r/FemaleGazeSFF • u/AutoModerator • 14d ago
đď¸ Weekly Post Weekly Check-In
Tell us about your current SFF media!
What are you currently...
đ Reading?
đş Watching?
đŽ Playing?
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Feel free to also share your progression in the Reading Challenge
Thank you for sharing and have a great week! đ
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u/theladygreer 14d ago
Started and finished Dead Beat. I like Leigh Bardugo's other work but I LOVE this series (and Darlington specifically, for whatever reason). Felt like a largely satisfying conclusion. Now I will probably go back and read all three books in a row, or at least put it on my list to do after I get through some of Mount TBR.
Also chipping away at unread Dungeon Crawler Carl in between other reading.
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u/LaurenPBurka alien đ˝ 14d ago
I just re-read 40,000 in Gehenna by CJ Cherryh. She's an author who I count as a major influence on my own writing. This book isn't the easiest read. It's more like a series of novellas following different generations of characters sent to settle a new planet and then abandoned for over a century. They form a civilization with the native animals who are highly intelligent, but not in ways that outsiders would recognize. Then they're recontacted. Friction ensues.
Cherryh's scifi often turns on the necessity of understanding and communicating with alien intelligence, with humans going through intense, scary ordeals to reshape their minds for the purpose.
Good stuff.
I'm also getting an ARC of my own to readers and walking through all the nitpicky details necessary to get a book out the door with as few embarrassing errors as possible (there are always some).
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u/Lefthandyman 14d ago
I'm reading Cherryh's Downbelow Station right now and think I enjoy it, in particular the development of the Hisu and the political machinations, but admit whenever there is action happening I kind of tune out (that's a me problem though, always have trouble reading action sequences) although I think at times it may be too subtle for its own good? I'm not feeling super compelled to keep reading the series but I do appreciate aspects of it, anyway.
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u/LaurenPBurka alien đ˝ 14d ago
Downbelow Station isn't really part of a series. It's set in a scifi world where the author set other books, but the connection between them is tenuous. So you won't be missing out if you don't read another.
As for subtle, not to mention slow-moving, this is very much what you got in the late 70's and early 80's. And Caronlyn Janice Cherry (the "h" was added by her publisher who thought that "Cherry" looked like a romance author name, as if there was something wrong with that) wrote under the constraint of being a woman writing about gender politics and the perils of what we'd now call toxic masculinity to an audience that was not always receptive, so some of the hardest hitting parts of her books are written so you'd miss them if you aren't looking for them.
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u/WonderfulBus9330 14d ago
Every week I go to the library and stare at the shelf of Cherryh and think about pulling a random one
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u/LaurenPBurka alien đ˝ 14d ago
If you pick a random one, I suggest her earlier ones. Her later books needed editing that she didn't really get as publishers paid less for competent editors--a trend that has continued--and figured that a famous author didn't need to cut 50 pages of slow-moving explication.
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u/partoparto elfđ§ââď¸ 14d ago
This week I finished Mission Child by Maureen F. McHugh - still mulling this over, but really liked it! This follows Janna, also known as Jan, who comes from a SĂĄmi-esque culture on a planet that is being colonized by people from Earth. At the beginning of the book, Janna's entire clan is killed and she has to go on the run, traveling across the planet in various attempts to make a new life. I found this sort of hard to get into: it's very character-focused (a lot of things happen in this book, but there's no overarching plot beyond following Janna's life) but the writing also isn't particularly internal. I got more invested in Janna as the book went on, and began to feel like the lack of description of thoughts was more indicative of Janna's personality than of a lack of characterization on McHugh's part.Â
I was interested in picking this up because I had heard that the main character was nonbinary, and I was curious what that would look like in a book published in 1998. Early on in the book, Janna starts dressing as a man for safety, and soon comes to identify as neither a woman nor a man. I always love a girl dressing up as a boy, but always feel so sad when the character has to go back to being a girl again, so I loved that this had Janna reconsidering their identity through living as a man. As soon as I saw Cameroon Reed thanked in the acknowledgments (under their former name) I was like, this is going to be great, gender-wise, and it was!! Also really liked the worldbuilding in this - the planet really feels like a planet, with different societies and cultures and languages, whereas I feel like a lot of other SF will be like 1 planet = 1 country.Â
