Scan barcode
grayola's reviews
71 reviews
The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley
3.0
Falling somewhere between a call to arms and a compilation of blog posts, I was being tugged in and out of love with this collection of empowering essays. There's no doubt we need voices like Kameron's now more than ever, but my misguided expectation of a book filled with feminist analysis of geek culture in essay form—like some essays contained in Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist—turned out to be very wrong and contributed to my disinterest at times. The Hugo Award-winning essay that is referenced throughout the book and closes out the collection, however, is worth trudging through it, no matter your expectations.
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
3.0
What redeemed this book for me was Carrie's voice and how adept she is at making you feel like she's speaking (writing) right at you. It's fitting she's got so much personal literature out there, though this was the first of it I've ever read. The diary-entry portion of the book was surprisingly the least engaging and for some might be a deal-breaker if they were to attempt to trudge through it. Otherwise, this is fantastic supplemental reading for any Star Wars fan—especially the last two chapters wherein she confronts her legacy as a fictional icon and provides some enlightening testimony on the kinds of interactions fans have with those they are fans of.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
3.0
If the story hadn't crescendoed into a wonderful burst of terror, whimsy, and madness, I'm not sure I would have finished it—as short as it is. The beats of a "follow me if you want to live" sort of encounter alongside the mystery of another world inside our own are too familiar to exist by themselves without support. Sure, the childhood wonder of all this is touching and hits home for those of us yearning for that feeling once more, however, there's something about this book that pulls back a little too much on answering the questions the story raises: what the hell is going on? The world of Ocean is a tease of something much larger than what is given. I suppose that's either frustrating or inspiring depending on who is reading. More wolf-rays and less burnt toast symbolism, I guess.
Bloodline by Claudia Gray
4.0
Intergalactic brandy? Really, Star Wars?
I didn't expect such a nuanced portrait of two party politics to reside inside a Star Wars spin-off novel. Sure, Star Wars has always existed with political context, but this is about the death of a system from the perspective of someone who's committed her entire life to it. Leia is at the end of her political career and exhausted by the stagnation at the beginning of this book. Though it may echo the fall of the Old Republic, the end of this story is far more relevant to today's political crisis in America than it is an extension of what came before it.
However, be weary, Han Solo fans! Claudia Gray doesn't really know how to write his dialogue and every line seems more and more unnatural the more he's included. Not to mention, he is eventually reduced to a plot device. I do believe she also mishandled a key emotional climax between Leia and a character far better suited for any romantic tension that exists in the book.
In the end, this is the kind of character-driven, allegorical genre story-telling that the Star Wars films—The Force Awakens, Rogue One—in this new era have to get right if they want to live up to the stories that gave birth to them. And of course, any story where Leia takes center stage is worth reading.
I didn't expect such a nuanced portrait of two party politics to reside inside a Star Wars spin-off novel. Sure, Star Wars has always existed with political context, but this is about the death of a system from the perspective of someone who's committed her entire life to it. Leia is at the end of her political career and exhausted by the stagnation at the beginning of this book. Though it may echo the fall of the Old Republic, the end of this story is far more relevant to today's political crisis in America than it is an extension of what came before it.
However, be weary, Han Solo fans! Claudia Gray doesn't really know how to write his dialogue and every line seems more and more unnatural the more he's included. Not to mention, he is eventually reduced to a plot device. I do believe she also mishandled a key emotional climax between Leia and a character far better suited for any romantic tension that exists in the book.
In the end, this is the kind of character-driven, allegorical genre story-telling that the Star Wars films—The Force Awakens, Rogue One—in this new era have to get right if they want to live up to the stories that gave birth to them. And of course, any story where Leia takes center stage is worth reading.
Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War by Mark Harris
4.0
George Stevens is the hero of this story. It's fitting, then, that he is the last to be eulogized by Harris at the book's end. Every filmmaker here walked away with scars, but none like Stevens. Portions of this book were approaching history textbook levels of monotony for me, but the greater bulk of this is impeccably researched and incredibly engaging; essential reading for film and history buffs alike.
Authority by Jeff VanderMeer
4.0
In exchange for Annihilation's pitch-perfect, clinical horror, Authority treats the events of the first book as the set-up for a detective procedural. New characters bring with them questionable motives, and the specter of the first book looms over the story, infecting every new detail with the kind of conspiring paranoia that made the twelfth expedition so horrifying. Still, the shift in storytelling—at least personally—left me pining for the simpler, cold thrills of the first book.
How Star Wars Conquered the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of a Multibillion Dollar Franchise by Chris Taylor
4.0
If anyone chronicles the next forty years of Star Wars history the way Chris Taylor has done here, I hope they have the wherewithal to refer to George Lucas as something other than "The Creator."
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
2.0
With each part (of three), I grew less and less enamored by this spiral into madness. The first part is a wonderful and complete horror story and is worth reading even if the rest of the book isn't read. By part three, I was exhausted and ready to put it down.
The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture by Glen Weldon
4.0
Glen Weldon's persnickety wit is my favorite kind and made the more devout portions of this Batmanifesto (Oh, yes I did.) beyond—or dare I say, Batman Beyond™—engaging and scholastic. POW! ZAP! YES!