hflh's reviews
49 reviews

Diamond Grill by Fred Wah

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3.0

Obasan by Joy Kogawa

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2.25

Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson

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3.75

Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair by Mercury Stardust

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fast-paced

5.0

This is a lovely book. The design is stunning with great attention to detail; the content is informative and compassionate.

The book covers some basic DIY and repair how-tos, but also provides useful tips related to renting, including tips on covering your bases during move-in/move-out to get your deposit back. Throughout, QR codes link to videos that either provide demonstrations of written steps or give readers pep talks.

Mercury Stardust takes care to present information with compassion and without judgement, including emotional resets at the ends of each chapter. This might not appeal to all readers but is easily skippable for those that just want the repair tips.

Mercury Stardust provides an excellent base of knowledge for DIY home repair, and she provides readers with the tools to search for online sources to fill in any gaps the book might not cover.

TW:

Brief mentions of houselessness and renter discrimination

Rice Boy by Evan Dahm

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

2.25

Evan Dahm is unquestionably a creative and talented artist and Rice Boy showcases that. This is a great read for anyone that wants to explore an absurd, diverse, and slightly moody-feeling fantasy world.

If you need grounded plot and characters to feel engaged in a story, this is not for you. The narrative follows Rice Boy, the saviour in a vague prophecy, as they travel from one character and place to the next, being ordered (and sometimes thrown) towards the next stop on their journey. Plot issues are to be expected with the serial webcomic format, but it reads like plot points were crafted soley for the sake of exploring the world rather than crafting an intentional narrative. To add to this, characters are generally simplistic and severely lack agency.

Nevertheless, it's a quick read and will probably be worth it if Dahm's art interests you.

Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices by Jenn Northington, Swapna Krishna

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adventurous hopeful mysterious

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

This is a mixed bag. Broken into past, present, and future retellings, some stories are good, some are fine, and some are less than fine. All stories take varying levels of inspiration from the Arthurian canon; some are more loosely inspired than others, but there’s only one that I’d say doesn’t relate at all. You can definitely enjoy this without knowing anything about the Arthurian canon; you’ll just need to Google some things.

Below are summaries of each story to help you decide if it’s worth the read. I’m also flagging which ones are explicitly queer because there was more straight romance than I was expecting (which was okay, just not expected).

PAST:

The Once and Future Qadi – Ausma Zehanat Khan:

A Qadi (an Islamic judge) is called to Arthur’s court to judge Guinevere’s innocence surrounding claims of infidelity with Lancelot.

3.5/5:

I would have liked this more if the story wasn’t so fixated on telling readers how hot the main character is. There was also a plot thing for me in the resolution that made the story contradict itself.

Passing Fair and Young – Roshani Choksi, straight romance:

A reimagining of Lancelot and the Lady of Shalott’s relationship with cool world-building and magic.

4/5:

Aside from being a bit bare in places, I really enjoyed this.

How, after Long Fighting Galehaut Was Overcome by Lancelot Yet Was Not Slain and Made Great Speed to Yield to Friendship; Or, Galehaut, the Knight of Forfeit – Daniel M. Lavery, mlm:

A brief, somewhat detached summary of how Sir Galehaut meets his match in Lancelot and becomes hopelessly devoted to him.

3/5:

I liked this as a concept, was just too short and distant-feeling for me to get into.

I Being Young and Foolish – Nisi Shawl, straight romance:

A reimagining of the Lady of the Lake as an albino Ugandan sorceress being mentored by Merlin, with earth and time based magic systems.

3.75/5:

The magic was really interesting, but it felt like the story was mostly just pining lovers that I wasn’t invested in.

The Bladesmith Queen – Sarah Maclean, straight romance:

A reimagining of the Lady of the Lake as a bladesmith who’s outcast as a witch, basically because the village is threatened by her. She finally meets her match in a mysterious knight who isn’t afraid of her.

3.75/5:

This was a well-written romance with a compelling premise.

Do, By All Due Means – Sive Doyle, wlm:

A queer reimagining of Britomart and Amoret.

