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A review by solly
Werecockroach by Polenth Blake
5.0
This was very weird and I loved it so much and wanted it to be longer. It was short but I loved the main characters, loved the queer and neurodivergent rep, and loved how unapologetically weird the sff elements were. Genuinely, the only thing I didn't like about this is that I wanted more of Rin, Sanjay and Pete.
Edit: Gonna write a slightly more detailed review than what I wrote just above yesterday night just after finishing this novella.
This is a Weird SFF Story and I love those with all my heart. It has, as the title indicates, werecokroaches (and how awesome is that??) and an alien invasion and queer found family and a kickass trans grandma.
It's a weirdly fun and lighhearted story, with a Triple A (aro, ace, agender) main character with a dry sense of humour and a distinct voice, and I loved Rin with all my heart. My favourite character might have been Pete, though, an aspec assistant librarian with a love for conspiracy theories. He was the best and I loved him so much. And there was Sanjay, who tried his best to be patient and functional for the three of them. The three characters had excellent characterization and I loved the little found family they created. I really appreciated how queer and neurodiverse this was, too. There was so much rep! Two of the three main characters are PoC, two are aspec, Sanjay is bisexual, and there's disability rep too. Most importantly though, I fell hard and quick for the characters, which made me incredibly invested in this weird little SFF story.
I really appreciated how different the aliens were from what I've previously read in the subgenre, and how they weren't based on humans at all, and were very different from humanity. It's worht repeating too, but werecockroaches??? Amazing. I want so much more unlikely shapeshifters in my stories.
It was a fun, wild ride, with absolutely amazing characters and queer found family, which I absolutely love. I definitely want to read more by the author.
Edit: Gonna write a slightly more detailed review than what I wrote just above yesterday night just after finishing this novella.
This is a Weird SFF Story and I love those with all my heart. It has, as the title indicates, werecokroaches (and how awesome is that??) and an alien invasion and queer found family and a kickass trans grandma.
It's a weirdly fun and lighhearted story, with a Triple A (aro, ace, agender) main character with a dry sense of humour and a distinct voice, and I loved Rin with all my heart. My favourite character might have been Pete, though, an aspec assistant librarian with a love for conspiracy theories. He was the best and I loved him so much. And there was Sanjay, who tried his best to be patient and functional for the three of them. The three characters had excellent characterization and I loved the little found family they created. I really appreciated how queer and neurodiverse this was, too. There was so much rep! Two of the three main characters are PoC, two are aspec, Sanjay is bisexual, and there's disability rep too. Most importantly though, I fell hard and quick for the characters, which made me incredibly invested in this weird little SFF story.
I really appreciated how different the aliens were from what I've previously read in the subgenre, and how they weren't based on humans at all, and were very different from humanity. It's worht repeating too, but werecockroaches??? Amazing. I want so much more unlikely shapeshifters in my stories.
It was a fun, wild ride, with absolutely amazing characters and queer found family, which I absolutely love. I definitely want to read more by the author.