From the first few sentences I could understand why this book was getting praised up and down every timeline I was on last year. I could immediately uFrom the first few sentences I could understand why this book was getting praised up and down every timeline I was on last year. I could immediately understand the appeal, and for once could feel myself agreeing with it and that was a really nice thing to experience.
Before this year I never would I have thought I'd be a second chance romance girlie, let alone that I could enjoy two of them in the same month and yet here I am.
Ama and Elliot's story was compelling in both the present chapters as we see each of them really in their element and being sort of forced back into a working relationship to make Ama's highest profile clients yet happy, and them in the past when Ama was freshly starting out on her own as a wedding planner. I will say that what made this second chance romance work so well for me was that I appreciated that in each of the timelines Ama and Elliot were each doing their thing, but at no point did it feel like either of them was settling? Particularly in the future, it was nice that Ama had continued to thrive without Elliot's more inventive installations and his shop had also continued to garner attention. They weren't coming back to each other because they had flamed out or things weren't working or everything in their lives was pathetic. They were coming back together on a similar level and were able to continue to push the other to be the best version of themselves and that was amplified by knowledge they had from their past and a sense of genuinely caring about this person.
I'm also slowly learning I like it when the couple isn't dating for most of the book. We get plenty of scenes with our couple because they were sort of dating in the past and we see that relationship playing out, but in the present it's mostly platonic. Platonic adjacent anyway, with them keeping things as professional as possible and the reader getting to see that side of them with each other. We get to skip out on a third act breakup in favor of a more comical third act conflict that also allows Ama to have a moment of confrontation with a character that's been undermining her the whole book while also reinforcing the care that Elliot has been harboring for Ama the whole book.
While I had been loving this experience I wasn't sure I was willing to read Soto's sophmore outing about the classical cellist? Then I saw Xander's blink and you miss it cameo here and I will be picking out that second book as soon as it's available.
As much as I loved Ama and Elliot I did also very much appreciate the care of all the side characters. I won't be holding my breath that the colorful stepsiblings that have taken over Sacremento are going to be making any future appearances, but they added a vibrancy that was nice to see. It was also refreshing to see stepsiblings still be an important part of Ama's life and that even though none of them were still connected to her via marriage they wanted to be there too. Even if part of that reasoning might have been a paycheck.
I don't think I need to tell anyone to read this because I'm so late to the party, but if you haven't go read it....more
Blessings to Libro.fm without whom I never would have had this book on my radar, which is wild because I've since learned that this is a BOTM selectioBlessings to Libro.fm without whom I never would have had this book on my radar, which is wild because I've since learned that this is a BOTM selection and the publisher won't let you forget that Yulin Kuang is attached to a couple different adaptations of Emily Henry's work.
To have me tell it, Kuang is lapping Ms. Henry in the adult romance game, but let's get into this book.
I'll be honest, I only kind of skimmed the description before selecting this from Libro. If you've been following me for any amount of time I hope it's obvious my love for stories set in Hollywood or are in any way tangentially related to Hollywood. Here we are following Helen, a YA author who is currently living the dream of riding their best selling series into a TV adaptation. She arrives in LA ready to take on the challenge of being a screenwriter for the first time, collaborating with other screenwriters on the show, seeing the characters she imagined coming to life in a new medium.
The only thing in her way is Grant, a man from her past with some pretty thorny connections to her family.
To this books credit the audiobook did come with a content warning about grief, which was important given the first chapter is thirteen years prior to the start of the book at Helen's sister's funeral... Thirteen years before the start of the story Helen's sister commited suicide [ I'm going to be honest the exact specifics have gotten fuzzy but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with her stepping out into oncoming traffic ] because Grant was the driver of the car that struck Helen's sister.
To be honest I wasn't sure how this book was going to make this a romance. After the book opened at the funeral I wasn't even sure that I had actually picked up a romance an that maybe I was playing into some subconscious sexism... The fact that Kuang was able to start there and end with a HFN speaks to the strength of the writing in my opinion.
