howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

 I haven't seen a lot of D/deaf representation in fiction in general, much less in manga, and I don't believe I've ever seen any representation at all that follows a character who is currently experiencing their hearing loss increasing over time. While I have an auditory processing disorder, I can't actually speak to the representation shown here, but I can say that from my perspective, I really appreciated some of the things this story touched on, like the way people (especially femme people) like to pity disabled people or feel as though they can "help" that person with their love and attention, or how frustrating it is for many people in Kohei's position to be told "nevermind, it isn't important" instead of the other party simply repeating themselves and allowing Kohei to feel included in the conversation. It was heart-breaking, some of the casual things people said and did that you could see were wearing down Kohei's self-confidence and his desire to be social with anyone aside from his mother and Taichi.

As far as watching the romance slowly bloom between Kohei and Taichi, if this tells you anything about how invested I am, it took me all of 10 seconds between reaching the end of this book and borrowing the ebook for the sequel from the library. 🤣

This book was recommended to me by Ellyn for my 2022 12 Books in 12 Months Recommended by 12 Friends challenge! ♥

✨ Representation: Kohei is deaf; Kohei and Taichi are both queer

✨ Content warnings for: ableism, bullying, poverty, medical testing 

 Absolutely, hands down, one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read in my life. This short story makes the first Blasphemy! look like a perfectly sane piece of literature that any reasonable author might write.

I kind of loved this.

✨ Representation: everyone's just queer as fuck.

✨ Content warnings for: mentions of COVID/anti-maskers/anti-vaxxers; mentions of multiple US politicians; mentions of JKR and transphobia 

 

I didn't know that a 51-page story could make me this ridiculously happy, yet here we are. WOW. That was honestly one of the funniest, cutest, weirdest things I've ever read in my life and it makes me want to go buy literally every single thing T.J. Klune has ever released.

Like, first, it's gay as the day is long, and there's even a bit about how heterosexuality is "unnatural", which made my queer little heart cackle with glee. Second, it's so sacrilegious, which is hands down going to bother a lot of people, so if that sounds like you, pass on this one. But as a former Christian who doesn't mind a good joke being cracked at religion's expense, I was nearly in tears over some of this story (like God's constant "medammit" and "I swear to me" remarks).

Also, the thinly veiled political jabs? I am LIVING. This is everything I ever wanted. And Jimmy is the most hilariously over-the-top ridiculous little thing I have ever seen. Just... WOW. A+++

 

 

I adore this series with everything in my contented little reader heart, and this newest installment — well, I always want to call each new installment my new favorite in the series, but at this point, I suppose they're all my favorites. That said, Where the Drowned Girls Go focuses on Cora, who we've spent time with before and who I was missing very much, but we also get to meet quite a few new characters and experience an entirely new setting — with a twist. Instead of visiting a new door, we finally get to meet the folks behind Eleanor West's Home's opposite: the Whitethorn Institute.

Where Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children is welcoming and supportive, Whitethorn is uptight, strict, and determined to rip the doors out of the children within its halls, by choice or otherwise. The book starts off with Cora, feeling ruined and broken by her experiences within the Moors, committing herself to Whitethorn in hopes that, if they can separate her from her door, they can separate her from what she found within the Moors, too. While many of the books in this series don't have to be read in a specific order, I will say that you'll definitely want to have already read Beneath the Sugar Sky and Come Tumbling Down before you pick up Where the Drowned Girls Go.

There is an incredibly small amount that I can say about the plot of this novella, because much of it hinges upon a surprise that I did not see coming and was entirely delighted by. That said, what I can tell you is that this book focuses strongly on bullying/harassment, and how society and the institutions children are placed in are entirely complicit in childhood cruelty. It also touches on strictness placed upon children and the ways that adults often mistake laws for love, much to the detriment of the spirits of those in their care. Time and time again, I'm enraptured by how clearly Seanan understands how common and easy it is for authority figures to hurt children while never even realizing it (as a parent who tries very hard to become more self-aware every single day with my child, this is a topic I'm very grateful for the exploration of in this series).

I love this series, this world, and these characters endlessly. I'm forever grateful for Seanan McGuire's writing and how lovely and eye-opening her social commentary is, just as I'm so thankful for the representation in this series (if you want literal pages of me crying over how wonderful the writing of Cora's fat rep is, see my review of Beneath the Sugar Sky). I already am counting down the days to the 8th piece in this series and can't wait to see what Seanan does next.

✨ Representation: Cora is fat; Sumi is Japanese-American; Kade is a trans boy; multiple other side characters are queer and/or BIPOC

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!
 

