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looseleafellie's reviews
249 reviews
A Necessary Chaos by Brent Lambert
5.0
I’m always on the lookout for reads similar to my favorite book ever, This Is How You Lose the Time war. When I came across A Necessary Chaos by Brent Lambert, I instantly got Time War vibes — it’s a science fantasy novella about lovers on opposite sides of a war, after all. But A Necessary Chaos puts a different spin on the concept, with a really cool magic system that had me riveted.
This book follows Vade, an agent of empire, and Althus, an agent of the resistance, who secretly meet for trysts while gathering information for their respective sides. The world feels much broader than the scope of the story, which is a feeling I love in fantasy novellas. The story sweeps from an opulent beach resort to grand high-tech cities to vast forests.
In a longer story, there might be a heavy focus on Vade deconstructing his allegiance to empire and slowly changing his mind, but in a novella, there isn’t space for that. Instead, the story paints a pointed picture of how empires manipulate people into fighting for them, and the rage those people feel when they realize they’ve been tricked.
The crowning jewel of the story is its language-based magic system. Both the empires and the resistance use language to draw magical power, but Althus especially uses it in creative ways to take down the empires. It allows for an interesting layer about the power of words and narrative in either maintaining an empire or dismantling it.
If you’re looking for an inventive science fantasy story that you can devour in an afternoon, you should definitely check this out!
Spice level: Moderately graphic.
CWs: Death, blood, violence, body horror, loss of autonomy, imperialism, mentions of past child abuse and human experimentation.
This book follows Vade, an agent of empire, and Althus, an agent of the resistance, who secretly meet for trysts while gathering information for their respective sides. The world feels much broader than the scope of the story, which is a feeling I love in fantasy novellas. The story sweeps from an opulent beach resort to grand high-tech cities to vast forests.
In a longer story, there might be a heavy focus on Vade deconstructing his allegiance to empire and slowly changing his mind, but in a novella, there isn’t space for that. Instead, the story paints a pointed picture of how empires manipulate people into fighting for them, and the rage those people feel when they realize they’ve been tricked.
The crowning jewel of the story is its language-based magic system. Both the empires and the resistance use language to draw magical power, but Althus especially uses it in creative ways to take down the empires. It allows for an interesting layer about the power of words and narrative in either maintaining an empire or dismantling it.
If you’re looking for an inventive science fantasy story that you can devour in an afternoon, you should definitely check this out!
Spice level: Moderately graphic.
CWs: Death, blood, violence, body horror, loss of autonomy, imperialism, mentions of past child abuse and human experimentation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Child abuse
CWs: Death, blood, violence, body horror, loss of autonomy, imperialism, mentions of past child abuse and human experimentation.
The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade
5.0
In this speculative YA thriller, teenager Casey knows that her sister Sutton is a horrible person — but when Sutton goes missing, everyone is determined to paint her as an angel. And then, Sutton comes back, but she’s strangely different. As Casey unravels the truth of what happened to her sister, she realizes that Sutton isn’t the only girl who’s gone missing.
This is a super compelling read that I basically blew through in a single weekend! I was desperate to find out what happened to Sutton. The odd details of Sutton’s behavior created an eerie atmosphere that left me glancing over my shoulder just in case a monster was sneaking up on me.
The story is mostly told from Casey’s perspective, but there are some flashback chapters from Sutton too. The contrast between these chapters reveals that one or both of the sisters are unreliable narrators. Even after finishing the book, I’m still not totally sure who was telling the truth and when, and I LOVE that!
Ultimately, the book ended in a way that was unexpected but extremely satisfying. I really enjoy sister relationships and it was lovely seeing how this one evolved. I also thought the story cleverly pulled together themes of African-American ancestral ties, racism in how kidnapping victims are treated (or ignored), and ways of reclaiming heritage.
If you enjoy mystery/thrillers with an otherworldly twist, you should definitely pick this up!
CWs: Anti-Black racism, colorism, kidnapping, murder, bullying, religious bigotry, and discussions of slavery.
This is a super compelling read that I basically blew through in a single weekend! I was desperate to find out what happened to Sutton. The odd details of Sutton’s behavior created an eerie atmosphere that left me glancing over my shoulder just in case a monster was sneaking up on me.
