#myreview

[missfliss88]

Books I've Read....

My Review: Lovely stories. An author’s view on life and friends. I was about to say the best was kept for last but that’s not true. These stories are all on an equal footing. Life for all of us is made up of random moments - some made special by the people or places in them. 4 stars.

[peaceofmindyx]

(via Cliff Trail)

A new adventure post is now available on my site @peaceofmindy.com! Trail number 3 of 2022 - Cliff Trail.

[themelodyofspring]

Book Review: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 448 (Paperback)

Rating: 5/5 stars

Mini blurb: Ryland Grace is in space, but has no memory of how he got there, or what his mission is, or even who he is. He has to figure out his past and his mission, in order to save everyone on Earth.

Review: This is my new favorite book. It had a lot of science, but all very real science. I enjoyed trying to guess what was happening and what science experiments were being performed. There is only one POV, but we get a lot of back and forth between the past and present to figure out what exactly is going on.

The second half of the book introduces some new elements (no spoilers for that), but they made the book ten times more enjoyable. By the end, you think you know how the book will end but it goes in a completely different (and pleasant) direction.

A list of things that made me like this book:

The sass! The dialogues! The smart but idiotic decisions!

'Instant toga'

When I reached the 'Emperor Comatose' line, I knew I was going to love this book.

The science was accurate and not over the top. The high school physics stuff was easy to follow. Some high-level science was not explained in detail (Thank God, I can't keep up with all the physics formulae).

The extinction-level event was very cool. Nothing grandiose but still impactful enough to cause an apocalypse.

The second half of the book was my favorite.

The whole sound/music to English conversion part was awesome. I loved it.

Excessive use of MS Excel :D

The subtle chapter number change for the last chapter was a nice touch.

The ending was so sweet! I did not expect it at all.

I wonder why the book cover is that though. Because they wanted it to match The Martian? Every time Grace did an EVA, my heart was in my throat and I kept thinking this is it. He's gonna float off into space. And damn, did he do a lot of EVAs.

This book can be best summed up by the quote: 'The real treasure was the friends we made along the way.'

Favourite quotes under read more.

I am Emperor Comatose. Kneel before me.

All right, genius brain: come up with something! ...I'm hungry. You have failed me, brain.

I have a date with a cylinder.

Usually you not stupid. Why stupid, question?

You are leaky space blob.

Your face is leaking.

"Sample device radio signal strong. Getting closer. Be ready."

"I'm ready."

"Be very ready."

"I am very ready. Be calm."

"Am calm. You be calm."

"No, you be cal-wait. I see the sampler!"

[wanttotalkaboutbooks]

Cemetary Boys

by Aidan Thomas

I was recommended this book by my library, I think for the month of October. In short, its about a trans Latino boy from a community of brujes who’s trying to prove himself in his abilities and earn acceptance from his family. He summons a ghost as part of the effort to prove himself and then shit happens.

My Rating: 3/5

I’ll justify this under the cut. Potential spoiler warning.

Diversity and Social Commentary:

First, lets talk about a key facet of this - its selling point, if you will: representation. (I’m not saying ‘selling point’ as a derogatory thing - I myself picked up this book because I really wanted to read a MC who’s trans and Latine.)

The author themself is trans and Latine, and goes by they/them pronouns as far as I can tell. As far as rep goes, I couldn’t see any red flags, nor did I expect any (although I’m not trans and can’t say for certain - I’d love the input of both trans and Latine people on the rep in this book!). To me, the main character, Yadriel, is a fairly straightforward portrayal of a trans, teenage boy, struggling to deal with his family’s short-sighted behaviour while maintaining faith and pride in his identity. 

The parts of the story dealing with Yadriel’s trans identity are sympathetic and heartwarming, managing to address serious topics while keeping the overall tone of the book uplifting and hopeful. As can be expected from a trans author, Yadriel’s journey wasn’t riddled with unnecessary angst or torture, nor did it gloss over the shit that Yadriel had to deal with, being trans in a hetero-and-cisnormative community based in strict tradition.

Side note: I like how the book doesn’t euphemize topics such as classism, American commodification of Dia de los Muertos, etc. 

