I’m halfway through this book but I don’t think this book is particularly well edited. I think Kian is a really frustrating main character in that thoI’m halfway through this book but I don’t think this book is particularly well edited. I think Kian is a really frustrating main character in that though he feels distinct, he spends 80-90% of the book putting his foot in his mouth, and also often doesn’t even know what he’s just said. I have experienced this only when I’ve just woken up. He also feels like he has almost no agency in the plot because he makes every single decision under duresss or persuading from Hudson and seems to have no genuine motivation beyond “not being over his ex.” Besides that, it really feels like Hudson and Kian aren’t talking about any of the issues between them, just dancing around them. I was finding this all so frustrating that I headed over to Goodreads where I immediately discovered via Alexis’s great review that they never talk about why they broke up in the first place. It’s giving those college couples that break up every two months and immediately get back together and everyone kind of makes fun of them. Overall, YA getting better editors when. Thank you for listening.
What if I told you. This book is too long. And I cannot get through it. No matter how long and hard I try. I will register my opinion though that I amWhat if I told you. This book is too long. And I cannot get through it. No matter how long and hard I try. I will register my opinion though that I am a Grace apologist. She did nothing wrong. Cursing a man to be in love with her and thus ruining his whole life for several years was a little over the top no it wasn’t3 ...more
Alright so for the first time so far in my English major (yes, I'm surprised too) I will be fully not finishing a book assigned. This is objectively aAlright so for the first time so far in my English major (yes, I'm surprised too) I will be fully not finishing a book assigned. This is objectively a very good book and I think that it's probably worth reading. However, hear me out: I physically cannot take finishing a novel about a virus that comes from China that everyone initially downplays, and before they can avoid the spread, it has slowly turned the entire planet into living zombies, but really the villain all along was capitalism? I have never had such a viscerally bad reaction to a book in my life. This is TOO oddly specific. I love my English professor so much, that man's Twitter is my only source of serotonin on this earth, that being said. Was it really the move to assign a novel about a pandemic right now? Personally, I don’t think I will be able to engage with pandemic content ever again in my life. Love and light...more
This is genuinely one of the most incredibly horrifying book publishing things I have ever seen, and as someone in this community (and someone who attThis is genuinely one of the most incredibly horrifying book publishing things I have ever seen, and as someone in this community (and someone who attends an hwc) it absolutely cannot be ignored. While Grand Central presumably had no way of knowing, they need to pulls this book immediately.
Sunny (Luna), Ash (Charlotte), and Izzy (Gabi) all wrote very articulate messages about this. ...more
I'm a bit frustrated by this, to be honest, after a first book that I absolutely adored a couple years back. The Silvered Serpents is a frustrating slI'm a bit frustrated by this, to be honest, after a first book that I absolutely adored a couple years back. The Silvered Serpents is a frustrating slog with a beyond-slow plot and little to no urgency, which is not exciting in the sequel to one of my favorite YA heist novels ever.
Chai's fantastic review feels like it conveys a lot of my issues here – Séverin is, in my mind, the weakest link here. He is borderline cruel to Laila in a way that simply feels hard to read; the character reasons behind his nonstop drive to become a God feels half-baked; and perhaps most glaringly, Zofia, Hypnos, Enrique, and Laila still revolve around him, in a way that no longer feels motivated. (He's frankly not planning good enough heists for them to following him so unquestioningly when he's cruel to Laila, who is their friend.) He frankly just drove me up the fucking wall, and it doesn't feel as if the other characters get enough content not involving him to counteract that.
The character content is worse in other places, too. Laila has romantic competition for Séverin, for some reason. Hypnos and Enrique have started dating offscreen, but god forbid they discuss their feelings, and god forbid we get good reasons why. God forbid a single one of these people simply speak about their feelings. I might have started losing my mind when Enrique is interrupted by Hypnos and thus simply fails to communicate a huge plot point to either him or Zophia. I can take a misunderstanding for character reasons on occasion, but a plot-relevant misunderstanding on a heist team is simply not interesting.
