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bakedpotatoes69's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Lesbophobia
clynns's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Lesbophobia, War, Transphobia, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Deadnaming, and Emotional abuse
schnaucl's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
fast-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? No
5.0
The time period is a little hard to place. There's a reference to the Why We Fight shorts which played before films which suggests WWII era, but the towns they visit seem smaller than that. Cars exist but aren't used because all the fuel is used for the far off war. It definitely has an old west or even westward expansion feel to it.
The rest is sadly a prescient view of how some people want America to be. The State controls all entertainment/media, books, music and film. Those State approved materials rigidly reinforce cisgender heterosexual norms to the point where anyone who isn't cisgender or anyone who is anything other than straight can't conceive of a world where there are more people like them, or that they might deserve and be able to attain as much happiness as anyone else.
The librarians (always women, I believe) go from town to town, distributing the Approved Material and collecting worn Approved Material in need of repair. Of course, sometimes the librarians secretly distribute Unapproved Material and help people escape to the free areas of the country (ironically, in this story that includes Florida).
I would definitely read more about these characters and this world, but I think this is a stand alone.
The rest is sadly a prescient view of how some people want America to be. The State controls all entertainment/media, books, music and film. Those State approved materials rigidly reinforce cisgender heterosexual norms to the point where anyone who isn't cisgender or anyone who is anything other than straight can't conceive of a world where there are more people like them, or that they might deserve and be able to attain as much happiness as anyone else.
The librarians (always women, I believe) go from town to town, distributing the Approved Material and collecting worn Approved Material in need of repair. Of course, sometimes the librarians secretly distribute Unapproved Material and help people escape to the free areas of the country (ironically, in this story that includes Florida).
I would definitely read more about these characters and this world, but I think this is a stand alone.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Sexism, Violence, Death, Gore, and Gun violence
Minor: War
awebofstories's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Violence
toffishay's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Really interesting short read with a powerful message about community and identity. It could have been longer, I wanted to know more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Sexism, Misogyny, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Violence, Physical abuse, and Blood
Moderate: Grief and Death
Minor: War
gellyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.0
There’s some great commentary here. I am surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did, although I struggled with the beginning. I feel like I will have to read it again to appreciate it fully.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Abandonment, Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, Death, Murder, and Gun violence
jmcampbell57's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
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? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Gun violence
thewoodlandbookshelf's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Police brutality, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Death
poisonenvy's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I wanted to like this book. I really did.
When Esther watches her girlfriend hang and she's promised for marriage for some other man, she runs away from her powerful father and the town she grew up in, hiding away in a Librarians wagon.
The Librarians are a group of women (or rather, female-presenting people), who travel from settlement to settlement distributing Approved Material -- books with government approval to be read and distributed. She can't live at home, and she feels dirty and guilty for her love of Beatriz, and so she thinks she can do good with them.
What she doesn't know is that the Librarians are actually a group of rebels. The Librarians she meets -- Bet, Leda, and Cye, are not what they appear: Bet and Leda are lovers, and Cye is nonbinary. It turns out, the Librarians are so much more than they appear, and Esther joins their ranks.
On paper, this sounds like a great idea. In execution, not so much. The world-building is shaky, and only half-imagined. There were far too many questions to ask about the world-building and character backstories, and this novella would have been better served as a full-length novel instead of this half-imagined outline of a story. The characters are likewise only half-conceived. There's a weird cringey, out-of-nowhere insta-lust that took me immediately out of the story. Amity is Too Stupid To Live and I can't figure out any of her motivations at all because hardly anything she does is at all logical.
And by god, there are more terrible similes than there are ants on a child's dropped popcicle in the summer. This was a book club read, and when we discussed the first five chapters and I complained about them, I went "lol, wouldn't be funny if there was one immediately as soon as I started reading" and lo and behold, the first sentence of chapter six was <I>yet another</i> terrible simile. The prose left a lot to be desired, with a lot of writing habits that I tend to attribute to novice writers, though this is hardly Gailey's first book.
Overall, this book would have been well-served to have a <i>lot</i> more fleshed out. As it is, it seems like an outline for a story more than a story in truth. And while I love the idea, I hated the execution; I likely would have DNF'd it if it wasn't a book club book.
When Esther watches her girlfriend hang and she's promised for marriage for some other man, she runs away from her powerful father and the town she grew up in, hiding away in a Librarians wagon.
The Librarians are a group of women (or rather, female-presenting people), who travel from settlement to settlement distributing Approved Material -- books with government approval to be read and distributed. She can't live at home, and she feels dirty and guilty for her love of Beatriz, and so she thinks she can do good with them.
What she doesn't know is that the Librarians are actually a group of rebels. The Librarians she meets -- Bet, Leda, and Cye, are not what they appear: Bet and Leda are lovers, and Cye is nonbinary. It turns out, the Librarians are so much more than they appear, and Esther joins their ranks.
On paper, this sounds like a great idea. In execution, not so much. The world-building is shaky, and only half-imagined. There were far too many questions to ask about the world-building and character backstories, and this novella would have been better served as a full-length novel instead of this half-imagined outline of a story. The characters are likewise only half-conceived. There's a weird cringey, out-of-nowhere insta-lust that took me immediately out of the story. Amity is Too Stupid To Live and I can't figure out any of her motivations at all because hardly anything she does is at all logical.
And by god, there are more terrible similes than there are ants on a child's dropped popcicle in the summer. This was a book club read, and when we discussed the first five chapters and I complained about them, I went "lol, wouldn't be funny if there was one immediately as soon as I started reading" and lo and behold, the first sentence of chapter six was <I>yet another</i> terrible simile. The prose left a lot to be desired, with a lot of writing habits that I tend to attribute to novice writers, though this is hardly Gailey's first book.
Overall, this book would have been well-served to have a <i>lot</i> more fleshed out. As it is, it seems like an outline for a story more than a story in truth. And while I love the idea, I hated the execution; I likely would have DNF'd it if it wasn't a book club book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Transphobia
All -isms are condemned by the writing.eegekay's review
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Sexism, and Transphobia