What a joyfully queer play. Performed in 1592 in front of the Queen of England, this play follows two young virgins,Yield Ladies, yield to love Ladies
What a joyfully queer play. Performed in 1592 in front of the Queen of England, this play follows two young virgins, who are dressed in drag and sent into the woods by their fathers, who are afraid that they're so beautiful and fair that they'll be sacrificed to Neptune.
In the woods, Cupid plays pranks on Diana and her nymphs, causing them to experience love for the two young "men," for which Diana retaliates by making Cupid her servant. We also stumble upon some men reminiscent of the Midsummer Mechanicals, off on a journey of apprenticeships under an astronomer, alchemist, and fortune teller. Meanwhile, the two young women heavily suspect that the other is also just a woman in drag (and are both VERY bad at hiding it, trying to flirt with each other as women), and pretty immediately have the hots for each other.
At the end of the play, all the characters meet, Venus shows up and demands Cupid back, and Neptune agrees not to sacrifice anymore virgins. The girls in drag are "revealed" to be girls in drag (it was always obvious) and they announce, in front of everyone, that they are in love. Everyone seems to be baffled but also kind of okay with it and Venus says she can change one of them into a boy to allow them to be married, but the girls do not care about gender, so Venus says it'll be a surprise which one! (Then one of their dads says "hey, if we can just... change genders of people, can we make my wife a man?" which is really iconic.) Then they all go offstage and we have an iconic epilogue by our titular character telling all the women of the audience to be lesbians (including the quote mentioned above).
So yeah, great play. Thanks Lyly for the lesbians....more
I have a lot of friends who recommended this to me as a book they would compare to THE SIX DEATHS OF THE SAINT, and sadly, I think this comp really ruI have a lot of friends who recommended this to me as a book they would compare to THE SIX DEATHS OF THE SAINT, and sadly, I think this comp really ruined the book for me, because I have to disagree.
Though this is a twisty knight tale, the thing that works so well about THE SIX DEATHS OF THE SAINT is that it stretches the capacity of its format with brilliant tact. It's the triumph of telling an epic tale in a couple dozen pages. And I think this story is far from a mastery of format. In fact, it feels confined by its length.
I understand why my friends made this comp, and I think it'll help bring some of the right people to this story but it didn't work for me. But comp aside, let's talk about this book.
I hate when I have this opinion because it's such an annoying opinion to have, but I do really think this would work better as a long epic novel that combines this plot and whatever happens in the sequel. It was obvious from the get go that there would be some big twist about the narrator being unreliable, and so these 170 pages are really just spent in wait for that reveal. I would've been far more interested in a story that takes its time to set up this world and this character and her backstory beyond the here and now. As it stands, the payoff of the twist is weak, because the author gave me like 100+ pages to come up with theories of my own and nothing else to occupy my attention.
The world-building, the politics, and other goings-on are SO interesting but because of the urgency of the task at hand, feel irrelevant and tangental, so that the shifts beyond the task (especially towards the end) are disorienting and lack impact. There is so much to praise about this world. It does feel really lived in, and I have so many curiosities I'd love to dig into: the naming system of the knights, the history of hunting dragons, the viewpoints of magic, etc. And I think it's fine and good when worlds have details that go unexplored to focus on the direct plot, but I think time spent in this world-building would've actually much better aided the end of the narrative.
I think my favorite element is the epistolary entries about dragon hunting, and honestly I could have done with even more of them, especially if they aided the story more than they do (which isn't much at all, Bond could've really made use of these and hidden some lore elements and foreshadowing into those instead of just using them as ambiance).
I did overall enjoy my reading experience of this, and I think many people will too, but my expectations were just placed wayyyyy too high.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
CW: animal death, death, dead body, emesis, violence, alcohol, amputation, fire, hallucinations, body horror, blood & gore, self harm (for magic), child death (past)...more
I'm not usually a big sci-fi guy and am really picky with the ones I read, but this was sooo sweet.
Absolutely the perfect book for anyone who wants a I'm not usually a big sci-fi guy and am really picky with the ones I read, but this was sooo sweet.
Absolutely the perfect book for anyone who wants a story with a bit of adventure, a cast of loveable and unique characters, and the best found family depiction.
CW: fantasy xenophobia/racism, war, violence, gun violence, drug use, police brutality, needles, forced medical procedure, emesis, alcohol, animal death, child loss (past), eugenics (mention), sexual content (offpage)...more
I had the absolute honor of reading an early draft of this book and I cannot sing its praises highly enough. Political, historical, Jewish, queer, romI had the absolute honor of reading an early draft of this book and I cannot sing its praises highly enough. Political, historical, Jewish, queer, romantic, adventurous, heart-wrenching, lyrical, ferocious, THE MAIDEN AND HER MONSTER is a masterpiece of a debut. This is one of the most impactful and close-to-the-heart stories I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, and it brought me to tears with its profundity. Maddie has tapped into something inevitable, ancient, and eternal about the Jewish experience that feels so impossible, so bigger than itself that I can’t imagine it’s anything less than pure magic.
This book features a glorious canopy of Jewish folklore, sapphic romance, and the enchanting allure of a sentient forest, supported by a strong and meaty tale with rich characters, abundant commentary, and succulent prose. And buried deep in the story’s roots, you’ll find a beating heart that bleeds with grief, hope, and passion.
It’s an indescribable feeling to have a friend write a book and for it to end up being one of the most powerful and moving works you’ve ever read, and exactly the story your heart was yearning for. I’m full of so much gratitude and pride, and I can’t wait for you all to fall in love with Nimrah and Malka like I have....more
I have never felt so utterly betrayed, absolutely overjoyed, and unhingedly giddy with ego and adrenaline all at theHAHAHAHHAHAHAH I AM LOSING MY MIND
I have never felt so utterly betrayed, absolutely overjoyed, and unhingedly giddy with ego and adrenaline all at the same time. I need to mark this date in my diary.
Only one other person on planet Earth has ever felt this exact feeling and they likened it to the feeling Truman gets when he finds out about the Truman show. and yeah. it’s not unlike that.
Thank you to Melissa for sending me a finished copy in exchange for my raw reaction to your evil schemes over video call. I love and hate you for this.
CW: violence, alcoholism relapse, trauma, colonialism, grief, death of loved one, character death, self harm, blood & gore, dead bodies, fire, illness, electrocution, human experimentation, sexual content, kidnapping, death of parents, death of sibling, needles, infidelity, emesis...more
I am constantly looking for something new, that breaks away from expectations and trends, and this book was justAlexa, play Nobody's Soldier by Hozier
I am constantly looking for something new, that breaks away from expectations and trends, and this book was just that: wholly unique. This theater kid epic, full of intrigue and curiosity, is hard to pin down. Berry spends this one-of-a-kind novel celebrating the ability of story to shape the world we live in, and the power held in carving a story of your own. It had me mystified, pulling me through this narrative not by a need to find answers to its questions but by a joy of traversing the unknowns.
Theater kids, lovers of language, storytellers of all kinds, folks who are fans of the journey rather than the destination, I implore you to check out this dystopian literary fantasy.
Thank you so much to Jedediah and TOR for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!...more
almost 350 pages of the characters talking about the hypotheticals of the mystery at hand, then having sex, then talking about their relationship despalmost 350 pages of the characters talking about the hypotheticals of the mystery at hand, then having sex, then talking about their relationship despite only knowing for each other for a few days, and repeating that over and over until the last few chapters of the book.
this story certainly wasn’t as low as my expectations for it were, considering the only things I had heard about it where in comparison to the first book in the trilogy, but it definitely had its shortcomings. I loooooved its characters and their personal journeys, but the pacing really struggled here, and I felt that Marske had a tough time balancing the moving parts of this mystery.
CW: death, murder, violence, sexual content, blood, drugging, dead body, death of parents (past), grief, emesis, alcohol consumption...more
This book was very sweet and I really enjoyed the woodsy fairytale atmosphere of it all. I do think it would have been more impactful as a middle gradThis book was very sweet and I really enjoyed the woodsy fairytale atmosphere of it all. I do think it would have been more impactful as a middle grade novel, rather than YA. The attempts to fit this story into a YA age range felt incompatible with the narrative, and it definitely should've been a solid 150 pages or so shorter.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a finished copy in exchange for an honest review!
