stardustrohrig's reviews
81 reviews

Warped State by Jo Miles

adventurous funny hopeful informative 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

3.5

I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters were interesting and I had fun getting to know them. I also liked the way various methods of advocating for change were explained and discussed in the book. It was interesting seeing how the main characters, Jasper and Sowing of Small Havoc were dealing with the various issues. I thought it worked out well to explore why Havoc was so loyal to the company (Kovari cultural reasons) and that there were others who felt differently among his people but it took work for him understand it. I also liked that while Jasper had ideas about how to do things he was willing to work with Havoc later on to resolve everything. 

I liked the way the friendship developed between Jasper and Havoc and I was okay with the potential romantic relationship developing because it came later on in the plot and didn't distract from what was gone on. The main villein was a bit ridiculous but given how certain people in the current administration are reacting to criticism it clearly isn't as far fetched as you'd think. 

One somewhat frustrating part was the existence of a villain character who had augmented legs while also being addicted to pain killers. The addiction only seemed to exist as a method to allow the ship he was using (which has at some point become sentient) to help Havoc and Jasper with their work as the character was unconscious at the time. Nothing is ever mentioned about it again after that.

I did like that there were other people on the planet that were working to free themselves from Rival's occupation and that it was a mix of both Human and Kovari - seemingly with Kovari in charge of that group. I also liked that there was at least one disabled character (a wheelchair user) in that group to balance out the evil disabled character. 

I'm interested in reading the next book in the series though and seeing more of this universe. 

SUPERSTORE by T.V. Schaefer

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

This was a strange tale about what happens when people are trapped together in a super store. It goes about how you'd expect it to go! I thought it was very interesting and I did enjoy reading it. The author never gives any of the characters names - they just have titles or descriptions like the Sockman, Mister, Miss, Kid, etc. Interesting choice and adds a layer of strangeness to the whole thing. Some things are rather vague and there are a couple side stories that are open to interoperation of what is actually going on. The ending doesn't resolve the reasons for why they're trapped in the store and we never really learn anything about that part of it but it odes resolve one ongoing plot point. It could easily be left as it is, since it really becomes a story about a small dystopian community living together, or continued if the author ever decides to do so.  

The Way of Thorn and Thunder by Daniel Heath Justice

challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad slow-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

4.0

This is a really interesting and complex book. The story itself is an alternate version of Europeans colonizing the "new world". Only in this case a fantasy version of humans with magical powers caused a catastrophic merging of two worlds a thousand years ago - the world of Men and the world of Eld Folk. And of course Men want to have everything and don't care what the Eld Folk want. This is not a happy story and it will break your heart to read it. 

There is a lot going in it and it does take some time to get through, but ultimately worth it. The writing is very detailed and mostly narration. It also has many different characters and points of views with individual stories happening at once around the central story. If you've read "Lord of the Rings" you'll get a sense of what the writing is like. I really enjoyed getting to know all of the different characters and learning their stories. I did like the ending of the book and the hopeful feel of it despite everything that had happened. 

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were really interesting and I enjoyed getting to know them. The word building was great – I really liked how everything started to come together as the story progressed and the characters learned more. There were a lot of twists and turns in this book and not everything was as it seemed. I liked the way the different relationships grew and developed during the course of the book. Though it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger it does set up the threads of the next book, which I’m looking forward to reading soon.

The Tensorate Series by Neon Yang

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-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

4.0

This was such an interesting series! The format of the third and fourth novellas are very different from the first two but I enjoyed reading all of them. I loved learning about the world and the characters. There were a few times I wished things had been explained a bit more, but it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the series. If the author were to ever write more in this world I would definitly read it.

Read my thoughts on the individual novellas at my blog: 
https://stardustrohrig.com/2025/03/27/the-tensorate-series-review/

Never Say You Can't Survive: How to Get Through Hard Times by Making Up Stories by Charlie Jane Anders

hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

I really enjoyed reading this. There was a lot of great writing advice in this book, with a lot of details and explanations. I also liked that the author included her own experiences in the book to help explain things. It's not quite a memoir, but it's also more than simply a guidebook on how to write good stories.  The author also did a good job talking about why it can be important to write stories during hard times, as stories can get us through those times. While I'm not a fiction writer (yet), I did enjoy reading all of the advice, and I think it will be helpful in figuring out what I do want to work on writing. 

Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Another great book by Andrew Joseph White! Since it set in modern times (shortly after President Trump's first election) without a large fantasy element it's a little different than his other books. Some of the plot seemed a bit far fetched on how things would go down. However the setting is small town Appalachia so maybe it works more than I think it would. I really enjoyed reading Miles' story and finding more about what had happened to the family and who the ghost that appears to Miles ends up being. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. I really liked the way in this story Miles actually had a family that cared about him and other community members who were supportive against the threat of the Sheriff. I really liked the ending of the book as well and the hopefulness of what could come next for the town.

Disposable: America's Contempt for the Underclass by Sarah Jones

emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

This was a really good look at the various issues around COVID disparities and the vastly different outcomes because of race, disability and/or poverty. I felt like the author did a great job using various peoples’ stories to showcase all the different situations and outcomes. I also liked that the author discussed the issues with congregate settings and how people in those settings were basically doomed by COVID. There was a good focus on all kinds of congregate settings from people with Intellectual Disabilities in group homes, to elderly individuals in nursing homes to individuals in prisons and jails. There was also a good discussion about the way various jobs didn’t allow for any precautions to be taken and people were forced to work while sick or risk being fired because there’s no paid sick time for many.

There’s also the emphasis on how if you don’t have money or status and can’t work you’re not seeing as worthy. The rich and powerful only care about money and staying in power. The way things opened back up quickly just highlighted how much people cared more about the economy than people. I also liked the fact that the author didn’t shy away from saying that COVID is still a major problem and that people are still getting sick and dying from it. We never should have tried to return to normal because normal doesn’t exist anymore.

The Future Is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

The basic concept of this book is that we’d all be a lot better off if we learned how to care about each other and to take care of each other without getting caught up in our differences. Not that it’s ever easy – there’s a whole chapter on why even people with good intentions in the disability community doing disability justice work can cause harm to each other. But the basic fact remains if we worked together instead of fighting each other we be better off. The book was written during the first Trump presidency and the points made in the book matter even more now during the second.

It also makes the point that we often forget how vastly different our experiences can be. COVID impacted people very differently and while many people were stuck at home bored others were dealing with the deaths of friend and family on a near daily bases. COVID never actually ended and yet everyone wanted to go back to normal. Normal doesn’t exist and often disabled people are the first to learn how to adapt to a new world. Now is the time to learn.

He/She/They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters by Schuyler Bailar

funny hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

I really enjoyed reading this book. Schuyler did a really good job using both his personal story and additional facts about being trans to provide a lot of information. There was as lot of good information about what being Trans means and how gender is never as simple as male or female. He also had a lot of discussion about the discrimination Trans individuals face and how the sports and bathroom bans are a lot of manufactured outrage. He tells his own story about being a swimmer along with another trans athlete and how all the outrage is ridicule in the face of actual facts about their stats and the stats of other athletes in competition. I also like how Schuyler outlines various ways to handle working with other people to help them understand and  how to respond to transphobic comments. The stories that Schuyler told about his own history were great too and I really enjoyed hearing about how his Korean family members responded to his transition. There are a lot of important things about this book and I think everyone should read it.