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B0C9GQV1TT
| 3.99
| 579,279
| Feb 06, 2024
| Feb 06, 2024
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4.5 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: My friend Deanna highly recommended this book to me. I've been hoarding it on my airplane-mode Kindle for a 4.5 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: My friend Deanna highly recommended this book to me. I've been hoarding it on my airplane-mode Kindle for awhile and decided now was the time. I also read and liked Hazelwood's The Love Hypothesis, so I was familiar with her writing style. Vampires and werewolves represent a really popular pairing in fantasy, including romantasy. I can't say I've read all that many, if I'm honest, and I don't remember them being particularly great. But Hazelwood brought the concept of Vampyres and weres to a new and fantastic level. On the fantasy level, she's done an excellent job setting up a world where yes, Vampyres do drink blood, but it's really too much of a hassle to drink from live people. They are still a generally removed species from Humans and weres, and I was interested to see that they are actually the more fragile species of the three. I did like the idea of the history of the three species and how they have coexisted in the past. The backdrop is important, but it really helps that you have main characters who are interesting and worth following. Misery tells the story in first person. She is the daughter of the leader of the Vampyres in her area, but she has spent so little time among her people that she knows so little of her history and culture. Despite being more warm-blooded in comparison to other fictional examples, Misery represents Vampyres as unemotional and cold, thinking only of strategy and how to keep the species in existence. It's for these reasons that she is sent as collateral, first to the Humans and then to the weres, to maintain and strengthen relationships. Misery lives with humans first due to being collateral, and then chooses to because she has no home that does not also have her human friend and "sister", Serena. Becoming collateral again leads her to marrying Lowe Moreland, the Alpha of his community, and living among weres. Misery soon finds that the organizational structure and overall community are vastly different than anything she's experienced, especially once they begin to accept her. I liked that Misery had her own motives for agreeing to the marriage and that she had to surface said motives pretty early on in the book, as I don't think she could have kept up the ruse for long. I also thought the chemistry between her and Lowe was really good. We see a lot of interactions between them and their growing familiarity with each other. I did roll my eyes at the inclusion of Ana. She's a necessary element to the plot, but stories that include becoming suddenly enamored with children and doing almost anything to protect them is not really my bag. The conflict between Misery and Lowe, when it came, was a little weird? I did not much care for Lowe in that moment, and still less when Misery was instantly more forgiving than I would have liked, but they are very compatible as love interests. So overall: fantastic main character/protagonist. Delightful romance that has depth and doesn't feel rushed in any way. Excellent world-building of the three species. I'd be interested in reading the next book of the series. -- PS. My days on GoodReads are likely numbered (I REFUSE to go find my login information for my app). If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
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1
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Mar 21, 2025
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Apr 11, 2025
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Mar 31, 2025
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B08JKM7JCC
| 3.69
| 112,506
| Apr 27, 2021
| Apr 27, 2021
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4.0 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: Nearly all of my bookish newsletters promoted this book a few months ago. It also helps that The StoryGraph 4.0 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: Nearly all of my bookish newsletters promoted this book a few months ago. It also helps that The StoryGraph's Genre Challenge 2024 includes a prompt for debut literary or contemporary fiction novel. This book is definitely in my wheelhouse of what I'm looking for in my romcoms. As I delve deeper into my love of romcoms, I've been appreciating a decent selection of characters of Asian descent. In this case, Meddy Chan's family is of Indo-Chinese descent. She is a 26-year-old photographer who is part of her family's wedding business. Big Aunt is a baker; Second Aunt does hair and make-up; Meddy's mom has a floral arrangement business, and Fourth Aunt is an entertainer. As the book jacket indicates, Meddy accidentally kills a date that her mother sets her up with, and Meddy's reaction is to go to her mom and her family for support. As Meddy processes the madness, she thinks back to her college boyfriend, Nathan, and how much she misses him and has never been able to find a better match. Meddy's family is on a hard deadline: they have a wedding coming up the very next day. Hilarity ensues as the five women attempt to get rid of the body and do their job. Meddy's work is further complicated when she finds out that Nathan owns the wedding venue. It also doesn't help that the aunts work together but also think each one knows better than the other, so it's a comedy of errors. Here's what I really like about the book: Meddy's family. Though they come across as silly and perhaps a little petty, these are four women who own their own businesses. They immigrated to the US and are all essentially single. Their children have all moved away (with the exception of Meddy) and decided to not only start their own businesses, but also to connect their businesses together. Meddy talks about the curse of men either dying or leaving their families, but by the end, she learns that her mom and aunts are actually pretty content without husbands. There also is not a question about helping Meddy. They don't know exactly what to do, but they don't let that stop them. I also like that there were some somewhat bad/evil characters, but one of them became a little more neutral. Generally speaking, I did really like Meddy. Sometimes the female leads in romcoms can come across as not being able to be shocked and hold a conversation at the same time. Meddy didn't have that problem often. What I didn't like: the romance itself. Nathan and Meddy haven't seen each other for like six years. He's trying to run his venue's first big wedding; she's working and also trying to herd her aunts and get rid of a dead bod. They keep running into each other (well, he tries to find her) and they end up making out all the heckin time. While I agree that Meddy and her family were acting pretty weird, it's a leap that he suddenly understands what happens. And the rest between them is out of the scope of the book. I did like the ending in terms of Meddy's relationship with the family business. Sutanto mentions that she wants to be authentic to the Indo-Chinese culture, especially because she notes that it's very easy to stereotype Asian communities, particularly when it comes to language. This is why I really like Meddy's family so much: they already know two languages, and their English may not be perfect, but they are impressive nonetheless. I think Sutanto did them justice. I'd definitely be interested in continuing the series. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
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1
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Jul 30, 2024
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Aug 11, 2024
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Jul 30, 2024
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B0DM4LMLCW
| 4.07
| 5,002
| Jun 15, 2021
| Jun 15, 2021
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3 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: For The StoryGraph's Genre Challenge 2024, for the prompt "A Short Story Collection by a Black Author." I've 3 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: For The StoryGraph's Genre Challenge 2024, for the prompt "A Short Story Collection by a Black Author." I've seen a little of Abbott Elementary (read: two episodes) and thought I'd enjoy a little about her. So this was purely an "I liked it" kind of book. I probably would have enjoyed the book more if I'd followed more of Brunson's comedy, writing, and memeing, so I am likely not the target audience for this book. It just did not come across as that *funny* to me. That said, I loved learning about her family life, her early education at Ahali, an elementary school for Black children (which sounds like an amazing experience), her friendships, her college experiences, and her moving across the country to follow her dream. When we strayed from those things, I became a little less interested, I confess. I also found myself a little invested in her relationship with her mother and how she sort of defended certain practices (nothing traumatic or amoral). I can understand some cultural differences. There is one passage that I immediately highlighted, because it felt so personally relevant to me: Anyone who lives in a different city from their family can relate to that feeling of helplessness that occurs when bad things happen while you're so far away from everyone else. It sucks not being physically present to process those things with the rest of your family, but it's the reality of following your own path in life. It's easy to let the guilt eat away at you, but I find guilt unproductive, so I don't allow it for very long. At that moment in my life, I was literally living out my dreams; I knew I was in the right place. But the weight of my situation still affected me. Feeling secure and feeling awful can exist side by side-I'm proof of that. Ugh, preach. Would I have enjoyed this better as an audiobook? Not sure. But I would have missed out on some pretty amazing pictures, so it's hard to say. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
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1
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Jun 26, 2024
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Jul 11, 2024
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Jun 26, 2024
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B077LT812J
| 4.49
| 86,119
| Jan 08, 2019
| Jan 08, 2019
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4 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: I came across the first book in the series, The Bear and the Nightingale, in a BookBub post about strong fema 4 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: I came across the first book in the series, The Bear and the Nightingale, in a BookBub post about strong female leads in fantasy books. I finished the first two books in the trilogy, and now here we are at the third and final book. I was torn about finishing this series so soon. On the one hand, I wanted to stretch it out to better enjoy it. But I also wanted to make sure I would remember what happened in the previous books, and I also need to stop hoarding books on my kindle to get new ones, so here we are. As with the transition between the first two books, the transition into this final book was quick, staying current with how the last book ended. As the book summary mentions, Moscow is a wreck. The city is no longer burning, but there is a ton of destruction, and probably hundreds are dead. Given the dire circumstances, it's not surprising that people are really looking to focus on an enemy, a common cause for their ill times. Fortunately, Konstantin the priest is there to condemn Vasya as a witch. What follows is mostly Vasya's journey. She accepts now that she is a witch by their view, if not by her own abilities, and she must choose her role in the future. On one side is Morozko, the winter king, who really just wants Vasya to live and seems to have accepted the status of chyerti and men. On the other side is Medved, his one-eyed twin, the chaos demon. Medved is, be design, hell-bent on wreaking destruction among men, with admittedly questionable benefit for other chyerti. What follows is Vasya's threading of the needle between all the sides. Ultimately she wants Moscow and Russia to survive, for her family to survive, but she also does not want the chyerti to fade away. It's been fun to learn a little more of Vasya's family and history in previous books, and we learn quite a lot more in this book. Vasya experiences significant loss and eventually understands that many opportunities lie before her, but none of them will give her exactly what she wants. What follows, then, is her journey of threading the needle between men and chyerti. I enjoyed seeing her interactions with both Morozko and with Medved. She also seems to think more often of her family, in part because she feels for Sasha and all he's lost in protecting her, but also because of her niece, Marya. The only part of this book that felt particularly choppy was the last part of this book. Arden decided pretty early on that she wanted this book to culminate in the battle at Kulikovo. For good reason. But that section just felt separate and complicated. I loved that we saw more of Sasha, a strong character in his own right AND modeled on a real person. Olga does not get enough credit for all that she undergoes in this series. You can see Vasya's true growth in her power and as a person in her interactions with both. Earlier she was selfish and took Olga's choice from her; here, she respects Sasha's decision. The book eventually swirled to an ending in ways that felt both rushed and a little confusing, but it felt appropriate nonetheless. I loved the inclusion or development of fun characters like Solovey, Ded Grib, and Midnight. This is a great series if you are interested in folklore, especially Russian folklore. Vasya is the main character and is a strong female lead. She develops as a real person from one novel to the next. It's also a truly engaging book that delves into what might have happened as societies went from being polytheistic to monotheistic, from having their own unique culture to something closer to globalization and how to prepare for the world after death. The struggle is far more present in this book, but there was plenty of setup in the previous books. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
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1
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Jun 19, 2024
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Jun 25, 2024
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Jun 26, 2024
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0593500202
| 9780593500200
| B0C2PB1Z4J
| 4.27
| 84,654
| Jan 16, 2024
| Jan 16, 2024
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4 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: I read the first book in the series, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Fairies, due to some site's (BookBub or B 4 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: I read the first book in the series, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Fairies, due to some site's (BookBub or Book Riot, no doubt) citing of Emily Wilde being a strong female protagonist in a fantasy novel. I did like the first book, so here we are! It's not fair to this book that it took me two months to read it, but here we are. And that wasn't due to the content in particular. I had a ton of other books I was reading with tighter time frames to return to the library, and I knew I could get to this one later when I had time. That said, I also feel like it was entirely too easy for me to put this book down at the end of each chapter. I don't remember ever feeling like I wanted to get to the next chapter. Emily is still, of course, the main focus of this book. Since the previous book, she has published her Encyclopaedia of Fairies and is continuing her scholarly work. She and Wendell Bambleby, her colleague, get into a pickle when their chair, Rose, threatens to fire both of them: Bambleby for being a fairy (he is) and for essentially plagiarism, and Emily for her association with him. (Essentially, Rose doesn't believe the events that Emily [and Bambleby, in conference presentations] wrote about in the previous book. Partially because Rose is jealous Emily got her Encyclopaedia done before Rose could.) Outside of this event, Emily is on a new two-fold mission. First, she very much wants to redeem the reputation of a scholar by the name of de Gray. Emily has never met her but is nonetheless impressed by her research, and she wants to find out more about de Gray's disappearance from decades earlier. Second, while doing so, she strongly believes she will come across a nexus, a hidden door that no one really knows about (including the fairies) that will lead to Bambleby's realm. She is joined by Shadow (her grim), Bambleby, Rose, and Ariadne (her niece). In doing so, she hopes to complete said Map of the Otherlands. Emily is very much the same character as before. She is not sociable or warm, and that includes her behavior toward her niece. She's got some pretty intense fire in her, especially when related to her scholarship, a more comfortable haven for her than her family ever was. I think it's unfair to dislike Emily because of it: she is so passionate about her work, and not necessarily for her own reputation. She is naturally curious about fairies, in part because she already knows so much and considers herself an expert (which can come off as a little pompous). It's clear that she doesn't really know how to process her relationship with Bambleby. She does not get into her feelings in her notes, in part because she's writing her observations about fairies, so to stray into personal topics would seem irrelevant to her. (view spoiler)[I will say that the ending is interesting. Being comfortable with her reputation and connection to her university, she decides to accept Bambleby's marriage proposal. She knows it means returning to his realm, now that his stepmother is dead and he can take the throne. And it means living in a fairy realm, which is certainly a valuable experience for one who wants to continue to contribute to scholarship. (hide spoiler)] I know I felt a little lukewarm about the book overall, but I'm very interested in reading the third installment. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
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1
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Sep 24, 2024
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Nov 27, 2024
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Jun 03, 2024
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1414384548
| 9781414384542
| B00E1O6VD6
| 4.31
| 377
| Mar 21, 2014
| Mar 21, 2014
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4.5 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: I honestly have no idea. And I only recently put it on my TBR because it was immediately available as a lib 4.5 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: I honestly have no idea. And I only recently put it on my TBR because it was immediately available as a library ebook rental. So I really have no excuse. My brain is broken. I can tell you why I did pick it up, though: the book appeared to be at least partially about a father and his disabled son, and how the father's world changed. I was not wrong about my assessment, though it's fair to say that the book builds off of the initial start. The author, Randy Lewis, eventually became the Senior Vice President of Walgreens. I was going to say "separate from his job," but I think Lewis would say that nothing is separate. Who he is as a person comes through in all areas of his life, and that necessarily includes work. Lewis has a son who is autistic. He and his family were not prepared (is anyone ever really prepared?), and Lewis is pretty upfront about the struggles he and his wife, Kay, endured as sought to support their son. Lewis continually goes back to a question that he says a lot of parents of disabled children ask themselves: what will happen to my child when I am gone? You can see how Lewis has learned through research and working with special education specialists. You can also see how much fight he has, how he and Kay were willing to take chances, even if