I got just over halfway through this story about children of donor sperm. It started out strongly, which was a real plus when I found myself waiting aI got just over halfway through this story about children of donor sperm. It started out strongly, which was a real plus when I found myself waiting an extra hour and a half for a doctor's appointment the first day I was reading it. But by the middle, it became very slow and I found myself less and less interested in picking it up. I finally gave up and skimmed through the last few chapters to see how the various story lines tied up. It was warm and empathetic, but maybe there were too many main characters, because I didn't feel particularly close to or invested in any of them. This was not at all what I expected from a Lisa Jewell book. ...more
In what is maybe a retelling of When Harry Met Sally, Natalie and Rob meet ... and then meet ... and then meet .... They click early on, but when newl
In what is maybe a retelling of When Harry Met Sally, Natalie and Rob meet ... and then meet ... and then meet .... They click early on, but when newly published author Natalie discovers that Rob 1-starred her debut novel, the chemistry remains but the welcome fades, and chilly, confusing times follow.
I DNF'd at exactly halfway through, because that was the point where the "18 months later" section breaks got to be too much for me, and I stopped caring about whether these two ever got together. (Also, (view spoiler)[Rob and Natalie had both just moved in with, or were about to move in with, other romantic partners at the end of the last section I read, and it just got too messy for me. (hide spoiler)].)
The thing is, my DNF is in no way a poor reflection on the content of this book. This is really well-written for both its romance themes (enemies to lovers and slow burn). It's sweet and insightful, and both Natalie and Rob come across as relatable and interesting. I really enjoyed the half of this book I did read. But my focus and concentration have not been great lately, and I really wanted a romance-ier romance than this turned out to be. ...more
I absolutely loved this book, and was very surprised to see that it only has a 3.13 rating here on GR. Say what?!
My admiration stems primarily from hI absolutely loved this book, and was very surprised to see that it only has a 3.13 rating here on GR. Say what?!
My admiration stems primarily from how absorbed I was into the portrayal of the Bad Day DID (dissociative identity disorder, i.e. multiple personality) system and their relationships with each other. The mystery inside Ken's head is far more intense and interesting than the mystery going on outside of her. Ken has resurfaced after 6 years in dormancy, after the personality who's been "fronting" disappears. Her relationship and history with her headmates is fraught. Each of the head characters has a distinct personality and purpose, and their interaction felt realistic. I could not put this book down because I was so caught up in all of them.
The exterior mystery was a bit less believable and has some holes if you start examining it, plus it feels a bit derivative of Lovecraft Country (the TV show; I never read the book) in some ways. But it was pretty creepy, and I found it more believable than the plot of the author's previous suspense novel, When No One is Watching because it's more small-scale and requires a lot less conspiracy and organization.
Since I am one of only a few people who really liked this book, it's clearly a niche taste. But I recommend giving it a try. ...more
I really love T. Kingfisher; she's become one of my favorite authors. But wow, this book was terrifying, with a super-powerful sorceress who is very dI really love T. Kingfisher; she's become one of my favorite authors. But wow, this book was terrifying, with a super-powerful sorceress who is very difficult to overcome. Luckily, the wry humor in Lady Hester's chapters kept it from getting too scary. And as usual, all of the characters were clever and resourceful. Maybe don't read this alone in the dark, though. ...more
This story following the perspectives of different staff members on a spaceship hotel started off a bit slowly for me, but really grew on me as it proThis story following the perspectives of different staff members on a spaceship hotel started off a bit slowly for me, but really grew on me as it progressed. The interactions they had with each other, their duties to keep the place running, and some unusual events and tasks all intertwine to become completely gripping. I did find the very ending a bit of a letdown, but it doesn't take away from my overall enjoyment. ...more
Who among female writers has not imagined the accolades and big checks we might receive if only we were perceived to be all-iThis was very enjoyable!
Who among female writers has not imagined the accolades and big checks we might receive if only we were perceived to be all-important male writers? This story examines how it might play out to pretend to be a male author, and the nitty-gritty of trying to maintain the facade. It doesn't hurt that the guy hired to play the author is cute and adorable. I hope Kelley Armstrong writes some more romance. ...more
I finished this ages ago, and still can't decide how I feel about it.
