robertrivasplata's reviews
612 reviews

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.0

Lots of spoilers here, because let's face it, we all have something else we should be reading right now. Much less coherent than Fourth Wing. The Empyrean books feel to me like they were created by two middle schoolers who really liked Game of Thrones (especially the last couple seasons), & Harry Potter, & who recently watched Pulp Fiction & thought it was amazing. The dialogue is incredibly juvenile. Whenever a character hints at something, or says something obliquely, they invariably spell it all out plainly in the next line. It's as if Yarros wanted to be clever, but then worried that the reader wouldn't be able to keep up with her. I'm constantly thinking “you just said that a moment ago”. 

Not sure why, but I found the constant “2nd squad, tail section, 4th wing officially requests permission to...” etc/whatever grating. 

I find Xaden to be incredibly insufferable, & his Violet's relationship is doubly so. All his “ask me” speeches to Violet are infuriating. At the same time, Violet's need to know all the “need to know” information in Part 1 is an opsec nightmare. Xaden's constant glowering just comes across as sullen teenager behavior. Xaden's constant reminders to everyone that Riorson House is his house, & the HQ of the rebellion is simply there at his pleasure looks a lot like entitled aristocrat behavior. The fact that he is an entitled aristocrat does not make it cute. 

Iron Flame feels like at least two books, with three major antagonists, none of which are really dealt with satisfactorily. Big bad #1's (Varrish) death somehow manages to be both abrupt, unceremonious, & also unnecessarily drawn out. Cat (Big bad #2) isn't even that big or bad, she's just supposed to be a big bitch, & she suddenly becomes a good guy. Shadowy scheming Tecarus (kind of a sub-baddie) just kind of disappears. The Sage (Big bad #3)'s death is off-screen, so we can assume (using horror logic) that he'll be back for the sequels. People are constantly stepping forward to help as if they're joining the anchorman fight in Anchorman. The part where Violet is being rescued by one hero after another (Dain, then Xaden, then her Mother, then I lost count) is especially ridiculous. Imagine the movie Spartacus if the “I'm Spartacus!” scene was repeated several different times. 

Not really sure how we're supposed to feel about Violet's mom being killed off. I generally find villain redemption character arcs annoying, partly because it flattens the complexity of the villain characters we love so well (so well that we want them to be good, which they are not). Not to say that I found Violet's Mom to be a particularly enjoyable villain. Similar to Snape in HP, she worked best as a foil whose motivations are obscure, but her being the hero's mother makes that arrangement impossible. Her motivations & machinations pretty much have to be explored, & her “I did it all for you” doesn't really cut it. 

The Con Artists by Luke Healy

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Not sure why this is the Con ArtistS, since I detected only one con artist. Frank was maybe kidding himself about various things, but I wouldn't call him a con artist. I couldn't quite figure out the contours of Giorgio's con; was Frank the mark, or was it all directed at Giorgio's parents? Or was Giorgio just a drunken mess grasping at the opportunities that presented themselves? Am I just a soft touch? I like how in the beginning Luke walks in and tells us this whole thing is true by saying that it's just a story he made up. Yeah dude, i'm sure certain names have been changed, etc. Between this book and what else I've read by him, Healy's life seems pretty wild... is he OK? 

The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-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

4.5

Queer teen coming-out romance graphic novel set on a quaint Canada Maritime Provincial island. The flaw in Keltie's last-resort plan towards the end is that sinking the boat on a reef would probably spill diesel fuel into the bay she's trying to protect. Setting the boat on fire would have probably been a better choice from both an environmental and a saboteur's perspective. The fire would burn off most of the hazardous fuel, and it would also render the boat even more economically unsalvageable. Keltie just needed to sneak away to scope out the fuel tanks to know where to put the accelerant. Seals are well acquainted with these principals, as is documented in pictures of the MV New Carissa burning near Coos Bay OR. Teaches the lesson that you can have time with your pals when your girlfriend turns back into a seal. 

What's in My Library?: A Poem for Each Branch by Susan Roberts

informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

Book of poems about the Sacramento Public Library, with each branch getting its own poem. Many of the poems told me things that I didn't know about their branches. I didn't know, for instance, that the smallest Branch (Isleton) boasts a collection of 2 million books. It also gives a sample of all of the programs and activities that the library offers. My favorite poem is the one about the Arden Dimick branch, which tells the reader the least about the branch of any of the poems. The poem at the end inspired by a memoir of the flood of 1907 makes me want to visit the Walnut Grove library. If I had been the poet, I would have had a poem about checking out the Super NES from Fair Oaks library, and then playing Mario Cart for 2 weeks straight. 

