The book blurb compares this book to Piranesi and Station Eleven and that is only the case on one point, a point I cannot share without spoiling the whole book. Beyond that, I would completely disagree with that assessment. 

 

It is apparent very early that we have an unreliable narrator that has been through trauma. It leaves the narration fragmented and choppy with obvious areas that point to trauma. I wasn’t a fan. Disassociation and being a psychopath are two different things, but they almost seemed to be combined doing a disservice to everyone with PTSD. 

 

I didn’t enjoy the rep, and the book blurb was very misleading about what you were picking up and I didn’t enjoy that. However, it isn’t a bad book. I can see so many people enjoying this book. And unlike me, I’m sure many will enjoy the ending. I would be willing to pick up more by this author, but this particular book wasn’t my favorite. 

The Deep Sky is a science fiction thriller that leaves you on the edge of your seat with so many theories running through your head only to find out they can all be as right as they are wrong. 

 

Asuka was born in a future America where wild fires have left Californians as refugees and extremest have become mainstream. Hum maybe it isn’t that futuristic after all. Everything seemed not only possible but also likely. Including the plan to send out a deep space ship to colonize a new planet. 

 

Only eighty will go, and at the age of twelve Asuka submits her application to be one of the few. Only now they are living in Japan and she is chosen to represent a country she barely knows. 

 

The Deep Sky takes place both on the ship and in the past. Asuka’s narration is plagued with self doubt and imposter syndrome and it is by looking to the past that we truly get a sense of who she is as a narrator and a character. 

 

I really enjoyed this book. It was full of do much non-binary/trans rep s as well as queer rep and it was normalized. Although that may have just been the space that these kids were allowed to grow up in. Progressive and toxic at the same time. 

 

There are a few items that were not as great. I do not understand why there was a plan to give birth to babies half way through the trip. A reason was given but it fell flat to me. I assume it was to make the characters all be individuals with uteruses. And it made for interesting pregnancy rep in space. You don’t get that a lot. But then again is it really a great idea for eighty people to be pregnant at the same time? Once the babies are born there would be no one left to ruin anything. 

 

Also, the reasoning behind the ending was a bit of a let down. I especially feel this way the more I have sat with it. The actual ending was as expected and played out well. But the reason for the whole mess could have been given a bit more thought or depth IMO. 

 

But mostly I just enjoyed it. The writing was great and the characters were well developed. 

The book was great. The narration was great. The editing of the audiobook was bad. Repeat sentences and other sentences cut off - they need to re-edit the audiobook. 

Romantic Fantasy is not my favorite subgenre of Fantasy, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up The Clan of Mists. What I found was a rich fantasy world with detailed world building and well developed characters. I appreciated the multiple POV perspective so that relationship that develops made sense even though it is a kidnapped to lovers fated mates. (is that a thing?)

There is spice for those that enjoy that. I enjoy that there was a well developed plot. It was a great read. It is nice to pick up a book different than what you normally read. My only critique would be there were a few too many fragmented sentences and the same word used in back to back sentences. But the overall writing is wonderful. 

If romance fantasy is your thing you will love this book, even though it isn’t my think I really enjoyed the read. 

I really enjoyed In The Lives of Puppets. I mean, it had robots with anxiety! What is not to love? Also, the twist retelling of Pinocchio was fun - but I really liked it for the rep. And the robots. You can’t forget them. 

 

Look, the story and writing were fine. Cute and well done, if not groundbreaking, with an ending I saw coming before the book got out of the prologue. But the asexual “romance” jokes that I actually found funny - that was something special. Even just seeing it talked about so openly. 

 

The anxiety rep in a little vacuum robot was probably cliche, but some cliches are worth sticking around. I’m a little torn on the psychopath robot as that is a real psychological disorder that I’m not sure worked or not. I don’t have enough frame of reference to say either way. 

 

But Victor was neurodivergent. Dare I say autistic? I normally hate unnamed autism rep. It is usually so poorly done. But this rep was amazing. I would be surprised if sensitivity readers were not used in this book, which is awesome. 

Nothing but the Rain is a debut novella by Naomi Salman. This is a speculative fiction book that takes place in a small town where for some unknown reason, the water is making people forget. The longer you stand out in the rain or are immersed in water, the longer back you forget. 

 

The main character is a female black doctor who is just trying to remember and survive. We follow through her journal, where we find a conflicted,  complex character that will instantly draw in the reader. 

 

I left the story wondering, so much so that I normally would be frustrated. Yet, somehow it worked perfectly. I think because this story is less about the what and how and more about the characters we meet along the way. I cannot wait to read more from this author.