those chances resulted in failure, to see how much Austin could actually achieve. The successes seemed small at times and took quite awhile, but they did indeed come around. As Lewis reflected on Austin overcoming challenges and eventually becoming more self-sufficient, he thought about what types of work Austin might be able to do. And then he found out how difficult it is for people with disabilities to attain good jobs. He was at Walgreens by this point, in charge of setting up a new distribution center, and he set a goal: a certain percentage of new hires had to be people with disabilities. Sounded great in theory, but how to actually make it work? Lewis calls attention to the fears that people have, of failure of course, but also fear of what they don't know, and that includes people with disabilities. A good portion of this book is how he was able to set up that distribution center and fulfill the goal, and he's not shy about all the work he and everyone else had to do, how long it took to get everyone on board. The results speak for themselves, and now executives consult with Lewis to enact those changes in their own companies. Throughout the book, I was inspired by Lewis's language and commitment. He made sure that how they defined disability was inclusive, not restricted. He is himself a business man, but he talked about how he moved away from some some of the expected trends he encountered in business school. Simply put, he argued that you could still do good AND run a successful business. Above everything else, he was adamant that people with disabilities were not charity cases: they are people who society consistently overlooks as being unable to do certain things with no logical basis, and he wants to give them a fair shot. As long as managers hire people with disabilities as an act of charity, they will never see past the stereotypes that are holding people with disabilities back. Those stereotypes-that individuals with disabilities can't do the work as well, cost more, cause legal suits, have accidents, raise insurance rates, and fail to fit in with the rest of the workforce or the customers-are a wall that no amount of charity will ever overcome. As Saint Augustine observed in the fifth century, "Charity is no substitute for justice withheld." Just an awesome book. At the end of the book are some short appendices for both businesses and for families with disabled people. This is an inspirational story. I honesty do not always love them, but this one was different, perhaps in part because it's concerning the disabled community, and also because I think he does a really good job speaking about how we as a society need to be more inclusive. As a nondisabled person, I may not have learned a lot that I will put into direct practice, but the content and lessons will stick with me. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 23, 2024
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May 28, 2024
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May 26, 2024
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B0DT3T9TNG
| 3.79
| 144,170
| Oct 03, 2023
| Oct 31, 2023
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2.5 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: likely BookBub's article on strong female leads in fantasy books. I'd have a bit of a bone to pick with the 2.5 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: likely BookBub's article on strong female leads in fantasy books. I'd have a bit of a bone to pick with them on this one. I wanted to like this book, but I think what was most telling to me is how much I didn't mind not picking it up for several days at a time. It's not like I was reading something more interesting. It's just that for about 80% of the book, I was pretty eh about reading more. The book dragged, especially in the middle of the book. It's a shame, because like many have said, Starling House is pretty cool. The plot is interesting. I think I didn't care much for the characters, especially the way that Harrow both wrote and referred to them. Harrow took great pains to make sure the readers knew that Opal had a bad life and that Arthur Starling did too. She drove hard the idea that Opal was doing everything to support her brother, Jasper. (It's always the older sister who has to put everything else on the back burner for the younger sibling or family member. It's a reliable trope; maybe I'm just getting tired of seeing it.) So much of the book just doesn't make sense. And it's not even the parts about Starling House. It's the relationships between people. Especially Opal and Arthur. That relationship makes absolutely zero sense to me, and yet it's pushed so hard, so much so that Opal relies upon Arthur. I never enjoyed reading their interactions. She kept running from him, presumably because she runs from everyone all the time, and then she kept running back. Harrow also make sure to reassure us that they are both physically unattractive too. So glad. The parts I liked: Starling House, the Wardens, the Underland, the true story of all of it, and all of the stories that were wrong but that have a way of circulating in a small, downtrodden town where the mining company is, surprise surprise, taking advantage of said small town. The writing just got to be too much for me at times, and not in a good way. It was almost too descriptive; maybe that's why the book took so long. And it wasn't as enjoyable as it should have been. To be fair, I suppose, you could argue that Opal is a victim of her upbringing and environment. Her relationship with her brother, Jasper, is honestly not that great. She lies to everyone, including him, and he in turn picks up those behaviors. He's smarter than her and more independent (perhaps in part because he's never had to support her the way she's supported him; that doesn't leave a great taste in my mouth), but he hides just as much from her. It's like he has to be a different person around her, and that, to me, is tragic. He can't celebrate his wins or share his dreams, in part perhaps because she argues to herself (and likely to him) that she doesn't have any and wouldn't understand. While the last 20% of the book is more readable, the ending is also pretty flat. I know Harrow has won several awards for other works, and I'm still interested in reading those. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
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1
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Apr 28, 2024
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May 23, 2024
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Apr 28, 2024
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0385548230
| 9780385548236
| B09BTZ5Z29
| 3.82
| 65,488
| May 03, 2022
| May 03, 2022
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3 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: BookBub suggested some recent fantasy with strong female leads, and this was one of the books. I waited for M 3 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: BookBub suggested some recent fantasy with strong female leads, and this was one of the books. I waited for MONTHS to get this from the library, so I will admit that I had high expectations. The other books that I'd read off that list were amazing, so again, high expectations. This is a hard one to rate. I liked the beginning of the book, and then it was S L O W for about 50% of the book, right smack dab in the middle. When others said this could have been a short story, I could see why. (Funny story: the author originally intended this to be as a short story.) While I think it would have worked well as a short story or novella, I think we would have missed out on the evolution of the main character, Alex. The downside is that I didn't really care about Alex for quite a bit of the book. There was nothing particularly wrong with her; I was just more interested in learning about the dragons (aka the title) and, to a certain extent, her family. As you might expect, this book isn't really about dragons. There are dragons, no lie. But a lot of scifi and fantasy use those elements as a means to an end. They are a fun aside so that we can learn more about human nature. I feel like the dragons were short-changed in this book, in more ways than one. The author states that this book is really about trauma, memory, and recovery. I can see why she's saying that, and I will admit that I got a little teary near the end of the book. I can see why Alex is the way she is throughout the book, though she often feels a little Mary Sue for my liking. It's kind of exhausting to see her get knocked down left and right. Her anger and sadness are understandable. We do sort of see her as a selfish character, but in many ways you just can't blame her, after all she's been through. At the end of the day, there are so many other characters who are, frankly, more interesting than her. But Alex plays an important role, because she grows up in a household and a society that values silence and punishes asking questions and being outspoken. There's a mass dragoning and literally no opportunity to talk about it, because we don't talk about that. Especially because it involves women. We see Alex grow up in a society where she doesn't understand these expectations, but she adapts to learn them and then to promote them herself, and it is really hard to see her parrot those terms. It's equally hard to see everyone just decide that we don't talk about things. Sadly, a lot of the other characters (aka Alex's family) are one-dimensional, or at least appear that way. Perhaps it's unfair to say that about Bertha, her mother, but her father and several other folks just seem like shallow characters to get a point across. No individual thought. No complexity. Alex has some self-discovery to do. (view spoiler)[And then there are the dragons. Look, I can get behind the idea that so much research still needs to happen. Why was there a mass dragoning? Why does it happen? I get that it will take time to process these things. But are you telling me that Alex never asked Auntie Marla or the other aunties about being dragons? Especially when it was clear that Beatrice would become a dragon? I get that she was resistant. But she held back with her audience. She hurried along the very short conclusion, and she told us not a thing about the dragons. Maybe they don't know why the mass dragoning happened, but surely they know why they decided to return to society after having been away for so long? It feels incomplete. These amazing characters are also left one-dimensional. Crafty, beautiful, and dedicated, but flat. (hide spoiler)] I suppose it had to happen. I've read a lot of great fiction lately, much of it dystopian, with strong character leads. This one just fell flat for me for quite some time, and the pick-up at the end was too little and too late. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 10, 2024
