The Wendy Project is a gorgeous and heartbreaking retelling of Peter Pan. Wendy is driving with her two brothers when the three are involved in a terrThe Wendy Project is a gorgeous and heartbreaking retelling of Peter Pan. Wendy is driving with her two brothers when the three are involved in a terrible car crash, and Michael is lost in a river, presumed dead. Wendy, however, is convinced he's just lost, and reality and fantasy start to blend as she works through her grief. Not only is this an amazingly creative way of working through the Peter Pan narrative in a modern time, it refreshes an old story and gives it a beautiful new life. ...more
I found my door and everything hurts. In short, this is the best volume of an outstanding series. Definitely provides fair value for my broken heart..I found my door and everything hurts. In short, this is the best volume of an outstanding series. Definitely provides fair value for my broken heart......more
So, as fair warning, be prepared to cry big ugly tears. Many of them. Fetch is a dog story that ends in death. I know, spoilers, but enough people tenSo, as fair warning, be prepared to cry big ugly tears. Many of them. Fetch is a dog story that ends in death. I know, spoilers, but enough people tend to care about knowing about this type of plot before they read something that it seems warranted to mention upfront, and it really should not come as much a surprise given this memoir covers the dog's entire life. Fetch is a beautiful book about Georges' life, her struggles with love and community, and her never-ending connection with her faithful, but weird and challenging dog. She is intensely truthful about her mistakes and ill-advised behaviour, but without self-flagellation. This is the story of a woman who had a messed up childhood and clung to something familiar as a symbol of many things, both healthy and terrible. I love Georges' memoirs as she has led an interesting life despite her young age, and she writes with a lot of compassion. Beija forever! ...more
Welp, there went my feels, shattering into a million pieces. Last Things is about the death of Moss' husband after he is diagnosed with ALS. This grapWelp, there went my feels, shattering into a million pieces. Last Things is about the death of Moss' husband after he is diagnosed with ALS. This graphic novel chronicles the pain and trauma the family goes through as Harvey quickly becomes ill and changes. It's a heartbreaking book that refuses to put a positive spin on suffering. Moss just tells us what it is like to go through such a rending experience, and it hurts. Oh does it hurt. Last Things is a beautiful, thoughtful, and utterly destroying book to read, but one that I think offers a very important message. Watching a loved one die, particularly when they are young, is hard. It eats at you. Caretaking is a difficult, often thankless job. You will feel alone and overwhelmed. It will suck. But you can survive. It will never be okay, but it will be something you can live through. ...more
Love is Love was the brain child of Marc Andreyko in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Pulse in the summer of 2016. He wanted to help somehow, andLove is Love was the brain child of Marc Andreyko in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Pulse in the summer of 2016. He wanted to help somehow, and what came together was a compilation of 1-2 page comics from a variety of people in the comic industry. The proceeds of the book are being donated to Equality Florida Institute.
To be clear, this is not an anthology for queer people by queer people. It's an anthology from a bunch of people, queer and straight, about their reactions to what happened and their hopes for the future with the intent of raising funds for those affected by the massacre. Thus, there are quite a few pages from straight people dealing with how Pulse made them feel and what they should do in response. This may not be your scene, so it's good to know in advance what the book includes.
Overall, I thought the collection was quite strong given how many different artists and authors participated. I would have liked to see less of a focus on gay men, and there's a few entries that are a bit... questionable (some of the superhero ones, and the Harry Potter one in particular felt... off). I did find myself in tears several times though, and I was pleased that this was such a big production from IDW and DC, with very big names in the industry. The comic book world has been... less than great about queer issues. I don't think Love is Love signals the end of those issues, but I think it is important that important players have come out stating that hate and discrimination are not okay.
Love is Love is just a small sliver of reactions to Pulse, written by people who wanted to help. I think it does an admirable job for what it aims to be, though I was disappointed to see fewer queer voices featured than I expected, particularly from women and trans people. ...more
Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Press for providing me with an ARC of this book to review
Peter S Beagle is one of my all-time favourite authors. WThank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Press for providing me with an ARC of this book to review
Peter S Beagle is one of my all-time favourite authors. Which is strange because he writes books I usually wouldn't be able to tolerate. I'm not a heavy fantasy reader, nor am I much of a fan of stories where slow character development is the central plot. Yet I own most of his books, and I haven't read a thing by him that I didn't adore. So if Beagle can get me on board with Summerlong, a meandering book about relationships, love, and loss, then I have to conclude that the book is pretty damn amazing.
