A spoiler free review of Into the Light by Mark Oshiro
Summary (pulled from Goodreads):
KEEP YOUR SECRETS CLOSE TO HOME
It’s been one year since Manny was cast out of his family and driven into the wilderness of the American Southwest. Since then, Manny lives by self-taught rules that keep him moving—and keep him alive. Now, he’s taking a chance on a travelling situation with the Varela family, whose attractive but surly son, Carlos, seems to promise a new future.
Eli abides by the rules of his family, living in a secluded community that raised him to believe his obedience will be rewarded. But an unsettling question slowly eats away at Eli’s once unwavering faith in Reconciliation: Why can’t he remember his past?
But the reported discovery of an unidentified body in the hills of Idyllwild, California, will draw both of these young men into facing their biggest fears and confronting their own identity—and who they are allowed to be.
For fans of Courtney Summers and Tiffany D. Jackson, Into the Light is a ripped-from-the-headlines story with Oshiro's signature mix of raw emotions and visceral prose—but with a startling twist you’ll have to read to believe.
Review:
Into the Light by Mark Oshiro was a gutting read. Oshiro mentions that this book is meant to be like a "light at the end of the tunnel" and it truly felt that way but my goodness was the tunnel dark.
The story was not one that I expected and I've read some reviews that have said the same and I believe it's because the synopsis is vague. But given that majority of this book is a mystery, I think having a vague synopsis is okay. I'm slightly worried that some people might find the contents of the book triggering so I hope the trigger warnings are listed publicly and I will certainly mention it when recommending this book.
The story is told in 3 different timelines. It's not described but the writing is excellent in letting the reader know by like the 3rd of 4th paragraph, where we are in time. What I loved was how each chapter and time changed flowed so well and were cleverly connected. The different povs add to the mystery and it was fun (it feels wrong to say that though given the topic) to try to put everything together. When everything converged it did so with a bang; it was climactic and shocking.
The start was a bit hard to get through. The writing style at the beginning had short sentences and it felt almost detached and curt which gives you insight to how detached and alone Manny is but it feels awkward for the reader. Disturbs any flow but when we are in the past, the sentences become longer and they flow better. But as you read along, you start getting used to it and it's not noticeable anymore. Either that or what I believe is that the writing is this way on purpose. The beginning is curt and detached to match Manny and the way he is in order to survive. As the story moves forward we see more of Manny and with each reveal he starts growing into more of a character and less like an empty shell and so the writing changes and gets more "present" and more full. When he starts reverting back in moments of high stress and when he's triggered, the writing reflects it by going back to being distant.
The foster system sucks and it truly did show it well here. Especially it showed how much a lot of adults will not listen to the children they're supposed to care for and the betrayal of being hurt by the ppl who are supposed to care for you and about you. That was heartbreaking to read and as the novel progressed and Manny started opening up more and we saw more of his past, we started to feel his hurt a lot more. The fear and betrayal and the feeling of helplessness when he got stuck somewhere was felt so strongly.
The flashbacks were the most gripping to read. The tension and horror was potent and it felt like watching a train wreck. You knew something horrible would happen but you couldn't look away from how it happened and as it was happening.
There are a good few characters and I loved Manny and Rakeem the best. The development was harsh and hard-won; to me the end was bittersweet to be honest.
The last thing I wanna mention is the addition of that twist ending. It was absolutely wild but I can't help but wonder if the themes and messages being tackled would have worked just as well without it and if it would have worked better if the entire thing was realistic/realism. It did feel kind of random and shocking though a review did mention it so I knew something was coming. It didn't take away from the story for me to be spoiled but I do think that without having that prior knowledge, it would have felt like it came out of left field.
Regardless, I did love the novel. It felt a bit slow and made me wonder if it needed to be so long, but to be honest, I think we needed that length for the development to be slow and realistic. The writing matching the character and his devolpement, the themes, the darkness and sadness, and the light at the end, it all was done incredibly well. And honestly I read this during a time of my life where I feel lost, feel separated from my religion and can't connect to it even if I do believe in some aspects of it and overall feel distant and locked away so Manny's character and his emotions hit me hard. I would have loved the book even if I wasn't in a place where Manny felt like he got in my head and spoke everything out loud.
Non-spoiler review for The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi
Summary (pulled from Goodreads):
Moses Ose Utomi's debut novella, The Lies of the Ajungo, follows one boy’s epic quest to bring water back to his city and save his mother’s life. Prepare to enter the Forever Desert.
A Library Journal Best Book of the Month!
They say there is no water in the City of Lies. They say there are no heroes in the City of Lies. They say there are no friends beyond the City of Lies. But would you believe what they say in the City of Lies?
In the City of Lies, they cut out your tongue when you turn thirteen, to appease the terrifying Ajungo Empire and make sure it continues sending water. Tutu will be thirteen in three days, but his parched mother won’t last that long. So Tutu goes to his oba and makes a deal: she provides water for his mother, and in exchange he will travel out into the desert and bring back water for the city. Thus begins Tutu’s quest for the salvation of his mother, his city, and himself.
The Lies of the Ajungo opens the curtains on a tremendous world, and begins the epic fable of the Forever Desert. With every word, Moses Ose Utomi weaves magic.
Review:
5 STARS!
The Lies of the Ajungo is a short but devastating story about a boy and his quest for water. I was originally drawn to it by the cover (which is gorgeous wow) but it was the synopsis that fully ensnared me. I saw the author said he pitched his story to someone by saying it’s “Attack on Titan in North Africa vibez” and I can’t believe I didn’t see it! But as someone who has read Attack on Titan, despite the inspiration being clear (in hindsight) this story sits apart. The theme’s are similar but this story goes another way, and dare I say it, I loved this more than AoT.
The story is short. Less than 100 pages. The time in the story lasts half a year but it doesn’t feel like it to the reader of course but it never becomes an issue. The pacing never fails. There’s action, there’s character building and connection, there’s a mystery, and there’s poetry. Not actual poetry but the story’s themes felt like poetry to me; gutting, satisfying, and bittersweet.
It’s a big challenge to set up an entire world in less than 100 pages and still have space for plot and character but Moses Ose Utomi juggles it all expertly. I never felt lost, never felt like I didn’t feel or connect with the characters, and it never felt bogged down. When you don’t have enough space, it might feel tempting to infodump but the way the exposition was handled in this story seamlessly fit into the tone and style of the writing. Utomi mentions that his story sits at an “intersection between fable and fantasy” and yes it does and it’s why his exposition works so well. It reads like a fable and so when you are getting information about the world, it works itself into the style of the story.