Style, Tone, and Voice:

The story is written in an unassuming 3rd person past tense, and it’s within the author’s writing style and voice that my first issues with the book arose. There’s nothing wrong, per se, with the way Thomas writes, but just as it doesn’t elicit a harsh negative response, it doesn’t inspire me either. It’s very readable, very digestible, and it would be a great book for a younger reader, but if you’re looking for writing that’s more complex or thought-provoking, this probably isn’t it. 

Similarly, I found the character voices to be...not flat, but not noteworthy either. I’d have enjoyed this book much more if the dialogue and overall language was more unique and less cliché.  

Plot:

Like with other aspects of the story, my reaction to the plot was lukewarm. There were definitely parts I liked much better than others. Overall, I’d say the plot was decent but also fairly predictable on its own. The worldbuilding, which while not outstanding, was solid and interesting, is what gave the plot the unique and intriguing spin that it so needed.

I felt that the plot of this book was more a device by which the characters could be explored, more like a B-side to the characters’ growth, and in that sense, it did its job effectively. I don’t think that this is a bad thing, but if you’re like me and you prefer heavily plot-driven stories, you may find it lacking. I will say there there was a twist at the end that I personally did not anticipate, which delighted me. Other parts of the ending were more lackluster, but that particular reveal, for me, was very enjoyable. 

There is also gay romance within the book, which like most of the story is predictable but cute.

Conclusion

I gave this book a “decent” rating because I truly think that its pros and cons balance out. Obviously, this is a personal score, because everyone looks for different things in the books they read (it rates pretty high on most review websites, if that means anything to you). If you want some easy reading with endearing characters and good LGBT representation, this might be the book for you. If you want something more complex, plot-driven, or gritty, maybe not so much. In general, it was cute and uplifting, but I found it lacking in important aspects such as plot, character voice, writing style, etc.

[offbeat-manga-ships]

GINGITSUNE (ぎんぎつね) [ANIME]

— Spoilers are italicized —

ALT TITLE: Gingitsune: Messenger Fox of the Gods

CATEGORY: F/M

EPISODES: 12

MY STATUS: Completed

SEASON: Fall 2013

SOURCE: Manga (by Ochiai Sayori)

GENRES: Seinen, Slice of Life, Supernatural + [interspecies] [exophilia] [ag] [ag: yf x om] [younger f] [older m] [implicit or ambiguous]

MAL SCORE: 7.22

SUMMARY: Gintarou is a fox spirit that has been protecting the small Inari temple since the Edo era. Saeki Makoto's family possesses the power to see the gods' agent, but the ability is limited to one living relative at a time. When Makoto's mother passed away while she was still young, Makoto inherited the ability as the sole remaining family member. With the help of fox spirit's power, Makoto and Gintarou help the people of their community, in spite of their many differences.

PERSONAL SCORE: 9/10

WHAT’S UNCONVENTIONAL ABOUT IT?

This story does not focus on romance, but there is a special and deep relationship between a 15-16 year old girl and a centuries old fox spirit who is a herald for her family’s shrine. As the true successor who is to inherit the place, Makoto is the only one in her family with the ability to see him and other heralds.

THE MAIN CHARACTERS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP

Saeki Makoto

Makoto is a cheerful girl who lives with her dad at a Inari Shrine. She knows she loves Gintarou and the community surrounding the place, but she’s not sure about what she’s going to do in the future.

She’s a kind hearted girl, a bit of an airhead, and I love how she treats Gin as family since she could see him since she was four. Meaning that you can see a nice contrast between how other heirs treat Gin (Gintarou-sama) and how Makoto treats him (he is her friend, confident, pillow, source of knowledge, and most importantly, her equal partner).

It’s not clear in the anime whether she really means her teasing about going on dates with him, and how exactly her “I love you’s” mean, but she seems very serious every time she says she wants to be with him forever and help around the shrine in one way or another.

Gintarou

He is initially the sole herald of the shrine (his partner left many years ago). He is very lazy, grumpy and in wise in some ways.

It’s great to see how he’s not used to be so close with an heir like he is with Makoto. He’s the kind of character who blushes easily when someone (or maybe just Makoto) expresses their love, and I love that about him. He is not a wallflower without vulnerabilities.

