Review: Dead Silence

4 stressed out stars. That was intense. I'm glad I own this book, because I'd love to read it again, or maybe force it on my husband so I can talk about it with someone. I have to say I kind of guessed where it was going halfway through, but no worries - the final act is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire into a worse fire and then back into the frying pan again. You've been warned: this blend of sci-fi, horror and thriller is not for the faint of heart.

Dead Silence meets up with the crew of a ragtag repair team on their final mission before the inevitable replacement by machines. Claire, their capable but distant team lead, is our protagonist - deliciously unreliable with tons of trauma to drive the plot. Not thrilled at the thought of returning to a desk job on Earth, she jumps at the chance to extend their job a little longer and check out a mysterious emergency beacon in uncharted territories. Here's what ensues: haunted space Titanic. Who could resist?

Not me, as I plowed through this in 2 days. What I loved: the premise, the spooky sequences, the characters, the world-building and the "system," for lack of a better word, by which Claire was haunted. Her arc was especially satisfying and felt realistic for a survivor once again put in a life-or-death situation. I also loved that not every question was answered; a refreshing choice for someone who believes that sometimes the blank spots should stay blank.

What I didn't love: the romance, the wordiness, the repetition of Claire "shoving thoughts or feelings down" (also Kane and his arm folding - nobody caught this?? It was used 50+ times), a slight... juvenile tone to the writing, which is ridiculous considering the content, but ehhhh that's just my reaction. Maybe the action sequences got a little OTT. I get weirdly triggered by space worlds because I thought the authors of The Expanse books were so arrogant about it, but this one was okay... barely. I also wasn't a fan of the epilogue, but I'm not a fan of epilogues in general. 

Maybe just ignore me. All of those elements are about me, not about the book. Maybe it was just overhyped and I went in with unreasonable expectations. Either way, I highly, highly recommend this and hope it gets adapted one day - I want to fucking see the insanity unfold before my eyes. Truly incredible reading experience. 

Dead Silence on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: The Shining Girls

4 stars. I've spent a lot of time reading about this book, and reading other reviews, because reactions seem to be a bit all over the place. It happens when a book gets a lot of hype, and transcends genre (the sci-fi lovers want more sci fi, the literary lovers want less violence, etc etc etc), or if it's simply marketed incorrectly. In fact I'm even having a difficult time measuring my own reaction to this admittedly fantastic book - trying to figure out what I expected versus what I wanted versus what the book was trying to achieve.

My instinct is to say that I loved it. It captured me. It kept my attention. I rooted for the characters. I basked in the historical details - I learned so much about Chicago. I enjoyed the writing. I admired the premise. I appreciated the wry and witty humor that helped lift such a dark, violent story. I read this in a busy bar on a Friday evening and couldn't be distracted. The sci-fi lover in me didn't worry about explanations, or easy answers. I didn't mind the violence or find it gratuitous or without purpose. I respected the exploration of the trauma and tragedy and being female.

So I think I'd recommend it. It's incredibly entertaining. I can't wait to watch the adaptation (they better not fuck it up!). But please, for the love of god or the sky or the earth or my heart or whatever it is you'd like to invoke in this moment - read the TWs, and maybe even skip entirely the chapter about Kirby's attack. I damn near had a panic attack before bed one night. I fucking skimmed the whole thing and was still hyperventilating, holding back sobs. It's a brutal dog scene and even though I knew what to look out for it really got me. Really got me.

Moving on before I start crying, my only other complaint would be that it ended too soon!! I would've loved a longer epilogue after the climax. I'm desperate to find out where these characters ended up! I'm not a sucker for this sort of thing usually, but I am Team Dan 100%. He's super, super cute and heroic.

I dunno. I don't want to think about this too hard, although it's probably too late for that. Sometimes a book is just entertaining, and that's enough. It didn't change my life or anything, but I enjoyed it. That's it, the end, 4 stars, bye.

The Shining Girls on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Only Human (Themis Files #3)

4 stars. Full of surprises! I think I originally thought this series was going to have a sort of fun, light, superficial, popcorn sci-fi flavor, and while it's pretty casual in tone, thematically it's quite heavy and dark. The big questions: are we alone in the universe? What if we are not? Are darkly answered in ways that made me think. (At one point I remember thinking - was this published pre-2016 or after? Boom. 2018. That explains a lot, TBH.)