I think that what was so smart about what Kuang was able to do here was use the setting of the writers room and the side characters working out character beats; particularly a believable way to adapt one of the romances from the books to the show as the template for setting up Helen and Grant. When I clocked that Kuang was referencing back to that particularly good scene in the writers room I had to give her her kudos. To me it was believeable. Other reviewers feel like there was a sudden switch that was flipped and really all I can say is that I have to disagree. I'll also say that this book has more sex scenes than I personally care for usually, but how they were handled really worked for me. In part because I think it tied back to that mirroring, and while sex is inherently an act of intimacy it was clear that for at least Helen it wasn't as intimate as it was letting Grant actually in; it wasn't as intimate as allowing herself to be emotionally vulnerable.
I'll also admit that I appreciated this book wasn't necessarily about these two dating. Sure, they might as well be at a certain point, but they aren't and so the third act conflict isn't a rushed breaking up and getting back together; but a culmination of the avoidance Helen has really been doing coming home to roost. It's here that you actually get to see her dealing with the fact that maybe she does what to be emotionally vulnerable with this man and what that is going to mean. This doesn't wave a wand over anything, but it was compelling storytelling.
I was gripped the entire time I spent reading this book. If Kuang is as booked and busy as the streets have been telling me I don't know if we'll get another book from them, or if their work as a screenwriter/director is going to keep them too busy for the forseeable future. If that book ever does drop I will be rushing out to read it because this was an excellent debut as far as I was concerned....more
This book had me by the throat and I couldn't put it down.
Technically speaking the second half of that sentence is a lie. In 2o23 I picked this up andThis book had me by the throat and I couldn't put it down.
Technically speaking the second half of that sentence is a lie. In 2o23 I picked this up and read the first couple chapters, immediately intrigued but me and reading with my eyes have been having some disagreements. It got shuffled off to the side, but luckily the audio was one of Libro.fms advance copies this month and so I was able to get around to this before the release date.
Boy am I glad that I am.
I was initially drawn to this because Colton Gentry is a country music musician, and while the book isn't about his rise to fame so much as his dusting himself off after his fifteen minutes, it's still a buzzword for me.
This story is told in a couple different timelines, though just knowing you get stuff from Colton's past and his present is almost all you need to know.
In the present Colton Gentry is a man in recovery; both from his alcoholism and from the music career he lost. After Colton's best friend was shot at a music festival and he doubled down on statements advocating for stricter gun regulation Colton finds himself no longer the opening act, no longer married, and back home in the small town he was raised in living in his childhood bedroom.
In the past we see Colton Gentry, football star as he forms a relationship with Luann; a new girl in school and not part of his usual social circle.
It's the way that the past informs Colton's present, and Luann's return that had me believing that maybe second chance romances can be done well
Zentner is able to craft a story that is addictive. The way that Colton's and Luann's relationship is written in the past and the present is some of my favorite scenes I've read all year. The way the past is some of the most romantic storytelling I've ever read and the present reads as some of the most compelling cases for platonic love, with that old flame still simmering just under the surface until it makes sense for things to change.
It really is some of the best character work I've read this year, it quickly rocketed to my favorite read of the year. If I hadn't been at work I would have been kicking my feet and blushing the entire time I read it.
Even the platonic male relationships are a thing of joy in this book. The friendship that Colton had with Duane, the friend that was murdered is explored in some of the past chapters, and the friendship that Colton had in high school also comes back into play and feels on equal footing. Truly just a masterclass as far as I'm concerned.
This is the first book by Jeff Zentner that I've read, and I doubt that it will be my last....more
Despite my better judgement I did find myself perusing the reviews of this book as I spent my day running errands and listening to this story, and I cDespite my better judgement I did find myself perusing the reviews of this book as I spent my day running errands and listening to this story, and I can't really speak to the marketing of this book that seems to have left some of my fellow readers underwhelmed. Personally I haven't really seen this book too many places, maybe a few seconds of the author also talking about reactions to the book and that it was queer in some way that sounded messy. Either way when this popped up as a Libro Influencer pick this month I knew that I was going to have to prioritize getting to this one ASAP.
