books_ergo_sum's Reviews (933)

Yes. I, Amanda, notorious hater of all romance subplots spy and heist related, enjoyed this heist-y spy book.

Even weirder (for me), this wasn’t a case of ‘the romance plot was so good + the spy subplot was okay enough, and that = four stars.’

Nope, because I found the the romance plot pretty medium. When I hear Civil War era interracial romance between two spies—one posing as a Confederate soldier, the other posing as a mute slave—my mind goes to some ‘against the odds’ on-page falling in love, even slow burn territory… but it was so instalove-y? I feel robbed.

The characters were great, I loved how forbidden the romance felt, I enjoyed the mess of the ‘watching them flirt with other people in public’ (for spy reasons) jealousy, and… am I going to say it? I liked the heist-y spy plot (she also writes thrillers, so maybe that explains it?). The audiobook was good too.

So, the overall rating was brought up, not down, by the spy plot stuff? And pigs fly, apparently.

What’s better than a clueless virgin alien finding his fated mate? Add in rejected mate shenanigans, a mate bond that makes them super horny, make the MC neuro-spicy, and lock them in a room together…

What could possibly go wrong? lol

Ngl, I thought an interview with the subtitle ‘Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundation of a Movement’ was going to be shallow and maybe bad?

But it was excellent! I particularly loved the parts about how:
✨ this broad way of discussing politics isn’t shallow—it’s complex. Political issues are connected because the transnational corporations and geo-political arrangements behind them are connected. And narrowing political discussions doesn’t make them deep—it makes them weak
✨ too formal political activism (focused on abstract human rights, civil rights, or legalese over substantive freedoms) can be complicit in oppression
✨ successful movements aren’t about charismatic leaders, they’re caused by everyday people getting involved in small ways en masse

Before reading this, I also read On Palestine by Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé…

[which was unbearably moderate on the topic of Palestinian activism and frustratingly limited by its liberal framework]

… And I don’t think these books are just different—I think this is ✨The Debate✨ within the pro-Palestinian movement and political activism generally. Also, the two books were put together by the same guy, Frank Barat, so it’s extra interesting how different they were.
✨ Angela Davis focused on the power of groups, her message sounds radical even 10 years later, she’s not afraid of Marxist or post-structuralist theories, and her complex “yes, and” approach to politics had major explanatory power.
✨ Noam Chomsky focused on consumer choices and the moral obligation of institutions, he sounded pragmatic 10 years ago but now sounds complicit, he was limited by his liberal framework, and the narrow focus read as naïve.

Plus, I kind of think Angela Davis has been proven right? Pro-Palestinian activism has come a long way—and as I read both books, I asked myself “could we have gotten here from there, if we’d followed their advice?”

And Chomsky gets a “no” (the role he thought the UN would play in protecting Palestinians was particularly 🙄) but I’d argue Davis gets a "yes."

Ngl, this was unbearably moderate and limited by its liberal framework.

The essays and interviews were clear and readable. Pappé had consistently good contributions (those three stars are for him). But man, Chomsky was not it.

There were two Chomskys in here. Part 1 Chomsky, written before the 2014 bombings of Gaza, where he had a ‘not all men’-style defense of Zionism, hesitated to call it apartheid, and used utilitarianism to assess ‘good’ activism. Plus some nonsense about how a two-state solution leads to a single state because economic cooperation erodes borders? Sure, Jan 👀

And then there was Part 2 Chomsky, with an essay thoroughly critiquing Israel’s treatment of Gaza, even calling it genocide (though offering no solution beyond a moral obligation to apply human rights in a religion-blind way).

The two Chomskys had me questioning the book’s ontology. Is it cynical to say he changed because post-2014, these arguments were more publicly palatable? He did stress that pro-Palestine activism should be proportional to public knowledge and sentiment…

Idk… maybe Chomsky’s strategy read as pragmatism in 2015. But it reads as complicity in 2024. I kept wondering: was this an activism stepping stone, or a false start? And the cranky part of me thinks it’s the latter.

Call me crazy, but if you’re going to situate yourself at the forefront of a pro-Palestinian movement Chomsky, you gotta have compassion for Palestinians. Not dispassionately and uncritically say the way forward is either a “rotten solution” (an unfair two-state arrangement) or the current plan, that Palestinians “can mostly rot, or maybe flee” which Has. Aged. Like. Milk.

Human rights are great and all. But pushing for moderation in activism to avoid backlashes? That’s no longer the vibe. I wanted to be charitable, say this moderate discourse has its place in the UN perhaps. But the last chapter was literally Chomsky’s speech to the UN—so toothless I’d argue it was less of a scolding and more of an endorsement of the status quo. And that ain’t activism.

Oh this was goooood. It was simultaneously more zany and more tender than I expected it to be—than I expected anything could be. The plot zipped along but the romance plot never felt rushed. And there was just so much heart eyes, finger touches, hair caresses, sweet affirmations, and just sexy moments in general.

What was this sorcery? How were these perfectly imperfect characters so lovable? Why were they hanging off the side of a boat and I was like ‘yup, feels correct’? I just loved it. Did I love this even more than I loved the Halifax Hellions novellas? Is that even possible?

How is it that Alexandra Vasti manages to write stories that’ll end up on my Favourite Books of the Year list, three years in a row at this point (!!), and they’re always free-with-the-newsletter-novellas? Hmm. This was less of a review, and more of a mild existential crisis brought on by a highly entertaining story. It seems I have more questions than reflections 😆

I can feel myself getting spoiled with all the free novella goodness. I’m like Mr. Bennett at the end of Pride and Prejudice—

If Vasti wants to write more free-book-excellence, send them in, for I am quite at my leisure.

