laurareads87's reviews
507 reviews

The Terracotta Bride by Zen Cho

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

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

4.0

With a tagline like this -- "A tale of first love, bad theology and robot reincarnation in the Chinese afterlife." -- I knew I'd like this novelette.  In The Terracotta Bride, Siew Tsin resides in the tenth court of hell with a husband her elder uncle married her off to; here, unlike in the other courts of hell, the dead have enough wealth (in the form of offerings made by their living relatives) to bribe demons to (mostly) leave them alone.  Many seek to stay here, avoiding reincarnation into their next life, so as to maintain their personality and memories.  When Siew Tsin's husband brings home a third wife made of terracotta, Siew Tsin must navigate their relationship as well as a dangerous new threat.

The world-building in this story is fantastic, and I really appreciated Siew Tsin as a protagonist. Cho has included a lot of themes thoughtfully for such a short work. Definitely recommend.

Content warnings: violence, death, sexism, misogyny, mention of a car crash causing death (not graphic)

The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao

adventurous hopeful 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 debut novel has a lot that I love – complex world-building, an innovative series of magical / technological systems, believable social hierarchies and dynamics of inequity and political disagreement, and a multi-POV structure (in this case with chapters from the perspectives of husband and wife Iravan and Ahilya). The character development is solid and the book is simultaneously self-contained and a good set-up for continuation. In terms of pacing, I did find the beginning a bit slow; once it started moving, though, it held my attention. There was a bit too much emphasis on the main characters’ marriage dynamic for my preferences, but not so much that it took away from my enjoyment; I appreciate that the characters and their relationships are complicated and messy and that no one is straightforwardly perfect or entirely villainous at all, and having the focal point relationship be an established marriage rather than a new romance was a refreshing change. I also appreciate the effortless and natural inclusion of a diverse cast of secondary characters of varying age, sexual orientation, profession, and family structure. 

I know there are Hindu mythological inspirations in this text, but don’t know enough about the inspirations and source material to really say much on that in my review; I would like to delve into those aspects a bit further as I continue the series. I’ll definitely be reading the sequel. 

Content warnings: death, grief, injury detail, violence 

111 Oracle Spreads for Every Day: Enhance Your Readings, Spark Your Intuition, & Deepen Your Connection with Any Card Deck by Krystal Banner

informative inspiring fast-paced

4.0

 I was intrigued by the idea of an oracle spread book, so was happy to pick up 111 Oracle Spreads for Every Day by Krystal Banner. This is a book that I’d recommend mostly for tarot/oracle beginners, but that as a seasoned reader I have found some new ideas in. 

It isn’t ever really explained what makes these spreads ‘oracle spreads’ rather than tarot spreads. I do think this could’ve just as easily been titled ‘111 Tarot Spreads,’ though perhaps it wouldn’t stand out on the shelf given how many tarot spread books there are. 

There is a section at the beginning of the book briefly explaining what distinguishes oracle from tarot and that getting to know your deck(s) will help you get used to choosing deck/spread combinations that work for you. I do think more could be said here for beginners – ex. on choosing neutral (as opposed to affirmation) decks if the spread calls for it, or on types of oracle decks that, broadly speaking, work well for different kinds of readings. The table of contents is well organized. Banner’s writing is approachable and clear, and she encourages readers to adapt spreads as they wish. 

The book reads as inclusive – gender neutral language is used for ‘partner’ in relationship spreads for example, and the spreads included are diverse and open-ended enough to account for a lot of different audiences (ex. the ‘work’ section includes spreads related to self-employment / business ownership, being employed, looking for work, career changes, and so on). Inevitably some spreads won’t be relevant to some readers (a spread on guardian angels isn’t something that I would ever use, for instance) but there is enough variety here that I think any potential reader would find a range of spreads that they’d use. 

In terms of what doesn’t quite work for me, I do wish that there were at least a few citations given that some concepts come from specific authors’ work (“love languages”) or from very specific cultural contexts (chakras). I also find some of the spread positions are too broad to be useful (ex. on page 139, one spread position that the reader is to draw a single card for is “What are yoru passions, desires, and goals?” – this feels like at minimum a three card spread on its own). 

