Well, this was a fascinating little read; this is a speculative fantasy story following Manet, a servant of the God-King of her city, as she tries to Well, this was a fascinating little read; this is a speculative fantasy story following Manet, a servant of the God-King of her city, as she tries to unravel a mystery which could be the undoing of the entire city-kingdom. Manet is an Amanuensis, a servant of the king who has perfected seven skills, the final of which is perfect memory. The story is told entirely in second person as Manet travels throughout the city and encounters a variety of different characters in her search; we never see nor hear Manet speak, only read the responses of those she encounters.
The second person point of view is really the star of this book - it may not be for everyone, but I adored it! Hopping from interview to interview, interaction to interaction, really gave a broad sense of the history of the city, without it being directly explained. It felt like a slow uncovering of information. I also love the way the format lets us feel as if we have traversed the entirety of the city, without getting hung up on transitions or travel time - we simply arrive at the next distinct location, to hear the story of the next distinct character. Finally, I think the fact that we never read Manet's response causes stronger interaction between reader and book, almost as if we are writing the story ourselves -- we see the responses to Manet's words and actions, but never those words and actions themselves, so we have to create an understanding of them by reading between the lines - causing every reader to have a slightly different experience of Manet. It also left her development over time feeling particularly profound, as we only see her from the outside in.
Manet's mystery and the story of the city is also intriguing - I loved how it was revealed in a way that felt so layered by each person's individual story, but it also felt so beautiful and dynamic that I wanted more! I think it would have been a rich setting and story even in a typical novel/novella format, and sometimes I almost wanted that. Still, I think the second person point of view story was so unique and added so much to the experience. I almost wish Polansky would write more in this universe, but the story also felt so perfect and complete. I do think the ending could have been a little more drawn out.
Overall, a great little read that I will be thinking of for quite a while to come! ...more
Extasia follows Amity, a newly anointed Saint in the patriarchal, religious community of Haven - the Somewhere around 2-3 bewildering, strange stars.
Extasia follows Amity, a newly anointed Saint in the patriarchal, religious community of Haven - the only surviving settlement after the end of the World That Once Was. Amity is eager to take her place a Saint: one of four young women in the community who stands as a pillar of virtue, and as a vessel for other community members to express their sins, thus absolving all in the process. Haven has recently been plagued by a series of gruesome deaths of the men in the village, and Amity hopes that with her ascension to Sainthood, balance will be restored and the strange deaths will stop. In her quest to discover what is happening to the men of the village, she will come into contact with a group of women with strange new powers, and learn the truth about her village, her past, and the world beyond.
This was an incredibly strange book - as others have commented on, it almost feels like multiple books mashed into one: a witchy fantasy story, a rumination on Christian-flavored religious trauma, a dystopian novel, and a dark and harrowing fairytale. The combination of these elements is messy, lacking direction, confusing, but at times oddly compelling-- I don't think any of these elements came together particularly well, but it was unlike anything I had read before, and kept me pressing forward. I ended up binge listening to the audiobook at work over 2-3 days.
What this book does well: I think this book has excellent flavor. Haven itself is creepy and oppressive; the horror elements and the trials Amity endures as a Saint and in her quest to save her village are surprisingly visceral for a young adult book. Something about it conjures up old fairytales - not the sanitized Disney versions, but the darker, older stories, where a happy ending is bought with blood and bone and the mutilation of an evil stepsister. The stories that two of the characters, Amity and Silence, share build on this fairytale tradition, and give it a dark, rich atmosphere. I think this plays well with the oppressive religious flavor of the world, giving a great tension to this rigidly ruled society in opposition to this feeling of a wild, untamed Out There. It also addresses the role of the entire community in perpetuating cycles of abuse.
What this book struggles with: However, flavor alone does not a good book make. It feels like Extasia is trying to say something about female agency, religious oppression, gendered violence, and the power of stories--but the result is so muddled and so confusing that it felt hard to follow the thread. Both sides are very ideologically driven: Haven is an oppressive religious patriarchy. The coven of witches initially seems like a space of emancipation and self freedom, but reveals itself to be almost cartoonish in its straw-feminism. It also flip flops between some eye-rolling levels of "Not All Men" to actually addressing the shared role of the society in perpetuating oppression, in a way that is confusing. Perhaps the core message is that it is power, not ideology, that inherently corrupts, but at the end of the day I'm leaving scratching my head about what this book wants to say.