This multiple alternate universe story is well-crafted, full of twists, and offeI finished this ages ago, and still can't decide how I feel about it.
This multiple alternate universe story is well-crafted, full of twists, and offers a sort of hope about how different the same people can be under varying circumstances, and how a person can find closure and redemption if they can meet those "same" people in a different way. It really pulled me into its world, and I lived in desert dust and heat, and the contrast between the closed-in wealthy city and the poor wilds, for the entire time I was reading this book.
But at the same time, this book is very gritty and dark, and should have a trigger warning for partner abuse. It was a very tough read for me. I admired the writing and the ambition of the subject, but I can't say I enjoyed this very much.
If you're intrigued and want a more detailed take on this, take a look at a few other reviews. ...more
Short stories can be really hit or miss. But overall, this entire collection was terrific. They almost all feature a speculative element of some sort Short stories can be really hit or miss. But overall, this entire collection was terrific. They almost all feature a speculative element of some sort which was woven in really well. And they are short, tight, well-crafted, and carry a punch.
I loved that in the Acknowledgements, the author thanks herself for making the effort to write these stories because "it was hard." She's not exaggerating. I thank her too. ...more
I completely forgot I read this. It seemed suspenseful enough while I was reading it, but I think five bad deeds was maybe one too many, be3-1/2 stars
I completely forgot I read this. It seemed suspenseful enough while I was reading it, but I think five bad deeds was maybe one too many, because by that point I was thinking "Aren't we done yet?" But I appreciated how the author takes seemingly small transgressions and shows how they can add up! It's a clever idea, and mostly worked well. ...more
This was a truly sweet and heartwarming romance. I loved both of these guys, and the very different backgrounds and experiences they brought to both tThis was a truly sweet and heartwarming romance. I loved both of these guys, and the very different backgrounds and experiences they brought to both the trail and their love story. This book was filled with sunshine, even in the sad parts. I really need to read this author's other romances....more
The portrayal of dementia is the highlight of this mystery. I couldn't get Edie out of my head even when I wasn't reading, and kept worrying about herThe portrayal of dementia is the highlight of this mystery. I couldn't get Edie out of my head even when I wasn't reading, and kept worrying about her. The past mystery feels so out of reach, and yet, in Edie's mind, so present. I could hardly bear to keep reading, but could hardly put it down. The feel of this story has really stayed with me, almost a year after I finished it. ...more
Nina, Shirin, and Silvia met in a college writing class, bonded over being the only Asians, and became best friends for life. When they graduate, t
Nina, Shirin, and Silvia met in a college writing class, bonded over being the only Asians, and became best friends for life. When they graduate, they move to New York together and seek the title promise. And while it's not necessarily what they were expecting or hoping for, interesting experiences are had by all.
This is an oddly-shaped book, so instead of carrying it around, I made it my bedtime reading, with the result that I spent about three weeks living with these young women. And I really enjoyed it!
This is pretty long compared to most of the graphic novels I read, with several plot threads running through it. The heroines deal with bad bosses, Asian pigeonholing, relationships, and mental health, and befriend a once-famous Vietnamese writer who is now in her 90's. And they do it with charm and humor that made every page of this book a delight to look at and read. I'm glad I picked this up. ...more
Sibling Dex decides to leave the comfort of their monastery and travel around Panga doing their deity's calling: providing tea, empathy, and help t
Sibling Dex decides to leave the comfort of their monastery and travel around Panga doing their deity's calling: providing tea, empathy, and help to those who need it. But after a few years, they feel a different calling, to ride their tea bike off the paved roads and into the wilderness, where an ancient monastery might still be standing. In the wilderness, they meet something entirely unexpected: a robot, the descendant of robots who walked away from the factories of Panga generations before Dex was born.
I read this for a book group at my church, and we had an awesome discussion about it. For a short book, it offers a lot to think about. It was also a wonderful read, maintaining a warm and sunny tone throughout the entire story. (I learned in our discussion that this is part of a sub-genre called "hopepunk," and I'm thinking I should read more of it.)