The pov character, Tutu (who I loved) comes from a small and distant part of a city and is a child. He is yet ignorant of the world and so is the perfect character to have things be explained to (and by extension, us). Because he’s a child with a limited understanding and view, it makes sense that the world most of the time feels limited. We only truly see 3 places: his home, the palace, and the desert. So it does feel like the world is small but it makes sense? One place in a desert is not so different from another place in a desert. I could say that as a child, the world beyond his home should feel vast and scary but that feels nitpicky because it’s not really that important.
What’s important is the characters themselves. I felt for Tutu. I cried when he cried. I felt his fear and hopelessness. It’s a testament of skill that Utomi was able to connect us to the characters in such a short amount of time. I cried like twice while reading this book! The atmosphere and tone were so engrossing, I was absolutely absorbed into the story.
Speaking of atmosphere, the antagonists of the story were amazing (I’m running out of synonyms for amazing and incredible but if you can think of anymore just know that it would apply to this book). We are given just enough information (little, as little as Tutu and basically everyone else knows) to let our imaginations fill in the rest, and the little we are given is that the Ajungo are cruel, ruthless, powerful, and greedy. Our imaginations will always fill in with morbid ideas of why and what and how. It made it so that every time we came across someone there’s the immense feeling of fear and dread that it’s the Ajungo.
There’s an entire world carefully laid out in less than 100 pages and I will not go into detail about any of it other than the praises for the incredible job Moses Ose Utomi has done and thank him for sharing his story with the world. I think everyone should go into it blind, don’t do anything but go straight into reading. You will be transported into a new world for a few hours and you will come back changed. Some of us will see the themes of the story and the answers coming and it’s a bitter feeling being proven right. But it’s an important story because of what it stands for and what it is saying. I wish I could say more but it would spoil everything and everyone needs to experience it fresh like I did.
“No maids, no funny talking, no fainting flowers.” Luli Wei is beautiful, talented, and desperate to be a star. Coming of age in pre-Code Hollywood, she knows how dangerous the movie business is and how limited the roles are for a Chinese American girl from Hungarian Hill—but she doesn’t care. She’d rather play a monster than a maid.
But in Luli’s world, the worst monsters in Hollywood are not the ones on screen. The studios want to own everything from her face to her name to the women she loves, and they run on a system of bargains made in blood and ancient magic, powered by the endless sacrifice of unlucky starlets like her. For those who do survive to earn their fame, success comes with a steep price. Luli is willing to do whatever it takes—even if that means becoming the monster herself.
Siren Queen offers up an enthralling exploration of an outsider achieving stardom on her own terms, in a fantastical Hollywood where the monsters are real and the magic of the silver screen illuminates every page.
Review:
Let’s start off this review by saying that the novel starts out a bit slow but picks up and by the halfway through point you're flying till the end. I’ve learned that the author, Nghi Vo, usually writes novellas and this is one of her only full length novels. It’s still quite short compared to most novels, not even hitting the 300 page mark. That being said, even if the pacing felt off, the atmosphere, the setting, and the characters make up for it. And of course the lovely and haunting writing style.
The tone of the novel was one of horror. To me at least because there were gory parts, body horror, monsters, and ghosts. The magic is not explained and it makes for a slow reading to figure out what's happening and there are a few moments where you're confused but reread those passages and you'll get it eventually. But I believe that works so well to further set that dark uncertain tone.The darkness and the horror was chilling to read and there are times where that unexplained magic played into it; you don't know if something was a metaphor or actually something that was happening. Did Luli really see the ghosts and the gore? Was her boss and her colleagues truly monsters wearing human skin or was that a metaphor to show how the entertainment business sucks out your morals, souls, and free will?
Things are shown to be so engineered and regardless of your popularity, you're owned. It's so dreadful and makes you wonder if there's some truth in there and how much of it happens in real life. There’s a storyline where a somewhat old famous actor (and one of Luli’s closest friends) is ordered to court a new very young actress and then marry and have kids with her. He is to act like they’re in love. Wolfe, who is the boss, manufactures an entire fake love story and meet-cute, poses them for the paparazzi and public. He sells the picture perfect love story. He of course owns both the young actress and the old actor and will most likely own their kids. The contracts bind your life to Wolfe.The old actor? He’s gay and has a lover. He escapes the ownership of his life by literally faking his death. Luli is griefstriken but later while watching his old movies he hears his laugh and recognizes him and his lover in the theatre before they get kicked out for noise and disappear. It’s a moment of happiness and relief for both Luli and the readers.
Seeing Luli grow was a satisfying pleasure especially since before going to the actor dorms, I didn't like her that much. I struggled to understand her and her ambitions and dreams. How absorbed and single minded she was to the point that she ignored her family. But when Luli entered the entertainment business, it felt like seeing a character fit into tailor made clothes. She was made for the cutthroat environment; flourished there. Her sharpness and unrelenting ambition and desire was out of place in a regular community but she fit right in in Hollywood despite feeling like she was out of place.
She felt out of place due to her race so she cut out a space for herself. In regard to her race, you can see how she was facing harder hurdles than the rest of her peers. Reading the casual racism and microaggressions and how used to it she was to the point that she barely reacted to them, was rage inducing. And that she came onto the scene while fiercely pushing the stereotypes away was nice to read. Then you get a scene where she's facing a woman who got rich and famous using those stereotypes to her advantage.
Nghi Vo shows us 2 sides of people reacting to racism in her world, one made her way by fighting past those stereotypes while someone else used it and both are shown to be equal. Not one was better than the other. But she also shows how each fight comes with its own hardships of course. Luli fighting against stereotypes means she faces more pushback and less roles, the other woman uses it to her advantage but at the cost of playing into those stereotypes which is hurtful to her and others. There’s no true win here. As always marginalized people have to pick their battles and we lose more than we win.
As well as being Chinese American, Luli is also a lesbian. The queer identity isn’t explored in the “just figuring myself out” sense; Luli knows she only likes women and is confident in that aspect of her identity. We see her enter 2 different romantic relationships with women and they’re explored in a very “this book isn’t about the lesbian identity, it’s a story that happens to have a lesbian main character and lesbian romance” way. And I LOVED this. I love stories where we can just exist and our identities aren’t some big obstacle or quest. Books like that are great but for those of us who have already figured ourselves out, it’s time our identities were treated casually and with normalcy like straight romance is.
