chantaal's Reviews (2.32k)

 The Mimicking of Known Successes was one of my top reads in 2023, and I was so excited for this follow up to the Holmesian coziness that is Mossa and Pleiti solving a mystery. The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles takes place some time after the first novella, and Mossa and Pleiti are in something of a relationship. Mossa is assigned a missing person case at Pleiti's university, and the two begin to investigate it together.
 
 Older manages to blend a sci-fi setting with the comfort of reading a Holmesian mystery with ease. There is an equal amount of attention given to the mystery itself as well as to Pleiti and Mossa (though Pleiti's eyes) as characters. In this second novella, we also get to see Pleiti navigate her relationship with Mossa; she often has trouble with her own perception of what their relationship really is, and with trying to fit Mossa's whole Holmes-ish character within the relationship they're building. But then Mossa smiles and Pleiti's lovestruck by it and they're incredibly adorable. 
 
 I would say that the one thing that brought it down a star for me compared to the first novella is that the world building felt like it took over a little more this time around, instead of feeling a lot more natural within the storytelling. But I truly enjoy this world Older has created, this future colony living in the orbit of Giant (aka Jupiter), growing and surviving and thriving even as they try to figure out if they can ever inhabit Earth again. 
 
 I highly enjoy this series and its weird but interesting blend of sci-fi and mystery. Seasoned sci-fi and mystery readers should definitely give it a chance if you haven't already. 
 
 Many, MANY thanks to NetGalley and Tordotcom for giving me the chance to read and review this! The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles will be available on February 13, 2024. 

Ilona Andrews write urban fantasy like nobody's business, goddamn. Inventive world building, interesting characters, and writing that makes it easy to eat up like candy.

I'm not sold on Nevada & Rogan, whose relationship I assume will eventually lead to a solidified romance by the end of this trilogy. This is mainly because Rogan is a pretty terrible person and I don't believe there's anything here except extreme horniness, but I'm willing to see where the Andrews take this. They have a looot of heavy lifting to do from here to make me believe in a Nevada & Rogan romance after this first book, though. Especially with Rogan as a character. 

Onwards!

DNF @ page 115. The narrative voice in this is bothering me too much to keep on reading. Like it tries too hard to be satirical and ironic but just come across as someone from r/iam13andthisisdeep wrote what they imagine what the digital future holds for us and how an apocalypse would occur during it. There was also a strange distancing effect in the writing when we weren't directly in Zhen's narrative, like it was done on purpose to keep us from divining the whole apocalypse reveal too early on. I hated it.

Also, I knew the characters names about 20 pages in. Alderman didn't have to use their first AND last names every other time they showed up on page again. Jeez.

Great stylish artwork and a decent story, though not without its tropey faults. Definitely checking out volume 2, though. I'm intrigued.

Love the character design, Flaviano rarely fails. 

As a story of its own, this was great. A young Lois starts her first internship when things go wrong, she has to deal with an old BFF with lots of baggage and issues of her own, and somehow figure out how to keep her life on track - and what that will even look like. The incredibly cute, charming and colorful art brings this story about youthful rebellion and finding yourself and dealing with feeling small to life in a fantastic way. Having this story being told through the lens of Lois as an Asian woman brings a whole new layer to it that I enjoyed. 

It's a great story. It's fun and empowering. I want teens to read this story. 

But it is not a LOIS LANE story.

This is essentially a wholly original story and character with the name Lois Lane and some DC Comics hallmarks to make it seem like it takes place in the DC Universe. And it's hard to grapple with that, because on one hand: yes, I love that this story is being told in a way that gets it to the largest audience it can possibly get, using the DC Comics name. But that can also handicap it in a way, if people are expecting Lois.

Perhaps the strength of the story is enough for many to enjoy on its own. I certainly hope that there are teens out there finding this and seeing themselves in Lois and the other characters, and gaining strength and some insight from its pages.