Scan barcode
essjay's reviews
563 reviews
Golemcrafters by Emi Watanabe Cohen
4.75
Genuinely didn't think one of my top new releases of 2024 would be a middle grade novel I read aloud to my 14y/o.
We laughed. We cried. The kid kept saying "meeeeeee" in a little croak while I read (it's December, most of the family is sick rn). Faye is definitely one of my favourite child protagonists in a LONG time. Cannot recommend this highly enough. It does get dark, but never too dark, I don't think.
We laughed. We cried. The kid kept saying "meeeeeee" in a little croak while I read (it's December, most of the family is sick rn). Faye is definitely one of my favourite child protagonists in a LONG time. Cannot recommend this highly enough. It does get dark, but never too dark, I don't think.
Beta Vulgaris by Margie Sarsfield
Woooooow. Adding to the pile of messy as fuck queer women I will never stop thinking about.
4.75
she couldn't figure out why, because she wasn't an expert in snaps. Elise was only an expert in egomaniacal self- hatred, the dark art of inventing new and spectacular ways to feel bad.
Woooooow. Adding to the pile of messy as fuck queer women I will never stop thinking about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Vomit
On the Calculation of Volume II by Solvej Balle
5.0
I WILL be reading this again, and I don't know that I can wait for next November.
When I wasn't reading this, I was talking about it. When I wasn't talking about it, I was thinking about it.
I am desperate for the rest to be released and translated.
It can't be that hard to learn Danish well enough to read, can it?
When I wasn't reading this, I was talking about it. When I wasn't talking about it, I was thinking about it.
I am desperate for the rest to be released and translated.
It can't be that hard to learn Danish well enough to read, can it?
I think of December. I think of heute and morgen and übermorgen. I think of gestern and vorgestern.
And now I am also thinking of Frühstück.
There are containers in the world. Of course there are. That's not what scares me. I have fallen into one, into time's container.
I mean, did the Romans really come to a halt because rye gave Pliny the Elder a stomachache?
On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle
4.75
Quietly terrifying and oh so lonely. Can see myself re-reading every November 18.
Love/Aggression by June Martin
4.75
Now whenever someone asks that stupid question about which fantasy world you'd like to live in, I can say Pittsburgh with all sincerity.
This was fantastic. I wish I could start reading it again for the first time tomorrow.
This was fantastic. I wish I could start reading it again for the first time tomorrow.
Thirsty Mermaids by Kat Leyh
3.25
The colours were stunning. For the most part, I enjoyed the art. Character design was great. Story is really what is keeping me from rating this higher. Not disappointed I read it, but will probably mostly forget about it in a few months.
Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
Did not finish book. Stopped at 44%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 44%.
I have tried, like, six times to read this fuckin book bc it seems like EVERYONE loves it. I am officially giving up for good. Can't even bring myself to get past the halfway point so I can use it for Bingo.
This Love by Lotte Jeffs
3.75
I almost quit this multiple times at the beginning, but I'm glad I didn't if only bc of the...idk, not necessarily nostalgia, but something akin to it that it made me feel towards the end.
Don't most queer folks have that best friend they talk about starting a family with some day? Yeah. This made me think of her.
Don't most queer folks have that best friend they talk about starting a family with some day? Yeah. This made me think of her.
The Elvenbane by Mercedes Lackey, Andre Norton
3.75
From the ages of 10-17, I lived in a town so small it's listed as a "census designated place." We had a library, but it was literally two small rooms, staffed by volunteers (this was my first "job," actually) and only open for a few hours two days a week. This was not enough for young me, which led both to me getting cards from the closest towns with libraries (30 and 60 minutes away, my mom was glad when I got my license bc it meant I could drive myself to the library whenever I wanted) AND to me re-reading all of the books I owned endlessly.
Enter The Elvenbane.
I don't even know that I thought it was GOOD when I read it, but I bought it bc of that cheesy-ass Boris Vallejo cover (there is not a single fucking dragon in the whole book that looks like this, btw) and then read that MMPB copy to tatters. To TATTERS, I say!
I re-read it bc Mercedes Lackey has said she's finished writing the manuscript for the fourth and final book (following a fuckton of dramz with Andre Norton's estate) and a friend has a project going where she's reading ALL of Lackey's work, so we read together.
I have so many fuckin questions that never would have occurred to me 30 years ago and there are so many little things that bothered me.
AND YET it was somehow still super compelling? I had forgotten most of the back half of the book (which is understandable bc I think that's where it starts to fall apart) and had a hard time not just plowing through the whole thing in order to be able to discuss it coherently.
Really looking forward to getting to the next book before this one drops entirely out of my head.
(Added a ¼ star bc of nostalgia, tbh.)
Enter The Elvenbane.
I don't even know that I thought it was GOOD when I read it, but I bought it bc of that cheesy-ass Boris Vallejo cover (there is not a single fucking dragon in the whole book that looks like this, btw) and then read that MMPB copy to tatters. To TATTERS, I say!
I re-read it bc Mercedes Lackey has said she's finished writing the manuscript for the fourth and final book (following a fuckton of dramz with Andre Norton's estate) and a friend has a project going where she's reading ALL of Lackey's work, so we read together.
I have so many fuckin questions that never would have occurred to me 30 years ago and there are so many little things that bothered me.
AND YET it was somehow still super compelling? I had forgotten most of the back half of the book (which is understandable bc I think that's where it starts to fall apart) and had a hard time not just plowing through the whole thing in order to be able to discuss it coherently.
Really looking forward to getting to the next book before this one drops entirely out of my head.
(Added a ¼ star bc of nostalgia, tbh.)
It Gets Even Better: Stories of Queer Possibility by Isabela Oliveira, Jed Sabin
4.5
As with most things I read aloud to my 14y/o, I let them take the lead with ratings. The following are the stories they rated 5/5 in this collection.
- "Frequently Asked Questions About the Portals at Frank's Late-Night Starlite Drive-In" by Kristen Koopman
- "Midnight Confetti" by D.K. Marlowe
- "Venti Mochaccino, No Whip, Double Shot of Magic" by Aimee Ogden
- "I'll Have You Know" by Charlie Jane Anders
- "The Cafe Under the Hill" by Ziggy Schutz
- "(don't you) love a singer" by TS Porter
- "The After Party" by Ben Francisco
I'm a little disappointed the last one wasn't the closer to this anthology as it would have been perfect there, but I wasn't the editor, so what're you gonna do?