curlymango's reviews
46 reviews

Trinity Sight by Jennifer Givhan

3.5

Quick read with a lot of fun and spooky imagery. I think the clairvoyant child trope gets overused. She was ok in this. The little twists along the way were good. There were some passages that read kind of stiffly for me (mostly the parts where Chance sits down Calliope and says “I’m going to tell you a story to give context for that thing we just saw”). Overall, really cool take on an “apocalypse” as a thing with its own agency, in a way.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

3.75

Taking it for what it is, I thought it was pretty entertaining. Having Snow as an unreliable narrator was compelling and to me, Collins struck a nice balance between empathy for and condemnation of her characters. The ending/epilogue felt slightly rushed, but that’s whatever. The characters’ names are so goofy this time around, but eventually it made sense, since most of their motivations stem from not wanting to be made a fool out of. Excited to see this on screen! Also does this mean the Hunger Games series counts as a Shakespeare adaptation? 

Universal Harvester by John Darnielle

2.5

Getting to the acknowledgements page, I was surprised to see Darnielle describing this story as “largely about mothers.” There are mothers in the book, but it felt to me more focused on people left behind by their mothers (mothers who are all more or less ghosts with minimal exploration of their characters), or at least about how they grieve. So, featuring mothers but not really about them. Maybe I just didn’t understand. It felt aimless, confusing, and needlessly wordy starting with part 2 and like there was so much unfulfilled potential to explore loss and memory further. I feel as though Darnielle tried to embody the characters’ lack of closure with the mess of loose ends at the end of the novel, but that seems lazy to me.

The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe

2.5

Janelle and Co I’m so sorry, this wasn’t my jam despite how much the album is my jam. New Dawn and the Dirty Computer are really cool concepts that I wish were fleshed out in one story or book series rather than shorts. It felt like they were trying to find a good balance between being too vague about the specifics of the New Dawn system and giving too much exposition (e.g. the end of Pynk Hotel), but never quite landed in that sweet spot. My favorite was probably Save Changes, mostly because it was easier to follow. Though take this with a grain of salt because I read the book in one sitting at the library so I could remove the holds on my account before closing time. I’d definitely still try out future works from Monáe, and I’ll always appreciate the inclusion of queer and non-binary characters.

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

4.25

I’m so grateful for being bad at figuring out whodunnits, it lets mysteries be so much more satisfying. My brain was swirling with lies! This one hooked me like a fish for the courtroom drama parts and then punched me in the gut with sensitive, nuanced takes on family drama and social taboos. Much of the book is about finding empathy for flawed people, especially parents (more than their children, even). With the plot centering around treatment of those with disorders such as autism, there were many moments of characters grappling with the notion of “fixing” your disabled child. I don’t think the story ever tries to definitively say what the right thing to do as a parent in their situation is. There’s joy and pain in being a parent to any kid, and being honest about that pain is something people often respond to with cruelty.

Anyway, I don’t make any sense. I liked the diagrams. If you liked Celeste Ng’s books like I did you’ll prob like this. In fact, I can practically see Reese Witherspoon foaming at the mouth to make this into a miniseries. She’s gonna play Elizabeth for sure.

Land of Big Numbers: Stories by Te-Ping Chen

3.25

Some stories definitely were more impactful than others for me. My standouts were Field Notes on a Marriage, On the Street Where You Live, and Gubeikou Spirit. I think it’s because those were the ones that best translated the crushing loneliness of being abandoned in one way or another. A lot of the stories reminded me of the movie Still Life, so if you like that kind of atmosphere then I think you’d like these stories.

Tombs: Junji Ito Story Collection by Junji Ito

3.5

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.

Let my ebook loan run out and wasn’t sad about it. Why did I feel like Frances and Lilian were lacking in chemistry and character depth when their relationship was the entire first half of the book, at least? There needed to be some plot/conflict brewing earlier other than just keeping their affair secret. I was so so bored and waited so long for the mystery part to actually get going.

Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar

4.5

As someone who already gets heated about car infrastructure and urban planning, I found this really engaging. Yeah, longer sections are dedicated to LA and NYC case studies, unsurprisingly, but I also learned a lot about the parking landscape in less often discussed cities like Charlotte. I guess I’m a hardcore Shoupista now.

The Book of Kane and Margaret by Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi

4.5

Wow what a strange, dizzying, mesmerizing book. I went in under the impression that it’s a novel, then while reading thought of it as a collection of shorts, but now at the end I don’t even know what to call it. I was on a rollercoaster ride of emotions; a longer chapter would have me chuckling to myself and nearly forgetting about the book’s setting, and then an unsuspecting 2-page chapter would cut me down from that high into a pit of despair. By the last chapter I was almost welling up. (Who would’ve thought such a beautiful love story could be so short and also between a roly poly and the moon? Or really, between everything and everyone?) Like walking through someone else’s dreams.