What Nghi Vo did with Siren Queen and being queer was, as far as I know, pretty accurate for the time period it’s set in. Queer people existed but were mainly closeted in front of the general public. Luli gets into a relationship with 2 women and although the public and press don’t know, the industry she’s in, does know. It’s the same with one of her friends, another famous actor, who is a closeted gay man and has a boyfriend. The actor is implied to seek Luli out and be her friend because he recognizes her talent and heard about her being a lesbian. Those words are never said of course. Instead they’re called monsters. Ironic given literal monsters walked among them. Queer people were known in the industry and I guess their power and prestige and place in the social hierarchy protected them from hate crimes? Let’s attribute that to magic and be glad there were no worse hate crimes.
But overall the homophobia still existed. Luli frequents a lesbian club but even that club has odd heteronormative rules. Masculine presenting women were to hang out with feminine presenting women. Later on Luli gets threatened to be outed (since her going to that club would have ruined her career given that it’s a lesbian bar/club) And her relationships? Always hidden and in private. Nghi Vo gave us queer love in a way that felt free but also never let us forget that the time period was still homophobic.
Okay let’s talk about how the women were written so refreshingly. They’re allowed to be cold and warm and both hold a strength that is admirable. There's a focus on female friendship, strong enough to make you brave enough to face a monster that terrifies you. My favourite relationships were the female friendships. Oh how lovely they were written. One would expect hate and fighting given the industry but these characters were allowed to band together because they recognized that they weren’t enemies. That didn’t mean that everyone was all lovey dovey, there were relationships that were tense and full of jealousy as well. But the women were allowed to be human; written so well I would have no trouble imagining them as real.
There is a theme of family and severed connections that is shown in the beginning when we get Luli leaving her family. Even her ancestors went through separations and tragedy. It's not only Luli who lost sight and connection due to her ambitions, her grandparents and their children also separated for their own reasons. The theme is then brought back in the end when Luli goes back to visit her twin sister and try to reconnect with a family she left and a sister she stole from and abandoned. In the middle of the book, she makes a new family but both her closest friends run away from the industry to live free happy lives, both going to the extremes to make that escape happen. Luli is surrounded by loneliness but oddly enough, she doesn’t feel lonely. The only times we do get the sense of loneliness from her are when she’s grieving her friend supposedly dying, and after a breakup. But overall? She states she likes being alone. That doesn’t mean that’s 100% true. We see her reaching out to her family again to reconnect, and commit to a long relationship with her girlfriend. She works to get relationships again. Even then, she’s happy with her independence. It might feel contradictory but I relate and understand the feeling. I also like my space and being alone but I don’t like being lonely. I still want friends and family.
Moving on, Luli being called a monster was odd. The truly bad thing she did was leave her family and barely think of them, and of course, steal her sister’s name. Other than that everything she has done has been nothing to call monstrous. But I think that works to fully drive Nghi Vo's point, a woman who knows what she wants and goes to achieve it is called a monster. And of course the point we established earlier, queer people in the industry are called monsters just for being queer. It’s ironic every time I think of it.
Seeing Luli grow, hold herself with confidence, and truly achieve what she wanted was inspirational. She was maybe not wise but someone who lived with the consequences of her decisions. She is strong and to the outside pov, deadly, and not going to lie, I need some of that for me, I'll give you 5 years of my life for it Luli?
There's a darkness in the story that slowly gets lost as Luli integrates more and more into her Hollywood life and gets used to it. But every once in a while we get yanked out with every racist remark, every director or Wolfe using their power over others; every glimpse of a monster wearing human skin. I think it's flawlessly done.
I also loved how encompassing Nghi Vo wrote LA but specifically the studio Luli spends most of her life in. It feels like that's all there is, that's the world and when we leave it to go to San Francisco, just like Luli, the hold that place has, gets released and we see that there's more out there.
The ending of Luli “rising” or becoming a “star” is something I still can't fully understand but it's part of the unexplained magic that exists and I believe she's part human now just like everyone else in Hollywood.
Overall the world was magical, the writing poetic, and the characters complex and intriguing. It’s a book that can be analyzed multiple times with the amount of themes expertly woven into the story. It was a very character driven book, with an intimate look into humanity, ambition, drive, emotion, and the lengths people go for what they want. Finally, I’ll leave off this very long review with the final statement: The novel is spicy 😏.
Slightly spoiler-y review of The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
Summary (pulled from goodreads) :
From the founding member of We Need Diverse Books comes a powerful novel about identity, betrayal, and the meaning of family.
By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady's maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, "Dear Miss Sweetie." When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society's ills, but she's not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta's most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light. With prose that is witty, insightful, and at times heartbreaking, Stacey Lee masterfully crafts an extraordinary social drama set in the New South.
Review:
The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee is a humorous, witty, and heart-wrenching novel. The writing is delightful and fun to read, with imaginative metaphors and imagery. Some of the philosophy and metaphors remind me of some Chinese novels I’ve read in the past. The characters are real and complex that brings forth complicated feelings for them.
We follow Jo, who is smart, witty, and strong. She is constantly being dealt hardship, but manages to get through it. It’s not that she’s perfect but rather that she learns from the people around her. When faced with despair, she thinks of her parental figure Old Gin and what he would do; when she needs to get the upper hand, she think about her cunning ex-boss Mrs. English. She’s a very satisfying character to have as our point of view.
There are many other characters we meet, each with their own good and bad. We are given a slight glimpse of them and as the story progresses, as Jo learns more and sees more, we learn more about those characters as well. This helps introduce characters and develop them for us in the sense that we get to understand more about them; the characters themselves (other than a select few like Jo and Caroline) don’t really change and I don’t think that was the point either.
The story is set during the Gilded Age. We are shown the elite having the time of their lives and more importantly we are shown how the marginalized suffer. The characters of colour are treated terribly and the slurs are thrown around so casually that it enrages you. Lee writes the racism realistically which makes the reader feel every emotion the characters are feeling. The fury, the helplessness, the humiliation, it’s so vivid I genuinely teared up multiple times. I was terrified for the safety of some of the characters multiple times.
The relationships between the characters were written very well. I loved the relationship between Caroline and Jo, seeing it develop and change. I loved the relationship between the Bells and Jo and I was so happy she finally got the family she wanted. The friendship between Jo, Robby, and Neomi was my absolute favourite. The romance was very sweet and I was rooting for Jo and Nathan to get together but there was the unease of “how can they get together? Is it possible?” It’s depressing but realistic how race was woven into everything. Every moment of happiness was accompanied with racism, it was inevitable and inescapable.
