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fernfuentes's reviews
366 reviews
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Holy mother of names, I don’t think I pronounced a single one correctly while reading ToG, but I sure did enjoy it! As we enter phase 2 of the SJMassverse, I think I enjoyed Throne of Glass more than I did ACOTAR. Yeah, it’s a bit of a slower paced story but I’m such a sucker for books about medieval style competitions (Hunger Games, The Quillan Games, Goblet of Fire, etc.) so this was really easy for my to enjoy. In ACOTAR Maas got on my nerves with the phrase “vulgar gesture” and this time it was the plural “rooms.” I get that Celaena had multiple rooms in her chambers but referring to it constantly as “she left her rooms” and “he entered her rooms” sounded ridiculous. Oh and really not a fan of the love triangle trope. My biggest grievance is that Sarah once again resorts to a Deus Ex Machina to solve her main character’s problems. Boringggggg . But overall it was great and I can’t wait to dive into the next book in the series.
Black Paradox by Junji Ito
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
Man, what do they put in the water in Japan?! I don’t know how Ito does it, but he comes up with some of the absolute strangest plots and this one did not disappoint! Absolutely fucked story 😂 4 strangers meet on an online forum dedicated to people who want to off themselves, and they decide to meet up and do it together 😂 that’s not even the weird part of this story. Absolute tip of the fedora to Junji Ito. One of the weirder ones for sure.
You May Not Have Much to Say…: …Say It Anyway by Craig Bidiman
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Yes, I’ve known Craig for years. Yes, he has slept on my bed before. So who’s going to believe that this is an unbiased review? Nobody? Oh well. I’ll push on, anyway. YMNHMTS is a powerful collection. Craig successfully tore my heart out with the opening essay, “I Feared My Father Weak” and from then on, continued to pound on it with a hammer until it was a small black pulp. The essays and stories are the real stars of this collection, but as a long time listener of another musician and Fragile Bird, I found a new light in these songs. When you strip away the accompanying music, and it’s just you and the words, it takes on a different, more naked feeling. Thank you for exposing yourself to me, Craig. I love you.
The Quiet Room by Terry Miles
adventurous
dark
tense
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
4.0
Terry took a big risk with this one, going pretty far from what we’re used to with the Rabbits universe. It’s safe to say that I’m obsessed with the Rabbits universe and will defend it with bias every time. That being said, I can recognize that in an attempt to not rewrite the same story over again, there were a few too many elements from the original story that initially made me fall in love with the podcast and the first novel.
Without giving too much away, I wish there would’ve been more focus on the patterns instead of the somewhat trope-ish “I blacked out and now I don’t remember anything so will the person who was with me give me a half baked playback of what I was doing.”
The way it ended on that cliffhanger makes me believe that there will be a 3rd book coming, and while it would be awesome to see K. come back into the fold, I can’t say I missed them (TQR definitely leads me to believe K. was a female character) in this book. Emily and Rowan made great lead characters. I enjoyed having Alan Scarpio play a bigger role here since he’s one of my favorites from the podcast, but still I feel he felt a little flat.
All in all it was the action and pace of the story that kept me going with this one. It’s kind of more a 3 star read, but I bumped it up to 4 because I just love the show so much and I want another book!
Without giving too much away, I wish there would’ve been more focus on the patterns instead of the somewhat trope-ish “I blacked out and now I don’t remember anything so will the person who was with me give me a half baked playback of what I was doing.”
The way it ended on that cliffhanger makes me believe that there will be a 3rd book coming, and while it would be awesome to see K. come back into the fold, I can’t say I missed them (TQR definitely leads me to believe K. was a female character) in this book. Emily and Rowan made great lead characters. I enjoyed having Alan Scarpio play a bigger role here since he’s one of my favorites from the podcast, but still I feel he felt a little flat.
All in all it was the action and pace of the story that kept me going with this one. It’s kind of more a 3 star read, but I bumped it up to 4 because I just love the show so much and I want another book!
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“It isn’t a sadness, but a joy, that we don’t do the same things for the length of our lives.”
Every. Gamer. Needs. To. Read. This. Book!
For me, this is one of the greatest books I’ve read in years. It reminded me so much in all the best ways of A Little Life. It was beautiful, and heartbreaking, and hopeful, and all the other amazing things it could be. Gabrielle’s knowledge of game design and gaming culture is incredible. I felt so immersed in a world I was born too late for (as she mentions in the book), and if I’d read this book in high school in 2007, I guarantee I would’ve gone to college to become a game designer. I don’t know how she did it, but reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, all I could think about is how amazing these fictional games would be in real life. I want to play Solution, and EmilyBlaster, and Ichigo, and every other game that Zevin made feel so real.
Ultimately, this book, like every other book I’ve ever loved, broke my heart. It is full of hope and art and beauty, but it is beautifully painful as well. I’ll be thinking about Sam, Sadie, and especially Marx, whom I identified the most with, for many years to come.
Every. Gamer. Needs. To. Read. This. Book!
For me, this is one of the greatest books I’ve read in years. It reminded me so much in all the best ways of A Little Life. It was beautiful, and heartbreaking, and hopeful, and all the other amazing things it could be. Gabrielle’s knowledge of game design and gaming culture is incredible. I felt so immersed in a world I was born too late for (as she mentions in the book), and if I’d read this book in high school in 2007, I guarantee I would’ve gone to college to become a game designer. I don’t know how she did it, but reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, all I could think about is how amazing these fictional games would be in real life. I want to play Solution, and EmilyBlaster, and Ichigo, and every other game that Zevin made feel so real.
Ultimately, this book, like every other book I’ve ever loved, broke my heart. It is full of hope and art and beauty, but it is beautifully painful as well. I’ll be thinking about Sam, Sadie, and especially Marx, whom I identified the most with, for many years to come.
