mesal's reviews
572 reviews

The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente

emotional funny reflective

4.5

Short, easy to read, really fun while also being a commentary on USAmerican politics. Despite being science fiction, it almost comes across as fantasy due to the names and naming conventions of Garbagetown, so it's a good place to being if you're curious about the genre.

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson

adventurous mysterious

4.5

The first several chapters had me thinking that the worldbuilding was excellent, but the plot extremely average. For a mystery, the story was extremely un-mysterious: every time Lydia followed a lead, she was pointed directly towards the next place she was supposed to go. It was far too easy, and I figured I'd end this read wishing such a wonderful premise had been put to use with a different plot. Then

I learned that the bad plot was courtesy not of Eddie Robson, but of Anders Lewton

, and suddenly everything made perfect sense. If you pick this book up, please know that the storyline isn't as silly as it looks; to me this book is well worth recommending to fellow science fiction lovers.

Walk the Vanished Earth by Erin Swan

dark mysterious slow-paced

3.75

Really, really, really slow and a bit creepy with the whole pioneer new breed plotline, but on the whole it was a great read. A hell of a workout to finally reach that ending, though!

Drift by Caryl Lewis

emotional slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This one book singlehandedly convinced me to read more of Lewis' works. It has a bit of a slow build-up to the climax, and at times it feels less plot-driven and far more focused on character exploration, but if you don't mind that sort of book, this is a very interesting read.

Banyan Moon by Thao Thai

emotional hopeful

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

I don't know if I'm getting dumber or my taste in books is changing or if literary fiction is just getting worse, but very few of the litfic novels I read this year were actually really good. So many of them are similar; it's as if authors have nothing else to write about. This one follows the oft-repeated formula of three generations of women living in the same house where the crumbling house in bad shape is a metaphor for their family (

and the house burns down in the end for even more imagery

). Banyan Moon did do a pretty good job with this formula, and on the whole I thought this was a good book, but what I really want is for some of these formulas to be retired. Write something new!

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer

reflective sad

3.5

Clover was very cute, and the premise of this novel was extremely unique. Overall a nice book! Didn't blow me away, but it did introduce me to the concept of people who really haven't come to terms with the idea of death—to the point that they're barely even able to say the word out loud. I suppose if you don't have religion to fall back on, then death certainly seems like a difficult topic to tackle. Our death doula Clover did a fairly good job of it, though.

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Now this is what you call horror. Really, really slow-paced but if you don't mind that, it's a great read.

Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina

dark informative mysterious

4.0

Another book which, despite being classified as horror, wasn't as scary to me as I expected a horror novel to be. What it really was was sad: the fact that a movement such as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women exists at all is a testament to this fact. An excellent read, informative as well as engaging with its plot and character development. 

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

medium-paced

3.5

Very easy to read. I haven't read any other books by Kingfisher, but if they're anything like A House with Good Bones, then I'm guessing they're a good place to start if you're curious about the genre of horror. This book wasn't scary at all—just a little bit creepy at times—and the plot was simple enough to guess at.

The Immortality Thief by Taran Hunt

adventurous funny fast-paced

3.5

full review to come but my general thoughts: this was really, really fun! i didn't know horror could be this hilarious, and i definitely didn't know how much the scifi-horror combo would burrow its way into my skull (in a good way, not in a nanotech-wanting-to-destroy-you way). i almost gave it four stars, except the overdramatic dialogue coupled with certain plot/character development inconsistencies held me back. still a great read, and one i most certainly would recommend to others—especially monsterfuckers. i get you guys now.