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vermidian's reviews
1167 reviews
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
dark
sad
tense
medium-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
3.0
Magic Claims by Ilona Andrews
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Look, should this book be a five star read for the average reader? Probably not. Did I absolutely love it? Yes, yes I did. I am a sucker for this series. This book is not perfect, but I loved it anyways. These characters and this world has wormed it's way into my heart and I will cling to it forever.
The premise for this one seemed like a bit of a stretch from the usual mythologies I'm used to getting from these books, but once I got past the initial mental hurdle, I really loved the concept and I love how it sets things up for the future, though I am interested in seeing where this is going and how this series as a whole is going to impact the other characters in the continuum, especially with Kate getting a bit of a reveal on Julie's appearance.
It's really interesting to see Kate and Curran, who have already essentially maxed out on being hyper-powerful beings, and getting to see them navigate their situation at the top of the magical food chain. This book was equal parts monster of the week and navigating the politics of their world. I had thought we would be losing that with the end of the original series and I love that we're getting some aspects of that back. I know it's kind of a preparation for later, which makes me feel like stuff's really gonna go down in Aurelia Ryder's series and I have soooooo many concerns. I also can't wait to read it.
The premise for this one seemed like a bit of a stretch from the usual mythologies I'm used to getting from these books, but once I got past the initial mental hurdle, I really loved the concept and I love how it sets things up for the future, though I am interested in seeing where this is going and how this series as a whole is going to impact the other characters in the continuum, especially with Kate getting a bit of a reveal on Julie's appearance.
It's really interesting to see Kate and Curran, who have already essentially maxed out on being hyper-powerful beings, and getting to see them navigate their situation at the top of the magical food chain. This book was equal parts monster of the week and navigating the politics of their world. I had thought we would be losing that with the end of the original series and I love that we're getting some aspects of that back. I know it's kind of a preparation for later, which makes me feel like stuff's really gonna go down in Aurelia Ryder's series and I have soooooo many concerns. I also can't wait to read it.
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I thought this book was an absolute delight. Equal parts social critique and character study, the writing was just so much fun to experience. While the plot itself is fairly straight-forward, the representation and diversity was fantastic throughout. I have already recommended this book to several people and I loved the urban fantasy concept of a city choosing avatars to represent it. If you're looking for more content in the same vein, I very much recommend the Unsleeping City series by Dimension 20, which is a live play D&D group that I absolutely adored.
I will say that this book may not be for everyone. The plot is an afterthought to the social critiques of our society and the characters that lead us on our journey. As a result, the plot moves at a snail's pace. I didn't mind much - I really enjoyed the deep understanding of the characters that I got - but I can see other people really not enjoying that aspect and wanting more to happen. At three quarters of the way through, I legitimately thought I was going to get cliffhangered. (I didn't. There is a resolution to the plot.) This book is honestly more philosophy than plot, which brings me to my next point.
If you're a white person that hasn't put in the work to examine your relationship with whiteness, racism, and your privilege, there's a very big possibility you're gonna get called out by this book. This book is not subtle about the negative impacts of oodles of aspects of society, including racism, homophobia, privilege, gentrification and capitalism, economic disparity, and so many more things. Sometimes I appreciated that about the book. Some things shouldn't be subtle. Other times, it was just really heavy handed. I think there were some really good subtle things about the book as well, but there's a lot of social justice points that are just handed to you that you don't ever really get a chance to focus on the subtler parts.
I personally kind of wished that the big bad of the book hadn't been related to another author whom I will not name here for fear of spoilers. I get that he's a well known xenophobic piece of historical trash who had a spooky idea, but I wish he could be left in the dusty back corner of time where people no longer seek out his work. I wish that the big bad's origin had been from a fully original world. I did, however, like the concept of what the big bad really is when you finally get that answer. I just wish it hadn't been related to such a terrible author.
The only other critique I have, which is a really big one, is that I didn't always like that the characters were based on stereotypes. I understand that the cities chose those that best represented them, but there were other bits that I worried crossed into territory that spilled over into the less okay. For example, Bronca, who is Lenape, was given a full understanding of the history of how cities are born as a result of her indigenous heritage and became a textbook example of the Magical Native American trope. I get why the author made the choice, but I also think it's very important to be aware of tropes that are harmful to communities and to steer clear of them, even subvert them, whenever possible. You also got the Bollywood Nerd trope with Padmini. Manny is the Ambiguously Brown trope. Some aspects made for cool world building, but it's also important to consider how this affects the community, especially knowing it's been optioned for a television series. That said, I am a white person, and you should DEFINITELY listen to the communities affected by these stereotypes over me. These are just my observations.
