Whatcha' Reading

Reviews of books, manga, and fanfics. A few books are reviewed each week, with one fanfic spotlight on Fridays. Book and fanfic recommendations are welcome!

[whatcha-reading-today]

What am I reading today?

See my Goodreads for what I'm reading now.

Here are some masterposts I've made:

Summerween 2024

Triple Feature: Andrew Joseph White

Great Reads of 2024

Triple Feature: Rebel Blue Ranch series

Triple Feature: The Theseus Trilogy

Double Feature: Alison Rumfitt

Favorites 2025 (Jan-March 2025)

Triple Feature: Madeline Miller

Triple Feature: Gothic Romance

Mulan AU but make it omegaverse

Double Feature: Scott Smith

Series review: All for the Game (coming soon)

Triple Feature: Stephen Graham Jones I (coming soon)

Series review: Game Changers (coming soon)

[whatcha-reading-today]

Pioneer Summer | Elena Malisova & Katerina Silvanova

An interesting read mostly for the fact that this was written by a Russian/Ukrainian duo in Russian and was banned by the Russian government. The book follows two boys who meet at Pioneer Camp, fall for each other as teenagers, lose touch, and then (mild spoiler) reconnect a decade later. I've read a lot of romance, and this isn't treading any new ground to be honest.

I found the translation very direct--which the translator acknowledges was her attempt to really capture the original language's style. I also thought the pacing was a bit strange. We spend so much time at the summer camp and then blast past a decade in a matter of pages. I would have liked more time with both the characters. This book also suffers from the fact that I recently read 'In Memoriam' in which two men fall in love and are divided by WW1, and communicate through letters. Those letters really dig into the events of the time, really blending the historical elements with the romance well.

I think frankly what was most interesting was the cultural context of when this took place. This starts in the late 1980s and takes place over a single summer. This makes up the majority of the 400ish pages runtime, with the last 50 or so taking place between the 90s and 2001 largely in the form of letters between the two main leads. The letters discuss things like the AIDS epidemic, conversion therapy, Gorbachev, the unification of Russia, the dissolution of the USSR...like all of those things are fascinating. Especially since as someone from the US, my perspective is very US-focused with little insight into what those living IN Russia at the time thought about those events. And while that content was interesting I didn't feel like the book really dug into any of those events in any sort of meaningful way. It's entirely possible (and probable!) that as this was written for Russian folks in mind, the book assumed that I knew all these things, with any explanation unnecessary set dressing.

Read in: March 2026

Format: Physical copy

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Best Offer Wins | Marisa Kashino

Totally ok but just like...wasn't what I was promised. The humor didn't land and I found the FMC annoying but not frankly crazy enough. And as someone who tried to buy a house when folks were putting down $$ in cash, I expected to be angrier. But I wasn't, I just read this rather passively.

Read in: March 2026

Format: ebook

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I, In the Shadows | Tori Bovalino

This is such a gutpunch of a book. This follows our main character, Drew, who is able to see ghosts. She moves with her family into a house where Liam, a teen her age, died the year prior in a horrible car accident. Liam and Drew develop a kinship that grows as Drew is trying to help Liam pass into the next world--and if he doesn't he'll turn into a husk. I'm an old fart but boy, this hit me in the face. Grief that punches you in the throat. I don't know man, 300 pages of teenagers learning to move on from the death of their friend is pretty fucked, you know?

Format: ebook

Read in: March 2026

Favorites 2026

[whatcha-reading-today]

Dragon Ball Z Vol 1-2 | Akira Toriyama

I've never actually read dbz but have watched most of the show and of course, dbz abridged. The masterpiece that it is. This is so fun and cute but I think the ebook version I'm reading has some grammar and spelling weirdness. This is probably a result of it just being an older translation. I do recommend this if you've never actually read the series. It moves soooo quickly.

I did of course read this in the TFS voices which I frankly recommend. Loving how faithful DBZA is to the original books.

I do find some of the intros from Toriyama sort of bittersweet. He seemed like such a wholesome little weirdo, and his death is a tragic loss for the world of anime/manga and frankly a lot of interpretations of power and kindness.

Read in: March 2026

Format: ebooks! My library has them ALL on Libby and I'm having a great time reading these on my ereader! I have a kobo and LOVE IT.