The story is mostly told from Casey’s perspective, but there are some flashback chapters from Sutton too. The contrast between these chapters reveals that one or both of the sisters are unreliable narrators. Even after finishing the book, I’m still not totally sure who was telling the truth and when, and I LOVE that!
Ultimately, the book ended in a way that was unexpected but extremely satisfying. I really enjoy sister relationships and it was lovely seeing how this one evolved. I also thought the story cleverly pulled together themes of African-American ancestral ties, racism in how kidnapping victims are treated (or ignored), and ways of reclaiming heritage.
If you enjoy mystery/thrillers with an otherworldly twist, you should definitely pick this up!
CWs: Anti-Black racism, colorism, kidnapping, murder, bullying, religious bigotry, and discussions of slavery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Kidnapping
Moderate: Bullying, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Minor: Slavery
Something More by Jackie Khalilieh
5.0
This YA contemporary novel follows Jessie, a ‘90s-obsessed Palestinian-Canadian teen who receives an autism diagnosis shortly before starting high school. Determined to fit in with her classmates, Jessie creates a list of goals for the school year, but the attentions of two boys make her go off script.
I’m usually a reader who needs a high concept to get interested in a contemporary novel, and I’m also not a big fan of love triangles. So imagine my surprise when this book pulled me in, made me feel every emotion under the Sun, and ultimately left me wishing I could create a time vortex back to 2015 and give this book to my younger self!
A huge reason I couldn’t stop reading was Jessie herself. She’s one of the most charming, charismatic, relatable characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. The plot itself held my interest, but I’d read a book about her going grocery shopping.
This book joins the very short list of love triangle stories that don’t annoy me, and it’s largely cause it fits the themes so well. Plus, it was fun to see Griffin and Levi embarrass themselves over Jessie. I won’t spoil who Jessie ends up with, but it was who I hoped she’d choose in the end!
Fun fact: I read the last few chapters of this book on my local library’s patio, and I was so engrossed in finding out where Jessie’s story would go that I forgot the patio closed at 5pm, so I had to vault unceremoniously over a large planter in order to get free. So if that doesn’t tell you how gripping this story is, I don’t know what does.
Long story short, if you’re interested in a YA novel full of authentic teenage feelings, an engaging protagonist, and two boys being embarrassingly pathetic over said protagonist, you need to check this out!
CWs: Anti-Arab racism, ableism, toxic relationships and friendships, bullying, cheating, relationship between a minor and an adult, death of a family member, and underage alcohol and cannabis use.
I’m usually a reader who needs a high concept to get interested in a contemporary novel, and I’m also not a big fan of love triangles. So imagine my surprise when this book pulled me in, made me feel every emotion under the Sun, and ultimately left me wishing I could create a time vortex back to 2015 and give this book to my younger self!
A huge reason I couldn’t stop reading was Jessie herself. She’s one of the most charming, charismatic, relatable characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. The plot itself held my interest, but I’d read a book about her going grocery shopping.
This book joins the very short list of love triangle stories that don’t annoy me, and it’s largely cause it fits the themes so well. Plus, it was fun to see Griffin and Levi embarrass themselves over Jessie. I won’t spoil who Jessie ends up with, but it was who I hoped she’d choose in the end!
Fun fact: I read the last few chapters of this book on my local library’s patio, and I was so engrossed in finding out where Jessie’s story would go that I forgot the patio closed at 5pm, so I had to vault unceremoniously over a large planter in order to get free. So if that doesn’t tell you how gripping this story is, I don’t know what does.
Long story short, if you’re interested in a YA novel full of authentic teenage feelings, an engaging protagonist, and two boys being embarrassingly pathetic over said protagonist, you need to check this out!
CWs: Anti-Arab racism, ableism, toxic relationships and friendships, bullying, cheating, relationship between a minor and an adult, death of a family member, and underage alcohol and cannabis use.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Racism, and Alcohol
Minor: Death
The Last Love Song by Kalie Holford
5.0
The Last Love Song is a queer Mamma Mia-inspired YA novel that follows Mia, a songwriter who is the daughter of deceased country music superstar Tori Rose. When Mia finds a letter from her mother shortly after her high school graduation, she must follow clues throughout her small hometown of Sunset Cove to unravel Tori Rose's past -- and maybe figure out the path to her own future.
This book is heartfelt, emotional, and bursting with enjoyable characters! I loved the slow-built friends-to-lovers romance between Mia and her longtime crush Britt. The relationships in this book weave so neatly into Mia's character arc as she weighs up the people who make her want to stay in Sunset Cove and the people who make her want to leave with them -- and questions whether it's possible to have both.
