justinlife's Reviews (916)

Octavia Butler's second in the Xeongenesis/Lilith's Brood series does not disappoint. The series itself, about humanity's last hope for survival is to join with the alien species that rescues it, continues to show humanity at its best and worst. Great sci-fi/speculative fiction uses the genre to explore modern issues.  Here Butler succeeds.  What's even better, she doesn't choose sides. Well, not really. People who resist the aliens and those who join them are both shown in as compassionate a way as possible. We are merely spectators in their struggle. We don't get to decide, we get to watch. 

The people she gives compassion to are people I wouldn't think deserve it. As the resistors continue to live long lives, they increasingly become violent against each other and the aliens, kidnapping their children, other resistor villages' women and supplies. The story follows Akin, Lilith's human born son, as he tries to find a solution for them. These people aren't painted as monsters for the most part. Some are, but the majority of the people who want to stay human and be human and do cruel things are given more layers and are more complex than I expected. 

Overall, the writing is wonderful. It flows and makes sense. Whether we can see what happens coming or not, it's fun to live in the prose. What's hard is the view that having children is what keeps humans going and give them purpose. Like I get it, but it would have been interesting to see some of the resistor villages explore creativity, plays, music, etc. Would that have changed? If humans who resist the alien assistance aren't able to reproduce, what life would people make? What would society be without kids, in general? Are humans designed to self-destruct? 

All great things here to explore. Other topics for future justin to think about: Gender spectrum with the Oankali; polyamorous relationships only in the construct/alien culture; Does it matter that some form of humanity would continue? How would queer people fair in this world? 

Looking forward to finishing this series and seeing where Ms. Butler takes it.  

This book was fine. It has a plot somewhere in all the words used. It has characters that are described in minute detail. It has a setting that when you have such descriptions, you don't need to google. It's clear as day.  

I don't think I'm this book's target audience. There isn't much that goes on in it. Things happen but they happen at a pace that I kept wondering if this novel would ever end. Is it bad? No, it's great for people looking to relax or something to help them sleep right before bed. It's lowkey stakes set in the Welsh countryside. I feel like the back of the book mislead me or I misinterpreted things to where the two stories would have more interaction than there was. I kept waiting for that to happen. I guess it did but in such trivial ways that one can almost be like "why?" 

If you're looking for a quiet novel about a woman coming to terms with new power and a story of a past Seer, then this might do. There are many other books about solitary women practicing magic though. 

With a title like that, I expected stupid and this did not disappoint. Saxon James does their best to make the name Chad sexy. God bless. Truly doing the lord's work. Overall, it was surprisingly more heartfelt and more relaxing than I thought. I had a blast and will probably continue on with series. 

I love a good bad title and Frat Wars? I mean come on, that's gold right there. 

It's incredible the things we know, the things we think we know, and the things we expect other people to think about. We are able to live because other people are thinking about drinking water, sanitation, etc. We don't think about what happens when something goes wrong. 

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha was one of the ones that raised the alarm during the Flint water crisis and used medical science to show how the change in water source contributed to higher levels of lead in the blood.  The books is that story, but it's also the story of public health in general. As with many other books, Dr. Mona fills the story with history and other examples to fill in the dots. 

The book is successful and not nearly as bleak as I thought it would be. I learned a lot about the public water, the Washington DC water crisis, the history of lead, the history of Flint, the racial history of Flint, and the tenacity it takes to make change. It helped me understand the importance of having good people in government roles that are looking out for their citizens. She also does a great job of explaining health equity and how factors such as poverty and where one lives can have long term effects. 

Overall a really good book about medical science, public policy, and government malfeasance. Dr. Mona does a great job of showing how the pieces fit, who we should be thinking about, and why it matters. Highly recommend.

The final chapter (I think...) turns out to be the best. Chakraborty expands her world beyond those of the djinn and explores the air and water creature worlds. She effortlessly blends the world building with the plot that leads to a lot of fun and dramatic moments.

Characters continue to grow for both good and evil. She explores the depths of power controlling people, of history as an excuse for genocide, of when to let it go all through a fantasy series. It's powerful and affecting. You feel for the characters as they survive a brutal regime. You want them to succeed when they fight back. She shows the cycle of violence clearer and clearer as the pages turn. The first half is brutal, but Chakraborty has a talent to reel the reader in at the end and I didn't want to put it down for the last three hundred pages.

