Coincidentally, this fits The Diverse Baseline February Prompt B: An Historical Fiction book by a BIPOC author.
The ending did me in... After such a heCoincidentally, this fits The Diverse Baseline February Prompt B: An Historical Fiction book by a BIPOC author.
The ending did me in... After such a heartbreaking life, I'm glad that Celie has something to be happy about.
Also, I didn't know that this book was super gay. I loved loved loved Celie and Shug's relationship. For an older novel, I didn't think I'd read about a positive queer relationship....more
No lie, if the middle hadn't dragged so much, this would've been a perfect 5 stars.
I loved this dark fantasy arc. But then again, I love anything to dNo lie, if the middle hadn't dragged so much, this would've been a perfect 5 stars.
I loved this dark fantasy arc. But then again, I love anything to do with women getting their revenge on egotistical men who believe that they're entitled to a woman's affections. And after having to drag through the bloated middle part, the ending was totally worth it.
When I started reading this, I struggled with the writing style. Catherine's POV starts off around the mid-1800s and I think the author did really well with capturing the character's voice from that time period. For someone who's used to a modern-day tone of voice, it'll read like purple prose.
But 10% in, somehow it all clicked together for me, and it became easygoing.
I loved how the author easily switches writing styles between Catherine's and Angus's POVs. I think it takes real skill to have to switch from a modern POV to something much older and back again and so forth.
I ended up really loving Catherine as an MC. She tries to make do with her situation in life (both in the past and the present), even though mid-1800s society doesn't give a fuck about women.
For most of the novel, she doesn't really have any agency. I thought I'd have trouble with that, but in her situation (she's a ghost tethered to her murderer), it makes sense. When she finally gains some agency in the last third of the book, it felt like a huge relief and I was rooting for her the entire time.
The author really knows how to write a despicable villain. Throughout the entire book, I was pretty fucking disgusted with Gus. And this feeling only grew worse and worse the more I read on. Talk about the jilted lover trope cranked up to the extreme.
I would've loved more focus on Nautilus, the magical city. We're fed bits and pieces here and there, and it seems like every citizen dislikes living in Nautilus to a certain extent. You'd think a magical city where no one ages and everyone has some level of magical skill would be really cool, but it sounds like another neoliberal shithole on Earth.
With all of the themes combined, this is such a depressed girlie book. It's so dark and creative. I'd love to read more from this author!
Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for this arc....more
Lina Rather's prose is so gorgeous. It feels like I'm watching a movie about an alternative historical London while being wrapped3.5 stars rounded up.
Lina Rather's prose is so gorgeous. It feels like I'm watching a movie about an alternative historical London while being wrapped up in warm blankets. I'd definitely love to read more from this author!
Amy Scanlon was the perfect narrator for this novella. It added another layer of depth to the story.
With that being said, this is one of those novellas where it would've worked out so much better as a full-fledged novel. There were so many ideas that emerged from something so short. I wanted a lot more out of everything. It's such perfect mix of cosmic horror, fantasy, feminism, queerness that a novella just doesn't do it justice.
The ending also felt rushed, but then again, it's similar to my earlier complaint where I really wanted a whole lot more out of all of these ideas.
Thank you to Recorded Books and NetGalley for this arc....more
And I'm definitely tagging this novel as "idk what's going on but i'm down." It shares a space with novels such as the DyachenkoAbsolutely phenomenal!
And I'm definitely tagging this novel as "idk what's going on but i'm down." It shares a space with novels such as the Dyachenkos' Vita Nostra series and Hawkins's The Library at Mount Char, if you want to see where I'm getting at. Utterly bizarre, otherworldly, and definitely the type of speculative fiction I love to read, so ymmv. (Like, seriously. Don't say I didn't warn you.)
I loved the writing. Sure, it's purpley and over the top, but it's done in a creative way where you can still understand the gist of the plot or the situation without being super confused. It's very unique and I'd love to read more from the author.
It's really hard to describe this book. I had the same feelings and emotions with The Locked Tomb series, except this one was way more serious. The worldbuilding is a lot and feels all over the place (with the politics and religion and culture and literally everything else), yet it was contained enough that I could truly appreciate what the author created. It was a great metaphor for how politically and socially messed up a society can be, and how difficult it is to navigate around a new and different society as an immigrant and outsider trying to build a new life.
I think the one thing I disliked was the ending. It sort of fell flat, like letting the air out of a balloon by untying the end. I was expecting a huge bang because the lead-up was wild and had so much tension, but then it just ended that way. Oh well. You can't have everything. But I still loved the story though.
One more thing and this is just a personal preference. I actually wanted more out of the bright doors and devils. At certain parts, it turned Annilation-esque (2018 film). I really loved those scenes, but I'm always down for more cosmic horror.
Now where can I buy a signed copy?
Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for this arc....more
I fell in love with this novel when Anequs, the MC, stood up for herself and gave no shits about what the colonizers thought of her and her nackie savI fell in love with this novel when Anequs, the MC, stood up for herself and gave no shits about what the colonizers thought of her and her nackie savage ways.
This is everything I ever wanted in a novel with a WOC who uses the colonial system to her advantage in order to get what she wants. (I know this is really specific, but as a WOC, you tend to acquire specific tastes when it comes to fiction that deals with white supremacy.) There's no grand indigenous vs. colonizers physical conflict here. Nothing flashy that's so common in YA Chosen One against the world type of novels. To Shape a Dragon's Breath is idyllic and understated in comparison.
Which is why I love this novel.
The world building is exquisite and very detailed. It's pretty much an alternate universe that very highly mirrors our own, but with a very strong Nordic colonial influence. It was cool to try and figure out which words, country names, terms, etc. had their equivalents in English. The author has created a world that feels familiar, yet foreign at the same time.
There are even discussions on sexuality and the different practices between Masquisit society and Anglish society. (Surprise! Anglish society is extremely heteronormative.) The juxtaposition between indigenous Masquisit life and Anglish life, with Anequs (and Theod, to an extent) as the bridge between worlds, was really well done. I loved it.
But with this amount of world building also comes with a lot of info dumping. I honestly didn't mind it because the author used scenes, dialogue, and the MC's inner monologue to explain the world, its people, history, and cultural practices. Through Anequs (who's also experiencing a lot of Anglish life and customs for the first time), we get an audience surrogate. It works really well imo.
It's also such a breath of fresh air to read a novel set in a historical time period that doesn't use modern slang or idiosyncrasies. It's very immersive in a sense.
I loved the MC, Anequs. (Although she does stray into Mary Sue territory sometimes.) She's a brilliant young woman who can hold her own in an imperialistic society that's doing everything to tear her down.
I loved how the author showed Anequs dealing with different examples of racism, both outright racism (like the death threats that both her and Theod receive) and the ones that are more subtle (with Marta or another Anglish character's casual comments on how Anequs isn't quite Anglish enough, etc.). For being only fifteen, Anequs deals with the racism and sexism with grace and maturity. Plus, the fact that she's outspoken about her injustices makes me love her even more. She doesn't back down from a fight, even when she knows she should (because, you know, polite Anglish society frowns down upon strong women fighting for their rights and voicing their beliefs).
Overall, I can't wait for the sequel. I hope that it goes beyond the dragon/magic school trope where Anequs and her friends have to deal with the real world on their own, without the Kuiper Academy as a safety net. We see hints of this near the end, and I'm hungry for more.
Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for this arc....more
When I first started reading The Gifts, I thought it would be a decent romp through Victorian England. The beginning didn't really capture my interestWhen I first started reading The Gifts, I thought it would be a decent romp through Victorian England. The beginning didn't really capture my interest because it started out with the mundane. But I'm so, so glad I stuck with it because wow, I really loved this! I know this type of novel (historical fiction mixed with magical realism) might not be for everyone, but it was a solid 5 star read for me! The atmosphere, the characters and their motives, etc. felt as if you were alongside them as they try to figure out their predicament.