CW: death of father (past), grief, violence, fire, injury detail, blood, child death, self-harm (for magic), self-sacrifice, kidnapping, character death, loss of loved one (past), homophobia (mention), biphobia (mention) ...more
I'm so glad to live in a world in which there's an 1800 sapphic vampire novel that predates Dracula.
Thoughts on Carmilla itself: I am having a hard timI'm so glad to live in a world in which there's an 1800 sapphic vampire novel that predates Dracula.
Thoughts on Carmilla itself: I am having a hard time pulling apart my thoughts on this story due to the edition I read (more on that below) but I can see why this story has such a cult following and why so many works were inspired by it. The intimacy and fragility of the love between these two women is beautiful, and something wonderfully and surprisingly queer for the era it was published in. Much of the story and world is left vague, which makes for a simultaneously disappointing and brilliantly enticing open-endedness. The Black woman in the carriage is left unknown. The large cat that appears to Laura is left unexplained. We never find out where Mademoiselle de Lafontaine goes after she leaves Carmilla. But it's almost more exciting to not know. It makes the story read as a bit of a riddle, a puzzle only partially put-together, with stray and missing pieces left behind for the reader to ponder over. The end is a bit anti-climactic, with the two women missing out on what would have been a riveting confrontational scene, and with the last chunk of the story being told through second-hand accounts. The end just felt more distanced and passive rather than mysterious, which was a bit disappointing. But I really enjoyed the story overall, and I am now really interested in engaging with retellings, reimaginings, scholarship, and debate all inspired by this fascinating tale. There's much to marinate on.
Thoughts on this edition: I started off loving this edition, but am left feeling VERY torn about it. Carmen Maria Machado is one of my favorite authors and I was really looking forward to experiencing this story for the first time with her edits as a guiding hand. The book opens with an introduction from CMM herself, explaining that this story was actually inspired by preexisting letters written by a woman named Veronika Hausle. Machado continues by citing a scholarly publication about the finding of these letters and criticizing Le Fanu's censorship of said letters in his publication of the story. She asks her readership to engage with the story ahead critically, to consider the way Le Fanu insults his own narrator through the limitations he places on her descriptors and experiences. And I've spent the past few days telling friends about this mysterious backstory to Carmilla, insisting that I couldn't possibly judge Carmilla as a story in its current form, as I'm missing so much of its original content and context. And then I went to go look up that source CMM cites in the introduction to learn more about these letters and their author... and reader, can you guess what I discovered? The source doesn't exist. Neither does Viktoria Hausle. The entire introduction was completely fictional and made up. And I have VERY mixed feelings about that.
As a storyteller and a fan of experimental writing, I find this so artistically thrilling. The idea of crafting a fictional backstory to a pre-existing work and presenting it in the format of an introduction to said work in a new publication is smart and fascinating. And this act of fictional expansion spread beyond the introduction and into the footnotes of the main text, where I found it most successful. These footnotes added entirely fictional anecdotes, Carmen Maria Machado sprinkling in additional world-building through her own silly little writings. And that worked SO well. There was no citation or real grounded-ness to these footnotes, so it was pretty clear that these were purely made-up additions. What a fun way to edit a book, by adding your own imaginative headcanons between the lines of the original text! I really appreciated the creative initiative and gall to craft an entirely new story and pitch it to your audience as fact. It was immersive and ground-breaking and so very Carmen Maria Machado.
