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svjak's reviews
90 reviews
Semley's Necklace: A Story by Ursula K. Le Guin
emotional
reflective
tense
3.0
Semley's Necklace is a retelling of Húsdrápa, a Norse myth from The Prose Edda about Loki stealing Freyja's necklace Brísingamen. In Le Guin's short story, we follow a woman named Semley who is from a planet that scientists call Formalhaut II. Semley, like Freyja, has had a beautiful gold necklace, a valuable family heirloom, stolen from her great-grandmother. This retelling follows Semley on her quest to recover the necklace and explores themes of sacrifice and cost.
This was a tragic story that's really stuck with me these past few weeks.
This was a tragic story that's really stuck with me these past few weeks.
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories, Volume Two: Outer Space, Inner Lands by Ursula K. Le Guin
Did not finish book. Stopped at 2%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 2%.
DNF - had to return the book to the library and did not get to read much of it. I hope to revisit it in the future when I have more time.
Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
This was a very emotional memoir about identity, gender, and finding your people. It's hard for me to review memoirs because I find it hard to 'rate' someone's lived experience.
I will say that Kobabe approached this memoir with so much raw honesty and vulnerability. I can't imagine. I learned so much about how other people might experience gender by reading this book. I learned about Spivak pronouns (which I'd never heard of before,) how isolating it feels to live with people who don't understand you, and how painful it can be to be rejected and ignored over something so simple as how you perceive someone.
Some parts of this comic felt a little close to home. As a pre-teen and teenager I experienced a lot of body dysphoria. I experienced similar confusion with my sexuality and gender and I struggled with not having anyone to talk to about it. Although I don't experience gender dysphoria anymore, my past experiences helped me understand and sympathize with what Kobabe was saying.
The only thing I didn't like was that sometimes the topic seemed to change very quickly without any transition and that made it hard to read. I would be in my feels about something Kobabe was talking about and then the next panel would be something entirely different and it jolted me out of the story. It was very abrupt and I had to keep pausing so I could digest my thoughts before moving on.
As a whole, I really enjoyed reading this memoir. The artwork was beautiful and you could really tell that Kobabe was writing from eir heart.
I will say that Kobabe approached this memoir with so much raw honesty and vulnerability. I can't imagine. I learned so much about how other people might experience gender by reading this book. I learned about Spivak pronouns (which I'd never heard of before,) how isolating it feels to live with people who don't understand you, and how painful it can be to be rejected and ignored over something so simple as how you perceive someone.
Some parts of this comic felt a little close to home. As a pre-teen and teenager I experienced a lot of body dysphoria. I experienced similar confusion with my sexuality and gender and I struggled with not having anyone to talk to about it. Although I don't experience gender dysphoria anymore, my past experiences helped me understand and sympathize with what Kobabe was saying.
The only thing I didn't like was that sometimes the topic seemed to change very quickly without any transition and that made it hard to read. I would be in my feels about something Kobabe was talking about and then the next panel would be something entirely different and it jolted me out of the story. It was very abrupt and I had to keep pausing so I could digest my thoughts before moving on.
As a whole, I really enjoyed reading this memoir. The artwork was beautiful and you could really tell that Kobabe was writing from eir heart.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
Every page of this book had my heart gushing. The characters were adorable and this book feels earnest. Like Charlie Mackesy himself really wanted to get these messages out into the world. And the illustrations are beautifully imperfect. I love the rough sketch style used in this book, as if it's still a work-in-progress but the message is so important that fully rendered illustrations can't wait.
They're beautiful in their simplicity and Mackesy is a great artist. I loved this decision.
The one complaint I have about this book is that it is woefully unaccessible.
This book has been on my TBR for at least two years now and the only reason it's taken me this long to get around to reading it is because the font is illegible to me. My eyesight is very poor, which makes it difficult to read, but on top of that I was struggling to determine which letter was which even when I was able to see a word.
I really wish that the font in this book was a little more legible.
However, all in all, this is a very cute book. I loved the messages. I loved that each page was like a story in it's own, but all of the pages together told a larger story of friendship and love and acceptance. Very beautiful.
emotional
funny
inspiring
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? Yes
4.0
If ever there was a book I would reread just for wholesome encouragement and positivity, it would be this one.
"Do you have any other advice?" Asked the boy.
"Don't measure how valuable you are by the way you are treated." Said the horse, "Always remember you matter. You're important and you are loved, and you bring to this world things no one else can."
Every page of this book had my heart gushing. The characters were adorable and this book feels earnest. Like Charlie Mackesy himself really wanted to get these messages out into the world. And the illustrations are beautifully imperfect. I love the rough sketch style used in this book, as if it's still a work-in-progress but the message is so important that fully rendered illustrations can't wait.
They're beautiful in their simplicity and Mackesy is a great artist. I loved this decision.
The one complaint I have about this book is that it is woefully unaccessible.
This book has been on my TBR for at least two years now and the only reason it's taken me this long to get around to reading it is because the font is illegible to me. My eyesight is very poor, which makes it difficult to read, but on top of that I was struggling to determine which letter was which even when I was able to see a word.
I really wish that the font in this book was a little more legible.
However, all in all, this is a very cute book. I loved the messages. I loved that each page was like a story in it's own, but all of the pages together told a larger story of friendship and love and acceptance. Very beautiful.
Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson
mysterious
sad
slow-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
1.0