Review: Something Wicked This Way Comes

5 stars. Wow. This one moved me to tears. It's so strange... I didn't even really enjoy most of this reading experience. I stopped halfway through to read two other books, because I was bored and confused and needed a break from the purple prose. But somewhere in the second half, I got hooked - or maybe things clicked - and boom, suddenly I was crying. The ending hit me right in the fucking heart, or the gut, or the feels, or something. I just really wasn't expecting that.

Something Wicked This Way Comes should attract readers of all ages and preferences. I feel like my eyes have been opened... I see its influence everywhere from Stephen King to Erin Morgenstern to Clive Barker to Neil Gaiman to Cornelia Funke. It's about the arrival of a carnival at Green Town, Illinois, and how two young boys' discover something dark and sinister under the bright lights and the colorful canopies. It's also about being young and being old and corruption and friendship and fathers and sons and determination and heroism and laughter and free will and... temptation.

It's incredibly beautiful. I don't think I've encountered such gorgeous and unexpected prose since I read Lolita. The imagery is as haunting as it is whimsical and lush. It took some getting used to, but I'll miss those words floating around in my head painting vivid songs. I have associative synesthesia, and this writing might be the closest thing I could find that captures the way my brain concepts concepts and sounds and feelings with certain colors. The words have shapes and edges and corners. Reading this was like dancing inside of an orchestra made of many colors during a thunderstorm.

Originally published in 1962, this book does feature some out-of-date allegories, references and metaphors. And there's a thinly veiled thread of nostalgia running in between the lines, suggesting support for the imagined idea that America was a perfect dreamscape utopia in the 1950s (spoiler alert: it wasn't that). I've also read some fascinating reviews about how this book doesn't hold up at all, especially from an adult perspective. But that's partly why it made me so emotional, I think: like Stephen King's It, it strikes me as a story about the tragedy that is growing up, and I appreciate books that double down on that theme and then give it a solid kick in the teeth for fun.

I would've liked to have read this in college, for a class. I would've liked to have read this at age 13, when the battle between good and evil would've seemed brilliantly intense, and important. But here we are, age 30, disillusioned and cynical and skeptical and yet- and yet- or maybe because all of that- moved to tears by the written sound of laughter and Charles' parting thought that running with the boys, even if it killed him, would be worth it. Ohmygod I'm crying again. Thrilling, this one.

Something Wicked This Way Comes on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Vengeful (Villains #2)

4 stars. I DON'T KNOW, OKAY? I just couldn't focus on this one - it took me weeks - WEEKS - to read! I was even considering 3 stars but the truth is I'm not sure I can actually identify what's wrong with it... I really try to be critical in a fair way, but sometimes my rating is just all about my personal, instinctive, gut-check reaction. So, 4 stars it is.

Vengeful picks up where Vicious left off. Victor Vale, resurrected by Sydney at the end of book 1, is back and ready to resume his mission to kill his nemesis, Eli Ever. Except he's sick. And he can't get to Eli until he gets better. So he starts hunting down EO's, trying to find one who can fix him. Meanwhile, Eli is locked up in EON's super freaky monster jail, and oh yeah, there's a new, scary EO taking over the city with her deliciously destructive powers. Heroes fall, villains rise, yada yada yada.

It's so awesome. I absolutely adored Schwab's expansion of this universe, even if I didn't connect to the plot that much. It was fun getting a peek into some other POVs, and learning more about EO origins. Marcella is a tremendous character, and it was particularly enjoyable to watch her, ahem, burn it all down.

“How many men would she have to turn to dust before one took her seriously?”

I would also say that, like the first book, this series is a must-read for comic book and graphic novel fans. The twists and turns, the level of insanity, the character names, the settings, the campy villains, the attention to visual details - the architecture of a building, the color of nail polish - elevate this story to a steady level of fun I experience reading about superheroes.

I loved the narrow focus of the first book - it felt like such a prequel - and I could just feel the tremors of possibility. Schwab opened all those doors and then some. Despite not getting that super orgasmic 5 star feeling, I really enjoyed it. I'm officially joining the chorus: I WANT MORE!!! THIS IS SOME CRAZY GOOD SHIT!!!!