My initial response to finishing Summerlong was to cry. Sob, really. My poor pillow, soaked in tears. Beagle's books are often about grief over the loss of important people in our lives, and human resilience after said loss. However, his books aren't full of the usual high energy dramas that one sees in bestsellers. Summerlong is such a normal story despite the presence of magical beings. It's about the realities of change and growth, and seeing things that sustained us come to an end. For every spring, there is always a winter. The world and our lives are not stagnant, and sometimes we let what we love go. In short, prepare for your heart to be lovingly shattered.
Many people have had quibbles with some of Summerlong, particularly with the character of Lily. However, even if I didn't understand why all the characters made the choices that they did, at no point did I question whether their actions were authentic to themselves. These were real people, at least as much as fictional ones can be, and everything they did felt natural to who they were. Sure, Lily in particular was hard for me to understand, but I think we would struggle to connect if she lived in the real world as well.
Summerlong is a gorgeous, heartrending, and utterly sublime book. Beagle's gift is to make magic out of stories where it seems like magic has no place, and to plumb the depths of human emotions. His prose is captivating, his characters like old, albeit frustrating friends, and his stories capture the pure beauty of existence, even when it hurts.
Pre-Release Comments:
(Incoherent screaming and failing, grabby hands)...more
Thank you to Net Galley and Crown Publishing for providing me with a review copy of this book!
I first stumbled across Evicted by Matthew Desmond in tThank you to Net Galley and Crown Publishing for providing me with a review copy of this book!
I first stumbled across Evicted by Matthew Desmond in the New York Times. They posted a lengthy excerpt online, and I found the writing incredibly compelling. So I put the book on hold at my library. There were over 120 holds. Evicted is popular and obviously hitting a nerve with people.
I admit, even though the New York Times excerpt was fantastic, I started reading this book with trepidation. Being an academic myself, I know ethnographies are terribly hard to write, and the ethics associated with doing them are problematic at best. However, my fears were calmed with the very careful way that Desmond wrote about the people in his book, and particularly by his final chapter outlining the choices he made while doing his research. He chose to not use the first person perspective, instead opting to try and keep himself out of the narrative as much as possible. While he did not pay people for interviews, he did what true ethnographers must do: he lived with the people he was trying to understand. He became, in many ways, their friend and confident. He may not have handed out honorariums, but he helped pay for people's moves, drove others around to look for housing, and watched over children. One of my main concerns with books such as this is that the author benefits substantially while none of the subjects do. Desmond, however, tried very hard to ensure that reciprocity was a feature of these relationships, and he's sharing the proceeds of this book with the families he profiled. For a book meant for the general public, I was extremely impressed at the care that Desmond took in crafting a strong methodology and an ethical project. He is definitely an author deserving of the Genius grant!
The book itself is a heartbreaking, in-depth exploration of a particular aspect of poverty: housing instability. While many people in sociology talk about the changing nature of neighbourhoods, Desmond gets into why neighbourhoods have stopped being hubs of community, and focuses on the rise of evictions and free market housing. Evictions, according to Desmond, have exploded in recent years causing extreme economic and psychological effects on the poor. Without housing stability, people struggle to hold jobs, raise their children, access social services, and maintain their health. Housing is one of a person's key needs and without it, people scramble just to survive, forcing them into terrible situations.
The book profiles several individuals and families from Milwaukee, showing how poverty is perpetuated by the housing market. While Desmond does not shy away from speaking about people's difficulties, he also ensures to explain why people make the choices that they do. Rather than shaking a metaphorical finger at people, he seeks to understand why someone might spend a month's worth of food stamps on a single meal, and successfully shows how these seemingly irrational actions to outsiders are actually quite rational in the circumstances.
