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klreeher's reviews
400 reviews
Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
I was a little put off by the tagline " Ancillary Justice meets Red, White & Royal Blue", and I don't really think it's an accurate summary. It's some space opera. It's much more towards something like Honor Harrington in terms of the world setting -- reading the scene where Kiem is first called in front of the Emperor reminded me vividly of David Weber's March Upcountry.
That's not to imply it's military sci-fi, but only that that's the kind of world building context we're in, not something as serious as Ancilliary Justice.
All I can say for the Red, White, and Royal Blue reference is that, yeah, this started out as something posted on AO3 first too.
About a third of the way through, I was losing my mind trying to figure out if I'd read this book before, and when I complained to my wife about it, she was like "oh you probably read it on Ao3." Because apparently it was initially posted there. To the author's extreme credit, the published novel version is much better than the original posted online. The pacing is much better, and the world building is much more built out. I found the whole "impact of distance and communication on galactic politics" stuff reminiscing of Left Hand Of Darkness, albeit that may just be because of the snow.
Jainan's characterization and plot line is much more fleshed out -- I enjoyed him a lot more, and he's much less a Dire Woobie Caricature.
I tend to like this tropey pairing a lot -- the slightly dim social butterfly and the socially anxious academic -- and one thing I particularly liked about Kiem in this is how much it's shown that he's just, genuinely interested in people. And kind. Jainan's characterization has a depiction of social anxiety that's not super cringy, which is nice.
I do want another novel of Jainan's home planet and clan politics and such -- would be nice to have Kiem as the fish out of water.
That's not to imply it's military sci-fi, but only that that's the kind of world building context we're in, not something as serious as Ancilliary Justice.
All I can say for the Red, White, and Royal Blue reference is that, yeah, this started out as something posted on AO3 first too.
About a third of the way through, I was losing my mind trying to figure out if I'd read this book before, and when I complained to my wife about it, she was like "oh you probably read it on Ao3." Because apparently it was initially posted there. To the author's extreme credit, the published novel version is much better than the original posted online. The pacing is much better, and the world building is much more built out. I found the whole "impact of distance and communication on galactic politics" stuff reminiscing of Left Hand Of Darkness, albeit that may just be because of the snow.
Jainan's characterization and plot line is much more fleshed out -- I enjoyed him a lot more, and he's much less a Dire Woobie Caricature.
I tend to like this tropey pairing a lot -- the slightly dim social butterfly and the socially anxious academic -- and one thing I particularly liked about Kiem in this is how much it's shown that he's just, genuinely interested in people. And kind. Jainan's characterization has a depiction of social anxiety that's not super cringy, which is nice.
I do want another novel of Jainan's home planet and clan politics and such -- would be nice to have Kiem as the fish out of water.
The Court of Mortals by A.J. Lancaster
4.0
FUCK THAT FUCKING CLIFF HANGER
also genuinely and truly, i love wyn and marius' friendship. Also SIBLINGS.
also genuinely and truly, i love wyn and marius' friendship. Also SIBLINGS.
Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler
3.0
mostly made me want to go reread rivers of london.
listened to the audiobook version, and while I enjoyed the performance, i spent about half the time being confused over which one (bryant or may) was being talked about at the moment.
the framing device of the "final case" vs their "first case" was fun, but didn't really help with the feeling like i was being told about their character development rather than reading it happen.
the blitz stuff was very evocative, and the theatre mystery was fun. i found the "oooh is magic real or not oooooooooHHHOoooo" boring, but as a Classics Nerd myself, i found the GREEK MYTHS fun. Enjoyed the theatre bits more than I enjoyed the detecting.
listened to the audiobook version, and while I enjoyed the performance, i spent about half the time being confused over which one (bryant or may) was being talked about at the moment.
the framing device of the "final case" vs their "first case" was fun, but didn't really help with the feeling like i was being told about their character development rather than reading it happen.
the blitz stuff was very evocative, and the theatre mystery was fun. i found the "oooh is magic real or not oooooooooHHHOoooo" boring, but as a Classics Nerd myself, i found the GREEK MYTHS fun. Enjoyed the theatre bits more than I enjoyed the detecting.
Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News by Kevin Young
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Suspect this is a better read than a listen, in terms of reading comprehension. EXCELLENT narrator, but just a meaty book.
House of Versace by Deborah Ball
medium-paced
Brief but fairly intense discussion of
- eating disorders
- drug addiction
- serial killing of gay men
Really fascinating to put together some of the pieces of fashion trends and influences from my teenage years.
- eating disorders
- drug addiction
- serial killing of gay men
Really fascinating to put together some of the pieces of fashion trends and influences from my teenage years.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Murder
The Poison Squad: One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century by Deborah Blum
medium-paced
5.0
I listened to the audiobook recording by Kirsten Potter, and was very pleased with her recording.
Content Warnings
Much less graphic in terms of the lab experimentation on animals than the Poisoner's Handbook.
天官赐福 [Heaven Official's Blessing] by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
read the translation by Suika @YummySuikaRyuu / @RyuuseiKuma (Ch.36-39, 72-73, 119, 127, 190) / Lianyin @fxcangji (Ch.9)
i *adored* this one and tore through it. has some similar themes to Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (what is Right and what is Wrong vs what is Done etc) but overall Xie Lian is really quite different from WWX, and it's not the same story at all.
hua cheng. fuck i adore hua cheng. so much pining and emotion.
xie lian! so good! tries so hard!!!! so gentle. (so fucking repressed)
i *adored* this one and tore through it. has some similar themes to Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (what is Right and what is Wrong vs what is Done etc) but overall Xie Lian is really quite different from WWX, and it's not the same story at all.
hua cheng. fuck i adore hua cheng. so much pining and emotion.
xie lian! so good! tries so hard!!!! so gentle. (so fucking repressed)