Polybius by Collin Armstrong is the fictionalized account of an urban legend about a 1981 arcade game that was, in fact, a US government-run experimenPolybius by Collin Armstrong is the fictionalized account of an urban legend about a 1981 arcade game that was, in fact, a US government-run experiment that backfired. Polybius allegedly produced intense psychoactive and addictive effects on whoever played it and while it is an urban legend, you still find lengthy posts on the Internet by people who said they played it. After reading this book, I went down the rabbit hole and found pictures of an arcade machine and a long-ass video about it (link). Honestly, reading this was FIRE. And falling into the rabbit hole of the urban legend made it even better. If you like Black Mirror and video games, this book is a must.
Polybius follows a bunch of characters who live in the seaside town of Tasker Bay. Andi works at the arcade in town saving up money to get the fuck out of there when Mal, her boss, brings in a second-hand arcade machine he just bought for cheap. Polybius. The arcade game becomes an instant hit with people lining up to play it and even fighting to get a chance to try it out. And, right after they play the game, people change - they have visions, dreams, crazy ideas, they lose time… In the meantime, David, the sheriff's deputy, is investigating weird cases of violence that have just started happening in town.
As I said, this was FUN. I love it when a horror book features video games, it’s just so cool to me. I had so much fun reading this, I was 100% hooked. At some point, I think I said out loud ‘this is so fucking good’ while reading it (I’m also very cheap and easy to get into urban mysteries, I love a good rabbit hole and this book had plenty). Two other aspects I want to mention are that 1) this is the perfect balance between a plot-driven and character-driven book, just fantastic storytelling. 2) I loved the writing and the vibe of it all, though it felt a little dense overall.
I loved the atmosphere. This felt like the 1980-1990s movies where kids found something and came together to solve the mystery. Getting to actually get some answers from the ‘guy behind (some of) it all’ was as close as solving the urban mystery as we’ll ever get. What a cool idea and what an amazing take. I guess it is a bit cheesy, but it’s also what I wanted from it. (PS - the blurb says this is like The Walking Dead and idk where they see any connection).
It’s a 4.5 read. Rounded down because it felt a bit too heavy and slow at times. If you liked this book, I strongly suggest you pick up The Between by Ryan Leslie. It’s not about an arcade game but a text-based RPG and it hits as good as this one did.
Content Warning: this includes violence. The first sign that things are going really wrong is a pretty gruesome scene involving animals (horses).
*ARC received for free. This has not impacted my review....more
Counterattacks at Thirty is a book about an ordinary group of people who are so tired of being pushed around by the system and higher-ups that they deCounterattacks at Thirty is a book about an ordinary group of people who are so tired of being pushed around by the system and higher-ups that they decide to bite back.
The book focuses on Kim Jihye, an ordinary thirty-something who is still an intern and trying to figure things out (and struggling). Her motto is simple: don’t work hard, do just enough. And then one day, a new intern starts working with her, Gyuok. Gyuok recruits a few thirty-somethings to start a pacifist (and petty) revolution against the people who have annoyed/wronged them.
This book was a nice surprise. Gyuok is a radical and Jihye is just someone trying to make ends meet and find a career, they’re sort of opposites and it’s fun to see their philosophies clash at times. I loved the lowkey and mundane vibe the book had, but I wished we had known more about Muin and Nam Eun, and the ‘petty protests’ the group engaged with. Other than the ‘grand finale,’ the few activities we get to see are just small and petty. Which is the point, but I don’t think they were quirky or funny enough for me to say I’ll remember them next week. I do think the group’s activities had the potential to be funny, because Sohn does pull up fun stuff in her narration (i.e., Kim Chu-bom being better than being named Koh Chu-bom lol) (Koh Chu sounds like penis in Korean).
Reading this book as a thirty-year-old who still doesn’t know what she’s doing was kinda therapeutic. But I was expecting a more life-changing/lingering book from Sohn after she pulled off the masterpiece that is Almond. The ending was super satisfying.
3.5 stars rounded up because G-Dragon is mentioned and deemed the most successful Korean born in 1988EVER.
*ARC received for free, this hasn't impacted my review/rating....more
One of my favorite booktubers sometimes picks up books if an author she likes blurbs them. I realized I had never done it and when I noticed Shelley POne of my favorite booktubers sometimes picks up books if an author she likes blurbs them. I realized I had never done it and when I noticed Shelley Parker-Chan (aka the Quing of Chinese historical fantasy) had blurbed this, I went for it. A Song to Drown Rivers it’s a historical fantasy and a retelling of Xishi’s story, one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. Unfortunately, Parker-Chan’s praise made me think this would be a feast of cajun french fries and it turned out to be potato salad with extra mayo (I don’t eat mayo). Anyways, this is a 1.5 stars.
Xishi is a beautiful village girl who is approached by Fanli, a military advisor, one random day. He asks her if she’d be willing to marry the ruler of the neighboring kingdom - the enemy of her people, a drunk who only worries about having women around every night. But not as a wife per se... as his spy.
