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peggychecksitout's reviews
7 reviews
Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Since absolutely inhaling the Wayward Children series back in 2021, I’ve really come to look forward to this time of year when we we get the next installment in the series.
This latest addition follows Antsy, who runs away from a home that has become unsafe for her, when she stumbles across a Door that leads her to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go. It’s a strange nexus world, where anything lost finds its way to the Shop (So Many Socks), and where many mysterious Doors that lead to fantastic worlds come to rest. Antsy meets some new companions, who teach her how the Shop is run, and who explore the mysterious Door worlds with her. But as time goes on, it becomes apparent that maybe not everything at the Shop is as it should be…
I really loved this book. I loved the idea of the Shop, I thought the book raised some interesting questions surrounding the Doors and why/how they exist, I loved the couple of callbacks to previous books and characters, and above all, I loved Antsy. McGuire’s writing continues to be absolutely sublime, and the way she is able to balance the bitter and the sweet, the heartbreaking and the magical, and the poignant with the enchanting, really shows how phenomenal of a writer Seanan McGuire is.
I want to take a moment to touch on the events surrounding Antsy’s home life at the beginning of the book, in regards to her experiences with loss, grief, and a very specific and distressing childhood trauma. I want to stress how important it is to check the content warnings for this book, and to read the authors note at the beginning of the book. I think McGuire’s note, and really the way she wrote Antsy’s story throughout the entire book, handled an incredibly important but incredibly heavy topic with a lot of grace and compassion.
I’m so fond of the world/s that McGuire has crafted throughout the series. I wish these books were not novellas, but instead 400+ page books, because whenever I am reading one, I never want to leave the worlds, and I never want the book to end! But I will read this series for as long as Seanan wants to keep writing it.
This latest addition follows Antsy, who runs away from a home that has become unsafe for her, when she stumbles across a Door that leads her to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go. It’s a strange nexus world, where anything lost finds its way to the Shop (So Many Socks), and where many mysterious Doors that lead to fantastic worlds come to rest. Antsy meets some new companions, who teach her how the Shop is run, and who explore the mysterious Door worlds with her. But as time goes on, it becomes apparent that maybe not everything at the Shop is as it should be…
I really loved this book. I loved the idea of the Shop, I thought the book raised some interesting questions surrounding the Doors and why/how they exist, I loved the couple of callbacks to previous books and characters, and above all, I loved Antsy. McGuire’s writing continues to be absolutely sublime, and the way she is able to balance the bitter and the sweet, the heartbreaking and the magical, and the poignant with the enchanting, really shows how phenomenal of a writer Seanan McGuire is.
I want to take a moment to touch on the events surrounding Antsy’s home life at the beginning of the book, in regards to her experiences with loss, grief, and a very specific and distressing childhood trauma. I want to stress how important it is to check the content warnings for this book, and to read the authors note at the beginning of the book. I think McGuire’s note, and really the way she wrote Antsy’s story throughout the entire book, handled an incredibly important but incredibly heavy topic with a lot of grace and compassion.
I’m so fond of the world/s that McGuire has crafted throughout the series. I wish these books were not novellas, but instead 400+ page books, because whenever I am reading one, I never want to leave the worlds, and I never want the book to end! But I will read this series for as long as Seanan wants to keep writing it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Grief, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Child death, and Pregnancy
Recollections of My Nonexistence: A Memoir by Rebecca Solnit
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Every now and then, you come across a writer who speaks to something in you—an instinctual, clarifying realisation that the writer has something to teach you, if you’ll have the patience to listen to the message and learn it by heart. Rebecca Solnit is such a writer for me. What the message is, I’m still learning, but reading her memoir has unlocked a little more of it for me.
Recollections of My Non-Existence isn’t a conventional memoir, it’s more of an essayistic exploration of how she found her voice as the writer she is today. She muses on the forces around her that shaped her—her experiences facing gendered violence and oppression, the different communities she has been involved in and drawn to, and her love of books and writing.
Solnit has a really engaging writing style: she’s funny, insightful, lyrical and impactful. She effortlessly weaves together narratives exploring the personal, the philosophical, the political and the historic, and she is so good at invoking a sense of time and place you really come away feeling like you’ve experienced a small slice of it.
I think the best non-fiction is that which leaves you with the world making a little more sense in a new way—a small piece of the puzzle that is the human experience clicks into place, and this book was definitely achieved that for me.
Though this is only my third book of hers in my reading journey through her ouevre, it has definitely cemented Solnit as a guiding light in my own journey to find my way as a person and as an aspiring writer.
Recollections of My Non-Existence isn’t a conventional memoir, it’s more of an essayistic exploration of how she found her voice as the writer she is today. She muses on the forces around her that shaped her—her experiences facing gendered violence and oppression, the different communities she has been involved in and drawn to, and her love of books and writing.