It feels as if every minor issue I had with this series has doubled back down. The Séverin's parents chapter intros are back and more overdramatic than ever, when I already disliked them the first time around. Setting and action descriptions are still incredible 80% of the time and still confusing the other 20%. The lore behind the Houses feels as if it has only gotten less distinct, while simultaneously feeling more plot-relevant; the connection between Houses and colonialism, one of the strongest parts of book one, feels as a consequence less relevant.
There is not an absence of good here. Roshani Chokshi is a fundamentally good writer, and her prose shines. Zofia is easily the most compelling character in the series if not one of my favorite YA characters of all time; I do so live for her chapters, and I liked her content here as always. I really wanted more of her content with Enrique and Hypnos, which is a relationship I was completely rooting for – and for once, I felt her lack of communication with them was well-motivated and compelling. Laila is also a fantastic character; while I found her chapters somewhat depressing and frustrating [for Séverin reasons] here, I enjoy her character so much that it almost outweighed that. But I do not think I have the motivation to finish this series – though I did look up spoilers, for personal reasons.
I was meant to be on the blog tour for this, and did not finish because I think it's just a genre of YA that I really am no longer vibing with. Very..I was meant to be on the blog tour for this, and did not finish because I think it's just a genre of YA that I really am no longer vibing with. Very... hm. The good parts of Caraval?
...I'm so sorry to the approximately 5 arcs I requested in March that fell victim to this realization in July. Thank you for your service. ...more
This is a historic collection of afrofuturistic literature written primarily by bloggers. I was assigned several of these for a class and thus have noThis is a historic collection of afrofuturistic literature written primarily by bloggers. I was assigned several of these for a class and thus have not finished reading this collection. Here are some reviews of the stories in this collection that I have, in fact, read.
The Sale by Tendai Huchu → ★★★☆☆ A story of a world overtaken by bureaucracy. Genuinely liked and appreciated the commentary of this story. Really think that when writing a story about a population being brutally repressed, you should think twice about it being via estrogen that gives your character breasts.
The Gift of Touch by Chinelo Onwualu → ★★★★★ A brief space opera with good characters and great dialogue. This one feels like some very conscious commentary on Firefly, the television show, and I had a lot of fun writing a very brief essay about it.
Heresy by Mandisi Nkomo → ★★★★☆ This one is some very good satire on South African politics and also communism-turned-fascism. Very cold, very dark, very interesting. I'd like to read more about this.
To Gaze at the Sun by Clifton Gachagua → ★★★☆☆ Absolutely fascinated by this story's seeming implication that Africa’s Great Rift Valley cuts along the middle of the continent through both Egypt and Sudan (it does not). Somewhat sad at this worldbuilding because overall I really liked the ideas explored here of parenthood and identity.
Proposition 23 by Efe Okogu → ★★★★☆
A corporation cannot be killed thus no matter how heinous the crimes it commits. The worst it can face is a fine.
The longest story, a three-point-of-view scifi-dystopia. The premise is essentially the Matrix, but without giant bugs manipulating us -- just AI. As a result, this one feels more prescient. Very smart and I liked this one.
On one hand, The Virgin Suicides is an introspective exploration of some of the problems of 1950s suburI struggled with this book. On several levels.
On one hand, The Virgin Suicides is an introspective exploration of some of the problems of 1950s suburbia, and of our society’s tendency to look at suicide and the trauma of young girls as something dangerous, rather than real.
This narrative is told through the point of view of the boys around the girls. It purposefully fetishizes the pain and trauma of the five, attempting to critique this same fetishization. We barely know the tragedy of Cecilia, but she herself is almost erased by the male narrators, who make her death into a case they can solve via the exhibits. They treat her death as true crime, not a true tragedy, and thus fail to solve any mystery at all. They must learn to see the girls as actual human beings.
This critique works, to some extent; it is the sisters themselves where the book falls apart. The five suicidal virgin sisters are, despite incidental moments of characterization, a monolith; they are used as representations of some deeper societal problem, rather than people. They are at once sexualized and devoid of sexuality; their deaths are fetishized to such a degree by the lead group of boys that they cease to exist at all.
In other words, the five sisters are at once given agency, and then have their agency taken away by a narrative that refuses them any room to tell their own stories. I believe the authorial intent here may have been the former; the result, to me, is the latter.