I hate describing things as “very YA” but I don’t know what to call it otherwise. The main character just came out of the same cookie cutter than 95% of YA books I’ve read: Mary Sue main character who’s only flaw was being so perfect and naive she seemed stupid at times. Xishi was, by definition, more beautiful than your regular YA MC girlie, of course (and she knows it, but she’s not proud about it, of course). The romance and just story overall asked me to suspend my disbelief too often. The writing was fine, I liked it. Simple and nothing too flowery. The story was just okay.
I think this is supposed to be adult and not YA, but I’m considering it YA because Xishi is supposed to be a concubine and this was embarrassingly PG-13. Don’t get me wrong, I usually hate sex in books, but this was a bit nonsensical and unrealistic. My other beef with the book is just how stupidly cheesy it was. I do appreciate the feminism but somehow the story is narrated as if everything was tough, and hard, and heartbreaking… while nothing really goes wrong at any point? Like, if you ever go to war, don't forget to pack a plot armor that's as thick as the one the characters in this book wear. ((view spoiler)[I mean sure, sure, the last chapter, the very last moments. But she was insufferable so I’m counting it as a happy ending. (hide spoiler)])
This is a shitty review but I’ve got nothing to say. It was just not for me. Someday I’ll read a YA book and not want to lobotomize the main character, but today isn’t the day.
*ARC received for free. This hasn’t impacted my review....more
The Trunk is marketed as a Korean feminist thriller. Part of me agrees with 'thriller' being its genre, but I don't think it fully fits the bill. ThisThe Trunk is marketed as a Korean feminist thriller. Part of me agrees with 'thriller' being its genre, but I don't think it fully fits the bill. This is a book with a quirky plot, likeable characters, and feminist to the tee. The social commentary paired up with the quirky story was a perfect combination.
I recommend this book to readers who like:
✅ Women calling men out on their BS. ✅ Women supporting women. “Your burden is as heavy as mine.” ✅ Women who are annoyed at ✨men✨. I'm not talking about ALL men but: Men who tell women they need to be skinny and pretty while they do nothing to take care of themselves; men who have never married who think unmarried women are a waste of space; divorced men who think divorced women are too used up; men who harass; men who stalk; men who isolate women; men who use women for sex; old men who only want pretty young women; men who only want women as furniture (as long as they cook); men who interrupt you when you talk to speak about their shit constantly; men who don’t understand the word ‘no’; con men after women’s money; lost fathers who only show up when they need cash; men who stay with their wives out of duty but ignore them; men who mistreat and insult their mothers (while still using their money); ETC.
(My highlights were when Kim Ryeo-ryeong had the main character whine about men try sexy stuff they had seen in porn and it doesn't work out, but they keep going with the “You like that, yeah?” No we don’t. Hilarious).
Anyways, onto the review. This is such a good book. You know I’m liking a book when it takes me ages to finish, I was just dragging it so it wouldn’t end.
The Trunk follows Noh Inji, an employee at NM. NM, or New Marriages, is a sub-company of a dating company that pairs up men and women. NM, instead of dating, pairs up individuals with a wife/husband for a set period of time. Not everyone gets to be a wife or husband for NM, it’s quite difficult, and you can only reject a potential partner three times or else you get fired.
After a particularly shitty husband (I almost PUKED reading about him), Inji says no to two similar men. Meaning that she can’t really say no anymore if she wants to keep her job. Luckily for her, she gets a husband whose only particularity is that he likes buying alcohol when he’s drunk. We follow Inji as she works but also as she deals with her life: her work colleagues at NM, her LOVELY neighbor Granny (I LOVE GRANNY SO MUCH) and best friend, her tteok-obsessed stalker, and so forth.
The novel that ensues is mesmerizing. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s such a peculiar story because of the whole NM business, but if you look beyond it, it’s just so empowering. Women are always told we find ourselves in X or Y situations because we dress some way or we don’t say no. In this book, Inji screams at men who act ‘like men’ and where does that get her? Nowhere. Because men don’t understand the word ‘no.' This book is just perfect for any woman who is tired of being told how to look, how to act, how good men are, how we’re at fault. It’s very feminist and it focuses a lot on how tiring it is to be a woman in a man's world, with men telling you how it is, etc. It enraged me, it made me laugh, it was everything.
I wouldn't call this a book about 'female rage,' but it certainly is a 'I'm so tired of this shit' type of book. Beyond this, I LOVED the appreciation and reverence for female friendship and support. The inclusion of LGBTQIA+ in Korea (including asexuality!) it was just so to the point and fun to read. This book just had everything and it was so funny.
Also, THE ENDING. Oh my God. I SCREAMED.
Five stars. If Kim Ryeo-ryeong and I had drinks together, we’d end the night as besties.
PS. As I read this, I was like "tteok guy and I would be perfect for each other, I love tteok so much." I'll never look at tteok the same way.