Loved it! This alien romance was just a riot. I couldn’t stop laughing and I was doing that thing where you’re face-palming but also smiling the entire time.

Because this alien guy was so STUPID. In the funniest way.

Set on a post-first-contact earth, these aliens were simultaneously the most badass special-ops assassin guys and the sweetest baby angel clueless virgins. With a heavy dash of Buddy the Elf. Or the dog from Up 😂

And our human heroine was an “alien handler” aka it was her job to explain the most basic earth culture to aliens and help them avoid any major PR nightmares. Basically, it was her job to handle the chaos of this book like a champ.

And their whole fated mates journey was comedy gold.

🤔 my feelings were the exact opposite of what I expected they’d be?

This is definitely a booksta fav. An interracial couple, male nanny, she’s his boss forced proximity goodness.

Going into this, I thought the whole buff male nanny thing would = Manic Pixie Dream Book Boyfriend territory, which is never my thing. And I thought we’d ignore how exploitative nannying can be. But I thought the co-parenting falling in love would be swoony enough to save it.

Then I had the exact opposite reading experience. The characters were excellent. Rafe had flaws. Nannying had hindered his life trajectory in almost every way. And Sloan, too—she was complex and compelling.

But what I didn’t like about the story was the romance plot. Because it felt… kinda sad?

They had too little curiosity about each other. It was like, they liked each other for What the other person was (hot, the nanny, a family he could see himself in), not Who the other person was. Every time they watched tv instead of talking, my heart sank.

At the 75% mark they finally had a “So, tell me about yourself,” conversation (literal quote) and not in a joking way—like, for real they’d made no effort to get to know each other. But this wasn’t a slow burn. Very much the opposite.

I buy that Rafe was a clam and that Sloan was busy. But zero interest in the other person’s thoughts? dreams? favourite colour? nothing? It was weird, right?

Especially when Rafe had no chill when it came to expressing his interest in her physically and he was like Superman around the house. Those parts of the story zipped along. But for the emotional intimacy to drag because they couldn’t be bothered to get to know each other?

I was disappointed in this one, tbh

A full-length sapphic historical romance? All the yes. The ‘trying to get their parents to marry each other’ premise? An interesting backdrop, especially since this future blended family had massive ‘historical FF lovers able to live under the same roof’ HEA potential.

Plus, the audiobook was top-tier: two narrators, one of them my favourite of all time (Mary Jane Wells). The listening experience in itself was delightful. 

That said, I struggled with this book for a few reasons (I don’t think the histrom world building fully landed, for one) but my main issue was this:
✨ These two heroines didn’t feel like the main characters in their own story. 

Maybe too much focus was taken away from them by their parents’ second chance romance plot line? Or that once The Parent Trap-y shenanigans got going, it was mostly side characters who were responsible for plot points? These heroines were so passive! And their passivity made the story drag.

But mostly, it really undermined why I’d picked up this book in the first place. I’m tired of the FF romance being the sub-plot, the novella in the series, or the bonus story with the newsletter. This story was the first book in the series. Full length. So promising. And when the story didn’t centre the love story and personal arcs of these heroines enough, I was really disappointed.

So I didn’t like the story. Though I loved the audiobook (and it gets an extra star just for these narrators).

I had a surprisingly good time with this!

Its Mexican-inspired mythology in particular made this fantasy setting really excellent. To the point where I was like, dang I do not speak Spanish. But in a good way.

Deadly trials? Love that. Especially when the MC’s friends-to-enemies crush was also in the trials—it had that ‘flirty flirty with your trial competitor who you should hate because whoever loses the trials dies' thing. Very Hunger Games meets The  Serpent and the Wings of Night.

Is there a person in the world who doesn’t eat that plot up? Because I’ve yet to meet them.

Also the trans MC rep in here was so touching. The own voices author factor came through really strongly in this one.

That said, it’s been a while since a YA-toned book got five stars from me. Not because YA is bad—obviously I’m not the target audience. But I think adults who read YA fantasy love the coziness, even the nostalgia, of this kind of fantasy? But I get my cozy plots from other genres (alien romances with fated mates where nothing bad happens, let’s be real) and I’ve been craving fantasy stories that really eff me up instead.

There were still some reveals that actually surprised me though! So if you can go either way with YA fantasy (especially when the characterization and world building is immaculate), then I’d highly recommend! Especially the audiobook.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved most of the books in this series. But this one was a no for me.

And one moment in particular—when he painfully no-lube finger banged her butt in a dingy prison and then she licked the “tangy” butt fingers afterwards—nearly broke me.

The story was trying to woo me with the butt stuff, buckets of 💦, and the 11 guy gang💥…

But I had too many entries in the Hate That column. 

▪️ There wasn’t much of a romance plot? (I kinda have a theory about this: I love this author’s anti-hero love interests—they take us in a journey—but her nice guy romances don’t go anywhere imo).

▪️ Our heroine didn’t have memories so her characterization was a mess.

▪️ The fated mates in here was annoyingly halfhearted. These aliens didn’t have fated mates (they were more about the gang💥) but our hero randomly experienced a mating call? It had all the instalove of fated mates, with none of the lovey-dovey feelings, which sucked.

▪️ Each book has been on a different planet and I usually love the alien cultures but this gladiator/space poker planet was lame.

▪️ Why did we even want that McGuffin-object anyways? Seriously. It was the whole plot but why did we care??

But the worst part: I couldn’t DNF it. Because the next couple’s book began in this book. In the first half. So it felt like DNFing this book meant DNFing the whole series and I wasn’t ready.

I still like the series overall, you just can’t win them all I guess.