4.75/5:

A solid adventure from start to finish that didn’t feel rushed; loved it.

PRESENT:

Mayday – Maria Dahvana Headley:

A non-magical reimagining of Arthur as a wealthy American businessman in the 1800s, slowly pieced together through a listicle of historical items found in an abandoned lighthouse.

4/5:

Really interesting premise that manages to stay true to the Arthurian canon while doing something completely different, but it was hard to follow at times (which I think was the point).

Heartbeat – Waubgeshig Rice:

A First Nations boy being bullied finds solace in connecting with his culture and rediscovers Excalibur as ceremonial drums that were lost to his community.

5/5:

Short, but wonderful.

Jack and Brad and the Magician – Anthony Rapp, mlm:

During the AIDS crisis, Jack and Brad meet the real Merlin while he’s giving a magic show in the AIDS wing of the hospital Jack, Brad’s boyfriend, is staying at.

2.5/5:

Tender, sad, and hopeful, and I liked the ending, but it felt tonally off to me from the rest of the collection, and the quirky, over-the-top Merlin wasn’t my thing.

The Quay Stone – S. Zainab Williams:

Horror-esque retelling of the Lady of the Lake in Singapore where a lonely girl makes a new friend while visiting family.

4.5/5:

Great. I really felt the setting and the dynamic between the two girls.

Black Diamond – Alex Segura:

Aturo, the mediocre son of a baseball star that died young, is given Excalibur, his dad’s bat, and rises to fame.

4/5:

Slow start for me, but it introduced a compelling mystery that kept me engaged.

Flat White – Jessica Plummer, straight romance primary, mlm secondary:

The Lady of Shalott is reimagined as a barista who finds herself trapped in the tragic re-enactment of the Arthurian tales with reincarnations of Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere.

3.75/5:

I enjoyed this one. Interesting take and I liked the ending.

Once (Them) & Future (Us) – Preeti Chhibber, mlm:

Merlin wakes up in the modern-day after sleeping for hundreds of years and seeks out the reincarnation of his once and future king.

3.75/5:

This was tender, but progressed too quickly for me.

FUTURE:

A Shadow in Amber – Silvia Moreno-Garcia, straight attraction:

A reimagining of the Lady of Shalott as a rich recluse who pays for illegal memories as entertainment.

3.75/5:

Really interesting take. I liked the plot but didn’t love the prose.

White Hempen Sleeves – Ken Liu:

A Black Mirror-esque future where people use extreme body modification technology.

2.5/5:

Really interesting science fiction concept exploring self, tech, and experience, but a little vague for me and I can’t see any tie to the Arthurian canon beyond a theatre performance and maybe a loose theme which I can’t say without spoiling.

Little Green Men – Alexander Che, mlm:

Reimagines Gawain, Arthur, and other characters as humans settled on a Mars colony. Gawain (Gavin) is the best friend of Arthur (Aturo) who is a reality star. For the sake of his friend, Gavin agrees to partake in a re-enactment of Gawain and the Green Knight for livestreamed entertainment.

1.5/5:

This one was just odd. Some cool ideas here but the world and character backgrounds were not fleshed out enough, and the plot and character motivations just seemed weird and didn’t make sense. Would have worked better in longer form.

Content Warnings

Sharks Forever: The Mystery and History of the Planet's Perfect Predator by Mark Leiren-Young

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hopeful informative medium-paced

This is a good book for kids interested in sharks and conservation. Leiren-Young covers cool shark facts from around the world (including new discoveries as recent as 2021), challenges sharks face, and various shark activists and the work they do to protect sharks. While the facts are there, there's a stronger emphasis on the challenges sharks face (which can get sad, though Leiren-Young balances it well), activism (particularly around the Sharkwater films), and humanizing sharks.