Vengeful on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky #1)

4 stars. SO FUN. So interesting. I highly recommend this new book from Rebecca Roanhorse, a fantasy set in the Pre-Columbian Americas as an important change of pace. It has all the complex world-building of, for example, ASOIAF, but it's accessible, fast-paced, inclusive, and much more fun. I'm really excited for the next installment, because this in a lot of ways did feel like a prequel; a set-up; a tease.

The story is multiple POV, set primarily right before the Convergence: a solar eclipse that marks the Winter Solstice. It is also meant to bring, for only some expectedly, the rebirth of the Crow God, set to emerge from a human vessel marked for this purpose since birth. This God will bring vengeance to those who betrayed his clan decades ago, and throw the world into a dark chaos brimming with magic old and new.

That all sounds really bloody and grim, which it is, sort of. But the characters navigating this dark premise are charming, funny, lovable, and determined, plus a slow-burning romance gives as many light moments as it does angsty ones. There's a disgraced sea captain, feisty and clumsy and struggling with her own identity. There's a savvy and smart priestess, focused on political strategy for good rather than personal gain. And there's the human vessel himself, powerful and dangerous and duty-bound to sacrifice the unimaginable.

It's quite a collection of characters, and I cheered for every single one, despite them all being on different sides (...for now). The world-building is pure and imaginative but not overly detailed or heavy - plus magical elements create some really sparkly moments. I docked a star for occasional preachiness and a somewhat amateur feel during certain moments, but please know that I highly recommend this book. I'm really looking forward to what happens next.

Black Sun on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: The Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy #3)

5 stars. Absolutely incredible, breathtaking, gorgeous, well-written - this trilogy is an instantly classic piece of fantasy fiction that will captivate and inspire for years to come. As I mentioned in my review of book two, it's been awhile since I felt a full-on fanatic obsession for a piece of writing, and it's been so nice to feel it so deeply, gulping down a story at the risk of ignoring and forgetting everything else about my life.

First things first, I guess, which needs to be a bit of a disclosure: I'm pretty into all things Egypt, and have been since I was a kid. I read textbooks about Ancient Egypt for fun. I love trying to cook Egyptian recipes. I've watched all the National Geographic documentaries. I am fascinated by Egyptian culture and, well, blah blah blah, I know I'm not alone, or special. Egypt is fascinating. But I'm saying this because this trilogy scratched an itch for me personally, and that undoubtedly impacts my review.

All that being said, and I cannot emphasize this enough, Chakraborty's creation of a diverse historical fantasy world in this trilogy is really well-done. She respectfully incorporates - honors - a culture that is often twisted, skewed, misunderstood, and manipulated in today's modern world. I really admire the way she navigated this, threading that needle so well. In an interview, answering a question about writing outside of one's own culture experience, she said: "Is it your place? Sometimes the answer is no. We have to learn to be okay with that. If you love the history and culture enough to write about it, you have to respect the people enough to hear what they’re saying. What are you doing to lift their voices?" (Source)

I'm not the right person to weigh in on this with any sense of authority or expertise, but I learned so much from the way she wrote this story that I can't help but feel she clicked it all into place in a good way. A fair way.

Other things I'm obsessed with:

• The ending! A lot more hopeful that I was anticipating - my heart was in my throat for so many of the characters.

• The themes! As always, Chakraborty explores a lot of Big Stuff like religion, family, politics, heritage, power, and the cost of peace with an expert hand. I'll genuinely be thinking about the way she pokes around concepts like justice and free will for days.

• The characters! Characters who experience trauma and emerge totally traumatized, what a concept! Characters who are beyond comprehension yet beautiful and admirable in their own ways (Sobek ILY). Plus the room she creates for characters who are otherwise villainous.

• Nerdy stuff, like character names and structure and pacing and plotting!

