rickjones's Reviews (1.66k)

The Bookshop at Water's End is a saccharine book with plenty of dramatic subplots. At times the melodrama was eye-rolling, yet I truly loved Henry's use of language and highlighted several quotes of hers throughout the narrative. I most enjoyed Piper's perspective, perhaps since we are closer in age. Her aching search for identity and difficulty embracing the oppositional sides of her personality as a dreamer and a realist made her an endearing and relatable character. Henry weaves magic through even the most mundane events in her character's lives, resulting in a reflecting pool of emotion sure to enchant even the most dour readers. 

Soul Jar is a wildly creative science fiction and fantasy anthology penned by disabled authors. Each of these stories presented unique explorations of the aforementioned genres that reflected the grace and perseverance necessary of disabled people in hostile or neglectful societies. However, I did not understand how some of these stories related to the disabled experience, which was somewhat jarring. If the anthology had been edited tighter to only include stories with explicitly disabled characters I would have given it a full star rating. Focusing on the strengths of the book, my favorite stories are summarized below.

Survivor's Blub by Meghan Beaudry: A person with lung transplants living through a pandemic explains how their elderly neighbor left them with the immunosuppressant medication they need to survive after the martial law government declared that providing it was a waste of resources. 

Spore, Bud, Bloody Orchid by Jay Viner: A cancer survivor with an insensitive and egotistical doctor knows her body is different after her operation to remove tumors, and finds her body growing new, inhuman life afterward.

Song of Bullfrogs, Cry of Geese by Nicola Griffith: A widow whose wife died from a worldwide pandemic of severe chronic fatigue makes peace with her grief and ends her isolation from others after spending a night in the woods fighting to survive her fatigue and leg injury. 

Weightless by Raven Oak: A fat woman with a knee replacement whose necessary practice of putting on her modified space suit saves the lives of other travelers and sparks accessibility reform for the spaceport afterward.

The Definition of Professional Attire by Evergreen Lee: A group of aliens are met with "complaints" over their physical appearance and forced to alter themselves in limiting and destructive ways even in an office that claims to want diversity.

The Arroyo Fiasco by Dawn Vogel: A pterosaur whose attempts to be helpful always end in disaster finally finds people "willing to work with me and my unique talents" after learning to ask and listen before providing help.

Cranberry Nightmare by Kit Harding: An autistic young woman refuses to mindlessly accept her small town's archaic rituals and puts up a necessary fight against them.

The Rising Currents of Ocean Fire in My Blood by Bethy Wernert: A autistic mermaid girl who was stolen from the sea by her restrictive and punitive mother finds the strength to escape back into the waves in order to save the life of her newly born child.
 
These stories were deeply meaningful for me to read, and I have no doubt that other disabled people will have similar experiences. It is both rewarding and painful to discover the rare occurrence of literature that uplifts and honors the voices of disabled authors because it reminds me of the wounding we endure from our ostracization and offers healing, all at once. I highly recommend this book for readers and selectors of library materials and hope that additional volumes may be on the horizon. 

Howl effectively tells the story of a young man living with post traumatic stress disorder after an assault he doesn't fully remember, using the allegory of werewolves. Those looking for a novel that unwinds a rich history of werewolf lore will be disappointed, but Hutchinson's story is valuable for what it is. Virgil is struggling through many difficulties familiar to teenagers, he has moved in with family he hardly knows, has to attend a conservative small-town high school, deals with cyberbullying that extends into the real world, and suspects his long-distance boyfriend is ready to end things. Through these experiences Virgil learns that he has imperfect allies in his friends and family, and that life is more ambiguous than he first believed. This is a book without easy answers, but overflows with hope. 

The Road to Roswell is a wacky novel that becomes increasingly endearing as we get to know the leading characters. When the novel started, I worried that it was maybe too humorous, but while reading the final pages, I didn't want it to end. Willis invokes tropes that play well together, romantic comedy, road trips, cosmic mistaken identities, to weave a story that is more about the journey than the destination.  I would recommend this book to readers who have a sense of humor, and are looking for a light science-fiction novel that is both entertaining and rewarding. 

Girls and Their Horses is a character study that successfully masquerades behind a thriller novel. If Brazier was a less adept author, many of the choices her characters made would have seemed nonsensical. Yet Brazier crafts her characters with histories, motivations and senses of self that clash wonderfully, maintaining tension throughout a novel that winds at times before reminding us that we are witnessing the fallout that culminated in a person's murder. I found this story fascinating, especially because it zeros in on a competitive world that the average person will never view from the inside. 

Ponyboy is a devastating and uplifting story of a young man trying to form his identity and find his place in the world and among the people he loves. Ponyboy struggles to stride through alcoholism and toxic romances as his self-reflected is misted over by heavy emotions. He has a poetic way of thinking that I did not fully understand, but could always feel. This is a unique and lyrical book with a sense of intimacy for its leading character, who stumbles at times but ultimately finds himself in a happier place than he was when we first met him. 

While this book is rightfully considered trite by some, I've always had a fondness for it because my father gave his much-loved copy to me to read back when I was a bored teenager. I enjoy that the book includes photographs of seagulls, although they are somewhat randomly placed throughout the text. The story does capture the imagination and can provide a source of inspiration if you allow it to. Even if you don't read the book as a philosophical text, it is brief and rewarding to read on a summer day.

Lakelore is an emotional story about two neurodivergent and nonbinary teenagers of color who are struggling with self-esteem issues they're scared to let surface. As an adult reader, I found the writing too repetitive and didactic, and the story continuously felt like it was in the introductory stage until I realized it was nearly over. I unfortunately expected something more exciting from the description of a "world under the lake", which readers never get to fully experience. However, the colorful descriptions of the lake-shaded world and the characters' emerging self-clarity were rewarding to read. Teen readers who are new to finding stories that relate to their experience will likely treasure this title. 

Our Wives Under the Sea is a unique take on a haunting and deconstruction of a relationship. The start of the story mainly focuses on Miri's frustration that her wife, Leah, is profoundly different after her rescue from the deep sea, which I found slow and repetitive at times. Yet as the book continues, we learn terrifying details about Leah's journey that both women omitted until they were impossible to ignore. I most enjoyed reading Leah's perspective, as I also have a fascination with the ocean and the creatures that roam it. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy both literary and horror fiction, and who appreciate stories that leave many of its answers to mystery.