snugglor's reviews
658 reviews

Maskerade by Terry Pratchett

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

A fun adventure as the beloved witches of Lancre discover the joys of opera. 

I loved the lampooning of established musicals and the introduction of Agnes/Perdita as a potential new coven member. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fatphobia

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

An interesting story from a sci-fi perspective, but also deeply frustrating from a feminist perspective.

It seems like a great concept, to have a planet of humans who are androgenous for three weeks of the month and who then spontaneously develop male or female genitals for their sexual cycle, and to look at the impact it has when anyone can become pregnant, when no one is particularly stronger than anyone else, when sexual assault is a non-issue. But this wasn't really explored as much as I thought it would be, and every single character defaulted to referring to everyone as "he" rather than "they", which was really annoying. I know LeGuin has since said she regretted this decision and I agree with her on this. It was a missed opportunity and colours how we imagine every character. 

Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

A really fun and fluffy sapphic romance. An enjoyable story and set-up with an emotional backstory for the characters too. 

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I love love loved this one. This interpretation of the Fair Folk was so compelling and the three Witches were so fun with their vastly different personalities. 

Be Gay, Do Comics by Matt Bors, Sarah Mirk, Eleri Harris

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

An anthology of comic strips that are a good mix of funny, informative and educational. 

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

dark fast-paced

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

3.5

I'm still digesting (heh) this book so I'm not sure what star rating is a true reflection of how I feel about it yet.

I didn't find it as shocking or scandalous as seems to have been the experience of many other readers. 

Rather, everything that happened in this book is a terrible reflection of things that our society currently or has recently partaken in. Sure, the labels are changed, but I could see the parallels so clearly. 

For that reason, the events of the story were an affirmation to me, not controversial or surprising. 

On a technical note, I do think the world building could have used a bit more work. A lot of plausible solutions were handwaved away with "the government said that wouldn't work", even though many people suspect the government is lying. In a post-pandemic world, I don't think it's feasible that the world's population would ever just accept something as drastic as eating "special meat" without some significant splinter groups coming out against it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault

The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur

funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

This was a fast-paced and fluffy sapphic romance, which was really quite silly in parts so suspend your disbelief and allow the story to do its thing.

I really enjoy a fake-relationship to lovers trope, but I thought in this case the switch from strangers to falling in love was way too fast as the timeline was only a matter of weeks. 

Also why is no one talking about going to the police about what Tucker did? Surely I'm not the only person thinking this?

Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. I loved learning more about Phasma's past and her upbringing and how she will truly do anything to survive. I found it so exciting and I couldn't read it fast enough.

The only thing I would have liked done differently is to see things from Phasma's POV. We're told a third-hand story for most of the book, but I would have really enjoyed to get a bit more inside Phasma's head and learn what she really thought about some things, to see how particular events affected her, rather than to hear other characters surmise about what they thought she was thinking about. 

Star Wars: Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma by

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

3.0

The art is really good, although at times it's a little unclear which order the speech bubbles should be read in.

The story is fine, not amazing. I'm honestly just mad they've put 99% of the Phasma content outside the actual films. They did this character so wrong. 

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Despite a very few things that are jarring to modern audiences, I love the fact that all those years ago Pratchett said "fuck gender essentialism, people can do what they want".