The end of the book has a list of actions to empower everyday readers to support sharks, but it’s very brief and isn’t given the same attention as sections on global activism (both adult and youth activism), though I don't think this was intentional. While the activism portions will be inspiring and cool for young readers, parents should be prepared to have a bigger conversation with their kids about the concrete and everyday ways they can help sharks without becoming world-famous child activists. If they want to go big, that's amazing and I'm so glad Leiren-Young shows that it's possible, but I wish there was equal emphasis on how noteworthy it is for kids to be everyday heroes too.

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Buffalo is the New Buffalo by Chelsea Vowel

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

4.25

This is a really solid collection. 8 stories that reimagine the past, present, and future from Chelsea Vowel’s Métis worldview that will encourage readers to look at the world and speculative fiction in different ways.

These stories are meant to exist outside conventional SF but to give some perspective on what to expect – The first half (Buffalo Bird to Maggie Sue) swing more to the side of magical realism/supernatural while the last half (A Lodge Within Her Mind to Unsettled) explore technology in a near-future setting (if you liked Black Mirror, you might like these). Unsettled feels more like post climate disaster sci-fi dystopian.

I would say the first story – Buffalo Bird – is one of the weaker entries and would encourage readers to continue if they are thinking of stopping. I would recommend reading all the stories in order as they build on each other thematically and later stories reference earlier ones.

Vowel uses footnotes throughout, and each story is followed by a discussion. Some may find this distracting or frustrating, but it helps you catch anything from Vowel’s perspective you might have missed and often times add necessary cultural context. These are important to ensure readers are understanding the stories through Vowel’s worldview vs. interpreting them from a white dominant, colonial lens.

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The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

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adventurous hopeful reflective medium-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

This was delightful and I’d recommend for all ages (with some parental advisories).

The Wild Robot follows Roz, a shipwrecked robot, as she learns how to survive in the wilderness. At first, the animals are afraid of her and mean but eventually she makes friends and is accepted as part of the island.

The beginning events and writing make it seem like the book is a light read more appropriate for mid to young elementary, but there is something here for older ages. I recommend sticking with it if it feels too shallow for you as, once the story gets going, it tackles some meaningful, heavier themes. Overall, very wholesome but sometimes sad.

On the lighter side, Brown explores bullying, accepting people who are different, motherhood and family (chosen or otherwise), a little bit of climate change, and finding a sense of belonging and purpose within a community.

In the mid-range of heaviness, Brown looks at wilderness and the danger and death that comes with it. I loved this. I think Brown does an amazing job finding the balance between wholesome anthropomorphic woodland creatures where predator and prey are friends and the realities of the natural world (e.g., things eat things, wild animals suffer from harsh conditions).

On the heavy side, there are some brutal but delicately handled depictions of death, injury, separation of family, guns, and violence:

natural hazards killing and seriously injuring a couple animals, one human killing an animal, robot death and injury, robots with guns shooting at and fighting animals, serious life altering injuries for animals and robots

. Parents, I recommend doing a brief readthrough first depending on the age of your kid as it may be valuable to buddy read to help them process these parts.

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New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson

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challenging informative slow-paced

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

2.25

This book would have done much better as a 3000 word op-ed about capitalism, climate change, and why we should nationalize the banks.

For a generous take, the book feels like a peek into the daily lives of a handful of characters in post-climate disaster New York. It's like slice of life with some light noir and an interesting setting. You might also like this book if you love New York or are a woke finance bro.

But I hated almost every second of it. To me, the book was a series of largely arbitrary events loosely connected by a thin main plot that were only added so NYC: 2140 would actually feel like a book instead of a series of rants on finance (jargon-heavy), New York history, and climate change.

The writing is astoundingly sloppy. Big things like arbitrary conflict with too easy resolution, unjustified character motivations, underdeveloped characters, and weak attempts at character development, but also little things that an editor should have caught like continuity errors.

There are some great ideas and fun moments here, but everything just fell so flat for me. Also, for a book so focused on money, power, and corruption - how did we land on such a generous take on the NYPD? Thank heavens they're the ones fighting to protect New Yorkers from the corrupt businesspeople sabotaging the city....

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hflh's reviews 49 reviews

hflh's reviews
49 reviews