mahiyaa's reviews
60 reviews

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

beautiful worldbuilding & plot—and a lovely narrative spanning multiple characters that shifts between past and present. i'm knocking a few points just because i wish the prose was as dramatic as what an "epic fantasy" deserves <3

The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan

adventurous medium-paced

5.0

perrin, mat, and crew get the lion's share of this book as the narrative diverts from rand (

who may or may not be going insane.

) moiraine and lan are still super badass and super mysterious, and the aiel have finally joined the party in full force. oh, and the forsaken are competing amongst themselves. 

a wonderful finish to arc one; i wonder what fresh hell we'll dive into next.

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this was everything i could have hoped for from an anti-imperialist, dark academia fantasy novel. (that means this is also what babel by r.f kuang could have been; for those who know the critique & conversation surrounding that.)

sciona is egoistical and selfish and imperfect and i love her for it. i love ml wang for creating her—as much as i love her for making me cry, again.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Body horror

Exordia by Seth Dickinson

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

4.5

y'know that old seth dickinson tweet about them being attracted to the trolley problem? yeah. this is that; but it is also the three body problem meets intergalactic anti-imperialism meets the matrix.

godspeed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

4.5

the pacing of this one is so much better than book one! rand is finally coming into his own—despite his (understandable) resistance—and the worldbuilding and lore deepens even further. loved the addition of aes sedai politics and nynaeve, egwene, elayne, and min becoming heroes in their own right.

A Revolutionary History of Interwar India: Violence, Image, Voice and Text by Kama MacLean

5.0

Metal from Heaven by August Clarke

tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

let's go lesbians!

i absolutely loved the first half of the book—

from child to whip spider

—and that mindtwisting narration towards the end. the middle of it, while being the apex of the story, was the weakest part to me. the "plot twist" isn't a twist as much as it is an inevitability; readers more unbiased and less devotional as marney will be able to see it coming—which, i suspect, is the story's goal. unfortunately, as heady and addictive marney's worship is, there wasn't enough meat during the seduction arc for me to bite into. but the rest of it.... i feasted!

the prose is absolutely breathtaking throughout. reading this felt like a fever dream. absolutely hypnotic.

Contentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India by Lata Mani

5.0

this is a great perspective on the colonial history of sati and the varying perspectives on the practice. british lawmakers were not the strictly moral, enlightened men they colored themselves to be—as their indirect reaffirmation of sati illustrates—and the indian perspective itself was split; brahmin religious consultants (whom the british relied on heavily in their "sati as a religious matter" stance) funded pro-sati lobbies, while other indian figures advocated for anti-sati laws.

mani does a wonderful job constructing a narrative between the british and indian, advocate and critic, all while acknowledging the voicelessness of the most relevant demographic—indian women.

Underground Asia: Global Revolutionaries and the Assault on Empire by Tim Harper

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

i've never read a book that encapsulates what it means to heal as much as this one. healing is painful, and hard, and saddening, and it will never truly stop hurting, but you will be happier for it. so much to say here about motherhood and regret and the cyclical nature of generational abuse—what are we if not the echoes of the ghosts among us?—but sometimes those echoes culminate in a song truly beautiful.

i don't know. reading this has made me absolutely incoherent (in the best way). i think if you've ever had to heal a relationship with a family member the same way misaki has, with either a parent or spouse, this one will hurt different. i know it did for me. healing is an ugly, gruesome thing. and i'm glad this book did it justice.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide