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ryannrripley's reviews
244 reviews
The Employees: A Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century by Olga Ravn
5.0
Loved this book. Was recommended to me by a friend. It’s short, but it took me a long time to read because every statement the employees enter into the record is earth-shattering and profound, and I found myself having to sit with each section for a long time, thinking about what exactly it meant. In particular, Statement 31 choked me up. The biomech robots called humanoids are made to work, and work is their identity. I related to this, and I’m a human. I’m a real person in this world of AI. So what does that mean?
Overall, this story reminded me of the Alien universe, with the shadowy and mysterious company called Weyland-Yutani moving behind the curtains and seeking some creature for the purpose of profit. Says a lot about capitalism. And I enjoyed the way the narrative was structured, with all proper names stripped (except for one single name at the very end, as a character is preparing to die). Work under capitalism strips us of our identity.
And don’t even get me started on the creation and reproduction stuff. I’m usually averse to stories with these themes, but this time it worked for me. The company is trying to find something to improve production. Instead, it finds the source of our sense of human self. The company cannot control it, but it will try, over and over again.
Literally perfect.
Overall, this story reminded me of the Alien universe, with the shadowy and mysterious company called Weyland-Yutani moving behind the curtains and seeking some creature for the purpose of profit. Says a lot about capitalism. And I enjoyed the way the narrative was structured, with all proper names stripped (except for one single name at the very end, as a character is preparing to die). Work under capitalism strips us of our identity.
And don’t even get me started on the creation and reproduction stuff. I’m usually averse to stories with these themes, but this time it worked for me. The company is trying to find something to improve production. Instead, it finds the source of our sense of human self. The company cannot control it, but it will try, over and over again.
Literally perfect.
The Shutouts by Gabrielle Korn
fast-paced
3.0
First, I want to say that I love Korn’s prose. It’s nimble and easy and makes me feel like a fast reader (I’m not).
Main thing: I loved finally getting the conclusion I wanted, ever since I read chapter one of Yours for the Taking, Orchid and Ava getting back together. Thank God, since their relationship was what hooked me into this world from the start.
What I didn’t like: the extreme focus on the concept of sexual reproduction at the end of the world. I didn’t like this aspect of book one, either, but it felt even more prominent in book two.
You know how in the Outlander series, the author is super obsessed with lineages and explaining who came from which uterus and the circumstances of their birth? Well, that’s what this book felt like. For example, we are asked to appreciate Ava and Brook’s relationship with July as being SPECIAL simply because July shared a womb with Brook (inside Ava). It’s this kind of woo-woo spirituality about the physicality of motherhood and sisterhood that pisses me off in real life, and the fact that it’s in Korn’s queer dystopian book pisses me off too.
I personally do not buy into any sort of mother-daughter spirituality at all. In fact, it’s a huge turn off for me, given that this is supposed to be a queer series. Mother-daughter spirituality almost seems anti-queer to me.
My personal experience of being queer IRL is that it’s about the found family that connects us, not the bloodline lineages that connect queer people.
Anyway, sorry for screaming into the void about this. I needed to tell someone.
If you’re a queer person who loves your mom, you’ll probably like this book more than I did! My mom was a bad person, so it’s kinda whatever to me.
Main thing: I loved finally getting the conclusion I wanted, ever since I read chapter one of Yours for the Taking, Orchid and Ava getting back together. Thank God, since their relationship was what hooked me into this world from the start.
What I didn’t like: the extreme focus on the concept of sexual reproduction at the end of the world. I didn’t like this aspect of book one, either, but it felt even more prominent in book two.
You know how in the Outlander series, the author is super obsessed with lineages and explaining who came from which uterus and the circumstances of their birth? Well, that’s what this book felt like. For example, we are asked to appreciate Ava and Brook’s relationship with July as being SPECIAL simply because July shared a womb with Brook (inside Ava). It’s this kind of woo-woo spirituality about the physicality of motherhood and sisterhood that pisses me off in real life, and the fact that it’s in Korn’s queer dystopian book pisses me off too.
I personally do not buy into any sort of mother-daughter spirituality at all. In fact, it’s a huge turn off for me, given that this is supposed to be a queer series. Mother-daughter spirituality almost seems anti-queer to me.
My personal experience of being queer IRL is that it’s about the found family that connects us, not the bloodline lineages that connect queer people.
Anyway, sorry for screaming into the void about this. I needed to tell someone.
If you’re a queer person who loves your mom, you’ll probably like this book more than I did! My mom was a bad person, so it’s kinda whatever to me.
Yours for the Taking by Gabrielle Korn
dark
emotional
fast-paced
4.0
This book rocks. The first chapter made me cry (in a good way). However, the last 50 pages or so felt rushed, and there were some character motivation issues. Also, I would have appreciated a little more hard science showing up, since it’s something the characters are relying on to survive. However, most of the book was amazing. I’m very excited to read the sequel, which I already have checked out from the library.
Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
slow-paced
4.0
I’m obsessed with Butler’s lean prose and the queer elements of the story. I loved how HORNY this was, perfect for the whole vampire genre. The use of vampires to talk about white supremacy eugenics is interesting. My only qualm is that besides Shori, I find most of the other vampires to be boring.
I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
dark
funny
slow-paced
4.0
Really funny story. I think I’m still getting used to Stephen’s writing style, though. I’m gonna keep reading his work.
Bunny by Mona Awad
dark
funny
slow-paced
4.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, it’s an amazing story about friendship and the terror of one’s own creativity, which I like. On the other hand, it’s too in love with itself.
We get paragraph after paragraph of the rewriting of common phrases like *pregnant pause* into something like *pregnant pause gives birth, devours its own spawn, and then becomes pregnant again* (I’m paraphrasing). Sounds cool? It is, except when it happens every damn sentence and you become numb to it. I want to savor the taste of your writing, not choke to death on it. I get it, the gross self love thing that artists do is part of the point, but I just didn’t think that it was the right choice.
Despite everything, I couldn’t bear to give it less than four stars. Good story.
We get paragraph after paragraph of the rewriting of common phrases like *pregnant pause* into something like *pregnant pause gives birth, devours its own spawn, and then becomes pregnant again* (I’m paraphrasing). Sounds cool? It is, except when it happens every damn sentence and you become numb to it. I want to savor the taste of your writing, not choke to death on it. I get it, the gross self love thing that artists do is part of the point, but I just didn’t think that it was the right choice.
Despite everything, I couldn’t bear to give it less than four stars. Good story.