For once I stuck to that and did get to the book ASAP.
I will start this off by saying this isn't a romance. It might be getting marketed as one, but it doesn't really follow the genre conventions and so I wouldn't really sit here and argue it is one. It is a love story, but it's also a revenge tale. In some ways it also feels like a cautionary tale in the vein of the folktales that so much of this feels like an homage to.
Many of my fellow readers have discussed this book as being erotic, either as something they weren't expecting or something that detracted in some way from the romance. At times it felt like this book was being labeled as entirely erotica as though that devalued any potential literary merit. Look there's a lot of bodily fluids int his book. A lot of sex is had, but honestly the way that sex is tied into the plot and character dynamics always felt purposeful. It's not just the culmination point of a love story in a way it's also weaponized. Sure some of the euphemisms did get a little tired, but there was a way that they were tied to the era of the love story being told in the chapter that to me felt more like an extension of the world building than Huang attempting purple prose for the sake of having a strong pen game. When I say that the use of sex is weaponized at points in this novel I don't mean that int he sense it's an assault, though there are moments in the narrative that are definitively rape and other instances where consent feels like it exists more on a spectrum than clearly defined and these are things that a person can definitely feel uncomfortable reading about and I understand that.
I will say that a lot of this book exists in the land of vibes. It's not that there isn't a plot, we spend the entire book getting different chunks of the three timelines at a pretty even rate, I just wasn't entirely sure how these timelines were going to matter to me. Eventually the story did start to come together and I did value the way that the narrative was almost subverted in the end and the way it asked to rethink the narrative almost entirely.
So no, I might not have been rooting for this in the same way I'm supposed to root for a book that is allegedly a romance, but I was thoroughly enraptured by the narrative from the very first minutes of the audiobook. It's easily one of my favorite books of the year and I would not be surprised at all if I picked this up again before the year is out and I would encourage everyone to try this out for themselves when the book drops in a couple weeks. ...more
I'm a sucker for suburban dramas. There's something about looking beyond the white picket fence and seeing the otherwise mundane lives of the inhabitaI'm a sucker for suburban dramas. There's something about looking beyond the white picket fence and seeing the otherwise mundane lives of the inhabitants. Now the Greenspans might not lead the most mundane lives. Though that's part of what I love about his particular slice of literary fiction. It's more than just the clever turns of phrase that Ridker is able to come up with, but the way it highlights that people are more than just the facade they present.
The fallout of Scott attempting to be a good son drives him to committing fraud the fallout is almost unimaginable. The way the book is framed, with extensive sections for each member of the family flawlessly oscillating between the present and a key moment of their past and how that is tied back to the present is a masterclass in storytelling.
The way Ridker describes Gideon finding his grandmother's collection of bodice rippers and that leading to a love of romance novels and how those novels shaped how he viewed the world and his own approach to his love life is some of the best writing in regards to a "bookish" character that I've ever read. It's also contextualizes so much of who Gideon is as a person, and him being the last family member we get to spend deep dive time with that helps the reader to understand so much of his earlier actions.
Usually I'm wanting books to be longer, but this felt like just the right length. For those going in I will say there is a significant chunk of the book dedicated to a character processing the grooming they experienced in high school as this person shows back up in their life. I wasn't expecting that when I went in, so heads up. I think that Ridker handles that storyline really well.
Easily another top book of the year for me and I look forward to doubling back to Ridker's debut before eagerly awaiting what they write next. ...more
Don't be like me, be better than me. This ARC has been sitting on my Kindle for months, I can't tell you the number of times I have thought about inclDon't be like me, be better than me. This ARC has been sitting on my Kindle for months, I can't tell you the number of times I have thought about including this in a project only to talk myself out of it and say that I'll get to it later. Well here we finally are and this was truly a banger of a book.
