Record of a Spaceborn Few

By. Becky Chambers

P. 368

Format: Print

Rating: *****

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Record of a Spaceborn Few is the third book in the Wayfarers series. The series is set in the same universe, but each book focuses on a specific section of the universe. While the books can be read separately, there is a connection between the books that may be missed if they are not read in order. Specifically, Record of a Spaceborn Few is the story of the sister of one of the main characters in the first book. I find it interesting that I still think of the characters in the first book as the main characters, especially since I feel just as emotionally invested in each character in every subsequent book.

Chambers has such amazing ways of making the characters become alive before your eyes. No matter how small an appearance they make, you are connected to them as a reader. This third book focus on the Exodus Fleet, a connected community that first brought Humans from the failing planet to the universe. The fleet is old and falling apart, but it has a strong community where everyone looks out for each other. As long as there is food no one will go hungry.

However, the story starts with an explosion. There is a tragic loss of life that the people of the Exodus Fleet are not ready to handle. Not only do they not have the technology to handle it, they emotionally are not ready. This book is ultimately the consequence of that explosion. 

House of Salt and Sorrow

By. Erin A. Craig

P. 416

Format: print/audio

Rating: ***

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Read as part of the 2021 Owlcrateathon

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House of Salt and Sorrow is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princess. In an island kingdom princess are dying and Annaleigh, once a middle child, is determined to know what happened to her four older sisters. The tale combines fantastical elements within a murder mystery.

The overall story was a decent read. I enjoyed it, but did not fall in love with, the story. Some of the twists were a bit much and near the end I felt more disconnected with the tale. The story is a dark tale and I appreciate that the tone kept a consistency throughout. 

Spin the Dawn 

By. Elizabeth Lim 

P. 416 

Format: print/audio 

Rating: **** 

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Read as part of the 2021 Owlcrateathon 

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I was not sure what to expect with Spin the Dawn. The concept of a tailor entering into a competition did not appeal to me all that much, which is why I put off reading this book as long as I did. I just kept hearing such great things about it, so I knew it was one that I wanted to finally pick up. 

 

I really enjoyed Lim’s writing. The characters were vivid and the setting beautifully described. The characters were also interesting. I enjoyed the asian inspired setting and magic. Maia, the main character, has to literally sew using the sun, moon, and stars to create a fabled gown. Again, this premise was not one that I was drawn to, but was one I surprisingly enjoyed. 

 

Maia is a master tailor, but she is denied the title because she is a women. Her skills matter less then her gender. I enjoyed how Spin the Dawn tackled gender expectations. There are a lot of important topics addressed in this book, and also provides an enjoyable world to escape to. 

 

Spin the Dawn is still very much YA with the angsty romance and everything works out in the end plot. For some this is a plus, and others this is not. Personally, I am burnt out of YA - even still I enjoyed my time with Spin the Dawn.

The Light of the Midnight Stars

By. Rena Rossner

P. 416

Format: eArc

Rating: ***

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I received an e-arc from @Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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The Light of the Midnight Stars is a Jewish inspired YAish fantasy story. The story follows three sisters born to a Jewish Rabbi. The story starts when the middle child turns twelve and follows them into adulthood.

I personally have never read a Jewish inspired fantasy story and I appreciated the uniqueness of that. It is also a historical fantasy, which I surprisingly enjoyed for the most part. The characters were relatable and developed with the exception of the youngest sister. I also appreciated the way that a few characters battled with the internalization of gender and gender expectations. 

I really enjoyed the novel at first. You got a sense of community and tradition with fantastical elements. It was a bit concerning to read about a thirteen year old getting engaged. I am sure it was historically accurate, but not acceptable now and it was uncomfortable reading about. The storyline also turns very dark and you are left with a tale of misery, and a message that women must always sacrifice for the next generation, a message that seemed contrary to the internalized battle of gender identity and was just a lot. 

The story also transitions to more of a fairy tale. The third sister has a plot line that is way to fantastical and her dialogue turns from prose to verse. I didn’t enjoy this storyline at all and to then read that this was one of the main focus for writing the book threw me off even more. 

I am sure that this book will become beloved by many. It is excellently written, it was just too much for me. Also, there are trigger warnings for just about everything. It is a dark fairy tale.

Sorrowland 

By. Rivers Solomon 

P. 368 

Format: eArc 

Rating: ****1/2 

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I received an e-arc from @Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

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Rivers Solomon write my favorite book of 2020 - An Unkindness of Ghosts. Sorrowland is very different. Sorrowland is an urban fantasy book about a young individual who grows up in a cult for African Americans and decides to leave. They discover that there is more to the home that they have called home, and that their is more too themselves. 

 

Sorrowland is a story that has a lot to unpack with you read it. The story has never left my mind since I read it. After a while I plan on picking it up and reading it again. The story itself is dark, but buried in that darkness is a sense of hope. It is a fantasy, but it is also very very real. 

 

If this all sounds vague, that is because to say anything about the plot would be to give something away. There is a lot going on, and it will take you a bit to even ground yourself enough to figure out where you are. However, you will not leave the story with everything tied up in a neat little bow. No this is speculative fiction at it’s best, it will leave you thinking about everything. 

 

My favorite and least favorite aspect of the book are the twins. They are my least favorite, because they are written to old. They were not believable. They were as mature in the start of the story at 18 months old as they were at the end when they were five(ish). I get the difficulty of moving along the narration of when there is only one adult and two children, but they were too old too young. However, the twins were also my favorite aspect. The way they were described is brilliant. The way you see them through their mother’s eyes and the way you get glimpses as to how others see them is remarkable. I loved it. 