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Apr 17, 2024
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Apr 10, 2024
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B0CCNBRNRQ
| 4.20
| 1,107,519
| Apr 23, 2024
| Apr 23, 2024
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3.5 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: It's Emily Henry. My order of favorites is in the following order: Book Lovers, Happy Place, Beach Read, th 3.5 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: It's Emily Henry. My order of favorites is in the following order: Book Lovers, Happy Place, Beach Read, this book, and People We Meet on Vacation (though these last two could swap, idek). It still feels viscerally weird to not like this book quite as much, though I also wasn't super fond of People We Meet on Vacation, and yet I can't quite bump it up to four stars. I've read a few reviews that sort of catch my drift in terms of how I feel about this book (elle does a great job), but I'll try to wind my way through my thoughts here. The toll of the last three weeks has given him a slightly feral edge-a Labrador bitten by a werewolf and dumped back at the pound. Relatable, honestly. There was an easy familiarity and eagerness as I started this book. I love Emily Henry's writing style. I find myself highlighting dialogues and passages because somehow she knows how to describe something so uniquely and perfectly. She just snatches them from the air and puts them in their place, and it's lovely. Exchanges between characters are often so witty and catchy, and it's not just between a romantic pair. For example, Daphne has some wonderful back-and-forth with her mom, and she has some pretty good deadpan responses as well. I think what I generally like most about Henry's writing is that her female protagonists are smart. What annoys me at times about other rom coms is when female protagonists make predictable and almost out-of-character horrible or silly decisions, and it makes me like them a little bit less. Henry side-steps this by still putting her characters in weird places, but it's far less eye-rolly. So Daphne's in a bit of a pickle. She moved to Waning Bay, Michigan, for her fiance. She got a job she admittedly loves, but she's only been in Michigan for so long and doesn't feel a connection. She feels even less of a connection to the place when her fiance, Peter, dumps her for his best friend, perfect Petra. (Unfortunately, I can relate.) Daphne ends up moving in Petra's ex-boyfriend, Miles. They are handling the breakup in different ways and decide to make a pact when they receive a tacky wedding invitation for Peter and Petra's upcoming wedding: they will go together as a fake couple. (This is admittedly a spur-of-the-moment decision on Daphne's part, but eventually they both agree to it.) Meanwhile, Daphne's planning on escaping from Waning Bay. There is nothing there for her: no friends, no family, no community. Each chapter is a countdown to the Read-a-thon, a big event she is planning for the library. She is meanwhile applying to different positions across the country and hoping to find one that is closer to where her mom lives. Miles becomes committed to showing Daphne that there is a lot to love about Waning Bay, that there is a community in place if only she chooses to join it. In a way, Daphne's issues make sense. I mean, I sure as hell wouldn't want to stay in Michigan either, but that's my personal thing. Admittedly: what would I do if my partner and I split? Would I stay in Wisconsin, or would I move back to California? Don't know. And joining a community (outside of your partner's family) is difficult though not impossible once you are no longer in school (Daphne is close to mid-thirties; it's rough out there, folks). On top of that, Daphne has never really learned to put down roots: her father left the family when Daphne was young and is inconsistent at best, and her mother moved herself and Daphne around a lot to keep the family afloat. As a result, Daphne doesn't really put down roots anywhere, except for with her old bestie, and her ex-fiance, Peter. (I'm also not fond of Sadie, for the record. She said she wasn't taking sides, and then she dropped Daphne and chose Peter. Didn't even tell Daphne when she was engaged.) "You were a realist," I tell her. "Honey." She laughs. "I'm a cynic. A cynic is a romantic who's too scared to hope." It feels like a nail driven into my sternum. "Is that what I am?" I ask her.' "You?" she says. "You, my girl, are whoever you decide to be. But I hope you always keep some piece of that girl who sat by the window, hoping for the best. Life's short enough without us talking ourselves out of hope and trying to dodge every bad feeling. Sometimes you have to push through the discomfort, instead of running. (Honestly, it didn't feel like Daphne's problem was running? Scared to hope, yes. The rest, I'm not sure.) Miles, though, had possibly more issues. And I have to say I never fully liked him. I liked Miles and Daphne together well enough, though their early intimacy felt a bit unfounded. I like that he was very attentive to her. But I also found it strange how little he talked to his sister, this most important person in his world. (view spoiler)[I also found it to be Insane when he not only didn't fess up to going after Daphne's dad, but also that he went to help Petra. The absolute most bone-headed thing he ever could have done. I don't care that he still cares for her. (hide spoiler)] While I did appreciate the overall message for Daphne (sometimes people mess up; it doesn't mean relationships are over; AND that it's okay to put down roots and find your own identity and community), it didn't make me love her and Miles together. He clearly needs some therapy. And also, it's okay to cut off people who are no longer serving you. (*cough* Sadie *cough*) (view spoiler)[Also, all the stuff with Peter was annoying. Of course he wanted to get back together with Daphne. Of course Petra calls Miles when she and Peter break up. Give me a break. (hide spoiler)] But I do agree that there is far less introspection on Daphne's part in comparison to Henry's other female protagonists. And girl has some mess to process. Maybe a little too much mess for one to be able to surmount in one book. Maybe that's why I put the book down every now and again and was not really in a rush to get back to it. It's a little disappointing, but that's honestly no fault of Henry's. You'll like some books over others. That's life. But I'm still very, very glad I read it. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
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Sep 02, 2024
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Sep 18, 2024
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Apr 08, 2024
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1101885971
| B06X3TL4YD
| 4.35
| 108,218
| Dec 05, 2017
| Dec 05, 2017
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4.5 STARS I had literally just finished my review, and I clicked to close this window. Sheer will that I am not tossing my computer out of the house. P 4.5 STARS I had literally just finished my review, and I clicked to close this window. Sheer will that I am not tossing my computer out of the house. Please StoryGraph, get an autosave function. Sigh. GoodReads might not be my favorite website, but I'll be starting my reviews there from now on. How this book ended up on my TBR: I came across the first book in the series, The Bear and the Nightingale, in a BookBub post about strong female leads in fantasy books. I finished that book and loved it, then added this book to read next! I've been hoarding it on my kindle for a few months now, saving it for last, because I didn't want to start it so quickly after finishing the first book. The Girl in the Tower starts up right where The Bear and the Nightingale leaves off. We start very briefly with Vasilisa Petrovna, who has no opportunity to grieve for the father who sacrificed his life for her (indeed, as we later learn, for their entire village). Lesnaya Zemlya, the only home she has ever known, has turned on her, accusing her of being a witch and worse. Despite the winter king's assurances that her village will soon forget what happened (what do immortals really know about time?), Vasya decides to become a traveler. She takes her horse, the dependable Solovey, and heads south to see more of the world. For a good portion of the book, however, we follow two of Vasya's older siblings, the two that moved away during the events of The Bear and the Nightingale. Sasha has become more than a monk; he is the most trusted advisor of his cousin, the Grand Prince of Moscow. Olga married a prince herself, though a lesser one of land that IRL has yet to be developed in the time of the novel. She spends her days and nights in the temer (a secluded tower or area of her husband's property for aristocratic women), raising her children. We see something of what their lives have become before Vasya crashes in, and to say they are less than enthusiastic is an understatement. As unconventional as she is, she throws off their lives during a fairly tumultuous time. Bandits are raiding small villages, burning structures and killing people and kidnapping girls. Of more interest to the Grand Prince is that the Great Khan is essentially requesting back taxes that Dimitrii doesn't have, all the while fending off attempts to overthrow his rule. Dimitrii is considering war to create more favorable conditions, even while Sasha urges him not to. One of the features I liked best about this book is the family dynamics, though I was fairly cross with both Olga and Sasha throughout the