Escapism for the win They/He/She/Xe 22 Ace š³ļøāš I read a lot of books and occasionally talk about them. Book recs and thoughts on books Iāve read.
I just watched Witch Hat Atelierā¦ I wish I didnāt have this struggle where I canāt start a thing when it first comes out, I need to wait a couple months until the urge is there.
I loved this. Iām no mad at myself for not watching sooner. I just binged the whole thing. I want more. Iāll be buddy reading the manga as soon as my hold comes in.
Likeā¦. Wow.
The art, the voices, the characters, the world building, I just, Iām amazed that something so beautiful can be created. My favorite characters in order! Are!
Tartah
Richeh
Euini
Qyfrey
Agott
I cried a lot for Tartah because I hate when people are taught they canāt do things just because they canāt do them the āproper wayā itās horrible.
I feel so strongly connected to all of these characters! Like itās so hard to pick favorites. I even adore Coco! Sheās so sweet and amazing and I wish the best for each and every one of them.
The whole cast <3 <3
Iām now going to see if I can get my friends to watch it. They wouldnāt get into alnst/zombst when I told them about it but maybe itās just the format! Maybe I can get them into Witch hat because itās amazing and I think more people should love it. :)
I read nineteen (19) Books this month. Three (3) were manga and I didn't have enough space in the collage for all nineteen so I took out the manga and the T. Kingfisher book.
I spoke about the first eleven books I think? Probably. But I ended up reading eight more! Yayyy... Only two of my finished books are from my library haul. The rest were from Libby or my past indiscretions with buying E-books or audiobooks.
ITCH! was fun, I don't think I spoke about it (could go back and check but I'm lazy). The vibes were pretty great, I was dual reading with e-book and audio. The author read their own book and it actually worked well. Her voice is lovely. I ended up listening more cause I was crocheting a blanket. It follows this woman after she starts finding bodies of women that look just like her. She starts to hallucinate ants and other rot loving bugs crawling on her and inside her. Her mental health definitely takes a leap into oncoming traffic, Luckily she has people to support her. It doesn't hide her issues at all, and often goes into detail. There's also a lot of folk lore thatās really interesting. They have a yearly Pagan festival where the whole town gets together and makes creature masks for themselves. There's also a giant paper mache woman that they carry through the march. I felt the story was pretty good, it flowed well, and the ending felt natural.
Friday Black was my first finished library book! It is a short story collection that has a lot of dark stories that are not gentle at all. It deals with racism and mental health. All sorts of things that can get very gritty. The first story is about the murder of five black youth and the court trying to let the murderer go free. There's also a couple stories that involve the crazy atmosphere of Black Friday and kinda dive into how insane people act.
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice is my first nonfiction book this year. A friend recommended it to me when I was really needing a nonfiction book. It's about the author as she tries to create a world of access for those not able bodied. She starts by making care webs of other disabled and queer individuals. Though some of these communities do not last, she continues to try. It was honestly really empowering to hear about her actions to get accessibility at her shows and anywhere she went. It's a very real collection of essays detailing her efforts and how much it has cost, mentally and physically, to get to the point she has. She talks about how so many able bodied people fear the thought of being disabled to the point they'd rather die than learn to live with their body. It's so awful because I've heard that sentiment before. It's everywhere and such a dark thing that is praised and agreed upon. This book really hit me hard while I've been in the process of moving and struggling with pain while trying to pack. It reminded me of my childhood which was filled with care webs that I participated in like it was natural and easy and fun. I miss that a lot.
Warriors: Forest of Secrets, This book straight after Care Work was rough. There is a cat that's been badly injured and she talks about wanting to die because she won't be able to become a warrior or hunt for herself. Which I call bullshit. I have had cats with messed up legs, to only three legs that could mess some other cats/animals up. I was not prepared for ableism in my cat book. Fireheart is not as annoying in this one but it was a very near thing. Bluestar continues to annoy me. I can't wait for my Libby hold of the fourth book to come up ;-; I need more information on the kitties.
The Worm and His Kings was a highly anticipated read for me and yet I was disappointed. It follows this girl as she looks for her girlfriend that disappeared along with a bunch of other girls. There's a cult that worships an Eldritch creature. there's just a lot going on in this very short book.
Hear The Wind Sing is my second library book... There is so much misogyny in Haruki Murakami books. This book would have been a vibe if the MC didn't describe his second girlfriend as "almost nothing but a pair of breasts." Also he lies to this girl's workplace as he stalks her, and that's just so creepy. he also only remembers his third girlfriend fondly because some guy murdered her and he can't think badly of the dead.