I also struggle with the weird fascination with destruction of gender roles in the home brought on by a close text reading of this; the girl’s father, Mr. Lisbon is more feminine, with a “girlish voice” (6); his daughters “forgot he was a male and discussed their menstruation openly in front of him” (21). This is not an uncommon problem in media; I actually read this for a class on concepts of adolescence in which we also watched Rebel Without a Cause, and yep, the father in that is overly feminine, too. I still dislike it, as well as the narrative’s focus on Mrs. Lisbon as the source of the girl’s trauma.
Eugenides’ writing is gorgeous in places, but feels so cold and removed towards its characters that I found myself put off.
There is some good here; a discussion on the ways teachers attempt to deal with the suicide is well-done, and a scene in which the Reverend equates suicide with not winning title game (101) is both hilarious and deeply sad. Adults try to put Celia’s suicide on her crooked nature, not on her actual life; this precludes the suicides of the other three. The imagery around the decay of the house is compelling. I also want to acknowledge that this was a good deal more revolutionary when it was written in 1993. This book is not terrible and I’m glad I’ve read it for myself; it’s just that when it comes down to the wire, I gained very little from this reading experiences.
Okay like. It's been months but honest to god I have a thing to say about this. I'm upset this author still views herself as the victim of this scenario. She was not. A Goodreads reviewer wrote an honest review of her book - a mean one, perhaps, but who gives a shit? She responded by stalking this reviewer and publicly calling her a troll for years because she had. a fake name. A fake name. On her Goodreads profile. Somehow, this justifies stalking her to the point of going to her actual house.
I really hope Madam Katherine Hale realizes that Goodreads reviewers are not like, duplicitous evil people for hiding their real names. I really hope she knows that. There's this thing about internet safety.
Like actually. If you want to write a brilliant novel about realizing you were in the wrong I actually don't give a shit. Go do that. But it is so so out of line to play the victim in this situation and act as if it was blown out of proportion. It was not. You went to the home of a random Goodreads reviewer and then not only did you do that, you chose to brag about it. Absolutely fucking ridiculous. The internet does not owe you profit over you stalking someone. ...more
humanities: book 2 This is a piece of satire that was entertaining enough, but by the end, I was really skimming and I don’t think I actually got mhumanities: book 2 This is a piece of satire that was entertaining enough, but by the end, I was really skimming and I don’t think I actually got much out of this.
So Candide was written in an era where philosophical thought was that the world was full of meaning. Voltaire disagreed. And so he wrote an entire book making fun of it, as you do.
And that is…. all this book is. All of the characters are horribly dislikable, the plot is completely ridiculous, etc etc etc - this is just satire and that is fine.
I guess I honestly just didn’t find this very funny. There were isolated lines I found hysterical, but…. I was kind of eh on the whole? This is probably just not the type of comedy I enjoy.
So yeah, this was definitely an interesting view into the world of philosophical disputes occurring in the European Enlightenment. Unfortunately, it was definitely not anything I enjoy reading. The proof is in me having literally nothing to say about it.
I'll be coming back to this at some point; this just really isn't grabbing me right now.I'll be coming back to this at some point; this just really isn't grabbing me right now....more
how in god’s name do you rate a book you read for a class in two days when you haven’t read a whole book in two weeks
I think what I found interesting how in god’s name do you rate a book you read for a class in two days when you haven’t read a whole book in two weeks
I think what I found interesting about this is the parallelism between today and later; ideals and mistakes and the desire for perfection. Through his set of Renaissance-era conversations in Book of the Courtier, Castiglione suggests an ideal - the one way to be a man, the one way to be a woman, imitation of man after man after man. It is perhaps important to view Courtier as a work of its time; while Castiglione may likely share ideals with the participants, this is not only about the qualities of a perfect court, but about the priorities of men & women in the world they live within.
One of the Courtiers sums up the level of expectation for an ideal perfectly with this list:
“Therefore, let the man we are seeking be exceedingly fierce, harsh, and always among the first, wherever the enemy is; and in every other place, humane, modest, reserved, avoiding ostentation above all things…” (25)
A perfect Duke must exhibit perfect duality of strength and humanity, and demonstrate it perfectly in both situations, in other words, the balance of sprezzatura. This expresses the Renaissance ideal of perfect duality: it is not good to be talented at one thing, and rather, we must all be talented in many areas.