 My dumb ass went ahead and devoured this volume, knowing full well that I have a four week wait time for the next volume from the library... siiiiiiigh

I just love these two so much and want them to be happy. Asako's mental health struggles in this volume broke my heart. 💔
 

 I could've done without the weight loss storyline, but I did like how it segued into Asako's confidence being boosted — but more importantly, the baby fever at the end was so precious, I can't 🥺
 

 Aw, we finally got to meet Natori's family! His mom was so precious and I loved how well Asako hit it off with them all. ♥ (Though the bath scene with Natori's sister gave me some serious secondhand awkwardness, but I'm guessing bathing together may be more common in some other countries, such as Japan, than it is here in the US!)
 

 Mike Thorn is an author whose work I've enjoyed tremendously in the past, so I was very eager to check out this new collection of his, and it did not disappoint! Mike has a way of paying homage to his influences while creating something incredibly fresh and new, and combining very modern struggles with elements of fear that have plagued humanity for ages.

Peel Back & See is a fascinating collection because so many of the stories share a core theme, yet it never felt repetitive in any way. There's a commonality in the exploitative nature of capitalism and high society, as well as a reoccurring consideration of how truly ugly so many people are deep inside themselves, and I enjoyed both of these aspects so much.

Most of these stories were brand new to me, while a few were familiar from an earlier collection of Mike's, as well as one that I didn't realize until the end was a NoSleep Podcast piece I loved years ago. New or old, I can honestly say I enjoyed every single story, but I had a few stand-out favorites:

• The Furnace Room Mutant — This coming-of-age piece follows a lonely young boy who thinks he's been accepted into a group of punks at his school, but quickly realizes their motives were less than friendly. I absolutely loved the twist in this story.

• Mr. Mucata's Final Requests — Our main character is employed by a terrible and bizarre old man, and when she's required to seek out a few very specific items in his dying days, she learns there's more to his history than anyone realizes. This piece was incredibly fun and had a delightful ending.

• Deprimer — Have you ever wished you could pay a pretty penny to be rid of your mental illnesses forever? If you have, be careful what you wish for, because such a luxury might come with unexpected costs. This is a heavy piece that was hard to read at times, but something about it was so captivating — I couldn't turn away.

While those three installments were my favorites, truly, Peel Back & See is a wonderful collection from start to finish that shows off not only Mike's talent as a wordsmith, but also the wide range of fears he's capable of conjuring off, both realistic and otherworldly. I can't wait for his next collection of short stories, and if you haven't taken the time for a Mike Thorn title yet, I highly encourage you to do so.

✨ Representation: A few casual/brief mentions and implications of queerness 

 Wow. Do I have a new obsession? Probably. Wow.

I knew I would love Lore Olympus, and I've known it for ages, but I've been waiting for the bind-up to come out because I really struggle with focusing on webtoons. Not sure what it is, because there are a million and one webtoons I would love to read, but I never seem to get around to them until they're printed in a bound format like this. That said, I got this as a Christmas gift from my spouse today and literally binge read it the moment I got the chance (which was maybe two hours after opening the gift). Now I'm sad that Volume One is over, I have no idea when Volume Two is coming out (please be soon, please be soon), and I'm thinking I'm going to probably finally cave and just start reading it as a webtoon because there's no way I can wait for the next volume bind-up. I miss Hades and Persephone too much already. 

This was one of those books that I always went back and forth on whether or not I wanted to read it, but I seem to be one of the few people who really adores the new cover design, and it finally drew me in. This wasn't my first rodeo with alien romance, so I can't say I found anything shocking or disturbing, but if you're not used to alien or monster smut, this book's scenes definitely, uh, go there lol.

My problem with the book laid more in the pregnancy-related topics than anything else. Slight spoiler here, but I don't like surprise pregnancies in romance books — I love babies, kids, etc. in books, but not when it's a total shock and especially not when the heroine didn't necessarily consent to the idea of being knocked up. I also struggled a bit with some of Vektal's more possessive moments, and I found it immensely unrealistic that Georgie, who none of these women truly knew, could convince nearly a dozen adult women to give up their lives on earth and stay on this alien planet with basically no hesitation whatsoever.

All of that aside, I was intrigued by the planet (the flora and fauna were interesting), I liked a lot of the sa-khui characters we met, and I definitely enjoyed Liz enough that I need to read her story. I'm eager to continue the series aaaand will probably cave and order a copy of this new collector's edition for my bookshelf, just because it's so damn pretty.