Solnit has a really engaging writing style: she’s funny, insightful, lyrical and impactful. She effortlessly weaves together narratives exploring the personal, the philosophical, the political and the historic, and she is so good at invoking a sense of time and place you really come away feeling like you’ve experienced a small slice of it.
I think the best non-fiction is that which leaves you with the world making a little more sense in a new way—a small piece of the puzzle that is the human experience clicks into place, and this book was definitely achieved that for me.
Though this is only my third book of hers in my reading journey through her ouevre, it has definitely cemented Solnit as a guiding light in my own journey to find my way as a person and as an aspiring writer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Mental illness, Racism, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Stalking, Death of parent, and Physical abuse
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
Spanning the years from the 1910s through to the 1970s, The House of the Spirits tells the story of three generations of women from the Trueba family, Clara, Blanca and Alba. It weaves together a tale threaded with magical realism, personal and political upheaval, and some of the most interesting character portraits I’ve read in a while.
This book is as magical as it is absolutely devastating. Allende's writing is mesmerising, imaginative and gut-wrenching at different turns. There’s a real juxtaposition between the magical elements presented to us—Clara’s clairvoyance, the kooky characters of her spiritualist salon, the house filled with spirits—and the incredible violence enacted both at personal and political levels (I highly recommend looking up the content warnings for this book, so you know what to expect going in).
The personal and the political are very closely entwined in this story; it’s a multi-generational family saga for sure, but as much as it is about the Trueba family, it’s about the history of the country that they’re a part of too (though never directly addressed, through context and historical clues, it is a fictionalised depiction of Chilean history).
It took me a little bit to get into the story, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down, and the end absolutely wrecked me—you know a book is good if it leaves you sobbing—and I think this is a book that is going to stick with me for a long time. There’s a reason that this was an instant bestseller, and has gone onto become a classic. It was my first Allende, but it certainly won’t be my last.
This book is as magical as it is absolutely devastating. Allende's writing is mesmerising, imaginative and gut-wrenching at different turns. There’s a real juxtaposition between the magical elements presented to us—Clara’s clairvoyance, the kooky characters of her spiritualist salon, the house filled with spirits—and the incredible violence enacted both at personal and political levels (I highly recommend looking up the content warnings for this book, so you know what to expect going in).
The personal and the political are very closely entwined in this story; it’s a multi-generational family saga for sure, but as much as it is about the Trueba family, it’s about the history of the country that they’re a part of too (though never directly addressed, through context and historical clues, it is a fictionalised depiction of Chilean history).
It took me a little bit to get into the story, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down, and the end absolutely wrecked me—you know a book is good if it leaves you sobbing—and I think this is a book that is going to stick with me for a long time. There’s a reason that this was an instant bestseller, and has gone onto become a classic. It was my first Allende, but it certainly won’t be my last.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Rape, Torture, Violence, Domestic abuse, War, Abortion, Physical abuse, Sexism, Death, Racism, Sexual violence, and Murder
Moderate: Abortion, Homophobia, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug use, Addiction, and Car accident
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The Starless Sea is an ode to stories; it is about why stories and storytelling are important, as much as it is about those who love stories and why they do. And while it points out the whys and wherefores of storytelling, it also shows you the how of storytelling; this book is quite meta. You, dear reader, are reading a book, about a character who is also reading a book, in which there is a story about himself. As you continue reading, you also get to read all the stories in the book that he is reading, while reading about him reading them, and while he is trying to solve the mystery that connects all these stories to the larger mystery surrounding his current predicament, you are too. Morgenstern isn’t afraid to show her authorial fingerprints upon the story— and that’s part of the point here: a book is someone telling you a story—there is a storyteller always present that is not just the protagonist.
As far as plot goes, it certainly doesn’t unfold in a linear fashion—I would probably describe it as almost labyrinthine, or maybe not unlike nesting dolls; stories within stories. I could even call it kaleidoscopic—fragments of seemingly disparate stories that come together at the end to form a pattern that we can behold for a beautiful moment, before it all changes. And change it does, as we are reminded throughout the book, what is a story, if not change?
This book also shows off Morgenstern’s greatest strengths: her world-building and her prose. Morgenstern can write; her prose is simply gorgeous. It is in turns whimsical, magical, dreamlike and playful. The images she conjures on these pages are nothing short of being frankly, almost tangible—sort of like waking up with your last dream still dancing around in your head before it softly fades with the intrusion of the morning light. There’s a definite fairy-tale vibe to the entire book, that again, goes along with the greater themes about storytelling. I think anyone who is a lover of books has dreamed, at least once, of stumbling across a doorway that leads to a magical library, and reading this book certainly makes me daydream about that scenario all the more.
