bratatouille's reviews
184 reviews

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom

3.0

I’m always weird about anything set during Puritan times, so I had gripes with this. Scorned woman befriends conflicted and murderous forest god. This is very much a supporting women’s wrongs sort of book. The ending for her is what I wanted. This book is split between our main gal Abitha’s uphill battle and the identity crisis of the forest god. Truly, I didn’t not actually care at all about the identity crisis and felt that it just slowed the plot down. I can’t say that this was written in any sort of particularly mesmerizing or satisfying way, but I enjoyed the premise and witchification of a common woman.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

5.0

Holy shit. Jesus fuck. This was some of the most compelling and gruesome commentary on gender and neurodivergence in fiction I’ve ever read, and it’s somehow young adult fiction??? It is heart wrenching and depraved. The representation is done gorgeously. The topic of medical abuse in women and the neurodivergent is a gnarly one to begin with, even without the added fantastical and queer moral struggles. I am neurotypical and cis so I can’t speak to the accuracy of depictions, but I have never had a piece of media so naturally and definitively express the internal struggle tied with both topics. I seriously don’t know what to say, this was fucking phenomenal. It was more gruesome at moments than I had wished, but I think leaving out details would be a disservice to the purpose of the book. I know that last year I gave a different YA horror book five stars but forget about that one, if you’re going to read anything read this. I am absolutely purchasing and rereading this; I’m still reeling. Holy shit. I need a comfort book after this one.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

2.75

I have bested the beast. I kept being told to read this and Sanderson is a huge name in fiction rn so I decided to give it a go. As someone who doesn’t adore high fantasy or political intrigue, maybe I shouldn’t have read a book called The Way of Kings! There is such an interesting magic system in this world. You know what they don’t really discuss? Hey! It’s that magic system! I was only truly interested in one of the several storylines being followed. That storyline stops being mentioned in chapter 8 and doesn’t pick back up until 21 chapters later. It is a testament to Sanderson’s writing that I made it through this thousand page military slog. This is not to denounce the history and growth that characters go through, but I can only read about new ways to pick up a bridge so many times. I felt that the stakes in the story were set too high too quickly and maintained impeccably, so it was nearly impossible to raise them. Unfortunately, that meant that it felt like there was little to no climax at the end as well as no real room for falling action. The only true spike I can think of happened at around the 60% mark. I found the world building to be interesting, if not stupidly convenient at times (such as when the girl who wants to steal something important reveals that every woman has a secret pouch that nobody would every think of looking in because it would be the equivalent of stripping that lady naked.) Also, I fully understand that this is a long-winded book series. Even still, I think that each book of a series should have some sort of cathartic end for the involved characters and plots. This stops literature from feeling like those marvel movies where you need to watch everything before and after it to understand what’s going on. If I’m left with a wanting sense of catharsis I will probably read the other ones! This book sort of half-asses that, which is more I can say for others, but not enough to soothe me. If this is up your alley? Go for it. Take the several grains of salt that note this book wasn’t written for me. All I can say about it? I did in fact read the whole thing.

TLDR: hey I don’t think I like military and political intrigue books what happened to the cool possibly sapphic magician lady from the beginning show me more of her

Candelaria by Melissa Lozada-Oliva

4.0

Hey this was weird as shit! I read a lot of books. I read a lot of literary fiction. I don’t think I understood what was happening in this. But like, it was so intriguing?? It’s blunt and violent and jumbling. It’s based on a Guatemalan family so some of the dialogue is in Spanish. You can figure out a lot of it based on context clues, but I do feel that I didn’t get as much out of this book as I could have if I remembered any Spanish or came from a Latin background. The twists are so wild and fun. This is somehow a cult book, a magic book, AND a family book. Sometimes I felt that the sentence structure was a little wonky but it sort of fit the eclectic and foreign vibe of the whole story. The timeline hops back and forth a little bit and I had to retrace my steps a few times. Not sure if I can claim that I liked any of the characters other than Candelaria but I did care immensely about them liking each other. Some passages were blatantly funny and I love that the cult fronted as a cycling gym wellness center thing. There are some really good moments that reflected on motherhood, sisterhood, and girlhood in general. If you liked bunny but were looking for something more graphic and visceral, this is probably up your alley. I’ve got mixed opinions, but it was a fresh and interesting read with disturbing moments and a cool old lady character, and that’s all I’m really looking for. I might read it again further down the line.