After the devastating destruction in Waking Gods, Vincent (I loved, by the way, how snarky Vincent became by the end - Kara really rubbed off on him. I know the love triangle existed narratively for the purpose of his legs being broken/transformed, but that whole thing still felt... so weird to me), Eva, Dr. Rose, and Eugene land on the planet from which their beloved Themis originated. And they can't return home. But don't worry! Politics exist fucking everywhere! There's plenty of intrigue and culture to explore.

Meanwhile, humans have made a real mess of things (shock), and it all goes from bad to worse when our heroes are finally able to return after nine years. Suddenly it's country versus country, robot versus robot, human versus human with alien DNA. Jokes aside, this depiction of humanity's worst instincts - it's innate racism and willful ignorance - was really sobering, but not surprising. Like I said, this is a post-2016 world, and I'm a millennial. I think I know how things would go.

As a trilogy, The Themis Files is completely successful. Each book is fast-paced and creative, with compelling characters and epic twists. I can't emphasize enough how, whether due to the constrictions of the format or intentional choice, the story is simply not weighed down. Time moves quickly, characters move on and evolve, situations and circumstances shift without too much attention paid to the details. I loved this aspect. It felt fresh and springy and I felt swept along for the ride, in a great way.

But I will say I was hoping for a few things to happen that didn't. Primarily, the return of our nameless friend. I fucking loved him, and his presence was missed. If you have a device that can bring back the dead, why not use it on him?! Man, he was the best. He anchored the story down in ways I really appreciated. Plus, he was funny. I was hoping - really, truly hoping - right down to the very last page that his grey text would appear out of nowhere. I would've cheered. Sigh. Oh well. Can't have them all.

ANYWAY. I am so, so, so excited that I was able to close out another series. And it was such a fantastic one! Highly, highly recommend these books for the beach, or for a plane ride, or for anyone who just wants to slip into exciting sci-fi for a while. TEAM THEMIS!!

Only Human on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Waking Gods (Themis Files #2)

4 stars. I'm trying so, so super hard to stick to my goal of finishing series/catching up on things and look! Doing it! Loving it! Honestly I don't know how well I'll be able to recall this book, because shit has really hit the fan recently in terms of life stuff, but I have to say, it was such a relief to read about alien robots every time I picked it up. Part of me wonders if I’ll remember it even more vividly because of that. Either way, I can't wait to read the final one and find out what happens.

Waking Gods picks up where Sleeping Giants left off and then immediately broadens its scope to ... well, global. Universal. Robots similar to Themis appear all over the planet and, well, they don't exactly come in peace. Dr. Rose Franklin, robot pilots Kara and Vincent, our unnamed friend, a few other familiar faces plus some refreshing new ones work together to try to save the world facing incredible stakes and unexpected threats.

I will say this - these books are totally unafraid to really go there. The death and destruction in this book occurs on an insanely widespread scale. And also a personal one. I don't think it's a spoiler when I say that not everyone survives this particular battle for humanity (what like there's only one?). It's good stuff.

A couple of questions: the solution that ended up "defeating" the robots was... well, what the fuck was that? Still not exactly sure where that came from, but it was obviously a kind of clumsy way of setting up the cliffhanger at the end of the book. Also, bringing back Ryan was a little unnecessary. Also, I get that this is kind of a pitfall, or maybe an expected hurdle for readers to jump over when it comes to epistolary novels, but wow some of these characters are really long-winded LOL. It's cool. It's an easy book to skim.

Okay I have a massive headache, so I'm out of here, but I really recommend this series for fans of science fiction. It's an interesting spin on a classic story told in a unique, compelling format.

Waking Gods on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: The Echo Wife

3 stars. Ahh, interesting. I see why this is compared to a Megan Abbott book - it's a delicious thriller with a solid premise and some serious twists and turns. It's a well-written pageturner with a questionable protagonist who makes questionable decisions while navigating very specific and severe traumas, both old and fresh. I guess I kind of thought it would be more of a straightforward sci-fi, focused on the science and the tech and the clone aspect. But this really is about so much more: identity, a marriage, secrets, and laboratory ethics. There's actually a lot of writing in this book that takes us through the narrator's long thought spirals into each of these topics.

