I was going to rate this one higher, I really was - the play on fairytales and superstition as Oyeyemi explored race and womanhood through Boy was interesting and inventive. The second half dragged, and I felt like a lot of the setup of Part 1 (and even the epistolary sections of Part 2) went completely unresolved, but even then - it continued to be a story I wanted to see to the end, with the characters' duplicitous and compelling natures (combined with the lyrical prose) still engaging my interest. 

Then, in Part 3, a wildly transphobic "plot twist" came out of nowhere and completely sucker-punched me, in all honesty. It had no place in the story, no meaning in regards to what had already been set up, and generally ruined whatever appreciation I had had for this book until that point. Even if it was a cruel take on the existence of trans people, BUT had a place in the story, I might have forgiven Oyeyemi. But the whole thing felt like it was added as a TERF-y social media kind of "gotcha" - meaningless, factually incorrect, and just there for cheap shock value. I expected better of a "celebrated author". 

This book, oh my god.

I tried to read it earlier this year in audiobook format and couldn't get into it, but I decided to give it another shot as an Epub and was not disappointed. 

I love the thought put into the Teixcalaanli empire - from cultural differences to history to literature - as an immigrant myself, it's easy to make the parallel between Teixcalaan and America, which I felt on a deeply personal level. 

this book was tough to fully grasp, so the text copy helped; often I had to reread passages to grasp their multilayered meaning, but my fascination with the premise and love for court intrigue kept me going. It's an intense, thought provoking work, one that's going to stay with me for a while.

I'm fairly young, so I only discovered Bob Mortimer on Taskmaster, and have since been making a meandering sort of progress through his work. I wish I'd experienced more of it - this autobiography feels like it would be more enjoyable for someone who's more familiar with his early work than I am. Still, I laughed out loud at many points throughout the book, and the audiobook's narration (while stumbling at times) was a delight, especially the songs.

What an absolute beast of a book. 

Emulating the writing styles of the likes of Dickens, Austen, and Wilde to an astonishing degree, Clarke takes the reader on an alternative history journey of garganguan proportions. Spanning years, the narrative unfolds around the titular magicians, Johnathan Strange and Gilbert Norrell, in their attempts to bring magic back to England, as well as many other characters affected by said attempts. I found myself swept along by the story, and enjoyed it greatly despite its length. 

I want to compare this book to Les Miserables, a narrative that also spans years, switching between multiple characters (some - allegorical, some - very sympathetic, others - not at all) and weaving their stories together in one convoluted tapestry. It's compelling, it's epic, and I couldn't put it down. Between the footnotes and the storyline itself, Clarke has created an immersive, real-feeling alternative England, whose fictional heart pulses with life and centuries of dormant magic. Norrell and Strange are both awful people, and yet I'm absolutely here for them.

Also Childermass deserves better, smh.

I love a good "found family in space" story, and everyone I know has been recommending me this one, so I finally caved and picked it up. Because of how highly praised it was, I was worried it wouldn't live up to my expectations, but I ended up enjoying it a ton.

The worldbuilding is fantastic - alien designs that are nothing like humans (rather than the oft-seen "human lite"), interstellar politics, the way different people and species RESPOND to those politics; all of it was well thought out and thoroughly explored, and managed not to bore me.

Then there's our motley crew itself; in many books with ensemble casts, characters often fade into the background and start to sound like each other, but here, everyone stood out. AND they all grew on me as the story progressed. I wish we'd gotten to spend more time with them, if anything. I'd have loved to see more interactions between group members we didn't really see talk to each other; for example,

more "sympathy points" for Corbin so that his whole thing with Ohan felt more divisive to us than it did

would have been nice. Rosemary's

reveal, too, felt almost anticlimactic, especially since for everyone except Jenks, it happened off-screen.

Still, I thought it was really inventive how many of the climaxes/crises/huge plot points took place off-screen; this story does not pretend to be a drama. If anything, it's a character study, and I found that fascinating, once I got used to this narrative style.

All in all, I've read better books this year, I've even read better books by Becky Chambers (see: the Monk and Robot duology), but something about this story and these characters really appealed to me nonetheless. It reminds me of other "found family in space" stories - The Murderbot Diaries series, Star Trek, the Wolf 359 podcast, Тайна Третьей Планеты, and more I can't think of right now - in all the best ways. Picking up the sequel as soon as I can!

An eerie blend of Bluebeard and religious horror! Too short for me to really get swept in though; I feel like this kind of premise longs for a drawn out, atmospheric story - in a novella format, it fell short of its own ambitions.

An interesting take on Sherlock Holmes from a writer I already enjoy the work of. Admittedly, I'm not as familiar as I ought to be with the original Sherlock Holmes works, but from what I recall, Book Sherlock was never the type of asshole other media (*cough* BBC Sherlock *cough*) makes him out to be; his originally-intended self definitively shines through in Crow. As an adaptation, this book is great.

The worldbuilding is well-crafted, albeit confusing at times, but I was disappointed to see some story arcs (or, story arcs I hoped for) rushed, or unaddressed altogether.

I was hoping for more out of Moriarty's role, for one, and Mary Morstan's. The whole Jack The Ripper plot felt insubstantial, and it being solved effectively by accident cheapened it some, for me. On top of it all, I'm disapointed that Doyle's hellhound status was made into a convenient MacGuffin over the supposedly debilitating condition it is, just for that finale. His lack of self-control, when in other situations it had been incredibly strong, is what solved the murder, and that felt to me like such an "easy" resolution.

Despite the meandering plot, though, Doyle's narration carried the book for me. I like his character in the same way I like Original Watson, which is always good in a mostly faithful (as far as plot points are concerned) adaptation such as this one. I enjoyed reading it because the writing was good, and that, ultimately, makes the book a good experience.

As for this book starting out as wingfic, honestly, good for the author. Every adaptation of anything is technically fanfiction, Addison just isn't being a coward about admitting it.

It started off slow, but got better towards the end. I wouldn't describe it as a thriller, though tensions are kept high throughout.

This feels like a budget version of "We Need To Talk About Kevin", and that cheapened the experience some, for me. Still, I feel that this book can hold its own. It's suspenseful, and the writing is engaging.

Admittedly, Violet's manipulation really got to me - I thought that was very well written. The complete 180s in mood and personality had me questioning Blythe's instincts until the very end. The rest of the book, however, really dragged. The flashbacks were a little random, and the overall plot relied too much on clichés. I also feel that Blythe's relationship with her next door neighbor could have been developed more - especially considering

that we don't see her visit her until the one time she wants to take Violet at the end.

Some of these other reviews though... Y'all do realise that just because you don't like the protagonist in a book like this doesn't mean that it's a bad book? Blythe isn't supposed to be a good, relatable mother. I've seen the same thing in reviews for Jessamine Chan's "The School For Good Mothers" - the morality of the protagonist contributes to people's enjoyment of the book. Blythe is Not Great, and that's the point. I think Audrain portrays her well without making her a pastiche.

Very well (and very uniquely) written - I enjoyed it immensely. Jackson's a master of atmospheric writing, and Eleanor's POV is a fitting one for psychological horror, considering how much time she spends in her head.

The symbolism within the book, including the queer undertones I'm sure I'm not alone in noticing, were fun to pick apart and analyse. I'm reading this for a book club, so being able to discuss it with other people is a huge plus.

Still reeling over that last chapter.

Well-written (I find some psychology books are overly wordy/technical for the average person; this one definitely isn't), easy to understand, with sound theory behind it.

I may have some things to unpack.