thistle_and_verse's Reviews (299)

Liked the selection of stories and there was a lot of informative history given. I felt like the annotations' helpfulness was hit or miss. I read this book all the way through and felt like the organization could have been tweaked a little, but it probably isn't intended to be read like that.

Enjoyed this book a lot more than the previous, and you could probably skip the first one if you wanted. There's a lot more of the supernatural and the Brotherhood featured in this one. The horror bits are good, and I really enjoyed the reveal of the villain's true identity.

I picked this up thinking it was fantasy, but I'd classify it more as political satire. The fantasy elements largely exist as an allegory for Thiong'o 's message. This is the longest book I've read in a while, and it starts slow, but it was a very rewarding read. I was surprised at the scope of Thiong'o 's commentary. He had a lot to say about politics internally and internationally, and I thought it was all wound together very well.

The phage-based magic system and the coastal setting were the highlights for me. Sanders has some good body horror descriptions of the different strains of phage and its effects on their hosts. There's a lot of new terminology and hierarchies, and you learn by observation. It was a bit confusing, since it's a novella, and it felt like some parts of this story needed more time to develop. Suraldisha is a driven protagonist, but parts of her character arc felt cliche/ flat. There was a twist at the end that redefines the whole story, and I re-read the novella since it's so short, and I'm still not satisfied with how it was executed.

This novella is the quick-paced story of an amoral assassin's decision to leave her trade. There are magical talismans and types of people in this story, but to me, they felt like a backdrop. I was more drawn to the main character's (General Edo) outlook on life and the action of the story. Lewis' writing was great, and she uses creative, understated descriptions to show the damage that General Edo and her Shadows can wreak.

I give my thoughts on this short story collection in this video: https://youtu.be/0p4i0tNeco0

Fast-paced read. I loved this steampunk vision of Cairo and the magic system in place. The camaraderie between Hamed and Osni was fun. There was a cute crossover with the character from "A Dead Djinn in Cairo" at the end.

The first 70 or so pages were slow, but after that, I was engrossed in this novel. Miranda was my favorite character, and I thought she was very compelling. I wasn't particularly attached to Cocoa or George, but Naylor creates detailed and engaging portraits of each character. Naylor humorously details their quirks and how each character interacts. The locale of Willow Spring was also fascinating, secret histories hidden behind a deceptively quaint exterior. It felt like a real place and grounded the novel and connected the many perspectives in this book. I would've read this novel off the strength of its character studies, but the hoodoo was a definite bonus. The descriptions of roots put on people were detailed and disturbing. I didn't quite understand the ending, but given the amount of mysticism involved, I wasn't particularly upset about it.

I loved the mythological basis for this world. The gods are as fascinating and powerful as they are dangerous and morally ambiguous. Jemisin creates distinct, conflicting characters without boring tropes or power dynamics. The same holds true for the kingdoms within the Arameri empire. I wouldn't say I enjoy the violence within this novel, but Jemisin is skilled at coming up with unique ways for people to be awful. I rarely enjoy when books get sexual, but I enjoyed the erotic parts of this book. Yeine was a well-crafted, sympathetic protagonist, and I enjoyed her evolution as a character. A very engaging read, and I am very excited to read the rest of the series!