vampfang's Reviews (104)

to be honest, this book wasn't what i expected. as someone whose experience with gothic horror mainly stems from dracula, frankenstein, and some mid-1800s short stories, i was looking to read the foundation of the genre. however, to me this text bore little resemblance to its descendants. i found it to be more similar to a shakespearean tragedy (especially with walpole's constant references to shakespeare) than any sort of gothic text. i think the reason for this is that, unlike in other gothic tales, the supernatural elements really don't make up much of the story. i'd seen many people discussing how inspirational otranto is for its popularizing the familial curse and haunted house horror tropes, but these don't really fuel the story as they do in other gothic tales; instead, the story is more concerned with the line of succession and the familial drama that ensues. i didn't dislike it, and actually enjoyed the supernatural elements that are included (though with much more subtlety than i'm used to), plus it was a quick read, just not what i was expecting. maybe i'm reading it wrong, however.

it's been a busy week so my reading of this was pretty disjointed, and so are my thoughts. first of all, this book was a pretty easy read; it may just be because i've been reading a lot of dense things lately, but i appreciated tis quick pace and generally casual language. this isn't to say that it wasn't a powerful book, though. i've recently been watching a lot of girl-centered horror—jennifer's body, ginger snaps, and the craft—and this book felt like the perfect companion, but updated for the 2020s. i've been waiting for the story of teenage girls trying to find the power they don't have in the world in a way that doesn't demonize them, and at last i've found it. this book feels like a love letter to female friendships. anyone who has felt outcast for being not the right kind of girl can relate to sideways, and i thought her journey to making friends was really well done. the motif of the film ghastly really calls attention to how femininity and sexuality are demonized, at once paralleling and subverting the trope of the "popular girls" that sideways is experiencing in her own life (though if i'm being honest, the existence of this trope + the way high school social life is portrayed felt a bit cliché, but perhaps that's how most young adult novels work). yates' "ambiguity" speech really sets the tone for the book, particularly the way she points out how teenage girls aren't supposed to be powerful and the ways they're demonized for taking back this power (see my reference to jennifer's body above). you can really tell how the author put so much of their own experience as a nonbinary lesbian into this book. in a similar vein, this is the most casually queer book i've ever read, and for that i'm eternally grateful to clarke. sideways feels accurate to my experience as a spooky teenage sapphic, and i'm pretty sure we have the same fashion sense. on that note, the pop culture references in this book work oh so nicely, with siouxsie and the banshees, the vampire lestat, hannibal, and all the allusions to horror movies. it seems that clarke and i have the same taste, especially judging from their favorite authors in the acknowledgments. but i'm getting off topic. my point is, this is the book i wish i'd had earlier in high school when i was still trying to figure out who i was (not that i'm anywhere close to doing that now). on a more negative note, and this may just be due to the fact that i kept reading it in snippets for a few days, the pacing felt a little bit off; it takes us a while to learn much about sideways' personal life, the other scapegracers aren't as fleshed out as i would like them to be, and

Spoiler

the villains seemed to be pushed to the side until the very end. i did appreciate the bait-and-switch with madeline, even though it was a bit predictable. it really gets at the way power structures work in our society, and how girls are so often pitted against each other as men reap the benefits, even though the women are still in the wrong. also, even though this book emphasized the sapphicness, sideways and madeline's budding relationship feels flat. i felt like i lost track of the plot a few times, but it wasn't enough to make me dislike the book, and i still liked the writing style.

some other things i thought were fun: the fact that sideways has romantic/sexual tension with literally everyone

Spoiler

(so do we see her finally get a gf in the next book?? i'm lowkey in favor of sideways x jing)

, how jing and daisy (especially daisy) are absolutely feral while yates is a ray of sunshine (also subverts certain stereotypes by having the black character be the least aggressive one), mr scratch, teenage witches in general, all the creepy elements, and the gorgeous cover.

really hard to put down. i enjoyed the fast-paced storytelling and LOVED the main character. i wasn't a huge fan of the romance because

Spoiler

i think it glossed over how reid's ideology was just fundamentally bad before redeeming him, but maybe that's in the second book. also, given the sort of obvious parallels of witches being massacred and having their land stolen to US history, it feels a bit weird to see them portrayed as bloodthirsty creatures. on that note, a major theme in the book is morality and how things aren't always black and white because the witches have been victims but are also evil (like i said, i do think it's a bit weird how all of the people wronged by this society immediately turn to murder Except for lou) while the chasseurs are oppressive and misogynist but we see that they're capable of change.

it's hard to pin down the morality of these characters, which i think gives the novel depth, and aside from the two things i mentioned, i think that generally worked pretty well. over all, i loved reading it.

i went into this story expecting a staple of the medieval fantasy genre, especially considering tamora pierce's reputation. while i enjoyed it, i don't think it lived up to that hype. granted, it's the first book in a series, but it felt too much like background for my taste. it started out promising, detailing alanna's journey, but before long became too much summary. it felt like there was too much going on, what with magic, george, and of course alanna's quest for knighthood, and none of it really came to a satisfying conclusion. in addition, i'm a person who likes a carefully thought out magic system. for me, this was just too open-ended, especially in the scene with the

