Saw the trailer for this and decided not to wait for the show at the end of next month, because a killer navigating time, somehow, in order to target specific people, is an interesting concept. It brings with it a lot of questions, even just around the central conceit.

This shifts perspectives very often, sometimes to the killer, often to the women being hunted by him. Multiple time frames, quite a few characters, sometimes even the friends of the women will get perspectives. It’s heavily plot driven, with characters being very subservient to the frenetic pacing. Only the killer and one woman in particular feeling anywhere near fleshed out. But, even then, it’s a byproduct of spending more time with them.

You need to be invested in the concept, plot beats, and macro story, and not things that, typically make me connect to a story: character work, diction, description. As a result, this feels very much like a commercial thriller, just with a different, much larger conceit being asked of the reader.

I can’t say I cared for any character much, and have mixed feelings about the ending. It’s extremely filmable and I think the show could easily surpass the book because there’s more opportunity to characterize the women and showcase the work the author did to depict each time period. Everyone felt like stock archetypes interacting with the plot beats. Some of the reasoning was contrived, but also not contradicted because of the style of writing.

Overall, go in with the expectations of a macro reader and popcorn, commercial fiction thriller and I think you’ll be happy. It’ll be interesting to see if the show is able to inject some more nuance.

The shadowy cabal makes a move, forcing Wilson out from the shadows. There’s a very excellent choose-your-own-adventure issue that’s double the size by splitting pages in half, all about Lizzie’s backstory. More reveals than anything previous, and one or two plot tangents are closed entirely (AFAI remember).

The concept of a liminal, physical space for both the mark a story has on culture and history, while also putting a different importance on the relationships to stories, is such a fantastic device and commentary. Fertile ground the series builds on, I happen to know. Such a fun and excellent re-read, knowing what comes in the very next issue.

An incredible portrait of the architect of one of the cells that flew a plane into one of the towers on 9/11. The voice crafted for this is as successful for me as Lolita. Not with the goal of seducing the reader to the point-of-view of Atta, but more the believable, organic nature of the voice being entirely embodied in every level of the prose work. You absolutely revile the man, who rails against those less puritanical than him even as he refuses to interrogate an inch of himself. Yet even in so doing, there is massive conflict present. Always bubbling and psychically driving his thoughts, emotions, and actions.

It’s actually an important work, I feel. When people do these things the gut reaction is to paint them as insane and dehumanize them and contrast them to us completely. But actually our creating a caricature of people who do these things only allows for us to continually misunderstand and often demonize entire groups which we ascribe the perpetrators of such actions. Similarly lacking the inward reflection and critical input from others, as well as the fostering of empathy everyone dearly, dearly needs to be and perceive and negotiate humanity.

At a systemic level, Atta here does actually perceive real issues and real harm coming from western society. And he’s not wrong about them. But that anger turning to fostered, active hatred coupled with shame that could easily be likened to those of western rearing and socialization is similarly present. He does see, at times, that God is Love. But can’t internalize it because the rhetoric of his turned masculinity can’t justify that.

So he does as everyone does: build their own prison. Play architect to their own pain and, in turn, filter everything through that skewed lens.

Again, just as in Lolita, the reader should come away from this reflecting on their own lens. Where does our own motivated thinking take us? Where are we going? What are we doing? Harm? Or good?

A really well done family drama that interrogates the ways in which adults get stuck in patterns established at youth. Even when they do deviate from it, they’re unaware of it and can’t seem to break free. A byproduct is a malaise that permeates most every character—but change, though painful, comes calling eventually. When it does, it showcases the adaptability and resilience of people thought broken.

I liked this a lot but I really like these ‘dysfunctional’ dramas centering a family full of secrets, stagnant, but pushed into frenetic change. The perspective switches often. The characterization feels well done. It’s funny and sad—actually landing the funny bits, a hard thing to do. Everyone is exposed for who they are and there is no capital V villain, though there are absolute assholes.

No one is spared. All very good.

This is a fantastic collection that does get in the weeds from time to time, but has a fantastic premise: the author examines , primarily, the ways agency was taken away from her. She then unpacks the events and shows in a feminist way, how and why they were so impact duo and stymied her development at the cost, or sometimes service to, others in her life.

Wonderful prose, harrowing (as you might imagine), and brutally honest. I think it’s written at the exact right time in the author’s life as well. A lot of what makes the book successful I think comes from the ability to analyze and contextualize things with the experience she has now. Had it been written later the memories might not have been so keen, potentially? Had it been written earlier, I’m not sure the examination would have been as profound and intricate.

This was the only stand-out great book of my booktube prize group. As I said: it does get in the weeds sometimes, sometimes retreading ground and circling a point. But it’s always engaging and not something I’ve read before, and completely, unabashedly feminist.

This was on a subject I didn’t know anything about, so I found it very informative and enriching. The voice is very interesting, because it does feel kind of like a PBS special, which, it turns out, it is. I’m not sure which material was written first, but it does kind of feel heavily on a narrative throughline when some more information would have been good.

There’s a few subjects where you just want more, but it moves on for the sake of the pace and structure. So, I would call this a supplemental book, or perhaps one that would wet your appetite for much more thorough texts on the topic.

The audiobook was fantastic, as you might expect. It is basically an audio presentation of what I imagine the documentary is. Though I’ve not seen it.

I learned very quickly I did not give a fig about birds lol however, it’s very thorough and is grounded in an interesting narrative around a personal trip. The author narrates it themselves and makes bird calls often… and, I mean, I’ve no idea if they were good—but it was endearing and funny. I don’t know if they were meant to be, though. Was he injecting humour or was he just like straight up filled with bird love and wanted the reader to know the calls? I suspect the later.

For people who are interested in the subject and nature and the narrative premise rooting this flight of fancy, I suspect people would adore this. Not for me, though it is successful.

This surprised me because I did not think I’d care for the granular—very granular—details on waterworks and issues with water levels changing, climate change in general, and people who work the water for a living. From fishers to patrollers, to scientists, the narrative is really good at being all encompassing. There are maps and papers and things supplementing the information, which was very helpful.

It is also very overlong for a layman like me on the subject. I felt it made it’s point early and kept on going. I don’t need to be convinced of these things, as I do know, broadly, about climate change effects. So this was more supplemental than cornerstone for me, on a hyper specific issue.

3.5 rounded up

This was written well, accomplished it’s intent, but I just did not connect with it whatsoever. There was an opaque quality about it, despite its ostensible conceit of being open and honest about a life event. But I just felt like it was going through the motions.

Though, I should say I do know she’s a TERF and that might have coloured my reading of this, though I tried to accept the book as I do any other. I think it accomplishes what it sets out to do, but in a way that is like ticking the boxes of the craft being present.

Oh no I said RTC but didn’t circle back. But I did, however, do a review on my Booktube channel: https://youtu.be/yIlDWSyEj80