tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89269678221828897132024-03-12T22:46:41.637-04:00Ex LibrisBook reviews from the library of...Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.comBlogger722125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-71490340874784103412022-09-05T22:06:00.001-04:002022-09-05T22:06:22.901-04:00A Taste of Gold and Iron - Alexandra Rowland<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQYuoP5VKLonvn7LttGqrIG9dyBsRm5-KipCxuio-UnoLJ9Iyo_huo7w1CjvIPtos2fKlM3lo8lInO7_CbyYcjEx_GnFYdMN4rQHonhHKLVEwrwIH-WDkdMMVCPCb-_Yr8TPetUvq6mEawimsI5sRft8E8shbpbbbcE0n553cTccYgLIzdWuf5WPyV/s2475/816XRoUX3eL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2475" data-original-width="1613" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQYuoP5VKLonvn7LttGqrIG9dyBsRm5-KipCxuio-UnoLJ9Iyo_huo7w1CjvIPtos2fKlM3lo8lInO7_CbyYcjEx_GnFYdMN4rQHonhHKLVEwrwIH-WDkdMMVCPCb-_Yr8TPetUvq6mEawimsI5sRft8E8shbpbbbcE0n553cTccYgLIzdWuf5WPyV/s320/816XRoUX3eL.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> A Taste of Gold and Iron</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Alexandra Rowland</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Tor, 2022 (Hardcover)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 500 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Fantasy</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started: </b>September 3, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> September 5, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the inside cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Kadou, the shy prince of Arast, finds himself at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court - the body-father of the queen's new child - in an altercation that results in his humiliation. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To prove his loyalty to the queen, his sister, Kadou takes responsibility for the investigation of a break-in at one of their guilds, with the help of his newly appointed bodyguard, the coldly handsome Evemer, who seems to tolerate him at best. In Arast, where princes can touch-taste precious metals with their fingers and myth runs side by side with history, counterfeiting is heresy, and the conspiracy they discover could cripple the kingdom's financial standing and bring about its ruin. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I heard a lot of good things about this book and pre-ordered it months ago. It was so good that I got through half of it in one sitting by staying up until 3am and would've kept right on reading but forced myself to get some semblance of decent sleep. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>A Taste of Gold and Iron</i> takes place in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire (but with a stronger matriarchal influence) where certain people are able to "touch-taste" metals and know their composition and where they originated from just from touch alone. Prince Kadou (pronounced just like the French "cadeau") has just become an uncle, and he couldn't be happier; not just because the sultan"s (his sister's) child is beautiful, but because her birth places him farther down the line of succession to the throne the anxious prince does not want. When his missteps with the sultan's lover inadvertently lead to insult and several deaths, Kadou must atone by uncovering the mystery behind recent counterfeiting and a break-in, which he suspects are connected. He is appointed a new bodyguard, Evemer, who immediately dislikes the prince due to the deaths he was responsible for, and begrudges his new position serving someone so careless, flighty and negligent. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Some people have criticized this novel saying it contains fanfiction tropes, but in my opinion not all fanfiction writing is inherently bad, and though there are indeed tropes, they're crafted exceptionally well and fits seamlessly into the story. This is definitely more of a book focused on character development and the relationship between Kadou and Evemer as opposed to a more plot-driven story, so if you enjoy those types of stories, this book is for you. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The relationship between Kadou and Evemer is one of the better definitions of a slow-burn romance I've seen recently: Evemer needs to discover Kadou's true nature and be less judgemental, and Kadou needs to let himself want things at all. The romance is handled incredibly well and doesn't feel rushed or too slow at times. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Aside from Kadou and Evemer, the secondary characters are great and add a lot of comic relief. Tadek had me laughing at all of his lines, Melek is adorable, and Tenzin, the truth-telling witch introduced towards the end of the story has probably one of the funniest lines in the whole book. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I love the diversity of this novel. The world resembles the Ottoman Empire, so everything from the food to the clothes is respective to that area of the world. The level of detail the author goes into with just the clothing alone was beautiful (it made me jealous of Kadou's wardrobe). Gender is well-represented here, with non-binary characters existing with unique pronouns, and the fact that Zeliha is sultan at all and with the different levels of fatherhood described, it was welcome change from your typical fantasy. Also, Kadou's anxiety and panic attacks are handled sensitively and well, so that was appreciated too. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you're in the mood for a well-written fantasy set in a unique world with some good, well-written fanfiction nods, pick this one up. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">So. Freaking. Gorgeous. The cover artist deserves an award for this one, it's so, so pretty. <br /> </div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-54580471907579789322022-09-03T22:01:00.000-04:002022-09-03T22:01:39.336-04:00Babel - R.F. Kuang<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDg3nWa_QF7Gy8GDtW9dolOl3wA2l1XopMzTxZQ800BYg4hLb7mQ6wHfnRnWNb6IfHBp3RYbeXWNpBGDBc5j3MpgehWfDl1rE_3Ku9BGUxkGev061Vq8JljBlVb0_00R_TLNiCuC6QHRtuE8OWpeuoMvxaJit5_l1R9eDyAvPJsEHivRVwLF8UVsxi/s2428/A1qVZpMxonL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDg3nWa_QF7Gy8GDtW9dolOl3wA2l1XopMzTxZQ800BYg4hLb7mQ6wHfnRnWNb6IfHBp3RYbeXWNpBGDBc5j3MpgehWfDl1rE_3Ku9BGUxkGev061Vq8JljBlVb0_00R_TLNiCuC6QHRtuE8OWpeuoMvxaJit5_l1R9eDyAvPJsEHivRVwLF8UVsxi/s320/A1qVZpMxonL.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution<div><b>Author:</b> R.F. Kuang</div><div><b>Publisher:</b> Harper Voyager, 2022 (Hardcover)</div><div><b>Length:</b> 525 pages</div><div><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Fantasy/Historical Fiction</div><div><b>Started:</b> August 26, 2022</div><div><b>Finished:</b> September 2, 2022</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Summary:</b></div><div>From the inside cover:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Traduttore, traditore</i>: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. </div><div><br /></div><div>1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he'll enroll in Oxford University's prestigious Royal Institute of Translation - also known as Babel. </div><div><br /></div><div>Babel is the world's center of translation and, more importantly, of silver-working: the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars, to magical effect. Silver-working has made the British Empire unparalleled in power, and Babel's research in foreign languages serves the Empire's quest to colonize everything it encounters. </div><div><br /></div><div>Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is a fairytale for Robin; a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge serves power, and for Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel inevitably means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide: Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? What is he willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?</div><div><br /></div><div>Babel - a thematic response to <i>The Secret History</i> and a tonal response to <i>Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell</i> - grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance and the use of translation as a tool of empire. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Review:</b></div><div>This has been one of my most anticipated reads for 2022, and I was super excited to discover that my monthly book subscription box (Illumicrate) had chosen Babel for the August box (yay for pretty special editions, pictures below). Full disclosure, I did not adore the author's previous trilogy, <i>The Poppy War</i>, but I was a literature and languages student in university and had to take courses in the study of translation, so this book's premise was right up my alley. I know readers who aren't language geeks like me might find this book dull, but for those of you who are up for a challenge, you're in for a treat. </div><div><br /></div><div>As the sole survivor in his family after cholera sweeps through his dockside neighbourhood in Canton, Robin is given a choice by Professor Lovell: stay in Canton and live a life of poverty, or come to England to study. The professor's investment pays off over several years: Robin hones his already promising academic skills and becomes fluent in Latin and Greek in addition to his pre-existing Mandarin, Cantonese, and English, and is admitted to Babel for their four-year program of study. He meets the other students in his cohort who would otherwise never be allowed to study at Oxford if not for Babel: Ramy, a Muslim man from India, Victoire, a black woman born in Haiti and raised in France, and Letty, a white British woman. </div><div><br /></div><div>While Robin is delighted at the heaven that is Babel for a scholar like himself, he can't help but question the way he and his classmates are treated, and how unjust Britain's use of silver is towards the countries it colonizes. When he discovers the existence of the Hermes Society, he is invited to help upset the natural order of the colonial system and try to make things better for the homelands he and his classmates were torn from. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is a sprawling novel, covering years and a lot of detail, but the author works her magic and draws readers right in with Robin's story. The setting is both familiar and not, early Victorian England during the Industrial Revolution but a version of England that uses silver inlaid with words that in turn perform magic. The magic system was incredibly unique and fits in well with the context of the novel since only those fluent in multiple languages and who understand the intricacies of translation can make the silver work. There's so many passages where the characters go into the linguistic background of certain words and the nuance of them that it made my little nerdy heart sing. </div><div><br /></div><div>I love how the author gives a painfully honest analysis of the academic environment once the story pivots to Oxford: feeling that deep love for learning, but eventually becoming disillusioned due to dealing with the racism and sexism that is inherent in a lot of institutions. The author manages to call out traditional academic institutions as tools of colonialism, and how language and translation isn't usually studied for pure pursuit of knowledge, but for how knowing that language can further the expansion of the Empire. The main quote tagged in this book, "An act of translation is always an act of betrayal" is both a reference to this theme and also a common thought in the study of translation where no translation is perfect because the words simply don't exist to convey certain thoughts in some languages, and never quite does the original justice. </div><div><br /></div><div>Each of the four main characters are incredibly well developed and have distinct personalities that evolve over the course of the novel. Though readers see things mainly through Robin's point of view, the third person narration doesn't exclude the other three, and there are interludes from each of their perspectives (one for each) sprinkled throughout the narrative to fill in the gaps. </div><div><br /></div><div>This book is part of the dark academia genre, so the story is quite heavy and the ending isn't happy, so consider this fair warning. It will force you to have some uncomfortable conversations in your head about the themes presented, and though I very much enjoyed the book it definitely left me in a bit of a haze after reading. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div>For anyone with an appreciation for languages, or those wanting a no-holds barred criticism of colonialism and academia in general, you've got to read this. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div>The standard cover is lovely, I love the black and white with the gold accents. Pictures of my Illumicrate special edition copy with the slipcase are below. I love the inclusion of the original cover art on the slipcase and the silver accents. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZUUuh_ff1_aaavWpGuAOmrxpvListQ1gKS0e0eZrRSrjCtXa16nIFahZNhQAjtjhrkMXgDRr4Z1ThCDBkNaZiVTFoZmTc1va58uBnZtvxIUZYeJRcc-4Vg-mPOD8shGavLUFuKv-AGnG4IgSmO8rqDCNG6PVjnuo01gcTq6LwSrmk1BG8P7oQF-QN/s4032/2B04ED22-E3FD-4C03-BCFF-F77906A91E4B.heic" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZUUuh_ff1_aaavWpGuAOmrxpvListQ1gKS0e0eZrRSrjCtXa16nIFahZNhQAjtjhrkMXgDRr4Z1ThCDBkNaZiVTFoZmTc1va58uBnZtvxIUZYeJRcc-4Vg-mPOD8shGavLUFuKv-AGnG4IgSmO8rqDCNG6PVjnuo01gcTq6LwSrmk1BG8P7oQF-QN/s320/2B04ED22-E3FD-4C03-BCFF-F77906A91E4B.heic" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07CmeP4jvAq5BYKHy4K7efBG56lqJR-uH7G0ONmTKq2-SRO7OiQSMNyMevhVdIwlXTo-tpA80GRK0PSD2kxgPbIXSDq7sAFE2WhXTehwMXlpBQtrO-0mmh-DfSc1GDRMnfbCWBO8qvwIeu5q5oCHg1bFcnXhdUc3JVlogyDLUDTytalzoWcuxhzBj/s4032/476BBF92-3687-4F51-B8BF-78F2FCF6FB39.heic" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07CmeP4jvAq5BYKHy4K7efBG56lqJR-uH7G0ONmTKq2-SRO7OiQSMNyMevhVdIwlXTo-tpA80GRK0PSD2kxgPbIXSDq7sAFE2WhXTehwMXlpBQtrO-0mmh-DfSc1GDRMnfbCWBO8qvwIeu5q5oCHg1bFcnXhdUc3JVlogyDLUDTytalzoWcuxhzBj/s320/476BBF92-3687-4F51-B8BF-78F2FCF6FB39.heic" width="240" /></a></div><br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-86591629158298247182022-08-03T22:09:00.002-04:002022-08-03T22:09:45.520-04:00Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuKN0avk-72dSKJM4rMevh7nn2mrahZkDWet6MOvxXGxuzicalJCWCMcsl-Mdn5bFssVOxrpd1VoWw1CM--_KqX5vHfwRP3NNy03SZ8kjMWevuGA7dUb2iZRW2iMwImWgdAAXyTpyrr7SFNNEUAWCzX__cHckiN29ejaQmTdrClnucvHRbsivHgenJ/s400/58784475.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="263" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuKN0avk-72dSKJM4rMevh7nn2mrahZkDWet6MOvxXGxuzicalJCWCMcsl-Mdn5bFssVOxrpd1VoWw1CM--_KqX5vHfwRP3NNy03SZ8kjMWevuGA7dUb2iZRW2iMwImWgdAAXyTpyrr7SFNNEUAWCzX__cHckiN29ejaQmTdrClnucvHRbsivHgenJ/s320/58784475.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow<div><b>Author:</b> Gabrielle Zevin</div><div><b>Publisher:</b> Viking (Penguin Random House Canada), 2022 (Hardcover)</div><div><b>Length:</b> 397 pages</div><div><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Realistic Fiction</div><div><b>Started:</b> July 30, 2022</div><div><b>Finished:</b> August 1, 2022</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Summary:</b></div><div>From the inside cover:</div><div><br /></div><div>In this exhilarating novel by the bestselling author of <i>The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry</i>, two friends - often in love, but never lovers - come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality. </div><div><br /></div><div>On a bitter cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favours, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, <i>Ichigo</i>. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts. .</div><div><br /></div><div>Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's <i>Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow</i> is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and, above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Review:</b></div><div><br /></div><div>"The alternative to appropriation is a world where white European people make art about white European people with only white European references in it. Swap African or Asian or Latin or whatever culture you want for European. A world where everyone is blind and deaf to any culture or experience that is not their own. I hate that world, don't you? I'm terrified of that world, and I don't want to live in that world, and as a mixed-race person, I literally don't exist in it...And as any mixed-race person will tell you - to be half of two things is to be whole of nothing" (Zevin, pg. 78).</div><div><br /></div><div>"How do you get into making video games anyway?" </div><div>Sadie hated answering this question, especially after a person had told her that he hadn't heard of <i>Ichigo</i>. "Well, I learned to program computers in middle school. I got an eight hundred on my math SAT, won a Westinghouse and a Leipzig. And then I went to MIT, which by the way is highly competitive, even for a lowly female like myself, and studied computer science. At MIT, I learned four or five more programming languages and studied psychology, with an emphasis on ludic techniques and persuasive designs, and English, including narrative structures, the classics, and the history of interactive storytelling. Got myself a great mentor. Regrettably made him my boyfriend. Suffice it to say, I was young. And then I dropped out of school for a time to make a game because my best frenemy wanted me to. That game became the game you never heard of, but yeah, it sold around two and a half million copies, just in the U.S., soooo..." (Zevin, pgs. 235-236).</div><div><br /></div><div>"Sadie was not a natural mother, though this was not a confession one was allowed to make. She craved solitude and personal space too much. But she loved this girl nonetheless...Sadie did not feel that her daughter Naomi was altogether a person yet, which was another thing that one could not admit. So many of the mothers she knew said that their children were exactly themselves from the moment they appeared in the world. But Sadie disagreed. What was a person without language? Tastes? Preferences? Experiences? And on the other side of childhood, what grown-up wanted to believe that they had emerged from their parents fully formed? Sadie knew that she herself had not become a person until recently. It was unreasonable to expect a child to emerge whole cloth. Naomi was a sketch of a person, who, at some point, would be a fully 3D character" (Zevin pgs. 381-382).</div><div><br /></div><div>There has been so much hype for this book lately. Thankfully my library hold on it arrived pretty early considering this was just published a few weeks ago, so I settled in and was utterly spellbound by this book to the point where I read for most of the day and stayed up until 3am finishing the bulk of it. It was so easy to get lost in this story and become invested in Sam and Sadie and wanting to find out what happened to them. </div><div><br /></div><div>The story opens in an LA hospital in 1986. Eleven-year-old Sadie is visiting her older sister Alice, who is a cancer patient there, and comes across twelve-year-old Sam in the games room playing Nintendo. They bond over their shared love of games and talk until the nurses discover them. Sadie is asked to return to the hospital again to play with Sam, since his interaction with her is the first time Sam has spoken in the past six weeks since he was in a brutal car accident that killed his mother and permanently disabled his left foot. Thus begins Sam and Sadie's friendship, which picks up again in the late 1990s when they are attending Harvard and MIT and Sam asks Sadie to make a video game with him. What follows is an at times enjoyable and other times heart-wrenching romp through the world of corporate video game design (you don't have to be knowledgeable about or enjoy video games to get this story, but in my opinion is definitely helps), that explores how the choices we make affect not only ourselves but the people around us. Sam and Sadie are incredibly well-developed characters; you know an author does character development right when you read a scene and you want to both slap the character upside the head for the choices they're making, but you also can't fault them completely either because you know exactly what makes them tick. </div><div><br /></div><div>The incorporation of video games into the narrative structure at some points is a unique choice that works incredibly well here. For those people who might bemoan a novel that revolves around video games, fear not, there are also a ton of literary and classical references to satisfy you as well. The book's title itself comes from the "Out, brief candle" soliloquy from Shakespeare's Macbeth, which pleased me to no end as an English teacher. </div><div><br /></div><div>The book has wonderful biracial representation in Sam (and the author herself is the same racial makeup as Sam so she speaks from experience), and they talk about what it's like to be a mixed kid. I was pleasantly surprised at the disability inclusion with Sam as well, it's well done and though it's not a huge focal point in the story, it's discussed how his disability has affected his self-esteem and how it impacts his life. The story also discusses the sexism Sadie faces as a female studying at MIT and later trying to navigate the male-centric world of video games and trying to be taken seriously by the industry. </div><div><br /></div><div>The themes of love and play are central to the story. Play (all play, not just video games) is how characters connect with each other and reach out after long absences or fights, it's just really sweet to see. Love is explored in an interesting way here. Sam and Sadie never become romantically involved, and when they're asked about it at multiple points in the book, they both say that they love each other, just not in that romantic way. They're creative partners, and I love how the book explores platonic friendships and establishes that people can love others in ways that go beyond the physical. Also, both our deuteragonists are bi/pan, so yay for queer rep as well. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div>This is probably the best example of a coming-of-age story that I've read in a long time. It probably helps that it focuses on Gen-X experiences and feelings that I can relate to as an older Millennial. If you enjoy video games, stories with good examples of platonic friendship, great biracial and disability representation, or just a really good examination of how the choices we make affect ourselves and the people around us, give this story a go. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div>I love the inclusion of Hokusai's The Great Wave against the colourful title font, it works so well once you know how the two elements factor into the story. </div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-38093210392819006872022-07-21T21:32:00.001-04:002022-07-21T21:32:11.052-04:00The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDhfjExqH-LMAq7gF_ID_1hFbEdqhimtuOquB9H0VRIp0gGBILZuX_zbx19961VDs3Xs2v3WI4VFVRMepu5E6PFAdaxsHugcRgHQvmpGtg3NYyL9pnXp2l4vnYSEoKIQ7cZmMgDnT45FxxxodMY2oqkvf-pT1F36tIU4bf-CoizMcgdtPOvtIK7DJ/s500/41Ohor4O+rL.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="308" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDhfjExqH-LMAq7gF_ID_1hFbEdqhimtuOquB9H0VRIp0gGBILZuX_zbx19961VDs3Xs2v3WI4VFVRMepu5E6PFAdaxsHugcRgHQvmpGtg3NYyL9pnXp2l4vnYSEoKIQ7cZmMgDnT45FxxxodMY2oqkvf-pT1F36tIU4bf-CoizMcgdtPOvtIK7DJ/s320/41Ohor4O+rL.jpg" width="197" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Taylor Jenkins Reid</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Washington Square Press (Simon & Schuster), 2018 (Paperback)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 385 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Historical Fiction</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> July 5, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> July 7, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the back cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Reclusive Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant to write her story, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Determined to use this opportunity to jump-start her career, Monique listens in fascination. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to leaving show business in the 80s - and, of course, the seven husbands along the way - Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. But as Evelyn's story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique's own in tragic and irreversible ways. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Written with Reid's signature talent for creating "complex, likeable characters" (<i>Real Simple), </i>this is a mesmerizing journey through the splendour of Old Hollywood into the sobering realities of the present day as two women struggle with what it means - and what it costs - to face the truth. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Yes, I know I am very late to get around to finally reading this book. Yes, I only picked up this book because TikTok convinced me to do so. And yes, this book's absurd popularity is damn well deserved. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This book has a very similar plot device to <a href="http://exlibrisandrea.blogspot.com/search?q=the+thirteenth+tale">The Thirteenth Tale</a> that I read years ago, except instead of an old writer telling her life story to a young bibliophile biographer, we have an elderly actress telling her life story to a young journalist. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Just as newspapers are reporting that an elderly Evelyn Hugo is auctioning off her collection of dresses for charity, Monique Grant is contacted about meeting Evelyn for a tell-all interview, of which the esteemed actress has never before granted. When Monique's boss offers to send a more experienced person for the interview, Evelyn refuses; she will only talk to Monique. As she learns about Evelyn's early life and Hollywood career throughout the decades, Monique uncovers Evelyn's true character: that she is highly persistent and motivated, will readily use her body as a way to further her goals, and is fiercely protective of those she loves. Eventually Monique not only emulates Evelyn's spirit in dealing with her own personal problems, but discovers why Evelyn was so incredibly insistent about choosing her over anyone else. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I flew through this book; the story was immediately engaging and I just felt compelled to finish it to find out the rest of Evelyn's story and how Monique fit into the picture. The author truly does have a gift of creating likeable characters. Though Evelyn herself is definitely portrayed as flawed, she is never unlikeable (at least in my opinion), and Monique functions as a reader stand-in whose background and struggles are something many people can identify with. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Just read it, honestly, there's a reason why it's so popular, it's like an enchanting spell that you welcome with open arms. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I like how they included Evelyn in her signature green dress, but dislike the trend of headless women on book covers, it's objectifying. If they wanted to obscure her face they could've had her face in profile covered with a fashion scarf, or shown her from behind or something else. </div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-20734943214330090272022-07-19T18:52:00.002-04:002022-07-19T18:52:30.545-04:00A Strange and Stubborn Endurance - Foz Meadows<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnEk8RyVHlGiEuhZ8Y2J_TNV_5dWSmHyDM7x_ngcqvegcQ5JavbUQRW5hc2sdwyz-sZnshSCBdsVEFIGSw9eUdrkMEGdNU277m7TzvgVfXUuYWDAuhOjaTtH4IKM151lijPCrOInqBhNQX_g4e3_hOnCwb3MsxHE8g2CASmw0vuJ9Is1GmluoT8r8s/s1900/58724793.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1900" data-original-width="1250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnEk8RyVHlGiEuhZ8Y2J_TNV_5dWSmHyDM7x_ngcqvegcQ5JavbUQRW5hc2sdwyz-sZnshSCBdsVEFIGSw9eUdrkMEGdNU277m7TzvgVfXUuYWDAuhOjaTtH4IKM151lijPCrOInqBhNQX_g4e3_hOnCwb3MsxHE8g2CASmw0vuJ9Is1GmluoT8r8s/s320/58724793.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Title:</b> A Strange and Stubborn Endurance</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Foz Meadows</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Tor, 2022 (Hardcover)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 528 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Fantasy</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> July 18, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> July 19 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the inside cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Stolen me? As well to say a caged bird can be stolen by the sky."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Velasin vin Aaro never planned to marry at all, let alone a girl from nieghbouring Tithena. When an ugly confrontation reveals his preference for men, Vel fears he's ruined the diplomatic union before it can even begin. But while his family is ready to disown him, the Tithenai envoy has a different solution: for Vel to marry his former intended's brother instead. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Caethari Aeduria always knew he might end up in a political marriage, but his sudden betrothal to a man from Ralia, where such relationships are forbidden, comes as a shock.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">With an unknown faction willing to kill to end their new alliance, Vel and Cae have no choice but to trust each other. Survival is one thing, but love - as both will learn - is quite another.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Byzantine politics, lush sexual energy, and a queer love story that is by turns sweet and sultry, <i>A Strange and Stubborn Endurance</i> is an exploration of gender, identity, and self-worth. It is a book that will live in your heart long after you turn the last page. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">This book has been hyped by many fortunate enough to receive an ARC of it, and since the premise sounds right up my alley I preordered this baby weeks ago. I was ecstatic when I found out my copy would be shipped out a whole week ahead of the release date, which is supposed to be next Tuesday, July 26th (as of this writing). I devoured this novel over the course of a day, my partner and children can fully attest as to the neglect of my other responsibilities in favour of finishing this book, it was just that good. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Granted though, trigger warnings abound here: sexual assault/rape, suicidal ideation, death, etc., so consider yourself warned.</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Velasin, the third son of a minor lord, lives as a closeted gay man in Ralia, a country not-so-subtly coded as conservative. Just as he hears news of his father's decision to enter him into an arranged marriage in northern Tithena to smooth trade relations, Vel is sexually assaulted by his previous partner and the act is witnessed by the Tithenai envoy who has come to discuss the marriage. Disowned by his father, Vel is in crisis until the non-binary envoy gives Vel another choice: instead of being betrothed to the daughter of the Aeduria clan, he could marry the son instead. With no other options, Vel begrudgingly accepts, anticipating nothing but further victimization. Upon arrival in Tithena, Vel's travelling party is attacked by those wanting to cast doubt on the union and its political significance. When the attacks escalate in the city of Qi-Katai, Vel must learn to trust his new husband, Caethari, not only to uncover the identity of the attackers, but also to ensure his safety in unfamiliar territory. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The author does a wonderful job of engaging the reader right from the first few pages, and I think it's purely because of their amazing characters (I genuinely love them all). Vel is smart, stubborn, and proudly different compared to most Ralians, and how knows how to survive in a socially cutthroat environment. Vel's friendship with Markel, who is mute and communicates through sign language, is an absolute joy to read. It's rare to see a well-written platonic friendship between two men portrayed nearly anywhere, so seeing it here really added to the development of both Vel and Markel as characters right from the beginning. Caethari is witty and wonderfully sweet and protective (the romance between him and Vel is adorable), and everyone in Cae's family and the Aida (castle/keep) are genuinely engaging characters as well. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The author's writing style is elevated enough to suit the fantasy setting but not so much as to turn away readers, and they include quite a bit of titles and vocabulary that make your brain work towards deciphering (there's no glossary but it's all easily decoded through context). The world-building is also well done. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation: </b></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you're a fantasy reader who loves a story that not only includes it all (romance, world-building, magic, political intrigue) but actually does all those things well, you need to read this book (mind the trigger warnings, though).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The leaf (and arrow, sword, and ring) details with the red and gold colour scheme are really pleasing to the eye, especially the gold embossing on the title font. I especially love the tiny little gold image of Cae (left) and Vel (right) on the spine, it's a great added touch. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3_t6ddHkH5IAJEt1Bo45qIcok-FWPkNfM9eCAyM8gXzqkdoBPpKnNM4WaLHgHRTxQLSBoxLIeUO4Jw0mIrYiDrwsJ3kbZe_lG6bElzNQta-7KofOq1uaxpnvrsFPssYBIfbuykmjCZOlbwTHdnVGA4wdXjKXm7-a78SobdsswgvuncW-v6NmttNe6/s4032/89D05795-E287-4201-B1DA-049BBF0C6908.heic" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3_t6ddHkH5IAJEt1Bo45qIcok-FWPkNfM9eCAyM8gXzqkdoBPpKnNM4WaLHgHRTxQLSBoxLIeUO4Jw0mIrYiDrwsJ3kbZe_lG6bElzNQta-7KofOq1uaxpnvrsFPssYBIfbuykmjCZOlbwTHdnVGA4wdXjKXm7-a78SobdsswgvuncW-v6NmttNe6/s320/89D05795-E287-4201-B1DA-049BBF0C6908.heic" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> <p></p>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-58397853334126383092022-06-18T17:37:00.000-04:002022-06-18T17:37:32.277-04:00Winter's Orbit - Everina Maxwell<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMw_yOXaO_7kUyY0rtnM-6BOHjuE0YiYHztRFdbKXtAXM0hIQXLygsZkkx-FcCIMNf0DXSO5hTP-ygtUouRSUJeuR4EELh8eUvSwGkVQLkxezqwvrq5S8Qd63Pq2LGuU6Hl4WJwLlgK_naChNSPHAAnZg24tSLpTH6CoTqfY5QmBWP4rg8K_75xWp/s2550/81scRkmWrlL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2550" data-original-width="1650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMw_yOXaO_7kUyY0rtnM-6BOHjuE0YiYHztRFdbKXtAXM0hIQXLygsZkkx-FcCIMNf0DXSO5hTP-ygtUouRSUJeuR4EELh8eUvSwGkVQLkxezqwvrq5S8Qd63Pq2LGuU6Hl4WJwLlgK_naChNSPHAAnZg24tSLpTH6CoTqfY5QmBWP4rg8K_75xWp/s320/81scRkmWrlL.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Title:</b> Winter's Orbit</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Everina Maxwell</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Tor, 2021 (Hardcover)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 428 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Science Fiction</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> June 15, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> June 18, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the inside cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Prince Kiem, a famously disappointing minor royal and the Emperor's least favourite grandchild, has been called upon to be useful for once. He's been commanded to fulfill an obligation of marriage to the representative of the Empire's newest and most rebellious vassal planet. His future husband, Count Jainan, is a widower and murder suspect. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Neither wants to be wed, but with a conspiracy unfolding around them and the fate of the Empire at stake, they will have to navigate the thorns and barbs of court intrigue, the machinations of war, and the long shadows of Jainan's past, and they'll have to do it together. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So begins a legendary love story amid the stars. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">When this book was pitched to me as, "arranged gay marriage in space", I knew I had to read it. To elaborate a bit more, this book has: political intrigue, immersive world building, characters you can't help but love, a slow-burn romance, and a dash of fanfic tropes for those that like them, all amidst an engaging science fiction setting. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Prince Kiem, who gives off lovely Golden Retriever vibes, is the least favourite grandchild of the Emperor, and he's constantly reminded of it. He's considered a failure at most things, but because he can socialize and look good for the cameras he's been called on to marry his deceased cousin's widower from the planet Thea in order to keep things smooth for the interplanetary treaty that's due to be renegotiated in a few weeks. Unfortunately the circumstances surrounding his cousin Taam's death were shady at best, so when his new husband Jainan uncovers details that implicate Taam and the military in smuggling and embezzling, both he and Jainan are targeted when they uncover a larger plot that could put the whole Empire at risk. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Winter's Orbit</i> pulls you in right at the beginning and weaves an engaging tale of politicians, socialites, and of course Kiem and Jainan. There were a few slow sections I trudged through, but for the most part the story was well done. Kiem and Jainan are well-written, you can't help but love them since both personalities are highlighted in the alternating points-of-view in each chapter. Kiem feels inadequate and wants to prove he's capable of following through on something without screwing up, and Jainan is quiet and reserved due to the trauma in his past relationship with Taam (trigger warnings abound for this part) and you just want to hug the poor man. While I wish there was a little bit more to work with regarding the romantic elements (it's a bit scant for my liking), it's not enough to detract from the overall package. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you would like an engaging science fiction story with a good queer romance added in, give this book a go. If you're going into this book thinking "I would like a dash of science fiction with my romance", you'll be disappointed, this story prioritizes plot and atmosphere first and the romance follows. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">So stunning, but granted I am a bit of a sucker for galaxy-themed anything. Glad to see the continuation in cover theming for the author's second book, not a sequel but set in the same universe, due out in November:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyX_6JdDCHKdndZlDSNBL-QM-L9U5A8eYvAjtK5A885T_2JJp08UrWwBVOPvCD_ziyMQJqk5IKNrFD3aMmCvN0Gse4tnfw0ncuyZS-njJrk21QImz41VUJ3AvdSaXR-GfRW4HHu6ZE3Wqw7ROo-IfP_E8GWMwJixmrsrGVYrr_xlHmDbnz3TJXTDu0/s2550/59808117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2550" data-original-width="1650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyX_6JdDCHKdndZlDSNBL-QM-L9U5A8eYvAjtK5A885T_2JJp08UrWwBVOPvCD_ziyMQJqk5IKNrFD3aMmCvN0Gse4tnfw0ncuyZS-njJrk21QImz41VUJ3AvdSaXR-GfRW4HHu6ZE3Wqw7ROo-IfP_E8GWMwJixmrsrGVYrr_xlHmDbnz3TJXTDu0/s320/59808117.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-24826451391835936862022-05-08T15:57:00.000-04:002022-05-08T15:57:44.291-04:00When Women Were Dragons - Kelly Barnhill<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kV6UzLEfaF1b-DIk4rzt7pVmgqSqXlQEcsQCP1h4KupUGr7RDVA-RK6j8QhGTHXte3Dw99SxuKCroFSZW9IVkgZmKtt99_DgGpHPaa8GHALckzIPmLUrd3kj2eyrswzTqh_oKKCBOv1XR7ZJ1g7hbgAajITPqYOqMWQh-I3lzd0sFYyA5Rd9o-_x/s2775/58783802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2775" data-original-width="1838" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kV6UzLEfaF1b-DIk4rzt7pVmgqSqXlQEcsQCP1h4KupUGr7RDVA-RK6j8QhGTHXte3Dw99SxuKCroFSZW9IVkgZmKtt99_DgGpHPaa8GHALckzIPmLUrd3kj2eyrswzTqh_oKKCBOv1XR7ZJ1g7hbgAajITPqYOqMWQh-I3lzd0sFYyA5Rd9o-_x/s320/58783802.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> When Women Were Dragons</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Kelly Barnhill</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Doubleday (Penguin), 2022 (Hardcover)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 336 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Speculative Fiction</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> May 6, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> May 8, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the inside cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours, except for its most seminal event: the Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales, and talons; left a trail of fiery destruction in their paths, and took to the skies. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex's beloved aunt Marla transform but Alex's mother did not? No one knows. It's taboo to speak of it. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of this astonishing event: a mother more protective than ever; an absentee father; their upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and watching her beloved cousin Beatrice become dangerously obsessed with the forbidden. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In this timely and timeless speculative novel, award-winning author Kelly Barnhill boldly explores rage, memory, and the tyranny of forced limitations. <i>When Women Were Dragons</i> exposes a world that keeps women small - their lives and their prospects - and examines what happens when they rise en masse and take up the space they deserve. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>"</b>I said that your mother was magic...this isn't new information, and your mother isn't alone. All women are magic. Literally all of us. It's in our nature. It's best you learn that now." (Barnhill, pg. 29-30)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Anger is a funny thing. And it does funny things to us if we keep it inside...Who benefits, my dear, when you force yourself to not feel angry?" (Barnhill, pg. 208)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I've read this author's middle-grade novels <a href="http://exlibrisandrea.blogspot.com/2012/12/iron-hearted-violet-kelly-barnhill.html">Iron-Hearted Violet</a>, <a href="http://exlibrisandrea.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-witchs-boy-kelly-barnhill.html">The Witch's Boy</a>, and her Newbery Award-winner, <a href="http://exlibrisandrea.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-girl-who-drank-moon-kelly-barnhill.html">The Girl Who Drank the Moon</a>; so when I found out she'd written an adult novel after so many years I was excited to pick this up. To say I was impressed is an understatement, I couldn't put this down and think <i>When Women Were Dragons</i> is my new favourite out of everything she's written. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Alex lives in suburban Wisconsin in the 1950s and because she's a good girl, there's many things she just doesn't speak about: menstruation, her mother's cancer, her growing attraction to her friend Sonja, the anger she feels when she's dismissed by the men around her, and the fact that some women turn into dragons. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When Alex is eight in the spring of 1955, over half a million women across the country turn into dragons and leave their families behind. Alex's aunt, Marla, is one of those women, leaving behind a job she enjoys (though she's not often appreciated for her superior skills), a dead husband, and an orphaned baby daughter who quickly and irrefutably becomes Alex's sister instead of her cousin. Marla is soon erased from existence, and no one speaks of the dragons afterwards. When Alex's mother dies years later, and teenaged Alex is left to raise Beatrice by herself after being abandoned by her father, she slowly begins to question everything she's been taught: that dragoning is a conscious choice, that the women who dragoned were bad wives and mothers for making that choice, and that they're never coming back. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This book is told from Alex's point of view as an adult looking back on her childhood. Interspersed with those chapters are letters, newspaper articles, redacted scientific studies and articles, and government documents that show just how much dragoning event itself and the aftermath is silenced by the government throughout the ages. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This novel is indeed timely. Even though it takes place in 1950s white suburbia, the premise and theme that things kept hidden and shamed instead of openly discussing and welcoming is immensely relatable and applicable to more than meets the eye. The dragon metaphor itself appears at first to just represent female rage, but it can be an allegory for almost anything: sex/gender, race, queerness, disability, neurodiversity, it can be read under a number of lenses and works so well. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Drop everything and go read this, just trust me, you won't be disappointed. I'll be buying a few of these as gifts for people this year for sure. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I like how the dragon blends in with the plants and flowers, it reminds me of the scene where Alex's mom plants the garden in the summer. The purple and green colour scheme is nicely appealing too. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-38206219867290071952022-05-08T14:10:00.000-04:002022-05-08T14:10:02.047-04:00Five Little Indians - Michelle Good<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjylC_pM0qKZ6ozu9MkcwUE3wyCN3lmIQOclA2uoQUkOWkXjFK3iXTwUbZt_561PzEnm_i0gsoklyOrwgNDeSGMgaMubsvYC_AMzKav0D1be11Pe2t1nH7hUNGF-oZmXeBskZAAPhT3ejx7lrl7lBLBzns7jW_C6ZmNHxC75O-oKMl4m5hBaVHch38a/s648/y648.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="436" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjylC_pM0qKZ6ozu9MkcwUE3wyCN3lmIQOclA2uoQUkOWkXjFK3iXTwUbZt_561PzEnm_i0gsoklyOrwgNDeSGMgaMubsvYC_AMzKav0D1be11Pe2t1nH7hUNGF-oZmXeBskZAAPhT3ejx7lrl7lBLBzns7jW_C6ZmNHxC75O-oKMl4m5hBaVHch38a/s320/y648.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> Five Little Indians</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author: </b>Michelle Good</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Harper Perennial, 2020 (Paperback)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 293 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Historical Fiction</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> April 15, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> May 6, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary: </b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the inside cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Taken from their families as small children and confined at a remote, Church-run residential school, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie, and Maisie are barely out of childhood when they are finally released, with no money or support, after years of detention. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Alone and without skills, support or family, the teens find their way to the seedy and foreign world of Downtown Eastside Vancouver, where they cling together, striving to find a place of safety and belonging in a world that doesn't want them. The paths of the five friends cross and criss-cross over the decades as they struggle to overcome, or at least forget, the trauma they each endured during their years at the Mission. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">With compassion and insight, <i>Five Little Indians</i> chronicles the bonds of friendship between this group of survivors as they help each other to reinvent their lives and, ultimately, find a way forward. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">This book has accolades galore and they are all warranted. I picked up this book not only for the numerous awards it has won, but because my school board is finally rolling out an Indigenous literature course and this book was on the list of recommended texts. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Five Little Indians</i> opens in the late 1960s and follows five Indigenous children as they leave the Mission, the Residential school in BC where they've spent their childhoods. A few leave by escaping, either on their own or aided by family; a few leave by aging out and returning to family, or making it on their own if they have no family remaining. Lucy's (and by extension Maisie's) story was especially poignant: aging out at age 16 with no family to go home to, sent off with a bus ticket to Vancouver and no life skills or advice on how to make it on her own as a sheltered, traumatized teenager in a big city. All the children are traumatized by what happened to them at the Mission, and they struggle to cope throughout the following decades amidst the added racism and discrimination they face. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This book does a wonderful job of making the history of residential schools and survivors so intensely personal and vivid since the reader experiences events both at the school and the aftermath through the eyes of the children themselves. Though this book isn't necessarily a piece of nonfiction, the children's stories echo first-hand accounts from survivors, so it's pretty close. The chapters alternate from each of the characters' points of view, but it's not in a consistent pattern. For example, we hear about Howie from the other characters early on but we don't get a chapter from his point of view until later in the book. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As a heads up, this book is incredibly hard to read, especially for sensitive readers. I actually had to put it down for a few days after one main character dies. I'd argue that a lot of people need the level of immersion this book provides to understand and empathize with residential school survivors, but for those who are already aware of the history and empathize with survivors and what they endured and continue to struggle with (or are survivors themselves), reading this novel might be a triggering experience. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Rather than just covering what happens to the main characters during their time in residential school, this novel goes a step further and shows how their experiences continue to affect them well into adulthood. This is a must-read for Canadians, especially for anyone working in public service. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The use of negative space to make the children's shadows on the ground is clever here. </div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-19047977531946751762022-05-06T12:04:00.000-04:002022-05-06T12:04:57.363-04:00All That's Left in the World - Erik J. Brown<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-u2y7BF70Iv1mo4ur5tLo0XTRqjiMwGLBp0ZpffwrhT9VWnbLOmu0485eBTg36SGnelF01mBvh4pfuXVxaYd2wUboAKHa6xxRKl8kL4dsLEuzSVn4aPnw-XWDhLTJoCOQzOMzCKrvvv9eqEqKXNpweGl4Ci5sZ8lbsAb1E_OKOFPjYDasusmI-tZ-/s1024/57093763.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="678" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-u2y7BF70Iv1mo4ur5tLo0XTRqjiMwGLBp0ZpffwrhT9VWnbLOmu0485eBTg36SGnelF01mBvh4pfuXVxaYd2wUboAKHa6xxRKl8kL4dsLEuzSVn4aPnw-XWDhLTJoCOQzOMzCKrvvv9eqEqKXNpweGl4Ci5sZ8lbsAb1E_OKOFPjYDasusmI-tZ-/s320/57093763.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> All That's Left in the World</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Erik J. Brown</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Balzer + Bray, 2022 (Hardcover)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 352 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult; Post-Apocalyptic</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> May 5, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> May 5, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From Amazon.ca:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When Andrew stumbles upon Jamie's house, he's injured, starved, and has nothing left to lose. A deadly pathogen has killed off most of the world's population, including everyone both boys have ever loved. And if this new world has taught them anything, it's to be scared of what other desperate people will do...so why does it seem so easy for them to trust each other?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">After danger breaches their shelter, they flee south in search of civilization. But something isn't adding up about Andrew's story, and it could cost them everything. And Jamie has a secret, too. He's starting to feel something something more than friendship for Andrew, adding another layer of fear and confusion to an already tumultuous journey. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The road ahead of them is long, and to survive, they'll have to shed their secrets, face the consequences of their actions, and find the courage to fight for the future they desire, together. Only one thing feels certain: all that's left in their world is the undeniable pull they have toward each other. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">This book has been getting all kind of hype lately, I mean, how often do you see queer representation in post-apocalyptic stories? If you're an older reader who has consumed a lot of post-apocalyptic stories, the plot will be predictable, but the characters are what make this story shine. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In a post-Covid world now ravaged by another more deadly pandemic, Andrew comes upon Jamison's cabin in the Pennsylvania woods, desperate for aid after getting his leg caught in a bear trap. Jamie, now living alone since the death of his mother, welcomes Andrew cautiously after realizing he truly is alone as well. After spending weeks together as Andrew's leg heals, both boys begin to develop feelings for each other, though Jamie takes longer to accept his since this is the first time he's had feelings for another boy. When a rogue group of survivors invade the cabin and steal their food supply, Andrew and Jamie decide to travel to an airport in Bethesda, Maryland in search of aid from the EU that is rumoured to be arriving in a few weeks. On the way the two have to come to terms with the secret Andrew is keeping, and Jamie's realization that he can't picture a future without Andrew. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The novel is told in alternating points of view, switching from Andrew to Jamie and back again. I wasn't a fan of this purely because it was hard to tell the inner voices of the boys apart unless they were talking about each other. As an example of this, the epilogue doesn't state whose point of view it is, and since no one is referenced by name I couldn't figure out who was speaking (unless that was the point). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The only other criticism I have of the book is that the plot is predictable if you've seen post-apolcalyptic tv shows or read stories similar to this. You have the theme of "the true danger lies in the people that remain rather than the virus itself", the colony that seems good at first but in reality is problematic that they have to escape from, the good survivors that redeem the characters' faith in humanity (even if only temporarily), etc. Basically, if you've seen The Walking Dead none of the plot points will be a surprise. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Where the story does do well, however, is in Andrew and Jamie as characters. Their dynamic is very realistic and sweet: they think and act like typical teenage boys, and become immensely protective of each other. I liked the descriptions of both of their internal struggles: Andrew coming to terms with what he's had to do to survive this long and worries what Jamie will think of him, and Jamie's gentle nature not allowing him to take someone's life until Andrew is threatened (and Jamie dealing with that). The story is also a slow-burn romance and is very vanilla (the most the boys do is kiss), so if you're coming into this for the romance alone, you might be disappointed. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Also, I loved Henri in this book, I wanted the boys to spend more time with her. We need more kick-ass grandma-type characters. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you want to read a queer post-apolcalyptic story with realistic characters, give this a try. If you want a unique post-apolcalyptic story that keeps you on the edge of your seat, this might not be your book. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I thought the colour scheme and visuals to depict a dessert-like setting were interesting choices considering most of the novel is spent in temperate areas, but the yellow looks pretty so I forgive it for that. </div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-36010931693518133432022-04-26T13:15:00.000-04:002022-04-26T13:15:59.474-04:00Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens<p></p><div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKlFWxC0P_5I1wYyYxWfSAe7cvwGQXtDlFW_x_UhUOrfeUrwxyWjrtAiJVGsEHfZQMR2EB0ydzXjW572DXE-Nsjk11PB56emlRCUG2o0doa-X73SozRJgcVpteuz_4p8CulT0DXyghw3d7RAq0--WmRrAWK2pNIKi62zm5tmSPnX9WS4jcFQz8nHBk/s2560/81HA6TJ5K-L.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKlFWxC0P_5I1wYyYxWfSAe7cvwGQXtDlFW_x_UhUOrfeUrwxyWjrtAiJVGsEHfZQMR2EB0ydzXjW572DXE-Nsjk11PB56emlRCUG2o0doa-X73SozRJgcVpteuz_4p8CulT0DXyghw3d7RAq0--WmRrAWK2pNIKi62zm5tmSPnX9WS4jcFQz8nHBk/s320/81HA6TJ5K-L.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> Where the Crawdads Sing</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Delia Owens</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Putnam (Penguin), 2018 (Hardcover)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 368 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Realistic Fiction</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> April 12, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> April 14, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the inside cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For years, rumours of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life - until the unthinkable happens. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Where the Crawdads Sing</i> is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we all are subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Since this book was so hyped on TikTok this past year, it's been on my TBR list for the past few months. With the movie adaptation coming out in July, my friends at work and I vowed to finally read this so we could compare the versions. I honestly wasn't expecting much from something so lauded and popular (I find anything overly popular can be a mixed bag with my personal tastes), but I was pleasantly surprised by the end. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Catherine Danielle Clark, otherwise known as Kya, has lived (mostly) alone in her family's shack at the edge of the North Carolina marshland since her mother and older siblings left her with her alcoholic, abusive father at the age of six. When he abandons her at the age of ten, she is left to fend for herself completely. With no formal schooling and the memories of her mother's teachings of how to live off the land to feed herself, Kya manages to survive to adulthood with the help of a childhood friend and the Black community that live in a segregated area away from the town. In 1969 when Kya is in her early 20s, a local man is found dead, and although Chase Andrews was a well-known player who slept with many women and angered many a husband, Kya is the prime suspect. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The novel is told in alternating time jumps, starting with the early 1950s when Kya is a child and switching every other chapter or so to 1969 at the time of the murder. Kya's backstory is gripping and intriguing from the start, and adding in Chase's murder keeps the reader going, wondering how Kya could possibly be connected enough to Chase for the police to suspect her of murder. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I personally liked the themes of resiliency and community that run throughout the book. Granted, sometimes Kya's resiliency is a bit too unrealistic to believe completely, especially in the chapters before she turns ten. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The main detriment of this book, in my opinion, is the amount of dialect in it. Granted there has to be dialect to reflect the authenticity of the premise of the story, but I have the same issue with any book set in the American south; the dialect makes my brain have to work so much harder to understand what's going on. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you like stories that are character-driven with a bit of mystery thrown in, you'll enjoy this. It was an engaging read and I can see why it's so popular, so give it a read before the movie version releases in the summer. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The shot used on the cover is very pretty and fits well with the descriptions in the book. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCHiMD6GL1qULTdQTRdM2rHl4n9Dx1-I44ovcNJtNpBES9dUqVjFAssM5NnsWd-tHzOaRTzp9Ce2Xph0BJfJ__yJJcmjN_JvFzJGSLhrId6bRdY9Dxb4WhDC_-99OeskIX8YWBp78T8QSJOGl8LXatn2XIwloVVAD5qWBa2hNQh2c-kSHVtZo1YiMd/s2560/81HA6TJ5K-L.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><p></p>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-68284255819089710492022-04-18T15:41:00.003-04:002022-04-18T15:41:35.805-04:00So This Is Ever After - F. T. Lukens<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA05GE3YRVFotEAuzVw1j3uFCOk3qOc4QLCoZB3NgZGdbEJDJEBQ138AVu8AC797ctogGsei5bN_CNLfHlyf61Rv47TeH8YmYv8jAqy0-ul8Wm6vIt-3ho4NMtH-bMwP04vepm0g2dJSU0EgDQlW2SnrKQpKu2f2h6SqSOV0f2NlXFOtCfjV_3J3BT/s2100/so-this-is-ever-after-9781534496866_hr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA05GE3YRVFotEAuzVw1j3uFCOk3qOc4QLCoZB3NgZGdbEJDJEBQ138AVu8AC797ctogGsei5bN_CNLfHlyf61Rv47TeH8YmYv8jAqy0-ul8Wm6vIt-3ho4NMtH-bMwP04vepm0g2dJSU0EgDQlW2SnrKQpKu2f2h6SqSOV0f2NlXFOtCfjV_3J3BT/s320/so-this-is-ever-after-9781534496866_hr.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> So This Is Ever After</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> F.T. Lukens </div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster), 2022 (Hardcover)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 341 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult; Fantasy</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> April 16, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> April 18, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary: </b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the inside cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Arek hadn't thought much about what would happen after he completed the prophecy that said he was destined to save the Kingdom of Ere from its evil ruler. So now that he's finally managed to (somewhat clumsily) behead the evil king (turns out that magical swords yanked from bogs don't come pre-sharpened), he and his ragtag group of quest companions are at a bit of a loss for what to do next. As a temporary safeguard, Arek's best friend and mage, Matt, convinces him to assume the throne until the true heir can be rescued from her tower. Except she's dead. Now Arek is stuck as king, a role that comes with a magical catch: choose a soul mate by your eighteenth birthday, or wither away into nothing. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">With his eighteenth birthday only three months away, and only Matt in on the secret, Arek embarks on a desperate bid to find a spouse to save his life - starting with his quest companions. But his attempts at wooing his friends go painfully and hilariously wrong...until he discovers that love might have been in front of him all along. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">This book is the queer fantasy romcom I never knew I needed. It's a hilarious romp that's easy to get into and is also adorably fluffy to boot. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Beginning at the end of your usual fantasy story, the novel opens with Arek and his band of companions fulfilling a prophecy by slaying the evil king of Ere. In the chaos that follows, Arek assumes the throne until they can find and crown the rightful heir, but even though the princess is indeed in another tower, she is long dead. Discovering that the magic of Ere requires the ruler to be soul-bound to another person or else he will fade into nothing, Arek goes about trying to secure a spouse before his eighteenth birthday. Arek is aided by the journal of the deceased princess which outlines her budding relationship with one of her ladies, using some of the situations described in order to grow closer with his friends to see if any of them could grow to love him and make a suitable co-ruler. Of course, Arek just wants to be with his childhood friend Matt and can't picture marrying anyone else, but Matt doesn't want him...right?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The plot of this novel is engaging right off the bat, and the romcom pacing and dialogue is excellent. The author does a good job of delving into all the characters and giving them nicely fleshed out backstories, though I felt Rion and Lila got a bit less compared to Arek, Matt, Sionna, and Bethany. All the characters are endearing, likeable, and hilarious; with distinct personalities that are nicely maintained throughout. I'm a sucker for roguish Lila (that scene with her "pet", Crow, is priceless) and cautious Matt, but I genuinely liked the whole bunch, which I can't always say about fantasy stories with multiple characters. I also liked how the author didn't shy away from addressing the less comedic aspects of inheriting a kingdom after a bloody ambush, like Arek and company dealing with the aftermath of trauma and figuring out how to go about establishing a governmental structure. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you're a fantasy fan and ever wondered what would happen after the prophecy ends, this read is for you. If you'd like your story to also be hilariously funny with great queer representation, then definitely pick this up. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The author also wrote another book last year called <i>In Deeper Waters</i> (this one with more of a pirate feel) that I'll have to pick up now:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiujGKIxYy2ebWxB5x1mxMA5Uk8pA3RTlifqwQ-P4NqfP8EgBwhImOkqFYi-qzfxmw5rEuf2YNWCrZH1aMQWhuOk5LsYBJSzNAkx7DTBtx6hXvXar_ksLxjLyTC3ZbdVlZAjPsSNBIEGcaGuCsga1USapJjZwhu1gxGZt6W44K7jYlZMyrGk_5szL6W/s475/55001526._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiujGKIxYy2ebWxB5x1mxMA5Uk8pA3RTlifqwQ-P4NqfP8EgBwhImOkqFYi-qzfxmw5rEuf2YNWCrZH1aMQWhuOk5LsYBJSzNAkx7DTBtx6hXvXar_ksLxjLyTC3ZbdVlZAjPsSNBIEGcaGuCsga1USapJjZwhu1gxGZt6W44K7jYlZMyrGk_5szL6W/s320/55001526._SY475_.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The cover art for both of these novels is stunning, these are definitely books some readers have picked up just for the covers alone. </div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-49140484842413681942022-01-05T15:18:00.000-05:002022-01-05T15:18:21.665-05:00Heaven Official's Blessing - Mo Xiang Tong Xiu<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgP0LfqrXbWrCCeeeWa0DVkTS5-mkfb98QFVnhZEXqot5UCDF_LlTh3mR_jCUksunPa5zWNIlbS2sPZScZpmYsU53RKhzdAZgD-5FFebX7X9KtXk9GZ2ucFNCg1e6-IHZJJSU_d6aEW2nhfIqC8FRhvN82OIBZZhAvOdS6iEumWaSGrty-bcKmZeJgu=s2102" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgP0LfqrXbWrCCeeeWa0DVkTS5-mkfb98QFVnhZEXqot5UCDF_LlTh3mR_jCUksunPa5zWNIlbS2sPZScZpmYsU53RKhzdAZgD-5FFebX7X9KtXk9GZ2ucFNCg1e6-IHZJJSU_d6aEW2nhfIqC8FRhvN82OIBZZhAvOdS6iEumWaSGrty-bcKmZeJgu=s320" width="228" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> Heaven Official's Blessing (Tian Guan Ci Fu) Volume 1</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Mo Xiang Tong Xiu</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Seven Seas Entertainment, 2021 (Paperback), originally published in China in 2017</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 417 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre: </b>Adult; Fantasy</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> December 14, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> December 28, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the back cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A God Fallen...A Ghost Risen</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Born the crown prince of a prosperous kingdom, Xie Lian was renowned for his beauty, strength, and purity. His years of dedicated study and noble deeds allowed him to ascend to godhood. But those who rise may also fall, and fall he does - cast from the heavens and banished to the world below. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Eight hundred years after his mortal life, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for the third time, angering most of the gods in the process. To repay his debts, he is sent to the Mortal Realm to hunt down violent ghosts and troublemaking spirits who prey on the living. Along his travels, he meets the fascinating and brilliant San Lang, a young man with whom he feels an instant connection. Yet San Lang is clearly more than he appears...What mysteries lie behind that carefree smile?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I first discovered Heaven Official's Blessing last year when the anime series first came out (was on Funimation, now moved to Netflix). Everyone was hyping up this new show from China and I was curious and wanted to check it out. I ended up adoring the story and the characters, so picking up the official English translation of the original Chinese novel was a given. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">First of all, in my opinion the story was relatively easy to get into. Granted I've studied Chinese history, religion, literature, and mythology back in university so I'm coming from a knowledge base most people don't have, but I still think the concepts are not beyond comprehension to the average person. The translation team for the English release thankfully included a ton of cultural guides, notes and glossaries at the end of the book, which help immensely. They even show names in Chinese characters and break down what each character means, which I appreciated since I realized the names are allegories or symbolic to the respective character. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The translation itself is what appears to be a middle of the road translation: not insanely literal, but not fully localized either. It's relatively easy to read as well. This first volume (out of four total, the second is supposed to release in February) matches up with the content of the first season of the show, and doesn't really contain anything in addition to that (if anything the show added in slight details not present in the novel), so if you've seen the show you know the plot of this first volume. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For those who can get into the story, the characters are worth the investment. Xie Lian is adorable in his sincerity and the descriptions in the book just make you want to hug him. San Lang/Hua Cheung reveals his intentions pretty early on, and he could be the literal poster boy for devotion and loyalty. Even the secondary characters like the other gods have their moments and bring some great humour into the story. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">For English fans of the show, you need to read this. For anyone else who's perhaps wanting to explore danmei (a genre of Chinese literature featuring romantic relationships between male characters), this is a great example of it. If you're not sure if this is up your alley, I recommend trying out the show on Netflix to see if you can get into it. The show is gorgeous on its own, so it's not a wasted effort by any means. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was hoping they'd use an image from the wedding scene, and I got my wish. There's also a full colour two-page spread of the same enlarged image in the beginning of the book, which is a nice bonus. I love the red and gold colour scheme with Hua Cheung's signature butterflies. </div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-4196548371298138482021-12-15T13:02:00.000-05:002021-12-15T13:02:02.971-05:00Stray Dogs - Tony Fleecs and Trish Fornstner<p></p><div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1Pc7Td_o_qA-4vgRLU9qJQmgWEfCgPiAGNIwNKAa42ZtUoACnf1YLA3tqFM2hWsopwxExhNNNzuJqfcMMN-O6pD4AaWGXIkRVv-NdqWbYMUw7QLYK1MaEKdXcTq6FYaHq7rUEwUu0W7pIZGSEavAizbYboFiq09CNsIp3o7LC8BxeNZ_Bn8tC-UeL=s1500" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="975" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1Pc7Td_o_qA-4vgRLU9qJQmgWEfCgPiAGNIwNKAa42ZtUoACnf1YLA3tqFM2hWsopwxExhNNNzuJqfcMMN-O6pD4AaWGXIkRVv-NdqWbYMUw7QLYK1MaEKdXcTq6FYaHq7rUEwUu0W7pIZGSEavAizbYboFiq09CNsIp3o7LC8BxeNZ_Bn8tC-UeL=s320" width="208" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> Stray Dogs</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Tony Fleecs and Trish Fornstner</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Image Comics, 2021 (Paperback)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 144 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Graphic Novel, Horror</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> December 13, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> December 13, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary: </b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the back of the book:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Meet Sophie, a dog who can't remember what happened. She doesn't know how she ended up in this house. She doesn't recognize any of these other dogs. She knows something terrible happened but she just...can't...recall...Wait! Where's her lady?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A heartbreakingly adorable suspense thriller by <i>My Little Pony</i> comic artists Tony Fleecs and Trish Fornstner.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I first saw this recommended on TikToK a while back, and I'm always up for a gritty graphic novel that isn't superhero related. And boy, does this ever deliver on the horror and suspense. The cute art style is deceiving, this is some pretty disturbing stuff. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The story opens with Sophie being brought by a man to a house full of dogs and she can't remember how she got there. The other dogs show her the ropes and talk of the master who saved them from their previous homes. Sophie is still on edge, and it isn't until the master wraps Sophie in a scarf that she remembers why. The master is actually a serial killer, her lady was one of his victims, and he collects his victims' dogs as trophies. The other dogs don't believe her (they also don't remember their old lives) until Sophie urges them to explore the areas of the house they aren't allowed in, where they find photos of their previous owners and other mementos from past killings. Now that the dogs know the truth, how are they going to escape from the master?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This book is a perfect example of graphic novels pushing the limits of their genre and what is typical of it. Again, the cutesy art style is deceiving here because this book is definitely not for children. It's not overly graphic or gory (in my opinion), but <b>trigger warning:</b> the content does show flashbacks to the murders, and some of the dogs suffer injuries and death at the hands of the master in the second half of the story, so sensitive readers are going to want to pass on this one. If you can handle the sensitive content it's a great, gripping story that does end happily for the most part, and coming from the perspective of the dogs is wonderfully creative. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I purchased this edition, which has a gallery at the end of all the variant covers from each issue in the series.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj23Ify4bb-Gj25GI8DRkT16oFRmuGJP8QZBp5C4UvXfw-pObBCRB7UALq-HaBlztRQIFgq29fpzsXTiSF4PJ0Hh057lPelvSCpZodGih1XdBIe7dREHNjda1OF69PUTBhk2YZ6VvmdSJlJxq2-4QwF7X9JWRSuOwCpeUFU7S-qVob2QCL9eX1hv4ZG=s475" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="303" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj23Ify4bb-Gj25GI8DRkT16oFRmuGJP8QZBp5C4UvXfw-pObBCRB7UALq-HaBlztRQIFgq29fpzsXTiSF4PJ0Hh057lPelvSCpZodGih1XdBIe7dREHNjda1OF69PUTBhk2YZ6VvmdSJlJxq2-4QwF7X9JWRSuOwCpeUFU7S-qVob2QCL9eX1hv4ZG=s320" width="204" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This one is my favourite though:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-MsniDW0Ib-om4q1DeAUvQVpXSKA-LHR7I_ErrCZINxQ4B1x6J9i1cmjgJOJBqDqD1IKHORrln1_SLdB6t5WSr23QKpMX4AcwYPPeduPOHj04_LQtcdNwzV2c61VgZ3pGCmsdr_2892aXBW57R64Yt5a3PdYScyyKtVZaFxOSFQDAi-qsagp-7WDs=s900" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="585" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-MsniDW0Ib-om4q1DeAUvQVpXSKA-LHR7I_ErrCZINxQ4B1x6J9i1cmjgJOJBqDqD1IKHORrln1_SLdB6t5WSr23QKpMX4AcwYPPeduPOHj04_LQtcdNwzV2c61VgZ3pGCmsdr_2892aXBW57R64Yt5a3PdYScyyKtVZaFxOSFQDAi-qsagp-7WDs=s320" width="208" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you're in the mood for something gritty and new, or if you ever wondered what would happen if Don Bluth made a horror movie, give this graphic novel a read. If you can't handle movies/stories where the dog gets hurt or dies, then you'd better pass on this. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I much prefer the original cover (image at the top of the review) to my special edition copy cover (middle image). The original is more unsettling compared to the special edition, which feels more juvenile. </div><br /><p></p>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-25318411506424728622021-12-14T12:59:00.001-05:002021-12-14T12:59:51.007-05:00The Secret Garden on 81st Street - Ivy Nicole Weir and Amber Padilla<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzLBOq8ID-GORTqR0bi2nSeNxab3h_nmtceG8AT6EDlr8-uk9RRtLAASvZcTCwFVrV4LtNZCiNv-BLbEsFY_lxpsahaUbmR8GdSQ33L2d-9tjYezW87lTOgLrBGy2V-c0RSq0hDniWbOD1MhkfwU2zP8aUjtC2CUo7yI94BDJqq-rWG_dSUAq-ByS-=s499" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="349" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzLBOq8ID-GORTqR0bi2nSeNxab3h_nmtceG8AT6EDlr8-uk9RRtLAASvZcTCwFVrV4LtNZCiNv-BLbEsFY_lxpsahaUbmR8GdSQ33L2d-9tjYezW87lTOgLrBGy2V-c0RSq0hDniWbOD1MhkfwU2zP8aUjtC2CUo7yI94BDJqq-rWG_dSUAq-ByS-=s320" width="224" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> The Secret Garden on 81st Street: A Modern Graphic Retelling of The Secret Garden</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Ivy Nicole Weir and Amber Padilla</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Little, Brown and Company, 2021 (Paperback)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 250 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Children's/Young Adult; Graphic Novel, Classic</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> December 8, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> December 8, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the back of the book:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Celebrate 110 years of Frances Hodgson Burnett's <i>The Secret Garden</i> with this vibrant, contemporary graphic novel retelling!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Video games and tech are loner Mary Lennox's main source of entertainment and "friends" in her Silicon Valley home. But when her parents are killed in a tragic accident, Mary's life is uprooted to New York City to live with an uncle she barely knows and, to her surprise, keeps a gadget-free home. Looking for comfort in this strange, new reality, Mary discovers an abandoned rooftop garden and an even bigger secret in an upstairs bedroom: her cousin, Colin, who struggles with anxiety. With Colin's help and that of a new friend named Dickon, Mary works to restore the garden to its former glory while also learning to grieve, build real friendships, and nurture growth - both in nature and in herself. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The Secret Garden</i> was my favourite classic children's book growing up (plus I had the benefit of the gorgeous 90s movie version coming out around the same time as I was reading it), so I was instantly drawn to this one. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I've always wondered how to properly update classic stories like this for a modern audience (especially considering the colonialism usually present in stories written by British authors from the time) while also addressing issues that modern children would be less likely to understand, like how Colin in the original book could've been bed-ridden and unable to walk due to a suspected illness he didn't even have. This retelling not only addresses those concerns and creates a successful transition to a modern setting, it also retains the message of the original quite well. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Mary Lennox is the child of workaholic parents in the tech sector in Silicon Valley. She attends school online, gets all her food delivered, and barely gets to interact with her parents at all. When her parents die in a car crash, a surprisingly unemotional Mary is taken to New York City to live with her uncle Archie, his assistant Mrs. Medlock, and their tenant, Martha. Since her uncle doesn't keep a lot of technology in his home, Martha routinely kicks Mary out of the house to go to the nearby museums and galleries. On one of these trips outside, Mary meets a cat named Robin who belongs to Ben, the owner of the local bodega and friend of her uncle and his late husband, Masahiro. Mary learns about Masahiro's passion for plants and gardening, and his rooftop garden that Archie shut away after his husband's death. With the help of Ben and Martha's little brother, Dickon, Mary takes on the task of bringing the garden back to life, discovering the existence of her cousin Colin along the way. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I always liked how <i>The Secret Garden</i> talks about grief, loss, and healing in a way that kids can understand, and that message isn't lost in this retelling, in fact, I think this edition handles it even better than the original did. Both Mary and Colin are profoundly affected by parental death. Mary can't properly grieve the loss of parents she didn't feel close to, but craves unconditional familial love. Colin is traumatized by witnessing the death of his father, Masahiro, in his garden, and suffers from panic attacks if he tries to leave his room since his idea of a "safe space" has been upended. The adults in the story are cognizant of the trauma of both children and are highly attuned to giving them what they need to begin to recover and rebuild their lives, and they talk about things with the kids in an honest way that they can understand. It makes for a wonderfully emotionally intelligent story. This is especially prevalent when Mary witnesses Colin having a panic attack and responds poorly to it, to which Colin's therapist meets with Mary to explain what he's going through in a way that Mary can understand to allow her to be more sympathetic to her cousin's needs. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I also love how diverse this retelling is in so many ways. Mary is biracial, Archie and Colin are black, Masahiro is Japanese, Ben is hispanic, and Martha is drawn with a larger body shape. There's also the nice LGBTQ family portrayal of Archie, Masahiro, and Colin. Even Mrs. Medlock has been softened here and, while still protective of Colin, her motivations are much more understandable and relatable. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">A wonderful modern retelling brimming with emotion, empathy, and diverse portrayals. Definitely worth the read if you want to introduce this story to a younger generation of readers. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Nice showcase of the art style, and the colour palette is pleasing. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-71642104530857603652021-12-11T22:24:00.000-05:002021-12-11T22:24:54.743-05:00Her Name Was Margaret - Denise Davy<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjT7j-vhzWjEFB1DyRnLmkiz0iq_R1wJ0CMJYMjP2KU0Zlb_iYJKDhoX7ZICgj1sU55sWJ5XmBzHKjYTHI3oVJ-pND_opW-ZoRdp9nE1Q0CWyJAFg4KE53KPTGb9BGe66y33Cqin0drsVn8GTpG1JvbVs-n0EP1AVe2o0U6wTEU5Jyj0OHELO67dZn2=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjT7j-vhzWjEFB1DyRnLmkiz0iq_R1wJ0CMJYMjP2KU0Zlb_iYJKDhoX7ZICgj1sU55sWJ5XmBzHKjYTHI3oVJ-pND_opW-ZoRdp9nE1Q0CWyJAFg4KE53KPTGb9BGe66y33Cqin0drsVn8GTpG1JvbVs-n0EP1AVe2o0U6wTEU5Jyj0OHELO67dZn2=s320" width="213" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> Her Name Was Margaret: Life and Death on the Streets</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Denise Davy</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> James Street North Books (Wolsak & Wynn), 2021 (Paperback)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 295 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Nonfiction</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> November 30, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> December 4, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the publisher's website:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Margaret Jacobson was a sweet-natured young girl who played the accordion and had dreams of being a teacher until she had a psychotic break in her teens, which sent her down a much darker path. <i>Her Name Was Margaret</i> traces Margaret's life from her childhood to her death as a homeless woman on the streets of Hamilton, Ontario. With meticulous research and deep compassion author Denise Davy analyzed over eight hundred pages of medical records and conducted interviews with Margaret's friends and family, as well as those who worked in psychiatric care, to create this compelling portrait of a woman abandoned by society. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Through a revolving door of psychiatric admissions to discharges to rundown boarding homes, Davy shows us the grim impact of deinstitutionalization: patients spiralled inexorably towards homelessness and death as psychiatric beds were closed and patients were left to fend for themselves on the streets of cities across North America. Today there are more than 235,000 people in Canada who are counted among the homeless annually and 35,000 who are homeless on any given night. Most of them are struggling with mental health issues. Margaret's story is a heartbreaking illustration of what happens in our society to to our most vulnerable and should serve as a wake-up call to politicians and leaders in cities across Canada. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I came across this book through helping to organize a local charity event (<a href="https://www.denisedavy.ca/purses-for-margaret">Purses for Margaret</a>) through work. We were lucky to get the author, who also founded the charity, to come to speak at the event. A few people attending had already read her book and I couldn't say no after hearing such glowing recommendations, especially since I don't often get to read books about issues happening in my own city. After reading, I can add my own glowing recommendation for this book. It is so human and speaks to such a vital issue that I honestly think everyone should read it. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The author, Denise Davy, was working as a journalist for the Hamilton Spectator in 1993 when she came across a homeless woman named Margaret at the Wesley Centre while doing research for her articles on homelessness in the city. Intrigued by Margaret's story, the author was granted access to Margaret's massive medical files from the local hospital and began piecing together the puzzle of how she came to be homeless in the first place. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This book traces Margaret's life from her childhood in Barbados and Antigua as the oldest child of Canadian missionary parents, her onset of mental health struggles at sixteen, admission to psychiatric hospitals in Cambridge and Hamilton beginning at age seventeen, decades of cycling between the hospital and inadequate boarding homes, to her eventual descent into homelessness until her death in 1995 at the age of fifty-one. This book is incredibly well-researched, the author truly did her homework in this regard. She interviewed not only Margaret's estranged family members, but also hospital workers, friends from the shelters, and various people who encountered Margaret in the city. Peppered in between telling the story of Margaret's life the author also gives historical context on psychiatric care and the process of deinstitutionalization, the reason many people like Margaret with severe mental illness are so vulnerable to homelessness in the first place. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I already knew much of what the author discusses, but having an actual person's story attached to something always makes more of an impact, and Margaret's story proves that the people we see on the streets could just as easily be you or me, or someone we know and care about. It's for this reason that we need to advocate for better mental health care in our country, as well as proper, affordable housing with support structures in place for all people to live with dignity. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">This book serves a need to have the interwoven story of mental health, affordable housing, and homelessness told with a human face. It needs to be read, and its messages advocated in every city if we truly want to call our society civilized and humane. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can buy the book from the publisher's website here: <a href="https://bookstore.wolsakandwynn.ca/collections/non-fiction/products/her-name-was-margaret">Wolsak and Wynn - Her Name Was Margaret</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you'd like to visit the author's website you can do so here: <a href="https://www.denisedavy.ca">Denise Davy</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I love the black and gold colour scheme paired with Margaret's photo, it makes for a compelling cover.</div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-55506078292556149012021-11-21T22:35:00.000-05:002021-11-21T22:35:54.474-05:00A Marvellous Light - Freya Marske<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Ml1WcnyhMo/YZrhvp5NXvI/AAAAAAAAC2s/THLjOx1kG9wKZjBSeB92C_bPPx3SpvtNACLcBGAsYHQ/s499/51EkyLCbW1L._SX314_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="316" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Ml1WcnyhMo/YZrhvp5NXvI/AAAAAAAAC2s/THLjOx1kG9wKZjBSeB92C_bPPx3SpvtNACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/51EkyLCbW1L._SX314_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="203" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> A Marvellous Light</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Freya Marske</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Tor, 2021 (Hardcover)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 372 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Fantasy, Historical Fiction</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> November 12, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> November 19, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b> </div><div style="text-align: left;">From the inside cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He's struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents' excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what's been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he's always known. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that will come with it - not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Robin's predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they've been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles - and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">This book has been hyped for months now as being an LGBTQ version of Downton Abbey with magic, and after reading it that's a fairly good description but doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of how amazing this book is. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Robin Blyth's family belongs to the gentry, but poor spending by his late parents have forced him into a job in the civil service to support himself and his younger sister. Robin becomes the replacement to a liaison that's gone missing, and when he discovers that magic exists and there's a ministry devoted to keeping relations between magicians and regular humans peaceful, his amazement is short lived. When he's cursed by men following the trail of his predecessor, Robin and his magician coworker, Edwin Courcey, have to uncover the mysteries behind Robin's curse and the impending doom facing them all. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">First off, the characters in the book are both endearing and well-rounded. Robin is an insecure ray of sunshine, and Edwin is a weak magician who's constantly reminded of his shortcomings by his powerful family, so he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. I appreciate how the author made Edwin a weak magician so he's forced to use his intelligence and voracious reading to compensate when he's in a bind. Both men have baggage they need to work through, in addition to the issues of being gay men in the book's Edwardian setting. Their relationship is handled well (the dialogue between them is phenomenal) and in my opinion there's nothing better than unresolved sexual tension in a library (except for maybe the sex scenes that come after that). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Though the characters and their development were by far my favourite aspect of the book, the plot wasn't too bad either and the story is engaging. The prose itself is wonderfully done, and there's quite a lot of stand-out lines throughout the book. The author even addresses the elephant in the room (aka colonialism) that's brought up whenever you set a book in historical Britain by having Indian secondary characters that aren't simply tokens. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">This was a beautiful read and a lovely example of LGBTQ fantasy that's actually handled well. It's the first book in a planned series, so I look forward to the subsequent books. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The pattern and colour palette do a good job of echoing the time period, and Robin and Edwin in the centre is a nice touch. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-17243616689169298462021-10-25T14:07:00.007-04:002021-10-25T14:07:57.716-04:00Under the Whispering Door - TJ Klune<p></p><div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_bEHYNhwu_o/YXbJeEvVJWI/AAAAAAAAC2U/E_C9byqj40stB0iy602nv3rSJcHhPXsogCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/53205888.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="659" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_bEHYNhwu_o/YXbJeEvVJWI/AAAAAAAAC2U/E_C9byqj40stB0iy602nv3rSJcHhPXsogCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/53205888.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> Under the Whispering Door</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> TJ Klune</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Tor, 2021 (Hardcover)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 373 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Fantasy</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> October 17, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> October 24, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary: </b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the inside cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Welcome to Charon's Crossing.</div><div style="text-align: left;">The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When a Reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he's definitely dead. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But even in death he's not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Hilarious, haunting, and kind, <i>Under the Whispering Door</i> is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">When I read <a href="http://exlibrisandrea.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-house-in-cerulean-sea-tj-klune.html">House in the Cerulean Sea</a> earlier this summer, I knew I'd read anything this author wrote. When I found out his new book would be out at the end of September, I pre-ordered it. <i>The House in the Cerulean Sea</i> has a very different type of premise compared to <i>Under the Whispering Door</i> so although I personally enjoyed the former more, all the things I liked about it show up in the latter. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Wallace Price is a very good lawyer, but he's not well-liked. He's not a great boss, romantic partner, or human being in general, he reminds me of a younger version of Scrooge from <i>A Christmas Carol</i>. When Wallace drops dead of a heart attack at age 40 and ends up witnessing his own sparsely attended funeral, a Reaper named Mei shows up and takes him to the next waypoint on his journey: a tea shop. Hugo, a ferryman, has the job of guiding lost souls the the next stage in the afterlife, and Wallace can only move on when he's ready. In addition to Mei and Hugo, the tea shop is also home to the spirits of Nelson, Hugo's grandfather, and Apollo, his dog. As Wallace grows closer to the inhabitants of Charon's Crossing, he realizes that he never really lived his life while he was alive, and seeks to rectify that in death. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can tell that <i>Under the Whispering Door </i>was a personal endeavour for the author, he says exactly that in the acknowledgements in the back. It gives the novel the authenticity that only someone who's suffered intense grief could contribute, and it works here. The author's writing style is engaging and pulls you in right from the beginning, and the characters are simply phenomenal; you can't help but love them, even Wallace. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Hugo may as well be a saint (or maybe he was a social worker in another life) for how patient and kind he is to everyone he meets, and has the wisdom that people usually only learn about in therapy. Wallace is not so unlikeable that he turns readers off, his sense of humour and ability to admit when he's wrong save him in that way. The addition of Mei, Nelson, and Apollo are welcome ones since the whole family functions so well together, and Nelson and Wallace have some amazingly funny conversations about how to be a ghost in the early chapters of the book (Mei is just hilarious in general and her energy is infectious). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I find it amazing that a book so steeped in death is actually pretty light-hearted (for the most part, there are some real tearjerkers at the end). If I had any issues with this book, it would be that the ending feels a bit rushed and tacked on. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you're a fan of the author in general or have read <i>The House in the Cerulean Sea</i>, you'll enjoy this newest novel. If you're interested in reading a story about a unique take on the afterlife that's not completely depressing, give this a shot. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I love the design of Charon's Crossing for the cover, it adds to the atmosphere of the overall story, plus the colour palette here is nicely pleasing. </div><p></p>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-36094605940912396282021-08-27T12:52:00.000-04:002021-08-27T12:52:33.262-04:00A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5E0pArGx2MI/YSPa-IR9XnI/AAAAAAAAC10/N5hvjrRHl7YuzvuoB5F443yrNSQs1ZchACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/91S%252B-rNw5xL.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1324" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5E0pArGx2MI/YSPa-IR9XnI/AAAAAAAAC10/N5hvjrRHl7YuzvuoB5F443yrNSQs1ZchACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/91S%252B-rNw5xL.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy, Book 1)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Deborah Harkness</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Penguin, 2011 (Paperback)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 579 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Fantasy</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> August 12, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> August 20, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the back cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Deep in the heart of Oxford's Bodleian Library, Diana Bishop - a young scholar and the descendant of witches - unearths an enchanted alchemical manuscript. Wanting nothing to do with sorcery, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery has set a fantastical underworld stirring, and soon a horde of daemons, witches, and other creatures descends upon the library. Among them is Matthew Clairmont, a vampire with a keen interest in the book. Equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense, <i>A Discovery of Witches</i> is a mesmerizing and addictive tale of passion and obsession that reveals the closely guarded secrets of an enchanted world. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Yeah, I know, I'm a little late to the party on this book, and no, I didn't pick this up because of the show (although now post-read I definitely want to watch it). I'm glad this recommendation came my way, it's a great fantasy read set in the modern world (at least this first instalment is) that appeals to the academic in me. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Dr. Diana Bishop is the last of the Bishop witches, raised in New England and working as a science historian at Oxford. This is a world where creatures (vampires, witches, daemons) exist alongside humans, but humans aren't aware of their existence. Diana knows the rule: one group can't associate with the other or risk attracting attention; so when she unknowingly unlocks a secret tome that's been sought after for centuries, her safety is in jeopardy when all manner of creatures start stalking her, including Matthew Clairmont. Matthew and Diana then become embroiled in the mystery of the book and how it affects both their futures. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Again, the academic setting of this novel appeals to me. There were so many points where Diana would do or say something very stereotypically academic and I'd be laughing in sympathy, she's a character after my own heart. Plus, the idea of a person bonding with an ancient creature over their shared scholarship in an ancient library (especially when said creature has first-hand experiences contrasted with the person's second-hand accounts) is probably the most nerdy meet-cute ever. The characters are well-developed and the pacing and world building are well-done too. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you're a fantasy reader who likes a bit more academia and romance in your stories, give this series a try. There are two subsequent instalments which I have in my TBR pile that I hope are just as good as the first.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I love the old-school celestial and astrological symbols with Oxford buildings lining the bottom of the image. The other covers in the series are done in a similar style, and I always appreciate continuity in series covers. </div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-39481619241381779252021-08-09T12:49:00.003-04:002021-08-09T12:49:52.119-04:00Divergent Mind - Jenara Nerenberg<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uxOf6yyK0SM/YRBCi9KlgBI/AAAAAAAAC1o/03w5m2Sm_bwIEqav0JrGl0B8dPwrHOPrwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/81z-AGl4ZjL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uxOf6yyK0SM/YRBCi9KlgBI/AAAAAAAAC1o/03w5m2Sm_bwIEqav0JrGl0B8dPwrHOPrwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/81z-AGl4ZjL.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Jenara Nerenberg</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> HarperOne, 2020 (Hardcover)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 244 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Nonfiction</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> August 6, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> August 8, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the inside cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A paradigm-shifting study of neurodivergent women - those with ADHD, autism, synesthesia, high sensitivity, and sensory processing disorder - exploring why these traits are over-looked and how society benefits from allowing their unique strengths to flourish.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As a Harvard- and Berkeley-educated writer, entrepreneur, and devoted mother, Jenara Nerenberg was shocked to discover that her "symptoms" - only ever labeled as anxiety - were considered autistic and ADHD. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Nerenberg's not alone. Between a flawed system that focuses on younger, male populations, and the fact that girls are conditioned from a young age to blend in, women often don't learn about their neurological differences until they are adults, if at all. As a result, potentially millions live with undiagnosed neurodivergences, obscured by anxiety and depression. Meanwhile, we all miss out on the gifts their neurodivergent minds have to offer. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Sharing real stories from women with high sensitivity, ADHD, autism, misophonia, dyslexia, SPD, and more, Nerenberg explores how these brain variances present differently in women and describes practical changes in how we communicate, how we design our surroundings, and how we can better support divergent minds. When we allow our wide variety of brain makeups to flourish, we create a better tomorrow for us all.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">As an adult neurodivergent woman, with a majority of my family members being neurodivergent (including my children), and a teacher to both neurodivergent and neurotypical children, I've been trying to seek out the most recent books on neurodivergence to recommend to parents or folks just trying to understand a new concept that many aren't familiar with yet. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A few months ago, I read <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Neurotribes-Legacy-Autism-Future-Neurodiversity/dp/0399185615">Neurotribes</a> by Steve Silberman, but didn't post a review because it was still during the school year, we were under yet another lockdown, and I was suffering from existential dread, so reviews weren't happening. <i>Neurotribes</i> is considered by most in the community to be the neurodiversity Bible, especially since it's still considered a recent publication (2016). Although I did enjoy the book and it is incredibly well-researched, one criticism I had of it while reading was that it seemed to approach neurodiversity from a mainly male perspective (granted the author acknowledges this and states that neurodivergent women and girls are under-diagnosed). Thankfully, this book nicely balances the former, discussing how neurodiversity presents in AFAB (assigned female at birth) individuals. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In <i>Divergent Mind</i>, the author is wonderfully concise, essentially stating that those with diagnoses such as ADHD, autism, synesthesia, SPD and more have sensitivity as the root cause. That essentially even though every neurodivergent person presents differently, it all boils down to sensory sensitivity: everything is either "too much" or our bodies need more stimulation than we're getting (I still remember "too sensitive" thrown at me often as an insult during my childhood). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In the first section of the book, the author makes the assumption that anyone reading this book will have some base knowledge of the various diagnoses she speaks of, spending little time on them in general and moving straight into the signs that women (and AFAB people in general) with these conditions might exhibit as opposed to males (especially in regards to ADHD and autism where the stereotypical symptoms everyone looks for are primarily present in males). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For anyone who already knows they are neurodivergent and their respective diagnoses, the second part of the book might be of more interest. There, the author outlines various coping strategies and tips to help neurodivergent women improve their overall well-being, as well as specific strategies for the home and at work. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Throughout the book, the author reinforces that neurodivergent minds have gifts that are essential to society's ability to thrive, and that ignoring the needs of the neurodivergent means to miss out on all we have to offer, which is a message that bears frequent repetition. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Are you a woman (or AFAB individual) who often feels different and out of place? Do you struggle inwardly despite your outward success? If so, you might be divergent; come to the dark side, we have cookies! And you should also read this book. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I like the use of shards to form the outline of the bust, it's a nice design choice. </div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-38322966966793436892021-08-06T17:21:00.000-04:002021-08-06T17:21:39.365-04:00The Starless Sea - Erin Morgenstern<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6ClvmascEc/YQ15ye61m-I/AAAAAAAAC1Y/uj0XCE1XzYMSmXKcaDnbPwEwKJp9GgK7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/81bu93KjvJL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1347" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6ClvmascEc/YQ15ye61m-I/AAAAAAAAC1Y/uj0XCE1XzYMSmXKcaDnbPwEwKJp9GgK7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/81bu93KjvJL.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> The Starless Sea</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Erin Morgenstern</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Doubleday Canada, 2019 (Hardcover)/Anchor Canada, 2020 (Paperback)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 494 pages (Hardcover), 570 pages (Paperback)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Fantasy</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> July 31, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> August 3, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the inside cover (Hardcover):</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Far beneath the surface of the earth, upon the shores of the Starless Sea, there is a labyrinthine collection of tunnels and rooms filled with stories. The entryways that lead to this sanctuary are often hidden, sometimes on forest floors, sometimes in private homes, sometimes in plain sight. But those who seek will find. Their doors have been waiting for them.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Zachary Ezra Rawlins is searching for his door, though he does not know it. He follows a silent siren song, an inexplicable certainty that he is meant for another place. When he discovers a mysterious book in the stacks of his campus library, he begins to read and is entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, lost cities, and nameless acolytes. Suddenly, a turn of the page brings Zachary to a story from his own childhood, impossibly written in this book that is older than he is. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A bee, a key, and a sword emblazoned on the book lead Zachary to two people who will change the course of his life: Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired painter, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances. These strangers guide Zachary through masquerade-party dances and whispered backroom stories to the headquarters of a secret society, where doorknobs hang from ribbons, and finally through a door conjured from paint to the place he has always yearned for. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Amid twisting tunnels filled with books, gilded ballrooms, and wine-dark shores, Zachary falls into an intoxicating world soaked in romance and mystery. But a battle is raging over the fate of this place, and though there are those who would willingly sacrifice everything to protect it, there are just as many intent on its destruction. As Zachary, Mirabel, and Dorian venture deeper into the space and its histories and myths searching for answers and one another, a timeless love story unspools, casting a spell of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a Starless Sea. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">"We are all stardust and stories" (373) so this story says, and oh, this book has already developed a tale that I will re-tell to my children and grandchildren to highlight the lengths I will go to for a book. I was reading people's opinions about my previous read, <a href="http://exlibrisandrea.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-midnight-library-matt-haig.html">The Midnight Library</a>, and one reader mentioned that they had hoped <i>The Midnight Library </i>was going to be like <i>The Starless Sea</i> and was disappointed that it wasn't. That intrigued me, and down a few rabbit holes later I was reading a sample of the novel on Amazon and didn't even reach the end before I knew I needed this book. Like yesterday.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Reserved a copy from the library, but then realized it wouldn't arrive for several days. That simply would not do. Cue quick trip to neighbouring bookstore after checking that it was indeed in stock. Frantic, immersive reading sessions ensues. Feelings of regret occur upon realizing the paperback I bought had a crappy glue job along the spine, which leads to the last twenty pages of the book falling out before I finish reading it, it's beyond saving. By this point I knew I was going to be buying a hardcover version, because I was already in love with it, but the only place that had a hardcover available was Book Depository (which is a great UK site I've used before, and they have free worldwide shipping). So close to $75 and several copies later (one which will have travelled across several countries by the time it gets to me), all for one book. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">That's how much I love this story.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">However, I fully admit this book is only going to appeal to a very specific group of readers. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The Starless Sea</i> is laid out in six parts. The chapters within each part alternate between narrating a piece of the main story following Zachary, or presenting a fable or alternate narrative not from Zachary's perspective. Those interspersed fables come from the books Zachary reads within the novel, and are actually integral to the plot. For example, we the reader read about the contents of <i>Sweet Sorrows</i>, the book Zachary finds in his campus library, before we even meet Zachary himself. At first it can seem as if the main storyline is being interrupted by narratives that make no sense, until you realize that every detail in those interludes does eventually show up within the main storyline, everything is connected. So anyone who is not fond of the "story within a story" types of plots will probably not like this novel. That stuff's totally up my alley though, so I welcome it gladly. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This novel is also quite meta, which some people will also dislike. If you're looking for a story that explains things definitively where nothing is left up to interpretation, this might not be the book for you. Even I had to go back to sections and reread parts in order to follow along with the parallel storylines that eventually converge. Though I was able to follow along pretty well, some people will find this confusing and get turned off of the story. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Onto the good things though. This novel is a love letter to books and stories, an ode if you will (the writing even has a beautiful poetic quality to it). The fables interspersed with Zachary's story weren't really distracting for me because I loved them as much as Zachary's main story. The novel speaks of the nature of stories and the people who find refuge in them, and the descriptions of the library itself are like something from any of my wildest dreams. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The characters are endearing, even the ones that are a bit flat at first because their full stories aren't revealed until close to the end. I have to give the author credit for making Zachary explicitly BIPOC and LGBTQ in the text, plus there's also some LGBTQ content mentioned in passing in some of the fables, which I appreciated too.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The writing is phenomenal, it sucks you in and immerses you completely in this world to the point where I almost caution people to read this over a few days where you don't have anything pressing to do, because you will be not be able to put it down. There's also a ton of quotable lines here, and this is a novel that will likely need multiple readings to fully catch everything. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Some of my favourite excerpts include:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"There is no fixing. There is only moving forward in the brokenness" (378).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"This is not where our story ends, he writes. This is only where it changes" (476).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Spiritual but not religious," Zachary clarifies. He doesn't say what he is thinking, which is that his church is held-breath story listening and late-night-concert ear-ringing rapture and perfect-boss fight button pressing. That his religion is buried in the silence of freshly fallen snow, in a carefully crafted cocktail, in between the pages of a book somewhere after the beginning but before the ending" (125-126).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And Dorian's "Once, very long ago, Time fell in love with Fate" fable that he whispers in Zachary's ear at the masquerade (pgs. 70-73). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you're a reader at your core, love stories, and still believe in magic (to the point where you check wardrobes for portals to Narnia like Zachary), you need to read this book. I'm not even doing the story justice here, so just trust me and give it a go. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I like the hardcover version (pictured above) with the keys in a black and gold colour scheme. But this little beauty, a UK exclusive that is sadly no longer available, is so. freaking. pretty:</div><div style="text-align: left;">(Image found <a href="https://bookandbiscuit.com/2019/12/13/the-starless-sea-by-erin-morgenstern/">here</a>).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wy5qnsOewoo/YQ2nDM6yHSI/AAAAAAAAC1g/NSQSHIrFItwMouE2TJMtcMu1BSkR2RyzgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/the-starless-sea-erin-morgenstern-bookstagram-origami-doll-house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wy5qnsOewoo/YQ2nDM6yHSI/AAAAAAAAC1g/NSQSHIrFItwMouE2TJMtcMu1BSkR2RyzgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/the-starless-sea-erin-morgenstern-bookstagram-origami-doll-house.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-1274118440753883962021-07-31T16:29:00.000-04:002021-07-31T16:29:07.615-04:00The Midnight Library - Matt Haig<p></p><div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cneV-0T1AwM/YQWGkDWwzhI/AAAAAAAAC1M/QDV6UsR18UcEi5b5beIn6U131k0GRwGjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/9781786892720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1465" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cneV-0T1AwM/YQWGkDWwzhI/AAAAAAAAC1M/QDV6UsR18UcEi5b5beIn6U131k0GRwGjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/9781786892720.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> The Midnight Library</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Matt Haig</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Harper Avenue, 2020 (Paperback)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 288 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Adult; Science Fiction</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> July 29, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> July 30, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the inside cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Between life and death there is a library. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: What is the best way to live?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Yet another recommendation courtesy of TikTok, never say social media is completely useless. This book is insanely popular, with two million sold worldwide, and after reading it I can say the hype is well deserved. However good it is though, this could be a very triggering read for some people due to the subject matter (suicide).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Nora is thirty-five and has regrets over her life choices. As a teenager, she had the potential to become an Olympic-level swimmer but didn't. The band she formed with her brother could've been huge, but she left it. She could've been a scientist or a professor, but never pursued it. She was supposed to marry her fiancee Dan, but called it off. She just lost her job at a music store, her elderly neighbour doesn't need her help anymore, and her cat just died. After attempting suicide, she wakes up in a library reminiscent from her school days, complete with a figure who resembles the librarian from her youth. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Mrs. Elm tells Nora that she is between life and death, and has a chance to undo the regrets she has in her current life by exploring one of the infinite alternate universe versions of herself, represented by the never-ending books on the library's shelves. She can explore the lives where she did become an Olympic swimmer, married Dan, became an internationally known singer, and many more. When she finds the life she likes most, she can become part of it and her journey will end. As Nora moves through numerous versions of herself, she comes to a few realizations that literally brings the library crumbling down around her. Nora's final choice will seal the fate of not only the library, but herself too. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'll admit that based on the summary I was expecting something a different story from what I actually got. Granted, I still enjoyed it, but I envisioned a tale based in magical realism with a magical library as the setting, some sort of ode to literature and stories in general. And this book is not that. However...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This book is perfect for anyone who's ever questioned their choices and wondered, "what if I had done this instead?" I think all of us have done that, to a degree. I know I have, though on a much smaller scale and with less consuming regrets than Nora. The author himself is very open with his struggles with depression and mental health in general, you can tell he poured a lot of his personal experiences into Nora and her story, so I give him tons of kudos for that. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Long ago, I came to the same realizations that Nora hits at a few different points in the story (don't want to go into too much detail to avoid spoilers), so I knew exactly how the book was going to end before hitting the hundred-page mark. This didn't make the story any less enjoyable in my opinion, I had a really fun time exploring the philosophy from Nora's point of view. Other enlightened people might not feel the same though, and might find the story boring if they don't connect with Nora as a character. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation: </b></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you enjoy the premise of a person exploring alternate-universe versions of themselves, then you'll enjoy <i>The Midnight Library</i>. Anyone triggered by suicide will want to skip this book, though. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Simple, yet effective. I really like how this version has a little tiny Voltaire (Nora's cat) in the lower corner. </div><p></p>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-18610482939007779152021-07-15T19:25:00.000-04:002021-07-15T19:25:05.271-04:00The House in the Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D44ZwAdBDgc/YPC3G5yHZSI/AAAAAAAAC0k/X_Ei1cVLHEE6OHfDnq9wl5-Bu9_BURd8gCLcBGAsYHQ/s499/51E5BR5V9nL._SX319_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="321" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D44ZwAdBDgc/YPC3G5yHZSI/AAAAAAAAC0k/X_Ei1cVLHEE6OHfDnq9wl5-Bu9_BURd8gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/51E5BR5V9nL._SX319_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Title:</b> The House in the Cerulean Sea</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> TJ Klune</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Tor, 2020 (Paperback)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 396 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult/Adult; Fantasy</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> July 12, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> July 15, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the back cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A magical island.</div><div style="text-align: left;">A dangerous task.</div><div style="text-align: left;">A burning secret. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Linus Baker is a by-the-book caseworker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records for company. But his quiet life is about to change. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Linus is summoned by Extremely Upper Management and given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to an orphanage on a distant island and determine whether six dangerous magical children are <i>so</i> dangerous, in fact, that they're likely to bring about the end of days. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When Linus arrives at the strangest of islands he's greeted by a series of mysterious figures, the greatest mystery of which is Arthur Parnassus, the master of the orphanage. As Linus and Arthur grow closer, Linus discovers the master would do anything to keep the children safe, even if the world has to burn. Or worse, his secret comes to light. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The House in the Cerulean Sea</i> is an enchanting love story, masterfully told, about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place - and realizing that family is yours. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I have TikTok to thank for a massive surge in my reading recommendations, this being one of them. So many people have posted about this particular book with the description that it "made your cold dead heart feel something for the first time in years" and "simply brought joy to your soul." I concur with both of those statements wholeheartedly. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Linus Baker lives in a world (reminiscent of 1984 and X-men combined) where those born with powers are kept under control and monitored by the government. Many of these magical children are orphans and live in government-controlled institutions. Linus is his world's equivalent to a children's aid caseworker, visiting these orphanages and determining whether they should remain open or be shut down. Linus genuinely cares about his work and the children he's tasked to look in on, but his life has otherwise become a bit stagnant. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">He's ordered by the higher ups of his organization to observe the Marsyas Island Orphanage due to the unique abilities of the six children that live there. When they include the literal Antichrist, a wyvern, and a child that defies all explanation, he's not sure what to expect. This is made even more confusing when the master of the house, Arthur, doesn't always abide by the organization's rules. As Linus learns more about the house's inhabitants and bonds with them, he has to decide what should become of the place, and what to do when his one-month stay is over. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Reading this book is like being wrapped in a cuddly blanket. There are some pretty dark and relatable themes of government control, prejudice, abuse, and hatred towards the "other", but those are tempered with humour and some of the most adorable moments that will just make your heart melt. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The plot of the book is not overly complicated and it's pretty clear early on how the story will play out, but that's not the point of reading this book. The beauty is in the details. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The characters are immediately relatable and endearing. Linus is just precious in how he cares about people in spite of his adherence to rules. Arthur is soft and fatherly, you just want to hug him. The kids are both adorable and hilarious, my favourite being Lucy, the devil himself, because his lines made me laugh so hard. All the other characters are amazing too, there honestly wasn't one that failed to capture my interest. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The writing is simple, but nonetheless beautiful. The setting is described evocatively to the point where I, like Linus, was enchanted by the beauty of the island. There are so many beautiful quotes in this story that will make you laugh and cry, possibly at the same time.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I can't recommend this book enough. It's become an instant favourite of mine, similar to everyone else who's read it (there's a reason it's so popular). If you want a book to enrapture you, go read this. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Simple, but good. The art style almost makes this seem like a children's book, but I find it charming. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-10720526276449069882021-07-06T13:05:00.002-04:002021-07-15T19:31:15.551-04:00Breaker: Tales of the Outlaw Mages - Amy Campbell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QXXBwklwoHc/YPDFISO31XI/AAAAAAAAC0s/zjQXoHQcYjsuDrNNYjyVd9S3kBUKpYg0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/57526585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QXXBwklwoHc/YPDFISO31XI/AAAAAAAAC0s/zjQXoHQcYjsuDrNNYjyVd9S3kBUKpYg0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/57526585.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Title:</b> Breaker: Tales of the Outlaw Mages (Book One)</div><div><b>Author:</b> Amy Campbell<br /><b>Publisher:</b> Independently published, 2021 (Paperback, ebook)<br /><b>Length:</b> 433 pages </div><div><b>Genre:</b> Adult Fantasy</div><div><b>Started:</b> June 30, 2021</div><div><b>Finished:</b> July 5, 2021</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Summary:</b></div><div>From the back cover:</div><div><br /></div><div>Walking Disaster. Ruiner. Spook. Sorcerer. The reason we can't have nice things. </div><div><br /></div><div>The citizens in the of Bristle have called Blaise every name in the book. Born a Breaker, his unbridled magic wreaks havoc with a touch. As his peers land apprenticeships, Blaise faces the reality that no one wants a mage who destroys everything around him. When enemy soldiers storm the town hunting for spellcasters, he has no choice but to escape and rush headlong into the unknown. </div><div><br /></div><div>A chance encounter with a pegasus sets Blaise on the path to a new life. Despite the machinations of a surly gunslinger, he finds a place to belong in the hardscrabble world of the outlaw mages. </div><div><br /></div><div>But even an outlaw mage can't outrun his past, and Blaise's returns with a vengeance, threatening his chosen family. Can Blaise find the grit to harness his volatile magic into a saving grace, or will his most dangerous challenge be his last? </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Review:</b></div><div>Now that the school year is done and I can finally breathe, it's time to read for pleasure once again and thanks to TikTok I have plenty of recommendations to rebuild my TBR pile. This one was the first and it was a great way to kickstart my summer reading. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>In Iphyria, those with magical abilities are rounded up and controlled by the Salt-Iron Confederation, and there's very few places where mages can live without being forced to use their powers against their will. Blaise lives with his family in Desina, one of those few few hold-outs. Although he hasn't had to worry about the Confederation, Blaise still struggles because his magic isn't supposed to exist. Blaise is a Breaker, an untrained one at that, destroying everything he touches. </div><div><br /></div><div>When the Confederation comes calling in Desina, Blaise is forced to flee. He finds himself, alone, in the Gutter, a harsh region populated by outlaw mages that the Confederation doesn't control. When he rescues a Pegasus named Emrys, he discovers a community in Itude that accepts and welcomes him. But when the Confederation tracks him down even there, can Blaise control his magic to protect his newfound family?</div></div><div><br /></div><div>This author had me hooked with "Asexual magic cowboys." 'Cause if that's not a reason to read a book, I don't know what is. Add in the Pegasi characters and you really can't go wrong here. </div><div><br /></div><div>This book pulls you right in from the start, and I attribute that to the excellent characters. Blaise is a sweetheart and you just want to hug him and tell him everything's going to be okay. Jack is perfect and prickly, adding just enough conflict in the beginning to make his character development throughout the book nice and satisfying. And the Pegasi, oh, the Pegasi are the best part of this book, they totally steal the show. Emrys and Zepheus have a fair bit of range, their telepathic communications with their riders varying from sweet to sarcastic and a bit scathing, and their little business venture selling Blaise's baked goods to the other Pegasi had me laughing. I haven't even touched on the rest of the characters that populate Itude, but they're all endearing to say the least. </div><div><br /></div><div>The world building is nicely done throughout the book rather than all at the beginning, and the magic system is unique in that each person born with magic (not everyone is) having their own particular specialty, and I'm not talking basic elemental magic like your average fantasy book, there are actually some types described that are quite impressive in their originality. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div>When the book you're reading has subtle Community references and librarian humour, you know it's going to be good (go read this!). There's an intriguing universe and magic system, and the characters are just phenomenal. I've already put book 2, <a href="https://www.amycampbell.info/effigest">Effigest</a> on my list to buy when it comes out. </div><div><br /></div><div>If anyone wants to check out the author and her works, you can do so here: <a href="https://www.amycampbell.info">Amy Campbell</a></div><div>If anyone wants to read the book, you can find links to various retailers here: <a href="https://books2read.com/Breaker">Breaker</a></div><div>If anyone wants to check out the cover artist, you can do so here: <a href="https://www.eerilyfairbookcovers.com">EerilyFair Design</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div>It's so pretty. I never thought I'd say that about a cover with obvious western motifs (that usually aren't my thing) but it's so stinkin' pretty. </div><p></p>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-58636891279754048952021-02-15T14:55:00.001-05:002021-02-15T14:55:33.072-05:00Down Among the Sticks and Bones - Seanan McGuire<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1473685781l/31450908.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1473685781l/31450908.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Title:</b> Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Author:</b> Seanan McGuire</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Tor (Tom Doherty Associates), 2017 (Hardcover)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Length:</b> 187 pages</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult/Adult; Fantasy</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Started:</b> February 14, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Finished:</b> February 15, 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From the inside cover:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Twin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This is the story of what happened first...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Jacqueline was her mother's perfect daughter - polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it's because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Jillian was her father's perfect daughter - adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tomboy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you've got. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">They were five when they learned that grown-ups can't be trusted. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretense of love can never be enough to prepare you for a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and <i>choices</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Review:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">After <a href="http://exlibrisandrea.blogspot.com/2021/02/every-heart-doorway-seanan-mcguire.html">Every Heart a Doorway</a>, the subsequent instalments in this series tackle the backstories of different characters from the first book. Twin sisters Jack and Jill were a favourite of mine from the first book (and apparently everyone else's too), so it makes sense that the next book focuses on them. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I love these dark fairy tales, if for nothing else then to remind ourselves that children are living beings with preferences and needs that we can't necessarily shape and mould as we will. Pretty much all the damage done (at least so far in these first two books), comes from forgetting this. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Chester and Serena are probably the last people in the world who should be parents, but all the men at his firm have perfect sons, and all the women on her committees have the most idyllic daughters. How hard could it be? When Serena gives birth to twin girls, it throws a bit of a monkey wrench into their plans of getting the perfect family all at once, but they work with what they have. Jillian is more daring and outgoing, while Jacqueline is more cautious and observant, so Jill becomes the tomboy stand-in for the son Chester always wanted, and Jacqueline becomes the quiet and proper daughter Serena always wanted.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When the girls are twelve and hating the rigid roles that have been thrust upon them, a doorway opens up at the bottom of a trunk in a closet, and what twelve-year-old with little freedom can resist the promise of adventure? They find themselves in the Moors with werewolves in the forests and a blood-red moon in the sky. Two men offer to care for them during their stay there...which will they choose? </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This instalment is just as engaging as the first book, even though we're only focusing on one set of characters. Jack and Jill's story is a good one; dark, but not to the point where it could turn readers off. If anything, I'm finding I want more of these stories and wish they were full-length novels rather than short novellas, but they're still excellent as they are.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you like dark fairy tales, give this series a try. I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of books 3 and 4 as we speak. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Again, similar to the first book, the landscape with the doorway as the central image is a good strategy to appeal to adult readers (this is not your usual YA cover) considering the cross-over potential. </div><p></p>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926967822182889713.post-42296329137589559502021-02-13T14:41:00.001-05:002021-02-13T14:41:54.080-05:00Every Heart a Doorway - Seanan McGuire<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.novelknight.com/wp-content/uploads/every-heart-a-doorway-seanan-mcguire.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="530" height="320" src="https://www.novelknight.com/wp-content/uploads/every-heart-a-doorway-seanan-mcguire.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><b>Title:</b> Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1)<div><b>Author:</b> Seanan McGuire</div><div><b>Publisher:</b> Tor (Tom Doherty Associates), 2016 (Hardcover)</div><div><b>Length:</b> 169 pages</div><div><b>Genre:</b> Young Adult/Adult; Fantasy</div><div><b>Started: </b>February 10, 2021</div><div><b>Finished:</b> February 12, 2021</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Summary:</b></div><div>From the inside cover:</div><div><br /></div><div>Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children</div><div><br /></div><div>No solicitations</div><div>No visitors</div><div>No quests</div><div><br /></div><div>Children have always disappeared under the right conditions - slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells and emerging somewhere...else. </div><div><br /></div><div>But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children. </div><div><br /></div><div>Nancy tumbled once, but now she's back. The things she's experienced...they change a person. The children under Miss West's care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world. </div><div><br /></div><div>But Nancy's arrival marks a change at the home. There's a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it's up to Nancy and and her newfound schoolmates to get to the heart of things. No matter the cost. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Review:</b></div><div>As we enter another year of pandemic restrictions and stress for anyone working in education right now, my pleasure reading choices have reverted to favourite genres that are personally comforting. And what better way to take someone out of their own head than a good portal fantasy. I always liked these types of books as a kid: Narnia, Wonderland (though my least favourite out of the bunch), Oz, Hogwarts, you name it I ate it up. As kids though, we never gave any thought to what happened to these characters when they went back, which this series explores nicely. </div><div><br /></div><div>When seventeen-year-old Nancy comes back through her door from the Underworld silent and devoid of colour, her desperate parents send her to Miss West's school in the hope of getting their happy little girl back. But like the other kids at the school, Nancy wants to find her door again so she can return to her real home. That is, if she can survive the rash of killings haunting the school since her arrival. </div><div><br /></div><div>This novella is a nice, quick read; but thanks to good, concise writing it isn't short on plot or development. The story introduces not just Nancy and her door, but several students and their fantasy worlds, all of them engaging.</div><div><br /></div><div>The author makes some clever observations that she works into the narrative, the following being my favourite, when Nancy asks why there are more girls than boys at the school:</div><div><br /></div><div>"Because 'boys will be boys' is a self-fulfilling prophecy...They're too loud, on the whole, to be easily misplaced or overlooked; when they disappear from the home, parents send search parties to dredge them out of swamps and drag them away from frog ponds. It's not innate. It's learned. But it protects them from the doors, keeps them safe at home. Call it irony, if you like, but we spend so much time waiting for our boys to stray that they never have the opportunity. We notice the silence of men. We depend upon the silence of women." (pg. 59)</div><div><br /></div><div>And this one is from Miss West lecturing the children about supporting one another rather than treating each other as suspects, that could honestly be printed on the walls of classrooms everywhere:</div><div><br /></div><div>"This world is unforgiving and cruel to those it judges as even the slightest bit outside the norm. If anyone should be kind, understanding, accepting, loving to their fellow outcasts, it's you. All of you. You are the guardians of the secrets of the universe, beloved of worlds that most will never dream of, much less see...can't you see where you owe it to yourselves to be <i>kind</i>? To care for one another? No one outside this room will ever understand what you've been through the way the people around you right now understand. This is not your home. I know that better than most. But this is your way station and your sanctuary, and you will treat those around you with respect." (pg. 100)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Recommendation:</b></div><div>If you're in the mood for a short but very satisfying fantasy read, give this a go and then get the rest of the books in the series: Down Among the Sticks and Bones, Beneath the Sugar Sky, In an Absent Dream, Juice Like Wounds, Come Tumbling Down, and Across the Green Grass Fields.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thoughts on the cover:</b></div><div>The cover with a landscape and the door as the central focus is nicely suited to the content and targeted audience. This type of cover is nicely consistent with the other books in the series, so they look great on a shelf. </div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513273660886888339noreply@blogger.com0