As much as I loved the romance elements, the mother-daughter relationship was the beating heart of the story, and the most resonant part for me. Not to spoil it, but a scene toward the end fully made me cry! It was really cool to experience how Tori's story mirrors Mia's story.
I adored the song lyrics sprinkled throughout the book. Each song reflects the character who wrote it, and they helped me get more immersed in the story. I also think it's super cool that the author collaborated with a musician to actually record one of the songs and post it on Spotify!
Long story short, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Sunset Cove. If you're looking for a dazzling, musical debut novel with plenty of heart, you should definitely pick this up!
This book is heartfelt, emotional, and bursting with enjoyable characters! I loved the slow-built friends-to-lovers romance between Mia and her longtime crush Britt. The relationships in this book weave so neatly into Mia's character arc as she weighs up the people who make her want to stay in Sunset Cove and the people who make her want to leave with them -- and questions whether it's possible to have both.
As much as I loved the romance elements, the mother-daughter relationship was the beating heart of the story, and the most resonant part for me. Not to spoil it, but a scene toward the end fully made me cry! It was really cool to experience how Tori's story mirrors Mia's story.
I adored the song lyrics sprinkled throughout the book. Each song reflects the character who wrote it, and they helped me get more immersed in the story. I also think it's super cool that the author collaborated with a musician to actually record one of the songs and post it on Spotify!
Long story short, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Sunset Cove. If you're looking for a dazzling, musical debut novel with plenty of heart, you should definitely pick this up!
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Godkiller by Hannah Kaner
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
5.0
In a fantastical world where the king has outlawed gods, Kissen is a bounty hunter who kills gods for cash. But when she encounters a little girl whose soul is bound to a god of white lies, she must take them on a deadly quest to a city infested with dangerous gods to figure out how to break their bond.
This is a relatively quick fantasy novel, but it packs a ton into its pages! With well-placed details, Kaner makes the world feel lush and realistic. The god lore is super interesting and I loved learning about the different deities that Kissen and her friends encounter. And I always love a dash of mystery!
Kissen is a super enjoyable protagonist — cranky and sweary, but with a heart of gold. All the characters, even the tiny side ones, had well-developed motivations.
The ending is a bit sudden, but it felt right as a good entrance into the sequel. There was a lot more to explore — not just in terms of defeating the villain revealed at the end, but also in terms of digging deeper into the tensions between those who’ve been hurt by the gods and those who deeply want to keep their faith. I’m really interested to see where those themes go in Sunbringer.
If you’re looking for a not-too-chonky fantasy novel with a great world and characters, themes of faith and power, and well-received disabled and queer representation, you should definitely check this out!
Spice level: Brief, non-graphic.
CWs: Violence, gore, amputation, murder, animal death, human sacrifice, PTSD.
This is a relatively quick fantasy novel, but it packs a ton into its pages! With well-placed details, Kaner makes the world feel lush and realistic. The god lore is super interesting and I loved learning about the different deities that Kissen and her friends encounter. And I always love a dash of mystery!
Kissen is a super enjoyable protagonist — cranky and sweary, but with a heart of gold. All the characters, even the tiny side ones, had well-developed motivations.
The ending is a bit sudden, but it felt right as a good entrance into the sequel. There was a lot more to explore — not just in terms of defeating the villain revealed at the end, but also in terms of digging deeper into the tensions between those who’ve been hurt by the gods and those who deeply want to keep their faith. I’m really interested to see where those themes go in Sunbringer.
If you’re looking for a not-too-chonky fantasy novel with a great world and characters, themes of faith and power, and well-received disabled and queer representation, you should definitely check this out!
Spice level: Brief, non-graphic.
CWs: Violence, gore, amputation, murder, animal death, human sacrifice, PTSD.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Animal death and Religious bigotry
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
This contemporary fantasy novel introduces a secret society of creatures called Book Eaters, who eat books instead of food to gain knowledge. As a Book Eater woman, Devon grows up only allowed to eat fairy tales, doomed to a life of forced marriages and being torn from her children for the furtherance of Book Eater society. But when she gives birth to a Mind Eater — a boy who craves minds instead of books — she must break free of the system to save both her son and herself.