Also, be better than me in go in knowing that this isn't a nice and fluffy walk down the YA contemporary streets. Clarke really tackles some hard hitting subject matter; like the support group our main character is part of for children that were conceived as a product of sexual assault, and on page panic attack, references to a past almost suicide attempt, general dysfunctional families from some of the side characters. A breezey stroll through the lives of children this was not, but Clarke navigated the journey this narrative took me on beautifully.
I think that what I really loved was how the narrative really seemed to center what all of Michie's relationships meant to her, not just the romantic one. I liked that we still spent time with her and Jojo being best friends and exploring things there, or her relationship to her grandmother and whether she should reach out to her mom despite how complicated things were between them. Even that her support group and the Clueless shenanigans that were happening there never seemed to be yanked from the narrative just because Derek was there for the romantic angle. Even the third act when the book could have really centered a romance the book took the time to let that be the b narrative while we explored more of the familial aspect of the story.
This is definitely the kind of a read that lingers long after you've put the book down, and I know that I'll be thinking about this for the rest of the year. I was heartbroken on one page and laughing on another and it just all worked for me in a way that I both didn't see coming and also loved to have the chance to experience.
But now I need y'all to see it, because there's not reason for this book to have the low number of reviews that it has when it's this good a piece of fiction....more
The Kennedy era with the Cold War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis specifically feels like a hot time period for lots of people that want to craft stories. There are so many movies and books that cover this time period, but this is the one that's for me. I loved every second I spent watching Margot go from the Cornell campus to behind the Iron Curtain to being back stateside and still finding herself face to face with Soviet Intelligence Assets and having to figure out a way to get out of the situation that she finds herself in.
I've never read a Jack Reacher or Jack Ryan or Bond or whoever book, but I felt that this scratches a similar itch for me that all of those do for so many other readers. Only here our main character isn't some super skilled former military person, she's a regular girl from around the way that is both in over her head but also wanting to be like her father and be an asset to her country when her country is asking too much of her. In some ways it's also her learning that in allowing herself to be used in this way it can go sideways, and even if it doesn't she is going to have to spend the rest of her life worrying about things that so many other people her same age are never going to think twice about.
It was cold war perfection, easily one of the books by Carter that felt cinematic in a way that felt like I had been robbed of something by never having had the opportunity to watch a miniseries version of the events that had me in a choke hold to read about....more
Earlier this year I thought I had read the best book I would ever read... I thought that no book in my lifetime, let alone a book I read this year, coEarlier this year I thought I had read the best book I would ever read... I thought that no book in my lifetime, let alone a book I read this year, could come close to the love that I had for that book and the experience I had while reading it...
This book has blown all others out of the water. I simply do not think that Zevin knows how to write a bad book. On a technical level, but also on a level that simply vibrates at the same frequency as my soul.
I didn't know much about this going in. In fact if I hadn't picked up an earlier Zevin book for a project that might never see the light of day and completely been enraptured by the way that Zevin pens a narrative I doubt that I would have given this book a second glace. In fact I distinctly recall when this book hit the shelves at my local indie book store and thought that the cover was so ugly that whatever story lived in its pages certainly couldn't be for me.
By this point I can assume you can infer how wrong that snap judgement was.
People have talked about the way this book is about a pair of video game developers, and while that's true, for me this book was the best example of a found family that I've seen. It tackles the messiness of relationships, how complicated they can be, particularly those with people you've known for much of your life; and how those relationships and complications develop with age. Sam and Sadie and Marx will live with me for as long as I am on this dusty rock of a planet and will likely join the ranks of the books Mary H.K. Choi has written as books I actively look to reread at least once a year.
This book is a masterpiece. It has much to say about all of the topics that it broaches, unlike so many other lit fics that aim to center trauma in their narratives around relationships....more
I'm back on my bullshit, trying to get to some long neglected Netgalley ARCs and this felt like as good a place as any to go next.