book. The often referred to Vasya as young, immature, and selfish. She is indeed their younger sister, though she is by now as old as they were when they had significant life changes. Sasha chose to become a monk and left Lesnaya Zemlya under less favorable terms; he was never able to reconcile with his father, and it seems as though it never even occurred to him that he could. Olga, meanwhile, is a woman, so she only ever had two options: to marry or to go to a convent. And really, she didn't have a choice; her father married her off, and there was no opportunity for her to even consider an alternative. It makes sense that neither traveled back to Lesnaya Zemlya (it would have been highly improper of Olga, of course). And their treatment of Vasya isn't entirely different than when they were younger. Vasya was always a little strange, always stole away from the house when she could, oftentimes skirting responsibilities. They see her doing the same now, upending their lives when they are just trying to keep it together. Olga in particular knows her powerlessness, how precarious her position is, and is likely the best able to see the big picture. She has to be; she prioritizes her children above everyone else. Those who worry that this book has less magic need not be concerned. There is still Russian folklore throughout the book. But that plotline has continued, especially now that we are centered in Moscow. The chyerti (devils) know that they are fading because the people no longer believe in them, and they they remain for now. We do see more of the winter king, and learn something of him and of Vasya's family. And there is a new element as well that plays a role near the end of the book. The atmospheric storytelling of a wintery world is still very much present in this book; it was lovely to read. Sasha and Olga eventually see that, while they may never truly understand or approve of Vasya, she does mature to the extent of having priorities and thinking beyond herself. Vasya is not perfect, of course, and her future (well, all of theirs) is up in the air. The next book is already on my Libby waitlist. I can't wait to see what happens next. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph (despite its LACK OF AUTOSAVE), let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
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Apr 02, 2024
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Apr 06, 2024
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Apr 02, 2024
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0765387514
| 9780765387516
| B0BVK8GCGR
| 4.27
| 42,328
| Sep 26, 2023
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4.5 STARS How this book found its way to my TBR: pretty sure it was a BookBub recommendation, focusing on (recent?) fantasy publications with strong fe 4.5 STARS How this book found its way to my TBR: pretty sure it was a BookBub recommendation, focusing on (recent?) fantasy publications with strong female leads. This book has it in spades. I did not, for whatever reason, expect that this would be as long a book as it was. This is not surprising, as I rarely remember to look at book jackets to see what's happening. It's relevant because when work is at its busiest, I tend to opt for shorter books. But I've been hoarding this book on my kindle for a minute, and it was time to read it. And I'm so fortunate that I did. While this book is the first in a trilogy (when I got to the last part, I was suspicious that this was one of a series, and I was not disappointed, though I did have that mild feeling of "AHH I will have to wait for the next book to come out"), I think it's important to note that there is another series Schwab has written (Shades of Magic; partially because of the really attractive covers, this series has been on my radar for some time) that apparently serves to introduce some of these characters. I only found out about that by reading one of the reviews of this book. It makes me want to read the other series more than before, but at the moment, I don't think reading the other series is necessary to appreciate this book and fill in the blanks. There are four worlds and thus four Londons: Black London (where the magic initially came from), Grey London (where there is no magic), Red London (where the magic appears to be fading), and White London (where magic appears to be growing). Not all of the characters are magical (see: King Rhys Maresh of Red London), but most of them are or have been. The historical event that we often hear of is the battle against Osaron, a figure or movement that, as far as I can tell, tried to destroy three of the four worlds. Three characters defeated him: Kell Maresh (prince of Red London), Delilah Bard (originally of Grey London), and Holland Vosijk (king of White London). They are Antari, people whose magic encompasses all the elements. Holland is dead, Lila is a pirate, and Kell has lost access to his powers. The story spins from there, introducing Kosika, a neglected girl from White London who becomes Antari and then the queen of White London. We also meet Tesali, a young tinkerer who fixes broken magical items and occasionally makes them better. (Tes is one of my favorite characters; I hope we see a lot more of her in future books.) Eventually the structure of the worlds made more sense to me. We spend the majority of our time in Red London (I suspect this builds from the Shades of Magic series, where we are introduced to characters like Kell and Lila). Rhys is dealing with unrest in his kingdom, as his citizens worry that they are losing their magic as least partially because Rhys himself has no magic. His wife is Nadiya, a woman whose passion is inventing and who will protect her family at pretty much any cost) and his consort is Alucard, another Antari who is devoted to Rhys. The three of them together parent Ren, a sweet young girl who has yet to demonstrate any magical abilities. The family structure is explained so quickly as to feel absolutely natural. I like the relationship between Kell and Lila. Lila is a pretty easy character to like, although not unlike Queen Nadiya, she will throw nearly anyone under the bus to protect her most cherished people. It's perhaps because of this determination that the women don't like each other. I enjoyed the dynamic between all of the characters (though the dislike between Alucard and Kell doesn't make a ton of sense to me). They coexist mostly peacefully. I'm curious to see what happens between the worlds. One might expect that those in Red London want to explore the other worlds to get their magic back, as Queen Kosika is experiencing some friction from her own advisors. There is an underlying plot to the novel that is more or less wrapped up by the end, but there is plenty of setup for future plots, both in Red London and across the four worlds. While I'm a bit sad that we didn't see much of Kosika, I'm convinced we'll see a lot more of her soon, and I hope we see more of Tes and her little owl, Vares. Overall: strong writing, good explanation of fantasy elements and world-building. Great dialogue between characters. I thought all of the main characters had solid development, and I can see why BookBub recommended this book for strong female fantasy characters. I'll definitely read more. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
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Mar 03, 2024
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Mar 17, 2024
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Mar 03, 2024
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1496713699
| 9781496713698
| B07K61W28C
| 4.04
| 12,022
| Jul 30, 2019
| Jul 30, 2019
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2.5 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: The StoryGraph's Genre Challenge 2024. One of the prompts was to read a historical fiction novel set before 2.5 STARS How this book ended up on my TBR: The StoryGraph's Genre Challenge 2024. One of the prompts was to read a historical fiction novel set before 1900. I'm about to read another book for a book club that would have fit the bill, but I saw this book mentioned as an option for the challenge, and it looked interesting. It took me much longer than I would have liked to finish this book. Part of it was that I didn't prioritize reading, but honestly, it was hard for me to prioritize this book. I didn't really enjoy reading it, and I didn't want to keep reading into the next chapter until the last 10% of the book. My experience is far and away from those who gave this book a 5-star review, which just tells me the book wasn't really for me! The main character of the book is Effie "Jones". I say "Jones" because we eventually learn that Effie didn't have a surname, and she chose the name "Jones" for reasons she get into in the book. She is a former slave, and Northern undertaker notices that her practicality and interest in science can benefit his work. The Civil War ends, and Effie leaves her ward to go south to New Orleans because she knew she was originally from that area and wants to find her family. What she finds is an undertaker who fought for the North and is paying greatly for it. He takes her on very quickly. Effie is not one for socializing, but she allows herself to be taken out to a seance, where she pretty loudly debunks the entire practice. From there, she meets Adeline, a Creole woman of high society. Effie also starts to mix in with the black Republicans in the area, and she falls hopelessly in love with Samson Greene, a representative in the state legislature. Effie seeks out Adeline first to get out of love Samson, and then how to make her love him. (This is not my favorite part of the story.) The book is chock full of flawed characters. Adeline has never been poor and is reeling from a drop from high society, and her mother's health is not good. Samson is a powerful speaker, and I think he does care for Effie, but he's a womanizer. And yet both Adeline and Samson help Effie learn more about her heritage. It's also hard not to like Samson when he talks about what life was like when he was a slave. It's easy to not like each of these characters (the undertaker included), but they complex, and ultimately I don't think they're bad people. I think a major strength of this book is the way it sheds some light on attitudes in the south post-Civil War. It's not like life went great for everyone after the Emancipation Proclamation. The south was pissed, AND they'd lost thousands of young men in the war. The north wasn't particularly friendly with black people. And I'm curious about what life was like for black and creole people in the south both before and after the war. Were there blacks and creole folks who disliked the war? Was it a matter of class and racism? What I did not really like about the book was Effie herself and the focus on her. I just didn't really care about her. So much of the book feels like plot for plot's sake. There are snippets of things (like Meg learning to read and write) that are mentioned so briefly and then almost never again. For awhile I thought the title of the book was a bit of a misnomer, though I'm now convinced that all's well there. I'm beginning to think I'm having a hard time liking main characters when the book not in first person narrative, but I've historically enjoyed books told in third person, so I'm not sure if I just didn't see enough of Effie until the last quarter of the book. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