All in all, I really enjoyed the book. I don't think it was perfect, but it's definitely worth a read. I think the youngest person I would recommend this to would be a teenager. A little bit of cursing and no sex, this book is pretty tame in regards to the usual parental no nos. Be advised for content warnings of racism, homophobia, and attempted sexual assault.
I will say that this book may not be for everyone. The plot is an afterthought to the social critiques of our society and the characters that lead us on our journey. As a result, the plot moves at a snail's pace. I didn't mind much - I really enjoyed the deep understanding of the characters that I got - but I can see other people really not enjoying that aspect and wanting more to happen. At three quarters of the way through, I legitimately thought I was going to get cliffhangered. (I didn't. There is a resolution to the plot.) This book is honestly more philosophy than plot, which brings me to my next point.
If you're a white person that hasn't put in the work to examine your relationship with whiteness, racism, and your privilege, there's a very big possibility you're gonna get called out by this book. This book is not subtle about the negative impacts of oodles of aspects of society, including racism, homophobia, privilege, gentrification and capitalism, economic disparity, and so many more things. Sometimes I appreciated that about the book. Some things shouldn't be subtle. Other times, it was just really heavy handed. I think there were some really good subtle things about the book as well, but there's a lot of social justice points that are just handed to you that you don't ever really get a chance to focus on the subtler parts.
I personally kind of wished that the big bad of the book hadn't been related to another author whom I will not name here for fear of spoilers. I get that he's a well known xenophobic piece of historical trash who had a spooky idea, but I wish he could be left in the dusty back corner of time where people no longer seek out his work. I wish that the big bad's origin had been from a fully original world. I did, however, like the concept of what the big bad really is when you finally get that answer. I just wish it hadn't been related to such a terrible author.
The only other critique I have, which is a really big one, is that I didn't always like that the characters were based on stereotypes. I understand that the cities chose those that best represented them, but there were other bits that I worried crossed into territory that spilled over into the less okay. For example, Bronca, who is Lenape, was given a full understanding of the history of how cities are born as a result of her indigenous heritage and became a textbook example of the Magical Native American trope. I get why the author made the choice, but I also think it's very important to be aware of tropes that are harmful to communities and to steer clear of them, even subvert them, whenever possible. You also got the Bollywood Nerd trope with Padmini. Manny is the Ambiguously Brown trope. Some aspects made for cool world building, but it's also important to consider how this affects the community, especially knowing it's been optioned for a television series. That said, I am a white person, and you should DEFINITELY listen to the communities affected by these stereotypes over me. These are just my observations.
All in all, I really enjoyed the book. I don't think it was perfect, but it's definitely worth a read. I think the youngest person I would recommend this to would be a teenager. A little bit of cursing and no sex, this book is pretty tame in regards to the usual parental no nos. Be advised for content warnings of racism, homophobia, and attempted sexual assault.
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
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? No
4.0
I thought this book was absolutely charming and lovely and delightful. The story is sweet and has a fairy tale like feel to it the whole time, even though it's very much science fiction. Was it perfect? No. I'm giving it 4 stars because I feel like there were little things I would have tweaked along the way.
Tress, as a character, was very lovely and relatable. She reminded me very much of Sophie Hatter from Howl's Moving Castle, and I loved how her character arch of growth never lost her her kindness and her ability to want the best for people. She was a lovely protagonist.
While I did figure out the plot just shy of half way through the book, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of it at all. I thought the plot was very well thought out and I think the endings Sanderson crafted for each character of this little found family that calls itself a crew were very fitting.
The two things I would have changed: there were several smaller lines that felt a little misogynistic, especially coming from a male author out of the mouth of a male narrator for a female main character. They really were minor lines, most of which were in the first half of the book, but they gave me pause. I also had a lot of questions about the spores and how exactly that worked. I feel like talking about them might verge into spoiler territory, but there was a question of how the volume of the oceans worked in my brain and how the moons worked exactly with the planet. It's sci-fi - I know - so there's gotta be a degree of suspension of disbelief, of letting the world breathe and just be without answering everything. I know. But every time more was explained, I felt like I was railing against the logic of the world. But that takes away from the whimsy of it, so I eventually just let it go.
In any case, one of the inspirations for this book was Good Omens and the writings of Sir Terry Pratchett and you can absolutely feel that in the writing. The philosophy nuggets you get, especially in the second half, were just so in Pratchett's vein of rhetoric. I fully recommend giving this a read. I feel like this would be appropriate for any age of reader middle school age and up. If you're okay to watch Pirates of the Caribbean, you'd be okay to read this book.
Tress, as a character, was very lovely and relatable. She reminded me very much of Sophie Hatter from Howl's Moving Castle, and I loved how her character arch of growth never lost her her kindness and her ability to want the best for people. She was a lovely protagonist.
While I did figure out the plot just shy of half way through the book, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of it at all. I thought the plot was very well thought out and I think the endings Sanderson crafted for each character of this little found family that calls itself a crew were very fitting.
The two things I would have changed: there were several smaller lines that felt a little misogynistic, especially coming from a male author out of the mouth of a male narrator for a female main character. They really were minor lines, most of which were in the first half of the book, but they gave me pause. I also had a lot of questions about the spores and how exactly that worked. I feel like talking about them might verge into spoiler territory, but there was a question of how the volume of the oceans worked in my brain and how the moons worked exactly with the planet. It's sci-fi - I know - so there's gotta be a degree of suspension of disbelief, of letting the world breathe and just be without answering everything. I know. But every time more was explained, I felt like I was railing against the logic of the world. But that takes away from the whimsy of it, so I eventually just let it go.
In any case, one of the inspirations for this book was Good Omens and the writings of Sir Terry Pratchett and you can absolutely feel that in the writing. The philosophy nuggets you get, especially in the second half, were just so in Pratchett's vein of rhetoric. I fully recommend giving this a read. I feel like this would be appropriate for any age of reader middle school age and up. If you're okay to watch Pirates of the Caribbean, you'd be okay to read this book.
The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe
Did not finish book. Stopped at 58%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 58%.
After a month of trying to get through this book, I’m calling it quits at just about half way through. While the story itself is important, this book was just not the right delivery method for this story for me. I hope to read the autobiography that was published by the main source, Dita, at some point.
The book is written simply, at least in the translated to English version, and it didn’t hold my attention well. I know this is geared towards high school students, but it’s more middle grade level reading. It assumed the reader had no knowledge of what went on in the camps, which depending on the age of the reader might not be a bad thing.
The character perspectives can shift without much introduction. Certain parts seemed jammed in and didn’t make sense given the timeline of Auschwitz. I respect that they were likely added to give a full overview of the horrors of the camp, but I wish it had stuck with one perspective as opposed to one main perspective and a dozen others.
Also, it has the unintended downside of a non-Jewish cisgender man writing as the voice of a Jewish teenage girl - for obvious reasons, this made it feel very much like the author didn’t fully connect with his subject.
All in all, it is not a bad book and has plenty of good information, but be wary of non-Jewish people writing Jewish stories - or any individual outside of a marginalized group that acts as a marginalized group’s voice. Amplify those voices, don’t speak over them.
The book is written simply, at least in the translated to English version, and it didn’t hold my attention well. I know this is geared towards high school students, but it’s more middle grade level reading. It assumed the reader had no knowledge of what went on in the camps, which depending on the age of the reader might not be a bad thing.
The character perspectives can shift without much introduction. Certain parts seemed jammed in and didn’t make sense given the timeline of Auschwitz. I respect that they were likely added to give a full overview of the horrors of the camp, but I wish it had stuck with one perspective as opposed to one main perspective and a dozen others.
Also, it has the unintended downside of a non-Jewish cisgender man writing as the voice of a Jewish teenage girl - for obvious reasons, this made it feel very much like the author didn’t fully connect with his subject.
All in all, it is not a bad book and has plenty of good information, but be wary of non-Jewish people writing Jewish stories - or any individual outside of a marginalized group that acts as a marginalized group’s voice. Amplify those voices, don’t speak over them.
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.
This is a spoiler free review, but also a review of someone who actively chose not to finish reading this book.
I would like to preface this review by acknowledging that I am not a big fan of steam punk. Books in the genre have not appealed to me much in the past, so I didn’t have high hopes for this book. And that’s no fault on the part of the book. It just isn’t to my tastes.
I will say that the world building is solid. There are a lot of cultures and concepts jumbling around in the same space. In some aspects, it has the feeling of a Dinotopia type setting, where all the aspects of society come together. In the maybe ten percent of the book I read, I really liked the detail about the arms of the kings being cut off so they couldn’t take up arms against their people ever again. However, most of the world building was just slapping a different name on real world cultures and making them afraid of certain types of magic. I was especially annoyed by the robots, which have a caste system based on their visual monstrosity. Visual beauty shouldn’t mean anything to a mechanical being, especially in a steampunk setting. It should be all about function.
The main characters were okay, I guess, though a bit bland. That said, I didn’t get far enough into it to get them any real character development through plot so give that a grain of salt. However, the myriad of small side characters were the handful that were memorable or the multitudes that had the same voice the whole time, resulting in me unable to differentiate between them. And I only made it in 10%! Imagine how many more there were to come!
Ultimately, this book was not my cup of tea. May someone find my copy at my used book store and come to love it.
I have only one more note to add, and that is that I think the pacing of this book would be much more suited to being adapted for television. That way, you could focus so much more on all the aspects of the world and the characters than you can in this book. But dude, don’t give your robots prejudices against each other. Like why???