Strange Weather in Tokyo, follows this thirty something year old woman as she befriends her old japanese teacher. They're both incredibly lonely and pretty much on the same level when they meet again. They never schedule their meetups, they just leave it to chance. Until she falls for him and decides she wants to do something about it. This book is incredibly sad and has some issues with how the MC sees herself for being young and other people her age compared to Sensei who is like seventy. ummm yeah the age gap is pretty big but it wasn't done in a gross way? The teacher could also have been done worse, but its stated pretty clearly that she didn't recognize him as a teacher and that she never really spoke to him before. He recognized her as a student which is iffy but again they're adults and she initiates it. I don't really like sensei but I can recognize that this relationship was helpful to the MC.
Outdrawn is the first sapphic romance book that I have read that actually feels real. Like don't get me wrong, I've struggled to read Regular sapphic romance books because I feel like the characters always fall flat. So I tend to jump into fantasy or sci-fi books that happen to have a sapphic relationship. That tends to lessen the impact of flat characters. However, this has made me not pick up many sapphic book just on the off chance they end up not great. This book was great! It has rivals-to-lovers, it deals with personality flaws and mental and physical health. It's pretty body positive. I felt like every piece of it was done really well. Noah and Sage were really fleshed out and natural.
Itās going to hurt so much but they look so good šš
Itās so hard to pick a favorite because all of them are amazing. Iām using all of them on my different accounts š
The first round was already heartbreaking and disgusting. I think the fact itās humans is making it so much worse. Because aliens arenāt recognizable to us. Thatās what the word means. Humans are real and in front of us everyday. We understand humans.
So the actions and excitement of all the men in the crowd is horrific. I feel like itās gonna get so much worse because already itās awful to see Mizi so beaten down.
I loveeee Sua and Iām really excited to have these extra clips of her. Aghahenej yeah I really really want more of all of them.
HYUNA. I donāt know how I feel about Hyuna already showing up. I love her. But I am very afraid. For all of them.
Ivan whistli h at the end- Iām excited I swear. Just also preparing for the worst.
I have already watched it three timesā¦. Everythingās is fine.
My reading has really been all over the place this month alreadyā¦. Weāre gonna just accept that.
The Top books Iāve read so farā¦.. areā¦.. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and This is How You Lose the Time War. Kitchen and Shiki are tied for third Iām afraid.
Yes I am late to reading This is How You Lose the Time War. I know. It got so much hype that I truly held the belief that everyone was faking and it wasnāt that good. I even started it in April and only got a couple pages in because I wasnāt sure if Iād like it. I downloaded a bunch of books, including Kitchen, one night and instead of starting any of those, I continued Time War. I ended up reading till 80% and then fell asleep. I dreamed of the book. And then I awoke to continue reading immediately. For like three hours after I finished it, I was texting and talking in the way of the writing in it. Thatās how much it affected me! It was a wild time and I adored this book. I had just been saying that I needed a sapphic book that doesnāt end in them breaking up or something worse. And I was holding one on my currently reading shelf for months.
I loveeee reading about characters that are at the least morally grey. Though usually only the ones properly written. I donāt like when a character does something horrible just because the author wants them to be edgy. Coriolanus Snow is not that! In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes there is a beautifully gradual descent into the President Snow that we know. You can see what he could become from the beginning and how, yes of course he could have done things differently, but he didnāt. He trained himself to discard weak emotions throughout his whole life. Not only does he train himself, but heās also prodded by teachers to be worse and worse. Itās honestly an incredible book. Iāve been reading the series as a buddy read and I am so excited to see how they like it. Theyāve been defending Snow because they watched the movie and thought he was pretty and pitiful. I hope the book shows them how not great he is.
I did not like This Monster Wants to Eat Me. It was boring and it felt like very little was happening despite monsters continuously trying to attack the MC. It also felt like there was a lot of over explanation. I did read the second volume because I felt the story might pick up a bit more but it didnāt. So I wonāt be continuing the manga.
Shiki! I love Shiki. The art is really nostalgic though the storyline is all over the place at the start. I think it still works well. Iām totally taking notes of whoās all dead out of the villagers because they are numbered when introduced. Iāve been meaning to read this for forever but I could never find it.
