You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
jitterbugsnap's Reviews (126)
Romance isn't my favorite genre, but my favorite romances ARE about either grief or baseball, and this bad boy's got 'em both. Biggest problem is that blond jock guy named eddie meant that i could only picture him as Eddy from Duolingo (and the audiobook narrator kind of reinforced that image).
Coming back to rate this way late and I mostly remember the stunning prose. Very stylistic. Thematically built to sucker punch me specifically.
I loved the style -- I feel like this is a book you know you're either going to love or hate within the first 20 pages. I love being thrown into a world and being drip fed the context. I loved Circe and usually i am NOT one for the animal companions in books, but my JAW DROPPED when it was revealed she was a cat . I loved having questions that were still unanswered (I don't necessary love that in a novel, but I think it works in a novella). So so many roaches though. Hated that. Excited to read tender is the flesh since so many of the reviews for this book just say that that one is better!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Rape
I personally can't stand fantasy that is essentially modern day writing and modern day characters but sometimes they say chamberpot. The death of a paladin's god was such a cool idea and such a cool setup, but was only explored on a surface level and really just so he could think "no I can't have a crush I'm Dangerous" over and over and over and over again. I will try not to go on and on here, but this just wasn't for me.
The book proposes an interesting dystopian future justice system, and we spend the first half of the book in anticipation of seeing it through and all that that entails, but ultimately the author is not interested in exploring it!! It's just used as the framing for a different story they wanted to tell in the second half. we never even revisit the juror to see how living the defendent's story affected him!!! it's not just disjointed; the author makes no attempt at joining them.
What if everyone around you was a caricature of a bad person and you were the only one who understood anything about the world 🙄
Really liked some, didn't care for others. Classic short story collection.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I really enjoyed this! It was very rich thematically. It explored different ways people experiencing the same trauma can cope or fail to cope, and I was often just so devastated for these characters and how they've failed themselves and their loved ones and their land and how they've been failed by each other and those that came before them. You can try your best and do everything you've been taught, and it can still be the wrong thing to do.
A pet peeve of mine that I'm glad this book avoided,in a story with magic, I always prefer the magic to end up being real. It can be a metaphor to us AND be real to them, and I feel like it's always such a let down when something mystical is explained away in the end. I feel like the question of whether the bog wife is real or not is what propels the whole book. I love the asking! I just also love when then answer is yes :o)
I didn't love everyone's ending, but would still recommend the book in a heartbeat
A pet peeve of mine that I'm glad this book avoided,
I didn't love everyone's ending, but would still recommend the book in a heartbeat
The book had SUCH an interesting premise, and had some glimmers of good themes. I'll probably be thinking about it for a while. But, boy I could not stand the writing or the two main supporting characters. Definitely written by a misogynist who valorizes the US military.