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innerweststreetlibrarian's reviews
425 reviews
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
Such an excellent book, I’m sad it’s over but very happy to see the author has plans for two more in the series! The quality of the writing is excellent, the characters interesting and well developed, the story was unpredictable enough to keep me interested.
I really enjoyed the magical realism and it feels like a beautiful love letter to New York. So excellent!
I really enjoyed the magical realism and it feels like a beautiful love letter to New York. So excellent!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Xenophobia, and Homophobia
Minor: Abortion and Adult/minor relationship
The author credits a lot of sensitivity readers who helped review the book prior to publication.
Temps by Liz Holliday, Marcus L. Rowland, Graham Higgins, Brian Stableford, David Langford, Colin Greenland, Roz Kaveney, Kim Newman, Storm Constantine, David V. Barrett, Neil Gaiman, Alex Stewart
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
2.5
This is a bizarre compilation. I would have rated it higher if it were not for the inclusion of one of the longest short stories in the book, which was utter rubbish. I don’t understand why it was in the book at all.
There are some quite good stories in here, and the concept of getting a bunch of different authors to write about characters in the same world was a really interesting one.
It’s definitely showing it’s age, in ways that were quite jarring. Particularly in the last story about the lesbian, and how “coming out” as paranormal related to what “coming out” as gay would have been like in the late 80’s/early 90’s when this was written.
I have a LOT of content warnings to add for the overall collection too, but the most important one is please don’t waste your time reading about Pitbull Brittan, the human penis-man made entirely of erectile tissue. It could have been very funny, but it was just disappointingly, gratuitously violent, racist, sexist, classist and stupid in a way that none of the other stories were. Ugh. So bad. Ignore that one and this is a 4-star collection.
There are some quite good stories in here, and the concept of getting a bunch of different authors to write about characters in the same world was a really interesting one.
It’s definitely showing it’s age, in ways that were quite jarring. Particularly in the last story about the lesbian, and how “coming out” as paranormal related to what “coming out” as gay would have been like in the late 80’s/early 90’s when this was written.
I have a LOT of content warnings to add for the overall collection too, but the most important one is please don’t waste your time reading about Pitbull Brittan, the human penis-man made entirely of erectile tissue. It could have been very funny, but it was just disappointingly, gratuitously violent, racist, sexist, classist and stupid in a way that none of the other stories were. Ugh. So bad. Ignore that one and this is a 4-star collection.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Torture
Minor: Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Finders Keepers by Emily Rodda
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I picked this up in a street library for a friend who was feeling nostalgic and her influence rubbed off on me! I vaguely remember a tv series from the 90’s based on this series.
It’s a great story for kids, lots of puzzles, parallel worlds, kids saving the day etc.
The tech is a bit dated so modern kids might think it’s daggy. I think it’s cute.
Very little kids might find it a bit scary.
It’s a great story for kids, lots of puzzles, parallel worlds, kids saving the day etc.
The tech is a bit dated so modern kids might think it’s daggy. I think it’s cute.
Very little kids might find it a bit scary.
Murder Every Monday by Pamela Branch
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-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
3.0
For something so old, I found this refreshingly funny. It’s an interesting take on the “murder in an English country house” genre, more satirical than a parody. What happens when an actual murder happens at a school run by acquitted (but guilty) murderers for wannabe murderers? Shenanigans, that’s what! It’s all a bit ridiculous and I genuinely did not guess “whodunnit”, but it all made perfect sense by the end.
It’s definitely dated and has not aged well, lots of casual racism and stereotypes laid on thickly. I don’t expect much from pulp detective novels of this vintage, if it wasn’t for that ick factor I’d rate it higher.
It’s definitely dated and has not aged well, lots of casual racism and stereotypes laid on thickly. I don’t expect much from pulp detective novels of this vintage, if it wasn’t for that ick factor I’d rate it higher.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Ableism, Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Suicide
Strata by Terry Pratchett
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is a really interesting early work, that any Discworld fan would enjoy. It’s a great fantasy in it’s own right, but definitely casts the later books in a new light.