Plot-wise, the story is strange; Amity's motivations are confusing and shifting, filled with self referential logic and what feels almost like... narcissistic magical thinking - She's convinced that only she can save her village, and that she has been called upon to do it a certain way, AND that she alone is strong enough to do what needs to be done without falling under the devil's sway. In fairness, she's also a teenage girl who has endured a staggering amount of abuse and trauma, which I think leads into some of her insistence on self reliance, paranoia, and her belief in herself alone. Other characters' motivations are hard to suss out and follow as well.
The magic system itself is explained only vaguely, and it is also confusing and muddled, with unexplained loose ends in some places. In other areas of the story, the magic is so convenient and easy - Amity simply Knows What To Do instinctively, and then it's done! The story also takes an odd twist in the final quarter of the book, which --while shocking--actually, I think, detracts from the story being told. (It also opens up a whole new can of thematic worms, which the author doesn't delve deeply into at all.)
Finally, the characters never feel fully developed. They rely on symbolic names that represent their role in society, but often don't develop more deeply. Amity's character arc didn't feel particularly compelling. I think the most interesting character was Silence, but she also felt underdeveloped, as did the romance aspects of this story.
All in all, a strange read with some great witchy, dark fairytale flavor but which gets tangled up in the conflict messages (or lack of messages) that the story is trying to convey. I'm still going over it in my head. ...more
Around 4.25 stars in actuality, but I felt like so taken by this story that it’s getting a good bump up. The Bone Orchard is a rich story full of poli Around 4.25 stars in actuality, but I felt like so taken by this story that it’s getting a good bump up. The Bone Orchard is a rich story full of political intrigue that spans its way through city streets, brothel parlors, backyard necromancy workshops, and into palaces. At the same time, it’s an exploration of trauma, agency, and selfhood set against a world of necromancy and psychics, war and intrigue. This book seems polarizing, and some may love it while others hate it, due to 1) some confusing and convoluted storytelling and 2) some disturbing content. (CWs at the end)
This is a confusing book to jump into, and it takes a while to really pick out all the threads and understand it; I’m an avid sf/f reader and don’t expect walls of info dumping, but this one really throws you into the deep end right out of the gate. If you want to go on knowing very little, you may want to stop here, but I want to summarize some of these threads.
The Bone Orchard follows Charm— a psychic and necromancer, brothel madam, mistress of an immortal king, and effectively a prisoner in Borenguard, capital of the Boren Empire, following the rebellion of her home country of Inshil a century or so ago. In her orchard, Charm is able to grow copies of her bodies and imbue them with different aspects of herself; these bone ghosts, in turn, work for Charm in her brothel in order for all of them to survive in Borenguard. Everything is turned on its head, whenever, when she is summoned by the dying king, who tasks her with discovering which of his four awful sons are responsible for his murder. If she can discover this and keep his murdering sons off of the throne, she will win freedom from the psychic mindlock which controls her. Charm, along with her boneghosts, must play a dangerous game in order to bring the killer to justice and win their freedom; at the same time, Charm and her ghosts must grapple with their own fragmented past regarding the fall of Inshil.
I felt like this world just felt so strange, fascinating, and intriguing. In some ways, I think the admittedly convoluted storyline prevented us from seeing the setting and world in a more detailed way typical of other fantasy novels; at the same time, what we do see is evocative, complex, and full of dark history. Everything unravels in a way that is confusing at times, but eventually all crashes together in a way that felt like a really powerful exclamation of selfhood. There’s a lot of grey areas, particularly in the relationships between Charm and her boneghosts, with a lot of underlying hurt, betrayal, and begrudging trust. I also thought that there are some beautiful parallels between Charm and the Ghosts and the city guard.
Some minor criticisms: I think the story could have been told in a way that was a little more tight and a little less confusing, though at some point I decided to just give up and lean into the confusion as part of The process. I think the ending felt a tad Over Dramatic at times, and I didn’t love actua like, ending page on a technical level even if I liked the overall ending (its very “now let’s sit and talk about what to do next”.)
Overall however, I felt like this one was mind blowing in its creativity and strange mix of politics, brothels, necromancy, psychic powers, and war. Definitely one I will be thinking of in days to come.