This is a relatively short read that packs a wildly imaginative premise into its pages. The Book Eater concept is so WEIRD, but I happily ate it up.
The point isn’t the biology or abilities of the Book Eaters, but rather how their society is set up. Just like real oppressive systems, there are any number of “logical” reasons for Book Eater society to function the way it does, but no amount of logic can justify the way the system strips its marginalized members (in this case, women and mind-eaters) of their agency.
Devon is a sharp and savvy character hardened by her circumstances. I guess she’s a classically “unlikeable” protagonist, but even before I learned about her past that made her that way, I couldn’t help sympathizing with her motivations for doing questionable things.
The story is told in both the present day and flashbacks, which propelled the plot along while revealing more about Devon’s backstory and the Book Eater world. Toward the end, when the flashbacks got close to the present day, I felt like they slowed things down, but I generally liked the dual timelines.
Overall, I would recommend this book to those who want a dark, imaginative, compelling fantasy read. Also if you like books. But if you’re reading this, that’s probably a given.
Spice level: None.
CWs: Violence (inc. toward children), gore, murder, domestic abuse, misogyny, forced marriage, forced parent/child separation, childbirth, and mentions of human trafficking, SA, and acephobia.
This is a relatively short read that packs a wildly imaginative premise into its pages. The Book Eater concept is so WEIRD, but I happily ate it up.
The point isn’t the biology or abilities of the Book Eaters, but rather how their society is set up. Just like real oppressive systems, there are any number of “logical” reasons for Book Eater society to function the way it does, but no amount of logic can justify the way the system strips its marginalized members (in this case, women and mind-eaters) of their agency.
Devon is a sharp and savvy character hardened by her circumstances. I guess she’s a classically “unlikeable” protagonist, but even before I learned about her past that made her that way, I couldn’t help sympathizing with her motivations for doing questionable things.
The story is told in both the present day and flashbacks, which propelled the plot along while revealing more about Devon’s backstory and the Book Eater world. Toward the end, when the flashbacks got close to the present day, I felt like they slowed things down, but I generally liked the dual timelines.
Overall, I would recommend this book to those who want a dark, imaginative, compelling fantasy read. Also if you like books. But if you’re reading this, that’s probably a given.
Spice level: None.
CWs: Violence (inc. toward children), gore, murder, domestic abuse, misogyny, forced marriage, forced parent/child separation, childbirth, and mentions of human trafficking, SA, and acephobia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Acephobia/Arophobia
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Cara works at a company that sends people to alternate universes to collect data. You can only travel to universes where you’re dead, so Cara is the ideal candidate for multiverse travel. But when one of her few living alternate selves dies mysteriously, Cara begins to unravel a conspiracy that threatens the multiverse.
My favorite book is This Is How You Lose the Time War, and I picked up The Space Between Worlds because it seemed similar. It’s a short-ish sci-fi book with alternate universes, sapphic yearning, and evil organizations to thwart.
However, The Space Between Worlds is more character-focused and contained. I loved how none of the characters — including Cara — are all good or all bad, especially when their alternate selves come into play. The book explores how your background and relative privilege can shape your personality and motivations, even if you’re technically the same person, which was very interesting. The romantic tension between Cara and Dell weaves throughout, but as a side plot to the main story.
Even in 330-ish pages, the world drew me in. The setting is grounded in the neighboring cities of Ashtown and Wiley City: one an impoverished community of survivors, the other a high-tech utopia (for those who have citizenship). While I expected a wider scale, the focused setting strengthened the book by allowing for exploration of the themes in a confined space.
One drawback of the short length is I found the ending a bit rushed. When I had 30 pages left, I thought, “they have to end all this in 30 pages?” I still enjoyed the ending, but would have liked extra time to sit in the emotions and feel things out more.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I think it’s great for fans of This Is How You Lose the Time War — or people who like character-focused stories about alternate universes in general.
CWs: Gore, violence, death, domestic abuse, classism, and mentions of drug addiction, homophobia, child neglect, and suicide.
My favorite book is This Is How You Lose the Time War, and I picked up The Space Between Worlds because it seemed similar. It’s a short-ish sci-fi book with alternate universes, sapphic yearning, and evil organizations to thwart.
However, The Space Between Worlds is more character-focused and contained. I loved how none of the characters — including Cara — are all good or all bad, especially when their alternate selves come into play. The book explores how your background and relative privilege can shape your personality and motivations, even if you’re technically the same person, which was very interesting. The romantic tension between Cara and Dell weaves throughout, but as a side plot to the main story.
