arachne_reads's reviews
1000 reviews

adventurous dark funny 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

4.5

I deeply enjoyed Novik’s examination of power and privilege here, highlighting how different the experience of the Scholomance is between the “haves” vs. the “have-nots.” I strongly identified with El’s slowly rising rage at the situation, her frustration with the New York Enclave kids like Chloe and Orion who seem oblivious to their own advantage, who El knows will likely survive because of those advantages. I really want to see where Novik takes this trilogy. The world building is solid: Novik seems to have carefully thought out why powerful wizards in a world very like our own would leave a small mark, so that the outlay of social and historical forces would stack as they have in our own history. I often find fantasy that centers on “our world but with wizards” fails to consider how that would have entirely changed history—Novik gives us the tools here to suspend disbelief, a pressure on wizards to remain small and hidden that feels much more plausible than I’ve seen in other works, even ones I dearly love. That’s pretty satisfying.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

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challenging hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This book was much-needed nourishment.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

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hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Some books are there to pull you back from the edge of a ragged wound. This is one of them. It is so tender and human and humane, and I didn’t realize just how much I needed it until my partner and I started reading it (we’ve made a habit of reading fiction aloud to one another, and let me tell you, Becky Chambers’ prose begs to be read aloud— it is playful and delicious and filled with joyous rhythms and alliterative cascades), but I needed it and found it as nourishing to my soul

as the cup of mountain thyme tea Mosscap made for Dex.

Pixels of You by Yuko Ota, Ananth Hirsh

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hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

4.5

Unlike so many comics and books that deal with the idea of AI, instead of focusing a struggle for rights or a future vastly changed by the presence of something “new,” this one focuses on a relationship, and the implications of things happening in the real world today. I don’t think I’ve encountered very many characters who carry off a guardedness that opens at just the right pace. Or the realistic idea that taking a risk with art isn’t always going to be colossally understood by a larger audience. The narrative and images had a light touch that really resounded, and days later I find myself thinking back to it.

Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

So, I am delighted by and jealous of Valente once again; this novella layers different versions of the Adam and Eve story with elements of Bluebeard. It is gratifying to know I’m not the only only one who’s chewing on this, who’s spotted this. I am a little sad because it means I can’t develop my essay which was published in The Great Command Meant into a short story, at least not the way I had intended, but Valente nailed this so hard. Pulling from the apocrypha, the Gnostic Gospel of Truth, they’re all there in bits and gobbets, and it burns going down—as it ought to.

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

It was super cute, but it felt half-finished, like the world wasn’t fully explored. A lot of the things the plot hinges on weren’t fully developed or explained—and not explained in a nuts-n-bolts way, but in that they were introduced in character conversations “oh, you know that theory that is entirely new to the reader? Well…” instead of seen working, and their workings didn’t seem to have any real implications to the characters’ situations.

There also wasn’t any real motive for the “villains” of the story.

They just want to do this wolf-demon possession thing because…? Mrs. Crawford says it’s so Tam can “fulfill their potential” and we’re given nothing more.

The setup of the story—so many of the character details, and the sheer diversity of characters whose speech and presence felt very natural—made me want this to be so much more. I loved the Sukkot/mid-autumn festival scene, and the family dynamics at work there. I wanted the story and world to have room to expand, but it felt a bit rushed and flat to me instead. Sad about that, but I’m definitely not sad I read it; it makes me want to see more of Xu’s art and Walker’s writing.

Grafity's Wall by Anand Radhakrishnan, Ram V

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hopeful reflective medium-paced