This book is good! I’m just not really in the mood for middle grade right now. Will try to pick up again another time.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I’m not a big horror reader, but the title and cover art of this anthology drew me in, and then the actual stories kept me engaged.

Every story is written by a different author and has a different take on both the subject of addiction and the horror genre. Some have supernatural elements while some take a more grounded approach to horror. Most deal with substance use and abuse, but a couple talk about other forms of addiction.

I didn’t love all of the stories, but I did have some definite favorites that I’m still thinking about. 

The story “Huddled Masses, Yearning to Breathe Free” was truly chilling, and the author did a masterful job of putting the readers into the head of a character who did horrible things and making us almost understand his mindset. Definitely terrifying!

My other favorite, “Buyer’s Remorse,” is a delightfully queer story with a kind of awful sapphic main character who gets what’s coming to her without it feeling like a punishment for her sexuality or even her addiction. Just her actions. This story was also just generally enjoyable to read, even while it kept me on edge.

I think the last story was my least favorite. It was a little too long and a little too religious for my personal taste, and I didn’t like the way it treated women. I understand why it was chosen as the closer, though.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this anthology to a horror fan looking for something short to read or to someone who is, like me, interested in exploring the genre for the first time.

Please note that every story in this collection is about addiction, most contain substance use, and many also contain other potentially triggering content including death, murder, body horror, blood, and confinement. Please take care of yourself if any of these are likely to be an issue for you.

The character work and relationships in this book are stunning. I had trouble following all of the different dynamics at play, but I think that’s just cause I was reading too quickly.

Was it really necessary to use the n-word in that one passage? Cause yikes.

Definitely glad to have finally read something by Louise Erdrich, and I will be checking out more of her work!

Glad I picked this one back up when I did!

Bitter is a strange, somewhat biblical, beautiful little book about revolution and the power of art. Unsurprisingly, it was right up my alley. I knew I would enjoy it because I loved Pet and because everything Akwaeke Emezi writes has a little bit of magic in it, but this one really came through. I loved the characters and their relationships and all of the conversations about what it means to be an activist and the different roles that different people play in revolution. All of that was stunning.

The actual depictions of activism were definitely kind of lacking. Why were all of the organizers teenagers? Why weren’t they more informed? My activist organizer friend was very annoyed by this, and now I am also annoyed.

The pacing was also kind of off, especially at the end.

Honestly I enjoyed this book a lot when I first read it, but in retrospect, I want a lot more. Of course the story is focused on Bitter and her personal growth, but after reading Pet, I definitely expected the prequel to show how society actually got to that more utopian state. Instead, all of the changes happen at the very end, very quickly, off-page. And of course change is still a process, but generally I’m not convinced that this book did an amazing job of either portraying activism or setting up the book it’s a prequel for.

I still enjoyed the story and loved the characters, though. I’m especially glad that Bitter had Blessing and Aloe in her life.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I’ve been familiar for Dylan Marron for years, and I’ve enjoyed a lot of his work. This book was no exception. While it occasionally veers into something close to self-indulgent celebrity memoir territory, Conversations with People Who Hate Me ultimately has a lot more going on than that. Marron’s podcast has always fascinated me, and I loved learning more about its origins and the conclusions he’s reached from it. I also appreciated the compassionate, nuanced approach he took to discussing contentious issues and difficult conversations.

This book isn’t necessarily brilliant or groundbreaking. It certainly won’t be for everyone. But I found a lot of value in it, especially as someone who spends far too much time on the Internet, and I think that others likely will as well.

NOTE: while no part of this book describes these things in graphic detail, there are multiple mentions of various types of bigotry as well as hate crimes and sexual assault.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. I just didn’t necessarily enjoy it. It’s a fascinating, layered, beautifully-written character study of one of the most boring characters I’ve ever encountered. He’s a deeply tragic figure in a lot of ways, but wow.

This is one of my favorite books I’ve read this year and one of my favorite sci-fi books ever. The way Rivers Solomon weaves together commentary about race and oppression and the most interesting take on gender I’ve ever read with beautiful character work and stunning prose. 

Be warned, however, that this is a VERY heavy novel with racism, violence, and death throughout along with a LOT of other potentially triggering content, so PLEASE proceed with care if you’re planning to read it.

Three things happened here:

1) The loan got returned to the library
2) I stopped dating the person who said I should try the audiobook
3) I decided I simply do not care enough to continue this book at this time

This was a really enjoyable sapphic historical romance! I liked that the characters were actually mature adults (34 and 42) with their own lives and their own complex backstories. I enjoyed the actual romance. I appreciated that there was some racial diversity in the supporting cast, cause this genre tends to be very white. 

But I think my favorite thing was the focus on historical queer community and the ways in which queer people have always managed to find each other and form bonds, whether those bonds are romantic or sexual or platonic. That’s another thing that I don’t see often enough in books, but especially not in historical romance.

This one wasn’t as political as I personally might have liked to see, but there were some good and interesting conversations about power and privilege.

There were definitely also some issues. The title and cover art are quite frankly embarrassing. It’s an indie book, and the writing wasn’t always super consistent. And the historical accuracy was pretty poor in some very distracting ways when it came to things like the characters’ hairstyles and clothing.

But I still very much enjoyed the book overall and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a sapphic regency romance!

This is the first book I’ve read by Nnedi Okorafor, and I will definitely be reading many more! This short novella packs in so much worldbuilding and plot and character work without ever feeling confusing or overwhelming. I am beyond impressed.