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jessiewolf's reviews
475 reviews
So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole
4.75
I loved this Jamaican-inspired fantasy so so much and I really think you will too! If you have loved other mainstream fantasies like FOURTH WING, you will definitely love this--and if some of those other fantasy novels maybe left you wanting for a story more grounded in anti-colonial history with a richness in details like food and dance and drink informed by the writer's own culture, this one is DEFINITELY for you. SO LET THEM BURN has a righteous rage akin to THE POPPY WAR trilogy and IRON WIDOW (plus bonus points for mecha dragons as well as actual dragons!), but it also leaves some breathing room for things like schoolyard footraces, blushing crushes, and late-night calls between sisters. This book just felt very refreshing to me and I'm so so excited to see what else this debut author creates!
The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
5.0
This book is a mind-blowing ride through extinction, poaching, genetic manipulation, and consciousness-downloading. We follow Dr. Damira Khismatullina as she fights against poachers to try to save near-extinct elephants until she is murdered. We next meet her a century later when her consciousness has been accessed by scientists who have brought back the wooly mammoth--they have identified her mind as the last remaining resource of knowledge on wild elephant culture, and they want her permission to download her consciousness into a wooly mammoth so that she can be the patriarch of the mammoths and teach them how to survive outside of captivity in Siberia. Every page is full of intrigue and danger and the stakes are high! This is a short read but every sentence counts, and Nayler really seems to want to make you question the ethics of conservation within late capitalism.
Heartsong by TJ Klune
5.0
Woooooooof I love this series and I maybe love this book most of all?? In WOLFSONG, we were introduced to the Bennett werewolf pack and to Ox, a boy who needed the family the Bennetts provided more than anything. Ox and Joe Bennett forged an incredible bond, and they weathered joy and tragedy together. In RAVENSONG, we got to dig deeper into the story of the Bennett pack's witch, Gordo Livingstone, and the deep betrayal he experienced when he was left behind by the Bennetts years ago. As the pack slowly repairs itself, we meet sweet sweet Robbie Fontaine who just wants a place to belong. HEARTSONG is Robbie's story. Robbie was sent to the Bennetts by the Alpha of All to report back on how the pack was doing in the absence of their alpha, but as Robbie got to know the pack, he began to believe that he had finally found his home. In HEARTSONG, everything we thought we understood about Robbie is turned on its head. HEARTSONG will truly just take your heart and beat it up over and over again, but the payoff is worth it. Ughh I want to reread this book again and again!!
Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj
5.0
This book is impeccable. I don't usually like short stories or novels-in-stories, but this book is absolutely the exception for me. Every chapter is from a different character's perspective, and while each story could stand alone and be a great success the sum of all of them together is beyond exceptional. Darraj tackles unplanned pregnancy, divorce, domestic violence, and colonization with a calculated deftness--she just hits every note perfectly. And, at the same time, each story holds love, family, joy, and hope, and those notes are just as perfect. I don't have anything to say that isn't just gushing praise. As a bookseller, I'm very pleased to see more Palestinian voices being published and marketed in a mainstream market, and I can't wait to get this book into the hands of as many of my customers as possible.
Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino
4.25
BEAUTYLAND is about the alien daughter of a human mother who is just trying to get through her life, making observations about the humans she meets along the way. It's incredibly wry and tender, and like all truly great science fiction-leaning literature, it elucidates the beauty of humanity through a focus on alien-ness. Adina is an incredible narrator--her observations are all spot-on and through her distance to humanity, you feel very close to her. Anyone who has ever felt like an outsider, particularly in childhood and adolescence, will rejoice in the relatability of Adina's experiences.
Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly
5.0
I love Greta and I love Valdin. This book, set in New Zealand, follows two siblings who are just trying to make life work in their twenties. They live together in Aukland and see their parents frequently. Their father works at the university where Greta studies and where Valdin dropped out of his career in physics to work in tv and film. Greta and Valdin both have good relationships with their parents and their extended family including their uncle and grandfather, perhaps prompting the Schitt's Creek comps in early promos for the US release of the novel.