I am rereading the first three Warriors books and then continuing with the series. I believe there are 54 books in the main stories and then many side stories as well. I wish to read them all because the drama is insane. I love reading about cats doing crazy things. In the second book, Fire and Ice, thereās a lot of hypocrisy which Iām not a fan of but Iām hoping the third one has them grow up a bit after the events of this book. I canāt stop thinking all of them are cute. Like I know weāre supposed to view some characters as bad but all I can think about is seeing a cat that has attacked a lot of people and still going āaweeee so cuteā itās a problem. I would absolutely accept each and every one of these cats, even the war criminals.
Victorian Psycho, was definitely a vibe. It was so whimsical as people get murdered. Winnifred truly had a lovely point of view. Though Iām curious how the other POVs would feel. Theres multiple scenes that just made me question how she got away with it all for so long. Iām kinda questioning the ending especially with some characters actions. Winnifred is an unreliable narrator because she loses time and acts before thinking at all. Sometimes she just imagines things that didnāt happen. Theres a movie coming out for it which I will be watching because it seems to focus on everyoneās POV instead of just Fred.
A House With Good Bones is my second T. Kingfisher book. I didnāt like the first one past sixty percent. This one had similar issues for me around seventy percent but it wasnāt as bad as The Twisted onesā were. Itās like every time they give an answer for whatās happening and then try to have a second big reveal? Itās not a fun time. I do enjoy the fact that each main character has their own Thing they really like and that shades everything they do. This one is bugs. I love learning new things so seeing a bunch of cool facts in a book is fun for me.
The Outsides is still a really good story. Itās short and from the mind of a young poor kid. And it definitely shows that which was nice. I had already seen the movie before reading so I knew what was gonna happen. I still really enjoyed the writing and the view into history even if itās still fiction. Nowadays these ideas are very romanticized without paying attention to the actual struggles of being a āgreaseā and a āsocialā and the conflict therein.
The Brides of High Hill was a very interesting installment in the singing hills cycle. Compared to the last one which was about grief, this one still showed Chihs grief but also just throws you into the next adventure. It was a fascinating time watching Chih do things without Almost Brilliant and how they chose to act in another dangerous and confusing situation. In a place where no one wants to give their story itās strange for a story collecting cleric to be there.
Now kitchenā¦. I did not actually know what all this would entail. I knew it was about grief and love and thatās about it. There are two stories in it, which Iāve found many people did not realize. Thereās Kitchen and then Moonlight Shadow. Kitchen is larger and follows Mikage after the death of her grandmother whom she lived with as she starts to learn to grieve and live again without her. She begins staying with a young man and his mom that her grandmother was friendly with. They let her stay until she gets back on her feet, then thereās also a slow blooming love between shuichi and Mikage. Eriko, Shuichiis mom, is a trans woman and there are a lot of moments where that is handled badly. If youāve ever seen ouran highschool host club, how Haruhi talks about their parent is similar to how Eriko is spoken of. It could be frustrating. Moonlight shadow follows a girl after her husband passes away. They had only been married a year and she canāt seem to figure out how to relax again. She goes on runs and meets new people who are also grieving. She starts to learn through talking to them how to live again. Itās really beautiful and so sad. But hopeful. Like, yes, even after losing someone things can get better.
Iām pretty happy with the books Iāve finished so far. I have started quite a few I havenāt finished yet. I think Iām ācurrently readingā twenty books. I havenāt touch some in about two months so Iāll actually put them on pause. Hopefully I finish them at some point.
btw when you say "bodies aren't gendered" and "bodily autonomy for all" and "you don't owe anyone passing" etc you have to be okay with pre/early/non physically transitioning trans people who will not fit your ideal of what their gender is. you have to be okay with Visibly trans people. you have to be okay with trans people whose pronouns don't "typically fit" w/their appearence. you have to be okay with trans people who don't want to pass at all. you have to be okay with them.
I barely read throughout the month and then in the last week I was burning through books like crazy. I didnāt finish all the ones I started, and some of them I paused because I wasnāt sure if I wanted to continue them, but I enjoyed my time anyway! I think I have 14 on my currently reading bar. I was very busy this month but somehow I read best when Iām busy.
Now, the shortest book I read is not on the collage, mostly because I didnāt really care for it. It was 72 pages of betrayal by friends and nearly getting sold into slavery yada yada and then oh my oh my! A big monster has come to save and free me. I needed something simple, okay? I had picked up three books in a row that bored me and I felt I was slipping into a slump.
