laurareads87's reviews
591 reviews

adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I picked up Livesuit having liked the first novel in this series for its expansive world, array of non-humanoid aliens, and high action plot. I was not expecting this, but I have to say I actually enjoyed this novella more than I did the full length novel. My main qualm with the novel was that I didn’t find the characters particularly interesting or multifaceted; this novella follows one character very closely and I think this helped with establishing a strong personality for him despite the short page count. The pace is consistent, the stakes are high, the action scenes feel exciting, technology is interesting, and the ending functions as a good conclusion while leaving lots and lots of room for the series to continue.

Livesuit falls after the first novel in The Captive’s War series, but can definitely be read as a standalone. The novel would provide some background context but wouldn’t be vital to follow this story.

Content warnings: violence, gun violence, injury detail, death, murder, forcible confinement, war

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The Factory by Ihor Mysiak

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funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

“You invented a device for happiness at home, but has even one device made it into a warm, living home? No. The device that was supposed to help people live happily actually helps them work—often for the benefit of others.”

This book is rather unlike anything I’ve ever read before. The novel focuses on a factory, of course, which makes machines that create happiness; over the course of the novel we follow the workers through the process of acquiring and restoring the old abandoned factory to successfully fulfilling orders and manufacturing on a larger scale. Workers and guests come and go, and ups and downs happen. It often feels light, with minor setbacks and funny incidents at the forefront, but there is definitely more going on underneath. I’m not sure I fully grasped every aspect of the commentary here, but I enjoyed the journey.

I hope that one day, more of Ihor Mysiak’s work will be translated; I would certainly pick it up.

The Book of Ile-Rien: The Element of Fire & The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

The Book of Ile-Rien contains two of Martha Wells’ early novels. They are set in the same world, but centuries apart; the second makes some reference to the content of the first as historical – almost mythological – background, but could certainly be read as a standalone. The former reads almost medieval, the latter more steampunk, with technological and societal dynamics making the time difference clear.

I liked the second book, Death of the Necromancer, more than I did the first, The Element of Fire, but both are worth reading and I’ll definitely check out more of the Ile-Rien books at some point. I found the first book a bit slow to get going and hard to get into, and I didn’t love any of the characters though I found myself quite invested in one particular aspect of the plot by the midway point. The second book, with its focus on possibilities of illegal necromancy, I found exciting; the latter half was action-packed and I read it in only a few sittings.

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Astrology for Yourself: How to Understand and Interpret Your Own Birth Chart: A Workbook for Personal Transformation by Demetra George, Douglas Bloch

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informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

This workbook takes the reader through their own birth chart, covering planets, signs, houses, angles, asteroids, lunar phase and nodes, and more. Many of the activities involve filling in blanks based on your own chart and sets of keywords included in appendices at the back of the book. I found the appendices, and the way they are organized, to be very helpful. Repeated filling in may feel formulaic, but I found it an effective way to engage with the material and there is lots of room provided for reflection.

The authors include the idea of house-sign-planet correspondences in a ‘twelve letter astrological alphabet’ which I don’t find helpful, and that I frankly don’t see a strong rationale for. In her more recent work on Ancient Astrology, George advises suspending any use of this ‘alphabet’ approach in learning older traditions as it’s very much a contemporary invention. Alsoworth noting is that this book doesn’t include any real attention to house systems, presuming the reader is using a system like Placidus (as intercepted houses are covered). As someone who uses whole signs, I could complete most of the activities as written but had to make a few adjustments here and there.

This workbook was originally published in the 1980s, and definitely shows its age in some ways – for instance, ‘he or she’ is used repeatedly rather than ‘they,’ and there are frequent references to ‘sending away to get a copy of your chart.’ Overall, though, I do think it holds up fairly well and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a structure to facilitate a deep dive into their own birth chart.

I completed this workbook with a friend over the course of a year and a bit; we stretched it out over many video calls, completing our activities and then discussing our findings. It was a fantastic experience, and an approach I’d recommend to folks interested in this book.

& This is How To Stay Alive by Shingai Njeri Kagunda

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

& This is How to Stay Alive is a speculative novella set in Kenya; it is written from multiple POVs including those of Nyokabi, a young woman, Baraka, her brother, and, quite interestingly, Time itself. Following Baraka’s passing by suicide, Nyokabi goes back in time to when he was still living and tries to change the future. While this is in some ways a book about time travel, it is much moreso a book about family, grief, trauma, and memory. Kagunda’s writing is beautiful, and this novella is deeply moving. I found reading this a very emotionally impactful experience and days later, I am still thinking about it. On the basis of this novella, I would absolutely love to read more from Shingai Njeri Kagunda.

Content warnings: suicide, suicidal thoughts, homophobia, transphobia, mental illness, grief

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Earth Spirit: Honoring the Wild: Reclaiming Witchcraft and Environmental Activism by Irisanya Moon

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fast-paced

2.5

This is a collection of short pieces - mostly first-person narratives of authors' experiences - focused on their engagement (or not) with environmentalist action. There were some strong contributions here, but overall the collection is uneven and reads a bit like a bunch of different blog posts.