Valdin is still recovering from his breakup with his ex-boyfriend Xabi who has left the country and moved to Argentina in an attempt to not make Valdin so sad. Xabi is significantly older than Valdin--he's actually the brother of Valdin's uncle's husband. This age difference doesn't stop either from loving one another though, and when Valdin is sent to Argentina for work, he can't help but reconnect with Xabi. For a long period of time, Valdin wasn't able to speak when he was anywhere but home, but his time with Xabi somehow changed that and he was able to find his voice--so much so that he now hosts a travel show on tv and is at times pushed to use his voice to explain Maori customs and culture to his viewers and coworkers as he is the only Maori person on staff. When he reconnects with Xabi, he is surprised to find out that Xabi is pursuing fatherhood on his own via adoption in Colombia. This revelation prompts Valdin to question what he wants from the rest of his life, including family making, and he goes to Colombia with Xabi to continue thinking about it. Getting back together with Xabi would mean co-parenting the child that Xabi is in the process of adopting--a child who also has trouble speaking to others.
Meanwhile back in Auckland, Greta is...wondering where Valdin is. He didn't return from Argentina as planned (Greta even made him a welcome home cake with the last of the money in her grad student salary bank account!), and he didn't bother to inform Greta where he was going or how long he would be gone. She is also struggling with a crush on a fellow TA who...is maybe just taking advantage of Greta for administrative help. Greta just wants to feel lovable and loved, and the people around her are not helping! In one of Greta's chapters, she reflects on all of the mediocre things people are saying to her: "I wonder if people are having beautiful things said to them all the time, and I've just gone wrong somewhere." Greta!! When she meets a new girl who has eyes only for Greta, you'll melt along with her as beautiful things are indeed said to her.
This book is just so queer. Obviously both siblings are pursuing queer relationships, but even Greta's and Valdin's seemingly straight parents open up about their well, openness, in their marriage. Their mother's deep love for their father isn't compromised by her affection for another man, and everything is just truly okay.
The tone of the dual narration shared by Greta and Valdin is deeply millennial and thus reminiscent of Sally Rooney or Elif Batuman, but it is also just....nice. The book is deeply generous--its characters are flawed but they're trying and you're cheering them on even as you're unsure if they're making the best decisions. Even when one of them doesn't take the care another deserves, there is still kindness underlying all of their interactions. It's truly a delight to read!
Meanwhile back in Auckland, Greta is...wondering where Valdin is. He didn't return from Argentina as planned (Greta even made him a welcome home cake with the last of the money in her grad student salary bank account!), and he didn't bother to inform Greta where he was going or how long he would be gone. She is also struggling with a crush on a fellow TA who...is maybe just taking advantage of Greta for administrative help. Greta just wants to feel lovable and loved, and the people around her are not helping! In one of Greta's chapters, she reflects on all of the mediocre things people are saying to her: "I wonder if people are having beautiful things said to them all the time, and I've just gone wrong somewhere." Greta!! When she meets a new girl who has eyes only for Greta, you'll melt along with her as beautiful things are indeed said to her.
This book is just so queer. Obviously both siblings are pursuing queer relationships, but even Greta's and Valdin's seemingly straight parents open up about their well, openness, in their marriage. Their mother's deep love for their father isn't compromised by her affection for another man, and everything is just truly okay.
The tone of the dual narration shared by Greta and Valdin is deeply millennial and thus reminiscent of Sally Rooney or Elif Batuman, but it is also just....nice. The book is deeply generous--its characters are flawed but they're trying and you're cheering them on even as you're unsure if they're making the best decisions. Even when one of them doesn't take the care another deserves, there is still kindness underlying all of their interactions. It's truly a delight to read!
Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
4.25
This is a truly successful sequel! In the first book, we get to fall in love with Emily Wilde and her precise ways of conducting research (and relationships), and in MAP OF THE OTHERLANDS we get to know her even better. In this book, Emily is considering marriage to Wendell Bambleby, her former academic rival who is actually a fairie king exiled from his homeland. When Wendell's mother sends assassins after him, Emily knows she must take matters into her own hands to save Wendell, his kingdom, and her academic reputation. This book is full of adventure, fun, danger, and magic!