In terms of approach to reading, Banner’s spreads include some predictive positions but the tone tends to be one of ‘the future isn’t fixed’ (ex. ‘future’ positions are often framed in terms of possible outcomes rather than set-in-stone). There is a lot of focus on shifting one's mindset and/or manifesting what one desires, which will be an emphasis that works for some readers more than others. Spreads range from 1 card (is one card a spread?) to 12 cards, with most in the 3-6 card range. There are some great spreads here, particularly around decision-making, and on first read through I bookmarked ten I’d like to try. 

Complete Book Of Astrological Geomancy: The Master Divination System of Cornelius Agrippa by Ralph Pestka, Priscilla Schwei

informative medium-paced

4.0

This is a great manual on astrological geomancy. Most of the text is interpretive guidelines for each judge and witness combination as well as for each geomantic figure in each of the houses (either alone or with planets). The beginning section of the book explains how this approach to astrological geomancy works and outlines a few different example readings (on a nice range of topics - a 'when' question, several 'will...' questions, a general 'what are the highlights of the coming month' chart, etc). I will absolutely keep this on my shelf as a reference and use it for interpreting geomancy readings with astrology incorporated.

I do have a few issues with this book. The authors repeatedly refer to sign-based aspects as "mundane astrology" which is simply not accurate / not what 'mundane astrology' is. Additionally, the book reads as quite heteronormative, with many references to 'the opposite sex' and 'the man of the house' and things like this that will absolutely not be relevant to all readers. I would hope that if this book is ever republished these latter issues in particular would be rectified.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexism

Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique by Sa'ed Atshan

informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

A deeply personal, nuanced autoethnography on LGBTQ+ organizing in Palestine. I appreciate a lot about this text: the author does not shy away from grappling with the complexity of the struggles he discusses.  Atshan articulates some very important critiques of critique in his chapter ‘Critique of Empire and the Politics of Academia’ that are relevant to many disciplines and areas of study. He advances a deeply intersectional politic that powerfully critiques the very real pressures on activists to hierarchalize or prioritize struggles.

Content warnings: discussions of homophobia, transphobia, colonialism, racism, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, war, hate crimes

The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I absolutely *love* the Xuya Universe books, a set of stories in a future world of space stations and ships - some of whom are sentient - and an empire whose culture is Vietnamese-inspired. I've read several of these stories now, and find the world-building absolutely top notch; the exploration of mindships in familial lines and the relationships between ships, their human relatives, and the ancestors who live on as projections within memory implants is utterly fascinating.

In this novella, the Empire is under threat by the Nam Federation. The Nam Federation appears to have hijacked some of the mindships and turned their allegiance. The empire is in need of an advantage, and so is desperate to find the Citadel, a station that disappeared decades previously (along with eldest princess Ngoc Minh). This is one of the stories I've enjoyed most so far that are set in this universe - a nice mix of time travel, mystery, family dynamics, and intergalactic politics.

Content warnings: death, grief, (the immanent possibility of) war

Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Ejeris Dixon

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

This is a solid collection that will be of interest to anyone interested in transformative justice and accountability processes. While the book’s description states that it “delves deeply into the ‘how to’ of transformative justice,” this is definitely not a manual; there are some examples of tools, but much of the writing is high-level analysis and other contributions are stories of specific processes or organizations. I suspect this collection will be most relevant to those with at least some experience in accountability processes or mediation or something adjacent to this – it’s an accessible read, but I wouldn’t say it’s ‘beginner’ on this topic. I found it somewhat uneven – some contributions were stronger than others, and I imagine for any reader some will be more relevant / of interest than others – but overall it’s a good introduction to the idea of transformative justice, some of the challenges practitioners and participants experience, and the underlying philosophies and visions that can guide the work. 

Content warnings: nothing graphic on-page, but the focus of this collection is community (ie. not state-based) responses to violence; themes, incidents, and issues discussed include but are not limited to sexual harrassment, sexual violence, sexual assault, rape, child abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, gaslighting, violence, self-harm, suicidal ideation, suicide, forced institutionalization, ableism, sexism, misogyny, racism, colonialism, xenophobia 

The Feminist Killjoy Handbook: The Radical Potential of Getting in the Way by Sara Ahmed

informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

The Feminist Killjoy Handbook follows the figure of the feminist killjoy - she who gets in the way of others' comfort, who speaks up to name sexism, who won't just be quiet and go along to get along. Ahmed's work is deeply intersectional & queer, she clearly names transphobia as fundamentally anti-feminist, and her analysis is simultaneously precise and applicable to an array of contexts (personal relationships, institutional contexts, policy-making - she discusses 'scale' early on).

