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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
I loved a lot about this book: the casual queerness in a society that is just like that (truly a utopia), the concept of the deepnames and the starkeeper, the way the world was described and the poetry of the writing style. However it felt a little rushed, and more of the world building could have been expanded upon to give us all a deeper understanding of things. There was a lot of repetition of things that felt didn't really need to be repeated, but perhaps that is my own personal pet peeve about repetition cropping up. I wanted more of a development between Lilun and Ranra, because I'm not a huge fan of insta-love, and even with Lilun wanting things to go slow, it was pretty much A Thing from the get go.
However, as someone with autistic traits, I could really relate to a lot of things that Lilun experienced (though not all of it, because we're all different, and that's the beauty of things) and it felt nice to be seen in that way, but I wished that there was a bit more of an understanding of them by other characters.
However, as someone with autistic traits, I could really relate to a lot of things that Lilun experienced (though not all of it, because we're all different, and that's the beauty of things) and it felt nice to be seen in that way, but I wished that there was a bit more of an understanding of them by other characters.
The first book for my Trans Rights Readathon reads.
Lemberg's background in poetry shines here. It did take about 50 pages before I really got into the story and understood the world and the stakes. (I have not read their other Birdverse stories.) I ended up loving the messages about community and what it means for people to work together even in failure. Particularly the ideas of leadership and who's suited for what tasks and how even if you have the power, it's still all choices.
The ideas around gender and nonbinary/trans identities were interesting, and it was fun to see Lemberg play with them and expand on themes already in our communities. The Unbalancing felt specifically written for trans people, which is always a special feeling to be the target audience.
Lemberg's background in poetry shines here. It did take about 50 pages before I really got into the story and understood the world and the stakes. (I have not read their other Birdverse stories.) I ended up loving the messages about community and what it means for people to work together even in failure. Particularly the ideas of leadership and who's suited for what tasks and how even if you have the power, it's still all choices.
The ideas around gender and nonbinary/trans identities were interesting, and it was fun to see Lemberg play with them and expand on themes already in our communities. The Unbalancing felt specifically written for trans people, which is always a special feeling to be the target audience.
emotional
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
- Good writing
- Interesting and creative magic world although there were somethings I didn't fully understand
- One of the themes is the different variations of gender identity
- Ridiculous insta love
- In the first half (I DNFed at that point) there's not enough focus on the plot, IMO
- Recurring use of sweard words, which I don't have a problem with, except they're "plucking" and "pluck it"
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I fell in love with the Birdverse when I read The Four Profound Weaves as this complex, inclusive, and fascinating universe kept in thrall and made me sad when I closed the book.
The Unbalancing is even better and I was happy to travel again to the Birdverse and meet the characters. There's a lot of inclusivity and the characters are realistic, fleshed out and interesting.
There's nothing forced, there's no sense of things-done-because-I-had-check-a-list, everything flows and i was sad again at the end of this book.
I had a bad case of book hangover but I'm happy I read it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Tachyon Publications for this digital copy, all opinions are mine
The Unbalancing is even better and I was happy to travel again to the Birdverse and meet the characters. There's a lot of inclusivity and the characters are realistic, fleshed out and interesting.
There's nothing forced, there's no sense of things-done-because-I-had-check-a-list, everything flows and i was sad again at the end of this book.
I had a bad case of book hangover but I'm happy I read it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Tachyon Publications for this digital copy, all opinions are mine
3 stars.
This was my first time reading from R. B, Lemberg and they definitely have a very unique style and have crafted a world that feels significantly different to other fantasy worlds I have read before, but unfortunately there was one thing about this book that drove me to distraction.
The description says "new love blossoms between an impatient starkeeper and a reclusive poet" but this was the worst case of insta-love that I have ever read. And worse than that, as the "relationship" progressed I never bought into why they were in love. It didn't feel organic or even real, and the starkeeper in many instances was a real bully and would do something inappropriate and then apologize and the poet would accept the apology and that was that. I didn't feel like this was a healthy relationship at all, and I didn't like it. It continually took the focus away from the plot and the themes and didn't give them enough breathing room in this incredibly short book.
I did enjoy the way that the world building included non-binary identities in a fulsome way and not as a gimmick or a check box, but it just wasn't enough to make up for the lackluster feelings I had about the book as a whole, I just needed a whole lot more plot.
Also, what was the deal with the cat? If you have read this and know please tell me. I thought it was going to be important to the plot, but actually no, it was just there...
*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for my honest review*
This was my first time reading from R. B, Lemberg and they definitely have a very unique style and have crafted a world that feels significantly different to other fantasy worlds I have read before, but unfortunately there was one thing about this book that drove me to distraction.
The description says "new love blossoms between an impatient starkeeper and a reclusive poet" but this was the worst case of insta-love that I have ever read. And worse than that, as the "relationship" progressed I never bought into why they were in love. It didn't feel organic or even real, and the starkeeper in many instances was a real bully and would do something inappropriate and then apologize and the poet would accept the apology and that was that. I didn't feel like this was a healthy relationship at all, and I didn't like it. It continually took the focus away from the plot and the themes and didn't give them enough breathing room in this incredibly short book.
I did enjoy the way that the world building included non-binary identities in a fulsome way and not as a gimmick or a check box, but it just wasn't enough to make up for the lackluster feelings I had about the book as a whole, I just needed a whole lot more plot.
Also, what was the deal with the cat? If you have read this and know please tell me. I thought it was going to be important to the plot, but actually no, it was just there...
*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for my honest review*