The plot, though, is this: Evelyn, a successful scientist, discovers that her husband has stolen her research with the intention of replacing her with her own clone, manufactured and programmed without flaws and designed to have his child. Evelyn, deeply wounded by this betrayal, embraces a cold and focused part of her identity and thrown herself into her work, determined to avoid the emotional nature of the situation. But when her clone - Martine, his new and newly pregnant fiance - calls her, begging for her help to come and clean up an impossible situation, Evelyn can't refuse, taking them both down an insane, irreversible, groundbreaking path.

I want to talk about Nathan, and how he is barely a part of this story, though the consequences of his actions drive the entire plot from beginning to end. Evelyn may be the narrator, but she has been shaped by abusive men her entire life, as has Martine, and both of them continue to be even in their absence. The tragedy here to me is that they must carve out a way to exist beyond and without Nathan - and go to great lengths to do so - while ensuring they are safe from him, in a way. And he barely appears on screen. It's an interesting angle.

So why 3 stars? This obviously made me think a lot, and I was engrossed. I think what it comes down to is that I liked the idea of Evelyn (cold, calculating, bloodthirsty, cruel, self-awarely selfish, focused, constantly simmering with rage and ambition), but I didn't like the reality of being in her head, mostly because her inner monologue delayed the action so often. I mentioned her thought spirals above - I did find myself skimming a bit in the second half as she tried to navigate descending (or climbing?) the hill she'd built for herself. I am also embarrassingly, personally triggered by toxic bosses and couldn't stand the way she tried to justify being a cruel employer.

That's a lot of words for a short book, though, so I do recommend picking this one up, maybe as a beach read. The scientific aspects are super well-done for something so implausible (for now...). I can't wait to read more from this author!

The Echo Wife on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Wanderers

3 stars. PHEW - that was a marathon! It was a race against the clock for me to finish this one before it got whisked away back to the library, so I think I'll always sort of associate this with an overwhelming/unreasonable deadline, lol. But I did it! And in this miserable year of our lord 2020, too! An appropriate read, though:

Wanderers begins when a highly advanced computer called Black Swan detects an anomaly in Pennsylvania - a group of individuals who appear to be "sleepwalking" and can't be stopped (if they stop, or are stopped, they explode). Meanwhile, an unfortunate consequence of climate change releases an incurable virus called White Mask, triggering, well, the apocalypse. Following the growing group of "walkers" through a dying America, Wanderers explores questions around human fear, heroism and resilience in varied, unforgettable ways.

I should really work on lowering my expectations when a book is compared to Stephen King. Obviously, this book wouldn't exist without The Stand, but if it's trying to be a NEW The Stand, it fails. Maybe it isn't, maybe it's a love letter or a tribute or a modern spin on the core of the story. But I was disappointed reading Wanderers because it was so loudly hyped as Kingish! Kingly, whatever! M-O-O-N, that spells misplaced praise. Not because Chuck Wendig is bad, but because he isn't Stephen King. No one is.

Beyond that major disconnect, I do have a few other isolated complaints. The villains are too cartoonish, the heroes and heroines too uncomplex. So many of the nuances and intricacies of America's divisions are lost here. Perhaps the messiness of it all wouldn't lend itself to a pretty narrative, but I'm convinced this story could've been told with more depth and understanding.

(That being said, maybe Wendig wasn't going for depth or understanding - maybe he was pursuing a more cathartic, extreme, everything is black-and-white approach, as in, there are no words dedicated to why the villain is a villain - he just is, like Disney's Ursula or something, which I have to admit, is kind of fun. Or maybe Wendig just needed to work a little more on distinct characterization, going deep instead of wide. I dunno. I've heard it's disgustingly difficult to write a book, by the way.)

Also - I know - I get it - I'm aware of why there was a pregnancy subplot. But I'm so over it as a plot device. Shana's whole character in particular felt forced and wide of the mark. And Benji and Sadie had zero chemistry.

ANYWAY. There is a lot here I really did enjoy and appreciate. Wendig plays with religion, racism, love, artificial technology, climate change, family dynamics, parenthood, addiction, aging, depression and mental illness, politics, partisanship and loss of innocence, plus a little commentary on social media (as a treat), all through the lens of what it means to "face the end." I love Big Themes like that. Each character deals with his or her own shit differently, which is nice, and there ARE a couple of delightfully horrific and well-written moments throughout (the chapter "The Life and Death of Jerry Garlin" comes to mind. That's when I really got hooked).

All in all, I'm really glad to have read it. Wanderers helped me process what is ultimately a completely unprocessable year (by triggering an EXISTENTIAL CRISIS AHHH). I enjoyed the little details and the references and the ruminations of my favorite character, Pete Corley. I was amazed by the unpredictable-ness of it all. I'm excited to have the hefty reading experience under my belt. I'm dying to talk about it with everyone!! And I truly, truly admire the way characters spiraled around each other before clashing in PERFECT ways.

For the record, I agree. We lost Prince, we lost Bowie, and the world went to shit. Coincidence? I think not.

Wanderers on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Obisidio (The Illuminae Files #3)

4 stars. Phew, what a wild ride. These books are really great - really impressive. It's clear a ton of effort went into the storytelling and the graphics and worldbuilding, and honestly, it all just comes across as really fucking entertaining. I'll be honest, I was tempted to skim through the climax (you know, just to zoom past all the pesky complications and fake-out deaths) but I stuck with it and it was really worth it. I'm a little sad it's over, for all my bitching and complaining about how challenging it is for me to finish a series.

Obsidio picks up immediately where Gemina left off - with a raggedy band of teen heroes attempting to take down Evil Corp and save lives and get laid. Heimdall has been destroyed, survivors are cramped on the Mao, and the only viable means of jump transportation leads them back to where it all began, Kerenza, where BeiTech is trying to wrap things up and return to the office, so to speak. All the favorites are still in play, including AIDAN, who I definitely do NOT dream about at night because he is definitely NOT my new favorite character of ALL time. 

Look, this shit is just fun - and, as I noted in my review of Illuminae, deep. We have space battles and wormholes and AI and we also have explorations of good vs evil, morality, ethics, war, death, identity, grief, existence, etc. I found the juxtaposition really jarring in the first book (I think that's probably because my expectations were off ... I judged! And was wrong for it!) but learned to love it here. This stuff makes you think. Maybe I learned a lesson, or two. 

If I had any quibbles, it would be that this one didn't need so many subplots. And also the romances annoyed me, but that's because I'm ice cold and also because I was nowhere NEAR as cool or smart or emotionally mature or monogamous as these teenagers. So I found the whole love thing a little ... ridiculous. And unnecessary? 

But honestly, good stuff. I'm officially interested in checking out more from Kaufman and Kristoff, if not a little frightened of what is apparently a very passionate fanbase? Nah, I'm excited. Onward. AIDAN, call me. 

Obsidio on: Amazon | Goodreads

Review: Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2)

4 stars. Can I get some ass slaps and high fives for making my way through a YA series like a champ? Slowly, I know, but still. Illuminae completely confused me - I literally thought it was so dumb and so spectacular at the same time. Can a book be both? Yes, apparently, because I feel the same way about Gemina. 

Oh man. So visually stunning. So twisty and turny. So utterly breathtaking. So fucking impossible to read on a Kindle. So shockingly annoying. Seriously - the romance, oh man. So annoying. It grates. It burns. It maybe even melted my ice cold heart, maybe just a little. But still. How can a work inspire so much appreciation and so much eye rolling simultaneously? Should we ask True Blood?

Also, where were all these cute, emotionally available, commitment-ready boys when I was a teenager? Hmm?

Gemina picks up where Illuminae left off. After attacking Kerenza, Evil Corp sends Bad Guys to the wormhole where the survivors are headed, and once again the fate of the world - ahem - lands in the laps of several obnoxious, love struck teenagers. Yes folks, we’ve got wisecracks. We’ve got underage geniuses. We’ve got romantic melodrama! We’ve even got disgusting drug monsters to replace zombies.

I know I sound critical, which I am, sort of. But somehow all of these “lame” tropes mix together to make some sort of engaging book magic. *shrugs* who knows? Am I feeling generous? Am I feeling desperate due to strange reading times? What’s happening?! 

The sci-fi elements here are truly entertaining, if not totally incomprehensible and therefore not really necessary to enjoy the plot. Bring on the quantum entanglements. And AIDAN, oh AIDAN!! My fave. This book puts out a refreshing take on an old trope: AI that knows its power but not its place.