This is the first book I've ever read where the only pronouns used are "they" for Dex and "it" for Spendid Speckled Mosscap. It was interesting to listen to people stumbling over them in our book discussion, even though my church has multiple they's. So it's a little challenging because no use of "he" or "she" does not really come naturally to most ears yet. I really admired the resistance to gendering or anthropomorphizing the robot in any way. It remains an it, and somewhat unknowable in its experience, and I appreciated that.
I'm going to look for the sequel to this. I really enjoyed the positive future it presents, and the world it's set in. ...more
When Ernest's developing Alzheimer's starts causing frequent confusion and a few angry outbursts, his family places him in an assisted living home wheWhen Ernest's developing Alzheimer's starts causing frequent confusion and a few angry outbursts, his family places him in an assisted living home where he meets a cast of other elderly people with similar, but highly idiosyncratic, symptoms.
This was a sweet, warmhearted, loving but also very bittersweet look at aging, trying to hold onto oneself and one's own best history, and the slow loss of autonomy. Emilio's roommate, Miguel, brings some comedy to the story, but overall the tone is poignant and melancholy.
It's more a series of vignettes than a plot, because it's just a bit of life and that's how real life goes. I loved every character in the story. It's very short, and yet a month after reading it, I'm finding myself still affected by it. The artwork was very appealing to me, too. I'll be looking for more books by Paco Roca....more
Ruthy Ramirez disappeared over a decade ago, on her way home from middle school track practice. Her sisters, Nina and Jessica, have gotten on with
Ruthy Ramirez disappeared over a decade ago, on her way home from middle school track practice. Her sisters, Nina and Jessica, have gotten on with their lives okay. But then Jessica sees a young woman on TV who looks just like Ruthy, and the wondering starts again.
This book is hard to describe. It's not a "what happened to Ruthy Ramirez?" thriller with a question mark. And it's not a trauma story about a family that can't heal or anything like that. It's a warm, intimate story about the remaining female members of a family that's experienced tragedy, and who just go on -- loving each other, crabbing at each other, and just carrying a memory of the one who is gone.
And the weird thing is, I could not put it down. Partly because I was curious about how it was going to end. But mostly because I was absorbed into their lives, and how they were going to be affected by learning whether the TV woman was actually Ruthy, or not. I absolutely zoomed through this, which has not happened to me in a while.
And then the ending (view spoiler)[made me cry. I didn't expect to feel nearly as affected by it as I was. Well done, and darn you, book. (hide spoiler)]
This was a pleasantly surprisingly good debut, and I'm looking forward to whatever Claire Jimenez writes next....more
Florence Darrow screws up her job in publishing big-time -- her severance comes with a restraining order. But then she manages to get hi
4-1/2 stars
Florence Darrow screws up her job in publishing big-time -- her severance comes with a restraining order. But then she manages to get hired as an assistant to a mega-selling, super-secretive pseudonymous author ... and when they get to really know each other, maybe Florence is more like Maud Dixon than she ever imagined.
I don't want to write more description than that, because the less you know about this dark, twisty book going into it, the more you'll appreciate the twists. I don't even recommend reading the jacket flap or back cover summary, because I know I enjoyed this book a lot more on account of having essentially forgotten why I checked it out of the library.
Florence is pretty dull, and usually I complain about boring characters. But in this book, her flatness and emptiness made her character arc actually believable. Neither Florence nor Helen, the writer she works for, is a likable character. They're both pretty shallow and self-centered, with virtually no redeeming or "relatable" qualities. And yet I found their awfulness, and their terrible interactions with each other and the people around them, absolutely gripping.
The big question in this novel is: What on earth is happening? Who's playing who? Maybe both Florence and Helen are getting played? How?
I really enjoyed this rather nasty story. My biggest complaint is that the introductory portion, about Florence's publishing job, went on a bit too long (about 70 or so pages), and I was about ready to give up on the book just before it finally got interesting. I've knocked a half-star off the rating for that. ...more
Jam lives in an idyllic land, a city where, when her parents were young, all of the monsters were vanquished by angels. Everyone is safe. Everyone
Jam lives in an idyllic land, a city where, when her parents were young, all of the monsters were vanquished by angels. Everyone is safe. Everyone can be whoever they are, with no fear of bullying. No one in Jam's generation knows what a monster is. But then Jam's artist mother paints a monster ... and it steps out of the painting and tells Jam that it's been sent to hunt a monster, and it needs her help.