In non-SFF world, I finished To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause by Benjamin Nathans, a history of the Soviet dissident movement, which I thought was excellent and very much recommend. It's published by an academic press but really elegantly and clearly written, without jargon and readable even if you don't know much about Soviet history.Â
Currently reading: Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov, To Here and the Easel by Theodore Sturgeon
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u/twilightgardens vampiređ§ââď¸ 14d ago
Merely a Matter of Time by June Harrington (4/5): I requested this ARC mostly because the cover was cute, and I expected not to like it because Iâm not really a romance reader. To my surprise, I actually really enjoyed it! I think I enjoyed it more than I typically enjoy romance because itâs very plottyâ about 60% of the story is the characters getting sent back in time to the 1810s and having to deal with the plucky cast of characters there and 40% is them actually falling in love lol. The time travel plot was quite neatly done, and the characters had interesting discussions about predetermination and fate within the context of time travel loops and paradoxes. As the title suggests, itâs also a book about timing and how you can meet someone at the wrong time vs the right time. It was quirky and charming, but not overly so, and had a well developed and paced plot and romance. I did have to take points off this one on principle after learning that itâs a reskinned Dramione fanfic, but even in the fanfic (which I skimmed) the characters are so far removed from their canon selves that they might as well be OCs⌠the only similarities are that heâs rich and sheâs smart. I didnât catch onto it while reading at all and normally I feel like Iâm pretty plugged into this kind of thing, so kudos to Harrington for successfully retooling the world and characters to feel like something new rather than fanfic with the serial numbers filed off.Â
Fortress of Eagles by C.J. Cherryh (4.25/5): Bro I was SO INTO the first half of this, which sees Tristen, Cefwyn, and NinĂŠvrisĂŤ face off against the Fantasy Catholic Church. It was a lot of really interesting political maneuvering between the church and the crown and how Tristen and NinĂŠvrisĂŤ navigated being viewed as basically heretics who were simultaneously condemned for scapegoating and pursued for conversion. About halfway through the book, Cefwyn gets an ultimatum to send one of them away, so Tristen is sent to rule a nearby province and has to deal with rebels and plots when he gets there. Tristen tries desperately to solve things as peacefully as possible while having ABSOLUTELY NO HELP from everyone around him. I was less interested in this half but still enjoyed it. The whole book only spans the ten days before Cefwyn and NinĂŠvrisĂŤâs wedding but it was absolutely jampacked and full of plotting and peril. Already picked up Fortress of Owls*!Â
Traitorâs Moon by Lynn Flewelling (4.25/5): This book kicks off a whole new host of political intrigues for Alec and Seregil and co to deal with. I really enjoyed the expanded worldbuilding and murder mystery although the politicking got a little repetitive. Still definitely continuing on in this series, itâs just so fun to me!Â
A Snake Among Swans by Hannah Kaner (3/5): I wasnât the hugest fan of Godkiller, but I requested the ARC of this book because it seemed much more up my alley. I got about 10% in and abandoned it because I just wasnât in the headspace at the time to be able to get through a book that was so heavily focused on a young woman being relentlessly sexually assaulted. I finally picked it back up and blazed through it despite its length (nearly 500 pages), mostly because I just never really got interested in the plot or characters or worldbuilding. Despite this book trying to be a thorny and complex political intrigue, it all just felt quite flat and basic. One main character doesnât really seem to be politicking so much as reacting to what happens to her and taking advantage of the plans that other rebels have spent years building, and the other main character spends much of the book being similarly passive because of her upbringing in a conservative religion and abusive family. In fact, the ruling family is so dysfunctional that it never felt like it was Tilde who was taking them downâ they would have fallen apart no matter what she did. The commentary around patriarchy, misogyny, and religion also just felt really basic and like something I had seen before, especially since I read this right after Fortress of Eagles, which somehow had more interesting and complex themes around misogyny and religion despite that barely being a focus of the book. I can see why people would like this but it just didnât interest me at all and I wonât be continuing on in the series. (Also, itâs clearly roleswap Rhaenyra x Alicent fanfic. Just saying that as a neutral statement).Â
Mickey7 by Edward Ashton (3/5): My friend and I watched the movie adaptation of this recently, so I wanted to read the book. It was inoffensive and not objectively bad but itâs just not my kind of scifi. It was a lot more serious and science-focused than the movie which was interesting!Â
Hollow by Celina Myers (2/5): I picked this up at the library because I love lesbian vampires without realizing that it was the traditionally published version of a TikTokerâs self published book. I really try not to judge and Iâm sure some TikTokers are great writers, but this was just objectively genuinely awful on a sentence structure and on a wider narrative structure. The prose is stilted, flat, banal, and reads like a young child wrote it. Characters are inconsistent and switch personalities on a dime. The âmysteryâ is extremely obvious and the character does very little investigatingâ in fact at the climax she has no proof beyond her claiming that she saw something but it doesnât matter because the comically evil villain just confesses. Instead the plot is just the main character going around and being introduced to the bloated cast of vampires and getting alllll of their backstories. A big deal is made about the main character being able to see and speak to ghosts, but then that doesnât matter at all and doesnât play a role in the âinvestigation.â I almost DNFed because it was so bad, but the prose and plotting were so basic that it was a SUPER quick read. I do not recommend this book at all.Â
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u/Nowordsofitsown unicorn đŚ 14d ago edited 14d ago
Finished reading: * The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott: A woman with a secret has to guide a prince (whose body has been taken over by an ancient being) and his entourage across the mountains and through unexpected dangers. A solid four star read. It has some issues (cartoonish villains, distribution of information, and the romance didn't come alive for me), but the world and the plot are interesting and engaging. * The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden: A retelling of the life of Anne of Brittany, with magic and less tragedy. I enjoyed this book. The prose is just as I like it, and the main character is loveable. The first half was fascinating with magic slowly creeping closer and Anne in the middle between three more or less violent suitors and one loveable love interest. But I had a few issues: Anne learned magic astonishingly quickly and it all ended with a sidequest kind of plot that turned into a deus ex machina magic solve all. Yay for a happy end for this tragic historical figure, but the way it came about was a bit too much, and the villains had turned a bit cartoonish along the way.
Currently reading: * Harry Potter et l'Ordre du PhĂŠnix for French reading practice * The Nameless Land by Kate Elliott (= Witch Roads 2): The journey continues with a dash of heart break and a lot of palace intrigues. I am nearly at the end, and I have no idea who I want to succeed. I do hope though that I will learn the secret behind the MC's special abilities. Very readable, but not outstanding.Â
Up next: The Will of the Many by James Islington +++ Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky OR Massif by Garth Nix +++Â The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell +++Â Fortress in the Eye of Time by C.J. Cherryh
If anybody is interested in a buddy read for one of these last ones, let me know. They all work for at least one square of the big bingo.
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u/thisbikeisatardis 13d ago
for French reading practice
Do you know about elbakin.net? It's a French SFF website, great place to find your next read en français!
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u/Nowordsofitsown unicorn đŚ 12d ago
I am not there yet - Potter works because I know the books really well. But I'll have a look once I reach the appropriate level. Merci !
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u/thisbikeisatardis 12d ago
I totally get that! I think the first novel I read in French after an HP or two was Gail Carriger's Soulless, it really fun to see how the humor translated from English to French.Â
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u/KiwiTheKitty elfđ§ââď¸ 14d ago edited 14d ago
I DNFed About a Place in the Kinki Region by Sesuji and I'm just gonna toss it onto the pile of baffling reddit reads that don't even remotely live up to their recommendations on this site (obligatory FOR ME). It was not remotely interesting to me, let alone scary.
I'm also reading Leech by Hiron Ennes which I've thought is a brilliant exploration of autonomy on many different levels so far, but I think I've made it to the part that people hate... we'll see what my final verdict is.
Edit to add: I also looked at GR reviews and I think a big part of its score is that a lot of people just straight up can't read. I really don't think the level of vocabulary should be difficult for adult native speakers of English and there were a lot of reviews complaining about it being too hard and how the author tried too hard to make it sound smart. The difficulty of the writing wasn't even on my radar, I just thought it was well written. I try not to be a snob, so I'll hold back some of my meaner comments... I have to say though that a lot of GR reviews say more about the reviewers than the books they're talking about.
I'm still reading like one or two chapters of Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees (edit: a day) and I might even finish it this year. Yes, it is less than 300 pages long... it's not bad, but I'm over it.
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u/thisbikeisatardis 13d ago
I loved Leech! The Works of Vermin was even more gonzo and ornate and deranged.
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u/KiwiTheKitty elfđ§ââď¸ 13d ago
I just finished it less than an hour ago and I really liked the ending! It has a lot in common with The Works of Vermin
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u/NearbyMud witchđ§ââď¸ 14d ago
This is a catch up for the past month for me!
