simonlorden's Reviews (1.38k)

I received an ARC through NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

Definitely a new favorite. The Wings Upon Her back is an absorbing, fantastic story about following a charismatic leader even when it starts to look a lot like an abusive relationship. It's also about starting over when you've spent decades of your life dedicated to the wrong cause.

In a city abandoned by five sleeping gods, the followers of one take ruthless control of the other Four. Zemolai was born as Zenya in the scholar sect, but she's been a loyal member of the warrior sect for 29 years, using mechanical wings to soar to the sky and follow the mecha god's orders. When she makes a single, tired mistake, her sect tosses her out to the street to die - and from there we see the story unfold in two timelines. Zemolai, the jaded, middle-aged warrior being taken in by a group of young rebels ("bolt-babies"), and Zenya, the passionate youth who wants nothing more than to earn her wings and protect her city as a member of the warrior sect.

The writing is genius. There were so many sentences that I had to stop and read several times, because they were just that delicious. Stories with several timelines often disappoint me because I find myself bored by the past timeline and I want to get back to the present, but I didn't feel that in this case. The timelines put the story together and played off of each other, especially towards the end. The way the tension between Zenya and her brother and Zemolai and Vodaya is built up until it finally cracks is just... chef's kiss.

It definitely has the marks of an abusive relationship, and as the author says at the end - I hope you find something resonant in this, but I also kind of hope you don't. 

I also appreciated the casual normalization of queer identities. Zemolai herself doesn't have a romantic interest or big gender feelings, but there are multiple nonbinary characters in the cast, as well as a polyamorous triad.

Mixed feelings. Liked the main character, didn't like the style much, and I'm not a fan of cheating plotlines. 

I'm so angry at how women labelled "witches" were treated when all they did was heal ungrateful people. Also, justice for redheads!!! It's not enough that poor girl is constantly called ugly for her red hair, even the love interest goes "you've grown into a beautiful woman, well except for your hair of course"??? dude you don't deserve her.

This story focuses on four indigenous teens, two of them Two-Spirit. I love how it introduces you to the culture in an understandable way, and while most of the book is about Two-Spirit identities and male-female roles this time, there's also description of police brutality and the violence of residential schools, not to mention foster care. (Fortunately, Dez's foster mother is actually cool, but that social worker sucks. Or she's very burnt out.)

Adorable, colorful and easy-to-understand picture book about a young Two Spirit child.

I was surprised by how much I liked this. It was just the right length, short while still not being too rushed or lazy. Caleb and Blake hooked up in high school, which didn't end well, and they don't meet again until years later when they're forced to work together at a Christmas tree farm. So there's pining, guilt, and also some delightful winter clichés like snowball fights and being snowed in. There's also a cute overprotective dog :)

This was beautiful and romantic and so interesting. It was surprising but nice that the AI was actually the more emotional one, and I loved seeing and learning about Fawn and her family the most.

These books always feel like a warm hug.

Sweet and cute romance between a barista and a writer. It's mostly fluff and some smut, with not much plot, but it was cute.

 Hát ez nagyon durva volt. Valahogy a saját nyelveden nagyobbat ütnek ezek a könyvek, vagy nem tudom. A gyerekek eltűnése csak a kezdet, utána mintha mindenki elvesztené az eszét, van itt bűnszövetkezet, gyilkosság, prostitúció. Együltében elolvastam az egészet, mert tudnom kellett hogy mi történik, és csak fogtam a fejem mikor egyre jobban eldurvultak a dolgok. Egyébként tetszett, de tényleg kicsit durvább volt mint amire alapból számítottam. 

A dreamlike and romantic story about an enchanted museum. It is very short so there isn't much to say about it, but I liked the imagery.