I would not recommend this for someone wanting to learn about Reclaiming Tradition; the tradition's Principles of Unity are included at the beginning of the book and there are some interesting historical notes about different demonstrations and actions Reclaiming folks have been involved in over the decades, but Reclaiming didn't even really feel like a focus in all of the essays. For those looking to learn about Reclaiming I'd recommend the editor Irisanya Moon's book on the topic, which is much stronger and more informative than this collection.

Rehearsals for Living by Robyn Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

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challenging hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Rehearsals for Living is structured as a series of letters exchanged by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson and Robyn Maynard. The focus of much of their discussion is the relationship between Black liberation and struggles against anti-Blackness with decolonization and Land Back; it is such a thoughtful, thought-provoking consideration of the ways that these struggles are intertwined on both more theoretical and very practical (as in, who’s showing up at which protests) senses. It is also a personal, intimate exchange in which they discuss their families, their home lives, and their personal struggles, putting into practice the relationality and community building they discuss. 100% wholeheartedly recommend.

I purchased this book a few years ago (2022) and I don’t know why it sat on my e-reader waiting for me as long as it did. Given the context of it being written during the stay-at-home period of the pandemic, I do wish I’d read it sooner. This said, it absolutely remains relevant.

Note: I read this book having read solo-authored texts by both authors previously. This context was helpful, but is absolutely not required (that said, I do recommend reading both!).

Content warnings: discussions of racism, racial slurs, police brutality, colonialism, genocide, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, COVID pandemic

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The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

This novella is described as being a “reimagining of Dracula’s voyage to England, filled with Gothic imagery and queer desire,” and it is certainly that. It is organized into sections – the book begins with the Captain’s private reflections / internal monologue, while the latter portion is a ship’s log. At its heart, I experienced this text as about the interplay between homophobia and internalized homophobia; it is a powerful rejection of the demonizing (literally, as in ‘conflation with monstrosity’) of queer desire and in this, I found it very impactful.

I will note that in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula there is some clear perpetuation of xenophobic racist stereotypes about Romani people; these, unfortunately, get reproduced in this novella in very similar ways, and the English translation uses a term that is considered by many to be deeply offensive. While there is much I appreciate about this novella, I do really wish that this particular dimension of the novel it reimagines had been left behind.

I do not think one needs to have read Dracula in order to appreciate this novella, which works entirely as a standalone text; however, having done so would be beneficial for context.

Content warnings: blood, murder, gore, death, homophobia, hate-motivated murder, internalized homophobia, child abuse, sexual assault, racism + racial slurs, xenophobia, references to cannibalism, animal death, animal cruelty

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The Dragonfly Gambit by A.D. Sui

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

I picked up this novella on a whim, not having heard of it, and I’m glad I did. I enjoyed a lot about this! The Dragonfly Gambit is action packed and fast moving, and kept my attention sufficiently for me to read it in one sitting. I’m glad I went into this novella with no real foreknowledge because I think the book’s description gives way too much away. I did see the twists coming but I appreciated Sui’s way of setting them up – a lot happens for a short book, and it feels very deliberately paced and structured. There was enough world-building to get a sense of the political stakes of the conflict. I like the writing style, I enjoyed Nez’ POV, and I feel like overall this novella works well in satisfying what one would want in a revenge story. I will 100% check out more of Sui’s work.

What didn’t work for me quite so well: It felt like there was maybe one too many intimate relationships amongst the main characters – it felt a bit ridiculous to have every character with any dialogue either be in or formerly in a sexual relationship with at least one other (mostly more than one), and some of the dialogue felt rather superficial. More editing would’ve been useful – there were enough typos in the e-book for me to notice them as a distraction.

Content warnings: blood, vomit, violence, murder, injury detail, terminal illness, torture, death

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Zegaajimo: Indigenous Horror Fiction by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Nathan Adler

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Editor Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler explains in the introduction that Zegaajimo means ‘to tell a scary story’ in Anishinaabemowin – “horror is traditional.” This collection includes 11 stories; short author bios are provided at the end.

Some of the authors in this collection I’ve read before – if you haven’t read Waubgeshig Rice’s novels, go do so now! – while others were completely new to me. Overall, this is a cohesive collection that has a good range of different themes and moods. I think this might be an approachable collection for readers who don’t tend to go for horror – it is not, overall, especially gory or graphically violent (though there are exceptions to this) but many of the stories are disturbing, thought-provoking, eerie. One story really didn’t work for me at all and inevitably I enjoyed some stories more than others, but overall this is a really solid anthology I’d definitely recommend. My standout stories included “Water Torture” by Drew Hayden Taylor, “Black Silk Suit” by Karen McBride, “The Keeper of the Bones” by Daniel Heath Justice,” and “Offerings” by Waubgeshig Rice.

Thank you to Kegedonce Press, Literary Press Group of Canada, and NetGalley for providing an ARC for me to review.

Content warnings: murder, death, blood, gore, body horror, colonization, forcible confinement, animal cruelty, child abuse (not on-page), terminal illness, classism

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laurareads87's reviews 591 reviews

laurareads87's reviews
591 reviews