Books and comics read in March 2022
Saturday, 16 April 2022 17:23![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
usuallyhatsDaughter of Lies and Ruin - Jo Spurrier
Once Upon a Crime - Robin Stevens
Lagoonfire - Francesca Forrest
The Strangeworlds Travel Agency - LD Lapinski
Nina Is Not OK - Shaparak Khorsandi
Submergence - Arula Ratnakar
Stories of the Raksura, Volume 2: The Dead City & The Dark Earth Below - Martha Wells
Saint Peter's Fair - Ellis Peters
Critical Role: The Tales of Exandria -The Bright Queen
The Actual Star - Monica Byrne
Anne of Avonlea - LM Montgomery
Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths - Natalie Haynes
Nina is Not OK
This isn't my usual thing - it's contemporary fiction about a (bisexual, mixed race) teenage girl struggling with her alcoholism and the aftermath of a rape she doesn't remember, and with no magic or spaceships whatsoever - but I picked it up on the strength of really liking the author, and it was really good. It handles heavy topics with the seriousness they deserve without descending into excessive grimness, and is just really good overall on the messiness of people, particularly teenagers. It's also really funny in places! I liked it a whole lot.
Content notes: alcoholism, rape, suicide, parental death (the latter two offscreen before the events of the book)
Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths
Thoroughly enjoyed this look at ten women in Greek myths, their significance and how they've been interpreted through the centuries. Highly recommended.
Didn't finish:
The Lover - Laury Silvers
I picked up this mystery set in 14th century Baghdad because I'd heard it had detailed, rich worldbuilding, which is my jam, but on this occasion I feel like the world somewhat overwhelmed the characters and the plot. The author has clearly done her research and knows the period inside and out, but it felt to me like the characters were there to explain the world, rather than to be people in their own right.
Unconquerable Sun - Kate Elliott
Genderbent Alexander the Great in space is such a cracking premise, but sadly I felt like this just wasn't that good. Its key flaw for me was that it doesn't take time to establish the characters and the world, so that the plot felt like a lot of miscellaneous running around - I couldn't get a handle on what the events meant to the world or to the characters, so it just felt incoherent. The prose is also not amazing, there's a lot of really flat dialogue, and the third person sections seem slightly confused about whether it's tight third person point of view or an omniscient narrator. Despite all this, I did get nearly two thirds of the way through before dropping it, so there was clearly something compelling about it.
Once Upon a Crime - Robin Stevens
Lagoonfire - Francesca Forrest
The Strangeworlds Travel Agency - LD Lapinski
Nina Is Not OK - Shaparak Khorsandi
Submergence - Arula Ratnakar
Stories of the Raksura, Volume 2: The Dead City & The Dark Earth Below - Martha Wells
Saint Peter's Fair - Ellis Peters
Critical Role: The Tales of Exandria -The Bright Queen
The Actual Star - Monica Byrne
Anne of Avonlea - LM Montgomery
Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths - Natalie Haynes
Nina is Not OK
This isn't my usual thing - it's contemporary fiction about a (bisexual, mixed race) teenage girl struggling with her alcoholism and the aftermath of a rape she doesn't remember, and with no magic or spaceships whatsoever - but I picked it up on the strength of really liking the author, and it was really good. It handles heavy topics with the seriousness they deserve without descending into excessive grimness, and is just really good overall on the messiness of people, particularly teenagers. It's also really funny in places! I liked it a whole lot.
Content notes: alcoholism, rape, suicide, parental death (the latter two offscreen before the events of the book)
Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths
Thoroughly enjoyed this look at ten women in Greek myths, their significance and how they've been interpreted through the centuries. Highly recommended.
Didn't finish:
The Lover - Laury Silvers
I picked up this mystery set in 14th century Baghdad because I'd heard it had detailed, rich worldbuilding, which is my jam, but on this occasion I feel like the world somewhat overwhelmed the characters and the plot. The author has clearly done her research and knows the period inside and out, but it felt to me like the characters were there to explain the world, rather than to be people in their own right.
Unconquerable Sun - Kate Elliott
Genderbent Alexander the Great in space is such a cracking premise, but sadly I felt like this just wasn't that good. Its key flaw for me was that it doesn't take time to establish the characters and the world, so that the plot felt like a lot of miscellaneous running around - I couldn't get a handle on what the events meant to the world or to the characters, so it just felt incoherent. The prose is also not amazing, there's a lot of really flat dialogue, and the third person sections seem slightly confused about whether it's tight third person point of view or an omniscient narrator. Despite all this, I did get nearly two thirds of the way through before dropping it, so there was clearly something compelling about it.
no subject
Date: 17 Apr 2022 14:56 (UTC)I have bounced of Kate Elliott so many times that I don't even try anymore, for very similar reasons.
no subject
Date: 23 Apr 2022 22:05 (UTC)