Y'all... I loved thiI'm back on my bullshit, trying to get to some long neglected Netgalley ARCs and this felt like as good a place as any to go next.
Y'all... I loved this book. I don't know if it's the quaint charm of the accent the audiobook narrator used or how it was giving me Holes, but make it queer, but all the puzzle pieces really fit together on this one.
I don't think that a book that is looking to tackle kids getting kidnapped and taken to a conversion camp on a Costa Rican island could be all that optimistic, but this sort of straddles that line? It's a little bleak, but grounded in a realism that still allows the reader to feel for hope but never tries to undercut itself by becoming overly saccharine in the last act of the book. It allows the reader to stew in the melancholy and grapple with the realness.
I was gagged several times while listening to the narration. Both because I didn't expect the book to go to all of the places that it went, and because I was allowing myself to appreciate all the moments of triumph the book was giving me.
All in all it was an excellent way to kick off my September, and I'm happy that I have an ARC of Sass' next book to help comfort me after having this experiences.
Surrender Your Sons has also made me a believer in the time crunch novel again. I think it was helped by the fact that the plot of the book doesn't really hang on the limited time frame until you're well into the book. Up until then it doesn't really cross the readers mind just how long the narrative is going to go on for and that was to the book's benefit. Without the ticking clock running in the back of my mind I was better able to appreciate the looming clock I had been unaware of....more
It feels like a lie to say that I'm rarely gagged by a book, that I feel discussion of the thing is not as important has having experienced the thing.It feels like a lie to say that I'm rarely gagged by a book, that I feel discussion of the thing is not as important has having experienced the thing... but, y'all just gotta read this. I'm not sure I find every element of the story firing on all cylinders, and there are definitely aspects that I think are worthy of being slightly more fleshed out... but for a book I saw randomly on twitter and was convinced I was gonna enjoy, I can't complain.
I will say that the book does cover general infertility issues, descriptions of miscarriages, content that could definitely qualify as spousal abuse, aspects of trichotillomania, and periods of descriptions that felt like disordered eating habits. All of which I thought were included to further aspects of the narrative that Bourland really drives home in the third act, but obviously aren't going to be comfortable for every reader.
This was a good time, probably one of the best books I read this year, and overall couldn't recommend more highly....more
At this point in my life it feels a little risky to have anticipated reads, it can feel like I'm setting myself up for the universe to play some sort of cruel joke on me. But this, happily, did not disappoint.
As this book doesn't come out for months going into my usual spiel about the things in the narrative versus what didn't already feels like a little much; particularly when the pitch of the book seemingly already gives away much of what a book a little over 300 pages can tell. So yes, Juniper tries to pass off this book as her own, and if you knew that before good and if you didn't, I think that's all you really need to know.
I would parrot that this book is compulsively readable in a fascinating way. It's joining a growing number of books I've read like this; books that could easily be used to in a classroom setting where you're eager to rip into the text and engage with Juniper's motivation while also being the perfect book to sit poolside and sip your beverage of choice as Junipers mind takes you on a journey you won't soon forget.
It's a story about the lies people tell to rationalize their own behaviors, the myths they construct around themselves to be able to move through the world, and what a woman is willing to do to reinvent herself in her own eyes. It's a fascinating read, one that will stick with the reader. Honestly, as a contemporary girlie this book is a little special because it's a contemporary from Kuang, so I'm got to eat extra good in the reading experience of this one.
This was about as commercial fiction as commercial fiction gets. To some that might be what deters them from reading, or maybe, like me, it'll be how This was about as commercial fiction as commercial fiction gets. To some that might be what deters them from reading, or maybe, like me, it'll be how slender the book is. The audiobook was under 8 hours and the physical clocks in at under 300 pages, and to some that might be an indicator that the book is going to take some shortcuts and leave the reader wanting more.