This stands as a contrast to Western culture today. While some level, we in Western culture are expected to exhibit perfection in many areas at once - for example, people are generally expected to be fairly beautiful and charismatic to be well-liked - many among our culture recieve popularity and success via only one talent. In the Renaissance, it was considered important to be all things, and flaws were not forgiven; in the US, we regularly elect politicians who are widely known to be somewhat rude.
Another, perhaps more relevant, aspect of the Courtier’s discussion on Renaissance values is demonstrated here:
“And just as among women the name of purity, once stained, is never restored, so the reputation of a gentleman whose profession is arms, if ever in the least way he sullies himself through cowardice or other disgrace, always remains defiled before the world and covered with ignominy.” (22)
In this world, mistakes are not an accepted part of life; they are life-destroyers, leaving your name defiled forever. This, in contrast to the first point, does parallel Western culture.
Recent political discourse in our culture especially has often focused on the growth of “callout culture;” the idea of calling out “problematic” - racist, sexist, homophobic, or just plain awful - things that celebrities do. This culture definitely has good results: when used correctly, it can take away from the normalization of homophobic and racist comments in our culture. But it can lead to a culture, especially on social media, of publicly shaming people for minor actions; expressing political viewpoints that may be liberal, but are not liberal enough. This can lead to people, especially minors, being afraid of behaving “badly” not because they care about the feelings of other people, but because they are afraid of public shaming - definite parallel.
Another similarity comes in the idea that women may be stained more easily than men; the idea of calling out celebrities often seems to apply to women far more than it does to men, and callouts often follow them for longer. But that's another topic.
So while Renaissance society is not always the same as ours, it is often similar. And while I found this book itself rather boring, I find it interesting that the past is so like the present.
I can't believe this is my all-time most liked review I hate y'all
I read the sex scene from this book out of context, and I was left with several quesI can't believe this is my all-time most liked review I hate y'all
I read the sex scene from this book out of context, and I was left with several questions. here is a sampling of these questions:
⭐are they fucking on the beach or in the water? it bothers me so much that I don’t know the answer to this? this should be incredibly clear? ⭐how does he keep touching her back scars when she’s lying down on her back, possibly submerged in the water? ⭐does Aelin have a hovercraft or really good abs or both? ⭐how does she gently place a necklace on a high up part of the beach, where the water can't touch it, from her position right next to the water? ⭐is Aelin Elastigirl? ⭐if she sucked his dick why did he not eat her out? ⭐does Fae culture not allow for reciprocation? ⭐is Rowan secretly DJ Khaled? ⭐why does he keep trying to bite her? ⭐why is she so accepting of his biting kink? ⭐does my confusion as to why he keeps trying to bite her qualify as "kinkshaming"? ⭐how can a kiss be described as "claiming"? why is possessiveness something both of these characters seem to be turned on by? ⭐has anyone ever written a Throne of Glass Fifty Shades of Grey au? ⭐why does he keep fucking her after she bursts into flames? ⭐how many “hot” puns did Sarah J. Maas think of while writing about a guy being turned on by his girlfriend bursting into flames? ⭐Rowan during sex: oh that's so hot baby Aelin: is literally on fire ⭐why does she think about how she loves him so much she’d die without him while he’s literally just fucking her? what are Aelin's standards? ⭐has Aelin ever been played the song "No Scrubs" by TLC? ⭐do you think Aelin ever fakes it and just has to light herself on fire? ⭐why does he say he’s never done it with an equal before? is he aware that out of context, i.e. when I read it, that sounds incredibly creepy and rapey? ⭐was the word manhood used as a synonym for dick or did I hallucinate that? ⭐am I hallucinating right now? ⭐why is the phrase "velvet wrapped steel" sexier than the word "dick"? ⭐Aelin: is that a knife in your pocket or are you just happy to see me ;) Rowan: *pulls out a sword wrapped in velvet* it's my velvet wrapped steel ⭐how many fish died while they fucked? ⭐what is the average sea turtle egg death count per fuck? ⭐in book seven are we going to meet any environmental activists who try to kill Aelin because she and her boyfriend have caused several species die-outs? ⭐why were two different sentences within this chapter simply the phrase “as he did x” and nothing else, making them literal incomplete sentences? ⭐does she have an editor? ⭐does this editor have an instagram on which she surreptitiously posts "help me"? ⭐how much kinkshaming can I do in one page?