The longest book I read was Cress. I must say it was much better than Scarlet. I am only slightly certain that I didnāt only like it more because scarlet and wolf werenāt prominent features. :3 the storyline felt like it was truly a part of the same world as Cinder, while Scarlet felt like it was just jumping in.
Though I did like They Bloom at Night it wasnāt mind blowing in its symbolism or imagery. There were a lot of quotable moments but they didnāt flow easily with what was currently happening within the story. The family and friend moments were lovely but I felt the love interest didnāt click very well with the MC.
I am still obsessed with Dark Rise and very much wish for the third book. I need it to continue living life normally.
You did nothing wrong was fascinating in how it ended. I would not like either Elodie or Bren if I knew them in real life but my gods they were fantastic in the book. Support womenās wrongs!
Rereading the hunger games trilogy has been exactly as devastating as I expected and I enjoyed every bit of it. Those books have aged like fine wine.
I was quite surprised to enjoy Part of Your World. It wasnāt mind blowing but it was good. The characters were pretty cool and the storyline still felt similar to the original. Iām also really interested in the idea of Ariel going nonverbal at times after her time without a voice. Also continuing to sign her works instead of just discarding that language once she no longer needs it. I live that Ariel and Erik actually communicate for a while before they get together. And even then they have their own hobbies and jobs to do rather than just lying about all day.
How to Bite Your Neighbor and Win a Wager was certainly something! Definitely. I was quite impressed they both did equally as bad non-consensual things to each other (drugging, biting, etc) and then spoke about it and still did not clear the air. Like that is some serious dedication to miscommunication. I did not feel like they were going to live happily ever after despite the fact it lead off to them ātrying again.ā They frustrated me a lot.
Mapping the Interior and Salt slow were both short while still packing a lot of information in, without making it feel like too much. Salt Slow had a lot of really interesting short stories, my favorites being where entire cities become insomniacs when there ability to sleep becomes its own thing. As well as the female rock band that gathered raving mad fans (all female) in defense and adoration of the band. They were interesting ideas. I am quite intimidated by Stephen graham Jones other books but reading mapping the interior really piqued my interest to what they would entail. I mean vampires are always intriguing.
I am restarting the Warrior cat series because I never finished it and I miss the whimsy. Theyāve already made me cry three times. The drama is so glorious I swear.
I totally forgot to post this at the start of the month. Out of sight out of mind is an actual problem of mine. Either way Iād like to at least try to keep this account organized so Iām still gonna post it.
I like the fact thereās more representation for ace identities. I think itās great to have the ability to choose which flag you like and have the options to do so.
I also like the fact this flag doesnāt represent allies and allos in one of the colors.
As an artist I think itāll be fun to have more colors I can use to subtly show ace pride.
Itās a cute and fun way to celebrate pride month! I am unsure whether I will continue to play throughout the month but I will certainly try.
I think itās also a great way to jump out of your comfort zone. Some prompts are for horror or fantasy while others are nonfiction. It also leaves you freedom on what books you want to read for each prompt.
My first roll is for a gay book with a neurodivergent MC~
āItās hard enough to live, she sometimes feels, without also having to think about it. Hard enough, amidst panic and boredom and drastically shortened horizons, to simply treat a person nicely, put your hands into their hair until they shiver, until they push their face into your chest.ā Part 2, chapter 5
I have found, this year, that I really like Julia Armfieldās books. I have read three of them now and Iām quite fond of the way they flow. The full books have both had me going āOH MY GODDDDā at the end and Iām left staring at the ceiling thinking further on what it would be like in those situations.
I dual read all of them with audiobook and ebook and I found the audiobooks incredibly soothing. The horrors that happened feel so incredibly sad at times and natural at others, like it was inevitable. The feeling of having absolutely no control over anything that happens around you.
I will definitely be looking out for more books from her
I finished 7 books in the first two weeks of May! I got a few books from the library Iām hoping to finish soon too.
I have been completely obsessed with the Dark Rise series since continuing it after a minor spoiler left me unable to read it for a month. When I first started it I didnāt expect much because the name kinda sucks but I gave it a shot anyway and I was completely surprised by how much I liked it. I lost sleep to finish the first one and read the second in three days. I cannot wait for the third book to come out!
Iāve also been slowly continuing the hunger games trilogy and I was not disappointed! Catching fire starts off immediately where we left off and constantly had me questioning how they would fit all of the district stuff in with the games. I was honestly really impressed with how much Suzanne Collins was able to put into a 400 page book. Iām so glad I decided to reread it.