Listened to on audiobook as narrated Ell Potter, who did a fantastic job reading. I did quickly buy the ebook as well when listening in order to have a reference for all of the names and people when politicking began in earnest, so if you don’t have a head for names, you may wanna just go straight to the actual book over audiobook.
Content warnings: pedophilia*, violence/abuse, reference to rape including rape as a war crime/weapon of war, disassociation, psychological exploration of trauma, body horror *While most of the bone ghosts look identical to Charm (an adult) with different quirks or coloring, one of the bone ghosts appears to be a young teen, as her growth time was cut short when she was created; she still works in the brothel and is frequented by a patron who is Definitely A Pedophile. None of these scenes are onscreen, but referenced and it certainly isn’t comfortable to read...more
A dreamy science fiction retelling of The Little Mermaid, or more accurately, a telling of what happens after the little mermaid; this novella has somA dreamy science fiction retelling of The Little Mermaid, or more accurately, a telling of what happens after the little mermaid; this novella has some beautiful writing, subtle character dynamics, and hints of an intriguing world, but does sometimes prove a little confusing in terms of writing style.
Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters is set in a universe of a wide variety of gene edited humans, who have adapted to a wide variety of climates. Atuale is the daughter of one of the leaders of one of the sea clans, humans who have been genetically altered and then adapted to live under the sea. 20 years ago, she made a deal with a witch to alter her genes so that she could live on land in order to be with the man she loves. Now, her husband's clan is dying of a mysterious illness, so she returns to the witch-- who was also her former lover-- to see if there is a way to find a cure for the illness. This search for a remedy takes them into an offworld adventure, and forces them to confront their own fraught past together.
I think this novella was more successful in some aspects than other. I sort of expect novellas to only give me glimpses of the world, leaving the rest for me to piece together in the space between; I don't mind doing so, but not much is explained up front which may not be to every reader's taste. I enjoyed the tense dynamic between Atuale and Yanja; their history of love and intimacy is clear, as is the sense of betrayal. I think both of them are well characterized, particularly through their flaws.
I think there is also an internal narrative in here that works beautifully with some of the original themes of The Little Mermaid, primarily regarding bodily autonomy and a sense of choice. We see this in not only Atuale's original transformation from sea-to-land-dweller, but also in revelations about the sea clan's attitude toward pregnancy (with mentions of forced pregnancy), and in Yanja's choice to maintain his biological transition from female to male. In a larger sense, Atuale is also often divided between her own desires--each of which requires sacrifice or limitations put on her, which made each step of her journey a little bittersweet.
I think that the story does feel muddled sometime, with the pacing coming out a bit confusing. I also feel like some of the relationship dynamics could have been brought to the forefront a little more. The writing was beautiful, but sometimes the dreamy passages also made things a little confusing. Still, it generally felt appropriate to Atuale's voice and understanding of her world, so I didn't mind too much.
Overall, I would put this at about 3.75 out of 5; I enjoyed it, and it provoked a bittersweet sense of feeling for me, but think it could have had a little more clarity in its execution. It reminded me a bit of a different science fiction retelling of a Hans Christian Anderson story - The Snow Queen, by Joan D Vinge, in the combination of science fiction elements and dreamy fairytale vibes....more
This took a while to read because of personal life circumstances and NOT the book, which was wonderful! The world is richly built, the magic system isThis took a while to read because of personal life circumstances and NOT the book, which was wonderful! The world is richly built, the magic system is fascinating, and the story has a cinematic quality.
The characters are particularly striking - Malini, Priya, and Bhumika especially are such STRONG characters. Not necessarily in a Strong Female Character way — rather, they all feel so real, and all have very different types of power behind them, which they wrestle with and grow into and sometimes use ruthlessly. These are characters who are stuck in the grasp of an empire and working against it, while strange and magical forces begin to influence the world around them, and all of them face it with emotion but also, unflinchingly.
I love Priya — she’s so strong but also so caring. she feels so just….. good? There’s a goodness at the core of her that seems like it just moves above the intrigue of everyone and everything else; she’s in a harsh world, but you get the sense that she wants to have an open heart to the world, even all of the hurt in her past, because she knows that in doing so, she can conquer anything.
And then you have Malini, who is quite a counterpoint! Where Priya comes off as overtly strong, Malini has an inner strength, ruthlessness, and cunning that just blew me away. As a pair, I think her and Malini are beautifully balanced, and also somewhat… romantically tragic? I’m so excited to see where their path goes. They had some scenes that just killed me.