In fact I was pleasantly surprised by how detailed the book was, how much story and explanation we got. Unlike my usual habits I did find myself skimming other reviews while I was taking in this story, and while I can see what some people saying about the secondary characters coming off as flat... I don't think that was at all the point of the story. I was here for Ava and Winnie and the web of deceit they wove for themselves. I think on that level the book delivered exactly what it set out to do.
While many books boast beach read status, are tauted by reviewers and publications, this is actually a book I can see someone lounging around the house or pool side or an actual beach and devouring. The prose was compulsively readable and Chen never tried to outsmart the reader. The developments that left me gagged were all logical, so close that I was simply blind to them. Ava an Winnie each compelling. Though they are also archetypes in a type of story that I routinely seek out, and so Chen didn't really have to do a lot of heavy lifting to get me on board.
Ultimately I had a great time watching the narrative unfold. It ticked off every one of my boxes and I cannot recommend this book more highly if I tried....more
I cannot pretend as though I have anything insightful to say about the content of this book. And if you are surprised by that admission, I don't know I cannot pretend as though I have anything insightful to say about the content of this book. And if you are surprised by that admission, I don't know what to tell you.
I would agree with the assessment that this is a fairly straightforward history of events, some commentary, and a sprinkle of analytics. It's a balanced approach that I didn't think always worked, but on the whole was what made the book as enjoyable as it was.
While clearly a discussion of the 90s political climate the book is bookended by a brief rundown of events that would set in motion Kornacki's main desire to use Gingrich and Clinton as the central focus of the discussion, then at the end we get a brief overview of the lead into the new millennium and the election of W. It really is this central part of the novel, where we're firmly in the nineties discussing the way the Clinton campaign for president in '92 was coming together in contrast to the developments in the Gingrich side of the novel that the book was at its strongest. It was clear that the ending was weak and lead in was mired in setup that was clearly necessary, was also something that could have been a book in its own right.
I will definitely be picking this up again in the future, and as part of my mini kick into political nonfiction this was every bit the delight it would be. ...more
This is another read that I've been vlogging so I'm sure at some point this weekend I'll edit in that link. [ here's that link... ]
Until then, I had aThis is another read that I've been vlogging so I'm sure at some point this weekend I'll edit in that link. [ here's that link... ]
Until then, I had a wonderful time with this. Malice took me by surprise when I read it last October, I was thoroughly delighted with how the Sleeping Beauty mythos had been played with to give us that first installment and of course it ended in such a way that I was left at the end of my audiobook 1) ACHING for the sequel and 2) feeling completely foolish that I had waited to read my arc until October.
I'm glad to say that this book definitely sticks the landing. I don't think that it's the perfect conclusion for every reader. I think that this book could be on the more divisive side of life. Not only because of the new dynamics that are introduced, but also the book doesn't really make it clear what the endgame is until pretty late into the narrative. It's not always clear what the characters are trying to do and even the vague idea the reader does have from pretty early on, the longer the book takes to act on that idea the more worried I was that what I thought was going to happen wasn't going to have enough page time to execute it in a way that I thought would be satisfactory.
Ultimately I wouldn't say that I really guessed what was happening here. I think that it subverts a lot of what I had come to expect from fantasy in general, but mostly adult fantasy. It leaned into those standard plot elements a little at the end, but I think even then it was more playing with those ideas more than anything. It felt like a modern fairytale, up to and including an ending that's gonna live with me for the rest of the year....more
I didn't think that it would be possible for me to like this follow up as much as I did the first, and while I went in expecting a love triangle romanI didn't think that it would be possible for me to like this follow up as much as I did the first, and while I went in expecting a love triangle romance what I actually got was even better than I bargained for. All of the great family moments that I thought were spectacular from the first book were also present here, the friendship between Darius and Sohrab continued to be amazing and everything that I could have wanted. Even Darius navigating his love life and that aspect was handled in a way that I hadn't expected, but was ultimately refreshing to read about in YA.