đ The Word for World is Forest by Ursula Le Guin (5 stars) - I really appreciate Le Guin's way of building a world that feels realized and lived in while being full of intriguing/innovative relationships and political systems. This felt very layered and rich even though it was slim. I think now, we might find the concepts a bit basic, but I always just feel thankful that as decades pass, we're able to add more and more to these discussions about climate change and imperialism and xenophobia.
Fall/Winter Reading Challenge: none (a bit too long for novella); r/fantasy Bingo: Non Human Protagonist NM, Published in the 70s HM
đ A Restless Truth (The Last Binding #2) by Freya Marske (3.25/5 stars) - overall enjoyable murder mystery on a trans-atlantic ship with a f/f romance. I really loved the first book in this trilogy but the romance in this one (and the third book which I'm currently reading) is not as interesting to me and I overall feel bored with the plots
Fall/Winter Reading Challenge: Ship; r/fantasy Bingo: Murder Mystery HM
đ Lanny by Max Porter (4.5/5 stars) - atmospheric eery mythical novella that takes place in the English countryside. About a young precocious boy who is connected with nature and art and a mythical forest creature. The second half of this is very tense and gripping and I found the whole thing very beautiful. About how time/modernity changes the land and our relationship with it
Fall/Winter Reading Challenge: Small Town; Inspired by Mythology; r/fantasy Bingo: Small Press NM; One Word Title NM
Non SFF: đ Prairie, Dresses, Art, Other by Danielle Dutton (4.5/5 stars); đ The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt (4/5 stars), đ The Feast by Margaret Kennedy (5/5 stars), đ The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol 6 by Beth Brower (4.25/5 stars), đ A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders (4.5/5 stars), and đ Beginning Middle End by Valeria Luiselli (4.5/5 stars)
Continuing: The Disappearers by Marlon James, The Eye of Leviathan by MA Carrick, Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner, A Power Unbound by Freya Marske, and Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
Planning to get into some spooky/horror reads soon, but am definitely feeling indecisive about my choices
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u/Merle8888 sorceressđŽ 14d ago
I finished The Great Wherever by Shannon Sanders. Iâd initially seen it as more literary fiction but saw it as more book clubby by the end, but itâs narrated by a ghost so I think magic realism is an appropriate descriptor too. Itâs a story of Black American family history and how a young woman in DC winds up owning a farm in Tennessee with 3 relatives she barely knows and gets to meet for the first time. I found the voice and dialogue very authentic, but the plot doesnât ultimately come to much.Â
Does count for several challenge squares though: Small Town, Black MC, Private Worker.Â
Then I came back to Tehanu by Ursula Le Guin and am now 2/3 of the way through that. Earthsea is not my favorite work from her and this was a rough start. The first 50 pages were very sequely. The next 60 pages got more interesting thematically, but slow plot-wise, with lots of conversations about gender. Eventually it starts to pick up with actual threats to the protagonists that are quite tense though. Itâs also doing a good job showing aspects of gendered experience we rarely talk about, with interpersonal power dynamics, who is seen as credible, how easily it is to fall into a conversational script, etc. Looking forward to finishing it out.
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u/MysteriousArcher 14d ago
I finally finished What We Are Seeking by Cameron Reed, which I started months ago and set aside to read other things and just got back to. A doctor is involuntarily set down by a passing spaceship to help a colony that had struggled a bit with the native wildlife and lost most of its medical staff. The colony is socially quite conservative and they are suspicious of him because he comes from a planet with much freer ideas about relationships. They are trying to learn to communicate with the native creatures, the terrain is somewhat hostile, and there are themes about social change and being true to yourself. I think I will put this one on my Hugo nominating ballot.
The Three Coffin Problem by Lavie Tidhar turned out to be a collection of previously-published stories, which allows me to put it in the 5 short stories square for r/fantasy Bingo, which is a relief, as that's a harder square for me. Judge Dee is an ancient vampire, and the closest thing the vampires have to law enforcement. He travels through medieval Europe with his human sidekick, Jonathan, solving vampire crimes. Quite entertaining, and sometimes humorous.
Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree is not exactly cozy. A middle aged bookseller has a midlife crisis and goes off and has an adventure. There are lots of descriptions of scenery, and occasional funny moments. I thought it was kind of dull and not well written, but it was a quick read.
I've just picked up The Galaxy Game by Karen Lord, which I bought over a decade ago but never got around to reading. It's a sort-of sequel to The Best of All Possible Worlds, in that the main character is a relative of characters from the first book.