The mystery of the novel was something that I pretty much guessed early on but that was because the author did an excellent job of writing those hints. It was enough to clue you in and build up the anxiety and heartbreak you would feel by the time Jo figures everything out. There was one twist I did not see coming but everything else was set up for the reader to figure out before Jo. I think it worked well because Lee didn’t want everything to be a twist, or a shock factor. Although shock factors work great at evoking emotion, a story where the reader has the knowledge and the character doesn’t, builds emotions and suspense, waiting for the moment the character figures everything out.
There are moments of tension and moments where Jo is doing some dangerous things that made me anxious and scared for her. Whenever she was dealing with Billy Riggs, when she finds out someone knows about her secret advice columnist side gig, times when her and Old Gin face intense racism, all had me at the edge of my seat, heart beating wildly, hoping for her safety (and Old Gin). Things do get resolved for her with regards to some things but I never had any issue with it because she already faces so many other hardships, she deserves some happiness; some help and support from others and from the universe. Despite her being the main character, I never relaxed in any of the tense and dangerous situations. Basically everything felt so real, it felt like things could go bad and stay that way so when it went good, I would marginally relax. Not all the way, this is still a novel set during a time when people of colour couldn’t win. Everything comes at a cost and of course this is set right before full on segregation becomes law.
Overall I think the novel was beautifully written with multidimensional characters, themes that were explored well, and emotional and realistic depictions of life for people of colour. It makes me interested to pick up another book by this author in the future.
Slightly spoiler-y review of the entire story of Heaven Official's Blessing by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù
Summary (pulled from goodreads) :
Eight hundred years ago, Xie Lian was the Crown Prince of the Xian Le kingdom; one who was beloved by his citizens and the darling of the world. Unsurprisingly, he ascended to the Heavens at a very young age. Now, eight hundred years later, Xie Lian ascends to the Heavens for the third time as the laughing stock of all three realms. On his first task as a god, he meets a mysterious demon who rules the ghosts and terrifies the Heavens……yet unbeknownst to Xie Lian, this demon king has been paying attention to him for a very, very long time.
Review:
The summary does the story no justice. It's an incredible story with so many layers, characters, arcs, themes. It's a monster of a novel at 1 million words!
This was the longest novel I've read and honestly it was masterfully crafted. I loved it! Finishing it feels complicated. I feel accomplished but also sad to leave a world and its characters that I spent so long with. At the end where the lives of the characters are turned into a folklore for everyone who comes afterwards, the bittersweet feeling hit full force. At the end of everything, people and their lives become just stories told to people who might never know them. Of course as humans we always feel that an ending no matter how sweet or bitter will feel bittersweet because its an ending.
This novel introduced me to characters that I could empathize with despite everyone being morally ambiguous. Everyone has their circumstances. Often times I felt despair and hopelessness because it seemed like there was a cycle of violence and revenge and greed that never ended and it was precisely that which cause so much misery. It's never easy to read about the suffering of people and every character in this novel suffered.
I loved the juxtaposition of themes. On one hand you are exposed to acts of revenge and unfairness and so much suffering and death and you start thinking this is normal and that maybe the novel is trying to show you that in a complex world, there isn't a right answer, intent means nothing, its the end result that matters. It's because of his good intentions that the main character Xie Lian started his many centuries of suffering.
He along with the reader go through many changes in mentality. Going from "if I have power then I need to use it for the common people" to "the common people don't care and will always ask for more and more with no thanks and in fact will commit immoral acts in order to not die" to "what have they done for me other than hurt me when I try to help" to "it takes one person, one act of kindness to help someone out of despair" to "even if everyone leaves you or hates you or stops believing in you, even if you stop believing yourself, as long as one person still does, then you will be fine. You will be helped back into being okay"
Reading this process shattered my heart into a thousand silver butterflies haha 👀. The way devotion is written here borderlines on obsession. Especially to an outsider who has no knowledge of our main leads' lives and shared experiences. But that's what this book was: you never know what someone is going through. It takes just 1 person to help you, to believe in you.
There's so much in this book that writing an in-depth review is near impossible. The official English translations of the novel are coming out in parts to be published as a series. If I ever return to this story, I will do so with those separate books which will probably make it easier to give a more in-depth review. If I do that, and put those 8 reviews together (I believe the story is split into 8 books) my review will be a novel of its own haha.
Anyways, I don't think I'll ever be able to write out exactly what this book made me feel and I will never forget the characters as they feel like friends I've spent years with. And I leave this story and those friends and I leave believing the most ridiculous hope that someday I'll find someone like Hua Cheng and be their Xie Lian is terms of love and devotion
Non-spoiler review of Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei
Summary (pulled from goodreads) :
Seventeen-year-old Mickey James III is a college freshman, a brother to five sisters, and a hockey legacy. With a father and a grandfather who have gone down in NHL history, Mickey is almost guaranteed the league's top draft spot.
The only person standing in his way is Jaysen Caulfield, a contender for the #1 spot and Mickey's infuriating (and infuriatingly attractive) teammate. When rivalry turns to something more, Mickey will have to decide what he really wants, and what he's willing to risk for it.
This is a story about falling in love, finding your team (on and off the ice), and choosing your own path.
Review:
Let me start off by saying, this book? Absolutely amazing. It's a book I hold close to my heart and it's a book that feels like a soulmate. This book (and by extension, the author) saw me and wrote a character that was so close to how I felt and made him loveable, it made me feel loved and understood.
I read this in one sitting and couldn't put it down at all. I felt the tension of the games, the chemistry between the characters and absolutely loved the sibling aspect of it. The platonic relationships in this was such a delight to read since it's the type of love I cherish the most and don't often see in the books I've been reading recently.
I absolutely ADORED nova and wish there was more of her. I loved how the book points out the issues in the hockey industry (is that a correct way to say it idk lol) the racism, the classism, sexism, and homophobia.
My favourite part was how Mickey's depression and anxiety was portrayed. Mental illness manifests itself differently for every person. This was a rare time where I related so heavily to a character. Mickey's illness and his inner dialogue when it came to his illness reflected me perfectly. It was like someone was listening into my thoughts and cataloguing my feelings and actions and created Mickey. From what I have seen, there are quite a number of people who agree with how accurately the illness was shown in the book.
Mickey and I don't have the same personality, maybe I'm closer to how Dorian was but everything else he said was exactly what I was feeling.
Overall it was a fun read but also an anxious one. It's not easy reading a book that deals with a heavy topic you also suffer from. I felt every emotion Mickey was feeling and that made it an exhausting book to read but not in a bad way. I still really enjoyed it and it's one of my all-time favourite books.