I finished cress the same day I stayed up to read Dark Rise and it was a lot better than Scarlet. I liked Cress and Thorne and the build up of what was happening around them. I thought the continuation felt really smooth unlike when Scarlet was introduced. They both fit into the team well, while Wolf and Scarlet feel kind of empty. Iām interested to see how I like Winter but Iām not gonna keep my hopes up.
For the Standalones! They Bloom at Night was a pretty chill read for me. I wasnāt completely sucked in but I wasnāt disappointed either. I enjoyed the way they wrote about the nonbinary experience because it is very different from the trans male/female experience. I also wish I could turn into a monster and get out of the body I was born in. You Did Nothing Wrong was definitely an experience. This book put me out of commission for a while because it was on hold on Libby for a month and I was constantly waiting for it to land in my lap. I couldnāt read anything very serious because I had to be wait for it. I did like it and I like how the horror was more the relationship and parenting than anything else. I know a few people who had to dnf because the parenting reminded them of their own parents. I enjoyed it despite the similarities to my parents. But I understand why it would be too much for other people. These two werenāt really my favorites but I did like them.
After loving Dark Rise and Dark Heir I was in withdrawals when I found out the third book wasnāt out yet, so I went and started their other series. Captive Prince is so much darker than Dark Rise and I wasnāt fully prepared for it. This led me to be more critical than I really intended. I liked captive Prince and I do think the story will continue well into the next bookā¦ it just felt so short. The world building is really out there doing some messy things and itās been fun trying to see how these cultures would affect everything around it. Iām curious to see the world outside of the palaces were introduced to. This series also has actual enemies to lovers where both parties are committing atrocities against each other and then decide to work together slowly which is so fun. Iāve read too many books labeled incorrectly as enemies to lovers when theyāre literally just rivals that are a minor nuisance.
I havenāt finished To sleep in a sea of stars yet but Iām hoping to finished it in a couple days. Itās a library book so Iām on a time crunch. Iām on page 100 and i canāt tell if I like it or not. I donāt know how Paolini is gonna fill up 800 pages with relevant information without it dragging.
Object permanence is such an interesting thing. I had been cleaning my room so I moved a lot of my stuff around, which made me forget about this account.
I finished 3 books, 2 short stories, and one manga. I also read like 30 chapters of a web novel.
There may be spoilers below :)
I finished Eyes are the Best Part and I loved it. There was a time while listening to the audiobook where I got a little nauseous because I was eating some ramen with soft boiled eggs. This book talks a lot about eating eyeballs, which you can see by looking at the cover. Literally chopsticks holding an eyeball and of course the title. I had to take a pause during that. The book is pretty good, as usual I was dual reading on my Kindle and audiobook. I enjoyed both. It is tremendously disgusting that there are so many people out there men/women/other that fetishize people because of their race and age. This one deals with how Asian women are fetishized by white men in particular. It also of course deals with racism and points out micro-aggressions that people of color experience within their daily life and relationships living in America or anywhere where they are the minority. Though I have heard some people say it was way too unrealistic in the George area specifically but I have personally met men like George and they do in fact have the audacity. George and Jeffrey are more horrifying and disgusting than Ji-Won and her obsession with eyes.
I've been wanting to read chainsaw man for a long time but I was afraid I'd get too into it and it would make me sad. My predictions were correct! Denji makes me sick with how excruciatingly sad his character is. I can't actually get into the fandom because of all the Dude-Bros saying he deserves everything that comes for him when he's literally a kid that's never got to be a kid. I wish for him a wonderful life with a nice found family though I know that's not likely to happen. I only read the first volume because the others are on hold on Libby. I also wasn't ready for more devastating character trauma to be revealed to me.
Scarlet.... I'm gonna be honest; This is the weakest book so far for me. I don't really care about Scarlet or Wolf. They feel really rushed for a relationship even though these are the ones actually being slow about it? kind of?? Also Scarlet frequently says she feels bad about cinder and then forgets about her near immediately? "oh who do I know with the surname: Linh, first name: Cinder? I have no idea. Certainly not the fugitive cyborg that I was feeling very sorry for and nearly got into a bar fight for." They just feel like very sloppy characters thrown in to me. She also gets so angry at Cinder despite the fact she was saving her and Wolf. She nearly gets herself killed to bring them in and Scarlet is upset that shes not doing enough. Its not like Cinder was raised to be a princess. She doesn't know how to lead anyone! You can't just expect an average person to step up and lead an entire country. Especially not with funky mind powers and a war on the horizon. yeahhh.... it's just wild for me.
The Little Android and The Queens Army are both pretty interesting. The Little Android moreso because it's a fascinating reimagining of the little mermaid and we get to see a little bit more of Cinder as an average mechanic. The Queens Army is about how Wolf was forced to join the army and how he became the Top Dog. I don't care much for Wolf so reading his story was a little mehh. I did like reading more about how the Queen operates and what horrors shes been cooking up.
The Hunger Games! This was a reread because I found out recently that I read the first one when I was Seven (7) Years old and catching fire when I was Eight (8) Years old. My parents had encouraged me to read it and it was rough. I didn't engage with much past watching the first movies when they came out. I haven't read the prequels or watched the ballad of songbirds and snakes yet. I am currently rereading the trilogy so that I can then go into the prequels in the way I would have if I hadn't been lightly traumatized when I first read them. I've always loved this series but I wasn't able to talk about them with anyone and I think that made it harder for me to process a lot of the meaning in the series besides the horror at what could be. Rereading has been really great and i'm so happy to be able to get more information than what I picked up on when I was a kid. I cried at the interviews and Rue and at the reaction bit at the end too. It's kind of upsetting how much detail and meaning the movies missed out on because there are so many parts I feel would hit harder being able to see and hear. I am very much not ready to read Catching Fire. A lot of my favorite characters are introduced then and I'm not ready to read about their trauma. I'll try to get to it soon though!
I read You Weren't Meant to be Human in mostly one sitting.
Ā Ā Ā You know what? Iāve never enjoyed a lot of horror because I never really liked the characters. I read my first Stephen King book this year and I found most of the characters insufferable. Then of course the climax was predictable despite not knowing anything about it before going in. Iāve dabbled in other horror books but couldnāt really get past the scenes made for shock value. Of course there are some books that were labeled horror but I liked the writing and worldbuilding so much that I couldnāt be horrified by what was going on.Ā
Ā Ā Ā I have read two other books by Andrew Joseph White and I loved them both. To the point I can never stop talking about them. I got my siblings to read his books. I got one of my siblings to step out of their comfort zone to read A Spirit Bares its Teeth. It took me a long time to read anymore of his books because I fully believed there was no way Iād like this many of them. Liking two was already statistically improbable for a genre I am constantly disappointed by. Alas, I started You Werenāt Meant to be Human and could not put it down until I absolutely had to do life things.Ā
Ā Ā Ā This book is so gritty. Immediately. There is so much going on to let you know what it's like to be in these characters' shoes, in their life. Every character is someone you know, or someone you can meet at any moment. The way they act is so realistic and familiar. The group is close-knit yet not, They're family but not. The hive is so loving and kind until it wants you to do something that feels wrong to your very core. The horror in these is just life as a queer person. Stated freely and clearly. This is what it feels like. There are good parts and bad parts to everything. This is what gets to me, Iām not scared, Iām just experiencing something real and horrifying while still being able to separate and explore it like it's not. This type of writing is so important to read and dive into! Seeing people struggle with real issues that donāt feel great while these issues are looked at with scorn and disgust instead of help and love. People that consume media that feels rotten and gross to self harm should not be turned away in disgust, that is so damaging.Ā
Ā Ā Ā I love how much care and realism is put into these topics that a lot of writers will put in just to feel edgy. Despite his actions not always being great, Crane is honestly such a great character. Dysphoria sucks so much and reacting like Crane does is super relatable. Seeing it in writing and knowing that you donāt have to listen to what your dysphoria is telling you is something I think a lot of people will feel emotional about. Because these things shouldn't be ignored just because they're ugly.Ā
Ā Ā Ā I love how the relationship was very rose tinted in some ways at first. Hannah saying she thought Levi loved Crane and all these people acting like they agreeĀ but WE know he doesnāt. I think the vibes throughout regarding the hive, the community, and stagger were kind of wholesome at times, which feels truly sickening, and then for them to be dashed away. Stagger is of course relatively adorable the whole time while still being a monster and a jailer.Ā
Ā Ā Ā I love southern gothic and splatterpunk books, I just wish I wasn't hit so hard by their characters and storylines when I read them. Which defeats the purpose so I don't actually want that. I should just level up my brain and be able to read them without needing to cry and stare at a wall for hours. Though I think going into these types of books in between many others so that you can go in with clear eyes and really see what they're trying to tell you.
