jaysaysnope's reviews
58 reviews

Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake

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

1.75

Any book that stars a lesbian, but refuses to use the word "lesbian" anywhere in its page number is automatically 2 stars or lower to me, like. It's 2024. Be so serious. (The girls who are bisexual loudly proclaim it, though. Way to contribute to the enmity between lesbians and MGA sapphics, Ashley! /s)
Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser

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funny relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Because this comic is a collection of short stories, it didn’t give me Abrupt Ending Syndrome like most graphic novels I read. The characters were super cute, and their stories were realistic enough that this was an enjoyable way to spend 20 minutes.
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

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dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

This book is a master class in the dark academia aesthetic. It beautifully encapsulates a time of life that you think you’ll always remember when you’re in it, but that you will inevitably forget as you grow older. And it is elegantly written. Unfortunately, these disparate parts, a good book do not make.
The Circus Rose by Betsy Cornwell

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dark hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

Impossible not to compare this to TENDER MORSELS, a very good Snow White and Rose Red retelling by Margo Lanagan that I read in high school. The lyricism in this is a nice way to differentiate between the sisters, but because Rosie’s are so much shorter than Ivory’s, Rosie hardly feels like a character to me.
The romance with Bear/Yuliya comes quite literally out of nowhere, like, okay I guess that’s happening now.
The best part was the polycule that we never actually get to see in functioning order. SIGH. 
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.
eventually i’ll learn that books about men bore me to actual tears. pretty cover, though!
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

this is so well-written, but i am just losing my patience with creators trying to convince us that nonviolent protest will topple violent empires. also, super weird to me that IRL, the laws and public rhetoric about indoctrinating children with harmful ideas have most recently (and aggressively) been aimed at trans people, but there’s not a single mention of queerness in this book, let alone trans identity. understanding the intersections of oppression is more important now than ever.
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A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

i have so many thoughts, maybe i should save some for the tiktok! what i’ll say for now: the comparisons to rwrb and mr. norrell and jonathan strange are almost *too* apt, this author’s descriptive language leaves something to be desired, and the narrative (and author) clearly favours edwin over robin. an enjoyable way to pass the time, but i’m not super enthused about the next book in the series.
Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Oh, Jonny. I’ve heard other Black people in the diaspora talking about how when they see videos of Māori people doing the haka, they get immediately emotional. Something about seeing an Indigenous people engaging in an ancient practice from their culture, something something slavery and loss of connection to our own cultures. That’s kind of how Jonny makes me feel. The spectre of white supremacy has carved the queerness out of so many of our histories. Reading this when West African countries are codifying homophobia into law, when rates of transphobic violence against teenagers are rising, when Nex Benedict’s death is ruled a suicide… this book made me cry and it made me yearn and it made me laugh. I want ten more books about this NDN princess.
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Seasonal Fears by Seanan McGuire

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adventurous dark medium-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

3.5

i adore seanan, and i adored middlegame. i didn't adore this (audio)book, for two main reasons: the at-times-irritating repetition (how many times can we repeat that harry and melanie love each other, are in love, are dating, are childhood sweethearts, are perfect together, etc. before it grates?), and that harry goes through character regression a few times. accepting that magic/alchemy exists is a process, i'm sure, but harry "accepts" it and then goes back to not believing in the things he's witnessing several times. it's explained that melanie
being constructed by alchemists instead of conceived naturally
means that she accepts it more easily, and harry
not having an attendant Corn Jenny for most of the book
means that he has more trouble. but it's still tedious to read, and makes you roll your eyes at him no fewer than four times.

overall, the story and concept are fun, but these characters just don't seem as well-considered as roger and dodger from middlegame. not as fleshed out, not as considered, dare i say not as realistic? not my favourite seanan book by far, but still a way to pass the time with her lyrical prose and murderous (white) women.
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

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adventurous challenging dark funny inspiring mysterious 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

4.25

I want to love a place the way N.K. Jemisin loves New York City. The ending was a little anticlimactic for me, but
the betrayal of Staten Island
was so good (and honestly, realistic to the character), I cannot wait to find out how it’s dealt with in The World We Make.
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