Week 11: April 17th - Reading

Okay, I'm back! And I actually have a sizeable update for everyone - two weeks was just enough time to get through a lot of books it seems.

The First Bright Thing by JR Dawson: I mean this as a compliment, but the villain here was so vile that this was a rough read.

Should you read this? I really do think so - this was my last holdover from the Trans Rights Read-a-Thon and it was absolutely magical. Dawson has a way with prose that pulls you in and wraps you up in the magic and wonder and hope of it all. However, I wasn't quite ready for how tense of a read this would be. I will caution that the villain in this book is rough. There are several chapters from his perspective and they were so well done that I wanted to bail several times (if you've ever watched Jessica Jones, he's basically Kilgrave). It was hard to appreciate the good moments of this book since there was always a feeling of dread on the horizon - between the villain and in the impending war itself - but so long as you're aware that this book is dark and tense then I think it's still a worthwhile experience.

Tale of the Flying Forest by RM Romero: Oh if I had this when I was eleven I would have been insufferable.

Should you read this? Without a shadow of a doubt. Even if RM Romero wasn't already one of my favorite authors, this still would have been absolutely lovely. The prose is comforting and nostalgic as it pulls on the traditions of fairytales while also making something so unique and splendid within the genre. The narrative voice felt like someone reading me a bedtime story in the best of ways. Plus, the illustrations were absolutely wonderful. If I had read this when I was in the middle grade age group, I would have been obsessed. I love a good story about monsters being not what we expect, and this delivers in spades.

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite: Oh no, it’s meeting (almost) all of my standards!

Should you read this? Indubitably. For the uninitiated, one of my favorite romances of all time is Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall, and this book is about the closest I've been to the high I felt reading that. This is such a tender, lovely romance while also being an exploration of who gets to decide what creative pursuits are "noble" and who gets to pursue them. It's soft, it's reverent, and it's teeming with compassion. Historical sapphic romances really just hit everything I enjoy, I think this is my lane now, and honestly I'm not mad. Blessed be that Waite has two more books in this setting.

The City We Became by NK Jemisin: Now this is what I’m fucking talking about!!!

Should you read it? I am begging you to. Full disclosure, I tried to get through The Fifth Season last year since it's an all-time favorite of my friend, but the content was too triggering for me to finish it. That being said, Jemisin is one of the most talented writers of the 21st century. This was sublime, this was intense, this was strange but intriguing and delectably bizarre. Having each borough of New York be a person was amazing to watch - even the borough that was the worst person was still an interesting character. It's a poignant commentary on gentrification while also being a cosmic horror. Please check this out, you won't regret it.

Star Bringer by Nina Croft, Tracy Wolff: While this was very fun and breezy, I spent a lot of this nostalgic for other space adventures.

Should you read this? Eh, if you really want. If you are someone who enjoys sci-fi romances along with interstellar adventure, then I think you'll enjoy this no matter what. It's breezy despite it's 600 page length, and it definitely feels like an adventure. However, I did spend a lot of this book yearning for other books in a similar genre. Structure wise, I'm not sure if having 4 characters with 1st person narration was a good decision since oftentimes I lost track of who was narrating a chapter - there's not really much reason it couldn't be 3rd person and just jump around even more. There were also several times that the main male character Ian - who is described as dark-skinned - was referred to as "dangerous" and having a "predatory gaze," which isn't great optics considering both of these authors are white women. Those factors compiled on top of an ending I did not care for, I just feel like this is a big investment for not a lot of payoff. Maybe wait until more of the books come out before picking this one up. In the meantime I'd recommend the Wayfarer series by Becky Chambers far more often - it's the book I kept wishing I was reading while reading this.

That's all for the books I read! As a small bonus, I did also put together this bad boy last week, and I think it turned out great: