Review: Lone Women by Victor LaValle

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Thanks to the publisher for the ARC of this book.

I put Lone Women on my immediate TBR as soon as I heard what it’s about. I really like the idea of westerns, specifically the setting, but it’s hard to find anything that’d hit the spot. Reading books based on the concept alone can be pretty hit or miss, but this time, it worked out perfectly. I could not put it down.

Review: Song of the Beast by Carol Berg

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So far, 2023 has been the year of the backlog, finally getting around to many of the books that have been on my radar for years. I suspected I’d like it purely due to Berg’s reputation for writing broken protagonists (I quite enjoyed Transformation) and the first half was great. Unfortunately though, what could have been a fairly enjoyable standard dragon story started to drag on in the second half instead. And the romance subplot being unpleasant and annoying to read certainly didn’t help.

Retrospective: Dracula Daily

This both is and isn’t a review. Yes, I’m among those who read Dracula via the Dracula Daily newsletter and I had a great time. On the other hand, it’s really hard to review or critique something that’s not only a book but also a minor cultural phenomenon, with the latter part being rather essential. You cannot talk about recommending or not recommending an experience that is unlikely to repeat for others to take part in, or at least not at such scale. But I had to write something for goodreads to mark it as read, and, well, turns out I have a lot to say.

Review: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

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Everyone is probably familiar with the good old ebook backlog. I tend to start planning my Bingo with those to try to knock at least a couple off the list, but between being a mood reader, ARCs and more kindle sales…well. At least I managed it with this one. Even though I wasn’t really in the mood and probably wouldn’t ever be, it was perfect for the Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey square. In the end, I am left with mixed feelings. While the premise was interesting enough to keep me from DNFing, the characters and parts of the plot were underwhelming to say the least.

Review: The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

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Thanks to the publisher (Del Rey) for the ARC of this book.

Finally, finally, after nearly two weeks of struggling, I am done with this book. I don’t think I’ve ever had such complicated feelings before, or struggled as much with a book I couldn’t help but see as excellent in many ways. I wonder if perhaps I might have loved it in another mood and another time, if it’s me or the book, but in the end, it’s no use.

Review: Their Heart a Hive by Fox N. Locke

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As sweet and delicious and comforting as honey. It’s very rare I buy a book minutes after having heard of it (thanks Womble!), or that I start it immediately after buying. But how could I ever say no to another potential addition to the slice of life list? To folklore? Beekeeping? 18th century vibes? A queernorm world? The target audience here is me. Of course I enjoyed it.

Review: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

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Given that I’ve been keeping a slice of life list since at least 2018, me reading Legends & Lattes, the most hyped slice of life fantasy book of 2022, was only a question of time. I simply had to see what’s it all about and one more book to add is never a bad thing. Did I enjoy it? Sure. It made for a perfect light, fun beach read. Hell, coffee- or teashop based books are something I generally wish there was more of. But I did have some issues with the worldbuilding and immersion as well.

Review: A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

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In my private goodreads notes for this book, I had apparently written “Ada Palmer rec’d it to me cause I like Terra Ignota’s worldbuilding.” I have no idea when or how this happened (twitter? An AMA?) but oh, was it correct. It’s, in some ways, an old-style first contact story, very reminiscent of Le Guin, with plenty of human/alien cultural worldbuilding. But in other ways, it’s very much modern, with some very interesting takes on gender and a post-capitalist world struggling to repair the damage done to Earth. It did not truly hook me until about 60% in, but the worldbuilding indeed intrigued me right from the start.

Mini Reviews: Monk and Robot #1-2, The Hands of the Emperor, The Sign of the Dragon

Sometimes things don’t work out no matter how much you want to like a book, no matter how up your alley it sounds. With one popular series I found out I dislike and two DNFs I had high hopes for, this round-up of mini reviews happens to be unintentionally dedicated to those.

Review: The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri (Burning Kingdoms #2)

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Thanks to the publisher (Orbit) for the ARC of this book.

This has been one of the most anticipated sequels this year and I was very happy when I got it. But while I liked The Jasmine Throne well enough, this one just didn’t work for me. I expected to be drawn in and then heartbroken by a suitably tragic ending, instead I was simply bored.