P.S. This review is short because I genuinely don't know how many different ways I can say "I love it". Sometimes when you love something, it makes it harder to put it into words; that's why my review is short. Do yourself a favour, and read this book. (And please talk to me about it)
Very long and Spoiler-y review of Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard
Summary (pulled from goodreads) :
Award-winning author Aliette de Bodard returns with a powerful romantic fantasy that reads like The Goblin Emperor meets Howl’s Moving Castle in a pre-colonial Vietnamese-esque world.
Fire burns bright and has a long memory….
Quiet, thoughtful princess Thanh was sent away as a hostage to the powerful faraway country of Ephteria as a child. Now she’s returned to her mother’s imperial court, haunted not only by memories of her first romance, but by worrying magical echoes of a fire that devastated Ephteria’s royal palace.
Thanh’s new role as a diplomat places her once again in the path of her first love, the powerful and magnetic Eldris of Ephteria, who knows exactly what she wants: romance from Thanh and much more from Thanh’s home. Eldris won’t take no for an answer, on either front. But the fire that burned down one palace is tempting Thanh with the possibility of making her own dangerous decisions.
Can Thanh find the freedom to shape her country’s fate—and her own?
Review:
When we first open with the story, I thought it would be interesting. We start it right in the middle of a scene with the first sentence "they were coming." It set the tone and gave me this urgency. Add the little confusing flashback scene of a burning palace and random objects catching fire, I thought wow things are tense, action packed and dire already! Only to be met with exposition, politics, a meeting, and a romance that had been established outside the pages. It abruptly cut off the feelings I had reading the start of the story.
There's too much exposition without any kind of set up or foundation. We don't have a ground and we are being told the details of tree leaves and flowers. There’s also too much repetition. The same little bit of that burning palace and the servant girl got repeated like 3 times in the first 20 pages (I'm reading the ebook so first 20 pages of the ebook) and the Eldris and her blue eyes bringing a single rose to her was repeated twice which obviously isn't that much but when the story has barely begun, we have very little info other than the political stuff, it's very noticeable. But even as we go on, the repetition doesn't stop and it gets exasperating. It just made me think that the story needed another round of editing.
The difficulty with short stories and novellas, especially fantasy ones, is that you have so little time to set everything, worldbuild, introduce and develop characters, stories, and arcs. Making the reader care about the characters and their problems is going to be difficult because you just don't have the space. With Fireheart Tiger, I had a hard time, after the initial beginning, to care at all about the characters. Part of me wanted to know about this mysterious fire but I also just didn't care. The repetition, instead of building anticipation like I assume it was trying to do, was instead just frustrating. The characters overall just felt flat and not real. The type of characters you would see in children’s stories each with 1 trait and black and white morality.
I didn't care for the romance and felt frustrated with Thanh's focus on it and lack of focus on her position and responsibility. There's a lot of self-pity and self-hate with her. She doesn't feel like she can achieve much and has fallen in her sisters' shadows. She lives her life confused and in fear. This isn't bad though. It's totally understandable given she was essentially a political hostage for years. There was no way for her to learn the skills needed for her position and with the fire that she barely survived, of course she will be traumatized. Doesn't mean it's not frustrating though.
That being said, literally the 2nd scene of this novella proved that wrong, gave us what I thought to be a key character trait; Thanh being skilled in politics and negotiation. People aren’t usually born with those skills so I have to assume she learned it but that means she should have other skills royals need for their positions but the decisions she makes really challenge that established characteristic lol. Like I don’t know much about royal rules but I’m pretty sure that as a Princess you would consult with the Empress about potential political alliances with other nations against one specific nation and then have a scribe or someone or maybe yourself write the letters to those nations. But? Thanh? Just? Suddenly makes the decision for alliances, writes the letters on her own and then just sends them. Hello? She gets reprimanded of course but ultimately her decision is shown as being the right one.
Over and over she makes bad decisions and gets upset when her mother is rightfully upset/angry at her. She never discusses things with her mother, they never work together and in any other story that took its politics seriously, it would be a sign of a coup. The Empress and the Princess that do what they want regardless of the other weakens the monarchy and throws everything in chaos. Worse is that the narrative keeps painting the mother as stupid and Thanh as the chess genuis who can spin a story to her favour like she did in the end.
Also I didn’t appreciate Thanh being rude to her mom. Not once did we get these 2 to sit down and talk and work through their issues and work together. It felt like Thanh was running around making bad decisions, her mom being upset and trying to figure out what happened so she can do damage control but Thanh doing whatever she wants to “fix” her mistake cuz her mom “just doesn’t understand” and thereby undermining the literal Empress?? And getting upset at her mom being upset. Absolutely wild.
It’s supposed to be a royal court but it feels so empty? Like it feels like it’s literally just Thanh and her mom running everything.
It’s annoying that Thanh talks about filial piety yet hasn’t done anything? She’s rash! Despite what we are told, her decisions show us that she IS rash and doesn’t think things through. She doesn’t understand what it means to be in charge of a nation and gets upset when her mom puts her responsibility to her people above her. Unfortunately, the life of a royal is that of a pawn. The power royals have is sometimes nothing but shadow; you can see it but can’t touch. The real power is usually held by multiple people along with the empress. At least that’s how I understand it.
By far the biggest stupid decision was her having an affair with the princess of the nation that’s trying to slowly take over her land? Of having sex out in broad daylight in the gardens and then being shocked that they were later discovered. And when she gets blackmailed about this, she accepts the terms instead of coming out clean to her mother!! Someone who is essentially her enemy and is actively negotiating with her, blackmails Thanh into giving her a favour…. Because Thanh is more scared about her mom seeing her as weak. This one decision put her entire nation at risk.
There’s a strong theme of being filial but honestly I never actually saw anyone be filial.
I don’t know why but I couldn’t connect with Thanh and at a certain point I was almost disliking her. It came to a point where any scene with her justifiably feeling scared or confused, her wanting more for herself and wanting to be seen and loved, would still annoy me. I could step away and agree that it makes sense for her to have those feelings but with the earlier frustrations with her and her stupidity, it stopped me from caring, which makes me sound so rude lmao. But honestly the contradictory actions and the self-pity was too much.
The romance was not great. Because it happened off page, I didn't care and was instead annoyed every time Thanh missed or wanted Eldris. And like I get it. Her and Eldris aren’t really the true romance but we don’t know that till the end so I count it. Plus the romance between Thanh and Giang was insta-love too. So I’m just gonna ignore the romance. To be honest, I don’t see this being about romance. To me it felt more like hey here are some different types of relationships! Thanh and Eldris have a romance going on but it's manipulative and abusive? And it does a great job of showing how Eldris manipulated Thanh, of Thanh’s feelings and reactions as a victim. To me Fireheart Tiger isn’t a romance novella. And I have to believe that because the romance between Thanh and Eldris isn’t a good one and isn’t healthy of course and the real couple get together at the end and their love had no development anyways so I’m not sure romance in general had any kind of purpose here.
The ending felt rushed and honestly the entire story felt like 5 or 10 chapters taken right from the middle of a 500 page novel. Basically it felt like we didn't get a proper beginning or ending, just a random middle. Even the conflicts that were setup didn’t get developed let alone get resolved; we just got a “we will have to deal with that in the future but we can do it!” vibe.
I said it already but truly if this story was expanded into a full novel, where everything from world building to characters was given the space to be properly set and developed (and with a healthy amount of editing) Fireheart Tiger would have been much more enjoyable for me and probably a favourite. In the end it is all preference, there are more people who have enjoyed this than not and unfortunately i was in the latter.
Spoiler-y review of Before We Disappear by Shaun David Hutchinson
Summary (pulled from goodreads) :
The Prestige meets What If It’s Us in Before We Disappear, a queer ahistorical fantasy set during the 1909 Seattle Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, where the two assistants of two ambitious magicians find themselves falling in love amidst a bitter rivalry designed to tear them apart.
Jack Nevin’s clever trickery and moral flexibility have served him well his entire life—making him the perfect assistant to the Enchantress, one of the most well-known stage magicians in early-twentieth-century Europe. Without Jack’s steady supply of stolen tricks and copycat sleight-of-hand illusions, the Enchantress’s fame would have burned out long ago—not that she would ever admit it.
But when they’re forced to flee the continent for America, the Enchantress finds a new audience in Seattle at the 1909 Alaska–Yukon–Pacific World’s Fair Exposition. She and Jack are set to make a fortune until a new magician arrives on the scene. Performing tricks that defy the imagination, Laszlo’s act threatens to overshadow the Enchantress and co-opt her audience. Jack has no choice but to hunt for the secrets behind Laszlo’s otherworldly illusions—but what he uncovers isn’t at all what he expected.
What makes Laszlo’s tricks possible is, unbelievably, a boy that can seemingly perform real magic. Wilhelm’s abilities defy all the laws of physics. His talents are no clever sleights-of-hand. But even though Laszlo and Wilhelm’s act threatens to destroy the life Jack and the Enchantress have built, Jack and Wilhelm have near-instant connection. As the rivalry between the Enchantress and Laszlo grows increasingly dangerous and dire, Jack finds he has to choose between the woman who gave him a life and the boy who is offering him love. It's a new star-crossed romance about the magic of first love from acclaimed author Shaun David Hutchinson.
Review:
This was an incredible adventure to read. Looking at the cover and thinking it was teen or at least YA, I was unprepared for how dark it got. Our main characters are both living in abusive relationships. The theme of abuse is a strong one and is quite heavy. I think it did a good job of showing different types of abuse and the victims' reactions to it.
There was also a theme of found family and figuring out what you want in your future, freedom, and finding a home in the person you love. Both our characters go through great arcs where they learn and grow. Watching them connect, protect, love, and understand each other was delightful with an undercurrent of unease because they are unsafe and in danger.
Honestly I didn't think it would end in anything but tragedy but I was glad to be wrong. Given how heavy and tense the story was, the ending went smoothly without any problems which I feel like was an opportunity missed. With a story like this, I think the last act should have also been tense, messy, and scary. But I guess given how much hell our characters went through, they at least deserved an easy end.
I spent the entire book terrified of them getting caught or getting hurt or any other horrible things and so I think it was expertly written. I felt all the emotions of the characters and thats why I was so on edge most of the time. It was super easy to just fly through the book, I think I read it in 2 sittings. The author is great at evoking emotion in readers which was true with this book and his other book I previously reviewed, We Are The Ants.
What I loved was that the concept of homophobia was completely taken out. Our main characters are 2 gay men and our side characters are 2 sapphic women, both who get together romantically. The author makes a note of it in the end acknowledgement that it's a fantasy because homophobia existed in real life of course but a fantasy gave him full control to get rid of it in his story. What was not gotten rid of was the period typical racism and sexism but I guess nothing can be perfect, humans and their bigotry will remain no matter what. Racism and sexism also played a role in the story so there was that as well.
The villains of the story were interesting. One was terrifying and the other charming and enchanting. Teddy, the terrifying one, was physically abusive and a monster, and there was no humanity in him. In that regard maybe he was a bit stereotypical and one dimensional but I know monsters like him exist. My only issue was a line towards the end that tried to humanize him by saying he was someone who's bad decisions made him a monster and implying he may have been good before but not once do we see him do one good or even a neutral deed so that line kinda fell flat.
The enchanting one, appropriately named The Enchantress, was emotionally abusive, narcissistic, and manipulative. Yet she had more to her character than Teddy. She felt real. There was a complexness to her. We do see her do some good and very much bad and it makes her a believable character and a great villain. I was less afraid of her than Teddy even though her cunning would definitely make her more dangerous, since you would never see her coming. Teddy was dumb but physically dangerous. When the novel starts, we are told that The Enchantress captivates everyone and easily makes them like her and I found that to be (annoyingly) true. You can't help but like her or be charmed by her even though you see how much of a horrible person she is. To me, she was the most interesting and the most complex character in the novel.
Overall I think I loved this novel more than We Are The Ants.
Short mainly non-spoiler review of We Are The Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson. (Spoiler is in the last paragraph only)
Summary (pulled from goodreads) :
Henry Denton has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button.
Only he isn’t sure he wants to.
After all, life hasn’t been great for Henry. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette smoke. His brother is a jobless dropout who just knocked someone up. His grandmother is slowly losing herself to Alzheimer’s. And Henry is still dealing with the grief of his boyfriend’s suicide last year.
Wiping the slate clean sounds like a pretty good choice to him.
But Henry is a scientist first, and facing the question thoroughly and logically, he begins to look for pros and cons: in the bully who is his perpetual one-night stand, in the best friend who betrayed him, in the brilliant and mysterious boy who walked into the wrong class. Weighing the pain and the joy that surrounds him, Henry is left with the ultimate choice: push the button and save the planet and everyone on it…or let the world—and his pain—be destroyed forever.
Review:
Let me start off by saying, this book was good, my review is based on enjoyment which is of course personal to me and not really an indication of how good or bad the book is. That being said, I did not enjoy this book. It was depressing, long, and disturbing. I struggled with finishing it, I struggled with liking any of the characters, I struggled with believing if things this messed up actually happen in high school? I was very lucky my high school experience was that of a ghost; I barely attended due to health reasons but enough of my old classmates from middle school attended high school with me that I was not invisible. Just a ghost.
