Welcome back to my monthly wrap-up! I feel like I'm catching back up to speed - I know seven books in a month is still a lot for most people, but I'm still feeling like I'm not reading as much as I want to. Yellowface helped me get back on track though, I blew through that thing in like four days.
I know that some of these books may be listed for sale on the website, but I want to keep my reviews honest. We may not have the same taste in books and I encourage you to check them out regardless!
I read seven books this month: four physical books and three audiobooks. Let's go!
Immortal Longings - Chloe Gong
⬤⬤⬤◔〇 | e-ARC | synopsis here
My Review:
Thanks to
Gallery / Saga Press and NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest
review. All thoughts and feedback are my own.
I was
in the minority of people who didn't love These Violent Delights, so I'm happy to say I liked this book
more than her debut! I will also say that this book ended on a pretty big cliffhanger that actually
upped my rating by a quarter of a star, although I'm still undecided if I'll continue with the
series.
I think this is a very standard fantasy
novel. It is far less heavy on the romance than the synopsis and marketing would imply, though it's
definitely there, but that was honestly fine for me. I really loved the concept of the magic system and
using qi as the essence of the magic. There are so many chances for this series to be a hit as it
progresses.
With that being said, I think the weakest
part of Gong's books is the worldbuilding, consistently. I didn't feel drawn in or captivated by San-Er,
despite the fact that it's a really cool setting. The book centers around politics, but we never get a
good idea of what's actually going on; the main antagonist is never characterized as more than a generic
Big Bad. I was hoping the games in the synopsis would have the same tension and atmosphere as The Hunger
Games, but I never felt like there were any real stakes.
Overall a mixed bag, but the potential is really there on this
one.
content
warnings:
violence, death
Solito - Javier Zamora
⬤⬤⬤⬤◐ | audiobook | synopsis here
My Review:
I am so grateful
for the literary award Storygraph challenge I created, because it introduces me to wonderful books like
this that I might not have picked up otherwise. This is a beautifully written, insightful, heartbreaking
memoir. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author, and I think it adds a lot to the
experience; I would highly recommend. I seriously couldn't tell if this book was written in verse or
prose, especially with Zamora's narration. I loved it.
This is certainly a long story, and parts of it felt a little slow, but
you can't really critique how someone's real life played out, pacing-wise. The high-stakes moments were
tense and elicited physical reactions from me, which I always commend when a book is able to do so. I
loved the inclusions of so much Spanish, and I thought the choice to tell the narrative from the POV of
Zamora as a child with no input from his adult self really enhanced the plot.
This is a wonderful book. I would highly
recommend it to anyone.
Mister Magic - Kiersten White
⬤⬤⬤⬤〇 | e-ARC | synopsis here
My Review:
Thanks to Del Ray
and NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and
feedback are my own.
What a hit from Kiersten White!
I read Hide last year and loved the concept but not the execution, so I am beyond thrilled to find her
newest release one of my favorite horror reads this year. Horror books don't really scare me ever, but I
found myself contemplating if I should be reading this one late at night, with some of the scenes in the
house. The ambiance is great, I enjoyed our cast of characters and their relationships to each other,
and I appreciated the religious/deconstruction metaphors and undertones that were present if one wanted
to contemplate them, but not a central element of the story.
My biggest downside to this book - the only downside, really - was that I
had no idea what the hell was going on during the climax of the story. I got enough out of it to get by,
but descriptions felt a little confusing there. I also feel like there were some elements that weren't
wrapped up or explained as well as I would have liked, but that might not be true upon a reread.
If you're into the concept of the Candle Cove
creepypasta meets Stephen King's It, I think you'd really dig this one.
content warnings: confinement, death of parent, child abuse
The Art Thief - Michael Finkel
⬤⬤⬤◕〇 | audiobook | synopsis here
My Review:
I enjoyed
listening to this book and thought the narrator did a good job overall. The story this follows is very
interesting and I enjoyed how the events and hard facts were expanded upon to create a more detailed
story and better flow and atmosphere. I think that was a good choice here even though this book is
nonfiction and may come across to some as reducing credibility.
I can tell the author did a lot of research and interviews to write this
book, and I wish it was longer. The pacing felt too fast at times, and I have to wonder how much of
Finkel's interview and research time went underutilized. If this report was already slightly dramatized
to give a more novelistic approach, I wish it had been taken further to give us more depth on the
tension during the crimes, or the relationship between Stéphane and Anne-Catherine (arguably one of the
most compelling plot threads).
Don't get me wrong, I
really liked this book and got through it quickly. I just wish there had been more.
content
warnings:
addiction, toxic
relationship
Whalefall - Daniel Kraus
⬤⬤⬤⬤◔ | e-ARC | synopsis here
My Review:
Thanks to Atria and NetGalley for providing
me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feedback are my own.
This is a book with a totally unique concept that I've
been excited to read ever since I was approved for it on NetGalley. It's one of the few books I'll say I really
liked but will absolutely never read again. I even hesitate to call it horror apart from its setting, which is
absolutely nasty and stomach churning (no pun intended). This book is existential, reflective, emotional and
sad, and very hard-hitting. It examines a heartbreaking father-son relationship amidst a devastating survival
story, and it does so very well.
I loved the metaphors and
the role Jay's father plays in being a medium for conversation. Seriously, most of this book is so good. The
only downside I have is due to the slight feeling of plot convenience with some of the things going on within
the whale's stomach, but it wasn't anything book-ruining for me.
Overall, I read that I would certainly recommend, if you can come to terms with
the nauseating setting.
content warnings: gore, body horror, animal death, death of parent, alcoholism, pandemic, terminal illness
Yellowface - R.F. Kuang
⬤⬤⬤⬤〇 | hardcover | purchase here
My Review:
It has been SO
LONG since I've read a book where I loved to hate the main character, but R.F. Kuang is here to satiate
that feeling. It's pretty clear that this is a cynical meta take on the publishing industry in which
Kuang expresses a lot of her personal opinions, but it also gives you a lot t think about. There are
some interesting insights provided and I think the themes of who gets to tell what stories and racism in
the industry and pre-selected bestsellers can all lead to some deep conversations.
I'm never a big fan of when authors use popular
/ real world events, people, or media in their book. I think that specifically naming different social
media platforms, popular authors, or presidents inherently date what could otherwise be a more timeless
work. I understand with this book that that might not be possible to fully avoid, but it is a literary
ick of mine. I think in this case, as a few others have mentioned, it turns this book from being fully
about publishing discourse to a lot of commenting of the Twitterverse.
All in all, a real good book, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest
of Kuang's works!
content warnings:
racism, cultural appropriation,
death
Dead Eleven - Jimmy Juliano
⬤⬤⬤◕〇 | audiobook | synopsis here
My Review:
This story is
really unique and I think the concept was executed well. I listened to this as an audiobook and I
thought the cast of narrators was great and added to the story. Dead Eleven does something I absolutely
adore within a novel, and that's including other forms of media to tell another storyline or add in
additional information. This is done through letters and various audio transcripts, and I think these
help make the tension feel more immediate to the reader.
I wish there had a been a little more character development, and there
were moments where the writing style felt a little too reminiscent of a Creepypasta (which makes sense,
since the author is popular on the r/noslee subreddit). I think the buildup and premise of this book was
fantastic, but the ending didn't do it for me as much as I would have liked.
Am definitely interested in seeing what else
Juliano puts out and would love to read more from him in the future!
content warnings:
grief, child death, death
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What was your favorite book you read this month? Let me know!