A rather strong follow up to the amazing [b:The Poppy War|35068705|The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)|R.F. Kuang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1515691735l/35068705._SY75_.jpg|56364137], where we get to see what happened with all the characters after the war. It's hard, because war is hell and the characters are all very traumatized by their experiences. On top of that, they're thrown in another conflict, this time a civil war. On of the things that I found most attractive about this book is the way R.F. Kuang writes war, with a lot of attention payed to detail and tactics. So kudos to her for actually writting a war book I'd want to read.

Other than that, I enjoy the characters here and the general world building and development of the magic system. The relationships between the characters are also interesting and the tension created between them is realistic enough. I'm eagerly waiting for the last book in this series, because I have rather high hopes for it.

My first Discworld novel! Yay!

I've been wanting to read these books for a while now, but I wasn't sure where to start. Then, my book club chose this as our read, so I took it up. I really enjoyed [b:Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch|12067|Good Omens The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch|Terry Pratchett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1392528568l/12067._SY75_.jpg|4110990], so I was quite confident that the sense of humour in this book was gonna be my style. And it was. I loved the absurdness and the silliness of it all, the jokes about fantasy tropes and Death itself. All in all, a very enjoyable book. I'll definitely read more Discworld books in the future.

I knew nothing about the Narvaez expedition, so this book was a lot of new information. As always, I think it's pretty interesting when writers attempt to give voice to the voiceless. And I get the feeling that Laila Lalami did a lot of research on the topic and the period, because the writing was perfectly vivid and very realistic for 16th century. Also, I grew up with a lot of old adventure novels, and I feel as if Lalami was writing in that tradition, which made the story all the more enjoyable. It's a fascinating novel, well researched and well written, so I'd recommend it if you enjoy historical adventures.

This is a short and intense ghost novel. While some of the plot was fairly standard for the genre, the biggest selling point is definitely the setting, which is as gothic and creepy as the ghost stories it takes as a model. I loved the way in which it recalled Victorian horror stories, especially in the tone of the narrator. The psychological intensity was also a high point, with the tension being managed very well. I understand why this is such a classic in this genre.

One of my favourite things in books is when they have interesting/weird narrators. And the narrators in this book are definitely very interesting. Aparently, this novel has deep roots in Igbo mythology, of which I don't really know a lot (I want to, though, seems very interesting and I happen to be fascinated by folklore from different parts of the world). The main characters, Ada, is born through the intervention of an ancient god, which places her in a unique position in life: they have gods (yes, plural) inside of them. The narrative is alternatively told by Ada and Asughara, who takes over Ada's body when they grow up. The tension between these two parts of Ada also includes a masculine self, St Vincent, who seems to be gentler than Asughara. Ada navigates inmmigration, growing up, and finding themselves, always struggling with their identities. And this tension is reflected by them being a mix of different cultures (their father is Nigerian, while their mother is Malaysian; they emigrate from Nigeria to the US) and identities, which echo those gods inside of them.

The writing is also fantastic: very lyrical and beautiful, and it shows Ada's inner search with gorgeous prose and powerful insights. I'm very impressed by this book and it's a debut! I'll definitely be reading anything else Emezi publishes, because I'm sure it'll be as amazing and insightful as this one.