Finally, Bhumika, my love - she is such a force! She’s a character who wants power, but so grounded in a desire for peace and rebuilding. I don’t know any other characters like her - she’s ruthless, but only to the extent that is really needful. She’s poised and principled, but willing to take actions that others look down on because she knows that in the whole design of things, it is what will save lives or keep peace.
Plot wise, this book does feel primarily like it’s setting up for a story to come — the pacing sometimes was a bit slow, or the thread hard to follow, but I feel so excited for the rest of this series because I’m so invested in the characters and the world....more
Do you ever read a book and all you can really think is that the book is fine, but what you really want is a TV adaptation? (Hulu gets it.)
This book hDo you ever read a book and all you can really think is that the book is fine, but what you really want is a TV adaptation? (Hulu gets it.)
This book has all the elements of a gothic horror (a spooky house! A massive graveyard! A family with secrets! An aging patriarch! Mysterious illnesses!) and a generous helping of body horror and general grossness, but for me it failed to really ever develop beyond its elements and into something that truly terrified me. I worried about the characters and felt some genuine revulsion, but never felt quite *spooked*.
I think some of it is just a little TOO on the nose with the gothic tropes — while the twist is wonderfully gross, all of the early elements feel too “Yes This Is A Gothic Novel”, without allowing you to develop a genuine feeling of “Wait—something is seriously wrong here.” I guess I could say that this one just failed to get under my skin in the way I enjoy from a spooky book?
Noemi approaches a few different layers of depth, but most of the other characters fail to develop much complexity. (We have the ingenue male love interest, the creepy brother (cousin?) in law, the creepy aging patriarch, the cold and mean spinster, and the beloved cousin who is fading away with some sort of illness — but most characters don’t develop beyond their types.)
All in all, it adds up to a book that had huge potential and I could see it being terrifying with some solid tweaks, but just fell a liiiiittle short for my taste. ...more
I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I am going to voraciously consume every book, novella, and scrap of content that Caitlin Starling p4-4.5 stars?
I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I am going to voraciously consume every book, novella, and scrap of content that Caitlin Starling puts out. She has such a gift for horror and making her stories genuinely eerie; with each book, I feel as if I’m sucked into the main character’s terror, paranoia, fear, and obsession, propelling me through the story into the late hours of the night.
The Death of Jane Lawrence follows Jane Shoringfield (soon to be Lawrence) during her unusual engagement and then marriage to Augustine Lawrence, a doctor in her small country town in what seems to be a fictional equivalent of post-WWI England. Their marriage is one of convenience, with each party initially agreeing out of mutual benefit rather than romance: In exchange for providing the accounting and assistance in Augustine’s shop, Jane receives the financial security of marriage while maintaining her own independence. There is only one requirement: she must never stay the night at Lindridge Hall, Augustine’s family manor, and he will always stay there. But of course, Jane soon finds herself stranded at Lindridge Hall following a storm and a carriage accident—and what follows is an unraveling of lies, strange spirits, apparitions, and ritual…
The good: As I said above, Starling’s ability to propel the reader by inspiring the same feelings in the reader as in the protagonist is wonderful - as with her other books, Jane is sent on a frantic, spiraling search that the reader can’t help but be infected by. The atmosphere is beautifully gothic with some truly disgusting historical medical horror thrown in. The characters feel rich and grounded in their terror. Without spoiling it, the cause of the horror at the house is so different from anything else I’ve read, eerie and unsettling. Jane and Augustine were both well written and flawed, though I perhaps didn’t connect with them quite as much as I did with her leads in prior books.
The bad: This book doesn’t hit 5 stars for a few reasons. The beginning is a little slow; maybe because I read it during Halloween season, maybe because it follows a pretty familiar gothic atmosphere, but I just felt myself impatiently reading “come on, come on, we KNOW weird stuff is going to happen— let’s get to it!” If the beginning had a little more tension and unease, I think it would have helped feel more like a page turner.
The book is occasionally quite dense, and somewhat…. Esoteric at times, and I felt the thread of the plot slip away while I was trying to keep up with the rituals and in-world reasoning that allowed so many of the odd moments to happen in the story. The result was that sometimes the plot felt a little muddled— I felt spooked, I wanted to know what was going on, but I also didn’t know where I was supposed to be looking.