• The world. Colorful and vivid and full of true history and lore. I still struggled with the various tribes and their backgrounds, but it doesn't matter. This world is so rich and it never feels too magic-y or too info-dump-y or too show-off-y (technical terms, every last one of them). I think often about how to marry a good idea with good execution, and I think many authors are (don't kill me) sort of rarely successful. There are always things to nitpick about one or the other and of course one directly impacts the other. But the narrative here felt really purposeful and beautiful at the same time.

I'm not ready to let go, but I actually do have to like, get back to work and do my job and take care of my responsibilities and stuff. Or maybe I could just start the whole thing over again. Decisions, decisions.

The Empire of Gold on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: The Kingdom of Copper (The Daevabad Trilogy #2)

4 stars. My never-ending quest to finish trilogies continues! And honestly, this one is so awesome. I'm really in love with these books and the way everything - the characters, the worldbuilding, the magical plot - comes together. I re-read The City of Brass so I'd be fully prepared, but I didn't expect to be so fully immersed. I'm about to dive into Empire of Gold and my biggest hope is simply that my heart survives it.

Five years after landing in Daevabad with Dara, Nahri has grown as a healer and has reluctantly embraced her status as a member of the royal family - for now. Ali is happily building a city far from his home, living at peace with his new abilities - for now. But in a city like Daevabad, full of tension among tribes, the status quo is fragile and cracking. With looming threats from abroad and within, each of the players in this game learn, unpleasantly, the enormous cost of change, and of peace.

Like the first book, this is truly a spellbinding whirlwind of beautiful colors and rich elements. The not-so-subtle exploration of themes like racism, religious persecution and inherited conflict continues, but it's still never preachy - in fact, it doubles down in its insistence that these things are as futile as they are ingrained and unavoidable, a tragic reality that each character has to learn and navigate.

I rolled my eyes at the romance in the first book, but I didn't mind it here, because it totally expands what "romance in YA/adult fantasy" can look like. (Or, I should say, what I want it to look like, which is a little less trope-y, a little less soulmate-y, and a little more malleable/non-monogamous). I docked a star instead because it's a little slow in the beginning/middle, and because for the life of me the tribe history and conflicts never clicked into place.

Regardless, these books are favorites. I think I might purchase beautiful hard copies, because I really see myself wanting to re-read. I'm fully invested and fully enamored by this world and want so much more. It's been so damn long since I felt myself in the first blushing throes of full fan obsession, but S.A. Chakraborty fucking hits it out of the park with every character, every development, every action-packed fight scene, every carefully-written line about oppression and social injustice. I can't not feel a little squeal-y, to be honest.

The Kingdom of Copper on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (HP #1)

Feeeeeeeelings. Like many of you, I grew up with Harry. These books were read aloud to me as a young person and I revisited them many, many, many times after. I was there for the midnight releases, the casting announcements, the movie premieres, the fanfiction, the websites, the art, the wonder, the excitement, the tinkering, the raised eyebrows, the broken promises, the disappointments, and then the ultimate betrayal. The ongoing betrayal. That sounds ridiculously dramatic, but let's not be vague about it: the creator of this generation-defining series expressed narrow-minded, transphobic beliefs and then doubled down. It's a painful story and it's one that I can't really seem to look away from, because it's interesting and horrible and bruising.

I am not trans, and so I cannot even begin to understand the depths of personal and public trauma she has caused for some and continues to cause. But I still feel the need to process it ... to sort through the *gestures* big mess of it all. I really started considering a re-read when I hit the Pandemic Wall, like so many of us have in the past few weeks, under a few conditions: (1) I'll read my physical copies to avoid leaving a data footprint that could benefit her in any capacity (lol), (2) I'll read with a more critical eye and try to learn from it and (3) I'll let myself enjoy the books if it feels right. There are a lot of articles and think pieces about reconciling art with its artist (or separating it), and I'm going to lean on them if things get weird. They will.

---

Reviewing would be pretty much impossible, so here are my notes:

• Almost right away - Chapter 1 - there are clues. Not too many, and not enough to make things confusing, but the level of planning JKR did is astounding.

• The tone here is so playful and clever and humorous. I know the books get darker because the wizarding world gets darker (and the characters get older), but I'm going to miss the easy, readable flow she uses in Book 1.

• The characters are distinct and arrive fully fleshed out, which I find to be rare in fiction, when every individual comes from the same mind.

• I wonder how influential the editing process was on this before it was published, and how little it influenced the later books. At some point it must've reached a point where the publishers were like, okay, just let her do her thing, which probably led to the extreme bloat toward the end of the series. I wonder what Harry Potter as a whole would've looked like had every book been packaged as neatly as this one.

• I know this resonates with everyone but reading about how a letter could arrive one day offering you a literal escape from your horrible life into a magical one is so vivid and hopeful I could almost taste it.

• Things that surprised me: there are very few spells mentioned or described. Some, but not nearly as many as I remembered or expected. Also, the early appearance of the centaurs.

• How much could have or would have been different had Dumbledore just been honest with Harry from the beginning?

• This book - the imagery, the dialogue, the faces of the characters - is so, so, so intertwined with the first movie. They are inseparable in my brain, partly because I think the first movie matches so closely what I saw in my head reading it for the first time. It's a shame movies 3-8 don't subscribe to that tone for consistency's sake.

• Ultimately, there's no denying that this gave to me and many others an incredible doorway. I really enjoyed re-reading. There's plenty of heart, soul and magic to be found in these wonderful books, despite the actions of their author.

Note: I won’t be including any links to purchase on HP-related posts.

Review: The Burning God (The Poppy War #3)

3 stars. Oh god, summarizing this is going to be impossible. Ermm, okay. Freshly recovered (sort of) from the betrayal, heartbreak and violence of her failed tour with the Dragon Republic, Rin faces ... well, more betrayal, heartbreak and violence on her quest to unite the Nikara Empire against threats both foreign and domestic (heh). Unsure who to trust or where to go, she utilizes the intense power of the original shaman rulers, the blind obedience of the people from her Southern home and her own hungry, vengeful, trauma-laden instincts to ensure survival for herself and for her people.

Don't hate me. It is what it is. I absolutely adore R.F. Kuang and hold her in the highest regard. Her writing is spectacular and she's so talented - her intellect is obviously very high and I can't wait to read what she does next. I admire what she's done here - channeled buckets of Chinese history and lore and context into a story for readers like myself who shamefully know so little about it. She's carved a space for herself in an impossibly small and impossibly male group of military fantasy writers. She has unlocked so much about what the standard trilogy could look like. She's wonderful.

But for most of this book I lost a level of investment in reading and felt ... almost ... bored? I mean for all the battles and bloody mysteries and character revelations, I dragged my feet to pick it up. Which I think came down to this: Why? And after surviving multiple wars, calling a god, committing genocide, and switching allegiances multiple times, what exactly does Rin want? Does she want to rule? Does she REALLY? Does she really want to forge peace? She wants to be part of the action, of course, but I had a hard time following her true, long-term motives. She's always being sent here or carried there or going somewhere on an episodic rescue mission. Her loyalties always seem to be to people, or power, or petty "sides" that are ultimately arbitrary. Never goals or even, like, an end game. An end to the journey.

And maybe that's partly the point. Maybe I missed my cues due to lack of focus and energy because, lol, 2021. Maybe she's meant to be a little untethered, a little destined to make bad choices. Maybe she can't see beyond a single day of survival for herself and her friends because she's walking around with so much trauma and baggage. Maybe I'm reading this with a decidedly Western perspective. And also she's what, 20 years old? I get that she's meant to be an unlikeable, untraditional, impulsive, blood-driven, power-hungry, brutal protagonist. But for most of The Burning God I was totally adrift with her, and not in a good way. I just ... burned out. No pun intended. I truly expected to want to live and breathe these characters for one final act. Instead I basically skimmed, wondering - again - why and also get on with it.

So, only a 3-star read for me.