An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

This is a dark academia reimagining of Carmilla, the og sapphic vampire book. I felt that I was expecting too much from this text in the beginning. Once I nestled into the story and allowed it to voice itself, I was having a great time. I’m a huge fan of S.T. Gibson’s lyricism and although I don’t think this is quite up to the level of Dowry of Blood, it has many of its own moments. Gibson handles obsessions and power dynamics in such an interesting and graceful way. I’ve never encountered about her author that depicts them so violently and beautifully. This is advertised as dark academia which, by all accounts, it is on paper. The plot and setting shift largely away from the academic portion of the story quite early. It also has little to no consequence on the rest of the story. What makes this so riveting is how sweet and chaotic and intrinsic the character relationships are to each other and the story as a whole. The two main characters are bright, clumsy, and full of youth. Which is a delectable contrast to their elder and wizened counterpart. I enjoyed this thoroughly and would likely read it again! However, if I was to recommend Gibson I would reach for Dowry.

The Dinner by Herman Koch

2.5

This was recommended as a Weird Book by a creature that I respect. I, however, cannot agree with that categorization. There is nothing weird or odd about the events that take place in this book. Everything that happens is disgustingly realistic. It is not only possible, it is happening right now in several

places under our nose all over the US. This isn’t a weird book, it is an unsettling one. I enjoyed the protagonist’s voice and the author’s incredibly jaunty writing style. The beginning of the tale pulled me in for the ride! As we continued, I wanted out. The content was different from what I had been expecting and I found myself disappointed and repulsed as opposed to intrigued. The pacing jumps between the current events of the dinner taking place and anecdotes from throughout the protagonist’s life in a way that works for a large part of the text but, in others, is tedious on the part of the reader. I imagine I would have enjoyed this more if I liked a single character involved. I don’t think this book is bad by any means. It wasn’t for me.

Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress

4.5

I started this with low hopes, expecting another book about the problems of a mediocre white woman. I was gleefully wrong. The cast is, in fact, all white people so I can’t say anything about that. HOWEVER, this story follows four different people at the same prestigious art college and I have never been so compelled by characters before. It’s not that they’re particularly interesting or dynamic, but the entirety of the book is written like you’re following four humans. I understand that that sounds obvious and simple, but what I mean is that these characters don’t do or say things for plot. They aren’t aware of what the others are doing or saying; they don’t rely on another character to propel them forward. They are simply living. Every choice, action, reaction, and emotion is done in a way that feels like you are watching them live. They aren’t pushing plot or emotional development, they’re doing what I do every day. I found myself enraptured in the unfolding of events and could feel myself grieve when I reached the end. I went into this COMPLETELY blind and found what was truly a surprise gem. For those that need more enticing: gay. And they were roommates!

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

When I was looking to cleanse my palette of the thousand page, high fantasy, political intrigue book I’m currently struggling with, I had imagined myself with a cozy, witty, trashy romance book. In no way was I expecting this small-town true-crime podcast detective book to fill that hole for me. Life works in mysterious ways. Is this the best book I’ve ever read? No. But sometimes I’m not looking for the world’s most impactful piece of literature. I don’t necessarily always want wagyu steak. Sometimes I just need some fucking Mac and cheese. And this book? This is Annie’s shells and white cheddar, baby. 

I was concerned about the podcast formatting, but it switches between Lucy’s POV and the podcast episodes. Which, surprisingly, largely propel the plot forward. The characters in this are incredibly entertaining which overshadows how one dimensional some of them are. This is Tintera’s adult fiction debut and although you can feel the young adult fiction roots in the writing, this gives it room to be whimsical and downright funny. Some stuff felt gimmicky, but ended up panning out surprisingly well. BIG fan of the grandma in this story. Although I have mixed feelings about the ending, I find that mysteries as a genre struggle to pin an answer that is a satisfying culmination of the last 300 pages. Simply put, you cannot please everyone. But I am quite pleased and would totally read this again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

3.25

This is entirely about a group of four Korean women living in New York and the intricacies of their culture and social lives. I love me a society gossip book. It holds a magnifying glass to a lot of beauty and success standards in Asian culture, but also somehow ended up being a touching story about women finding themselves and deciding their worth. I read so many books where the central characters are white, that it always hits me like a ton of bricks when I see experiences or traditions I can relate to reflected back to me in the pages. I’m glad I read this! However, it didn’t leave enough of an impression for me to read again.

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck

funny medium-paced

4.0

This is a good romcom. I laughed, I cried, I wished the characters were less human and more fiction so that I could be mad at them for sucking. Incredible gender-swapped Harry Met Sally vibes. It was a bit more crass than I would have liked, but as a former improv kid? I love the representation. Good cozy fun, would absolutely read again. I did bawl my eyes out.

More romances should end with being proposed to with a cock ring.

I will be purchasing a physical copy. This is advertised as enemies to lovers but it’s hardly even rivals to lovers idk why the industry keeps doing this. It’s good on its own! You don’t have to trigger-word advertise it!