Pageboy by Elliot Page
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
My first nonfiction read of the year, and this book is every bit as amazing as I thought it would be. I’ve been a fan of Elliot’s for more than a decade, but I never pry into the lives of celebrities. I didn’t even know that Elliot was into women until a couple of years ago. I don’t follow tabloids, so most of the stories in this book, I had no idea about.
I’d like to think that through reading this, I have a better understanding of what it’s like to know from such a young age what you feel inside and try to fight it for decades. So many of my fellow cis people act like people just wake up one morning and shout to the world “I’m trans” and it’s not like that.
I appreciate that Elliot calls out his own privileges and recognizes that the majority of trans people will never be able to afford gender affirmative healthcare. He comes across as very humble and kind, but of course it’s a memoir and nobody is going to paint themselves as a dick in their own book.
I will say I was rather shocked by a lot of the stories about other celebrities. Some real juicy stuff in here, although in most cases the names are hidden or changed.
I think if you’re someone who has thus far failed to empathize with trans people, perhaps a look inside the mind of a trans person could help you understand a little better and have some compassion.
I’d like to think that through reading this, I have a better understanding of what it’s like to know from such a young age what you feel inside and try to fight it for decades. So many of my fellow cis people act like people just wake up one morning and shout to the world “I’m trans” and it’s not like that.
I appreciate that Elliot calls out his own privileges and recognizes that the majority of trans people will never be able to afford gender affirmative healthcare. He comes across as very humble and kind, but of course it’s a memoir and nobody is going to paint themselves as a dick in their own book.
I will say I was rather shocked by a lot of the stories about other celebrities. Some real juicy stuff in here, although in most cases the names are hidden or changed.
I think if you’re someone who has thus far failed to empathize with trans people, perhaps a look inside the mind of a trans person could help you understand a little better and have some compassion.
Holy Bible: American Standard Version - New & Old Testaments: E-Reader Formatted ASV w/ Easy Navigation by
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
0.25
After years of pushing myself to start the Bible, I finally saw it through to the end. I have to say, it’s incredible to me that anyone can read this and think, “Yeah, this is true and makes sense.”
This entire story could have been condensed into two short stories, but somehow this book says so many words and still manages to convey so little. People are at war over this book. Blows my mind.
I find it jarring that Americans are up in arms about children’s books teaching kids about gay history, but want their kids reading this filth where women are treated as literal objects of possession, daughters drug and rape their father to get pregnant by him, and men are told that if their daughters are going through puberty and they find that hot, “Don’t feel bad. Just marry your daughter!”
For years, I’ve heard the phrase, “Oh, it’s the Old Testament that’s messed up, but the New Testament is beautiful and filled with love.” Lies. The New Testament is an antisemitic manifesto full of mentally unwell characters who manipulate everyone around them for their own gain.
In the Old Testament, it’s made clear in many verses that if a woman cheats on her husband, she will get stoned to death. They even say if she’s raped and doesn’t cry out (news flash, rape is traumatic and can cause people to go into shock, rendering them unable to cry out) she will be stoned to death. If I had to make an educated guess from that information, I’d say Mary either had an affair or was raped and became pregnant and in order to save her own life, she lied about it, and knowing that it was prophesied that there would be a virgin birth, that’s what she went with and let’s face it… people in those times were missing a lot of scientific information, such as that less than 1/3 of women have bleeding their first time, or that a hymen can break through other means that are not penetration, so who really knew if Mary gave a virgin birth. Sounds too, like nobody checked. Sad that the lie got out of hand and now we have to deal with insufferable misogynists making laws about women’s bodies.
Anyways, this book sucked, the religion it spawned sucks even more, but there’s good news! Other books exist. So I’m gonna get back to reading the good ones.
This entire story could have been condensed into two short stories, but somehow this book says so many words and still manages to convey so little. People are at war over this book. Blows my mind.
I find it jarring that Americans are up in arms about children’s books teaching kids about gay history, but want their kids reading this filth where women are treated as literal objects of possession, daughters drug and rape their father to get pregnant by him, and men are told that if their daughters are going through puberty and they find that hot, “Don’t feel bad. Just marry your daughter!”
For years, I’ve heard the phrase, “Oh, it’s the Old Testament that’s messed up, but the New Testament is beautiful and filled with love.” Lies. The New Testament is an antisemitic manifesto full of mentally unwell characters who manipulate everyone around them for their own gain.
In the Old Testament, it’s made clear in many verses that if a woman cheats on her husband, she will get stoned to death. They even say if she’s raped and doesn’t cry out (news flash, rape is traumatic and can cause people to go into shock, rendering them unable to cry out) she will be stoned to death. If I had to make an educated guess from that information, I’d say Mary either had an affair or was raped and became pregnant and in order to save her own life, she lied about it, and knowing that it was prophesied that there would be a virgin birth, that’s what she went with and let’s face it… people in those times were missing a lot of scientific information, such as that less than 1/3 of women have bleeding their first time, or that a hymen can break through other means that are not penetration, so who really knew if Mary gave a virgin birth. Sounds too, like nobody checked. Sad that the lie got out of hand and now we have to deal with insufferable misogynists making laws about women’s bodies.
Anyways, this book sucked, the religion it spawned sucks even more, but there’s good news! Other books exist. So I’m gonna get back to reading the good ones.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War
The Fifty Year Sword by Mark Z. Danielewski
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Book so nice I had to read it twice. The first time I went slow, and the second time I devoured it in one sitting. Things were much clearer the second time. Hands down this will probably always be in my top 3 best short stories I've ever read. At the moment, it's number 1. Such a spooky read, perfect for Halloween.