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Feb 20, 2024
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Mar 02, 2024
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Feb 20, 2024
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B000SEHDGM
| 4.20
| 26,240
| 2007
| unknown
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4.75 STARS How this book found its way to my TBR: The StoryGraph's Genre Challenge 2024, a nonfiction book about psychology. I'm sad that it took me th 4.75 STARS How this book found its way to my TBR: The StoryGraph's Genre Challenge 2024, a nonfiction book about psychology. I'm sad that it took me this long to read some of Brown's work, but I'm glad I read it and was delighted to discuss it a little with Allison. Brown is a sociologist specializing in shame research (I'd never heard of this type of researcher before, but that's me learning about all types of researchers), and though she does not explicitly focus on women, she does in this book. She defines shame and does so in a way that makes it distinct from concepts like guilt and embarrassment. In my own words: she articulates that shame happens when we internalize negative beliefs about ourselves in such a way that there is no way to change or grow. Rather, our defects seem to just be part of our very nature. Brown argues that while other people in our lives might think that shaming us will encourage us to change, that's just not possible, because when we feel shame, we feel inherently fixed in our defectiveness. Through her research, which includes in-depth interviews and focus groups with multiple people (sometimes with several sessions and workshops with the same people), she comes to her concept of shame resilience. It's unfortunately not possible to become completely immune to feeling shame. What's important is to recognize the shame for what it is, identify, where the shame is coming from, and have a positive network of behaviors and people to support you. A person can only do this if they try to foster empathy, courage, and compassion for themselves and for others. I appreciated several factors in this book. For one, Brown identified the six categories that often came up in her interviews. They include: motherhood, parenting, appearance, and aging. She gives clear examples from all of these categories from her interviews; I really like that she shares the words and stories of her participants. After all, one of the aspects of shame resilience is to have courage and share your story. Another factor that I really liked about this book is the author's own vulnerability; she provides multiple examples throughout the book in a way that sheds light on shame and her own thought processes. I didn't especially identify too much with the research, but I'm sure I will at some point. I found the writing to be really easy to read and engaging. I'll definitely read more of Brown's work. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
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Mar 18, 2024
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Mar 30, 2024
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Jan 26, 2024
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1728215730
| 9781728215730
| B083ZLK9PL
| 4.10
| 258,392
| Jun 02, 2020
| Jun 23, 2020
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4 STARS If we don't tell our own stories, we'll never take control of the narrative. How this book came to be on my TBR: book club! I'm so grateful for 4 STARS If we don't tell our own stories, we'll never take control of the narrative. How this book came to be on my TBR: book club! I'm so grateful for my book clubs. I've been reading things I never would have known about. Sometimes hits, sometimes misses. This was a hit. I have more recently gotten into reading mysteries that are also thrillers, though I'm not sure I would call myself someone who likes thrillers. Maybe I am! This book was wild. I don't know that I can say I always *enjoyed* it, but I will say that I could not put the book down for the last 25%. Really outstanding. There are two perspectives in this book: Claire and Eva. Claire tells her own story in first-person narrative, and she's describing present-day happenings. Eva's chapters are in third person and take place in the past. Both women need to leave their lives behind for different reasons (but a main commonality between them is that their lives are no longer theirs to control, in significant part to men who lie and do other unpleasant things and are in positions of privilege and power). They meet at an airport, and because of their desperate circumstances, they plan to board each other's planes. And that's where we start off. I did not like Eva much at first, but you learn more about her backstory alongside Claire, who also isn't too fond of Eva at the beginning. Claire herself is a sympathetic character, and I found myself rooting for both of them throughout the book. I probably would have liked the novel a little more if I'd spent more time reading in greater chunks (instead of grabbing a couple of chapters any time I could sit down), but I will say that this book really hit me. I could tell by how invested I was in Eva's storyline, and I'm surprised at how much I wanted everything to turn out okay for her in the end. Not that I necessarily want bad things to happen to not-evil characters, but I knew how disappointed I'd be if she wasn't successful. It's truly tragic how far both women had to go to leave their identities behind. That they had to be considered dead for the past to stop hounding them, for their lives to be safe. I thought Clark did an amazing job with this book. Her writing is extremely good, very suspenseful, and I felt as though she wrote these characters as humanely as possible. I would absolutely read more of her work. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
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Jan 22, 2024
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Jan 26, 2024
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Jan 20, 2024
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0525480730
| 9780525480730
| B07692QXW3
| 3.97
| 33,563
| Jul 24, 2018
| Jun 24, 2018
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3 STARS How this book came to be on my TBR: After watching Star Wars: Rebels and Ahsoka, I became very interested in characters like Ahsoka and Grand A 3 STARS How this book came to be on my TBR: After watching Star Wars: Rebels and Ahsoka, I became very interested in characters like Ahsoka and Grand Admiral Thrawn. (Okay, the boyfriend really likes Thrawn, so I figured I'd learn more about something we both like.) I've now read a few books with Thrawn in them, and I feel like a little break might do me some good. But I'm glad I read this one first. As I was watching more Star Wars Explained videos, I noticed that something kept coming up. I was most interested while we were watching Ahsoka, as the YouTube channel posted recaps after every episode and focused in on characters like Thrawn. Several times, they mentioned that Thrawn had actually met Anakin Skywalker, and I was intrigued. I think this is mentioned in the first Thrawn book, but it's at least referred to in the Ahsoka series. So for folks who are interested in how that happened, this is the book for you. I did not enjoy this book as much as I'd hoped. Perhaps I've forgotten that scifi books really have to describe some world-building and, in the context of Star Wars, some battle stuff. But it felt overly complicated in this book. What further complicated the book is that we followed two storylines. One of them is in the distant past. Anakin Skywalker and Padme are secretly married. Ahsoka has left the Jedi (this book came out in 2018). Padme is off on a non-diplomatic mission, and Anakin comes after her when she doesn't communicate back. On the way, he meets Thrawn, a Chiss who doesn't speak Basic (to keep the canon nature of the earlier books) but does speak a language that Anakin knows. They travel to Batuu and then Mokivj, and once things happen, they go their separate ways. The second storyline is several years later, as the Empire is expanding. Darth Vader is Palpatine's Sith Lord, and Grand Admiral Thrawn is a high military official. (I actually thought it was kind of interesting to see the military and non-military sections of the Empire.) Palpatine gives Vader and Thrawn a quest to work on together. Vader is highly dissatisfied. And the idea is to see how loyal each person is to the Emperor. Where do they have to go? Batuu and eventually Mokivj, of course. The chapters alternate between the two timelines, but sometimes you get a lot of one timeline before switching to the other. It all felt a little too tedious for me, especially when including Padme's perspective, and that was not super entertaining for me. Anakin has always been pretty rash, but he's exceptionally grouchy. (Editing error: he "growls" a whole lot in this book, and it is distracting.) Vader himself is pretty short-tempered, but that's his way. I thought about how Anakin "died" and Vader was