Bits I highlighted: If you don't have a job, just stay at home and pound your 'tteok' in since, yeah? The handmade way. ***...more
May You Have Delicious Meals is a novella about office culture and social interactions in Japan. Reading this was as fun and exciting as watching painMay You Have Delicious Meals is a novella about office culture and social interactions in Japan. Reading this was as fun and exciting as watching paint dry. The novel is plotless and I’m going to get into it in a moment, but I do want to say if you’ve been unlucky enough to take Japanese sociology classes, this is a good book to reflect on wa/和/social harmony.
The novella mainly follows three co-workers: Nitani, Ashikawa, and Oshio. Nitani is a sexist man who hates the idea of cooking and doesn’t care about food. He starts sort of seeing Ashikawa (secretly), a woman who loves to cook and is just scared and insecure about everything. In their company, there is an unspoken rule to not ask Ashikawa to do much work because she can’t take it, and everyone cuts her slack. This means that Oshio, her colleague, has to do everything else and gets screamed at when the team doesn’t perform. Hence, Oshio keeps getting drinks with Nitani to whine about Ashikawa.
That’s pretty much it. We just follow vignettes in which the characters meet and interact and eat food.
I found the story very uninteresting, Oshio and Nitani were unlikable as fuck, and Ashikawa just put me off. She was just so weird. Nitani’s thoughts on women weren’t fun. Oshio was just so annoying, she kept jokingly (?) proposing to bully Ashiwaka and it was disgusting (honestly, I award her the gold medal in the petty Olympics). Ashikawa needed some personality, she was just boring to read about. And lastly, I just couldn’t keep track of the other characters, there was very little introduction when the book started, it felt like coming into the fourth season of a TV show and being bombarded with “Fuji drinks from a bottle,” “Junko wants to eat noodles,” etc.
I understand this has won the prestigious Akutagawa prize in Japan and that’s why it’s been translated to English, but it really didn’t work for me. Even if I do admit that it was interesting to reflect on wa and all the stuff I’ve learnt about sociology in Japan and so forth, this was not entertaining or fun to read at all. I’m not taking anything from this book.
*ARC received for free, this has not impacted my review....more
Sacrificial Animals is a slowburn horror literary fiction featuring daddy issues, toxic masculinity, and Chinese folklore. In the story, we follow NicSacrificial Animals is a slowburn horror literary fiction featuring daddy issues, toxic masculinity, and Chinese folklore. In the story, we follow Nick and Joshua as they go back to their hometown after getting a call from his dying father. He wants to be forgiven for all the things he did to them. Nick, Joshua, and Emilia (Joshua’s wife) go back to seek reconciliation. (CW: child abuse, animal abuse, racism).
This is the classic ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ situation. This book gives slowburn a whole new meaning. It takes a long time until the horror starts and until then all we get is an unsettling and disgruntling literary fiction about family drama and daddy issues. Both things are stuff I don’t enjoy. It was just very slow and reflecting. I’m the kind of person who loves a good character study or character-focused books, but this was just reminiscing about one’s effed-up past and it’s just not my thing. The two timelines of then/now also made it feel slower to me.
Around the 80% the story picked up super quickly and it became AMAZING. The ending was crazy fun and it made it all worth it. (I'm team Emilia woop woop).
I don’t have much to say other than the writing is beautiful (if you enjoy literary fiction) and that I loved the ending. 3.5 stars because of that (but I can't round it up because it just was brutally slow).
* I received the ARC for free, this hasn't impacted my review....more
(Quick edit: Have you ever read a book with a pop-y soundtrack? This book is getting one! I felt a bit bad about the low rating but it all just scream(Quick edit: Have you ever read a book with a pop-y soundtrack? This book is getting one! I felt a bit bad about the low rating but it all just screams 'vanity project' to me now, so I don't feel as bad. The (first?/only?) song's catchy though and it connects to the whole element-energy-thingamajig in the book.)
I don’t want to be mean here, but Julianne Hough got herself a ghostwriter* for a weird mashup between a Hallmark movie and Ghost Whisperer featuring heavy topics (CT: miscarriage) - one that shouldn’t be published as a book, but a Wattpad story. I found the story just very messy and the writing was just very… light? It tried to be good, smart, and visual, but it just kinda felt like a very cheap Wattpad story. Also, note that the Ghost Whisperer aspect is more of a spiritual energy-healing situation type of deal.
I hate that I’m giving it such a low rating because I started this with low expectations already. I love Julianne Hough for one reason and one reason only: KINRGY. And when I saw she had a book coming up I got sort of excited, even though this is not the type of book I usually read. I like getting out of my comfort zone and I usually give higher ratings when I start off with low expectations. Not this time.
The story follows Lexi. She’s pretty, she’s talented, she’s successful, her partner Shane is a firefighter who also volunteers (or maybe a dude that volunteers as a firefighter, tomato tomato)… You Google ‘power couple,’ and you get them both. But behind the curtains, they’re struggling. They’ve had a miscarriage. And to make things worse, now Lex is having some sort of paranormal hallucination thing. And eventually, there is a witch too? ...more
Pluralities is a novella with two POVs: a shopping mall employee questioning their gender identity and Cornelius, an alien prince who has escaped his Pluralities is a novella with two POVs: a shopping mall employee questioning their gender identity and Cornelius, an alien prince who has escaped his planet with his sentient spaceship.