If I had a quibble with anything, I would say the character work in this book isn’t the strongest, but I do think it’s still purposeful. The characters aren’t super fleshed out, instead, they have the same quality that characters in a fairy-tale do—they are there to serve the story, to supply metaphor and archetypes and literal anthropomorphic personifications of concepts, more than give us in-depth character studies, or feel like real people. This is okay to a certain extent, but it does mean that if your entry point into a story is through character, this might not be the book for you. There were moments towards the end of the story that didn’t hit quite as hard as I wished they would have, had the characters and their relationships to each other had a chance to be more drawn out.
It took me the better part of a week to read through it, but this book is a book that rewards you with slowing down and taking your time to read it, to really savour the stories within, and soak in all of its beautiful magic. It’s also, as I have now discovered, very wonderfully re-readable, where you can pick up on threads and clues you missed the first time around.
On the whole, my re-read of this book has cemented it as a forever favourite of mine. In fact, I have a quote from the book I would love to have a tattoo of one day, and there are ungodly things I would do for a ttrpg of The Starless Sea; there’s so much you could do with the Harbour alone—book themed dungeon crawls for daaaaaaays.
As far as plot goes, it certainly doesn’t unfold in a linear fashion—I would probably describe it as almost labyrinthine, or maybe not unlike nesting dolls; stories within stories. I could even call it kaleidoscopic—fragments of seemingly disparate stories that come together at the end to form a pattern that we can behold for a beautiful moment, before it all changes. And change it does, as we are reminded throughout the book, what is a story, if not change?
This book also shows off Morgenstern’s greatest strengths: her world-building and her prose. Morgenstern can write; her prose is simply gorgeous. It is in turns whimsical, magical, dreamlike and playful. The images she conjures on these pages are nothing short of being frankly, almost tangible—sort of like waking up with your last dream still dancing around in your head before it softly fades with the intrusion of the morning light. There’s a definite fairy-tale vibe to the entire book, that again, goes along with the greater themes about storytelling. I think anyone who is a lover of books has dreamed, at least once, of stumbling across a doorway that leads to a magical library, and reading this book certainly makes me daydream about that scenario all the more.
If I had a quibble with anything, I would say the character work in this book isn’t the strongest, but I do think it’s still purposeful. The characters aren’t super fleshed out, instead, they have the same quality that characters in a fairy-tale do—they are there to serve the story, to supply metaphor and archetypes and literal anthropomorphic personifications of concepts, more than give us in-depth character studies, or feel like real people. This is okay to a certain extent, but it does mean that if your entry point into a story is through character, this might not be the book for you. There were moments towards the end of the story that didn’t hit quite as hard as I wished they would have, had the characters and their relationships to each other had a chance to be more drawn out.
It took me the better part of a week to read through it, but this book is a book that rewards you with slowing down and taking your time to read it, to really savour the stories within, and soak in all of its beautiful magic. It’s also, as I have now discovered, very wonderfully re-readable, where you can pick up on threads and clues you missed the first time around.
On the whole, my re-read of this book has cemented it as a forever favourite of mine. In fact, I have a quote from the book I would love to have a tattoo of one day, and there are ungodly things I would do for a ttrpg of The Starless Sea; there’s so much you could do with the Harbour alone—book themed dungeon crawls for daaaaaaays.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Stalking, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 3: Squirrel, You Really Got Me Now by Ryan North
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
She eats nuts and kicks butt, the comic features computer science students AND rhyming animal names, there's time travel hijinks, and even howard the duck is there. what more could you want?
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 2: Squirrel You Know It's True by Ryan North
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
In which The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl makes some super friends! Really enjoyed this volume, in particular issues 7 & 8 within the volume, I think demonstrate everything that is so right about this iteration of squirrel girl; there's action, there's puns, there's friendship, there's hijinks, and we get to see a lot of familiar superheroes that even the most casual marvel fan knows about. One thing I really dig about the comic run so far is how Ryan North and Erica Henderson aren't afraid of showing how Squirrel Girl fits into the wider cast of Marvel superheroes, while still having a lot of fun with it and poking fun at the those superheroes at the same time. I also have to give major props to Erica Henderson for how she is able to mimic past marvel comic art styles--in issue five alone she moves back and forth between art styles at least five times. Onwards to volume 3!
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 1: Squirrel Power by Ryan North
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was a really fun time, and it is a crime that the unbeatable squirrel girl hasn't had her own tv series greenlit yet. Nevertheless, this issue was a very fun and easy read--it's tongue in cheek, punchy, nutty, and the art is really dynamic and the art style & the way squirrel girl is drawn is really cool. I particularly loved the tiny little footnote asides at the bottom of the pages. This volume had me laughing out loud, which rarely happens when I am reading, so a solid 4 ACORNS for you Squirrel Girl! Really looking forward to going on with the series.
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