I'll be honest, it's not really my taste. I see why it's an important piece of literature, and other than a few interesting lines/funny scenes I didn't really care for it. I also don't think I know enough about the Russian Revolution to be able to draw parallels and come to any accurate conclusions. I'll probably reread this in the future, especially since it's so short. I recommend it but only if you're actually interested. 

New York takes from her, sometimes. But she takes too. She takes its muggy air in fistfuls, and she packs it into the cracks in her heart.

Jane is spun sugar. A switchblade girl with a cotton-candy heart.

I am in love with how Casey McQuiston writes, their settings and characters are absolutely stunning. Their writing is very lyrical and expressive, almost poetic. I swear I was better at expressing my emotions over text with my friends after reading this book. It’s kind of a younger-sounding Sally Rooney type of style.
I also like the little documents at the start of every chapter, although considering the chapters are very long we don’t get many of them. I’m a sucker for any kind of mixed media in books. The dialogue is very realistic, which I appreciate. Like, characters stutter and talk over each other all the time, and there’s plenty of silences, some awkward, some not. 
Although it usually kind of annoys me when the book takes forever to get past what is described in the synopsis (it's also annoying if the synopsis passes in like the first 10 pages, cough The Girls I've Been cough), this time it didn't really bother me. We had enough other stuff going on that the main plotline of "oh she's stuck on the subway" taking a while wasn't annoying. 
 
Also, I read Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo recently and this reminded me a bit of that. Asian-American lesbian from San Francisco, except this time 1970s instead of 1950s. Time for me to read a queer historical fiction book set during the HIV/AIDS crisis and I’ll be set. 

One of the only two things that bothered me was the timeline. 2020 is mentioned as happening in present time, yet there is no mentions of masks, lockdowns, people getting COVID or any type of impacts on the characters lives at all. It was just a footnote in the story, which for a book that’s about a 20 something finding her place in the world was really weird. 
The other thing is that it felt like the kind of book that should be written in first person, but nope, third person limited. Not even omniscient, which would make more sense. I guess it kind of contributed to the slight magical atmosphere of the story? I’m not really sure what the point was. 
But I was able to suspend my disbelief for the timeline and I eventually got used to the weird narration style.
 
I also really like the time lapse parts of stories, and this one had that as well. It’s like everything I love in one book. Found family, New York, queer people, magical realism, those special moments that give you that indescribable feeling of joy and belonging, the satisfaction from doing something you’re good at… just a few of the specific aspects of the book that I adored. Overall, it's a wonderful sapphic romance book/coming of age book and I loved it. 

It was okay, I guess? Compared to the last fantasy book I read before this (Sorcery of Thorns) this one is very much meh. I’m only reading it for three reasons though. One, I want to read the books before watching the adaptation, two, I wanted more of the world that I fell in love with in Six of Crows, and three, I wanted to be able to talk to my friends about it, so. Considering it's pretty short that's enough for me to bother. Also, one more book to go, and then I’ll finally read King of Scars! I’m excited to get more of Nikolai, he's my favorite character so far.

Objectively, this is like 4 or even 3.4 stars (depending on your generosity), for good worldbuilding, pretty writing and some really unique aspects. Subjectively, I love these characters so much, and not just the main ones. The side characters are vivid too. This book is truly a readers dream, I mean, who doesn't want magical books that have personalities and can kill you? Sign me up! 

The only problem with this book in my opinion was that some of the plot was a bit cliché and I guessed the main mystery before the main character did, so that was a bit annoying. However, it's unique enough and I liked the writing so much (honestly the dialogue had me laughing out loud, and some scenes were just 🥺) that I was easily able to overlook it. 

It reminded me a lot of Strange the Dreamer, in terms of the themes relating to the magic of libraries, overcoming prejudice and self discovery. The closest thing to the Otherworld and demon aspects of the magic that I can think of is the Infernal Devices trilogy, but it's not that close so I wouldn't use how much you liked that as a comparison. I would like to read more books with this writing style, after An Enchantment of Ravens, of course. All in all, a relatively quick read for a fantasy book and I really enjoyed it. Bonus points for an absolutely gorgeous cover. 