Of my seven current reads these four are my most highly anticipated books. I got Kafka on the Shore for my birthday and have been ruminating on whether to start it now or later.
Iām only on page ten right now because Iām kinda slow with physical books. I am so in for whatās happened so far though!
āāā
Iāve been in a bit of a slump because I got a spoiler for Dark Rise. Itās not that bad of a spoiler, but itās made it difficult to continue reading. I think the build up to what I was spoiled would have been so cool! I think Iāll still enjoy it but I might wait a while to continue it.
So far Iām loving the pacing and world-building. I like how the book has been set up. Iām at about 17% into the audiobook.
āāā
The Eyes are the Best Part is another audiobook Iām listening to. Itās so good! Iām at 28% and everything thatās going on is fascinating. I hate one of the characters and Iām interested to see where they take them. I love this kind of storytelling. I hope to find more books like it.
Ji-won struggles with her appaās affair and her motherās changes after heās gone. When her mother gets a new boyfriend her and her sister struggle against hurting their motherās feelings and wanting George gone.
āāā
Iāve had When Death Gives You Lemons on my tbr since before it was published. The author, Alice G. Brooks, posted about another book they wrote, The Ink Eater, that isnāt out yet. It sounded very interesting but when I realized it wouldnāt be out till August I decided to read another of their works while I wait.
This story follows Isaac Frye as he tries to find redemption after killing three people, and Grim, a reaper that is fascinated by humans and bored of his daily duties. Grim chaperones Isaac back in the land of the living and learns about humanity.
I read fifteen (15) Books and Three (3) Manhwa in March!!
I read a few serious books, in that they were thought provoking or heavy in world building. Some books were not as fun and enjoyable as I was hoping theyād be. While reading one series, I got completely lost and obsessed with the world and characters.
I have many thoughts on these books though there may be some spoilers.
My use of the label āserious booksā does not mean only nonfiction, autobiographies, classics, etc. those definitely could fall under that label but I tend to use it for any books that had so much information to think about, as well as books that contain topics that weigh heavy on the mind.
The books Iād personally label serious are: The Name of the Wind, Sunburn, and The Picture of Dorian Gray. The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss, is a gigantic book. It is seven hundred and twenty pages full of world-building. there's a set up for the magic system, some allusions to government/law enforcement, an entire college, and myths and legends that are known by all. For the most part it is told by Kvothe to The Chronicler, a traveling scholar. Kvothe tells the story of his life from childhood to his teens in the first book of the Kingkiller chronicle. It's such a fascinating book and I found myself constantly wanting to question further about the minutiae of the world. I like the idea that the magic system leads the people that have learned magic to have better memories. Which makes Kvothe's telling of his history more believable than a regular person talking about their childhood. When I read books by a male author I tend to expect some kind of sexism, but I'm hoping this series stays fairly respectful in that area. There have been many minor female characters introduced, some of which are known for being quite pretty while others are competent. I felt that they were fairly well balanced in comparison to the minor male characters. I am quite excited to read more of the series.
Sunburn, by Chloe Michelle Howarth, is a coming-of-age novel about growing up in a small town in the 90s. Finding out that you are that thing that no one else wants to be. That you feel the way that everyone around you tells you is a disgusting and evil thing. Girlhood; falling in love, sun bathing, parties, writing notes, etc. Lucy experiences everything all the other girls her age experience, but it's seen as different because it's with another girl. She struggles with the idea of what her family and friends will think if they ever find out. Despite love being such a natural feeling it's so often boxed in with rules and regulations that only apply to some. I loved this book for everything it talks about and for how much I relate to Lucy and Susannah both.
I have spoken about queer books while changing the pronouns to make the couple seem straight pretty often. Many members of my family are queerphobic and the only way I could get them interested in what I've been reading is by hiding the queer aspects. I hated this a lot but I also hated the arguments on why queer people are bad and liars. When I spoke about these stories of people struggling with their relationships because people wouldn't like them being together, my family would be so supportive over their love and devotion. Later on in my life I experimented with this same thing but with a straight couple being changed to a gay one. I found it hilarious and heartbreaking that they hated the disguised straight couple and loved the disguised queer one. I changed nothing about them but their genders and yet my family's entire feelings on them changed. I told them what I did but they were just annoyed with me and some of them stopped wanting to hear what I had been up to. It was so strange because queer stories are inherently queer. Changing the gender of a couple characters does not change the story, unless it was completely rewritten.