It's also just so important to me that even after Darius continued on the arc of playing soccer and being more athletic that he still had a complicated and nuanced feelings about his own physical appearance and that continued to be something that he had to deal with in this novel, suddenly being a student athlete didn't make everything better. Themes of finding and curating a safe space for yourself were also just as important here as they had been in the first book.
What was so masterful is that even though the themes and conversations between the first book and this did overlap, none of it felt like we were retreading ground that had already been covered. It felt more like we got to dive in deeper and examine more of the nuances. Darius' voice was just as refreshing here as it had been the first time around and what Khorram was able to do here was a delight to read. Easily one of the best contemporary YA's out there. I won't lie and I hope that Darius gets the Lara Jean treatment and I get a third book because I would read about this boy and his life for as long as Khorram chooses to write about it....more
Later this year I'm going to get to update this review with a link to the vlog I did chronicling my journey with this book and I look forward to diving into all of the specifics of this book when I can have conversations with the people. Until then I think I am going to take a page out of past attempts I have made to set expectations.
Going in I was cautiously optimistic. I feel like I am one of a handful of people that thought The Burning God was not a disappointment, that felt that all of the larger narratives had a chance to really drive home their points in that book and that the theoretical arguments and debates all of the characters had been having for the previous two installments were finally coming home to roost. It was that faith, that love of the debates and the way they were woven into the narrative that made me so excited for how Kuang was promoting this book, that the premise of this book with that approach could be nothing short of a masterclass. Reader, I could not have been more right.
My biggest issue with dark academia is that I have often felt that a lot of authors just toss in a murder have characters kind of invested in the murder with a sprinkling of racism. The text does not want to engage with the larger themes that are so often a hallmark of the genre, but used simply as set dressing.
In Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution it is impossible to disentangle the racism from the narrative. There is not a page of the book, an interaction that is had that does not ask the reader to confront the actual mechanisms of imperialism, the realities of colonization, and the ways in which the results of those activities can be a mess of contradictions. The book is layered and nuanced in a way that I was eating up. While I expected to be caught off guard that never prevented the narrative from personally attacking me several times, leaving me speechless a number of times and forcing me to go touch some grass before I could return to the world these characters found themselves in.
Despite some of the flaws, I already know that I will not read a better book this year. That I might not have read a better book in this lifetime. Robin and Victoire and Ramy and Letty are going to stick with me, their story will forever be seared into my very being and I will forever be jealous of the people that will experience this book fresh for the first time. It is a masterclass in writing, not to be cliche... but literary tour de force for sure. While I'm sure the book was already on your radar simply know that it most definitely deserves to be there and I would be gagged if anyone was let down with what this book has to offer.
Not for nothing, and quite possibly the worst way to end this, but I simply had to mention that the footnotes were a chef's kiss. I might have fought my kindle numerous tries from turning the page when I was trying to click the little linky link, but every time it was worth the effort....more
Alyce really was that girl. She did what needed to be done and I truly love that for her. She is the moment, a legend, and an icon. I feel foolish forAlyce really was that girl. She did what needed to be done and I truly love that for her. She is the moment, a legend, and an icon. I feel foolish for waiting so long to pick this up. In a lot of ways it gave me Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West vibes, but better because I didn't need two attempts to get into it. It was also everything that the live action Maleficent should have been and wasn't. It truly checked every one of my boxes.
I don't quite know if it checks the sympathetic villain edit box, but I think it definitely shows you a character pushed to do the thing they feel is right in the moment. It's very much hero vibes, even tho sis is just fucking shit up. The magic and world were both really well done. When I was only halfway through I was very much sad that this was a duology because I could read stories about Alyce set here for a lot longer. Regardless I think this is definitely a must read, particularly for those on the hunt for sapphic adult fantasy.
