a romance. It's a romance I enjoyed quite a lot. It's predicated on Kiem and Jainan largely misunderstanding each other for the first portion of the book, but I didn't mind the misunderstanding angle in this particular instance as it was borne less out of contrivance and more out of real human error. Kiem and Jainan's relationship builds organically and convincingly. What probably makes the story strongest though is Jainan's personal arc that runs parallel to the building romance which deals heavily with (view spoiler)[recovery from abuse (hide spoiler)] in powerful, realistic ways.
I do think next to Jainan that Kiem's arc (and he does have an arc) isn't as strong, and though I do quite like where Kiem ends up I wish Maxwell had pushed Kiem's development a little bit more. Regardless, the ending place for both Jainan and Kiem (and them together) feels very earned. The political resolution felt a little less earned to me, but not enough to really impact my enjoyment of the story. The whole story, despite the way it broaches difficult topics, very much has a (view spoiler)[happily ever after ending (hide spoiler)] which doesn't always work for me but which I enjoyed very much in this book....more
I'm used to trilogies slowly revealing more and more of the the world, but I feel like Lee revealed too much of the world too late--as it is, RevenantI'm used to trilogies slowly revealing more and more of the the world, but I feel like Lee revealed too much of the world too late--as it is, Revenant Gun revealed too much of a the world and didn't do those revelations justice. I felt like various thematic threads didn't particularly cohere, especially the ones about identity which drew me to the series in the first place.
On a more personal note I really have to say that the relationship between Cheris and Jedao is what initially brought me to this series in the first place, and the diminishing focus on that relationship was disappointing. This is more a matter of taste than any inherent flaw in the text--a trilogy completely devoted to Cheris-Jedao identity drama would be very different from the trilogy Lee ultimately wrote, but it's worth noting that the lack of the dynamic did influence the way I rated both Raven Stratagem and Revenant Gun....more