I think I often take for granted how accepting most people are today, and how relatively easy (at least where I am) it is to find a support network. This book made me more grateful and aware of these things that I had perhaps noticed before but not really payed attention to. I understood theoretically what it was like to be a gay woman in the 1950s, but this book gave me the emotional side of it and what it was really like compared to now. One side effect is that it made me more sensitive to those offhanded homophobic comments and jokes a lot of people still make, I was just like “seriously? After everything? Cmon people, it’s the 21st century!” 

Also, I liked how the author also gave us the perspective of Lily’s parents and aunt (which isn’t advertised on the back of the book or in the synopsis), who were first generation immigrants. The trauma they experienced from war, immigration and discrimination is very clearly depicted. It also gives some insight into those side characters’ behavior later on, and helps the reader empathize. 

Malinda Lo does contrast so well, comparing the “two sides” of Lily’s life with vivid descriptions. She also really makes your heart ache for Lily. Some scenes made me want to just give her a big hug and tell her that it would be alright. This book also made me want to visit San Francisco again and see some of the places mentioned. Overall, a beautifully written historical fiction with a glowing setting. I adored it. 

Side note: for anyone curious to learn more about books like Strange Season, I recommend Jessica Kellgren-Fozard’s video (https://youtu.be/pTkLvTdR2ek ) on lesbian pulp fiction that I coincidentally watched a few weeks ago and gave me some interesting context for this book. She also has a series of videos and shorts titled Queer History 101 that talk about things like legislation against cross dressing, which is also mentioned in the author’s note of this book. 

It wasn’t as adrenaline filled as the first one, and I’m still a bit confused about the whole family tree, but it was still a fun, fast read. The love triangle was annoying and cringey at the start, especially after having just read a masterpiece, but I got used to it pretty fast. And yes, she did mention his grey eyes. Multiple times. Send help.
I don’t really feel the need to read the last book since this one wrapper up quite well, but if I feel like it I might. 

05/15/22

I’ve never read any of Sally Rooney’s work before, but this definitely made me want to. It’s a short story about a woman named Eileen and her life up until the present. From what I’ve heard about Sally Rooney’s writing, she writes about average people’s lives and simple daily things, which this story very much encompasses. It feels like you’re getting a small window into this character. I really liked it. 

A darkly beautiful and lyrically written tragedy. I couldn’t have imagined a better ending, and the writing was some of the best I’ve ever read. So many great quotes, but also a great story overall. 

The writing style is pretty unique, but definitely not for everyone. It's a book that I think most people either love or hate, and I happen to fall into the love category. It's very much the kind of book where you don't really know what's going on for a large part of it, but it's also short enough for that to not be too annoying. Heavy use of metaphors, so if that's not your thing, you probably won’t like it. Also, some people might find it pretentious but I like books that occasionally make me feel dumb and force me to look up words. 

I will say though, if you’re looking for complex world building this isn’t the book for you. It’s all kind of vague and wayyyy more character focused. You do have to stick with it at the start, since the story jumps right in and is pretty confusing. 

Take this is a warning, its not light reading, I made the mistake of picking this up in a relatively stressful time of my life, naïvely thinking that since it was short it would be an easy read. I was wrong and that almost made me DNF it. Don’t make my mistake. 

It reminded me of House of Leaves but not quite as intriguing, which I suppose the length makes up for. It doesn't have to hook me as hard to convince me to finish it. In some ways it was similar (uncommon formatting, although not to the extreme degree of House of Leaves, and a very creative writing style) overall it was a very different experience, although one I still really enjoyed.

P. S. There is an element of body horror, and since I haven’t read that before it made me slightly uncomfortable. Not too much though.

For that instant, at least, they seemed one and the same, as though all anguish exists in the same deep well, no matter what loss or misfortune leads us to it. We might be at odds, hate each other, and desire each other's destruction, but in our despair, we are lost in the same darkness, breathing the same air as we choke on our grief.
 

I really enjoyed this book. We get a ton of really great world building, and as usual Laini Taylor’s writing is beautiful. 
My only issue with this book was the character of Nova. I found that I didn’t really spend enough time with her to care as much as I did about Lazlo and Sarai. Also I feel like her scenes were more focused on giving us a backstory than character development, but maybe that’s just me. 
I remember thinking when I first started Strange the Dreamer that it was kind of like The Alchemist if you had more magic and less weird advice, but it’s so much better. 
Either way, I highly recommend this duology. Lazlo will forever have a special place in my heart.