2023 re-read It's always nice to pick up a book you enjoyed the first time around and enjoy it so much more the second. It was also a pleasant surprise to realize that there was so much of this book that had stuck with me, scenes that I vividly remembered as the narrator got to certain parts of the book, character dynamics that I enjoyed just as much this second go around. Even after reading my initial review I don't know why this was ever a four star and not a five for me?
If I had to hazard a guess it would be the Disney sized elephant in the room. Which is probably what I'm going to spend so much of my time discussing. I think that Disney's outsized imprint on the fairytale market, at least the stories they told in the early years, the ones they always advertised as being locked away forever inside the Disney vault if you didn't purchase the VHS or DVD with a quickness, have a hold on what I think the fairytale is supposed to be; the beats the narrative should hit. The first time I went into this book I was expecting a story similar to what Disney wanted to give me when they had Angelina do their little Maleficent movie.
The only issue is that Alyce isn't Maleficent. A maleficent esque figure is part of the narrative, but Alcye's story isn't that...
Their only commonality is they're the ~evil fairy~ in a framework told about Sleeping Beauty. What Walter is able to do with the fairytale and the characters she's able to craft for this? It's easily one of the better fantasy romances that I've read; certainly when looking what what traditional publishing is doing with the genre. It's still one of my favorite sapphic books.
Revisiting Malice after having read Misrule was also a great experience because so much of the reveals of that book have the groundwork laid here.
Alyce might be a bit of a mess, but she's my mess. I love her. I'll always love Aurora and the land of Briar and will certainly be picking up Misrule again later this year. ...more
This doesn't come out until April so I'll edit in with my full thoughts closer to the release date, but this was an excellent debut from start to finiThis doesn't come out until April so I'll edit in with my full thoughts closer to the release date, but this was an excellent debut from start to finish. I have never fallen so fully in love with a cast of characters as quickly as I did while reading this. Make sure the library holds are in, the preorders have been secured, whatever you need to do to make sure that you can get your hands on this in the new year....more
This is hands down one of my favorite books of the year. I just had a wonderful time reading it and found it compulsively readable. By far and away myThis is hands down one of my favorite books of the year. I just had a wonderful time reading it and found it compulsively readable. By far and away my favorite character was Virgil and the complicated relationship that we got to see between him and Opal. It might not have been the most important part of the book in terms of the larger plot or the beats that happened, but it was the one that connected to me the most. I also really liked the way that Nev's character was relayed to the reader. I think that there were plenty of moments even before he and Opal became intertwined that allowed the reader to feel that something was off with him before anything happened with Jimmy Curtis, or even the ultimate revival.
I did have some doubt that after I read the first 50% that the concluding half might not have been able to live up to the enjoyment that I had. But I think I really appreciated that the prose started to play with the second half, and how a lot of that remained with Sunny doing some more introspective moments. It worked for me that doesn't always when pacing starts to slow down.
The way that blame and the truth was played with in the narrative was really interesting to me. Even how Opal and Nev's relationship played out after the riot through to the present. I'm a character driven reader and so getting to see the dynamic between all of the players and the unresolved quality that seemed to hang over the ending definitely worked for me. It added to the feeling that these could actual people in a story that could have existed and made the inclusion of real people not feel like something that was taking me out of the story but instead adding to the richness of it....more
When I started the book I wasn't sure that I ultimately was going to enjoy it as much as I did. In the a lot of the early chapters some the character When I started the book I wasn't sure that I ultimately was going to enjoy it as much as I did. In the a lot of the early chapters some the character voices started to sound very similar and were hard for me to parse where I was in the narrative. As time went on though and we lived through the rise of Gloss and the aftermath of Cassidy's suicide the characters became clearer to me. What unfolded was a masterpiece in slow, deliberate storytelling that was quiet in all the best ways. Ultimately I think the book is less invested in telling the why of a thing happened, simply that the thing happened and these are the players in the story, and for me, that was enough. Just as the story being not as messy and more focused on character and less on plot was enough for me....more
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