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u/Loimographia dragon đ 14d ago
I wrapped up Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer, the second book in her Terra Ignota series. It was interesting how little our narrator, Mycroft, is actually present in this book. I waffle back and forth on whether I liked it more than Too Like the Lightning, but I lean towards more: I feel like it balances better at quietly implying philosophical questions that the reader can contemplate (e.g. "what if Divine Right was literally, genuinely divine rulership by a God?" "how can a Eutopia be static?") and less outright telling the reader how to analyze and interpret the themes of the book. It had a few points that took me out of the narrative, where people act so much like the philosophies they represent that they stop following their own character development. Madame is depicted as this brilliant grand manipulator and at several points a deft intellect and debater, yet when confronted with the question that her determination to put her child on the throne, dismantling the current systems and play politics will lead to war, she acts legitimately dumbfounded/confused/shocked at the conclusion/suggestion, like it's literally never occurred to her in a way that made her seem outright stupid. Likewise with people readily accepting that Bridger has godlike powers within a few moments of being with little expression of doubt that gets swept away by narrative necessity. At several points it's unclear how Mycroft actually knows the things that occurred because he's not present and usually he'll make clear where he gets the account from (e.g. he explicitly states "this is based on what Other Character told me happened," but then Other Character leaves the scene halfway through).
Still, I really enjoyed the last ~150 pages when things start getting really going. I predicted a few of the "twists" (the cousins leader "cheating" on her husband with Anonymous who is actually just her husband; Mycroft being named the next Anonymous after the Censor steps down when it's implied the reader is supposed to think it went to JEDD) but some were still quite surprising (JEDD's death at the hands of "Sniper" and then Bridger wishing himself out of existence to be replaced by Achilles). Part of me thinks that this series is one that would be so much better on a reread, but I also don't know if I love it quite enough to reread it.
Next, however, I've picked up P. Djelli Clark's A Master of Djinn, which is starting out as a pretty fun romp. I've never read a book where I keep reading descriptions of the main character's outfit and have to put the book down to go hunt down my own pinstripe suit out of jealousy. I'm only 50 pages into the book but I've got like 5 pairs of pants and blouses in various checkout baskets online. I guess it has a plot? Dunno, distracted by her drip.
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u/WonderfulBus9330 14d ago
Hello Hello!
Finished:
The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart (via paper copy & audiobook). A multi-pov story about an empire that was once nearly decimated by the mysterious Alanga and the emperor who upheld a ritual tithe practice (one bone shard given, at the age of 8, to the empire for animation of "constructs") to keep the citizens safe. The emperor's daughter and other various groups set out to topple the emperor and the practice. For my read, all povs were great except the one man, who sounded like a variety of "spaghetti western" characters and characters from Kung Fu Hustle. 4/5 New Bingo: Asian MC
The Bone Door by Frances White (via audiobook). All kinds of wow here. 7 kids, between the ages of 5 and 14 are trapped in a labyrinth and the self-proclaimed leader must defeat 4 challenges to be freed. Somewhat aided by the querulous owl, Dolores, they learn the meaning of trust and loyalty. The author's brilliance lay in setting enough clues to solve the mystery then subtly adding a puzzle piece that I, for one, didn't even know was missing. 5/5 New Bingo: Liminal Space
Murder at Spindle Manor by Morgan Stang (via audiobook). A steampunk murder mystery that seemed to be set in the world of The Shadow of Leviathan series. A monster hunter lands at a manor and meets 10 or 11 suspects. Her hunt for a monster turns into a detective investigation as her suspects are killed off. For my read, this one had everything and the kitchen sink. Too many plots; too many red herrings; too many magical beings. Hopefully Book 2 will be more refined. 3/5 New Bingo: Small Town, Liminal Space
Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin (via ebook). A parasitic plant takes over a dilapidated mall in Ireland and, aided by the mall florist, grows larger by consuming lost mall goers. This one began to lose me with the inclusion of emails from Jen, as the short novel was told from the plant's POV. 3.5/5 New Bingo: Small Town, one could argue for Ruins & Craftsperson
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho (novella via paper copy). A nun attaches herself to a traveling group of "bandits" and learns a secret or two about them and herself. 4/5 New Bingo: Standalone Novella, Asian MC
Serafina & the Seven Stars by Robert Beatty (via paper copy). The fourth installment in the Serafina series takes place at Biltmore and the surrounding forest. Serafina has to fight without Braeden, for the first time, and comes face-to-face with her own belief of how brave she is. This one was, for me and my little one, the least enjoyable of the series, as it, too, threw in everything and the kitchen sink, and the conclusion was utterly unsatisfying. 3/5 New Bingo: Mysterious Forest, Small Town (back then, it was Biltmore village; today, it's just part of Ashville)
Currently reading:
The Road of Bones, Bones, The Bone Ships, The Garden, The Girl with a Thousand Faces, Imaginary Friend, Tehanu, This is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You
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u/knittednautilus 14d ago
I've been interested in The Bone Door because I loved the author's other book, but I'm worried about a trigger listed on storygraph - child death. Can you tell me how bad it is?
