I was afraid this would be a complete crossover event that would leave me feeling unmoored as I have no idea what was going on with Fear State, but the Nightwing issue dealing with it gives just enough info needed to understand this specific story. Thankfully, the other issues that make up this trade are fantastic one shots that focus on Dick and his relationships with others in the Bat-family. I'm LOVING just how Bat-family focused this title is, it really gives an emotional weight that counterbalances all the superheroing. 

This was so good - all the right amounts of action, friendship, family, grief, romance, and hope put together to show exactly the type of man Dick Grayson is. The emotional beats were fantastic, especially as Dick and the greater Bat family are still dealing with Alfred’s death. 

The art here is just SO GOOD as well. Stunning line work, beautiful colors. 

It's hard not to compare this to Evicted, as that was an astounding work of non-fiction and Poverty is pretty much a spiritual successor. However, where Evicted found strength in creating a narrative of real people alongside the societal breakdown and discussion, Poverty is entirely the societal breakdown and discussion. That's not to say that Poverty is a lesser book - it just didn't have the same emotional impact that Evicted had for me. 

If you're like me and already acutely aware of the vast systemic issues that have created and keep creating poverty in America, not a lot here will be new information. If you are or were in poverty (like me) then none of this is new. But Desmond's strength as a writer is in collecting all the data and presenting it in such a way that is easy to comprehend, and hopefully galvanizes the reader to take action in any way.

The audiobook is great; Dion Graham is expressive and really gets Desmond's frustration and anger across very well, without going overboard. The only time he fully goes for it is the last section of the Epilogue that is basically a call to arms, and it was fantastic. 

Honestly, this book did its job in making me feel like I can do something small in my small life to try to be a poverty abolitionist and not just stand by and think that the problem is too big to even care about.

I just really love T Kingfisher's characters and her humor. I feel like a fellow millennial is speaking directly to me and Understands. 

So glad this still holds up on an adult re-read, 10 year old me would have been devastated if it hadn’t. 

This absolutely has pacing issues and the world building feels very Bilbo Baggins butter scraped over too much bread, but I loved Cordelia and Vorkosigan and their instalove story and am I about to read a 16 book space opera epic despite all the other reading I want to get done? Yes. YES I DAMN WELL AM.

The afterword chapter where we get to see the interesting way the Betans handle the dead found in space after large scale battles...absolutely moving. I kept waiting for some big twist or jump scare but it ended up being a really nice and quiet meditation on how the dead can be treated with respect no matter who they are or which side they fought on, and it left me with a bit of a lump in my throat. A lovely, humanizing ending.

3.5 stars, because it's been a long, long time since I've read a speculative book that has been so convoluted and so complex but also so compelling at the same time.

Like, I was genuinely angry at times reading this, especially after the 50% mark, when my head was still swimming with the names of what felt like hundreds of characters and all the weird world building that makes keeping all the characters straight SO MUCH HARDER. And the family tree DID NOT HELP! THIS WORLD BUILDING IS INSANE AND I LOVE IT BUT I ALSO HATE IT.

I have to give Jenn Lyons credit for setting up this story in a very compelling way. We have two timelines that make this feel like I'm reading both book 1 and book 2 at the same time. One timeline begins Kihrin's journey as a teen as he is plucked out of poverty when he's discovered to be a secret son of a powerful family. The other timeline takes later, with Kihrin recounting a different part of his story that happens after the first timeline. Both timelines run in short chapters that make for a dizzying read. I was compelled to keep moving because I wanted to know what was going on, but at the same time as I was getting answers, I was just left plain stumped.

Because this world building is insanely complex. INSANELY so. I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but I can deal with complex world building - I <i>enjoy</i> it in my speculative fiction. Give me weird shit and weird worlds and interesting things! But for most of this book I spent my time trying to remember who different characters were and what Kihrin's role was supposed to be (I STILL DON'T FUCKING UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON WITH KIHRIN OH MY GOD JUST HELP ME PLEASE MY HEAD HURTS!!!) in the grand scheme of this story. There's just so much. There's so much. I've been reduced to a hot mess.

But I'm totally moving on to book two, because I need to know what happens next in this weird, weird world and I guess I'm a hot mess that wants more. 

Sayaka Murata come here to make a point, and make a point she DID. I literally don't know how to review this book. Read this if you want an interesting take on how we ostracize people who don't fit in with our perceived culture, and how that othering can truly fuck someone up for their entire life. Between this and Convenience Store Woman, I think I have a preeeeetty good idea of what Murata thinks about Japanese culture as a whole.