Anyway, can’t wait to knock out the third and continue FINISHING THINGS TO COMPLETION. Series, I mean. Books. It’s not what you think. I've had three White Claws and I'm about to have three more. 

Gemina on: Amazon | Goodreads

Review: Acceptance (Southern Reach #3)

5 stars. Ack, these are the times I miss being in college, where I was literally trained to read and understand and comprehend better. There’s a deeper meaning knocking its way out of this trilogy but I can’t seem to wrap my head around it. Which is maybe the point? Or at least an acceptable reaction to such a mindfuck of a reading experience? I’m actually dying to dive into it again, maybe via print version. I’m desperate to hear a lecture or two on the narrative themes - and the narrative construction! Wow.

Acceptance picks up where Authority drops off, with the addition of flashbacks from key characters. We are granted answers, for which I’m so grateful (sometimes you can just explain what happened! Seriously!), and we are presented with new questions, which I didn’t mind either. It’s true that the writing sustains a sort of dense tone, requiring intense focus. But it washes over you, or at least it did for me, in a way that was refreshingly immersive and interesting. It’s trippy.

This trilogy is something that, as I mentioned in my review of the first book, has become special to me. I’m quite sure it has and will to others as well. It’s unique but personal and penetrating and mindblowing. I hesitate to call it philosophical, because it’s almost too ... matter-of-fact. But it does connect (like many things these days) with the classic everything-you-think-you-know-is-wrong gut punch. The way this manifests in the character’s varying stories is a little sad and a little joyful at the same time. 

I wouldn't know how to classify this even if I tried: horror? Science fiction? Psychological thriller with an eco twist? But that's okay - it's all of these and more. I'm so bummed it's over and I'm so ready to read about it. I read the last few pages on a very rainy day and that felt appropriate. 

Last note: I was relieved to hear from my beloved biologist again and to witness the end of her story (or maybe ... the beginning?). I mentioned in my review of the first book that I admired her ability to adjust and adapt and ... well, evolve. Turns out that's a fundamental component of these novels and one that I will absolutely take with me. Nature - sciences - physics - space - math - it all shifted in Area X. And therefore we must too. Even if the shifts are unknowable, unmeasurable, unattainable. Even if there's deeper meaning knocking its way out and you can't wrap your head around it. Even if that means we lose.

"Acceptance moves past denial, and maybe there's defiance in that, too."

AHHHHHHH so good. AHHHHHH. 

Acceptance (Southern Reach #3) on: Amazon | Goodreads

Review: Authority (Southern Reach #2)

4 stars. Wow. I loved this. I missed the biologist - I missed her voice - but Authority kept my attention even under these weird reading circumstances. What an aptly-named book, by the way. Area X is fascinating, but I was more fascinated by the way the author played with broad concepts. The authority we seek (or, ahem, control) globally, over the planet, over countries, over the environment, and also the authority we seek on petty levels, over colleagues, over spaces, over emotions we can't truly stifle or escape from.

Authority picks up where we left off in Annihilation with a perspective shift to a new director at Southern Reach. He has replaced the psychologist and must adapt to this role while navigating office politics and attempting to solve the mystery of Area X itself. The members of the twelfth expedition have returned, apparently including the biologist, and this sparks an explosive series of events that completely erode the new director's impression of his job, his role, his purpose, and his identity.

Narratively and tone-wise the writing is more dense here, more complex than in the first book. I adored Annihilation for its simplicity and direction and voice, and Authority is simply not simple or direct or even trustworthy at times. But I was rewarded with a casually catastrophic third act that left me breathless and smiling ... a true gunshot of an ending both surprising and inevitable. For a book so freakish in premise and horrifying in a few seriously disturbing, if not a little cartoonish, ways, there are some skewering truths about humanity embedded in its pages.

I recently read House of Leaves, so of course it stuck out to me that the author played with space here in ways that are interesting. The idea that space - physical space - isn't reliable? Terrifying. He similarly plays with memory, logic, and intention. I'm not sure I enjoyed how the protagonist's character unraveled - a lot of seemingly random quotes from old family members - but I think that's partly too because I just simply loved and admired the biologist so deeply.

I can't recommend Jeff VanderMeer enough. From his concepts to his writing to his ability to create and maintain subtle threads of apprehension and dread - this trilogy is excellent. I look forward to the last one. 

Authority (Southern Reach #2) on: Amazon | Goodreads