I really liked the contrast and parallels between magic and the factions in the “unseen world” and privilege. There’s quite a few women and they all feel different while contributing to the world building aspects of the fiction. I thought it was pretty clever and well executed, and the initial hook, which was what I was most unsure about at the start, became much more compelling as things were fleshed out. The ending felt well done and perfect for the themes. I was happily surprised by this one. I had kept putting it off because of the generic blurb/hook and am really glad I gave it a shot.

This was such a different novel than hard boiled wonderland. It was both serial and not, almost all of the time. I found it really interesting how much the main character takes from the women in his life unconsciously, while being despondent from the world itself.

It feels uniquely tapped into Asian cultural/societal issues, almost like it ruminates on it with almost every character interaction, actually. And there’s a prevalent air of sadness at all times, even when he believes he is experiencing happiness. Very relatable and encapsulating of adolescence (18-21 ish, I believe it was). Enjoyable and well written. I was waiting for something to tie it all together or annunciate a theme, or maybe a twist!—but it never came. While that is entirely appropriate for the overall text, it left me feeling a bit let down by the book, which would otherwise might have even made it to the 5 star mark for me.

It’s as consumable as commercial fiction but I found that the plot was pretty convoluted and from a meta perspective probably problematic. It’s not really trying to say anything to me, rather it feels like it was trying to construct some twists to keep you guessing what is true and what isn’t. Some people will be into a story constructed like that but I wasn’t into it. It’s a testament to the flow that I made it through though, so 2 stars instead of 1.

I mostly dug this. You need to really suspend your disbelief though because it feels like the author constructed the plot via specific points they were interested in and sometimes it feels like it is on rails to those sections of Oona’s life. Sometimes this feels organic, sometimes doesn’t. And the implications surrounding jumping forward and back in your own life in terms of free will and basically any consideration are very much hand waved, which will irk some people, no doubt.

I also didn’t feel like there was that much character growth either, with much of the payoff being wrapped up in a reveal and Oona herself feeling somewhat static. All in all, feel really mixed about this immediately after finishing it. As things settle I don’t feel like those things will change. It’s an interesting concept and the plot twists are fun enough to propel you through the story. It just feels like it’s missing more connective tissue, to me.

Fun, mostly worked for me. Stevie is weird and my favourite part of the book. The narrative works to reinforce her neuroatypical thought processes and quirks. Coupled with the overarching plot, the first half of the book is pretty fantastic. It cuts from Stevie going to the new school to the past when the murder she wants to solve as a sort of dissertation for the school. It clips along nicely.

Ironically, when a major subplot within her wheelhouse is introduced it gets a bit derailed and meandering. Stevie is likeable enough to me that I stuck with it, but it definitely ramps up the readers need to suspend disbelief and give the book some latitude to work with. Then the ending is pure setup for the second book, which I really hate. The subplot thread isn’t really fully resolved and then it drops a couple twists a leaves.

I’ll continue with it because my library has the audiobooks, which, btw, are fantastically narrated. I saw a review that said they didn’t like it because it’s a woman narrating and her male voices were bad but it’s really dependent on the reader and people are always polarized one way or the other. For me, I can’t stand men trying to narrate feminine voices, and find women can do masculine tones much better. It’s all a matter of taste on that front. You can tell the narrator is experienced because every character has their own mannerisms and inflection, which is hard to do. I thought it was fantastic. Pretty sure she won an award for it too so

Similarly to the first book, loved being in Stevie’s head and the prose characterizing her interactions are consumable, fun, and evocative. The subplot and overarching plot dovetail, which makes it more satisfying than the first novel, but it feels somewhat glacial, pacing wise.

Both novels could have been merged easily and feels like it doesn’t do so almost purely to string you along to the next book, which always works to dampen the my enjoyment of the singular book. On the plus side, it’s possible the last book of the arch might be exceptional because it should tie a bow on all the anticipation, if done right. We shall see.

So, the thing about drawing two plots that dovetail together over three books is that you really need the pay off to be fantastic. The also brings the past through line to fruition substantially before the reveal in the present plot, so you already know what one of the major things are by the time it’s explained in detail.

Then the other felt fairly contrived and for the sake of Agatha Christie novels quintessential ‘person least likely to do it’. Also David is a raging douche. I would just delete that character if I could. I guess the idea is Stevie is young and has hormones and that’s why she likes him. And hey, she didn’t communicate well either, but David is not the ying-to-the-yang of that dynamic at all. He’s just a dick.

There’s a new novel of this dropping in a month or two, I think. I don’t know if I’d want to try it. I really like some of the characters, especially Stevie. But... if it’s another start of a the book arc that would actually way better as one 500-600 page book—especially considering because it’s over three books plot points had to be continually restarted for readers who picked them up a year apart. Pretty annoying if you’re reading them one after another right away, though.

Exactly what I expected from the book jacket. Not a bad thing, but didn’t exceed expectations. Perhaps because I’ve read quite a lot of immigrant stories. This is a thriving and main stay genre in Canada, more so than possibly anything else.

This book is great! It’s such a good concept too. I’ve heard stories like this, but generally from Canadian nonfiction memoirs/biographies. This has all of the same humanity but many different perspectives, especially generationally. There’s so much more context and the tonal changes make a lot of sense. It’s funny and heartbreaking and empowering yet makes space for misogyny and racism and the absolute darkest parts of their lives. The audiobook narration is absolutely great too. Good stuff.

Clumsy, obvious, yet still impossible to believe because the main character feels like he’s LARPing a mental health professional in movies from the 90s. It’s easily consumable but not super well paced. One of the rare times finishing the book downgraded it from what would have been 2 stars.