I would like to preface this review by acknowledging that I am not a big fan of steam punk. Books in the genre have not appealed to me much in the past, so I didn’t have high hopes for this book. And that’s no fault on the part of the book. It just isn’t to my tastes.
I will say that the world building is solid. There are a lot of cultures and concepts jumbling around in the same space. In some aspects, it has the feeling of a Dinotopia type setting, where all the aspects of society come together. In the maybe ten percent of the book I read, I really liked the detail about the arms of the kings being cut off so they couldn’t take up arms against their people ever again. However, most of the world building was just slapping a different name on real world cultures and making them afraid of certain types of magic. I was especially annoyed by the robots, which have a caste system based on their visual monstrosity. Visual beauty shouldn’t mean anything to a mechanical being, especially in a steampunk setting. It should be all about function.
The main characters were okay, I guess, though a bit bland. That said, I didn’t get far enough into it to get them any real character development through plot so give that a grain of salt. However, the myriad of small side characters were the handful that were memorable or the multitudes that had the same voice the whole time, resulting in me unable to differentiate between them. And I only made it in 10%! Imagine how many more there were to come!
Ultimately, this book was not my cup of tea. May someone find my copy at my used book store and come to love it.
I have only one more note to add, and that is that I think the pacing of this book would be much more suited to being adapted for television. That way, you could focus so much more on all the aspects of the world and the characters than you can in this book. But dude, don’t give your robots prejudices against each other. Like why???
The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green
Did not finish book. Stopped at 27%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 27%.
I got approximately a quarter of the way through the book and I've just decided not to continue. The only character I'm vaguely interested in is probably the least vital to the world state and even then, I'm just not interested in whether she gets her boots or not. This book is clearly aimed at a much younger reader than I, and it isn't without its qualities, but it just isn't for me. Props to the cover art though - that's absolutely lovely.
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This book wasn't quite what I expected, but it was worth reading once. The story is very much like a fairy tale set in an afro-futuristic setting of Zimbabwe. If I were to compare it to another story, the shuffling from one situation to another that the children do is not dissimilar to Pinocchio's story. In a way, I think that the author was trying to showcase the differences in culture within a nation, which I was successful in a way. However, I felt it had a habit of saying, "Other cultures are good, but this one is a bad culture because of this." The passing of judgement on other cultures rubbed me the wrong way when their original culture never received nearly as much criticism aside from a lack of freedom.
I wish the story was more sci-fi oriented. There were aspects that were, but they were more cosmetic than anything. I found most of the more science fiction details weren't particularly important to the story. You could easily have made this fantasy or even modern without damaging the plot line meaningfully.
It is also important to note that this book was written by a white woman. While the dust jacket says she lived in Zimbabwe and Mozambique for seventeen years, but it is important to note that this was about black people which were written by a white woman. It is also important to note that at the time this book won the Newberry Honor, those voting were also all white. This does not make the book valueless, but please be sure to seek out the voices of black people when looking at reviews for this book, as their perspectives are important in this matter.
I wish the story was more sci-fi oriented. There were aspects that were, but they were more cosmetic than anything. I found most of the more science fiction details weren't particularly important to the story. You could easily have made this fantasy or even modern without damaging the plot line meaningfully.
It is also important to note that this book was written by a white woman. While the dust jacket says she lived in Zimbabwe and Mozambique for seventeen years, but it is important to note that this was about black people which were written by a white woman. It is also important to note that at the time this book won the Newberry Honor, those voting were also all white. This does not make the book valueless, but please be sure to seek out the voices of black people when looking at reviews for this book, as their perspectives are important in this matter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Alcoholism, Infertility, and Pedophilia
A Darkness Forged in Fire by Chris Evans
Did not finish book. Stopped at 8%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 8%.
It's a debut novel, so I expected it to be a little wobbly, but I couldn't take it seriously. Also the weird misogynistic harrassment on of the first and probably only female character in the book? No thank you. I'm gonna move on to a different book.
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Did not finish book. Stopped at 45%.
This book was not for me and that's okay. I hope, if you choose to read it, that this is more your speed.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 45%.
I gotta be honest, this book put me to sleep. After a full month of trying to get into it, the person who bought this book for me was like, "It's okay, if you're not enjoying it, ditch it." I made it about half way through the book, and even that took me a month. What they had enjoyed about it, the breaking of the format of conventional story telling, was something I had explored somewhat during my time in art school so it didn't seem that novel - pardoning the pun - to me. I also couldn't stand Johnny or the font chosen for Johnny. The only aspect I cared for were the actual parts about the Navidson house, and to get to those parts you had to wade through so many gd sex scenes that I wanted to scream.
This book was not for me and that's okay. I hope, if you choose to read it, that this is more your speed.