zoeelizabethk's reviews
571 reviews

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5

 Wintering in a lot of ways is about the process of learning to embrace the cyclical nature of life - the seasons come and go and come around again, and so do phases in our lives. We all have our winterings, whether it be due to stress, emergencies, bad situations, depression, illness, or more. Katherine May shares how she learned to lean into these darker times and discovered ways that helped her embrace the cold and hard and honor her needs while waiting for spring.

As a family that gardens, our lives fall into a rhythm that mimics the seasons (even though it's not a lot) and as an Orthodox Christian, the church year cycles around from lent to Pascha to other feasts and fasts and back again. So this is a concept I've thought about before.

I think May has a lot of valuable things to share that will open your mind and perhaps convince you to try this mindset. My main complaint is that there are a lot of tangents - which, while they are related to the topic, sometimes feel extraneous and like they don't add much. May's writing is somewhat stream of consciousness, but is also extremely readable so even when you wonder what the point of a story is, you never feel bogged down. Ultimately this is more about mindset than specific practical strategies to rest/retreat. So please don't go in with the expectation that this will be a workbook-ish style book. Nevertheless, I think this is a very valuable read to learn to recognize and work with our dark periods. 

Immortality Starts with Generosity by Plutus

adventurous funny 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? Yes

4.0

I've recently started exploring the litRPG, progression, and cultivation fantasy subgenres, and I would highly recommend Immortality Starts with Generosity to those who are looking to dip their toes into this genre. I had a really fun time with this one: our MC has mysteriously awoken in the body of a rich playboy jerk and quickly finds himself enmeshed in an arranged marriage, city politics, family feuds, and more, all while he has to learn how to leverage his new powers and level up to stay alive. The setup of the story and the dynamic between our MC and his wife makes for a very humorous story that flips a lot of tropes on their heads, and it was so much fun to experience. All this may sound a little out there for some, but here are some reasons to try it
- the humor and character interactions are super engaging
- the author writes in a really approachable way and explains the system of cultivation along the way so you never feel lost for long
- fast paced plot that doesn't skimp on the character moments

There were a couple of things that weren't quite as successful for me, primarily that the worldbuilding (not the magic system) is a bit nebulous and some vocabulary choices were quite odd and/or anachronistic.

But if you're looking for a fun(ny) romp, Immortality Starts with Generosity is a great read! I'm excited for more!

I listened to the audio narrated by J. S. Arquin, who was superb! He really brough the story to life!

Thanks to Dreamscape Select and Negalley for an audioARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan

reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

Fathomfolk sounded SO good - politics, rebellion, changes in status quo, and more. It sounded like just my cup of tea as a fantasy politics enthusiast. Unfortunately I was so bored by the politics and confused by the rapid POV shifts. I was quite determined to love it, but when I got to 40% and I was still bored and confused, I gave up at that point. I was also not a big fan of how on-the-nose some of the thematic work was - but that's going to be a very personal. Ultimately I think people end up liking the characters more than me will probably enjoy the story overall, but for me, there was just not enough to keep me going.

Thanks to Orbit and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart: And Other Stories by GennaRose Nethercott

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.0

I always adore GennaRose's ideas and atmosphere. As a self-proclaimed horror wimp, a lot of stuff can be too scary or too creepy for me. But GennaRose strikes the perfect balance for me. Weird, explorative, and a bit creepy, the stories in 50 Beasts to Break Your Heart were very enjoyable to read. As with all short story collections, there are some stories I absolutely loved - Drowning Lessons and A Lily is a Lily - and some I liked less. The ones I didn't love as much, including the eponymous story, still intrigued me, but the execution didn't quite work. Some of them I think could have benefitted from a longer format as the ideas were cool, but things just didn't quite gel for me. Overall though, I recommend 50 Beasts to Break Your Heart for those who like light horror, mythology/folklore horror, and dark, twisty stories. I also think readers who enjoy T. Kingfisher's horror would enjoy a lot of these stories. I look forward to trying more by GennaRose in the future.

Thanks to Vintage Anchor and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

 My goodness, I finished. It's incredibly hard to talk about this book without spoilers. This is definitely my favorite Malazan book so far. I loved a lot of the arcs going on and background information we got. I'm also angry about a particular decision followed by catharsis then bewilderment. This book will put you through it and I feel like a wrung out sponge in terms of my brain capacity at the end of all of it. I went into MoI as a final chance to determine whether I was going to continue with Malazan. And while I still have issues, I think MoI convinced me to continue. I'm still not entirely sure what to rate it, but it's somewhere between 4 and 4.5 stars. Can definitely understand why it's so many people's favorite Malazan book 

Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I really liked a lot of elements in Dark Force Rising! I really loved Leia’s storyline in this - can’t say more due to spoilers, and I loved how much we saw, from different worlds to cultures, and more. I also liked how political this was. My main complaint here is that the pacing is up and down a bit. I was super invested in the middle 60% and the ending but some parts of the beginning and last section just didn’t immerse me as much. Nevertheless I quite enjoyed my read and I’m really looking forward to continuing!

Towers of Midnight by Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan

4.0

 Maybe it was reading these two back to back, but ToM was fairly slow moving and not as well paced as TGS, especially in the first half. I think part of this is that I didn’t love Perrin’s storyline and we obviously had a lot to catch up with him. I did enjoy a lot of moments here then. The glimpses of Lan were great. Great to see Rand come out emerging from the events of last book. I love Mat’s storyline but again it’s a bit scattered till the end. I loved Mat's section near the end as well! I wanted more from Egwene but I did like what we got. This is clearly a situation where Sanderson and Jordan are moving around all the pieces to get to the Last Battle and I’m incredibly excited for next book 

The Gathering Storm by Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan

5.0

Manga Classics Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, Crystal Chan

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a very cute and faithful adaptation of Anne of Green Gables. The artwork is beautiful and you really get a sense for Anne as a character. I will say though that it doesn't add much to the story if you're very familiar with the book. So I would recommend reading this if for some reason you struggle with the book, or you're between rereads and want a sweet dose of Anne's charm.

Thanks to Manga Classics and Netgalley for an eARC of the manga in exchange for an honest review!

The Trials of Empire by Richard Swan

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Swan has done such a neat thing with this series and Trials of Empire was such an experience to read! If you thought book two got dark, strap in and maybe don't read this book before bed, cause Swan fully embraces the horror elements. There's always been a good mix of character work and plotting going on in these books, and while we still get some great character moments and conversations, Trials is definitely more plot-oriented. And wow a lot happens here although I obviously can't say much for plot reasons. There were definitely some twists and turns that I did not expect, and some crazy stuff goes down. And we got a great law scene hallelujah! I have some mixed feelings about the ending, but overall I think it was a good ending for the trilogy. 

My favorite part of the book was definitely the philosophical conversations about law and ethics - such wonderfully thought out questions and conclusions here! The main negative for me was that I got a little lost in some of the arcane magik going on and it being so plot heavy, but those were minor negatives for me.

I highly recommend the series and hope more people read it soon!

Thanks to Orbit and to Negalley for an advance eARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.