Evicted is a call to action. The housing situation of millions of North Americans is completely untenable, and political action must be taken. Desmond carefully shows how housing supports are actually cheaper for cities than the uncontrolled free market, and his careful humanisation of the people who are plagued by systemic housing instability hopefully shows readers that the solution to these issues is not to victim blame. Evicted is an outstanding book that should be widely read and discussed. ...more
Exit, Pursued by a Bear is not your typical YA book about sexual assault. Instead of featuring a protagonist who crumbles and has to dig herself out oExit, Pursued by a Bear is not your typical YA book about sexual assault. Instead of featuring a protagonist who crumbles and has to dig herself out of a terribly deep pit of depression, Hermione is assaulted, struggles, but has a fantastic support network and slowly heals while still completing grade 12, doing university applications, and being a kick ass cheerleader. There is no tragedy porn here, which I fear a lot of stories about sexual assault tend to be. And that isn't to say that Hermione is the "right" type of survivor, but that a lot of narratives about sexual assault tend to focus on all the horror, often leaving the survivor to struggle without friends or loved ones. Hermione is incredibly privileged on the spectrum of survivors, but the lessons this book tells readers about how to respond to someone who has faced violence are invaluable. It's a story about a terrible violation that does not shy away from some of the resulting horrors, but gives hope some for survivors, and it also shows people what to do and not to do when your friend is hurting.
One other thing that I loved about this book that I suspect is often overlooked is how well it approached the experience of finishing one's final year of high school and getting ready to move onto something different. Hermione is has been best friends with Polly since they were little, but both know and prepare themselves for the big changes that will happen when each heads off to a different university. There's no TV-style "we'll all go to the same home-town college!" cop-out here. The girls accept that change is a thing that has to happen, and they quietly prepare themselves. ...more
I am far too tired to do justice to this review, but Down Among the Sticks and Bones is a haunting lyrical, powerhouse of a novella. If you enjoyed EvI am far too tired to do justice to this review, but Down Among the Sticks and Bones is a haunting lyrical, powerhouse of a novella. If you enjoyed Every Heart a Doorway, this companion novel is even better, exploring how Jack and Jill became their peculiar selves. From babies foisted into unwanted roles by their parents, to little girls on a strange adventure, to almost adults nurtured by the Moors, McGuire shows you just what it takes to make a monster. It's a cutting novel about expectations and resilience, and about taking what you need without letting it consume you (well, unless you are Jill). The prose is beautiful, filled with fairly tale allusions that will stab you in the gut, characters that you want to hug, and choices that can break you.
Damn, the Wayward Children series is fantastic and why do we have to wait for the third installment?!?! ...more
Damn, this is a FANTASTIC novella. Burning Girls is a retelling of a rather famous fairy tale in the context of the beginning of the Holocaust. Our maDamn, this is a FANTASTIC novella. Burning Girls is a retelling of a rather famous fairy tale in the context of the beginning of the Holocaust. Our main character is a Jewish witch trying to protect her family from the massive social and political upheavals going on at the time. Heartbreaking and eerie. Schanoes' piece is definitely worth your time. ...more
In the last Incryptid short story, we sOriginally read: June 6, 2015
Old review: Tears, tears, and MORE TEARS.
New Review: Tears, tears, and MORE TEARS.
In the last Incryptid short story, we saw Fran die. In The Star of New Mexico, we get a chance to say goodbye. Reading is an act of mourning. Every word is grief. This is both a fantastic and heart breaking way to end the Frannie and Johnny era of our family dynasty series. And the end? Just another knife to your gut that gives you some hope for future stories. Sweet, horrible, painful hope :l
Broken Paper Hearts is only eight pages long, but it rips a fantastically painful hole in your chest. Readers have sOriginally read: February 24, 2015
Broken Paper Hearts is only eight pages long, but it rips a fantastically painful hole in your chest. Readers have spent 12 stories watching Fran do the impossible. In this 13th tale, her luck runs out. We don't see her death. We see the aftermath as it hits her family. The cadence, the imagery, all of it comes together into both a beautiful, but tragic tale of loss and grief. ...more