I really loved most of this book. Jam truly lives in a paradise of representation and acceptance, and spending time there was absolutely beautiful. I completely believed in this wonderful world, and it's a place we need to be aiming to emulate and achieve. I'm really impressed that the author was able to imagine this world and express it so well.
I was also very into "how can you tell the difference between monsters and angels?" After all, the first thing angels say is "Be not afraid!" which strongly implies that they look pretty scary. So if angels look like monsters, what do monsters look like? If something looks monstrous, what is it? Should you listen to it, believe it? These questions kept me zooming through most of this short book, and living it while I was doing other things. The writing is excellent and absorbing, the story vivid.
So why aren't I giving this 5 stars? Partly, when the monster is discovered, it was too real -- but that's just partly just me and my horror at the situation. But also, when the monster was revealed, the story lost its fantasy feel for me, and the worldbuilding lost some luster. And partly, even though Jam and her friend Redemption are about 17 years old, this story felt very middle grade. This isn't a bad thing -- middle grade readers should absolutely read this book and learn to recognize monsters. But it felt awkward to me.
I'm not sure I would call this book "enjoyable" after how it turned out. But it is very, very good. And I'm going to look for Akwaeke Emezi's adult novels now....more
In 2001, Inspector Alzada of the Buenos Aires police force is called on to investigate the death of a young woman found in
4-1/2 stars, rounded up.
In 2001, Inspector Alzada of the Buenos Aires police force is called on to investigate the death of a young woman found in a trash repository behind the morgue. The case brings him into contact with people he knew "in another life" -- 20 years before, the time of desaparecidos, when Alzada's brother and sister-in-law were disappeared.
This has a Mystery sticker on it at my library and the cover blurb calls it a thriller, but I wouldn't call it either of those. It's a literary novel, and should be read that way. Yes, "solving" what happened to the dead woman is a bit of plot, as is the horrifying buildup to what happened to Alzada's brother. But most of this book is about the awful tension that exists with Alzada, as he navigates the continuing appalling corruption in Argentina, and the ever-present trauma in him and his remaining family members. The story alternates between the 2001 present and the events in 1981.
This was a very painful read. Life under a dictatorship that disappeared tens of thousands of dissidents and tortured many of them as horribly as any Nazi concentration camp before allowing them to die is captured here all too well. (What is this terrible impulse in too many people, to be willing to participate in this? And I suppose there is the fear from knowing that this will happen to you or your family if you refuse to participate.) And yet it's written so well that I could not put it down despite the fact that I couldn't breathe while I was reading it. I knew these things, and yet I didn't quite understand them in my bones the way I do after reading this book.
There is so much history in so many countries to which we all need to promise, "Never again."...more
Kumiko has had it with spending her final months in an assisted-living facility. So she walks out, gets her own apartment, and refuses to tell her
Kumiko has had it with spending her final months in an assisted-living facility. So she walks out, gets her own apartment, and refuses to tell her children where she is. She's quite pleased with the arrangement. But a shadow follows her, playing a game of wits. Who will outsmart who?
I'm a fan of Hiromi Goto's prose novels and needed a book I could read in a day before starting a buddy read, so I decided to squeeze this in.
It's mostly charming. Kumiko is stubborn and quirky; she knows her own mind and how she likes things. And she savors her freedom, since she knows it can't really last. I enjoyed watching her just living her life. And I was delighted with how she dealt with the shadow.
But at the same time, the day-to-day prosaicness of the events wore on me a little. The story was just a teeny bit dull. Not enough to make me stop reading, but enough that I wasn't as engaged as I would have liked.
There were also a couple too many coincidences of sorts at the end. And honestly, I kind of wish (view spoiler)[Kumiko had stayed dead, because I was genuinely mourning the shadow's win over her (hide spoiler)].
This is a sweet, poignant book, and I appreciate that it's about an old lady. But it's also a little slight. Still, the art is good, and I don't regret spending a day with Kumiko.