I picked this up because the cover is gorgeous and I was intrigued about how the two storylines would collide. At the end of it, I appreciate what it does and its message, but this felt a bit like a Frankenstein of a story. The two POVs are good for two different reasons and they just didn’t work together (for me).
On the one hand, Cornelius’ POV is sort of a space opera story about a prince escaping responsibilities and learning to trust and listen to Bo (the AI). On the other hand, the other POV is about a mall employee having a messy struggle with their sexual identity. Now, I say ‘messy struggle’ not as criticism but to reflect how real this felt. The internal battle featuring gender dysphoria and internalized misogyny for someone who is AFAB was interesting to read about and I did like that it emphasized trans positivity.
It just felt like two very different things. I liked both POVs separately and if they had been two entirely different novellas/short stories this rating would be very different. I just didn’t enjoy them as a whole thing. This being said, gorgeous writing!
2.5 stars from me, rounded down because it’s one of these books I feel I’ll forget quickly :( 5 stars for the message and the content, though!
*ARC received for free, this hasn’t impacted my rating....more
Grief is such a heavy feeling. You never get rid of it. Once you’ve lost someone, you carry their absence with you, but you also carry the unasked queGrief is such a heavy feeling. You never get rid of it. Once you’ve lost someone, you carry their absence with you, but you also carry the unasked questions, the things you never got to say or do with them, and the goodbyes that were stolen from you. Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon is a book for those of us who know what it feels like to have lost someone. What if you could meet that person you lost one more time? Would you do it?
Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon is the first instalment of The Go-Between series. The go-between is a person who has a gift and can arrange for you to meet a deceased individual. The only rules are that, when you are alive, you only get to meet one dead person. And when you are dead, you can only accept to see one person. The deceased person has to accept meeting you and you can only meet them one night while the full moon is out.
The book is told in five episodes. Each episode follows different characters who seek the go-between to speak with someone who has passed away. We learn about their background leading to losing the person and why they’d want to see them again (i.e., what is left unsaid/questions to ask), how they find and meet the go-between, and the day they meet their loved one.
I adored the first, fourth (I’ll be forever crying about Kirari and Tsuchiya), and fifth stories. I was crying non-stop in the last 100 pages, the book made me so emotional. And it was strange because I did not care for the second and third stories, but the ending of both had me IN TEARS. It was such an emotional rollercoaster of a book. The episodes were just so easy to read and it was so easy to empathize with the characters. The last chapter was so satisfying because we got answers about who the kid is, how the go-between business works, and a beautiful reflection of the whole thing (meeting with the dead).
I’m going to keep this review short. This is a great book for book clubs and just as therapy. I think the reflection at the end about how important it is for us, the living, to feel the dead watching us was beautiful. I just felt it was all very touching. Again, as someone who has said a thousand times that I’d give anything I had to see my grandma again, this book just broke me. It felt like a warm hug. I just wish the go-between was real. I can’t wait for the next book. (PS: I think I liked this more than Lonely Castle in the Mirror.)
Bits I highlighted: “Being a witness to a person’s pain isn’t something you can do half-heartedly.”
–– “Don’t think about coming over here yet. It’s super dark.”
–– “...I still somehow believed I would make it out OK. I thought, there's no way I’m gonna die. (spoilers removed)... life is going to be so good from now on. Only good things would happen to us. I wasn't scared. I couldn’t breath, but I felt good. I knew you would be with me when I woke up.”...more
The Bookshop Woman is a lovely nonfiction book that’s also a love letter to reading. This book starts off with Nanako Hanada: homeless, recently separThe Bookshop Woman is a lovely nonfiction book that’s also a love letter to reading. This book starts off with Nanako Hanada: homeless, recently separated, and she’s worked all her life as a clerk at a Village Vanguard (a Japanese bookstore chain). Nanako knows two things about herself, she likes reading and she loves recommending books. So she sets off to a rather bizarre venture: she joins a dating website to meet people only to give them book recommendations.
Through the book, she builds something like a passion but also a persona (and I dare say, she builds a little platform for herself), she finds herself and takes charge of her life. And, eventually, she decides she wants to work in something related to books.
This book was the ‘love letter to reading’ that I wanted Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop to be. It had direction, it had character growth, and I loved the care and thought Hanada put into the question of “how much should I know someone to recommend a book?” and how her recommendations changed as she gained experience with it.
I liked it! 3.5 stars rounded down because the book just did what it had to do. It’s cozy, cute, and healing.
*ARC received for free. This hasn’t impacted my rating....more
This is probably one of the best books I’ve read. I’d recommend it to anyone who’s lost a loved one and to anyone who’s angry at their parents for whaThis is probably one of the best books I’ve read. I’d recommend it to anyone who’s lost a loved one and to anyone who’s angry at their parents for what their parents did to them. Also for people who are still trying to figure things out, people who are looking for something without knowing what that something is.