Even in 330-ish pages, the world drew me in. The setting is grounded in the neighboring cities of Ashtown and Wiley City: one an impoverished community of survivors, the other a high-tech utopia (for those who have citizenship). While I expected a wider scale, the focused setting strengthened the book by allowing for exploration of the themes in a confined space.
One drawback of the short length is I found the ending a bit rushed. When I had 30 pages left, I thought, “they have to end all this in 30 pages?” I still enjoyed the ending, but would have liked extra time to sit in the emotions and feel things out more.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I think it’s great for fans of This Is How You Lose the Time War — or people who like character-focused stories about alternate universes in general.
CWs: Gore, violence, death, domestic abuse, classism, and mentions of drug addiction, homophobia, child neglect, and suicide.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Classism
Minor: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Suicide
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
fast-paced
R.F. Kuang’s first contemporary novel follows June Hayward, a white writer who witnesses the death of her Chinese American publishing rival Athena Liu. She steals Athena’s last manuscript, a historical novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I, and publishes it herself. What follows is a bonkers spiral of cover-ups, backlash, and lies, all centered around an exploration of racism in publishing.
Yellowface was like a train wreck I couldn’t look away from in the best possible way. It’s hard to pull off a horrible protagonist and still make the reader interested in being in their head, but Kuang does it brilliantly. June’s choices become incrementally more terrible, but she isn’t an unrealistically bad person because it’s easy to track why she makes all her decisions (because she’s insecure and racist).
The book tackles questions such as, who has the “right” to tell certain stories? What does authorship mean? Are some story inspirations off limits? Some have more concrete answers than others, and things are complicated because Athena wasn’t the most ethical author herself.
Something that might throw readers off is a plot element introduced about halfway through that makes the book more of a thriller. I loved the mystery it created, but I think it could have been seeded more in the first half of the book to make the story more cohesive. That said, I’m a sucker for thrillers and would love to see Kuang write a pure thriller in the future.
The ending wasn’t as decisive as I expected, but that felt like the point — that racism in publishing is a cycle that won't be broken without deep changes to the system. Overall, this is a sharp, smart read that will give all members of the book community food for thought, and help reflect on how we might be complicit in publishing’s racism.
CWs: Racism, death, mentions of rape and suicidal thoughts.
Yellowface was like a train wreck I couldn’t look away from in the best possible way. It’s hard to pull off a horrible protagonist and still make the reader interested in being in their head, but Kuang does it brilliantly. June’s choices become incrementally more terrible, but she isn’t an unrealistically bad person because it’s easy to track why she makes all her decisions (because she’s insecure and racist).
The book tackles questions such as, who has the “right” to tell certain stories? What does authorship mean? Are some story inspirations off limits? Some have more concrete answers than others, and things are complicated because Athena wasn’t the most ethical author herself.
Something that might throw readers off is a plot element introduced about halfway through that makes the book more of a thriller. I loved the mystery it created, but I think it could have been seeded more in the first half of the book to make the story more cohesive. That said, I’m a sucker for thrillers and would love to see Kuang write a pure thriller in the future.
The ending wasn’t as decisive as I expected, but that felt like the point — that racism in publishing is a cycle that won't be broken without deep changes to the system. Overall, this is a sharp, smart read that will give all members of the book community food for thought, and help reflect on how we might be complicit in publishing’s racism.
CWs: Racism, death, mentions of rape and suicidal thoughts.
The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
dark
fast-paced
5.0
This blend of science fiction and domestic thriller follows brilliant scientist Evelyn Caldwell, whose husband used her groundbreaking cloning research to make a more obedient version of her and left her for her clone. But now her husband is dead, and Evelyn and her clone must clean up the mess …
This was a quick and thought-provoking read! I love main characters who are kind of nasty people, and Evelyn is no exception. Really, there are no good people in this book, but I loved the exploration of how people’s bad behaviors can stem from the way people have treated them.
This is, on the surface, a story about misogyny. The way Evelyn’s husband creates a partner to his own specifications mirrors the way that misogyny is often rooted in the desire to make women conform to the standards men and society have set for them.