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The Graceview Patient | Caitlin Starling

I had just read Starling's 'The Starving Saints' and was so incredibly grossed out and was hoping for something similar here. That level of grossness isn't really on display in 'Patient' but there's a lot I did like.

This follows Margaret, a patience at Graceview, receiving an experimental treatment where everything feels off. The vibes: rotten, the nurses: not really doing their jobs, other patients: WEIRD. I found the first half slow and atmospheric with some weaker bits at the end of the book. Overall, a super fun and creepy time. I think this books suffered from my just having read 'Saints' which I just found a bit stronger.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC copy!

Format: ebook

Read in: April 2025 (yes my review is a year behind. OOPS).

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Shots on Net | J.J. Mulder

CUTE. Like ooey gooey levels of sweetness. Super low stakes, slow burn between a jock and a nerd who are *gasp* roommates! I listened to the entire book on a 4 hour flight (the return flight! I read Lally's 'That's Not My Name' in one direction and this on the other) and highly recommend it. I did find the two narrators did a great job but sounded so similar to each other that I sometimes had a bit of trouble figuring out who's who.

Read in: March 2026

Format: audiobook

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It Will Only Hurt for a Moment | Delilah S. Dawson

This unfortunately didn't work for me and I loved Guillotine and Bloom. I think some of the ghost stuff here just didn't land??

Read in: March 2026

Format: ebook

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That's Not My Name | Megan Lally

This book is an insanely good time. It's sub 300 pages and borders on one of those 'you'll read it in one sitting' thrillers. This follows two characters, one who wakes up with no memory, but don't worry, her father found her and is taking care of her (side eyeeee). And the other is trying to find out what happened to his missing girlfriend. Lally's writing is easy to follow and while this is classified as a YA, I had such a good time and really enjoyed the twist.

As a note, I read this on a four hour plane ride and was glued to each page.

Read in: March 2026

Format: ebook

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A Forbidden Alchemy | Stacey McEwan

This was such a good time. This can best be described as a sort of post-apocalyptic but also like very retro selection-style book where our MCs learn that oh shit the government is bad actually! That while yes people have magic in this world, who gets to learn and use it is dependent on their place in society. I listened to the audiobook and really liked the dual narration between the two leads. I will note though that I did have some trouble understanding some of the accents (but this is a me problem, I listen to books while driving and sometimes have a hard time discerning sounds. You try listening to an audiobook while driving on the shitty highways of the US.)

I did feel like things sort of petered out towards the end and I wouldn't argue that this book is necessarily doing anything new compared to others in the romantasy space but I did have a good time. And I found McEwan's writing strongly described and richly layered.

Read in: March 2025

Format: audiobook

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My Lips, Her Voice | L. L. Madrid

Ghosts! Possession! Generational trauma! Men are gross!

I had a lot of fun and I think if you're looking for an atmospheric spooky time, this could be good. This book is pretty short but packs a punch.

Format: physical copy

Ready in: March 2026

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Battle Royale | Koushun Takami

I found this at a used bookstore for $3. It's the best $3 I've spent this year.

This is the novel the movie Battle Royale is based on. Yes it's 500 pages long in English, yes, it's just as gross as the movie and I would argue a bit grosser because we get to spend more time with the children (and there's gay stuff. Bet that peaked your interest, tumblr..).

If you don't know what BR is about, it is in short, about an oppressive government that controls its people by randomly selecting a class of 15 year old students to dump in an abandoned location, put bomb collars on them, and force them to fight to a final survivor. You may say--and many did, oh The Hunger Games stole the idea. I felt that way too but having consumed a lot of dystopian fiction, these tropes of a controlling government forcing people to kill each other is something part and parcel to the genre. I'd also further argue that BR is Japanese and wears that openly. That means, the child characters act like children and sometimes do dumb shit, but their personalities and decisions are fundamentally not Western. The characters are in their school uniforms, their thinking about nuclear war and sacrifice is specific to those who have survived through those experiences directly. To me, Eastern and Western thoughts on dystopia are different. A country that directly survived nuclear annihilation is different from one that hasn't. I've visited Hiroshima and see how reverent people still are about an event that intended to dehumanize another population.

