4/5

Weird, queer and strangely compelling. Sol Katz is an archivist sorting through dead people's effects. His life gets complicated when odd things start happening at the archive and he gets closer to his new partner. Oh, and he's a vampire.

- The character of Sol was super well done. We follow his point of view and really get into his head about his worries, his struggles, his joys and his pitfalls. 

- The format of the book is strange. We get regular prose from Sol interspersed with scripts, email chains, fanfiction, old forum posts and more. It is sometimes a little disjointed but definitely fits the vibe of this book.

- The queer representation is very thoughtful and show both overtly and through metaphor and allegory. How Sol's vampirism fits into this really works and I love how they contrasted the queer and the vampiric.

If you like spooky, queer and very weird books, pick up Dead Collections.

Sometimes you read a book that lives up to the hype and blows your mind away. The Way of Kings did just that. It's been recommended to me for a long time and I finally took the plunge. 

We follow several different perspectives of people from the fantasy land of Roshar: Kaladin, surgeon turned soldier turned slave; Dalinar, a prince whose thirst for war wanes; Shallan, a thief seeking a scholar; and Szeth, an unwilling assassin.

- The threads of perspective in this book could almost be separated into different novels yet also weave around the others in various ways. This behemoth of a book is just the beginning and I can wait to continue the series and see the tapestry take shape.

- Of course, being a Sanderson novel, the world building is sublime. He seems to have crafted a world down to its molecules. There's history, art, literature, ecology, war, mythology, religion. And all of it functions as a real world would.

- This was the first book I've ever tried annotating. As my first attempt I've mostly just underlined parts that spoke to me. The Way of Kings has so many quotable and relatable phrases and sentences and I loved that the book made me think beyond its own story and about the ways in which I view my world.

Fantastic and gloriously detailed fantasy. A must read for any fantasy fan.

5/5

Audiobook narrated by David Thorpe.

Are you looking for a light and gay fantasy reminiscent of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell? Want intrigue, engaging characters and lots of overt romance? Look no further than A Marvellous Light. Set in the Edwardian period a magician and a baronet are thrown together to solve the mystery of a disappearance. Curses, magical party games and queer intimacy ensue.

- The two main protagonists are really fun to follow. we have Robin, a new baronet trying to work out his new life as a peer, and Edwin, a magician working in the civil service. They were both distinct, wonderful men who I wanted to give the biggest hugs to. The narrator also did a really good job giving them their own individual voices.

- The story was amazing, swinging from magical mystery to cosy historical to raunchy sex scenes. Nothing felt forced or out of place and I enjoyed the way each facet enhanced the others.

- The magic system was a really cool idea. I played Cat's Cradle as a child and I could really imagine the possibilities and limitations of this kind of system.

A really enjoyable read and I plan to read the sequel A Restless Truth very soon. 

3.75/5

Queer is exactly the word to describe this book, in all senses of the word. This book is odd, contains many ideas about LGBTQ+ identities and examines them in a critical and almost academic manner. There are also illustrations which help aid the subject matter.

- I went into this book assuming it to be a graphic novel about the history of the LGBTQ+ community. Whilst this is touched upon, the main lense of the book focuses on how various theories (especially queer theory) and hypotheses have been established and evolved over time. The book is thorough in this but also slightly confusing. If you were looking for a simple introduction to the community, I wouldn't pick this as my first foray.

- However, it does explain in explicit and poignant detail the problems and benefits of each philosophy it covers. The book talks about how various movements have both improved and detracted from their own communities and emphasise heavily how we should critically analyse and remember this.

Reasonably heavy but an interesting, reflective and a good spark for beginning a philosophical queer journey. I'd recommend to those already familiar with the terminology and community who are looking for further, more analytical reading.

4/5

Continuing on with this wonderful manga series. In this volume we learn about the incident that depopularised dinosaur parks and the difficult realities of caring for some of the amazing beasts.

- I really enjoyed how they showed the incident and the factors that played into it. In real life you can see how human error, arrogance and misleadingly anthropomorphic thinking could lead to such a disaster in an actual zoo.

- As the before, the end of chapter information pages were enlightening and informative but in a beginner friendly way. They struck the balance between scientific and lay-person friendly well.

A lovely follow up in the series and I can wait to get my hands on vol. 3.

3.75/5

Audiobook narrated by Clare Higgins.

I first learned of this book when visiting Sissinghurst Castle, home of the late Vita Sackville West. Vita and Virginia were lovers and Virginia wrote this book with the character of Orlando inspired by Vita. 

Orlando follows the titular character from their beginning as an Elizabethan lord as they live through centuries until the twentieth century. During this long life Orlando changes from a man to a woman how that transition affects them in different ways.

-This is the first Woolf book I've read so I have no comparison but the prose seems very dense, sometimes superfluous. Albeit part of the plot, the book transitions from regular descriptions of events and characters to poetic verse, sometimes mid paragraph. This works to an extent as part of the book but was slightly confusing listening to the audiobook.