A couple of other things:

• The ending was perfect in premise, abrupt in execution.

• I really missed in The Burning God the deep exploration of the gods and the pantheon and shamanism in general. This was prevalent in the first book, a subplot in the second, and barely part of the third. The only part where I really perked up is when Rin trained the new shamans.

• I really loved this: amateurs obsess over strategy, professionals obsess over logistics.

• Kuang asks a lot of her readers (IMHO) in terms of the various multiple names for people and places. I relied on the map a ton and am still a little unclear on who is who in the Trifecta and that whole history.

• The Hesperians storyline is brilliant. Kuang demonstrates a unique if not super unveiled way of writing about colonialism, and for the most part it's successful. Petra's ending was ... delicious.

• This is going to make an absolutely excellent TV series. It's practically ready for adaptation. I'm in. All the way.

The Burning God on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War #2)

4 stars. Really, really impressed with this as a follow-up to The Poppy War. Not that she needs to hear it from me, but R.F. Kuang has officially burned down what fantasy should and could be and replaced it with something intellectual, entertaining, brutal and beautiful. This trilogy (final opinion pending) is a must-read for a wide audience and deserves the title of Epic in every definition of the word.

The Dragon Republic opens after battle, but for Rin the war is far from over. She is a shaman, and she is heartbroken by the loss of her kin, and she turns to drugs to cope. Lost in her personal trauma, she and her fellow shaman warriors side with the Dragon Warlord in an attempt to find purpose again, to bring stability to Nikan, and for revenge. They ride to conquest but she soon realizes that almost everything she thought she knew - about magic, about war, about politics, about her god - is far more complicated than she realized.

Unlike The Poppy War, which has two clearly defined narrative arcs, The Dragon Republic is essentially a collection of episodes. Rin goes through so many ups and downs it's almost hard to keep track; thankfully, each experience and revelation informs her character and moves the big plot forward. She does not bounce back so easily, mentally, which is refreshing and I appreciate her understandable mistakes. As the lens widens, so too does her confusion about context and what is good vs evil. Rin's identity and sense of self is central to this story's spiral and I look forward to unwinding it further.

Speaking of the widening lens - the worldbuilding, which happens almost literally as the landscape in question is open for grabs - is incredible here. Not just complex in all the right ways, but complex in a way that is within reach. That's part of what makes military fantasy successful, IMHO - letting the reader see the map. There are so many components to this story but I never felt overwhelmed.

I would say too that this could've been shorter, though I understand why Kuang wrote it the way she did. There's a lot of arguing about politics, and some threads that perhaps did not need to be pulled, which is why I docked a star. But the third book could change my mind. It probably will.

Fuck me up, Kuang. You know you want to.

The Dragon Republic on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Flyaway

3 stars. A tasty mix of Shirley Jackson with a pinch of Elmet. This story feels timeless - and by that I mean the time period is rarely marked. You feel like you could be reading about something that happened yesterday or eighty years ago. The uncanny sensation is just one component of this eerie stew of folklore and gothic imagery, a patchwork puzzle about one young woman's quest to capture even a slight impression of her true identity.

To summarize would be difficult and spoilery, so I'll just say that Flyaway is about Bettina Scott, a 19-year-old outcast, who lives with her proper mother in a small town in Queensland. She receives a letter from her missing brother that triggers something deep down under what we know to be a subdued and stifled personality. Unable to shake the implications of the letter and the mystery of her core identity, Bettina ... well ... dives into a rabbit hole and finds some monsters there instead.

It's a fever dream of a short book; a collection of strong scary stories that almost seem familiar, containing fairy tale elements with a cautionary edge. I'm fascinated by the perspective - at times it feels like we are looking at a very, very small corner of a giant tapestry. Questions and answers seem irrelevant and action rarely has the consequences we expect. It's trippy and confusing and absolutely gorgeous in its own way.