I do have to also point out, I read the 2009 translation which explicitly calls out the shittier early translation from 2003. I had some problems with this newer translation but boy now I want to read the original translation!! My edition also had an interview from the director of the film as well as the author and I'd argue those are even more valuable than the book text itself.

Easily one of my favorites so far this year, even with it not being perfect, this reads like a prophetic nightmare.

Format: Physical copy

Read in: March 2026

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In Memoriam | Alice Winn

This book ripped my fucking heart out. This follows two boys (and a lot of their schoolmates) as they navigate World War I. The prose are hauntingly beautiful and dig into the atrocities and realities of WW1 through the eyes of two teens. I could see this as an oscar-bait movie. And it should be!!

Winn's writing is so good and her historical research is great*. This was a solid 4 until the last 20% percent for me. The post war and Brazil sections were my absolute favorite. Oh and yes, if you loved The Song of Achilles you SHOULD read this. Preferably now so I have someone to talk to about it.

NOTE*: I know more about WW2 than I do WW1, so to me this seemed like great research. If someone wants to share their thoughts or that I missed something, please do.

Two negatives: I don't like the cover. At all. And I'm baffled by the pull quote from Lev Grossman??? Did the publishers think there would be overlap between people who liked the Magicians and this book? For me, a better quote would have been from Madeline Miller or Philippe Besson or someone in queer literary spaces.

Format: Physical copy

Read in: February 2026

Favorites 2026

[whatcha-reading-today]

Dominion | Addie E. Citchens

This details the story of men in the South, and the women who love them told through the eyes of those women. We get multiple perspectives when something bad happens--and then some more bad shit happens--from these women and how they build familial and loving support systems around and about men with less regard for themselves.

That's kind of a terrible synopsis, but I'd argue if you're looking for a story that looks at the ways that men make the world about them, even creating a freaking religion where they're in charge, and how these structures permeate into how women feel about themselves or see the reflection of themselves as passive participants to men, this could be for you.

This is a fairly short book at about 240 pages and I think would make a great book club pick.

Format: Physical copy

Read in: February 2026

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Flesh | David Szalay

So I loved this but not for the reasons I think I'm supposed to. This is 300ish pages of a man trying to connect with others through sex and physical connection and finds that he can't. That's so viscerally painful. I liked Szalay's writing style and felt like it fit the story. But I loved this story because it was basically a longer version of The Downward Spiral--especially 'The Becoming'. I am a HUGE NIN fan, have seen Trent in concert 8 times both as NIN and as HTDA. So I think what would improve this award-winner would be if it came with a copy of TDS.

Format: Physical copy

Read in: February 2026

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The Princess Knight | Cait Jacobs

This is a fantasy retelling of 'Legally Blonde' and while I think this is well written and constructed, it's very hard to do your own thing with something as beloved as Legally Blonde. And there's no Jennifer Coolidge! I'm sorry, that's a crime!

But overall, this was very cute but I would argue that by changing the book to fit the fantasy framing, and by making our male lead who dumps the FMC not evil, it sort of marred some of the original story's intentions. I was really hoping this would end as a polyamorous relationship but it didn't.

Format: Physical copy/audiobook (I both read and listened. I do recommend the audiobook.)

Read in February 2026

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Fire Punch | Tatsuki Fujimoto

This has everything that people hate--violence of everything flavor--sexual, physical, mutilation, oppression, and also a magic man whose permanently on fire. This is weird and I'm surprised this was published by Shonen Jump.

Summarizing this book is surprisingly easy but also may not do it justice. Let's see. This is X-Men but make it even more dystopian. Why yes, some people have super powers, and also our world is frozen. Everyone is starving, so why not chop off the limbs of the person who can regenerate them. Oh no, the evil government thinks that's gross and burns the village to the ground, and our regenerating man is now a fire man. Who wants revenge. I think a lot of this will work for those who like constant misery, constant gore, and also multiple references to rape and incest. I think for me this was a bit too bleak, but maybe if I'm feeling really depressed I'll give it a shot again. I do also think that the author was really testing the bounds of weirdness and figured out how to hone that weird into what became Chainsaw Man. And for that, I'm grateful.

Format: ebook (finding a copy of these is a PAIN near me, I had to read it online)

Read in: February 2026