But I also found it incredibly frustrating and somewhat morally irresponsible. See, the blurred line of fact and fiction amidst Carmen's additions to this work is cool in concept but inconsistent and unreliable in practice. I have three main issues with this introduction, so let me break it down: 1. "Censorship." The entire Point of CMM's introduction is to ask the audience to question this story's author via some made-up story of queer historical censorship. To craft an absence, a false negative space, around the text. And though, again, I artistically am obsessed with this choice to paint in the space untouched by a preexisting text, I found this a bit distracting. There are very true stories out in the world about queer censorship. It's a very real thing that happened. There are many authors who took the words of women around them and then painted those women as monsters (look no further than F. Scott Fitzgerald), and this introduction feels like it's looking to garner that misplaced sympathy. I would've found it more interesting and appropriate if CMM wrote an introduction about the history of censorship, or even maybe wrote an entire novel that creates this fictional backstory about Le Fanu in order to ask these questions about censorship on a larger stage (and one that would be more obviously fictional). But placing this story as the introduction to the actual text itself is just distracting and frankly, shadows the beauty of the fact that Carmilla IS a queer story that did survive historical censorship, misogyny, and lesbophobia. 2. A Betrayal of Trust. Now, one might disagree with me, but I find the editor of a text, especially the editor of a classic text, to be morally responsible in taking on the role of a sort of Virgil to the reader's Dante. Many readers, especially ones without prior experience with Carmilla (such as myself), will be looking to Carmen Maria Machado as a North Star to guide them through this unknown journey. I read classic literature fairly often, especially Shakespeare, and the editorial hand heavily shapes the reading experience. The introduction acts as a sort of guide, giving the reader a little spark of knowledge to help them take their first steps through the text's doorway with confidence. The reader is armed with the knowledge of metaphor or historical reception or scholarly debate or several of the many other gifts that are often granted via a work's introduction, then led along a path carved by footnotes that offer the reader stepping stones and road signs of translations or alternate meanings. So to me, it feels manipulative and academically dishonest to assert a misleading narrative onto your audience, who might be dipping their toes into this water for the first time, that will heavily affect their perspective on this text. I feel a bit like Red Riding Hood, tempted off the path by false promises. It felt almost predatory and malicious to use the introduction, which traditionally exists to serve the reader, as a way to toy with the reader instead. It caused me (and others, who I know had the same experience) to feel manipulated, humiliated, and honestly a little bit used. Now, I did say that I thought the footnotes were mostly successful and I do stand by that. But whereas the footnotes were clearly fictional (again, VERY anecdotal and without citation), the introduction was quite scholarly and contained (fake) sources. Even a reader with strong critical thinking skills would very easily fall for this trap until/unless they actually did the work of looking into these sources provided. Though again, this experiment of Machado's is wildly inconsistent, because there's an article referenced in one of the footnotes later on in the story that IS real. Why would readers expect a combination of true and false sources in a text? I think this inconsistency only heightens the manipulation. 3. A Lack Of. Like I mentioned earlier in this review, I really love Carmen Maria Machado. And I was really excited to read this story through her eyes. And just as disappointed as I am that I was misled, I'm also disappointed I never actually got the experience I was promised. CMM is clearly incredibly smart, incredibly well-researched, and is frankly an important figure in modern queer literature. I think her scholarly takes on Carmilla would have been profound and interesting on their own, without this warped narrative. The end result of this cool storytelling experiment is just a lack of. A lack of knowledge from CMM, a lack of certainty, a lack of understanding, and most importantly: a lack of a helpful introduction. And with this experience being my first with Carmilla, I'm feeling a bit disoriented, and am having a hard time separating the story itself from all the smoke and mirrors.
Overall, I'd call this edition a really cool artistic experiment but a cruel literary prank. I kind of loved it, and kind of hated it. I do recommend it, but with a heavy emphasis on the fact that Carmen's words are not to be trusted, and with a strong suggestion to read the original text elsewhere first. And of course the illustrations were an absolute joy. So sapphic. So gothic. Every time I read a book with interior illustrations I am reminded how much I wish every book had interior illustrations. It's certainly a pretty edition, even if its roses have hidden thorns.
CW: racism (the text itself), illness, death, blood, hallucinations, death of child, decapitation, car accident, death of mother (past), suicide (mention)...more
Thank you SO much to the author for sending me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I really am so grateful to have been senThank you SO much to the author for sending me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I really am so grateful to have been sent this ARC. This book sounded so up my alley: a dark academia with tragic sapphic romance! And certainly the vision for this book is still deeply appealing to me.
However, the story at hand was unfortunately so flooded with grammatical issues that it was impossible to discern, much less to appreciate the vision. I am much more lenient with indie and self-pub books in regards to elements that could be chalked up to editing mistakes (I’m well aware indie and self-pub books are not provided the same amount or quality of resources as tradpub books and refuse to judge them the same) but when the problems are at a level that inhibits the storytelling, I very much have to take issue. And in this case, most of the sentences had such extreme structural issues from both a technical and aesthetic standpoint that it severely affected the work. Not to mention the writing regularly contradicts itself. Whole paragraphs will be spent establishing a truth of the world just for that truth to be directly contradicted in the following sentence. I’ve seen a few reviews on here say “I was too dumb to understand the writing” or “I can’t figure out why the writing doesn’t sound good to me? Is it my fault?” and I’m here to say: No love, you weren’t. It isn’t. You’re not the problem here. The writing wasn’t too dense to comprehend, it was just incomprehensible.
I do absolutely love all of the themes and characters and magical elements that have been brought into these pages. If there is one success in this story, it is the bringing together of this unique collection of elements. Academic atmosphere, romantic queer obsession, murder, angels, ghosts, butterflies, etc., Quinton has captured an incredibly singular and fascinating realm of ideas.
But unfortunately, none of these elements worked together and instead all felt haphazardly dropped into this world. There was no command or control here in the crafting. Motivations were lacking, stakes were unearned, and themes and motifs floated in the atmosphere without any rhyme or reason. There was a clear attempt at referencing the dark academia genre, while missing its most pivotal thematic tether: commentary on academia. Without it, all those elements just drifted out to space in nonsensical orbit instead of offering grounded support to the story being told. It also very clearly tried to reference the high emotions and violent chaos of Shakespearean or even Greco-Roman tragedy, but again, without tying those elements down via earned and intentional moments or understanding how to utilize those elements as a narrative tool. Motifs and themes from well-known genres exist for a reason, and it’s important to make sure that if you’re using those motifs and themes, that you have an understanding of how they work together and what they accomplish. But sadly this was a book that certainly knew what it was in conversation with, but didn’t know how to have a conversation with it.
This is something that has also been brought up by some other reviewers, but this book seems to be set in a fantasy world that the author’s first book also takes place in. Which is fine, I love when authors do that! But there was little to no reason why this book should’ve been in the same world, and with the lack of world-building or explanation present in this story, the fantasy elements just felt like dead weight.
I do hate to have such a disappointing report from this book. The cover is absolutely stunning, the marketing has been INCREDIBLE, and the story really does seem like something worthy of a better execution. I do hope somewhere along their career, whether it be sooner or later, Li has the opportunity to rework this book. There’s something really promising here. But several rounds of scrutinous editing are definitely needed before this hidden gem can really shine.
I really loved the set up here, but I fear that by the end of the book, it became a bit too convoluted for me and I lost steam at about the 85% mark. I really loved the set up here, but I fear that by the end of the book, it became a bit too convoluted for me and I lost steam at about the 85% mark. It mentions in the acknowledgments that this was initially planned to be a novella and I think I would’ve found the streamlined approach to this vision to be more up my alley. Though it is a testament to this story that I did finish it despite having to be REALLY harsh about DNFing books lately. I think this was a really great addition to the canon of sapphic vampire stories and I'm sure many folks will really love this one.
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
CW: blood & gore, violence, injury detail, drugging, mind control, kidnapping, death of mother (past), sexual content, medical content, death, emesis, loss of child (past)...more
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
“Please, do what she did to me and make it good. Make mThank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
“Please, do what she did to me and make it good. Make me weak and willing, and let it be good in the glow of you. Make me need and make me weep and get to the truth of me, the meat of me, and show me that it isn’t rotten.”
A Long Time Dead is an expansive gothic vampire romance about change: the kind that happens so fast you have to struggle to catch up with it, the kind that comes along with growth that feels like stretching into a new skin, as well as the kind that happens slowly over time so that one day you look back and are slapped in the face with the realization of how different things have become.
I have INCREDIBLY mixed thoughts over this book, and find myself unable to rate it, torn between bits that shine brightly and confidently in the best ways, and others that are muddy and sticky in the worst ways.
