smoladeryn's reviews
167 reviews

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

After Atlas by Emma Newman

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.75

Incredible portrayal of cPTSD and  queer non romantic love in a Cyberpunk noir setting. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Classism, Deportation

Planetfall by Emma Newman

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The Lonely Hunter: How Our Search for Love Is Broken by Aimée Lutkin

reflective slow-paced

2.5

It’s so unfortunate this book doesn’t seem to know what it should be. At times it’s trying hard to be sociological study, but ends up more being awkwardly inserted social justice that’s  weirdly at odds with the memoir aspects. 

Which, in the end this is all the book really achieves for me - it’s a memoir. It’s well written but sadly empty with a lot of self centred navel gazing and complaining. 

The most uncomfortable part of all of this is the cognitive dissonance scattered throughout. The writer is a queer woman who seems oddly obsessed with finding heteronormative love. Her “person”, who despite being bisexual she seems far more invested in finding a man. Maybe she swings more that way which is fine but there’s some feeling of a lack of self awareness. 

The conclusion which is all social justice feels at odds with a lack of insight of the writer’s privilege in finding love.  The focus on physical attributes of her various dates (and get own) just one aspect of that. 

The last aspect is her almost complete derision of polyamory as a choice in love. She acknowledged that a lot of what she encounters are heirarchy based and ironically unloving to anyone but the central couples, yet has very typical monogamy based judgements about this style of love. Extra odd given the entire premise of the book being that our search for love is broken. 

I will say she doesn’t shy away from at least trying things but as with many of her dates her approach seems quite selfish. 

In the end I found the whole thing unfortunately felt like a rant filled with nostalgia for things that have  hurt the author. Randomly inserted science and social justice to temper it maybe!

Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future by Patty Krawec

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Required reading for anyone working in any social or justice space, especially in America and Canada. 

This is also phenomenal teaching and work to be done for any group or individual that wants to live wholeheartedly and authentically, undoing oppression. 

Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

fast-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

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

I don’t even usually read romance but this just changed my mind. Best chronic pain and disability rep ever. Flawed. 

The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.

Found the writing to be trying too hard to be too contemporary and the ideas weren’t well developed for science fiction.