atomic_tourist's reviews
350 reviews

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

He Who Drowned the World blew me away - it isn't simply a queer fantasy; it queers fantasy. This is an incredibly ambitious work that, I would say, accomplishes what it sets out to do. Bravo to Shelley Parker-Chan! 

BDS : boycott, divestment, sanctions : the global struggle for Palestinian rights by Omar Barghouti

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Barghouti, who is a member of the BNC, succinctly lays down the argument for BDS and slashes down common myths about the BDS movement in this surprisingly readable publication from Haymarket Books.

Anyone who is able to read this work and still accuse BDS of antisemitism or even hatred is, in my view, doing so out of bad faith; Barghouti emphasizes time and again how the global call for BDS not only didn't exclude Israelis, but actively invited us to participate as accomplices. I strongly recommend this book for any advocate of Palestine. Personally, my understanding of the necessity & history of the BDS movement had increased substantially by the time I put down the book.

Format & content wise, beware that the second half of the book includes mainly regurgitated content including interviews and essays, both by the author and by outside contributors. The message of each source is cogent, but at times they are repetitive, since different sources often overlap in some of the data and talking points they utilize when talking about the same issue. 

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

 Oh, Ottessa, how I love to hate you...

Eileen showed some potential (unlike McGlue or Homesick for Another World, which I really resented wasting time on). But in between Moshfesgh's masterful prose - listen, the girl can write! - was tucked a story that fell flat for me. It was also really crass! Which can be fun in a novel. It's just that her crassness disgusted me but without leading to some revelation. She's no John Waters. Sometimes it feels like she just wants to be nasty and the literature is collateral to that.

I think, at this point, I've read all of Moshfegh's oeuvre. (Please clap!) I'm hesitant to reread My Year of Rest and Relaxation because I loved it so much when I first read it, but none of her other works have clicked for me. I'm scared a reread will ruin it for me. Which would be sad; I have an intense memory of reading it for the first time, when it felt like everything in my life was falling apart, and finding solace & purpose in its pages. 

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

 I liked this one! My first R.F. Kuang novel was Babel and I think this would have been a much better starting point. 

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

Sometimes I read a book and I'm like, 'yep, of course Tor Books would publish this...'

By that what I mean is that lots of their sci-fi and fantasy reads like fanfic, with characters that fit into neat bins both in terms of the tropes they check off and the identities they hold, and that everyone talks like they're tweeting. I guess it's kind of like 'adult' literature that reads strongly like YA? Though actually Gideon is one of few books I think fits squarely in the amorphous genre that is 'new adult.' Whatever that even means.

I'm rambling, I know... But what I'd really like to get at is that despite these limitations (which hold Gideon back from being a truly great book) I really liked it! I wish it had had a better editor, but I feel that way about 99% of books from this publisher. It was a pleasure seeing the relationship between Gideon and Harrow evolve, and I enjoyed the And Then There Were None-esque nature of the 'whodunnit' in last 2/3 of the novel. While the writing style (it really is very Twitter-y!) wasn't wholly original, the novel's premise was strong enough that I still had a good time.

And one more gripe: if you're going to market your book as "lesbian necromancers in space," then maybe the characters should... I don't know... do some lesbianing? Just a wild thought! 

Arabesques by Anton Shammas, Vivian Eden

challenging dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Belated updating my 2024 reads so far. Wish I had time to write more - Arabesques was lovely, like an amalgamation of a poem, memoir, novel, and historical account all in one. Some may take this in bad faith, but it reminded me of Oz's A Tale of Love and Darkness, which is perhaps meta given that the character of Yehoshua Bar-On is doubtless inspired, at least in part, by Oz himself. Really want to read the original (in Hebrew) one day. 

הנשים של אבא by סביון ליברכט

emotional slow-paced

 אני קוראת את דרכי דרך הספרות העברית הנמצאת בספרייה באוניברסיטה בה אני סטודנטית. אין כאן מבחר גדול אבל משום מה יש את כל הספרים של סביון ליברכט - סופרת שבחיים לא שמעתי עליה. (מוסיפה כהסבר למקרה שמישהי תוהה למה אני קוראת כ"כ הרבה ספרים מעת הסופרת האקראית הזאת).

לא נהניתי מהרומן הזה. הכתיבה הייתה עתירה בגימיקים, כאילו שליברכט כתבה את הרומן בניסיון להסביר למישהי: "ככה עובד מוטיב," או "ככה משתמשים בסמליות." התוצאה היא ספר שמרגיש מכני ומאולץ. הדמויות של ליברכט הן חד-מימדיות, הנשים שלה הן קריקטורות שלדעתי מעידות על שוביניזם מופנם, והעלילה כמעט ואיננה. הספר נע בקצב חלזון.

מה שכן, זה רלבנטי ומעניין עבורי לקרוא על חווייתו של מאיר, שמייצג ישראלי שעבר לארצות הברית בילדותו, בדיוק כמוני. חבל לי שליברכט לא השתמשה בהזדמנות הזאת בשביל לחקור את עובדן שפת האם (והחלפתה בשפה האנגלית), או את התפתחות הזהות הלאומית של מאיר כיליד ארץ ישראל שגדל עם אמא אמריקאית.

וכן, אני יודעת שזה אירוני לבקר את הכתיבה של ליברכט כשהעברית שלי נמצאת במצב כזה נואש. אבל אנחנו באינטרנט ולהבנתי כאן מותר ואפילו מומלץ להעביר ביקורת על אנשים. אז הנה התרומה שלי :-) 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Heartwarming and heartbreaking!! Gabrielle Zevin knows how to make readers (well, me at least) care deeply for her characters and connect with them on a deeper level. A.J. Fikry doesn't exactly reinvent the novel, but Zevin's prose and character development is incredibly pleasing to read. Could have spent all day reading this one, except I loved it too much and hence read it in just a few short hours, much less than a whole day ;) 

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Really really liked this ~magical~ romance!! Mika is a fully fleshed main character, as are her love interest and all of their sidekicks. The central messages of the book - learning to trust yourself and others, the value of opening up, etc. - are relayed with delicacy and Sangu Mandanna doesn't hit us over the head with them.

This was just a purely cozy read, but the characters were utterly loveable, the setting was gorgeous, the plot pacing was spot on... Was just what the doctor ordered :-) 

Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

My least favorite Christie as of yet, expect for maybe the first Tommy and Tuppence novel. Oof.