bookishlybrianna's reviews
21 reviews

The Latinist by Mark Prins

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

 The Latinist is a tightly crafted academic thriller that reimagines the Daphne and Apollo myth in contemporary Oxford. However, no one is a hero here as PhD student Tessa and esteemed professor Chris are messy and complex, wresting control and renown from one another and blurring the lines of love, lust, and obsession. The story oscillates from meditative lulls in Tessa's research and Chris's personal drama to tightly paced tension and release. Domestic thriller fans will find a lot to enjoy. 

The Blue Line Down by Maris Lawyer

adventurous emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.75

 Jude has only ever known a harsh life, growing up in Virginia coal mines with an abusive father. After his father and the mines kill his younger brother, Jude signs up with the union-busting Baldwin-Felts, continuing the same violence and cruelty he’s always known. But when the opportunity arises to escape, and more importantly save the newest recruit Harvey, Jude and Harvey hide on a train heading south, wind up in South Carolina, and caught up with a group of bootleggers who might actually have hearts of gold. Jude doesn’t even know how badly he needs redemption, to forgive himself, and to experience a life that is more than just scraping by. The story, through Maris Lawyer’s writing, feels honest - never over-pitying or critical of its characters. They are who they are in this snapshot. It’s an intimate glimpse into the quiet dignity of all. 

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson

emotional 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

4.5

At first glance, Shauna Robinson's debut Must Love Books is a charming and heartfelt office romance story set in the publishing world. But as Nora's scheme to work for two competing small press publishers begins to unravel, the story quickly matures to her struggle to discover what happiness means to her, how alluring author Andrew Santos fits into her world, and how much she is willing to fight for her own version of a happy ending. Shifting seamlessly between laugh-out-loud funny and tears-in-your-eyes intense, Must Love Books is a Must Read. 

Orange World and Other Stories by Karen Russell

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am always reminded how much I actually love short fiction, and continue to wonder why I actually don’t read more. The entire collection is delightful, bringing just a twist of magic, surrealism, and unexpected perspective to the ordinary and mundane: a greyhound’s perspective of Madame Bovary, a lesser demon preying on the vulnerability of new motherhood, a teenager’s first love with a 200 year old bog girl. My standout favorite is “The Tornado Auction,” where the story of a tornado farmer, unable to compete with those big weather farms, goes for one last prize twister, is really a story about grief, loss, and connection. It is a beautiful, masterful story in a beautiful, masterful collection. 

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

A dazzling epic re-envisioning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty. By the sheer force of ambition, Zhu forges her own fate in defiance of everything the world would put against her. It is a clash of wills and of dynasties, of conquest and consequence. Zhu and the eunuch general Ouyang are compelling characters, balancing on two sides of the same thin-bladed knife. A stunning, fantastical story of the grandest sort. 

The King of Infinite Space by Lyndsay Faye

dark emotional 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

4.0

The King of Infinite Space is a queer retelling of Hamlet set in contemporaryish New York City. Something indeed seems rotten in the house of Dane. After his father’s apparent suicide, Ben Dane is spiraling and becoming increasingly concerned it was not a suicide. Horatio Patel, his closest friend, flies from London to help Ben, though things are still pretty awkward after their one-night stand. And Ben’s ex-fiance, Lia, is trying to heal herself, with the help of the aptly named Weird sisters, after years of alcohol dependency and flashes of childhood trauma in the Dane’s burnt-down Globe Theater. The major beats from Hamlet are there, along with splashes of other Shakespeare figures (hello, Robin Goodfellow), but Faye’s queer reimagining of Hamlet is fresh and unique all on its own. Hamlet’s “madness” is reinterpreted to be Ben’s neurodivergence, portrayed with breaks in text. And Horatio is the heart of the story, trying desperately to care for the man he loves, even if that means always being “just” the friend. A little slow to get started, The King of Infinite Space greatly picks up by the second to third act, and winds up being a rewarding read even wholly divorced from the Bard. 

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

The more I see and read from Moreno-Garcia, the more it seems that every book is stylistically unique and that she has a very diverse body of work. Certain Dark Things is her neo-noir twist on vampires, and as she describes inspired by actor Germán Robles. Brutal and bloody, as one may expect from vampire noir, but not without moments of tender vulnerability, as Domingo and Atl grow closer trying to survive in Mexico City. I kept a steady quick pace reading Certain Dark Things; the narrative and snappy, almost minimalist style of dialogue, keeps the story moving at a quick clip. A great read for anyone who loves vampire lore or just a really compelling, high-adrenaline noir with fangs. 

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

adventurous challenging 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

4.25

I *loved* A Memory Called Empire, a space opera that intertwines language and identity in the most compelling way. The city is the empire and the empire is the city. All characters are human, but yet not always seen that way, if they aren't citizens of Teixcalaan. 
If any of the great empires of history had developed interstellar travel at the height of their power, you'd have Teixcalaan, whose very identity is intertwined with expansion. Interspersed in the political intrigue, though, are meditations on identity and self: Who are you when you can be more than one person, but still within the same body, even the same mind? That is the heart of Stationer culture, not yet consumed by Teixcalaan, and it is Mahit's dangerous secret as the new ambassador to Teixcalaan. But as dangerous as the machinery of empire might be, there is a danger looming in the background, a very real threat to both Stationers and Teixcalannli,  embodying an existential threat to self, identity, and empire, and how they remain so intertwined.

Devil House by John Darnielle

challenging dark 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

4.25

Compelling and reminiscent of pulp thrillers, Devil House probes at the boundary between truth and the narratives constructed around those truths. True crime writer Gage Chandler struggles discovering what is true and what makes a compelling story with the case of Satanic panic and the Devil House. What he finds, though, will stir memories of his past writings and their real-life characters. An examination of obsession with true crime and the privilege of whose stories are told, Devil House is immersive, speculative horror not to be missed.

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

challenging dark 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

4.75