I can only compare the feelings I’ve had when reading this book with The Outsiders (and maybe Wait Until Spring, Bandini?). I remember reading that book and just feeling broken and full, just being grateful that I had experienced it. Blue Graffiti has me feeling that same thing. The writing is just spectacular and the story is so mundane that it is heartbreaking. Like, the main character goes through things you’ve probably gone through or know someone that’s been through it, and it makes this intimate story feel so small and so universal.
Story-wise, there isn’t much to this book. Blue Graffiti is an intimate reflection on the tragedy of being human. Cash has lived all his life in middle-of-nowhere Wisconsin, has odd jobs here and there, and meets his friends at the same bar his own father used to get drunk at. This may not seem like a lot, but Skogman really just went all out and made this into a tale about surviving and forgiving the sins of our fathers, faith, and (yes) having the blues.
I’m deeply and utterly obsessed with the writing. This is a book you need to own and DESTROY because I felt like highlighting entire sections and dog-earing so many pages for easy access - but alas, I’m reading an e-ARC so that will have to wait. I found myself reading this book slowly but compulsively. It seems Skogman also writes poetry and you can clearly tell by how he writes because I found myself going over sentences multiple times just amazed and what he had done. Honestly, I am obsessed.
My biggest surprise was that I did not expect to end up choking back tears for half of this book. Well, maybe not ‘half of the book,’ but a few chapters had me on the verge of sobbing. I did not expect to care so much about Cash’s mother. And, damn, Cash’s dad? I don’t know. This was just so tough to read. I kept thinking back on people that I’ve lost myself. There are so many reflections on losing people because of death or because of choice, and it was just very touching and relatable.
My last praise will be a big one for me. I always say I’m a character-focused reader. I also put Stephen King on a pedestal because it doesn’t matter how good or bad his books are, King can introduce a character for two pages and then kill them, and you’ll care about that character. Well, Skogman’s right there with him. This book is a love letter to small towns and what are small towns if not their people? Cash would talk briefly about people that live or lived in the town and have you emotional about them, or you’d smile about them, or you’d worry. I often hate books that don’t manage to make you care about the main character after 400 pages, and here’s Skogman being like “yeah well, this character will only show up on this page” and here you are wanting to give them a hug.
Five stars (though I do want to say this book had some weird stylistic choices that had me raising an eyebrow but oh well we roll).
In the end there is this suffering, or there is the drink, and on again. Flip a coin.
Sektor 47 is a gem. It’s a fast-paced space adventure combined with a very sweet (and emotional) story about human relationships. It features very heaSektor 47 is a gem. It’s a fast-paced space adventure combined with a very sweet (and emotional) story about human relationships. It features very heavy topics such as the brutality of colonialism and disability, but it’s also quite light as its main characters (Saída and Rodok) are hilarious and quirky.
This novel is told in two timelines: the past in Sektor 47 where Saída lives with Uncle Abbas and they are routinely harassed and assaulted by the colonizers; and the present, where Saída is traveling space with her android Rodok, looking for a way to save Uncle Abbas from Sektor 47. The bits in Sektor 47 are brutally sad and frustrating to read - the inequality, harassment, racism, etcetera are just difficult to read, but Uncle Abbas’ kindness is heartwarming. And the present is fast-paced and FUN.
I truly loved this book. I tend to say this all the time, but I’m a character-focused reader, and I truly enjoyed spending time with Saída and Rodok. The bits with Uncle Abbas were slightly melodramatic at times, but very enjoyable nonetheless. This being said, I LOVE Rodok. Love love love Rodok. I tend to hate AI and I’ve only liked Bero from Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O'Keefe, but dang. Rodok was just so caring, funny, and snarky. Well done, N.N. Jehangir. I’ll be keeping an eye out for more books by him for sure.
World-building was good but not as detailed as I would have liked. This was pretty much a light fast-paced space adventure with many moving pieces, and I am not sure I fully understood the little of the world we got to see. (i.e., why was the emblem the only way to get back to Meraj/Sektor 47?). This led to a few deus ex machina situations and some other bits where I just had to nod my head and assume things made sense.
And lastly, the reasons why I’m not giving this five starts are 1) because of the Redcoats and all the ‘bad guys.’ One of my least favorite tropes is when a book has good characters that are very good and bad characters that are very bad, I like my shades of gray. But this book had flawed good characters, and just plain evil bad guys, which sort of didn’t work for me. And 2) I found the ending very rushed and unsatisfying.
So, in short, light fast-paced space adventure with a heavy focus on colonialism (and all its cruelty and brutality). It was fun, highly recommend it!
*ARC received for free, this didn’t impact my rating or review....more
I’m one of the few people who enjoyed R.O. Kwon’s debut novel, The Incendiaries, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to pick up Exhibit. This new noI’m one of the few people who enjoyed R.O. Kwon’s debut novel, The Incendiaries, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to pick up Exhibit. This new novel is as similar as it is extremely different from her first book, it’s one of these quiet literary fiction novels where very big things happen, but what seals the deal is the writing itself.