born, and how angry he must be all of the time. What a life. It's easy to see the leadership styles between Vader and Thrawn. Something that I didn't think of before that kind of irked me is how fond Zahn seems to be of Thrawn. He made him a perfect statistician and leader, someone with perfect control of logic. He yearns to learn because he plays the long game. Eventually even Vader has some grudging respect for Thrawn. Sort of makes you wonder how Thrawn will be taken down, if he ever is. The other odd thing is that we learn everything through the perspectives of Padme, Anakin, and Vader. Even from Vader's commander and Thrawn's Commodore. But never through Thrawn. Zahn treats Thrawn like a machine, and that makes it very hard to see him as anything more than a one-dimensional character. Even R2D2 has some character. That said, I did root a little for Thrawn in an earlier book, and I don't think Zahn wrote Thrawn any differently. The circumstances were a little different. But we can't get into Thrawn's head, and we are still human, even if he is not. Can we still like him as a character if we can't identify with him? Sure. But it's different. The ending for both storylines was not super satisfying, really. Of course we know that Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, but Thrawn doesn't necessarily know that. (Just kidding; of course he does.) The ending of the first storyline is perhaps especially depressing: a world's inhabitants transition from one unpleasant living condition to another, and all they can do is accept that they have no control over their situation and have to adapt. The Senate, for all its power, can do nothing to improve their lives. It's a little bit of "thoughts and prayers", but that's also... life, isn't it? Anyway, it was worth reading this book, but I think I'll take a little break before digging into another Star Wars novel. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
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1
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Jan 13, 2024
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Jan 20, 2024
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Jan 12, 2024
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B01EMJ2VYC
| 4.08
| 43,389
| Oct 11, 2016
| Oct 11, 2016
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4 STARS How this book found its way to my TBR: I have watched and enjoyed a bunch of Star Wars stuff. I quickly learned why some folks identify Ahsoka 4 STARS How this book found its way to my TBR: I have watched and enjoyed a bunch of Star Wars stuff. I quickly learned why some folks identify Ahsoka Tano as best girl. After watching the Ahsoka series (season 1) on Disney+, I decided I wanted to learn a little more about her complex story. In the historical timeline, this book takes place shortly after The Clone Wars/Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith (those two overlap in the Clone Wars anyway), before Star Wars: Rebels and well before Episode IV: A New Hope. (In fact, the book does try to establish what happens with Ahsoka between the Clone Wars and Rebels.) The Empire is alive and thriving, the Jedi Order is all but completely destroyed, and Ahsoka Tano is on her own. She is resourceful enough, trying to live uneventfully in the Outer Rim worlds, as the Empire will not take kindly to any remaining Jedi. Ahsoka would (and does) point out that she is no longer a Jedi, and while she doesn't delve too deeply into this identity crisis in this book, she does at least start to lightly acknowledge it. It's easy to forget the trauma that Ahsoka has experienced. She was abducted from her home world because of her Force sensitivity, only to be rescued by the Jedi. She trained under Anakin Skywalker, and we all know what happened there. Ahsoka can't be entirely forthright when she meets new folks, but as she joins a community of farmers on Raada, she understands that she does have to share a little bit of herself. It was actually kind of neat to hear her talk about her "adoptive family" and her thinking more specifically of Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi as her "parents". It's one thing to leave your family, and quite another for your family to be slaughtered. Ahsoka is clearly trying to not think about all of it too much. She wants a more mundane life if she can manage it, just to stay out of trouble, although she grew up during the war, and that's unfortunately most of what she knows. She knows to be prepared. I also like that we see Ahsoka struggle a little with non-military folks. After all, she worked with the clones, who followed all her instructions in war. Non-military folks don't think strategically like she does, and she learns how significant that can be. Ahsoka eventually accepts that even though she doesn't call herself a Jedi, she wants to protect the galaxy from the Empire, and she can use the Force to do so. She also makes contact with Bail Organa, senator and husband to Alderaan's queen, Breha. By the end of the book, Ahsoka has a better idea of how she can effectively work against the Empire. I don't think folks learn anything particularly new that they can't get out of some of the newer Disney+ series, but this was a fun read, regardless. The writing was mostly good, though I do think the editing could have been a little better. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 06, 2024
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Jan 12, 2024
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Jan 06, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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B000FC2IYY
| 3.73
| 40,173
| Nov 07, 1963
| Sep 28, 2004
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4.5 STARS How this book found its way to my TBR: Book group! We are very Agatha Christie-friendly and started the year strong with this book. I'm confi 4.5 STARS How this book found its way to my TBR: Book group! We are very Agatha Christie-friendly and started the year strong with this book. I'm confident I had not read the book before and am glad I did now, especially coming off Passenger to Frankfurt, which I did not enjoy quite as much. Is there a popular detective? Yes! Hercule Poirot! But you'll have to be patient with this one, as M. Poirot does not make his appearance until about halfway through the book. The chapters swap between two type of storytelling: the first is third person, and the second is the first-person narration of Mr. Colin Lamb. Christie is delightfully tongue-in-cheek about Lamb's occupation. He's a likable character with a marine biology background but clearly involved in spycraft and national defense. A woman, Mrs. Pebmarsh, contacts a secretarial company requesting Sheila Webb's services. Sheila goes to Mrs. Pebmarsh's house, only to see a dead man in the house. She freezes, warns Mrs. Pebmarsh (who is blind) not to trod on the body, and promptly runs screaming from the house straight into Colin Lamb. The situation gets very complicated. For one, Mrs. Pebmarsh is perfectly certain she never called the secretarial bureax. For another, no one seems to know who the dead man is, and the only identifying features appear to be bogus. And oddly enough, there are extra clocks in Mrs. Pebmarsh's house. Colin Lamb brings the case to Hercule Poirot, who claims that it's possible to solve the mystery from an armchair without having to question anyone (although he later qualifies that he can only do so because Colin is his insightful retriever with exceptionally good observations and memory). He then insists that the crime itself is very simple, whereas everyone else is confused and finds the matter to be super complex. Of course, M. Poirot is correct about everything. I admit to being a little thrown off at how removed M. Poirot was in the novel, but Colin Lamb makes a fun narrator, and the detective we follow is also pretty clever and interesting. I enjoyed the mystery itself and found the storytelling to be incredibly engaging. I don't think I could have sorted the mystery out myself, but I like that Poirot was looking for inconsistencies in testimony, or very curious wording, and they were very instructive in the overall case. This was quite a fun read, and I'd definitely recommend it for anyone who likes Christie and M. Poirot and are open to Poirot in a slightly different role. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 04, 2024
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Jan 10, 2024
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Jan 04, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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B00513HWXO
| 4.17
| 100,034
| May 01, 1991
| Sep 06, 2011
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5 STARS How this book found its way onto my TBR: since doing a deep dive into Star Wars and related series (especially Star Wars: Rebels and Ahsoka), I 5 STARS How this book found its way onto my TBR: since doing a deep dive into Star Wars and related series (especially Star Wars: Rebels and Ahsoka), I've been interested in reading more about characters like Ahsoka and Thrawn. I recently read Star Wars: Thrawn, a book that gives more of what we'd want in terms of an introduction to Thrawn. But this particular book is unique, because it's the first *recognized* book approved by Lucasfilm that introduces the Star Wars community to Thrawn. I can only imagine what it would be like to have 0 knowledge of Thrawn before reading this book. For the sake of consistency with the timeline: this book came out after the original trio of films (Star Wars IV, V, and VI), and there was no inkling into the prequels or subsequent trilogy, to say nothing about series such as The Clone Wars. So some things aren't going to feel as *canon*, though Lucasfilm did make some suggestions and alterations that made more sense when the other films came out. That said, this book has Leia pregnant with twins, and that messed with my mind for a little bit. I will say, I'm beginning to get a little Star Wars exhausted, but I think that's mainly because I have relatively little interest in Luke, Han, and Leia. Even as I say that, I find that statement unfortunate; there's so much development happening with each of these characters. This book takes place several