#maria adelmann

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: HOW TO BE EATEN by Maria Adelmann.

Up next! This is the last one on my 24 in 2024 list that isn't directly related to a writing project I worked on this year (all the rest are Driscoll-adjacent!), but I DO have a Little Red Riding Hood retelling kicking around somewhere in my brainpan. Interested to see what this modern reimagining/fairy tale collision looks like!

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: How to Be Eaten

Author: Maria Adelmann

Series or standalone: standalone

Publication year: 2022

Genres: fiction, fantasy, horror, retelling, contemporary, magical realism, feminism

Blurb: In present-day New York City, five women meet in a basement support group to process their traumas. Bernice grapples with the fallout of dating a psychopathic, blue-bearded billionaire. Ruby, once devoured by a wolf, now wears him as a coat. Gretel questions her memory of being held captive in a house made of candy. Ashlee, the winner of a Bachelor-esque dating show, wonders if she really got her promised fairytale ending. Raina's love story will shock them all. Though the women start out wary of one another, judging each other's stories, gradually, they begin to realise that they may have more in common than they supposed. What really brought them here? What secrets will they reveal? Is it too late for them to rescue each other?

[readtilyoudie]

You can’t change the past, but it’s infinitely reframeable. You can tell the same story over and over a hundred different ways, and every version is a little right and every version is a little wrong.

How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann

[random-bookquotes]

“Tragedy isn’t capital,” says Gretel. “It doesn’t buy you anything. It doesn’t automatically make you a better person. And it certainly doesn’t make people fall in love with you.”

Maria Adelmann, How to Be Eaten

[bookcoversonly]

Title: How to Be Eaten | Author: Maria Adelmann | Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (2022)

[teainkbooks]

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while I was super busy with the end of my semester, then my sister came to visit for the long weekend, and on top of all of that I’m studying for the TEAS test to get into nursing school!

In the moments I have found to relax and wind down I’ve been reading! This is one I just finished (Girls of a Certain Age by Maria Adelmann) and one I just picked up (The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green).

Hope you’re all having a great start to summer so far!

[books-in-media]

Alexa Nikolas, (Instagram, September 05, 2022)

—How to Be Eaten, Maria Adelmann (2022)

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: December Wrap-Up.

So I had High Ambitions for December, forgetting that it was, in fact, December™, and forgetting that I was behind on gift knitting, and that typing a manuscript takes Longer Than I Think It Will, Every Time. Also, I played through Alan Wake (OG) with my brother, and then I watched him play chunks of II as a Sibling Bonding Activity, which was fun! But it definitely also Took Time haha.

I did make it through my "24 in 2024" list by the 31st, though! Feeling very accomplished on that front--everything I read this month came off that list. The list worked well for me (I'm a mood reader, but a Targeted Mood Reader; if I have Too Many Options, I get whelmed, so carving my entire TBR down into smaller bite sized pieces helps a lot!), and I'm excited to make another one for next year.

Photos and/or reviews liked below:

DAWN - ★★★ Got this one in a translation subscription box (perhaps now defunct)--it's not the sort of thing I'd usually pick up, but I did have a Turkish Writer Phase back in college, so I was interested when it was delivered to me specially. Very psychological and set in a historical context I am SUPER not familiar with (1970s Turkey), very brutal, very fluid POV transitions, very timely (and I didn't realize how much pieces of it burrowed into my brain until sitting down to write this wrap-up a month later). If you're into lit fic and can stomach the content warnings, definitely check this out!

HOW TO BE EATEN - ★★★½ I had more fun with this one than anticipated! Made me laugh, but also didn't flinch from ugly shit. Very readable, neat takes on modernized fairy tales and media, and I liked guessing at the short scenes between the "Week" sections--neatly structured book!

THE SPIDER AND HER DEMONS - ★★★½ Another good time!! Breakneck pacing at the beginning (almost to the point of absurdity, but maybe that's just how YA is these days?? unclear) and then it weirdly slowed WAY down once we got to something resembling Loadbearing Plot (the "witnessed eating a man" thing referenced on the jacket), but I enjoyed it a lot overall! Vaguely reminiscent of The Locked Tomb in unexpected ways (more on this in the linked review!).

SELF-PORTRAIT WITH NOTHING - ★★★★½ REALLY liked this one--just my speed of Weird and Fucked Up and Funnier Than Expected (ah yes: my trifecta lol). Interesting take on alternate realities and very much heart crimes: The Family Edition. Good shit, check it out (brace for on-page vet office visits though. and like. abandonment of human child).

UNEXPECTED PLACES TO FALL FROM, UNEXPECTED PLACES TO LAND - ★★★ A handful of good stories in here, and I liked the bridge novella, but I wish they were more Interconnected than Anthology.

Under the Cut: A Note About ~*★Stars★*~

Historically, I have been Very Bad™ about assigning things Star Ratings, because it's so Vibes Heavy for me and therefore Contingent Upon my Whims. (Example: I don't like that stars are Odd, because that makes three the midpoint and things are rarely so truly mid for me)(I have hacked my way around this with a ½). Here is, generally, how I conceptualize stars:

★ - This was Bad. I would actively recommend that you do NOT read this one, no redeeming qualities whatsoever, not worth the slog. Save Yourself, It's Too Late For Me. Book goes in the garbage (donate bin).

★★ - This was Not Good. I would not recommend it, but it wasn't a total waste or wash--something in here held my interest/kept my attention/sparked some joy. I will not be rereading this ever. Save Yourself (Or Join Me In Suffering, That Seems Like A Cool Bonding Activity).

★★★ - This was Good/Fine/Okay/Meh. I don't care about this enough to recommend it one way or another. Perfectly serviceable book, held my interest, I probably enjoyed myself (or at least didn't actively loathe the reading). I don't have especially strong feelings. You probably don't need to save yourself from this one--if it sounds like your jam, give it a shot! Just didn't resonate with me particularly powerfully. I probably won't reread this unless I'm after something in particular.

★★★½ - I liked this! I'll probably recommend it if I know it matches someone's vibes or specific requests, but I didn't commit to a star rating on Goodreads. More likely to reread, but not guaranteed.

★★★★ - I really enjoyed this!! I would recommend it (sometimes with caveats about content warnings or such--I tend to like weird fucked up funny shit, and I don't have many hard readerly NO's). Not a perfect book for me by any means, but Very Good. This is something I would reread! Join me!!

★★★★★ - I LOVED THE SHIT OUT OF THIS, IT REWIRED MY BRAIN, WILL RECOMMEND TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE AT THE SLIGHTEST PROVOCATION (content warning caveats still apply--see 4-star disclaimer). Excellent book, I'll reread it regularly, I'll buy copies for all my friends, I'll try to convince all of Booklr to read it, PLEASE join me!!