laurelthebooks's Reviews (662)

I didn't expect to deeply contemplate the many facets of the word, animal, and connotation of 'pig', but I suppose that only speaks in favor of Sax's poetry collection as that was indeed what I ended up doing. There's a near viscous quality to their writing that mires you as the reader into the poetry. Was reading this pleasant? Hmmmm...no. Was it fascinating and engrossing? Absolutely.

If you're one for visceral description and uncomfortable contemplation over a wide breath of tangential topics this will be in your wheelhouse. I know there are specific sections of poems that I rather want embeded in my brain although my personal enjoyment of the individual poems varied wildly throughout the collection.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance digital copy to review.

If urban fantasy is your jam, I would highly suggest picking up Ebony Gate. With a mysterious theft, clan debts being called in for payment, death gods, and a healthy dose of magical sword fights this book definitely keeps you on your toes. The San Francisco setting gave me a new appreciation for relearning a city again as well. Personally, one of my favorites parts was Emiko’s love of weaponry and the occasional sword discussion. 

Overall, a fun romp that I can see being an exciting series. While there are plenty of details to absorb the plot isn’t especially intricate, so go ahead and plan on tearing through it if you like action packed reads.

A short, yet still phenomenal memoir - Cho dives directly into her experience with psychosis, from the loose connections she had with reality to the day to day life of involuntary admission to a psych ward. You would think that the stories of her life prior to this admission would detract from the psychosis narrative, but instead they work together to paint an image of Cho both past and present. A masterful use of split narrative, Inferno is a captivating memoir.

Dragons. Family. Determination. Erasure. Consent. Friendship. Power. To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose touches on all of these themes and even more (not going to put them all here - if these pique your interest grab the book!).

Anequs’ practical mindset was beautiful to me. She’s straightforward and caring and enters a world where neither of those qualities are considered of benefit. She doesn’t let that stop her. Anequs and her bonds to not only her dragon but to her home, family, friends, and the world around her are a powerful part of this book. Blackgoose’s descriptions of the world and sciences here are in-depth which I appreciated. I love elaborate detail. Not to mention how well the cultural contexts of our narrator, Anequs, shine through.

This is a stunning work of character, happenings, thought, and story. This book was tough to put down, and I cannot understate how much I adored flying through this story.

 

Dark fantasy poetry with an absolutely stunning frame of disability - it took me a few poems to really sink into the language but I adored it. I’m going to reread many of these poems.

An animal companion book with the magical murder bird that is a roc? Sign me up!

That was me when I first heard of this book, in my gleeful forgetting that animal companion books always wrench the knife into your heart and twist. (Black Beauty taught me this young. I should've known better.)

Knife-twisting aside, this is a magnificent novella. Simultaneously monstrous and courageous, so much of this story circled around obsession and perseverance in a stunning manner.

"I've already given you everything of myself. I've left my home, I've braved death, I've devoted myself to your care and training. I hunt with you and for you, I deliver all the bloodshed you crave, I worship you with my weak human frailty. In return, you must stay."

The Mimicking of Known Successes manages not only to be an oddly cozy reconnection between two lovers who have grown since they parted ways and a satisfying mystery reminiscent of the classics of the gene.

If you like your Holmesian mysteries with a little bit of sci-fi, and perhaps a touch of steampunk, give this one a try. 

The Lies of the Ajungo reads like folk tale and myth come to life - it is powerful and rings down to your bones.

I love a good collection, and this absolutely blows that phrase out of the water. I adored all of the essays in this book, and the variety of short stories brought me joy. 

Pick this up if you’ve never read Chinese genre fiction and double so pick this up if you have. There’s a great selection from time travel, cultivation, dragons, jiaoren, and space exploration to virtual reality and morality.