pocketbard's reviews
534 reviews

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

adventurous

This was an odd one, since it wasn’t actually set in the Scholomance for the most part, but in the wider wizard world. I’m not sure I liked the change. Part of me wishes that we’d had a first trilogy set in the Scholomance, and then a second set in the world outside, but admittedly I don’t think Novik could have told the story she was aiming to tell with that structure. I thought El went back to being a somewhat one-note character (she is ALWAYS ANGRY), and also I started to get seriously frustrated with the pages-long internal monologues as El sorted through her feelings, ruminated on Orion, or tried to figure out (usually incorrectly) what other people were thinking or planning. I think my favourite character was the no-nonsense and practical Liesel, who could figure out the most efficient path forward, nod, and get on with it, in a way most of the other characters in the book could not. For all my quibbles with El, the wizard world is evocative, I enjoyed seeing the various enclaves, and I appreciated how everything pulled together in the ending. 

The Orphans of Raspay by Lois McMaster Bujold

adventurous

• Loveable characters? Yes

One of the better Penric books, in my opinion. Certainly better than Masquerade in Lodi, which is the one I read just before this one. It was tremendously satisfying watching Desdemona (and Penric) really go to town on people who deserved it. And I’m looking forward to (hopefully) seeing more of the titular orphans as the series continues. Definitely worth the read. 

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

I enjoyed the further exploration into the world of the Scholomance, and I found El a more sympathetic character than in the first novel. I did find the writing style to be a little rambling at times, and I thought the pacing was sometimes a bit off, especially since some crucial revelations happen very late in the book. But the world is interesting and I enjoyed getting to learn about the Scholomance itself as a semi-sentient being. Fair warning: this book ends on a cliffhanger, so be prepared to want to immediately launch into book 3. 

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

adventurous dark

A fun read! I really enjoyed the worldbuilding on this one – one of the more interesting settings I’ve read lately. Kind of like what Fourth Wing was going for in terms of “deadly fantasy school,” but with an actual in-world reason for it, and without the romance. I thought it was particularly interesting that there were no actual adults around: the school acts as teacher for all students, in the sort of personalized AI education that the tech bros have been aspiring to for the last 30 years. (Though of course, more deadly.) I wasn’t especially keen on the protagonist for most of the book – I didn’t like how snappish she was with everyone. And, yes, I understand there are trauma-based reasons for that, but that sort of attitude becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy at a certain point, when you violently push away even the people who are nice to you. (As they say in parenting: don’t pushing the behaviour you want to see.) Anyway, I thought she settled down into being a less annoying character around the 60% mark when

she joins an alliance with some other girls in her year

.  All told, I’m looking forward to reading the sequels. 

And How Does That Make You Feel? by Joshua Fletcher

This book is part dramatization of therapy sessions with a handful of fictionalized patients, part primer on anxiety disorders, and part memoir. I found it generally interesting, especially since, when left to my own devices, I myself tend to write long stretches of dialogue with very little filler. I did find that most of the other characters in the book tended to speak in Fletcher’s voice, but that might be a nitpick. I found myself invested in the stories of the various patients (again, all fictional amalgams – no broken confidentiality here!) and genuinely hope they’re doing okay, for all that they’re fictional. This probably won’t be a book that I go back to as one of my favourites, but I enjoyed it and don’t regret having read it. 

On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes by Alexandra Horowitz

informative

What this book is not: eleven walks along the same route with experts in eleven different fields. What this book is: eleven walks in a variety of places, with companions who might or might not be “expert” depending on your definition. (I’d vote that the geologist and field naturalist certainly would, the toddler and dog probably wouldn’t.) Nor was this book a play-by-play of the things the experts pointed out as they walked – or at least, not predominantly. And, I’d argue, it probably COULDN’T be, given the written medium. I think this book’s promise would have made for an excellent video series, where you could capture the sights, sounds, and details as each expert points them out. You can’t really do that in a book unless you have A LOT of pictures (which this book does not). So, given the constraints of the medium, it’s probably not surprising that each chapter only loosely follows the walk with the expert, and reads more like loosely-connected trivia around a theme, with the occasional digression into the science of attention and observation. It’s not a bad book for what it is, but it’s not what I was expecting, either. I really do wish there were a video series that does a similar investigation. (Or, honestly, that I had a sabbatical and a rich patron so that I could recreate the experience around my own home.) 

Legend of the White Snake by Sher Lee

This almost felt like two different books, with the first half and the second half having very different vibes. The first half was a pretty trope-y, beat-specific YA fantasy romance. (I did appreciate the historical Chinese setting, even though I am completely ignorant of both Chinese culture and the folktale the book is based on.) The second half becomes much more action-y, and the beats feel “off.” Prince Xian, who I’d come to quite like over the first half of the book, becomes much less sympathetic through most of the second half. Spirit snake Zhen, who I also quite liked in the first half, starts making incredibly naïve and stupid choices that made me want to shake him by the lapels. The last quarter of the book, each chapter felt like “well, that’s one problem solved, BUT WHAT ABOUT THIS OTHER THING?”, in a way that felt kind of drawn out. And the ending tries to have things both ways. Look, I’m not saying it’s a bad book. It was fine for what it was. But my favourite part was the setting and the worldbuilding, as opposed to any of the actual plot. 

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

dark mysterious slow-paced

If I hadn’t been reading this book for a book club, I would have DNFed it long before the end. I wanted to like it. Truly, I did. The blurb seemed like exactly the sort of thing that would interest me: an alternate universe where Jews after the Holocaust have settled in Alaska instead of Israel, and there has been (dun-dun-DUN) a murder! I was expecting an action-comedy. Instead I got a plodding, overwritten, small-down detective story in which none of the characters are especially sympathetic. (Except maybe the protagonists ex-wife / new boss – I have a soft spot for her having to deal with all the shit the protagonist is stirring up.) Despite the stakes getting dramatically raised around the 75% mark, and an event that would have Michael Bay-esque action scenes in any other book, the entire way through I just kept wanting to shout, “would you get to the point already and stop with all the flowery metaphors?!” Clearly, I’m not the book’s intended audience, and just as clearly, I didn’t realize that before I started to read it. 

Masquerade in Lodi by Lois McMaster Bujold

slow-paced

Not my favourite of the Penric books. This one had a lot of Penric having no clue what to do next, retracing his steps to places he’d already been, and hoping to stumble across a clue as to where to go next. And then, suddenly, everything comes together in one great coincidence. I found the story unsatisfying and the writing to drag on for a lot of it. But I suppose every author stumbles sometimes. It’s not enough to prevent me from reading the rest of the series, in any case. But you can probably skip this one unless you’re a completionist. 

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton

funny lighthearted

• Loveable characters? Yes

This was a cute one. Similar to the other Holton book I read (The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels), it’s a Victorian comedy of manners combined with a fun romance. (Mostly but not entirely “sweet” – there’s a lot of innuendo and a very mildly spicy scene toward the end.) I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as Wisteria Society – I found that the romance pretty much entirely took over in the middle of the book, pushing aside the external plot in favour of the many, many times there was “only one bed” and other such tropes. That said, it was a fun book that didn’t take itself at all seriously, and I enjoyed it. I might even read the sequel at some point.