Exhibit follows a photographer named Jin Han, of the Han family. The Hans were cursed by a kisaeng and they are all doomed to die for love. Jin is haunted by this story as if it were a real threat and when we meet her, her life is in shambles: she’s lost her faith, her husband Philip has suddenly decided he wants a kid (she doesn’t), she can’t take photographs, and she’s come clean to Philip and told him she’s into masochism (he isn’t). Her life has been following a controlled path and now everything is chaos until she meets the ballerina Lidija Jung who lends her an ear and wants to help her out with some of her frustrations.
Before I started writing this review, I checked a few others and saw different theories about what this book is about. I think I’ll throw my own. I do think this is a book about the female body and what women owe to each other, but I think it’s mostly about control and chaos. There’s this line in one of Lizzy Mcalpine’s songs that goes ‘Lovely to sit between comfort and chaos,’ and this book felt like Jin’s comfort being shaken so hard she seeks a complete undoing to transform herself. Jiin talks about Ovid’s work in the book, and I think her whole journey is about an undoing that leads to a metamorphosis. And I’d argue this metamorphosis remains incomplete at the end, halted by something that happens (which I also interpreted as a test of faith? Idk, I have too many thoughts about this book).
I thought this was very good. The writing was impeccable and something I had not quite experienced before, I had to re-read bits all the time because of how indirect it is. I also found it interesting that Kwon told this story through narrative but also through mixed conversations - we are in the middle of dialogue, and what is not that direct dialogue, is Jin recollecting or retelling us a past/future conversation with Lidija. All the in-betweenness and atemporality of the narrative felt like a fever dream.
Another interesting thing I want to mention is Kwon’s decision to add hangul here. Jin refers to her mother as 엄마 and her dad as 아버지. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book use Korean in hangul as opposed to romanized.
When it comes to this book deals a lot with the art world (photography and ballet mostly, for obvious reasons), kinks (this shouldn’t be a surprise considering Kwon edited Kink: Stories), the female body (and how men expect to have rights on it and what it does), women, and hiding secrets. It’s also sapphic/bi.
Fave bits: “Listen to us,” Lidija said. “Such ladies, living to serve the group. I, like you, require not a thing. In fact, I don’t quite exist.”
___ “Oh, I love that,” I said. I’d sat up, jolted. “People do love a dead girl.” “If we die, we’re quiet.” “With no opinions.” “It’s the ideal girl.”
___ People may think us abject, pliant. Docile objects. It soiled us, this defiling lie. But plied with dirt, I’d plant a garden. Or so it began, an idea coiling the light.
___ Hostile spirits, I was told, used to be thought female. One idea being that, if a girl died ill-used, she’d lived pining for a reprisal long denied. Ditto, with a wife, such being the roles possible, back then, girl or wife. People felt disquiet: this rage, pent up, might find a place to go.
___ Kin split. Land, ripped apart. Invaded. Pillaged. In just the 1950s, more U.S. shells falling in Korea than in all of the Pacific through the 1940s. Spilt life fed this soil. I was forged in ash.
*ARC received for free. This has not impacted my review....more
This is the perfect companion to All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami. Which is kinda perfect, because Kazushige Abe is Mieko Kawakami’s husbThis is the perfect companion to All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami. Which is kinda perfect, because Kazushige Abe is Mieko Kawakami’s husband (and I’m here, supporting my girlie’s partner). Both books follow women who ‘go with the flow,’ either because they lack drive or because they assume things of their surroundings, but in both cases, we see how lacking a voice leads to social alienation. Whereas Kawakami’s felt like a hug… Mysterious Setting is a bizarre, perplexing slap in the face with a chair.
I do want to put an emphasis on the bizarre here. Part of me felt as if Helen Oyeyemi had co-authored it. There were bits that had me doing the Jim from The Office thing and looking at the camera like ‘is this happening?’
Mysterious Setting is narrated by a storyteller who talks about Shiori, a troubadour who is so tone-deaf that when she things, beings die (animals and humans). So this curse and the harsh words of her peculiar sister Nozomi force her to drop her existence as a troubadour to pursue her dream of becoming a lyricist. Her social alienation and social awkwardness make her a target for people trying to take advantage of her. The story turns pretty dark when Shiori is gifted a very interesting suitcase.
Now, I have so many thoughts. This book is perfect for a book club because what the fuck. Shiori is batshit crazy, I don’t even want to talk about her. But Nozomi?? I adored Nozomi (even though she does something disgusting at some point). She was HARSH to Shiori. HARSH. And it was at times hilarious, at times horrifying. But throughout the book, I must say, Nozomi was the only person who cared for Shiori, even if that care was… just strange. There is a point in the book where Shiori starts talking to an object (I repeat: batshit crazy). And the object continues calling her ‘Shiori darling,’ which is what Nozomi calls her. This shows how important Nozomi was to Shiori even after Shiori leaves and goes to Tokyo.
The story was weird. The characters were weird. But the ending was super emotional. And the last 25% of the book really had me hooked, I kept wondering anxiously “is it real or is it fake” (because of something that’s happening). So, do I recommend it? Yeah. I thought it was a trip. So bizarre. But so cool and creative. I also loved the translation by Michael Emmerich, it flowed beautifully.
