This is not at all what I expected, even though on reading back, it is exactly as described in the blurb. For some reason I got it into my head that it was a fantasy!
Instead, it’s a very stressful exploration of two deeply flawed people and their families as they prepare to get married. The whole way through I just wanted them to TALK to each other and go get therapy.
There’s some quite graphic medical content that I wasn’t expecting either, even though it literally said on the back that one of the main characters is researching traumatic brain injuries. It was really interesting, but not a relaxing holiday read at all.

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The Festival of Insignificance by Milan Kundera

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lighthearted slow-paced

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

2.0

Perhaps I am too old to care about Kundera’s sad old men? At least it was a quick read, and I still enjoy his turn of phrase and philosophical musings, but this is literally navel gazing.

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The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

4.0

This is quite a lovely read, a “cozy” sci fi where a few crappy things happen to nice but flawed people but they mostly overcome the obstacles in their way.

How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A really excellent collection of short stories, I’ve been slowly working my way through all year to savour them properly. There are far too many highlights to review them all. I really loved The City We Became, and I sought this book out to see the original short story that grew into that book. So good!

From Here On, Monsters by Elizabeth Bryer

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dark informative mysterious medium-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? No

4.0

I really enjoyed this surprise find from a lifeline book fair. It touches lightly on similar themes about the power of language to shape society that have been explored in a few other books I’ve read recently, such as The Dictionary of Lost Words and The Word Exchange.
This is quite different, and to me, much better. I enjoyed the mystery of the codex, the weird (and somewhat cynical) performance art elements, the links to Australian mythology, global exploration, the plight of refugees in Australia and the really beautiful descriptions of what it’s like to translate between languages.
It’s such an interesting mix of themes, that surprisingly to me really fit well together.
I don’t think the ending was as satisfying as it could have been, but it’s a really good read all the same.

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The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

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informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I found this disappointingly slow going. There’s nothing particularly wrong with the book, it just didn’t grab me enough to get through it quickly. Esme is quite passive for a protagonist. Things happen around her and to her. It’s a bit depressing.
The words are the real star of the story. I enjoyed the premise that there’s a gender bias in these original dictionaries and the process of collecting the women’s words and defining them was really interesting. The story could have benefited from more of that.

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Artemis by Andy Weir

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adventurous funny tense fast-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

4.0

I enjoyed this one, not as much as The Martian, but it’s still a fun read. I agree with the general sentiments from other readers that there’s something “off” about the character of Jazz. I think it’s possibly just Weir’s writing style, his voice is quite unique and I think it overshadows the voice of the character he is trying to develop to a certain extent. It doesn’t matter how many times you tell me who this character is if you don’t show me the evidence to make me really believe it. To me, Jazz was the same guy stuck on Mars. I really liked that guy, but it was strange trying to reconcile that voice coming from someone who was supposed to be a Saudi woman who grew up on the moon. I would love to see a visual re-interpretation of this story in film or tv though, there’s some really great roles for a very diverse and interesting cast that could be a lot of fun.
Overall, this was still a great read, lots of science, political and criminal intrigue and a really well constructed fantasy world that felt very believable.

Content Warnings

Zone One by Colson Whitehead

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

This was excellent! I’m a bit surprised by the negative reviews, but I’ve also never read a “zombie” book before so perhaps if that’s something you read a lot this might be slow and boring for you. For me, I found it fascinating. It’s got a good balance between the world building and the action, and the focus on the mental health impacts of post-apocalyptic survival is not something that I think gets enough attention. OF COURSE everyone would have trauma and PTSD. What I found really interesting was how that impacted on the plot and the character interactions. It all felt very believable to me.
I surprised myself a bit that I even wanted to read a book about the aftermath of a pandemic, (albeit a very rapid, destructive, and medically implausible zombie virus) it seems I was ready. Not sure exactly what it was about the blurb for this one that hooked me in, but I’m glad it did. I really enjoyed the quality of the writing and will definitely read more by Whitehead as a result. This one’s a keeper!

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innerweststreetlibrarian's reviews 425 reviews

innerweststreetlibrarian's reviews
425 reviews