I've read quite a lot of Ahmed's work prior to this, and have an academic background in theory. I did find this book much more 'general audience' oriented than many of her other texts, and likely more approachable; I appreciate the inclusion of a detailed recommended reading list as well as discussion questions. I want to gift this book to a significant number of people in my life.

Content warnings: discussions of sexism, misogyny, sexual harassment, sexual assault, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia

Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Moon of the Turning Leaves picks up over ten years after its predecessor left off; the Whitesky family and a small community group have left their homes and are now living further north. This novel follows a small group, including Evan and his daughter Nangohns, who decide to leave south to the shores of the Great Lakes see what remains of the world and find a new place for the community to live. 

This novel reads less ‘horror’ than its predecessor; I may like this one even better than the first. I found myself very invested in the characters’ journey, and feel like this novel has so much to say about resilience and hope amidst despair. I have read others describe at least the beginning as slow, but I didn’t find it to be. I loved Rice’s thorough incorporation of Anishinaabemowin. 

This could almost work as a standalone; though it does mention individuals and events from the first book, it does so in ways that wouldn’t be totally baffling to a new reader. That said, I would definitely suggest reading Moon of the Crusted Snow first. Both books are excellent, and it provides valuable context to this one. 

Content warnings: death, murder, violence, gun violence, suicide, racism, racial slurs, blood, death of a non-human animal, verbal threats of sexual assault, mention of cannibalism 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Murder, Racial slurs, Violence, Gun violence, and Racism

Moderate: Blood and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual assault and Cannibalism

Red Tarot: A Decolonial Guide to Divinatory Literacy by Christopher Marmolejo

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

Red Tarot: A Decolonial Guide to Divinatory Literacy by Christopher Marmolejo is a text that I am grateful for, and one that I am so happy to see out in the world. This is the kind of tarot book that I am so excited to find and that I’ll absolutely keep on my bookshelf. I was thrilled to receive an e-book ARC but bought the paperback copy on the strength of the introduction and first chapter alone and continued my reading from there. 

The text is structured numerologically, with chapter zero as an introduction. From there, ‘One’ includes the Magician, the Wheel, and the pages and aces, ‘Two’ includes the High Priestess, Justice, The Hanged One, Judgment, and all the twos, and so on. The Fool appears in the ‘Ten’ chapter with the World. 

Far from a standard card-by-card beginner tarot book laying out how to interpret each card in a spread, Red Tarot positions each card as a leaping off point and tarot itself as a text. The author’s reflections on each card are simultaneously personal and theoretical – the text’s analysis is rooted in lived experiential knowledge, intersectional and decolonial theoretical frameworks, and tarot imagery and symbolism. Here, tarot is a tool that readers can engage to “nourish emancipatory knowledge that undergirds all revolutionary praxis” [407-8] and daily draws have the capacity to “[transform] awareness” [411]. This book is unlike any other I’ve read, and I see myself revisiting it often; it has left me with much to ponder on everything from tarot’s epistemological implications to the tarot reading as a site of dialogue and new angles to consider on each and every card. 

 Of their wide-ranging bibliography, Marmolejo writes that their citation practice is “multifarious and polyvocal,” bringing Indigenous intellectualism and critical pedagogy into conversation with reference to each card [408]. Authors that appear cited in the text include bell hooks, Paolo Friere, José Esteban Muñoz, Toni Morrison, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Gloria Anzaldúa, and many more. I suspect some will critique this book as challenging to read or as ‘overly academic,’ but such criticisms miss the ways that language itself is central to the book’s very purpose and thesis on tarot as critical literacy. Marmolejo describes their book as offering “a visual framework for interpreting the tarot in a manner that perceives, disrupts, and rejects conditioned colonial consciousness” [2] – recognizing language as a site of contestation, the text invites thinking/reading/writing critically and necessitates thoughtful, deliberate, self-reflexive engagement. 

 Citation in the book is via endnotes; I would suggest putting a bookmark or post-it in the back of the book while reading so that turning back to learn the sources of quotations while reading is easier, particularly for readers unfamiliar with much of the source material. 

Many thanks to Christopher Marmolejo, North Atlantic Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC for review.