I waffled back and forth on the ending — the twist was well done (if confusing) (and I had guessed a bit of it), the reason behind the horror was super creepy and not fully explained in a way I genuinely enjoyed. Jane’s decision in the end was quite unexpected and I waffled on whether or not I liked how things ended with her and Augustine. I think I like it, but to go in depth about my thoughts would require massive spoilers. ...more
Nuns in space! this manages to pack a good amount of backstory & has a very likable cast of characters. I feel like I could keep reading in this univeNuns in space! this manages to pack a good amount of backstory & has a very likable cast of characters. I feel like I could keep reading in this universe, either before or after the events of the story. My heart was STOLEN by the biological spaceship though — so beautiful! I think the last 15% moved a little quickly, but that seems to be a Thing with novellas. A few other elements weren’t to my tastes enough to make it a favorite, but it’s a lovely, hopeful piece of science fiction with a core cast of women. ...more
First off: HUGE trigger warning for multiple cases of sexual assault throughout this book.
but also, damn, what a read! Reads like Parable of the SoweFirst off: HUGE trigger warning for multiple cases of sexual assault throughout this book.
but also, damn, what a read! Reads like Parable of the Sower and The Handmaid’s Tale had a baby, and the result is disturbing and heartbreaking
This book follows the Unnamed Midwife, a woman who wakes up after recovering from an illness that has devastated the population. This illness effects women to a much greater extent than men. The other effect is that no babies are born - they are miscarried, stillborn, or die shortly after birth. The Midwife makes it her purpose to provide birth control to the few women she finds while also trying to survive (disguised as a man) in a world where women are in a particularly precarious position. (frankly, the concept of a book about a midwife trying to provide contraception in a post apocalyptic setting would have been an amazing read even without uneven impact on gender)
I adored our protagonist — she’s smart, tough, angry, lonely, vulnerable, and such a survivor. She’s achingly human & I found myself caring about her so much, even during her most flawed moments.
I don’t know how to review the parts I liked — there’s a lot that disturbs, without much comfort for most of the book. In addition to its speculation on power, sexual assault, and gender dynamics, I think this book also has such an amazing focus on loneliness. This is seen most viscerally in the interludes of the Midwife’s journal, both during the vast stretches of time when she is completely alone, and when she is with others but holds herself apart.
My major criticisms are:
1) it ends too fast. The last 1/4 of the book felt somewhat rushed, with everything just clicking into place Just So. I do like that the scope begins to expand to give an overview of the rest of the world — But at the same time, I was hoping for some of the Midwife’s aching sense of loneliness to be more fully addressed and fulfilled (I suppose I’m a romantic/optimist?)
2) I read the ebook version & the font used for the interludes taken directly from the Midwife’s journal is absolutely atrocious - which is frustrating, because content-wise, these were usually my favorite parts; they allowed such deep connection with our protagonist.
3) I think the brutalization of women as a whole possibly could have been handled with a more delicate touch? I don’t think you need to depict quite so Much in order to show the impact it has. Also it sometimes felt like the narrative was punishing characters who didn’t heed the Midwife’s advice, which felt sort of.... ick.
overall though - emotional & thought provoking, with some very visceral moments of emotion. Also a tribute to narratives to an extent, but again — I would have liked to have seen this drawn out. I read it in one evening & will probably be thinking about it for the next week.
3.5, rounded up to 4. An enjoyable, creepy read even if you (like me) aren't a huge lover of YA stories. I really appreciate that the author allowed t3.5, rounded up to 4. An enjoyable, creepy read even if you (like me) aren't a huge lover of YA stories. I really appreciate that the author allowed the girls in this book to be prickly, angry, problematic, unlikable, and complicated at times. Sometimes I feel like books that are marketed as having Badass Heroines feel like they're so performative in their execution, and come off as superficial and contrived. The girls in this book are all pretty badass because they have to be to survive, rather than as some heavy-handed "~Girl Power~" bit.
Overall I enjoyed it, but I felt like things unwound too quickly at the end without enough resolution, which left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied. I also think that the sci-fi elements felt a little more blurry than I typically like, but did so to a point that was so weird that I couldn't find the heart fault it. (Yay body horror?)...more
Loading...