First off, I loved how the main characters embodied female empowerment in a time period where women's rights were minimal and they had to depend on their husband or father, etc. Mary, the budding journalist, was very spunky and driven and didn't let the naysayers stop her from investigating the story of the angels. Without going into any spoilers, I thought that Etta and Natalya were both unique and provided excellent foils to each other. While Annie wasn't one of my favorite characters out of the four women, her insight into domestic life as a wife in the Victorian Era emphasized how limited women's social mobility was during that time period. At the end, I really liked how she stood up for herself and came into her own. I honestly wish these women were my friends.
And now the men... I liked how the author pulled a bait and switch and the main villain isn't who you think it'd be. And his story, wow... He definitely deserved that ending imo. Mary's love interest, Richard, wasn't my favorite since he always seemed so skeptical of her investigation into the angels. But I pictured him as Matt Smith and Mary as Milly Alcock and that made everything so much better lol
The author's writing style is unique and I think it was part of the reason that I didn't put down the book. I liked the short chapters but I wish they would've been labeled with the character's name since the POV switches to a different character with each new chapter. If I had listened to the audiobook (which is my preferred style) I would've been lost. Even reading on my Kindle, sometimes it took a couple of paragraphs to figure out which POV it was. But other than that, this was a solid work.
Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and NetGalley for this arc....more
"If the criminal past didn’t alert you, I have not always been a very good Muslim. Drinking and missing prayer were among my lesser sins, and if I tri"If the criminal past didn’t alert you, I have not always been a very good Muslim. Drinking and missing prayer were among my lesser sins, and if I tried to straighten myself up every year when Ramadan rolled around—a new life of piety easy to imagine while dazed with thirst and caught up in the communal joy of taraweeh—I typically lapsed into my usual behavior by the time the month of Shawwal had ended."
I think this particular quote (not to mention references to God and the Quran) made me fall in love with Amina al-Sirafi. No lie.
Personally, I really liked how I understood all of the references to Islam and how it was a fact of life in this world, instead of being seen and treated as an Other. (Similar to Ms. Marvel in that sense.)
This novel was such a breath of fresh air amongst the typical "teenage chosen one with dead parents" fantasy novels that I always read. Amina is a middle-aged mother with a young child, not the adventurous youthful pirate that she used to be. She has chronic knee pain, a lifetime of regrets, an estranged husband with secrets of his own, and a particular set of skills that make her very unique.
The novel is set during Amina's retirement, years after her notorious run as the female nakhuda in the Indian Ocean. In the beginning, I was afraid that her new adventures might be toned down, only because the MC kept mentioning that she wasn't at the prime of her life anymore.
But clearly she was wrong, and Shannon Chakraborty had a lot more in store for her.
This novel is the typical hero's journey, with trials and tribulations, and setting forth into the mysterious and dangerous unknown with a return to the known world at the end. There's magic and mystical items and an evil wizard. Oh, and a giant sea creature. And a magic island that's (literally) otherworldly. Our MC goes through physical and psychological changes. Yet, the setting and the environment is much different than the typical fantasy adventure novel.
The author conducted a lot of research to make the places and characters sound realistic and based in fact, which is pretty cool tbh. Imo, it's so much more exhaustive than creating a fantasy world from scratch.
And it all works out quite well. As a reader, you can feel yourself being immersed in the environment. I feel like I've traveled back in time to a place I've never been to before, with places like Aden, Socotra, and the Indian Ocean in general acting as secondary characters themselves.
I loved this novel to the point where it took me forever to finish it. I didn't want the story to end so I stretched it out until publish day.
I can't wait to read about Amina's next adventures!
Thank you to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for this arc....more
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