I think the concept of Mysterious Setting was included in the book but it made little sense. Yet you, as the reader, if you take a step back - this story is made of many details put together that seem to float to create a story, in a way. So I think it’s a good title for what came of it, but I don’t think it was utilized smartly in the book. (Mysterious Setting or Serti Mysterieux is a type of jewellery-making style in which little gemstones are put together very closely and in a way that they appear to be floating, but there is a little metal in the back keeping them together).
Two bits I highlighted from Nozomi’s dialogue:
“Please never do that in my presence again- no more moaning like that, like an animal. Don't do it in front of anyone. Please. You'll make people sick. They'll get nauseous. Noise like that would make a baby vomit, I swear. Thank goodness there were no babies here! Honestly, my stomach was churning, and I'm not even a baby.”
——
“You never try to look beyond the outside in fact you don't even believe there is an inside-so the most transparent charlatan has no problem gaining your trust. Even if you get burned, you still don't face up to reality, you just go on listening to your heart. The truth is, you never actually communicate with anyone, you're just talking at them in your own fantasy world. You don't see others as being separate from you, you've decided everyone feels the same things you do, and with the same intensity.”
Thank you Pushkin Press for the ARC. I got the copy for free, this didn't impact my review....more
When Keanu Reeves co-authors a book, you read it. That is the law. But yikes.
2.5*
At the time of reviewing this, The Book of Elsewhere has no blurb. SoWhen Keanu Reeves co-authors a book, you read it. That is the law. But yikes.
2.5*
At the time of reviewing this, The Book of Elsewhere has no blurb. So yes, I admit to having read it because of Keanu Reeves. Incidentally, I’m not into weird fiction and this is my first China Miéville, so maybe I was doomed from the beginning.
Unute, also known as B. He’s been called a demigod, a god, a weapon from the aliens, a brother, chaos, the Angel of Death, a ghost. He’s an enigma, mostly. And what a boring enigma he is.
This is the type of book for readers who don’t mind not understanding what is going on. I’m not this type of reader. The first 50 pages, I didn’t get anything. It was a very frustrating experience. Then I started seeing the book as a scavenger hunt: in every chapter there will be one sentence that would be the topic of the next chapter, and so on.
The thing is, the chapters itself were confusing because the writing danced around the topics and actions instead of saying things. For example, something happens to Diana. She meets B to talk about it. Around 15 pages are wasted with him being vague AF and then it all concludes with him not saying anything. Then we get an ‘interlude’ of 20 pages when, in the end, you get a hint of maybe perhaps what could be related to what happened to Diana (and again, a sentence in the interlude introduces something that will be brought up next).
You’d expect a scavenger hunt to have some sort of reward, and the only sweet reward I got from this book was that it ended. It was redundant, vague, and it honestly felt irrelevant. It’s actually sad because most of it was fascinating, but it was as fascinating and creative as it was pointless. I was very intrigued by most of it, but the slow and murky unravelling of it all was brutally underwhelming. I did like the ending but I couldn’t appreciate it because I was fed up with it all.
I’ll just conclude by saying that if I was an immortal being and my only boons were glowy eyes and a pig that followed me around, I’d pass.
The Bound Worlds was the perfect ending to The Devoured Worlds. It’s always scary to read the last book in a series you love, but this not only exceedThe Bound Worlds was the perfect ending to The Devoured Worlds. It’s always scary to read the last book in a series you love, but this not only exceeded any expectations I had, but it did it beautifully.
If you know me, you know I love Megan E. O’Keefe’s space operas and I haven’t shut up about The Blighted Stars since I got my hands on that book. And here we are. It’s over and I’m in love with the ending. This was such a high-stakes book I knew, inevitably, characters would die. I told myself I’d be happy as long as a specific someone survived. And then I experienced the book through waves after waves of realization that I didn’t want anyone to die (not even he-who-shall-not-be-named).
The Bound Worlds felt like running an Iron Man (a crazy ‘obstacle course’ that not many people finish). And by the 85% mark, it all seemed to end… beautifully. But it wasn’t an ending. And what came after was such an emotional roller coaster I cried for the first time in three years (which is crazy, if this book has healed my tear ducts, I owe O’Keefe a beer lol). I’m going to do my thing and do my usual ‘fangirl’ review, meaning that I will talk about shit I keep obsessing about. I usually call it the ‘good’ and the ‘not-so-good’ list, but unlike Naira’s ‘to-stab’ list, my not-so-good list remains empty this time. This won’t have spoilers (but I will have spoiler talk at the end because wow).