It’s very interesting to see his perspective on humans and how things are separate between heralds and them. He encourages the humans to spend time with other humans and not lose their lives talking only with supernatural beings. He is very aware of his position and the distance they should be keeping to avoid drama.

OVERALL OPINION

I have a tremendous soft spot for slice of life, so even though this anime never focuses too much on the Makoto and Gin pair and never outright points anything romantically inclined (it has its subtexts though), I still adored every second of it. Some of it was for personal reasons: the portrayal of the religion reminded me too much of my own attendances and devotion during my childhood and early teenagehood to a Japanese temple that was a mixture of Shinto, Buddhism and Christianism. Some traditions and sense of community through religion lined up exactly with many things I did and experienced, so it grabbed right on my nostalgic heart.

The characters were all likable and their struggles and behaviors never stopped being interesting to me. There were some seeds that were planted that we never got to see much of it before the end, which is understandable considering it’s following the manga which right now is so far ahead (15 vols). I only wish the adaptation got far enough to include more development of our main duo’s dynamic, which I can only guess is a very slow burn or forever implicit in the manga.

I have to say, I am not exactly a fan of the furrier side of exophilia (that’s why I avoid werewolves and other monsters that resemble real animals/mammals too much), but I think Gintarou has a killer character design and an interesting personality to boost. Him and Makoto could become a real power couple because even though they have a big age gap and she is still growing up, they have the foundation for a truly equal and healthy partnership in work and life, with really interesting kinds of obstacles. It’s clear to me that while Makoto and Gin might have a special kind of relationship (far more casual and close than any Gin had before with an heir), he plans to just be there in her life until she vanishes, being only an observer and occasional helper. The anime never gets there, but it would be interesting to see if Makoto challenges those expectations in the manga which unfortunately, I have no access to.

[wolfcha1k]

SPOILERS BEWARE, WE BASICALLY SPOIL EVERYTHINGGGG

My good friends Middlermanon and Whale were great enough to do this review/retrospective with me about our opinons on the new movie The Croods - A New Age ~

 Follow Manon on her Tiktok here for more Croods content: https://www.tiktok.com/@middlermanon?lang=en 

What are your thoughts on the new film?

[seeasweetsmile]

Finally saw New York Special of Miraculous and it was amazing ! 👏😍

Dying of laughter at the first half of the episode I think (Gorilla scene 😂)

If we had a drinking game about the numbers of time we heard the word "friend" i'm pretty sure everyone will be comating on the floor.

New York super heroes were so good ! It was interesting to see how things works in different from Paris. Same for the vilain.

Hawkmoth was great, as always 😊

Love square fluff, funny and angst moments were good.

Teamwork and fights were great 👏😍

[xgingerbookworm]

The Switch - Beth O’Leary

When someone mentioned the ‘The Flatshare’, a conversation then started about how it was the best book they’d all read so far in isolation. I chimed in with “Oh, I read it last year… it’s great isn’t it?”. Cue a load of ‘OHHHH ALRIGHT THEN MISS TAYLOR’... I like to do things first (ha).

But the thing is, they’re right. The Flatshare is wonderful. I went through the books I read last year and it was in the top five. I loved it, so much. In fact, I’ve just bought it for my Kindle (my paperback copy is currently in lockdown with my colleague) and sometimes you just need a pick-me-up.

I’m telling this story as ‘The Switch’ is as good, if not better; I loved it just as much. I’m so in awe of it. I’m actually giddy with relief that Beth O’Leary wasn’t just a one-hit wonder.

This book continues what she began in her debut as she continues to reshape romantic fiction in an utterly wonderful way, but without losing the parts of the genre that make my toes wiggle in glee as I grasp the book to my chest.

The world may be going a bit mad, but its novels such as this that are keeping me sane (well... sane-ish). I sped through the pages curled in a ball in the corner of my mother’s kitchen as she brought me cups of coffee and glanced suspiciously at me whilst I laughed throughout. O’Leary has the wondrous talent of creating a world of characters you adore and cheer for. The prose is witty and charming and fun. I’m not going to say I didn’t cry, I did. With all this said, I also bought a copy for myself (as this copy was kindly sent to me by Quercus via NetGalley) which I’ve already leant to my Mum. And that, THAT is the highest of praise.

Ladies and Gentleman, I have another author to watch, and I’m thrilled by it.