This book deals with a lot of heavy topics (depression, suicide, abuse, bullying, divorce, familial dysfunction, violence, miscarriage etc) and given its age rating, it feels both, too dark and teenager-y. The writing, the thoughts, and the mood, made me think it was a teen rating but the content itself is usually the type of things I expect in an adult novel. I've read from this author before and this was also what I said about his other book, Before We Disappear. That review is coming next.
It does well on exploring the topics it introduces, the way loss sticks with you, slowly feeding off of you until you're nothing but a husk. How everyone is going through something and sometimes that makes them ignorant or blind to others going through hardship. How it's difficult to understand each other even if you thought you knew them and were close to them.
The novel is realistic in the sense that it doesn't feel like everything is solved. Maybe 1 or 2 things is on its way to being better but everything else? Still messed up, just like life is.
I personally didn't like it because I don't enjoy reading novels that make me feel despair. It made me cry 3 times lmao like actual tears. This of course means the author is incredible at evoking emotion through writing and the plot itself.
This is the spoiler part so you can avoid if you don't want to be spoiled
Lastly I'm just wondering if the alien thing was real or not. It could be him sleepwalking or hallucinating, or heavily disassociating. But it wouldn't explain him losing his clothes and never finding them, missing for days and probably not being seen and yet not fully show signs of extreme hunger and thirst. We end without an answer to that or even an answer to wether the world ended or not. But that's just me personally wanting answers because I can't have an unsolved mystery. The point of the novel isn't an answer to those questions, it was everything else.
Slightly spoiler-y review of The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa translated by Stephen Snyder
this is the second time I'm writing this review because Tumblr decided to crash and I lost my fully edited copy of the review. At least I had my rough copy so I didn't have to start all over again. @ tumblr please adopt the google docs way of saving every few seconds, thanks
Summary (pulled from goodreads) :
On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses—until things become much more serious. Most of the island's inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten.
When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards. As fear and loss close in around them, they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past.
A surreal, provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, The Memory Police is a stunning new work from one of the most exciting contemporary authors writing in any language.
Review:
This should have been a short story. It was very dull and draining to read almost 300 pages for an ending like that and metaphors that feel too convoluted to figure out. There were some moments that had me tense only to abruptly end with a "what a coincidence they got thru okay somehow!" It felt cheap.
The characters felt dull and annoying which I guess was the point considering it's about people who lose their memories and what are we without memories? There was basically no plot and whatever there was, moved so slow I wanted to jump in and just shake everyone to do something.
I felt cheated forcing myself to read only to get an ending like that with the book AND the story within the story. I'm usually a fast reader and the way I read, I no longer see the words, I fly through them and an entire movie starts playing in my head. But I was struggling with this one. I felt myself consciously reading the words in my head which is a very weird feeling.
I understand this is more of a "metaphors, themes, commentary!" type of book but come on, if you're gonna give us the start of a plot, at least finish it? If we peel back that "themes" layer, the plot is as non existent as everyone on the island
Anyways, if we get past ALL that, those themes and commentary are actually interesting; maybe?. I had made a list of themes that I thought we were exploring and I think only like 2 actually ended up being relevant. I thought we would explore things like: authority, power and the misuse of it by police and the elite. We were given a small throwaway line by R saying that he thinks there's a small minority of elite powerful people who chose what they don't like and make them disappear. That is taken nowhere despite it being a terrific, horrific, and realistic topic to explore.
I thought we would explore control, with the police controlling the islanders and the typists' abuser controlling her. With both, things disappear from the victims until nothing is left. I thought we would discuss how it's a man who steals a woman's voice, wants complete control over her and makes her entirely dependent on him. How ironic it is that in the story, the typist is locked away becoming a shell slowly forgetting everything in the attic, while R is locked away becoming a shell but remembers everything in the basement.
But nope, not really.
What WAS discussed, was how memory is an identity. How losing even the smallest most inconsequential things still leave an impact that grows overtime. How if you can control someone's voice or memory, you can control them. Which was pretty interesting and cool, if only it was explored better and deeper. It felt too surface level, as if the author was planting the beginning of that topic/idea and we as the reader needed to do the work of developing and putting it together. Usually that works well but here, it felt like I was in a group project and I was the only one doing the work, didn't see the payoff and now feel cheated.
As most have pointed out, the memory police reminded me strongly of the Holocaust as well, and those were some of the most terrifying parts to read.
The typist story illustrates abusive relationships and how people can get trapped in them and the psychological effect it has on the victim. Both these parts were incredibly written. The emotions I felt were so strong, I had to remind myself it isn't actually happening to me. This shows the author can write well. These parts had topics that were introduced and developed and seen through. Why everything else wasn't the same, I have no idea.
I think it was also interesting how grief was tackled. When things disappeared, there was no feeling of course because it's gone, but when that thing that was gone was special to you? You couldn't even process that grief because nothing was there. Would it be easier to remember the things lost and grieve them or to forget them and have no grief or even the ability to properly grieve? Does it matter? The memory and the feelings associated with it are gone anyways. But the memories (the good, the bad, and the good that causes bad in the future) are a part of what makes you. What happens when they're gone? Are you dead? Or is the very fact that you can make more memories mean you're alive? But these citizens lose everything, they can't make memories anymore. They're dead and gone and not even a ghost remains, after all, what are ghosts if not memories adrift, stuck while the person is gone.
Moving on, I will forever be annoyed by the weird and frankly uncomfortable "romance" between R and the MC. Because like what was that ew. How ya'll going to cheat when his wife just gave birth to their son? Raising a child is difficult and made even more difficult when it's just 1 parent and they're healing from giving birth! Have some respect! And I can maybe understand why R is so obsessed, he only is exposed to her and the old man but, she has no excuse?? Like why are u so obsessed with him girl?? And why were they always talking in metaphors?? It felt really pretentious because people don't usually talk like that but maybe I'm being rude and it's like a genre thing of another culture?
Anyways, this was long, hopefully it made sense. The story did almost nothing for me and I'm probably gonna forget it (how ironic).
A sleep-deprived slightly spoiler-y very unprofessional review of The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I feel like having the review be professional and not as confusing as the novel was, would be doing it a disservice so here we go
look at all the pretty covers! under the cut ofc I don't want to clog up the tags
The covers are a work of art
Summary (pulled from goodreads) :
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world—a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.
Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues—a bee, a key, and a sword—that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians—it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose—in both the mysterious book and in his own life.
Review:
👁👄👁 I honestly felt like I dreamt the entire book and isn't that ironic given the story lmao. Despite feeling like I was unbalanced the entire time and more confused than Zachary, I still really enjoyed the book. It's very whimsical. I would describe it as like being in a dream. Things make sense but also don't make sense? You can read meaning into anything in that dream and you won't really know if it's true or not since dreams don't exist as facts or to be proven.
The story follows many people though we anchor on Zachary, a grad student who gets sucked into an underground world of stories, time, fate, the moon, and the love between people. There's also a lot of honey and bees.
I can't truly explain the story because I don't think I could give it justice. It's something you have to read for yourself and explore the confusion and plug in what you believe is missing with your own beliefs and stories. I don't know how the author could spin multiple tales imbedded in each other and still keep the connections without tangling into too much confusion. There's enough of it to keep you intrigued. Thought as I was getting to the end, I realized there won't be clear answers that I was looking for. In that sense it truly does act like the fairytales already written in its pages. Stories with no logic, just emotion, magic, fate, and time.
I probably will realize some answers weeks from now or maybe I won't. Reading this book was different than others in the sense that even without full closure, I don't feel like I was left hanging. Just like the stories in the Harbor, this book exists to take you on a journey and then bring you back, it's not meant to have clear answers.
In the novel Fate believes that endings give stories meaning and Kat (Zachary's friend who will be a real keeper 😏) doesn't agree. To her, stories have meanings in their entirety, she just believes that they need to have a goodbye, somewhere to be left. And I agree with her.
The only thing is that despite there being so many love stories in the fairytales in the book and a love story between our main characters, I didn't feel it. I couldn't feel the chemistry, the yearning, the need to be with the other. I've read better romances and so I just ignored it and let it just happen. Maybe it's not the type of romance we need to start and build naturally and rather one where the love just happens and we are to just accept it. (Basically insta-love). Everything else keeps your focus more anyways.
The descriptions got a bit much so I found myself skimming it sometimes. But also the main character is soooooo passive. Things happen around him or things are put upon him and he's told he has a choice. Fate just gives you choices, it's up to you what path you take but honestly that's bs 😃 how is "this door or this door?" a proper choice when there's no other info. My guy gets yeeted into one place and then another and just... does what ppl need him to lmao poor guy. Also there's no real character development, probably because there's not much character in the first place but even the ones that existed? Nothing changed them. Comparing the characters in the beginning to how they are in the end, nothing really has changed. Reading other reviews, people are saying it's mainly a love letter to storytelling so it foregoes some other things usually needed in a story (is this irony, idk)
Not only was it a dizzying book to read, it's dizzying just to explain my thoughts. Or maybe it's the headache from staying up till 5am to read the book and finishing it after 5 hours of sleep. Once things start getting going, so do you; sleep, no matter how strong, will not be stronger than the honey floating you towards bees that buzz stories long gone or yet to happen in your ear and send you off to spread those stories.
Ps. Why tf do I sound so pretentious in my reviews lmao
A non-spoiler review of A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
Summary (pulled from Goodreads):
Red White & Royal Blue meets Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in debut author Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light, featuring an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts, and conspiracies.
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.
Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that 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.
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.
Review:
It was a very fun and engaging read! I flew through it. I loved our main characters and the story was focused on their relationship developing and setting the foundations of the world and building it up in a very non-clunky way. Usually I find that world building is sometimes difficult without info dumping but I never felt like that was the case with this book.
We follow Edwin who lives in a magical world and loves to experiment. He comes from a family that values power; Edwin, however doesn't have much power. This makes him a target for his bully of a big brother and makes his relationship with his family very strained. Through his pov we learn about the magical world and system but we don't get explanations. It sounds weird but it works realistically. People who are born into magic don't go around thinking about the magic systems to themselves. It's a part of their life, it's normal for them. If he went around thinking about magic as if he was introducing it to an invisible audience, then it wouldn't feel as realistic. The info we usually get from his point of view is through his research.
On the other side of the coin (😏) we have Robin who's essentially yanked into the magical world and is now stuck if he wants to get his curse taken off. His parents have just died and left him and his sister very little (they had need to be seen as Great, even at the cost of their children's' future.) He gets stuff explained to him (and by extension, us) but just enough for us to connect things for ourselves. We aren't spoon fed info and it doesn't feel like a lecture.
These 2 characters are compelling and intriguing, have almost opposite dynamics, from personality, to family, to lives, it makes it very interesting to watch them learn to work with each other, learn about each other and connect in an intimate way. By the end we truly feel that they know each other more than anyone else knows them (even if that's not totally the case).
The overall plot focuses on Robin being cursed and Edwin taking the responsibility to help him. Along the way they uncover mysteries, underlying plots, new magic and power, and their love and affection for each other.
The character development is a bit more focused on Edwin than Robin but we get equal time with both. I went through the novel suspecting people and got 2 of them right, however we aren't given all the answers. In fact the bigger plot is left unresolved for a future book. This book mainly focuses on 1 part of the whole as well as getting rid of a curse, inheriting a promising new magical power, and getting our leads together. It feels like a season finale to a show with the next season confirmed but with no information of how it's going to play out.
Other than our main leads, we have a pair of half Indian sisters who stole the show for me personally for the 5 pages they were there together. I hope it's not the last we see of them, they're incredible and honestly the only diversity to be seen in a cast of all white characters. It's a story with magic, I'm sure there could have been more diversity. People of colour existed in Edwardian England and this is a magical Edwardian England, we could have had more than just 2 half Indian sisters. Hopefully the sequel has some colour.
Last thing was the writing style. It takes some getting used to because the author is very fond of metaphors. Especially using very new, abstract, inventive metaphors. Before you start getting used to it, it is a bit jarring and there are some parts where it feels clunky and almost takes you out of the story or makes your eyes gloss over it but once you slow down or get used to it, you stop realizing and those metaphors DO paint a precise picture or emotion the author wants you to understand or feel.
Overall, very well done and I can't believe it's a debut novel. I'm excited for her next project which is a sequel with Robin's sister as the main character. There are promises of more mystery, a sapphic romance, and a focus on women and women's right movement. Hopefully we can still see Robin and Edwin since their story isn't yet finished and the overarching plot from this book isn't complete either so hopefully it continues in the sequel. As far as I know (from a goodreads question/answer) the series, titled The Last Binding, is a trilogy.
The sequel, called A Restless Truth, comes out November 2022 and we currently have no info on the last book.
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