- Characters: 10/10. Obsessed. What do I even say? I don’t do drugs, but what O’Keefe’s characters make me feel must be what snorting coke feels like. They’re funny, adorable, brilliant. By the end of the book I felt so dumb for how much I was crying. BUT I’ve spent so much time reading and re-reading about Nai, Tarq, Kav, and Kuma that I lowkey need them to come into existence and adopt me. - Twists: Shit man. Too many. So good. I didn’t expect half of them. If you’re reading this book, I’ll just tell you: don’t forget the Chinese rooms. And do keep in mind who resonates and who doesn’t. - No questions left unanswered and no loose ends: This. I had so many. All of them answered. Even at the end when I was bawling my eyes out and I was just thinking ‘I just don’t get why this had to happen.’ O’Keefe clarified it all brilliantly. And I do want to explain this wasn’t a deus ex machina kind of thing either. - The writing and pace: I love her writing. Pace-wise? Shit. This was fast-paced. You didn’t get a break until the 80% mark and then all shit blew up and the sobbing started. But I loved it. I wish we had 50 more pages after the end just to vibe with everyone and chill for two minutes. - Representation: I started my ‘O’Keefe journey’ with The Protectorate and I was coming from loving The Expanse series, and I was critical. Too critical. But the one thing that set O’Keege apart was just how deliciously diverse her characters are. We got nonbinary, we got trans, we got different ethnicities, we have straight, gay, old, and disabled (visually disabled but also the less visible kind). And it just rocks. I remember re-reading The Protectorate when I broke my right ankle because Sanda didn’t have a right leg and it just made me feel okay to know Sanda did not stop being badass and incredible for a single minute. And Naira is the same. I don’t have chronic pain or anything that I can sympathize with, but the visibility of this, the fact that we have a transgender main character, we have a nonbinary demisexual character, we have a mix of ethnicities and there is not an ounce of hate or discrimination. I always say sci-fi authors should do this: you’re creating a world and you have the power to make normal things normal. Sexual or ethnic minorities struggle in the real world, create one that isn’t as shitty. And O’Keefe is the queen of that. - The badass women: Naira, Kuma, Helms, Ward, Dr Sharp, Jana (special mention to Paison here). The men are also OK, I guess, but the women ...more
Red River Seven follows a bunch of amnesiac people who wake up on a boat that is moving somewhere. They don't know where. That’s the plot.
Oh, gosh. I’Red River Seven follows a bunch of amnesiac people who wake up on a boat that is moving somewhere. They don't know where. That’s the plot.
Oh, gosh. I’m so sorry but I hated this. The writing was flat and the characters were just irrational, unlikable, and uninteresting. I hate the amnesia stuff in books. The peeps here slowly realize they have tattoos with writers' names and, by talking, they quickly uncover they’re specialists in different things. This is awful because every character will info dump their stuff (aka, the historian info dumps history; the doctor-forensic woman whatever info dumps medical stuff; the military dude keeps talking about guns; etc.).
There’s also this satellite phone where a robotic voice gives them orders and the voice only wants to talk to one of them (why? I don’t know. Because he’s the protagonist. And I think he’s supposed to be funny and sarcastic but he comes off like a narcissistic idiot to me) (sorry).
So, yeah. I just didn’t enjoy it at all. I skimmed after 150 pages because I was getting so tired of how dramatic and irrational everything was. The climax points were just uninteresting, there were a lot of arguments that were solved through peer pressure alone and felt like a waste of pages, etc.
I’m not familiar with the author but I don’t think I will be reading anything by them again. I hope this is a ‘me’ thing and everyone else has a blast with it. I didn’t.
ARC received for free in exchange for an unbiased review....more
This was such an interesting book and I think it’s difficult to rate. We Meant Well it’s a messy read. It’s messy and uncomfortable because it fee3.5*
This was such an interesting book and I think it’s difficult to rate. We Meant Well it’s a messy read. It’s messy and uncomfortable because it feels very real and we get little answers - but do we want them?
The book follows an NGO worker with a failing marriage, Maya. Her private life is dull and sinking and her NGO is in trouble, her colleague Marc has been accused of sexually assaulting a local girl in Likanni, Lele, where they operate a charitable orphanage. Now she’s sent back to deal with it - not for the good of the community and certainly not for the good of Lele, but to deal with it so the NGO survives and they don’t lose any donors.
It’s a story about social justice, white saviors, colonialism, and how the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Humanitarian aid is rarely altruistic and people who work in this line of work, in certain countries, get used to a certain types of contexts - hunger, disease, poverty. This book really chewed down on how being in this line of work breaks you once, but after a few years, a starving kid is as interesting as a boiled potato. Maya wasn’t necessarily like this, but it was interesting to see how she wouldn’t care about the starving kids unless she knew them, and I guess that’s human and understandable (and probably realistic, I can’t imagine being in her shoes), but it was frustrating to read.
Reaching the end of the book was just infuriating and frustrating. Erum Shazia Hasan deals with the topic in a brilliant matter, she points fingers at the NGO for how they deal with this and she questions the intentions of the alleged victim to lie about what has happened. It raises questions about who has power and control over things, and how those who are ‘helped’ can also misuse what they are given. Again, I think this book makes a very good job of explaining that humanitarian aid and this type of NGO are good and do a lot of good, but altruism is just a word, not something that can be used to make (or get) money.
Thank you NetGalley and ECW Press for the ARC. I got the copy for free, this didn't impact my review....more
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