more questions that have come to me in the last 24 hours include: ⭐did they get any more back scars [mentioned 4384838 times] from the glass they made all over that fucking beach? ⭐are women okay in what we expect from men, or do we live in an unequal world where men are the only ones allowed to have expectations? ⭐does Aelin have a WAP? ⭐are you all in the comments section okay? do you need some snacks? a glass of water? let me know ⭐what if his dick was - and hear me out - made of soap...more
YA contemporary publisher, staring down his glasses at a sea of editors: so what’s big and new in this genre? what haven’t we done before?
YA contemporYA contemporary publisher, staring down his glasses at a sea of editors: so what’s big and new in this genre? what haven’t we done before?
YA contemporary editor, tentatively raising his hand: maybe a book about... a girl with a chronic illness that will make her die, but only under certain circumstances. her life is still really full, but there’s NO LOVE in it, and since love is more important than your actual life, she meets a really hot boy and then she dies because Love is the most important thing? we can make side conflicts out of her high school archnemesis, who someone calls a “whore” in literally the speech they make to her as she’s dying, and maybe her dad’s perfectly reasonable but ultimately paranoid worries for her safety!
YA contemporary publisher: Ricky you goddamn genius. here are my keys. go into my house and fuck my wife
[i mean it’s certainly easy to read but y’all... for real]...more
DNFed at 45%; this wasn’t awful, but the writing is very low-quality and the narrative very unengaging. It takes an ocean disaster and turns it into aDNFed at 45%; this wasn’t awful, but the writing is very low-quality and the narrative very unengaging. It takes an ocean disaster and turns it into a story of a love triangle and a disgraced writer.
And how about that love triangle, huh? One criminal, one southern belle, and the only dynamic the authors could think to put between these two women was a love triangle. Which I found very disappointing.
And the modern-day plotline is downright boring. We’ve established a conflict between which of these historical women will make it out and which will either die / not get the guy, but the modern-day character has barely any influence on the plot. Not a fan.
Of course a book can work despite a somewhat tropey and trite plot, but I found myself very uninvested in the characters, despite getting 180 pages into the novel. And though I can feel a buildup to revelations I’m sure will be interesting enough, I can safely say right now that I won’t find this very memorable given my personal tastes. ...more
I got a quarter of the way through this novella back in June or July and then put it down, and upon attempting the second half, I think this series miI got a quarter of the way through this novella back in June or July and then put it down, and upon attempting the second half, I think this series might just not be for me. Book one was really interesting for me because I really liked the lead and the story, but the battle scenes didn't really make an impression. This is so much more focused on the military aspect. Unfortunately, I've basically only started experimenting with my fantasy tastes this year, and I think military fantasy might just not be something that will hold my interest as much.
✨Arc received from my favorite publisher, Tor, for an honest review - thank you so much! review of book one:here
I don’t understand why y’all have such a deep and everlasting hate for this book but that being said, I have gone from Liking this book to Not Liking I don’t understand why y’all have such a deep and everlasting hate for this book but that being said, I have gone from Liking this book to Not Liking this book over the eleven days I have been reading it and am no longer interested in completing. the Drama is just so obviously there and the romance is going down a super obvious trajectory. and this is despite beginning with the most brilliant Meet Cute Idea ever, maybe [i do not understand how any one of you has hated on Dimple for throwing her iced coffee at Rishi. have you never interacted with a man in your life]
points for that one line about Snobby Atherton Kids because i go to school in Atherton and that is the most relatable Bay Area mood. also points for Sandhya Menon being both the classiest and most savage Twitter user I know and for my girlfriend being in her book acknowledgments. I’m so sorry @ girlfriend you didn’t deserve this I’m sorry
✨I am for some inconceivable reason in a Romantic mood and this exceptionally polarizing book will hopefully be Adorable...more
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