Poppy is such a unique main character for a gothic story. Not only is she a fat sex worker, she is jovial, lively, a bit crass, and not at all like the sullen, dark vampire archetype we’re used to. In fact, for a vampire, she feels incredibly human. Her heart bleeds more than her victims do.
And Poppy’s love leaks throughout the text, pulling forward tropes and themes uncharacteristic of the genre, such as found family and happy endings. Despite being a historical vampire story, this book is first and foremost a romance about two people finding each other and crafting a world that brings them peace and warmth.
Though of course, this book isn’t without its gothic moments. It handles large conversations about abuse–as a lot of vampire novels do–and quite well, in my opinion. You can tell that the themes of abuse are very personal to the author, and were very carefully represented.
I also think this book had a lot of interesting things to say about desire and self restraint, particularly on moderating your desires so as to find the balance between keeping yourself from happiness and over-indulging.
Samara Breger has a background in theater, and this is very apparent in her writing style. I felt very much like the chapters are written like scenes, which I think was both beneficial and detrimental to the book. Each individual scene on its own was an absolute masterpiece. Distance covered in plot and in characters, check. Beginning, middle, end, check. Established point, check. And some of these scenes have such incredible interpersonal dialogue that I think would work SO well for acting classes/showcases. But I felt the scenes were not edited together well, and frankly, a lot of the chapters felt like filler episodes. I felt a lot of the story struggled to stay on its path, and with that I found myself lacking a forward motion to grasp onto.
I did reach a point where I found myself racing against time, attempting to beat my own urge to DNF this book. And though I did win and finish this book before I was consumed by the need to put it down, the fact that I took on that race isn’t the best sign, and the urge to DNF was still definitely there.
I think the part for me that really failed was the pacing (which I know is subjective and hard to pin down, but bear with me). The emotional arc mapping was not done well, and the gothic tones were often in conflict with the romance which was often in conflict with the main action of the story. At times, it was meandering and dragging (especially in its dialogue or stretches of inner monologue), causing it to become repetitive and/or boring. I’m usually one who asks authors to milk their moments more than they do, and would rather scenes go on too long than too short. But I found myself skimming whole pages at times just to finish a scene that could’ve ended way earlier. And especially in the Gothic genre, where the reader expects to infer a lot of plot and messaging through subtext, it felt even more jarring when we did hit those overdone moments.
I mostly found this boiled down to the fact that the readers’ emotional journey through the book is uncertain, and could use with a few more rounds of editing to solidify.
Though Breger’s theatrical writing style gave me a mixed impression, I was really a fan of her Jewish perspective. There’s quite a lot of Jewish influence in this book, which was really exciting to see, especially in a vampire novel. There’s a large history of vampire archetypes being used to push antisemitic rhetoric, and it was delightful instead to have Jewishness unabashedly featured (however briefly and subtly) in a vampire story. All of the harmful archetypes were easily avoided, and there was even a conversation about Jewish morals and how they apply to a vampirical lifestyle. (I geeked out a little bit at this part for SURE.) But I do want to make it clear: there isn’t any actual Jewish representation in this book, though for all you Catholics out there, it’s filled to the brim with that Catholic guilt rep.
And lastly, this is a very neutral element for me, but it’s something I’d like to prepare other readers for: this book has a looot of sexual over- and undertones. Of course, it IS spicy (and WOW those were some delicious spicy scenes!! Honestly, I don’t have very formal words about the romance in this book other than AHHHHHH ), but as a former sex worker, the MC has a lot of sexual experience and is constantly thinking about it and using it to inform her life. Moreover, her sexual desires are very tied into her vampirical urges. I actually found it a fascinating literary addition to the canon of the vampire experience, but I know it might catch some folks off-guard. Especially because it really is quite crass.
Okay I will quickly mention: the romance really was all that. In fact, despite the bits that DID drag, I do wish some of the more romantic moments were dragged out further.
But Breger’s prose is the absolute star of the show in this book. It’s enchanting and gut-wrenching and undeniably show-stopping. Each time I felt dragged down in this book, I found myself renewed, vibrant with the life injected into me by a new gorgeous quote to fall deeply in love with. It shone the most in expressing the love between the main characters, and I was constantly squealing with delight and reading lines over and over in utter adoration.
