abbie_'s Reviews (1.79k)

A very sweet and spicy MM romance which touches on queer issues in Ethiopia. I didn’t love the narrator, but I did really like both Desta and Elias and how they worked things out together. I wouldn’t say the societal challenges that come with being queer in conservative Ethiopia are super deep, but it is a romance novel so that’s what I’d expect. Just good fun, the boys are sweet and a little more added depth than your usual romance!

Picked up this one via audio as part of StoryGraph’s 2024 Read the World challenge, hoping for a moving personal account of life in Venezuela as the country descended into economic collapse. Some chapters of it did deliver, particularly towards the end, but unfortunately I found chunks of this memoir too dry. The author gives a very thorough account of Venezuela’s recent history, which is fine, interesting and informative, but not what I was looking for. I hoped for a more natural merge of the personal and political, of how their lives were affected by the economic collapse, but it felt more like the political and personal were being reported on separately. 

But I am grateful to have read it, I did learn a lot about living in a country where suddenly currency is worth very little, basic necessities can rarely be found and require hours of queueing. It’s also unfathomable how you’d organise care for a disabled parent when you’re not in the same country, and that parent refuses to part from their only known home.

One to pick up for more insight into Venezuela’s recent political climate! Just not quite what I was looking for at this time. 

Another Women in Translation month pick, this one translated from the Swedish by Sámi author Ann-Helén Laestadius. I've not read anything by a Sámi author set in Sweden before, and this book was a fascinating insight into reindeer herding, as well as a devastating portrayal of xenophobia and racism in a country so often lauded as idyllic and open-minded.

The characters were so well done, from the despicable Robert to Elsa's family to the (useless) police officers involved in the crimes committed against Elsa's family and their reindeer. The depiction of depression and suicide among men was heartbreaking too. 

Really good, and I sincerely hope the second book is translated to English soon!

A highlight of Women in Translation Month for me. Not quite as excellent as Elena Knows but bloody close. It took me about a quarter of the book to be fully sucked in, but after that I couldn't put it down. The reveal had me aghast, I genuinely don't know what I'd do in Marilé's shoes, and I think that's the beauty of the story. Piñeiro cooks up such a tragic (but not melodramatic - the context around it was brilliantly done) situation that I think everyone would react differently to. She explores it through one avenue, Marilé, her reaction at the time and the fallout from it. It's heartrending and intense, brilliantly written and translated. 

I liked this but did not love it. It sometimes felt a bit formulaic, the plot was predictable and I could tell what was about to happen next. Regardless, Adunni is a great character and you definitely root for her. 

I devoured this but I seriously regret not writing a review for it immediately after finishing it - which was June, it is now November lol. Luckily I bought myself a print copy and I see a reread in my future. I promise to write a better review then. 

I picked this book at random via my Scribd queue using a random number generator, and it was quite a strong little horror collection - perfect for the October time (as opposed to July when I read it and yes I'm writing July reviews in November, sue me). 

Highly strung vegetarian women experience carnivorous pregnancy cravings; women executions mete out bloody justice to serial killers; estranged childhood best friends with a dark shared secret are drawn back together; sons are lost and changelings replace them; bloody cycles are doomed to repeat when a young girl is attacked by vampiric creature; a woman tries to get a one up on death by planning it herself. Honestly, all of the stories bar a few are so creative, gruesome, and just well executed horror fiction! 

I listened to this one via audiobook roulette and I have to admit it's probably not the best choice of format for a book so sweeping in scope. Set in the antebellum south on a plantation, it follows two healing women imbued with a touch of magic. The storyline jumps back and forth in time which was my main issue with the audiobook - it made it difficult to follow. I honestly think I would have eaten this one up had I read it in print, so maybe one to revisit in the future. 

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC!

This is a lightning quick little short story collection, that still manages to make an impact on the reader! All these stories centre around Zambians both in Zambia and in the diaspora. There were also a surprising number of queer narratives which I wasn't expecting based on the blurb but which I love to see, obviously!

I will say that the first half of this collection is quite a bit stronger than the second. It starts off as a full five-star collection, but some of the shorter and later stories don't make quite the same impression. 

Most of the stories centre around women and the expectations placed on them inside the family home and at work. Young girls exploring a joyful sapphic love are met with the cold reality of parental expectations of finding a husband. A queer woman shoulders her parents career expectations. A woman is called back to Zambia to shoulder the responsibility of her ailing mother.

Then we have some diaspora stories which were heartbreaking. In Mastitis, a new mother struggles to breastfeed her newborn, while struggling to come to terms with the real reason her husband has moved into the spare room. In Hail Mary, a woman who's made her entire life in the US faces deportation to a country she barely knows. 

Skipping past the weaker ones, we get some gems towards the end too. In Speaking English, Kalimamukwento explores colonialism and anglo-centric attitudes which push out native languages. Similar themes are explored in the funny and frustrating #BaileyLies, where a journalist tries to challenge a white woman author who's written a (largely fictional) white saviour memoir about Africa.

I'd highly recommend this collection if you're looking for a fresh new short story collection!

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC!

I had high hopes for this book as I loved the author's previous novel translated to English, The Remainder. But while some parts of Clean were strong, others fell flat for me, and given it's only short, I can't say it was particularly impactful overall. A lot of the early editorial reviews mention reading it in one sitting, holding their breath, but for me the opposite was true. It took me almost a week to finish it and I didn't feel compelled to pick it up a lot of the time. 

It's told in the format of a cleaning woman telling her story to the police, after someone in the house she works in dies. I do not feel like this technique added much to the plot. She could have been writing a diary or retelling it to a friend, for all the effect the police report had. 

The strongest part is the commentary on class in Chile. Estela is essentially invisible to her employers, despite being essential to their daily life. Without her, their lives would fall apart. The degradation she suffers at the hands of her employers, particularly the young daughter, was chilling to read. It got a bit tedious at times, but that could be a good reflection of Estela's daily grind.