- As someone who exists outside the gender binary, I really appreciated the meditations and insights by and of Orlando around their transition. They contemplate how different their experiences were as a man to a woman, what opportunities are changed for them, how they interact with others, how they perceive themself. I have thought some of these things myself on occasion and considering this was published 1928, was very progressive and forward thinking in this way.

- Some books are about the destination. This book is very much about the journey and more centrally the character. Orlando is written as if a biographer were telling Orlando's story and this it achieves well. However, sometimes the prose becomes bizarre, dull or confusing and it can be hard to pin point what is going on. I feel audio may not have been the best format for this book as a physical or ebook version may have allowed for the reader to flick back and remember.

Ahead of its time, deeply reflective and a different way to think about gender, society and one's place within it. I would recommend as a classic book with good queer representation.

2.5/5

Bought on a whim during a sale, I was pulled in by the cover. Within the book I found a bizarre combination of zoophilia erotica and emotional recovery journey. Tahliah has recently gone through a nasty break up and is now staying with her best friend on an island. She goes freediving and discovers a creature. 

- I'll start with the positives: the parts of the book dealing with Tahliah's processing of her break up were good, relatable and, for the most part, healthy progress. These were the bits that made me actually feel for the main character.

- As for the erotic elements of this book... They made me feel weird. I've read some crypto erotica before and it's also had lots of jokes and ironic tones to it, more tongue-in-cheek. From what I can tell, Pull Me From the Deep is meant seriously and unironically. There is likely a market for this and people who enjoy this. Personally though, I didn't and it made me feel very weird and a bit creeped out.

- The writing was a bit hit and miss. I noticed several spelling mistakes and grammar errors in the earlier chapters, though this did improve later on. I did like the bits where the Creature is communicating and the author structures the words on the page in a wave-like pattern. Mostly though, it does read a little like fanfiction.

I feel like there is an audience for this type of book but that I am definitely not that audience. For those who enjoy the more out there side of erotica.

4.25/5

Audiobook narrated by Perdita Weeks.

With mythology retellings being popular of late, I decided to listen to Circe. Following the eponymous sorceress, we hear about Circe's life in her father's halls, her exiled to Aeaea and get to enjoy the cast of characters she meets.

- I really enjoyed how Miller crafted Circe. She is neither hero nor villain and her strengths and faults are equally on show. Circe is introspective but also sometimes unable to see the bigger picture.

- The reader is treated to snippets of bits of ancient stories. We see Prometheus, Daedalus and Icarus, the minotaur, Odysseus and more. It gives scope to Circe's existence and links her into the ancient world.

- Aeaea itself was probably my favourite part of this book. Despite it being essentially Circe's prison, this beautiful island filled with nature and green sounded like a cosy paradise and I yearned to be there in its groves and beaches.

Slow, winding and atmospheric with ebbs and tides of Circe's existence. Perfect for mythology fans.

4.5/5

Often the sequel or second book in a series tends to be less enjoyable than the first but boy does The Fated Sky buck that trend. Dr Elma York, aka The Lady Astronaut, joins a team on humanity's first expedition to Mars.

- The characters in The Calculating Stars were very well done but The Fated Sky just makes that better. The setting of this book restricted the number of side characters and seems to have allowed those that remain to have more depth and facet to them. I particularly enjoyed how the relationships between the Mars mission crew panned out as a group of people confined together for a long time.

- The crushing reality of space travel is shown in all its beautiful and horrifying detail. Kowal does not shy away from the negative aspects and dangers of space travel and the raw emotions of the characters on this journey were amazing. I love books that hypothesise the realities of space travel rather than rose-tinted romps through the galaxy.

- As in the previous book, Kowal weaves in actual historical events and society in a way that is very believable. Racism, Apartheid, polio, terrorism, political radicalism, Dr Martin Luther King, sexism, gender roles: all that and much more are mixed into the narrative incredibly well.

Although you would need to read the first book to understand a lot of the plot, The Fated Sky is an amazing book and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys realistic sci-fi with lots of human elements.

4/5

A short and sweet urban fantasy about a romance between a teenager and a selkie. Morgan's parents have recently divorced, her brother is causing problems and she is struggling with keeping a secret from her friends. Then appears Keltie from the sea and a sweet love blossoms between them.

- As with previous books I've read by Ostertag, the art style for this graphic novel is beautiful in it's simplicity and ability to convey the feelings of the character. I particularly loved how well Keltie's eyes were done.

- I do love creatures from myths and legends and this is the first time I've seen selkies woven into a new tale. Far from the often mysterious and sometimes negative myths and legends, Keltie is like the seals: bright, bubbly, curious.

- The sapphic representation here is super cute and well done. Given the age of the protagonist it's all very light romance but the strength of the feelings and emotions of teenage romance are all there.

For those who enjoy sapphic myth retellings and light YA romantic fantasy, this book is enjoyable and wonderfully illustrated.