Overall: I think this book was sexy, confident, and brilliant in the conversations it added to the gothic genre and featured some iconic sapphic vampires, but was held back by poor structure and editing, as it lacked a strong, intentional hand to guide our journey through this story.
This isn’t a book I will likely be going out of my way to recommend, but if you’ve read through this whole review and are intrigued by this story, I think it could be worth a read.
CW: sexual content, abusive relationship, blood & gore, violence, gun violence, mind control, animal death, drugging, confinement, forced institutionalization, dead bodies, fatphobia (mention), character death...more
Bleeding with folklore, adorned in the atmosphere of a sentient forest, and hung with tension and yearning so thick you can feel it like a mist curlinBleeding with folklore, adorned in the atmosphere of a sentient forest, and hung with tension and yearning so thick you can feel it like a mist curling around your heart, A DARK AND DROWNING TIDE is the Jewish, sapphic romantasy of my dreams.
Call me delusional but I’m convinced Allison Saft wrote this book for me. (Sapphic, check! Jewish MC, check!! Folklore-heavy, check!!! Discusses antisemitism in fairytales as a major theme, check?! Sentient forests, check!! Dark academic elements, check!!!!)
A DARK AND DROWNING TIDE has been luring me in like a siren song since its announcement, calling my name as it pulled me into its alluring tide. And as soon as my toes hit the water, I was torn beneath the surface and down into its depths by my ankles. My lungs swelling with rich atmosphere, my eyes burning with the salty sentimentality of the characters, and my throat singing with the reverberations of gorgeous prose as this story swallowed me with a gulp.
We enter a world of fantasy, of fairytale, and of mystery, as Lorelei Kaskel—a folklorist—sets out on an expedition with six nobles to seek out a fabled magical body of water for the king. But when she finds her mentor—who is also the expedition’s leader—dead in the middle of the night, tensions grow high. Lorelei must work with her academic rival, Sylvia von Wolff, to solve her mentor’s murder, all while taking over the leadership of the expedition and dealing with political and emotional turmoil of her own. Not to mention the dangers that lay beyond in the forest ahead and in the court back home. Oh, and all of her peers hate her. As she makes her way through the thick foliage of a political and literal landscape, Lorelai has to decide what risks are worth taking and who is worth trusting.
The melody of this book’s themes soothed me like a monster’s caress: its tender yet sharp exploration of fairytales and the prejudice that lies within them. I felt so seen by our main character that it ached. Her Jewishness and her experience with antisemitism profoundly colors her worldview and therefore the entire book. Its pages are saturated with the hues of hatred I’ve grown to know all too well, as Lorelai struggles with the way she’s been painted as a villain or a witch or a monster just for existing as herself. As a Jew. And the grief and survivor’s guilt and fear and pain that comes with that existence.
But the bloody and fatal sting of this book’s siren’s kiss was its romance. Alexa, play Abstract (Psychopomp) by Hozier. There was so much heart-wrenching angst and the characters burned with such yearning and desire, they left scorch marks in my heart. I found myself making noises that were far too inhuman (maybe some of the wildness of this book worked its way down my throat and into my vocal chords). I’ve been craving a sapphic romantasy that gets the tension just right, and Allison Saft absolutely delivered on this front.
I’m not sure I’ve quite emerged from Saft’s taloned and tranquilizing grasp. And if I ever do find my way back to the surface, my water-logged heart will never quite be the same.
If you’re looking for a sapphic Jewish story with the perfect blend of fantasy, folklore, dark academia, and romance that will seize your heart and tear your hair out and linger like a ghost long after you’ve left it behind, run and do not walk to pick up A DARK AND DROWNING TIDE. (The alp will get you if you don’t.)
Thank you to the author for sending me an ARC! This is my honest review!
CW: death, murder, antisemitism, eugenics, colonization, grief, loss of sibling, blood & gore, violence, dead body, injury detail, drowning, drugging, fire, emesis, alcohol consumption...more
Nghi Vo truly writes novellas like no one else. For a book with such little physical space, her stories span breadths far and wide. Her characters areNghi Vo truly writes novellas like no one else. For a book with such little physical space, her stories span breadths far and wide. Her characters are enriched and her world feels so lived in and well-developed.
This story in particular features: -a sapphic relationship between a tiger and a scholar who recite poetry to each other -foxes disguised as humans -discussion about the shifting of narratives to serve an audience -stories saving lives
Thank you to Peachtree Teen for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
A timeless fairytale in verse about a girl made out of the dreams oThank you to Peachtree Teen for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
A timeless fairytale in verse about a girl made out of the dreams of men, desperately determined to forge a story of her own.
R.M. Romero seems to have a pattern of centering characters who find themselves trapped by the narratives and projections of the people and the world around them, and have to learn how to rewrite those narratives. And it gets me every time.
In our world, I think most people can relate to feeling weighed down by the expectations of others, whether that be parents, partners, friends, or even strangers on the internet. So much of our society teaches us to find worth in who we can be for other people. And so this book’s messages about self-empowerment and choosing the role we play in the stories that are told about our lives feels incredibly relevant despite the 1880s setting.
Juggling themes about the relationship between humans and nature, and about the tool of fairytales in determining who we view as "monsters" and "heroes", Romero strikes a wonderful balance between subtle literary metaphor and overt conversations.
This story feels precious and kind and hopeful. If you’re looking for a modern fairytale with a diverse cast, knife-sharp prose, and a queer romance, look no further.
Content Warnings: animal death, abusive relationship (emotional, physical), confinement, blood, death, nonconsensual kiss, violence, loss of sibling (past), loss of father, drowning (past), grief...more
Thank you to the publisher and GetUnderlined for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I absolutely adored the concept of this book. I Thank you to the publisher and GetUnderlined for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I absolutely adored the concept of this book. I think there is an untapped well of potential for collaborative literature that makes me want to become an editor myself just to make it happen, and this book felt like a glimpse into that world.
But unfortunately, I think the execution fell a bit flat for me. The writing of each individual author and of the story itself wasn't bad at all, and I found some new (to me) authors I want to read more of, particularly Hafsah Faizal and Darcie Little Badger. But this format just held the story back. It was almost Sisyphean in the way we hit a narrative refresh at every hour of the story. With each new chapter, the boulder rolled back down the hill, as each author had to start from scratch with character introduction and explaining a corner of this world and a magic system. It was exhausting.
I think this could've worked MUCH better if there were maybe... a third of the amount of authors, each writing a few chapters from their characters' POVs. With 18 perspectives being introduced until the very tail end of the story, I was spending more of my mental energy trying to keep track of the characters and the world-building than figuring out the actual mystery at hand. Every 20 pages or so, we were given a new POV that had to establish a new character, a unique magic system, a backstory, their relationship to the dead professor, relationships with other students, and tell a concise story with a beginning, middle, and end. It was just too convoluted and kept my head swimming and overwhelmed with unnecessary information.
Besides melting my brain a bit, this continued introductory format also hurt the storytelling itself. With the way information was handed to us, it wasn’t woven together enough for a mystery, which caused the first half of the story to feel entirely obsolete, with many of the early plot threads either turning out to be red herrings or remaining entirely unresolved. I honestly had more questions than answers at the end.
Finally, this structure hurt the climax, making it still feel out of nowhere, despite the attempt at building a through-line, just because we were being still introduced to entirely new characters and plots in literally the last pages. And with that, it lacked an ability to give the audience a final button to weave together the thematic conversations of the story. What are we supposed to take away from this world? I’m still not quite sure.
If we had less authors and a few chapters from each character, I think the pay-off would have been much more satisfying, and the world-building would've shone much more. This school and its characters were really drew me in, but it was just sand slipping through my fingers with this many POVs and storylines. It was just too much to keep track of and so much fell through the cracks.
CW: (I'm just listing them all together because the stories are so intertwined) murder, death, dead body, injury detail, fire, violence (brief), panic attacks, mental illness, hallucinations, blood, poison, kidnapping, grief, mentions of: loss of loved one, ableism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, bullying, colonization, war, generational trauma, spiders...more
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