Back to March books! The Picture of Dorian Gray. I spent so long wanting to read this that I was honestly afraid I wouldn't like it. I really enjoyed it. I loved the long monologues of thought and conversation. Even though Lord Henry is so messy, I loved to think about his words and see if I agreed with anything or nothing of what he said. He is such a flippant character that I sincerely question if he believes everything he says or if some of it is just spur of the moment thoughts. I think most of us feel like Henry when we watch Dorian's growth from a young boy who has seen nothing to the Older Dorian that has seen everything the world has to offer. Through the years, we don't get to see much of what Dorian is up to because he's busy distracting himself with new hyper-fixations to keep until they grow dull. I cried during this book. The last conversation between Henry and Dorian was very rough to take in.
I had high expectations for these books, and yet they could not reach them; Mercy, Hallowed Be Thy Name, Ariadne, and Prince of Lust. Some of these I had placed unreasonably high expectations, not to say my expectations were as high as they could be, (they weren't) but that I just shouldn't have expected much in the first place? Mercy, by Ian Haramaki is a monster romance. The monster is an angel. This book deals with religion, trauma, and unreasonable hate. I liked the idea of this world but I just could not handle how stupid everyone was. There were so many cool things! like the angel had turned into a monster that eats people and could only turn back by love (platonic). After turning normal, he was effectively human until he relearned his love for humans and remembered his past. That's all fun stuff!! The villagers hated Ilya, the only priest, because he wasn't his father. They hated him because he hadn't learned to be the best healer ever in the 2 years he was studying. They hated him for not being able to heal his father with 2 years of education instead of the church for not sending a fully trained healer. Like what the hell are they even thinking??? The hatred would seem to go away only to come back stronger than ever the next time something inconvenient happens. There are people like this in the real world. Not every person in a village has to have the same exact mindset. I really struggle to read this for how depressing it all was.
Hallowed Be Thy Name, by Brooke Winters, is not terrible. It frustrated me a lot while reading it but I was probably a little too harsh on it. it is a story about the slow descent into insanity. Its gay, there's religious trauma, academic rivalry, and even a cult! Wow so many things in one book. Augustus is possessed by a demon that makes him hallucinate and have bad thoughts about other people. He has a younger brother that for the longest time is the only reason he keeps going. His Academic rival is incredibly intelligent and matches him every step. Through Nathaniel he learns how to live a little better. He gains another reason to keep going. He starts a search with Nathaniel to uncover what happened to his mom, and where she went. To be completely honest, I don't understand the ending at all and I don't really care to find out.
Ariadne, by Jennifer Saint, is a Greek myth retelling from the women's point of view. Though the writing is lovely, it's just average to me. I like retellings that breathe new life into the works. I don't like just reading the same thing over and over again.
Prince of Lust, by Lucien Burr, was my last read of March. When I added it to my TBR I didn't know it was only sixty-six pages of build-up to smut. Despite this being so short and not caring one bit about the smut, I did like the exploration of fear of the church as a queer person. Also the ways in which the character reacts to the pressure to church places on him. From my experience, the church either hurts someone enough for them to leave and be themselves, or they stay and end up hurting other people. They could hurt people by noticing their similarities and making sure they shove all those thoughts and feelings down, or they prey on people in hiding. In this book, Alessandro sells himself to the demon prince of Lust when he realizes how little enjoyment he has experienced in his life.
I got completely obsessed with Little Mushroom. I read the two novels and the three Manhwa volumes in two days. If you read this with a smart science brain on you might be annoyed about any inaccuracies. I read mostly to enjoy sociological changes in the world and individual characters mindsets. Which is great for this series because so many characters are introduced only to end up dying. We get to meet people that are so unique and fascinating and think about what kind of life they've lived and what they could've done if they were still alive. I mean even the amount of people that die because of infection has such a big impact on society as a whole. I have spent hours thinking about each character and how certain things have affected them. I also absolutely adore how the science of things change. At the start, everything is like our own reality until things get all wonky and then more laws of the universe shift into something else. I like how far they took the shift of things and how early on they introduce the lore. The relationship between An Zhe and Lu Feng was super slow burn while at the same time feeling like they've been married for years. They're just so comfortable with each other.
I liked Cinder for what is is and will continue reading the series. I loved The Salt Grows Heavy but I will just sit on that one in my own brain, thank you very much. I am interested to see where Case File Compendium will lead, though I am wary of how much emotional investment it will entail. DoppelbƤnger was so good.
