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possibilityleft) wrote2023-12-06 08:52 pm
possibilityleft) wrote2023-12-06 08:52 pm
Entry tags:
Discount Armageddon, Malice, Moby Dyke, and 1 DNF
So many of the people in my life are getting books for Christmas. Hope they like books lol.
*****
Mini book reviews:
Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire - This is a reread to get back into the Incryptid series by Seanan. I think I read the first 6 or so of them and enjoyed them, but for whatever reason didn't pick up the next one, so now I'm going back. This is a fun introduction to the series, classic urban fantasy about a woman who is a waitress trying to be a professional dancer, except that her family's profession of cryptozoology keps getting in the way. Pair her with a anti-cryptid representative of an anti-cryptid secret organization, whom she gets to fight and make out with. I always love Seanan's character voices and some of my favorite Incryptid things are here from the start: the Aeslin mice (sentient religious mice that worship her family's mundane actions) and the cuckoos (dangerous telepaths who were adopted into her family).
Malice by Heather Walter - I read this for r/fantasy's Mythology and Retellings square, and it finishes out my bingo card for the year! I have to write another post to make sure I reviewed all of my card, because I'm pretty sure I didn't. This is the first in a duology and the back 20% or so is really unpleasant and sad to set up the second book. There's a sweet f/f romance but most of the book is about how Alyce's life as the "evil" charm marker is terrible and how she's constantly battling with her anger and sadness about it. I'm on the fence whether I'm going to read the second one.
Moby Dyke by Krista Burton - I read this for the lesbian book club at Left Bank Books, and it was very fun. It's a nice story woven through the writer's tour through all the remaining lesbian bars in America. I will say there was a lot more LGBT 101 in here than I expected; I figured the audience would be our folks so that was kind of jarring at points. But hey baby lesbians have to start somewhere, right? When I finished the book it made me want to visit several of these places so it did a good job I think.
One DNF this week:
Witch King by Martha Wells - I have got to stop trying to read high fantasy even by authors I really like. Or to vet it better, idk. High fantasy with demons, any kind of Heaven/Hell dichotomy, is always confusing to me because if it's not set in our world where would this concept of Hell come from? Anyway I didn't like the main character and that was probably the real problem. I gave up around the 25% mark.
*****
Mini book reviews:
Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire - This is a reread to get back into the Incryptid series by Seanan. I think I read the first 6 or so of them and enjoyed them, but for whatever reason didn't pick up the next one, so now I'm going back. This is a fun introduction to the series, classic urban fantasy about a woman who is a waitress trying to be a professional dancer, except that her family's profession of cryptozoology keps getting in the way. Pair her with a anti-cryptid representative of an anti-cryptid secret organization, whom she gets to fight and make out with. I always love Seanan's character voices and some of my favorite Incryptid things are here from the start: the Aeslin mice (sentient religious mice that worship her family's mundane actions) and the cuckoos (dangerous telepaths who were adopted into her family).
Malice by Heather Walter - I read this for r/fantasy's Mythology and Retellings square, and it finishes out my bingo card for the year! I have to write another post to make sure I reviewed all of my card, because I'm pretty sure I didn't. This is the first in a duology and the back 20% or so is really unpleasant and sad to set up the second book. There's a sweet f/f romance but most of the book is about how Alyce's life as the "evil" charm marker is terrible and how she's constantly battling with her anger and sadness about it. I'm on the fence whether I'm going to read the second one.
Moby Dyke by Krista Burton - I read this for the lesbian book club at Left Bank Books, and it was very fun. It's a nice story woven through the writer's tour through all the remaining lesbian bars in America. I will say there was a lot more LGBT 101 in here than I expected; I figured the audience would be our folks so that was kind of jarring at points. But hey baby lesbians have to start somewhere, right? When I finished the book it made me want to visit several of these places so it did a good job I think.
One DNF this week:
Witch King by Martha Wells - I have got to stop trying to read high fantasy even by authors I really like. Or to vet it better, idk. High fantasy with demons, any kind of Heaven/Hell dichotomy, is always confusing to me because if it's not set in our world where would this concept of Hell come from? Anyway I didn't like the main character and that was probably the real problem. I gave up around the 25% mark.