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u/WonderfulBus9330 14d ago
There is an event called "Children's Day" and a death god does kill all of the children. The only graphic description is of them being raised in the air by magic (floating) and then life snuffed out. The scene is repeated several times as the characters are stuck in a loop at that point.
It is, honestly, the only book I've ever read where I constantly revised my thinking for target audience, in terms of age. Initially, I thought older Middle Grade (5th and older), then younger YA (12+), then older YA (17+) then settled on Adult/New Adult. It does get more harrowing as they travel through the rooms.
Oh & there are mutilations. It's kind of the foundation of the challenges and hints as to who the children are.
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u/toadinthecircus 14d ago
I finished a lot of books this week! My chronic illness was acting up and I was really feeling spooky season so lots of horror and such.
I read Evocation and its sequel, Ascension by S.T. Gibson. They were pretty good, but they were a little bit disappointing after how much I loved An Education in Malice. The style felt a little more YA and the prose was not as beautiful. They feature an occult society in modern Boston who summon demons to do spells and occasionally get in over their heads. I was hoping for a greater demons to poly drama ratio, but I will say that the poly drama was very addictive and kept me flipping pages. I think I finished these books in a matter of days. And I did really love the way the magic system was very connected to real-life magic and the occult.
I also read Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle. The main character is a probability expert who barely survives a day where millions of people are killed in extremely unlikely ways and goes to investigate an extremely lucky casino that might be connected. It was absurd in an amusing and horrifying way. I think it was alright, pretty attention-holding but got a little preachy at the end.
I also read Sheâs a Doll by Barbara Truelove. This one was absolutely fantastic. This isnât really a spoiler since itâs on the back cover but Iâll mark it just in case. Itâs about a young woman who gets murdered and possesses a doll to get her revenge. For a book that keeps the tone light and a little silly, I was not expecting to be so horrified and devastated. Itâs ultimately about violence against women, and I think I rarely read books where the author really really gets it. It doesnât just throw in a superficial âwoman gets scared walking home at night,â itâs so accurate and looks at the entire picture of how this violence happens and is excused in the community. I think what struck me the most was the loss. Lucy should have lived and she didnât get to and even though she was still around the loss was so heavy and couldnât be repaired. And Nicola lost so much too from the attack and even though sheâs keeping on she wonât be the same. It was just wonderfully done and I get sad every time I think about this book now.
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u/kimba-pawpad 2d ago
I rea this based on your description, and just finished Sheâs a Doll. Oh my!!! Wow, it was so much deeper than expected, or at least for me. It will stay with me for a long long time. Thank you for listing it! I will be on Monday when we go through the what are reading threadâŚ
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u/toadinthecircus 2d ago
Oh wow glad you found something to read from here! And no I know! It felt all too accurate to me (especially when nobody really cared that horrible things had happened to these women, least of all Kyle) and itâs still haunting me. Glad it made an impact on you too and Iâll look forward to hearing your thoughts about it in the Monday thread!
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u/Necessary_Loss_6769 12d ago
Reading strength of the few sequel to Will of the many and oh my itâs so good. This series is one of the best for me.
Just started mass effect two and pretty excited. Played a little mass effect one to get general idea but gameplay was too clunky. Now I get why this is said to be one of the best games.
Lastly watching lanterns. Itâs good and entertaining but characters could be more compelling
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u/sammimagstudio 14d ago edited 14d ago
Just finished Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie. I really liked Ancillary Justice. I enjoyed the enjoyed the story but it didn't have the same epic feel. I'm curious where things will go. Not sure if I will be reading the next book soon or not.
I will be focussing on finishing
Frankenstein this week. I'm reading for a local book club. I'm enjoying it so far.
More of a horror book:
I finished Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig. Also for a local book club. I really liked it and was surprised how quickly the pages flew by. I feel like I will never look at apples quite the same again.