vigil's reviews
179 reviews

Did not finish book. Stopped at 13%.

i acquired this book as an e-arc from net galley.

i really wanted to love this book, but it i just couldn't do it. the prose was honestly just awful, full of oddly stitched sentences that didn't match with the character's own knowledge and awareness. how does shael have deep knowledge on the working of the carceral system in the narration, but somehow believes all the lie's of the camp when interacting with anyone else?

the dialogue is also honestly not great. it doesn't read like conversation, more like abolitionist 101 tumblr posts. and obviously, if that was the political stance i disagreed with, i wouldn't have requested this book. my issue is that the author simply told you the themes and philosophical musings of the book in every other line of prose or dialogue, rather than allowing for the readers to intuit it themselves from reading the story. given how lackluster the actual development of this novel was, i can only conclude that it was because the author could not trust themself to create a story that would allow for that happen.

i think this author's writing style and focus is simply not suited for fiction. i'm all for political themes, but the purpose of a fiction novel first and foremost is to tell a good story.

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

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3.75

I think this book is really thoughtfully written, and I will definitely be reading more from this author. one of my favorite themes is intimacy, power / control and i think the thesis of this book is asking if it's possible to be truly intimate with someone who has control over you. definitely more of a literary than a sci-fi novel, so i would approach it with that in mind. what you get in the blurb is all the scifi there is. i think enjoyment of the novel really hinges upon keeping that in mind. don't expect in depth details about robotic programming, because that's not what the book is about.

this is such and uncomfortable read, and i wished death on doug every single page i'd say. he completely sucks in a very real almost banal way, and the constant refrain of

how good a boyfriend / owner he was (used interchangeably.) paralleled how that is often said of abusive men irl.

i'm not giving it 5 stars because of the improper pacing of the novel, especially in regards to the ending. i enjoyed it on a technicality, because i do think it rings as emotionally resonant for annie and the novel, but it happens far too quickly.

i did immediately notice the dynamic with cody, and how it immediately contrasts with doug, but they needed more page time to make her going to him at the end to feel believable. i can definitely see that as an ending, but the last they spoke he didn't recognize her as a human or a friend. and if she wanted to lean into that or not, either way it needed more work.

all together, i think this book needed arounf 50-75 more pages to round it out a bit more.

and poor delta :( it was an effective narrative choice, but it's still depressing.

Content Warnings

A Flame in the North by Lilith Saintcrow

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I think the writing style and limited autonomy of the protagonist (due to her status as glorified hostage, misogyny, and the reality as

human mortal among inhumans or other immortals)

but i found it to be a very intelligent portrayal. often times author's can fall into the trap of making a woman to anachronistically modern, or a helpless waif who has never thought to move against a man or the patriarchy in her life. solveig reads honestly as a woman who works to have her voice and feelings heard, but believably still of her time.

i really do love a travel fantasy story so this book really just hit all the marks for me. I do think there is a small issue of repetitiveness in sol's inner monologue, but i'm not going to detract that from the star rating. mostly because i fully believe it's getting a worse rep than it deserves. don't let the archaic prose style intimidate you, this book is excellent and rather readable once you grow use to the style.

very interested in what comes next for this series. i definitely recommend it for those who enjoy both folklore / mythology inspired fantasy (bear and the nightingale, spinning silver, and possibly circe come to mind) and who enjoy poetic complex prose.

also, sol and arn have a vibe right??? i’m not crazy am i?? but also sol x eol and sol x aeredh have hints through the book… i’m happy with anything so long as arn and sol aren’t pushed aside, romance or not.

Content Warnings

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

so intriguing and against all odds, enticing, despite also being deeply horrifying. ms butler loves to make you uncomfortable, and by god does she do it here. i liked how butler really keenly portrayed the bond that occurs between a victim and abuser(s)

and how often sexual assault is used as a way to create that tether

and was able to sketch out the appeal that can exist in that relationship for a victim against all odds.

lilith and nikanji are both very sympathetic yet also ambiguous figures (nikanji, more so, but lilith is beginning to gain on it towards the end) who's attachment to one another is very clear to the reader. the ethics of consent is something i've long been interested in and i'm intrigued by how its explored here, even if i don't necessarily agree with the alien's conclusions.

i'd say my one complaint was that

this book is rather essentialist. its from 1987 so like, yeah obviously but i would've liked more exploration on it in a world building point of view. the onakali's essentialism didn't quite bother me, it fit with the attitudes the book potrayed them with but i would've liked a deeper explanation into it. what about onakali's who don't fit into the frame work of male-female-ooloi pairings? what in the culture or history led them here. but considering this book was founded off of octavia butler assuming something was wrong with humans in our genetics, i'm not too sure that's the aim of the book.

very dismayed at octavia butler becoming one of those black author's everyone quotes but never reads and posits as a moralizing figure here to teach ignorant white people. she's not one for moralizing and isn't trying to preach an agenda. many of her focuses lie in the frequent eroticism in fraught and distressing topics. this is because octavia butler at her core was a fucking freak.

Content Warnings

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

2.0

it clearly was trying to do something it really didn’t succeed at. suffers from being a novella for sure. and the prose is a bit bland for my tastes, though the story ideas are interesting. i might read on but not right now.

Content Warnings