Didn’t realize it was a sequel and not really feeling the new adult story. Book is fine (great for some people) I’m just not vibing with it. 

This is a good book for some. However it presented everything as binary - male female. It said continually that everyone feels sexual attraction even after a very short into on asexuality. It used transsexual a term that is not typically used anymore. Also, the political climate has changed so much that telling gay students to go to their administrators and teachers at school because the law is on their side may be harmful (and I question if it ever was truly safe advice.) Still a lot of good information for specific people. 

Shadow of the Wicked is a high fantasy world published as a novella. While it is potentially the start of a fantasy world, it is the first published, which honestly left me a bit confused. As a reader, you are thrown right into the world where there are two twin brothers. One that wields a sword and is out to rid the world of magic. The other is a magic user. As a novella, there is only so much world-building that could be done. At times I thought I was missing out on a whole book of backstory that was summarized really quickly. This made sense to me, but alas, no such book exists. Hopefully, one will at some point because there is so much to this world yet to be discovered. 

 

This book is full of torture - the internal self-reflection type as well as the gory bodily type. It was really reminiscent of Mark Lawrence’s early work. If you enjoyed that, then I think you will really enjoy this novella. The writing is solid - although by nature of being a novella, some parts were not as flushed out as they could be. Also, I wish some concepts were not repeated as much as they were. 

 

I was not a huge fan of the female representation in the book. There were only two women - both wives of the men. Actually, there was one woman and a memory of a second woman. The representation was not problematic, but it also wasn’t great and conformed to stereotypes. Loose lips and all that. There was no other diversity in the book. 

 

I am not sure I would continue on with this world specifically, but when Smith writes a series with a bit more diverse, I will be all in to read it. I do think that many people will enjoy this story, though. If hyper-masculine fantasy is your thing - then absolutely check this out. 

The book was good but just not for me. It is about a college freshman searching for love. 

It is hard to write a book review for a book that is seventeen in the series. Usually, this far into a series, the plot lines have either become repetitive or the characters have changed and adapted so much that saying anything would spoil the earlier books. With this series, it is the latter. There may be books I like more than others, but there is not one book that does not move the world forward. What I really love is seeing the maturity of Rachel Morgan, the main character. She has gone from a hard, strong young adult to a persistent woman. 

 

Reading this series is like meeting up with friends. I remember picking up these books when I was in grad school as a single parent of three kids, it was my self-care time. And picking up a new volume ten years later it still brings the same joy. 

 

If you like urban fantasy, then I highly recommend this series but start with the first book. If you love this series, then continue on. This book is as great as all the rest. 

Translation State is a stand-alone novel set in the Imperial Ranch universe. If you have not read the original trilogy (Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, and Ancillary Mercy), you should really start there. You may be able to follow along with the story without reading the trilogy, but you will not get the full implications of this novel. There is just so much that happened to make it to this point. 

 

I adore Ann Leckie and, specifically, this world. I love how Ann talks about gender from a human standpoint. She explores the complexities and presents a world where gender is no longer restrained to this arbitrary binary system that we currently have. I also love how she presents alien cultures. They are not human, and at times can be extremely hard to relate to. Which is brilliant. Even more so, she writes them in a way that we can relate to aspects of their unfamiliarity. 

 

Translation state focuses on Presgr Translators. Presgr is a race that is so dissimilar to humanity, with no concept of individuality, that they had to construct essentially a new species to even acknowledge the sentience of humans. Translation State explores this intersection of species in Presgr Translators while also showing the politics that we have seen in prior novels. It was brilliantly done. 

 

I adore this world and am in awe of Ann Leckie’s skill. 

How to be Remembered is about Tommy Lewellyn, a boy who is forgotten every year on his birthday. While this instantly brings to mind The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, these two books could not be more dissimilar. 

 

After his first birthday, Tommy is placed into a group home for children without families. It is a loving place that accepts Tommy year after year. Then when he is fourteen years old, he falls in love with another resident, one that forgets him after his next birthday. Tommy is determined to make a place for himself in a world that forgets him. 

 

The book is, for the most part, very well written. The characters are vivid, and the settings stick in your mind. Except for the unnecessary, random, and frequent POV changes, I loved the writing style. 

 

Tommy is what you could call a cinnamon roll character. You can’t help but love him, and everyone does love him. Year after year after year. This brings me to my main problem with the novel. It has no conflict. Everything is so easy. I wish my life is as easy as Tommy’s, and I am not forgotten over and over again. Also…in the end of the novel, there is a situation (I won’t spoil it) that makes no sense considering that Tommy’s own parents forgot about him on his first birthday. The very people who contributed to his genetic makeup. 

 

I am also not a fan of writing fantastical elements into books and just expecting readers not to question them or take them at face value. Why was the fact that Tommy forgotten never really more than a passing question? I think exploring this would have been more interesting. 

 

I do think that a lot of people will love How to be Remembered. It is great if you want a light, fun fantasy read. I, however, was left wanting a bit more.