Beetle & the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

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

4.0

Set in a haunted town populated by spooky (but cute) creatures that has it's own condemned shopping mall. Similar to the vanished downtown mall of Sacramento, despite being condemned, the 'Allowtown Mall is still pretty busy, despite all of the going out of business signs on the stores. 'Allowstown is kind of like a more vibrant (and less hierarchical) Halloween Town from Nightmare Before Christmas. Can be compared to City Monster, except 'Allowtown has a more fun vibe than the mundane city in City Monster. Blob Ghost reminds me a lot of the ghostly roommate in City Monster, except more demonstrative. I could see Layne having fun drawing Miss Gashadokuro on the last few pages. The last page is kind of like something from Hieronymus Bosch. Being an elder myself now, I think this book is the first one to bring home to me how the internet & social media via the smartphone will manifest in fictional representations across genres. (When a genericized smartphone is depicted in a dream, what will it mean?) Witch hats apparently come in one size, even when the witch in question is kaiju-sized. 

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Bettany Hughes

adventurous informative inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

A book that rounds up the latest archaeological and historical research about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world. Tells the history of how each of these landmarks were conceived and what they meant for the people who built them, used them, and visited them, ultimately showing the ways that the Ancient Wonders have inspired and influenced modern landmarks and ideas (e.g. I.M Pei's Pyramid, the Colossus of Rhodes-Statue of Liberty connection). I wish that the chapter about the Pyramids at Giza had more about other Egyptian & later Nubian pyramid building. I think the pyramids chapter may have given me some weird dreams (being lost in mazes, etc). Hughes did an especially good job going into the religious practices of the Ancient Greeks in the chapters about the Great Temple of Artemis in Ephesus & the Giant Zeus of Olympia. The histories of those sacred sites made me wonder if the practice of rulers deifying themselves and founding their own temples to themselves ultimately weakened belief in the ancient gods. I wish this book was a lot longer, and had more about all of the people and places it mentions, but a lot of the questions I'm left pondering just reflect what's missing from the historical and archaeological record. Also makes me want to learn more about the Bennu heron (me and the world's ornithologists both). 

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

Sci-fi Robot-sentience action-mystery, which seems to take place in a universe similar to Known Space, or the Becky chambers novels (for instance). A futuristic workplace novel. Many of the SecUnit's feelings about work, co-workers, & workplace interactions are familiar; they're probably even more familiar to IT people & temp workers (see also Haiku Tunnel 2001). Doesn't get too bogged down with too much world-building explication. Explores hypothetical cyborg psychology. Could make a good movie/series, but they'd have to get the internal monologue right, and they would have to depict the soap space operas that Murderbot watches. Can't wait to read the sequels! 

Dictatorship: It's Easier Than You Think! by Sarah Kendzior, Andrea Chalupa

dark funny informative fast-paced

4.0

A sort of Prince for the 21st Century, with a Machiavelli figure who is kind of a combination of Dante's Virgil & the Rolling Stones' Devil as guide. Kind of an updated & all-encompassing companion piece to Umberto Eco's “Ur-Fascism” essay. Lays out the history and variety of authoritarianism, showing that like fascism, authoritarianism is less a set ideology than an outcome. The discussion of white supremacism in America is kind of presented as an outlier in that there is not revolving around a central figure. I feel like it missed an opportunity to show the ways that the white power extremists are enforcers waiting for a strongman. Explores the phenomenon of sympathetic American & European “useful idiot” journalists burnishing the reputations of their favorite dictators, dynasts, & authoritarians. I wish that there had been more about how & where these dictators hide the wealth they plunder from their countries. The art by Babis compliments the humorous tone. 

The Case of the Missing Men by Kris Bertin

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys meets a Canuck Stephen King (but without any weird sex stuff) mystery-horror, in a Nova Scotia version of Derry. Interlocking mysteries with many twists, turns, & fucked-up shit. Benefits from re-reading. The black and white pen and ink drawings are compelling. Set in 1996, before the advent of meddlesome smartphones, but one character does possess a (large & cumbersome) smartphone of sorts. I want to check out the other Hobtown books. 

Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal

challenging emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Love letter to old books, old Prague, & that old time drinking on the job. Explains the joys & risks of extreme tsundoku, with occasional views from insect & rodent perspectives. References various works of art, philosophy, & religion. Follows a guy who works as a paper recycler for the purpose of scavenging from the books people throw away. Introduces the idea of books that are published solely to be sent straight to the pulping plant, which is a plant whose sole purpose is to recycle newly printed books that no one has read. Contrasts the old-style workingman who is drinking pitchers of beer to get through the workday with the socialist youth who get through their days by thinking about their vacation time, & who drink milk & eat actual solid food on their lunch breaks. Work-life balance, retirement, & nostalgia also figure heavily. Thank you Tom for recommending this!