Spoiler

ysandir, i coudln't really tell what was going on there at all

. also, and i know this book was written in the 80s, it did seem to other, if not outright vilify, the bazhir, who are arab-coded.

now that i've said that, there were definitely some things i liked in the book. the worldbuilding was really good, but perhaps i'm just a sucker for medieval fantasy and knights. the premise was really interesting, and of course my queer feminist ass loved all the gender fuckery. i know the book was intended to portray a feminist "women can be just as good as men" message, which is true if slightly gender essentialist, but i also think it works as a way to break down the fabric of gender altogether. for instance, as soon as alanna dresses like a man, she is able to fit in with them without question; this would suggest that there is really no barrier to her joining this space except for the fact that she is PERCEIVED as a woman. the fact that she is able to keep up with her peers demonstrates that knighthood was never about gender at all, and that there is nothing inherent to any gender. granted, her ability to keep up with the boys does come from hours of individual practice, but one could chalk this up to a) the fact that the boys were RAISED to be ready for this while alanna was not, and b) alanna's internal sense that as a woman she is not good enough, even though she totally is. on that note,

Spoiler

i really respected alanna's arc of constantly trying to prove herself (though as i said above, there is no real reason to, especially because all of her friends basically say as much) to eventually realizing her own worth and describing why she deserves to be jon's squire. i do wish we had seen more of this growth throughout, however, rather than just at the very end.

yes, i would like to minor in gender studies in college, why do you ask?

all in all, an enjoyable book, although admittedly not a very difficult one to read as it seems to be geared towards middle-grade readers rather than teens as it says. haven't yet decided if i want to continue the series.

such a fun read!!! funny, creative, and such interesting characters (i absolutely loved dellaria). i'm not the biggest fan of romance so i got a bit bored reading the parts up until they actually GOT together, but aside from that i was hooked from the first page. the plot twist threw me for a loop,

Spoiler

i was expecting more high-fantasy court politics than magical drug trade

, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment. i was hoping for a bit more wizardry though, and i was a little confused by the lack of worldbuilding and how some things (like elgarites for example) were never really explained. not the most intellectual or scholarly book, but it was funny and enjoyable.

i loved this book!!! when i read hill house i went in expecting something completely different and didn't really get to appreciate shirley jackson's writing, but i went into this with no expectations and really enjoyed it. the writing reminds me of stuff i would read as a kid, though i can't put my finger on why exactly. i think i read a lot of books about weird girls. anyway, this book was so beautifully written and i really connected with merricat. finding out that

Spoiler

merricat killed her family

was such a big plot twist, and while the thought had crossed my mind i definitely wasn't prepared for it. i thought the ending was really sweet + i loved how it connected back to merricat's dreams of living on the moon. i am kind of confused why people always list it as horror though since it was not scary at all nor did it intend to be , although i do see remnants of jackson's approach to hill house in the way merricat and constance often personify their house—or really, their castle (i was so confused about the title for a while). this book made me happier than a book has in a long time, and i'm so glad i finally got around to reading it after wanting to for at least five years (and even having the book for seven months). jonas my beloved <3

it took me a while to get into this since i never had time to read it so i only read it in little chunks. i enjoyed it, but it never really hooked me. i stopped halfway through and when i came back to it a month later i enjoyed it more, but after the part in the castle i found it to be a lot slower-paced and didn't really enjoy that. it's a sweet story, but i like a faster-paced book. maybe i'd like it more if i reread it. i also wish there were more female characters in the story, le guin herself admits that it's pretty male dominated. i wanted more time to be spent on ged's time training on roke, but a lot of that just felt like summary so that was kind of disappointing.

this book was so amazing i have been telling everyone who will listen about it. i obviously read it bc i'm a vampire fan but i think i would've loved it just as much even if it weren't about vampires. it was the book club that interested me the most, and even though i was skeptical about the concept of a southern book club it was actually really interesting!! i love how heavily the author leans into all the issues of race, class, and gender that naturally come with a "southern book club" and i love how it sort of satirizes white insular suburban neighborhoods like these. i know there's a popular review on here about how it's bad representation that the black characters have shitty jobs and the women have shitty husbands but like...that's the point lol. neither of those things are a moral judgment of the characters and it's supposed to be a critique of the roles society boxes characters like these into, something i think the book did really really well! it completely subverts your expectations of what a suburban housewife "should" be, and he husbands pissed me off so much. my two issues are how the book kind of tried to defend maryellen's cop husband, but i think all the women's flaws give the book nuance and shows how even with the best intentions people are put into positions where they harm others, and the title, which sort of spoiled the reveal and also isn't super accurate about the whole slaying thing. above all, though, this book was so well-written, and it was also just a really interesting read! it's so easy to read i flew through the last 122 pages last night! highly highly highly recommend though be sure to check content warnings

i think that i would have gotten a lot more out of this book if it weren't in french and if i weren't about to graduate.

4.5 stars. this book was soooo good! knocked it down half a star because it took me a bit to get into it, i found the first part a bit overwhelming since it just throws you into this new world, but once i got used to it i was able to really appreciate it. the writing is so witty and the worldbuilding is really thoughtful and wild. this book was also funny and rincewind is such a pathetic little guy of a wizard. i hope he gets to learn more spells one day. that cliffhanger at the end was insane!!