These Violent Delights 

By. Chloe Gong 

P. 449 

Format: print/audio 

Rating: ****1/2 

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Read as part of the 2021 Owlcrateathon 

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These Violent Delights is Romeo & Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai. Two rival mafia families, one native to Shanghai and one that had emigrated from Russia generations ago. The two families are battling for control of the city from each other, the communists, and from outsiders trying to stake claim to the city. 

 

This book is  well written. The characters are vivid and dynamic. You empathize with them, no matter the size of the role they take in the story. The main fantasy plot is a big obvious and not all that intriguing. It does, however, set the scene for a more complex plot that is told - one that looks at the interplay between culture. Even though the story never leaves the city of Shanghai, the characters bring the entire world into play. You see the complexity of Juliette who comes from an important Chinese mafia family, but spent the majority of her childhood in America. Then there is Roma who was born and raised in Shanghai, but who’s family originally came from Russia. You also see the impact of mainland China as well as foreigners who both stake claim to the city. 

 

Add to that a YA angsty romance, and two teenagers trying to find their way. Plus as a bonus you get great references to the original Romeo and Juliet which are perfectly placed and add a humor to the story. 

The Guinevere Deception 

By. Kirsten White 

P. 336 

Format: print/audio 

Rating: **** 

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Read as part of the 2021 Owlcrateathon 

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The Guinevere Deception is a retelling of the King Arthur story focusing on Guinevere. However, this is not like the stories we have read before. As the title suggests Guinevere is not as she seems. She is a sorceress sent to defend King Arthur. 

 

The story starts of slow, but picks up pace. I did listen partially via the audiobook and the narrator was a bit difficult to listen to at first. However, after a bit I could tune her out and listen to the actual story. I preferred reading it in print, however. 

 

There were a lot of twists and turns. Most of them were fairly predictable, but enjoyable. Even though I guessed the main plot there were still a lot of side plots that were thrown in to keep you guessing. The overall experience was enjoyable. It does not completely follow the young adult formula while still being completely enjoyable for young adult fans.

Uncanny Jan/Feb 2021 

By. Various 

P. 164 

Format: ebook 

Rating: **** 

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Uncanny is currently my favorite science fiction magazine. They publish stories that are beyond the conventional old school space ship tales that are rehash of pulp science fiction. Instead the stories are creative, diverse, and a pleasure to read. 

 

However, the Jan/Feb 2021 edition was not my favorite edition to date. I enjoyed the stories that I read, but nothing was as impactful of what was in editions prior. They were all well written and worth the read, they didn’t stick with me the way others have in the past. Also, I felt like there was more non-fiction than fiction in this edition. Even if this is not factually the case, it was my impression. 

 

While this may not be my favorite edition, it is still a great read. Uncanny is an excellent science fiction magazine if you are looking for one to read.

Ravage the Dark 

By. Tara Sim 

P. 416 

Format: Paper/Audio 

Rating: *** 

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Ravage the Dark is the second and final book in the Scavenge the Stars duology. The book takes off immediately following the end of Scavenge the Stars. We continue to follow Amaya as she quests to figure out who she is and who she wants to become. We also follow Cayo who is dealing with the events in the first book as well as his own gambling addiction. 

 

The book is an adequate conclusion, and if you enjoyed the the first book it is worth continuing the series. I spent the first part of the book confused over the geography. I thought they were in one land that took an ocean voyage to get to, but then they seem to be back in their original homeland, and not just the main characters but also the side characters that were in the other homeland. I obviously was missing something, or there was a gaping plot hole. Unfortunately, this is what I have taken away from the book more than anything. 

 

However, the book also had strengths. The characters were well developed and the storyline was interesting. How many YA adaptions of the Count of Monte Cristo are there? 

The End of Men 

By. Christina Sweeney-Baird 

P. 400 

Format: eArc 

Rating: *** 

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I received an e-arc from @Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

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TW - This book is about a pandemic. 

 

In The End of Men a pandemic wipes out 90% of all men on the planet. The story is a catalog of the surviving women. It is told from multiple perspectives of women from varying backgrounds. The characters are used to move the plot forward. In such a narrative style it should be a strongly character based book. Yet, it is not. It is really the plot that moves the narration forward. The plot is just interwoven through multiple characters narration. 

 

The main reason that this works is that the characters do not really chance. The voice all stays the same. I am very bad with names, and I often forget all but the MC name when reading a book. Since there were a variety of MC and the names were all so dang generic (Amanda, Elizabeth, Cathrine, Lisa) I couldn’t remember who was who. I also could not tell who was who from their narrative voice. I had to wait for a context clue - ie this is the one who works at such and such job. This is the one that had this husband. Even the sole male narrator had a similar voice. 

 

The story itself was interesting to read. It was a bit of a hard subject after a year of living through our own pandemic, but it was fascinating to see how the author pictured human responses. The plot was chillingly realistic. 

 

I really do wish that the author spent some time talking about gender vs. biological sex. For 90% of the novel they were treated as one and the same thing. The last minute save at the end of the novel was not enough. Also, human biological sex is not as simple as the book suggested and that was never brought up by the genetic scientists. 

 

I did enjoy reading it, and do feel like it is worth the read. However, I would suggest you check it out of the library before you invest in your own copy.