However, the ethical issues explored in the story go deeper than that. The main plot of Evelyn trying to work with her clone to cover up her husband’s death is interspersed with flashbacks to Evelyn’s own childhood. The parallels between the way people treat Evelyn’s clone and the way Evelyn’s father treated her mother raise some interesting questions about not just misogyny, but about nature vs nurture, how people can change depending on the amount of agency they’re afforded, and what counts as the “real” version of someone.
The ending of the book doesn’t fully tie up many of the moral questions inherent in the story, but that leaves the reader open to fill in some of the blanks themselves. Overall, if you’re in the mood for something dark, speculative, cerebral, and quietly thriller-like, you might want to check this out!
CWs: Murder, blood, misogyny, loss of bodily autonomy, domestic abuse recounted, cheating, vomit.
Spice level: None.
This was a quick and thought-provoking read! I love main characters who are kind of nasty people, and Evelyn is no exception. Really, there are no good people in this book, but I loved the exploration of how people’s bad behaviors can stem from the way people have treated them.
This is, on the surface, a story about misogyny. The way Evelyn’s husband creates a partner to his own specifications mirrors the way that misogyny is often rooted in the desire to make women conform to the standards men and society have set for them.
However, the ethical issues explored in the story go deeper than that. The main plot of Evelyn trying to work with her clone to cover up her husband’s death is interspersed with flashbacks to Evelyn’s own childhood. The parallels between the way people treat Evelyn’s clone and the way Evelyn’s father treated her mother raise some interesting questions about not just misogyny, but about nature vs nurture, how people can change depending on the amount of agency they’re afforded, and what counts as the “real” version of someone.
The ending of the book doesn’t fully tie up many of the moral questions inherent in the story, but that leaves the reader open to fill in some of the blanks themselves. Overall, if you’re in the mood for something dark, speculative, cerebral, and quietly thriller-like, you might want to check this out!
CWs: Murder, blood, misogyny, loss of bodily autonomy, domestic abuse recounted, cheating, vomit.
Spice level: None.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Blood, and Vomit
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Murder
The Sleepless by Victor Manibo
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
In a world where a quarter of the world’s population has lost the ability to sleep, journalist Jamie Vega finds his boss dead in his office. Suspecting foul play, Jamie must investigate the true cause of death — and in the process, he discovers the sinister truth behind how he himself became Sleepless.
I loved the premise of this story, and I’m also a sucker for science fiction mysteries, so this was right up my alley! The hints of how the epidemic of Sleeplessness has changed the way the world works made me feel immersed in the story. It gives the sense of a world slipping toward dystopia, especially with some of the reveals toward the end.
This book was quite slow paced, but I also don’t know if it could have been any other way. I loved that the reader experiences the events on the night of the murder the same way Jamie did, so there’s a sense of solving the mystery along with him when he realizes his perception of what happened might not match with reality. Still, this book took me ages to read — partly because I was busy with college, and then hit a reading slump, but the pacing definitely didn’t help.
The big mystery was of course solved by the end, but a lot was left open about the future of Sleeplessness and Jamie’s health. However, I’m learning that I quite like books that don’t tie everything up neatly — it makes the world feel more expansive and realistic if not everything can be tied up in a neat little bow.
CWs: Suicide, Murder, violence, blood, grief, depression, amnesia, self-harm, drug use, incarceration, mental torture.
Spice level: Non-graphic, brief.
I loved the premise of this story, and I’m also a sucker for science fiction mysteries, so this was right up my alley! The hints of how the epidemic of Sleeplessness has changed the way the world works made me feel immersed in the story. It gives the sense of a world slipping toward dystopia, especially with some of the reveals toward the end.
This book was quite slow paced, but I also don’t know if it could have been any other way. I loved that the reader experiences the events on the night of the murder the same way Jamie did, so there’s a sense of solving the mystery along with him when he realizes his perception of what happened might not match with reality. Still, this book took me ages to read — partly because I was busy with college, and then hit a reading slump, but the pacing definitely didn’t help.
The big mystery was of course solved by the end, but a lot was left open about the future of Sleeplessness and Jamie’s health. However, I’m learning that I quite like books that don’t tie everything up neatly — it makes the world feel more expansive and realistic if not everything can be tied up in a neat little bow.
CWs: Suicide, Murder, violence, blood, grief, depression, amnesia, self-harm, drug use, incarceration, mental torture.
Spice level: Non-graphic, brief.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Suicide, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Self harm, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Blood and Medical content