Overall a satisfying conclusion and combines the best of her world building, character development, and plot pacing. She knocks this ending out of the park.

2/4/2024- Update: 
Coming back to this I have a greater appreciation for it. This is an intro. It's not complete and while I judge the book by what it's not, what it is isn't bad. It's a solid start from a person with his own knowledge. This books should be a jumping off point, not the end. 

2022 Review: 
This book wasn’t what I expected nor was it what I wanted but it was still a good read. I was expecting and wanting a history of queer people/communities in the US. This was US history but make it gay. 

It was fascinating though. Bronski does an excellent job showing the transformation of queer being something you did into something you were. In the later half of the book he does a great job showing how the queer movement has roots in the labor movement and how feminist thinking can be traced to early lesbian magazines. 

It’s a bit frustrating because there’s so much that he leaves out. So many things I wanted to explore wasn’t there- the influence of immigration on queer communities and thought, trans identity and that evolution, literally anything after 1990. While he does mention some black queer people they are few and far between. Intersectionality isn’t really his thing, though he points out how racist US is over and over again. The POV felt very white and mostly male. 

I’m sure a lot of that is due to history. Maybe trans history is harder to include b/c they were good at hiding. Maybe there’s just not enough information to make solid conclusions from some of the older communities I was interested in. There were other times when he makes conclusions and my immediate thought was “what’s the source on that”. 

Overall I did like it and would te comes to people looking to see history from a queer POV. 

Where the first one was bogged down with the world building and weak character development, this one soars as Chakraborty gets to play in this world. I have only watched Game of Thrones but the conniving and political moves one has to make made me think of it when I was reading this. She sets her characters up in a world fully realized and plots their courses to an ending that was impossible to put down. The characters that were at times infuriating become more realized as we want to root for them or . This book shines. It's fun, interesting, and engaging.

New characters are introduced and smaller characters get bigger parts that help both the plot and the main characters. My favorite character of the series, Hatset, was introduced here and she becomes a breath of fresh air. It felt like Chakraborty really enjoyed writing these characters. If you can get through the first one, I recommend continuing because the second one is better.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. I liked the use of Muslim folklore/fantasy elements to tell a sweeping epic fantasy series.

The first of the series, in my opinion, should tell a complete story, leaving the reader wanting more. This one didn't feel as complete as I was expecting it too. I felt like I needed to read the second one right away to complete it. It's not a bad thing, but it's not what I wanted. I wanted the option to end and not see how the full story ends.

To Chakraborty's credit, she builds at the end that made it very difficult to put down. She also spent a lot of time world building and setting the stage. It felt almost more important than the story itself. She crafted a beautiful world with interesting people. I don't know if the world building complemented the plot or characters as much. There are moments where each main character is aggravating and exasperating. Toward the end, I had some problems with her treatment of Nahri and her agency of her choices. Overall though, a fun read and a great start to a series.

This was fine. I was expecting a lot worse based on the reviews on Goodreads. The book is a fast read and can be completed in a day or two.

It felt a bit all over the place. All the events seem to take place in about a week or two and there's a lot that happens. Overall, Rowell's style still holds up and it's mostly fun.

My issues with it:
1. I don't think she's good at writing characters that are biracial and Black. When we get the character from that POV, it felt like all the other characters, which might sound good in theory, but those experiences, especially one of a 6'2" black man from America illegally entering a country felt like it missed the mark.

2. The importance of being magical or having magical blood. I'm not a fan of the language around this. The magical people looking down on people who don't have power, especially in today's time where you can see it everywhere. The purity of the blood, dating a normal person, all of it rang too eek for me.

3. Therapy. Girl, these people need to talk some things out and work through being taken advantage of by older people. Like for reals for reals.

4. Simon and Baz's relationship- I'm so confused by it. I guess it's about as passionate as one can feel at that age. I will say they communicated better.

5. Simon is a dolt. I mean, I get it that the Mage basically didn't care about their curriculum but it definitely shows in Simon.

Would I read more in this world? Yeah, I would. I did find the world she created interesting enough and would read more about other people in that universe.