The fantasy world is intriguing, but it feels like little lore was established. There are cool bits and pieces of worldbuilding, but they don't coalesce, and the fantastical elements of the world don't feel cohesive. I enjoyed that there were African/ African-inspired characters from various ethnic groups. Naala is an inn-keeper's daughter, so an eclectic variety of clientele roll through. The writing was a bit disorienting for me. It was a combination of author syntax and using the 3rd person omniescent point of view to narrate. I felt like I didn't get a good understanding of Sinai and Naala's characters due to how the story was told. The story generally felt meandering and aimless. I liked that it wasn't predictable, but I don't know if any of the vignettes that happened were delightful enough to compensate for the story's lack of momentum.

Full review posted here: https://youtu.be/vaRkHiGtIyU

A solid collection. Personal favorites (in no particular order) were Water, Born of Frost, Coffin Maker's Daughter, I Make People Do Bad Things, Medusa, Arrangement of Their Parts, Girl I Love You, Castaway, How to Piss Off A Failed Supersolider, and Super Duper Fly. If you're interested in what these stories are about and why I liked them, I get into that in this video: https://youtu.be/RiF1m--SaB8

Watch here for my full review: https://youtu.be/KSRNW8uCM3I. I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own. Book contains descriptions of domestic abuse and familial neglect.

I wouldn't have guessed that Sieh would have his own book or that it would go like this. I loved seeing the origin story of this world expanded upon. The ending could feel cheap to some, but I liked it. I felt like it gave the series a sense of closure but also possibilty and wonder.

I enjoyed this book. It started off with some action and getting acquainted with the Manhattan borough avatar. It felt a bit slow in the middle, understandable since there are 4 other boroughs that we need to get to know. I enjoyed the ending. Staten Island's avatar is pretty fundamentally incompatible with the other avatars, and Jemisin has a creative and unexpected solution to this problem. The Woman in White is a great antagonist - sneaky, otherworldly, with complex motivations.

I loved this book and tore through it in a day. I really liked the main character Jane McKeene as an action hero with depth, and I liked Kate's development throughout the book, although I'm still iffy on her. The structure with snippets of correspondence between Jane and her mother starting each chapter worked really well. I appreciated the author's attention to historical detail (Reconstruction, creation of white havens in the west, and the industrial schools) when creating this new world. My only complaint was it felt like some reveals went nowhere (Mayor Carr, the tinkerer, electricity), but maybe they'll have more meaning in later novels.

I'd heard mixed things about this book, but I really wanted to read some Moroccan-inspired scifi, so I picked this up. I got out of it what I wanted to. Daud has some interesting themes about colonialism and heritage. I really enjoyed the cultural details in this world (the food, tattooing, the importance of poetry) and the protagonist Amani. I liked her quiet strength and her commitment to the Kushaila traditions and people. I believed her insta-love romance with Idris. She wasn't too far off age-wise from being married in her village, and he was the only one consistently kind to her once she was in the palace. They had a funny moment where Idris accidentally gifted her some erotic poetry because he can't read the same languages as her. I would've liked more sci fi elements in this story. Life in the Oumalich star system is pretty similar to life on Earth. There's some advanced tech and a few alien birds, but it's pretty much all in the background. It seemed like a missed opportunity for Daud to explore the weirdness of space or explain more about the tech in her world, especially with all the planet hopping that happens.

I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to get into the story. The whole body double situation seemed like a massive security breach waiting to happen, and I was surprised that such a technologically advanced society couldn't come up with a better solution for protecting the princess. Amani seemed to have pretty free reign during her missions, and Maram used her in situations where it seemed like it could easily open the royal family up to spying and sabotage. I was also perplexed by Amani's relationship with Maram. Amani considers herself a slave of the royal family, but she willingly takes on responsibilities and risks for Maram that didn't make sense to me, especially considering the role Maram has in her captivity. She had a cute joke about it, but I was baffled by how the transition happened.

Do You Dream of Terra-Two focuses on 6 teenagers who are sent into space to colonize a habitable planet to replace Earth. Each chapter centers on the experience of a different teen, although we mostly hear from 4 of them. I thought the central characters were well-picked. The tone of the book felt thoughtful and muted. It begins and ends with dramatic impactful events, but most of the novel focuses on the character's introspections on their identities, why they chose to join this mission, and what reaching Terra-Two means to them. Oh's writing hits the sweet spot between sparse efficiency and poetic flourishes.

I really enjoyed this short story. It was written in the 2nd person from the perspective of someone other than the main character, which gave unique insights into the world and allowed for surprising reveals. I found this story gratifying. Jemisin's vision of this possible future is difficult but hopeful, and she gives some cutting social commentary. The main detraction for me was that the mechanics of how people lived on Earth were unexplained, and since the world Jemisin described seemed implausible to me, it made parts of the social commentary feel facile.