felix's reviews
39 reviews

Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H

emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

This was a really beautiful book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Islamophobia

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Tam Lin by Pamela Dean

adventurous challenging emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

this was a compelling read. there's a bit of a punch line if you're a classicist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Racism, Medical content

The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

3.5

Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome by John Scalzi

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

1.5

to be fair to john scalzi: this was written in 2014, well before covid. BUT to be fair to john scalzi in a different direction: i have read other fictional pandemics written pre-covid that were way more accurate to the real thing. in particular, there's no point at which this book mentions any kind of lockdown or other mitigation measures for this new scary disease--in general i think the history presented here lacks complexity, which is mostly fine when it's just exposition for a story that takes place 20 years later (because in that case it's clear that the concept is what appeals, and the history is just the excuse for the concept), but doesn't work at all if you're going to write an actual "oral history." but it was short, and so i did read the whole thing.

Head On by John Scalzi

adventurous fast-paced

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

2.5

i have pretty much the same feelings about this as i did about the first one. although i feel like this one had more "why would you want a lawyer when you talk to the police??" type sentiment which i'm not into (but also comes with the cop drama genre, which these books are engaging in).

Lock In by John Scalzi

fast-paced

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

2.75

this is a really interesting concept executed wildly unrealistically, and it felt like a decent amount of the book existed entirely to be exposition. i also really struggled to believe that the protagonist was qualified to be in the fbi. but i did find it compelling enough to read the sequel and prequel, so there's that.

Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves

emotional funny mysterious 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

4.0

the concept of this book is really compelling, and i really enjoyed the characters and the author's approach to it. i thought the prose fell a bit flat and didn't really seem to fit the book, but that's partially because i read it immediately after finishing the charioteer and it took me a second to adjust to this book's very different style. since finishing the book has stuck in my head and i keep wanting to know more, so that's a success to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical content

This book is fundamentally about forced feminization/forcefem.

The Charioteer by Mary Renault

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

i really like mary renault's prose. this book dragged on a bit for me, but mostly because i really liked one of the men in the protagonist's life and didn't like the other one, and that's a feature and not a bug. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt

Minor: Racism

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

3.75

i enjoyed this book. i struggled to keep track of the social dynamics between different characters, but i found it a generally engaging read nonetheless.