Unfortunately I just wasn't in the mood today. I had trouble concentrating and keeping a grip on the thread. The disjointed narrative felt jarring in a confusing way versus a subversive or interesting way. And I didn't feel a strong connection to any character or element of the story, leading to a 3-star rating. That being said, fans of horror, literary fiction and gothic literature should ABSOLUTELY read this. It's spectacular, just not a good fit for me (right now). Can't wait to see where this talented author goes next.

Flyaway on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: A Deadly Education (The Scholomance #1)

2 stars. Hahahahaha. Okay. An education INDEED. I am honestly so sorry - I tried to like this. I really did. I had heard that it's supposed to be like a sort of warped HP from Hermione's perspective with a lot more violence and death. And it was, I guess. But this damn book seemed designed for me to hate - full of a bunch of personal pet peeves that I just couldn’t get over.

But first: The Controversy. I did some research before starting to read, trying to get some clarity on the accusations and the reasons why it's being called racist. And I think I understand. Some of the language choices in this book come across as clinical and forced and ignorant. I'll be the first to cry "depiction is not endorsement," (or in other words - the character thinks this, but does the author?) but to be honest I don't even feel like I should weigh in. Please know that I tried to read this with a critical eye and an open mind and a determination to use it as an opportunity to learn - if not on what to do, at the very least on what not to do. I see why readers were offended. I also see why the author made the choices she did.

Okay. A Deadly Education is about a teenage girl named Galadriel, a student at a violent and terrifying magical school called the Scholomance. The Scholomance houses and teaches magic-wiedling young people how to hone their craft while being threatened - constantly and to the death - by evil monsters lurking in the walls and the dark corners of their home. El gets a bit tangled up socially with the school hero, Orion Lake, and has to navigate the typical minefields of being an adolescent (puberty, cafeteria politics, academic competition) while, well, trying to stay alive in an environment that's trying to kill her before graduation.

Oh, man. Okay. Again, I apologize. I really did try. But when I hit 86% and I found myself skimming?! Forget about it. I can tell Naomi Novik really, really loved her own idea and dug deep. I get it. But I feel like I have to catalogue why this didn't work for me, even though it feels kind of gross to do so, because I just know there are readers out there who have the same cringe triggers as me (if they aren't put off by all the well-deserved dramatic conversation surrounding this book in the first place):

First - the British slang and mannerisms. It's a bit difficult to explain, but they didn't fit right here. Every time I came across one ("git" "scanner" etc.) they seemed cute-in-a-bad-way, out-of-place, and forced.

Second - Orion. I am on a lifelong quest to find a well-written teenage boy - or at the very least, a teenage boy character that resembles even just one of the teenage boys I have actually known in real life. My quest continues.

Third - the use of the name Galadriel and the LOTR references. This is a personal thing for me (I told you these were pet peeves!). LOTR is so sacred to me it honestly felt ... weird. When El started randomly referencing her name and the movies and ... something about this just seemed really off. Like a wink or a nod that was TOTALLY unnecessary.

Fourth - the exposition! The info dumping! ARGHHHH! I initially thought the first chapter would be the heaviest - full of explanations and terminology and rule-dropping - but NO! This type of writing - "educating the reader as we go along with the story" - continues for the rest of the damn. book. I'm talking about a new character/concept (the valedictorian thing) in the FINAL PAGES OF THE BOOK. The action itself, if we removed all the lecturing, would probably be about five pages long. I'M SERIOUS. If you are in the mood to be TAUGHT a CONCEPT, rather than READ a STORY, this book might be for you.

Fifth - wayyyy too much emphasis on cafeteria tables. I went through that in middle school and I have no desire to enter into any intense consideration of that sort of thing ever, ever, ever again in my life.

I will say: it's a fascinating, complex concept. And Naomi Novik does a great job of subverting tropes and creating delightfully stubborn, fierce, powerful female protagonist. El's overall feistiness was truly appreciated. I'll give her that. I also think more books - especially YA books - should so blatantly explore and address issues like inequality and economic status quo. I know it's a hot topic word, but there is a lot about privilege and its advantages.

I'm bummed though, dude. I really am. It was just a 2-star read for me.

A Deadly Education on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads