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Books read in September 2022
Saturday, 22 October 2022 13:49Lud-in-the-Mist - Hope Mirrlees
Sisters of the Neversea - Cynthia Leitich Smith
African Europeans: An Untold History - Olivette Otélé
The Bruising of Qilwa - Naseem Jamnia
The Grief of Stones - Katherine Addison
Nettle & Bone - T Kingfisher
Nona the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir
Book of Night - Holly Black
Gender Queer - Maia Kobabe
(trying out the new way of doing spoiler cuts, give me a shout if anything looks weird!)
Very thoughtful updating of Peter Pan, in which Lily, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation and a precious anxious bean, follows her impulsive stepsister Wendy and their brother Michael to Neverland to save them from Peter. It doesn't pull its punches on revealing everything that's messed up about the original, but it's also a very kind book - even Peter is seen as the child he is and given the opportunity to change and grow out of his monstrousness. Really lovely.
Nettle & Bone
Really excellent quest fantasy about a woman trying to kill a king before he can kill her sister. It starts out quite bleak, but the tone shifts fairly quickly and it's full of the author's trademark humour. It also has a romance that I personally didn't care about, but it's a very standard T Kingfisher romance (she: capable, independent, In Difficulties probably due her family; he: older, physical strong, noble, but in Emotional Pain due to actions in his past for which he has not forgiven himself), so if you like those, you'll like this. And like a lot of Kingfisher's work it's very concerned with power and choice and the obligations we have to the people around us. I loved it a lot.
(I do have to add, though, I love T. Kingfisher's writing, but this is the third book of hers I've read in a row that had some comment along the lines of "of course they noticed [person's attractiveness], they weren't DEAD", and every time I've had to put the book down for a bit until the fury abated, it's exhausting)
Book of Night
This is in many ways a very standard urban fantasy, but it completely sucked me in. I was even invested in the main m/f pairing, which as you know bob is really not my thing: they're both traumatised, closed off and secretive, and I was really rooting for them to find it in themselves to be honest with each other and manage to work together to defeat the bad guys. It also has an interesting magic system and some twists that I didn't quite see coming. Looking forward to the sequel!
Sisters of the Neversea - Cynthia Leitich Smith
African Europeans: An Untold History - Olivette Otélé
The Bruising of Qilwa - Naseem Jamnia
The Grief of Stones - Katherine Addison
Nettle & Bone - T Kingfisher
Nona the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir
Book of Night - Holly Black
Gender Queer - Maia Kobabe
(trying out the new way of doing spoiler cuts, give me a shout if anything looks weird!)
Sisters of the Neversea, (four stars), Nettle & Bone (four stars), Book of Night (four stars)
Sisters of the NeverseaVery thoughtful updating of Peter Pan, in which Lily, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation and a precious anxious bean, follows her impulsive stepsister Wendy and their brother Michael to Neverland to save them from Peter. It doesn't pull its punches on revealing everything that's messed up about the original, but it's also a very kind book - even Peter is seen as the child he is and given the opportunity to change and grow out of his monstrousness. Really lovely.
Nettle & Bone
Really excellent quest fantasy about a woman trying to kill a king before he can kill her sister. It starts out quite bleak, but the tone shifts fairly quickly and it's full of the author's trademark humour. It also has a romance that I personally didn't care about, but it's a very standard T Kingfisher romance (she: capable, independent, In Difficulties probably due her family; he: older, physical strong, noble, but in Emotional Pain due to actions in his past for which he has not forgiven himself), so if you like those, you'll like this. And like a lot of Kingfisher's work it's very concerned with power and choice and the obligations we have to the people around us. I loved it a lot.
(I do have to add, though, I love T. Kingfisher's writing, but this is the third book of hers I've read in a row that had some comment along the lines of "of course they noticed [person's attractiveness], they weren't DEAD", and every time I've had to put the book down for a bit until the fury abated, it's exhausting)
Book of Night
This is in many ways a very standard urban fantasy, but it completely sucked me in. I was even invested in the main m/f pairing, which as you know bob is really not my thing: they're both traumatised, closed off and secretive, and I was really rooting for them to find it in themselves to be honest with each other and manage to work together to defeat the bad guys. It also has an interesting magic system and some twists that I didn't quite see coming. Looking forward to the sequel!