years after The Return of the Jedi. The Empire has suffered enormous losses (in sheer numbers alone, along with losing Darth Vader, the Emperor, and likely almost all grand admirals), and the Rebel Alliance has become a shaky New Republic. There is some mention of politics in the book, as well as the struggles of creating a new support system that works for everyone. Leia Organa Solo is quite pregnant with twins and is also am ambassador for the New Republic. Given her galaxy-wide renown and diplomatic skills, she is often trotted out to make peace and encourage cooperation and membership. Her husband, Han Solo, is connected to the New Republic in a looser relationship. Most often when we see him, he's trying to encourage skeptical business folk to go straight and work with the New Republic. And then we have Luke, whose role is a little more nebulous. He's not working for the New Republic, exactly, and is more focused on Leia's Jedi training. I will say that it's interesting to see their different strengths. Leia seems a little better at communicating with Luke, as well as reading bad situations for what they are. Luke is probably the most interesting to follow because of all he's gone through. He is, by Yoda's own words, the last remaining Jedi (at least outside of Leia; anyone with any recent connection to Star Wars would say UHHHHHHH). While they are carrying out their agendas, we see the Empire's last remaining Grand Admiral. He is completely unknown to the New Republic, though there are some neutral parties (merchants, bounty hunters, etc.) who do know the name of the Grand Admiral, and he is Thrawn. It's probably not entirely strange that almost no one outside the Empire knows of him; we certainly hadn't heard of him in the original trilogy, likely because he was never at the center of things happening. Part of that might be due to the fact that he's not human. Zahn describes Thrawn as being Chiss, so though he is humanoid, he has blue skin, blue-black hair, and disturbing red eyes. He seems very aware of the forces he's dealing with, and his goal (as far as we know) is to bring the Empire back to power. Anyone paying attention can learn a lot about Thrawn: his use of logic, his leadership qualities, and his unique perspective of studying the art of his opponents. His own people are a little uncertain of him; he doesn't lose his cool the way that others (aka Darth Vader) did. He runs a tight ship, but he also listens to the questions and doubts of his officers. He plays the long game and earns the loyalty and respect of his officers. And he is ruthless. I've watched a few videos of Star Wars Explained, and they did a great job of trying to emphasize to viewers of series like Ahsoka why Thrawn is so dangerous. This book does that for you too. His captain, Gilad Pellaeon, has no idea how Thrawn comes up with his ideas. By the end of this book, Pellaeon is wondering how the Battle of Endor might have turned out differently had Thrawn been there. It's a chilling thought. If you want to read Heir to the Empire, I strongly recommend reading the 20th Anniversary Edition. It contains commentary by Zahn and by his editor, Betsy Mitchell. Absolutely worth reading their reflections on a series that might not have succeeded (but oh, did it). Great characterizations of beloved characters and new ones as well. I also enjoyed reading the Star Wars novella Crisis of Faith. Overall this was an awesome book, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to dig into some Star Wars literature. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 29, 2023
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Jan 03, 2024
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Dec 29, 2023
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1368098274
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| 4.27
| 150,977
| Sep 26, 2023
| Sep 26, 2023
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4.5 STARS How this book found its way onto my TBR: Rick Riordan. Percy Jackson. Enough said. Though there are still some books of his that I haven't re 4.5 STARS How this book found its way onto my TBR: Rick Riordan. Percy Jackson. Enough said. Though there are still some books of his that I haven't read (the Apollo series, the Egyptian series), I swallow up any Percy Jackson-adjacent book. I have nothing against the other series; I suppose I just forgot they exist. Anyway. Rick Riordan's books are ones I had to have both physical and digital copies of, and I will reread like a fiend. So this is Book 6 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, though of course it does take place after the Heroes of Olympus series (another impressive series). Percy is now seventeen years old and is thinking about his future; namely, following Annabeth to New Rome University in California. While he tries to recover academically in order to do so, he finds that the trials of being a demigod are never truly over, and so he is off with Annabeth and Grover to complete more quests. In comparison to the other books, this one reads a little less seriously, but Riordan's grasp of Percy's personality and voice is strong. (I did find myself enjoying this book a little less, because even through I have grown older, and Percy has as well, the audience is probably still middle grade/YA.) Not to say that there weren't times where the trio's lives were not in danger (especially Percy's, of course), but it's definitely less end-of-the-world and more a sort of spin-off series. I suppose it's a little spoiler-ish to say that there will be more books following this one, but that should be good news to anyone who enjoys Riordan's writing. It's really nice to see Percy mature and grow as an individual, son, partner, and friend. (Although honestly, despite his running sarcasm, he always seemed pretty thoughtful and mature.) Riordan keeps things light and fun, and the story just zips off the page. I also liked that Riordan sprinkled references to previous books and tales and provided just enough explanation without going overboard. Unrelated: I have also watched the first two episodes of the Disney+ live action series, and it's pretty darn good. I'm a big fangirl of Riordan's work encouraging storytelling of multiple cultures and mythologies. Keep them coming, and I'll read every one. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 26, 2023
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Dec 28, 2023
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Dec 22, 2023
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B00H25FCSQ
| 4.29
| 316,208
| Aug 04, 2015
| Aug 04, 2015
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4.5 STARS How this book found its way onto my TBR: I strongly suspect BookBub or another resource gave me a list of recommendations of scifi/fantasy bo 4.5 STARS How this book found its way onto my TBR: I strongly suspect BookBub or another resource gave me a list of recommendations of scifi/fantasy books by people of color and/or strong female leads. This book had pretty high ratings, so I checked it out from my library and hoarded it on my Kindle for months. It's a struggle to figure out what to write about this book. As with a lot of the really creative, amazing world-building scifi options, I know that I don't understand absolutely everything that's happening. And I don't entirely mind that; I know it's important to suspend judgment and try to use contextual cues. I feel like there's a lot I don't get that Jemisin could have clarified. The appendix at the back is not as helpful as it could be, at least pertaining to the different seasons (I would have preferred a timeline). While I did not always *enjoy* reading the book, and I didn't always completely understand what was happening, I did find the book to be astounding. I like that each chapter pertained to one of three characters: Essun (told in second person), and Damaya and Syenite (told in third person). You are pretty quickly thrown into a world of caste, "natural" disasters, and power imbalance. Damaya, Syenite, and Essun are all in different periods of their lives, and it's really interesting to see the world through their perspectives. (view spoiler)[Even more so when you discover that they are all the same person at different periods of her life. I remember assuming that all the perspectives were happening at the same time, but early on I figured there was some time difference. And then when Damaya changed her name to Syenite at the end of her final chapter, I was pretty sure that Essun is the older version of Syenite. What elegant work. (hide spoiler)] This book was full of difficult material, and I was surprised to get a little swept up in some of the emotion. I enjoyed learning about orogenes and Guardians, stills and stone-eaters. But everything was purposeful. I wasn't sure I'd want to continue the series, but at this point I think I'd want to try reading the next one in the series. That said, it'll be awhile before I get there. This is the type of book that I can't read in short bursts; I need a few hours a day to make a decent dent in the book. That's usually the case when I read scifi, and it's definitely the case here. I'm nervous about leaving too much of a gap, but I won't be able to devote the time to it until summer. We'll see! EDIT: HOLY CRAP bless you, The StoryGraph, for having an undo button after I deleted my entire review. -- PS. If you all ever go to The StoryGraph, let's be friends there! Here's my profile. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Dec 18, 2023
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Dec 18, 2023
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3.99
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Apr 11, 2025
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4.31
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3.82
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4.35
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4.27
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3.97
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Jan 06, 2024
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4.27
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4.29
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Dec 18, 2023
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