micareads123's reviews
240 reviews

The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon

adventurous funny 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

3.0

A fun and overall enjoyable read about Wyatt, an FTM trans witch who was born into a fae family and is fated to marry a fae prince. When the prince, his fiancé, tracks him down after he has run away from his life, he is forced to face his traumatic past and figure out what he wants in life. 

I liked that this book tackled a fair amount of social and political commentary, and there is some really nice messaging about being true to yourself and accepting your body. 

I did find that the story dragged a bit, though, and the world building felt a little loose. I was (am) still questioning the logistics of it at the end. The plot and characters could have used better development overall, and personally, some of the dialogue felt a little cheesy to me. I had a hard time connecting with Wyatt. 

That aside, I appreciated all of the LGBTQIA rep in this book and the fact that it’s an own voices story. It’s an enjoyable read if you’re looking for a sort of chaotic fae-witch romp. 

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

• 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

4.0

This book has some great things to say politically, which was what I came for after reading and loving Pet. While the book is written in an accessible, young-adult style, the messaging is powerful and important. It tackles such questions as should we eat the rich? and do we all have a part to play in the revolution? And like Pet, it also confronts what makes an angel and what makes a monster. 

But while I really enjoyed this book, I did feel that it could have been a little bit better developed. Where Pet is short and succinct, this book dawdles a little, trying to tackle a bigger number of themes and issues. Personally, I felt it would have benefitted from either sticking closer to Pet’s more succinct format or from further development into a story for an older age group. 

Pet is still my favourite of the duology, but I really enjoyed this book nonetheless. I loved learning more about Bitter and Aloe, how their relationship developed, and about Lucille during the revolution. 

The messaging in these books is so important and timely, with lessons for young adults and adults alike. And especially in Bitter, it’s easy to draw parallels between the revolution in Lucille and what’s happening in our world today.

Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

I hate to say it, but this book fell a little flat for me. While I appreciated the themes of cultural expectations, finding oneself and family relationships, the prose felt a little forced to me and was jarringly repetitive. 

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

adventurous lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a lovely, cozy book to escape into with a wonderful group of found-family characters. It raises interesting questions about morality and our society. And while it’s cozy, the stakes are high enough to keep you invested — sort of like The Hobbit meets space opera.

(**Mild spoiler warning**)

For the most part, I loved all of the characters. Just not one of them — Corbin. And he didn’t redeem himself at the end, either. In fact, I really disagree with his actions towards the end. To me, he seemed very inconsiderate of his crew mate’s culture. He had a total disregard for their wishes and made a huge decision on their behalf, without their permission. This amounts, in my view, to supremacy and ableism, and I’m not keen to see that go unaddressed in a book.

That aside, this is a good and fun book, and I do plan to continue with the series.

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Outstanding. This book is in a league of its own and has raised the bar for adult fantasy storytelling (for me). I think it’s safe to say it’s one of the best-crafted books I’ve ever read. It is a crime that it was overlooked for all of the awards last year.

The prose is phenomenal, almost poetic. Jimenez has undeniable talent, and his style is so incredibly unique. He gives readers only the amount of information they need to follow the story, nothing more. And not only does the author trust the reader to read the book with an open mind, he trusts that the reader trusts him to pull everything together in the end. The writing demands your full attention, but the payoff at the end is well worth the time it takes to read it. 

The book feels like a dream, and that’s because it is one. While the majority of the narrative is told in the form of a performance in the Inverted Theatre, in a dream dimension, the story flows seamlessly back and forth through time, the author slowly weaving an expansive and sweeping tapestry. The author also expertly shifts between the first, second and third person, from paragraph to paragraph, even sentence to sentence. It’s as if the author looked at the chaos of juggling all three perspectives and said, challenge accepted. And he delivered. 

The story explores themes of oral storytelling traditions, honouring one’s ancestors, colonization, cultural assimilation, war and, above all, love and intimacy. And it took me through so many emotions: awe, love, heartbreak, disgust. It turned my stomach and it made me laugh out loud on several occasions. It gave me sad and happy tears. 

You get to see the two protagonists at their ugliest and in their most joyful moments, and by the end of the book, it feels as if you have spent a lifetime with them.

I don’t think this is a book for everyone. It is a book for readers who like to have their limits challenged or who want to read something very unlike anything they’ve read before. I would recommend it to fans of the Locked Tomb and Broken Earth trilogies. 

Make sure to check CWs for this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Cannibalism

Moderate: Ableism

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This story is so engaging! I got wrapped up in this way more than I expected to. It reads sort of like a gothic fairytale and was hard to put down. Definitely looking forward to book 2! 

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
Did not finish book. Stopped at 9%.

Soft DNFing this. Just not the right time.

Butter Honey Pig Bread by francesca ekwuyasi

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

A gorgeous and compelling family saga about a Nigerian mother, Kimbirinachi, her twin daughters, Taiye and Kehinde, and the trauma that haunts them. Love, culture and food are at the forefront of this beautiful story. 

I loved the complex and nuanced relationships in this book, beyond just those of the three main characters. 

I did at times feel the story lingered too long on certain plot lines that felt more or less irrelevant to the overall story, but I really enjoyed this read. The ending left me asking some questions, though, and I wish we had more clarification on Kimbirinachi’s story. I thought her perspective was the most interesting of all and wished there was more of it, more explanation of the ogbanje.

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

A devastating story of generational trauma and very much worth the read.

Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus by Rick Perlstein

informative slow-paced

4.0

Is US political history my wheelhouse? Not even a little bit. But did I enjoy this book anyway, despite it being pretty far outside my comfort zone? Absolutely. 

This book was the first instalment of a four-part book club on US political history. The book club is focused on the rise of conservatism and understanding how we got to where we are today in terms of political extremism. 

The argument Perlstein presents in Before the Storm is that despite Democrat Lyndon Johnson’s landslide win over Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election, Barry Goldwater’s influential role in the uprising of conservatism, both in the race and as a senator before then, cannot be so easily dismissed. 

A highlight for me was how the author tied certain events, such as the Civil Rights Movement and the release of Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, into the narrative, describing their influence in dividing the country between left and right. 

I did find that with my level of knowledge on the topic, Perlstein’s style of floating in and out of different themes and providing perhaps more detail than necessary made the book a little hard to follow, at times a slog. That said, I think there is a lot to get out of this book for people with any level of knowledge on this era of US politics.

Overall, I learned a lot from this book, and I look forward to continuing the book club reading with Perlstein’s Nixonland.