June

Take it for what it is

Revisado: 03-01-22

I love f/f sci fi/fantasy so picked this up based on all the great ratings. I had previously tried another sci fi/fantasy lesbian romance that had even won a lambda literary award but ended up DNF because the writing made my eyes hurt from all the eye rolling. This one kept me listening to the end and I wondered why because the writing isn’t exactly Hugo award winning or anything close. Upon reflection, the other book took itself too seriously whereas this book made me laugh. ALOT. I think Angela Dawe should get much of the credit for this. Her portrayal of the voices brought a camp dimension to the characters and often it played like slapstick for me. The intentional comedic elements by the author charmed me because Ariana is so naive and out of it such as calling her slave “Assistant” which reminds me of clueless characters from many SNL sketches. Other times I guffawed through a couple of serious sex scenes bc of the ridiculously explicit Fifty Shades of Gay that leaves nothing to the imagination. So let go of your expectations of what this book should be (detailed world building, characters with depth and story arc etc.) and enjoy it for what it is.

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When will racism end?

Revisado: 12-14-21

Well, if this book is any indication, racism ends when the human species becomes extinct. This book took me along time to finish even though I bought it as soon as it came out as I am a big fan of Amber Ruffin. After a few hours I couldn’t continue bc I was so upset by what Lacey had to endure. Now it’s December 2021, nearly a year later when I finally felt I could get back to this. It’s a testament of not just survival but also thriving that these two ladies are able tell these “Get Out” stories (yes as in Horror) with humor.

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Stays with you even after the end

Revisado: 10-01-21

Speechless is how this book left me. I’ve listened a lot of sci fi and fantasy books and there are many talented authors in this day and age. This book is not easily categorized nor described even though the tag line says this book is Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet which is an over simplification. Most reviews will talk about things like world building, plot, character etc. and yes there are all those elements in this book and you can read other reviews for that. Instead, I want to tell you how this book made me feel. It was like eating a 10 course Chinese banquet and I savored every chapter as it was brought out and when it was all over I felt full, sated, and complete in my heart. I expect this book will garner more than one award nomination because it’s unlike anything I’ve ever listened to before.

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esto le resultó útil a 11 personas

Epic fantasy that doesn’t disappoint

Revisado: 07-09-21

Can be very confusing at first since there are many different points of view and lots of names, places. I confess I needed the fan wiki to look up all the different characters and places. That being said, a glossary and map would have been helpful: these appendices exist in the actual written book but not this audible book—c’mon Audible please fix this (if Broken Earth trilogy gets a pdf, then this trilogy should get it too). Being a Kameron Hurley fan who has read all her other works, I stuck with this and was glad. It’s an epic fantasy that turns many tropes upside down and then some. Not a simple hero’s (heroine in this case) journey but more an ensemble of characters who are well fleshed out: each on their own journey of growth through adversity. World building is amazing as only Hurley can do it with organic swords, flesh eating walking trees, etc. Powers tied to different satellites that rise and wane. As many different kinds of relationships as the letters LGBTQ. Polyamory and genders beyond the binary are the norm. One thing that stood out were the valley Dhai who must ask for consent before touching one another. What a concept! The author doesn’t coddle her readers given the complexity of the plot(s). If you want something spoon fed then listen to something else.

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Breathtaking and worth waiting for

Revisado: 03-05-21

Part two of a duo-logy, the first being A Memory Called Empire which won the Hugo last year! While the first book was from Mahit Dzmare’s POV, the sequel expands beyond Mahit to multiple characters which at times the chapter or scene would end on a bit of a cliff hanger and go to the next POV making it very difficult to stop listening to. The prose is light, beautiful, and even humorous at times. I would rewind just to listen to the actual poetry which is one of the main features of Teixcalaan culture and often act as double entendres. The main plot about fighting a monstrous enemy is a metaphor for “us vs them.” If “they” aren’t an “us” than they must be barbarians, monsters or worse even if the “us” commits atrocities to maintain power and control. So ask yourself, who’s really the barbarian or monster here? Many themes are explored such as identity, assimilation, friendship, love, loyalty, politics and others. Probably will need listen to again as this novel is richly layered and more will be revealed. Although the author says it’s a duology, the ending seems like there could be more adventures for Mahit Dzmare and hopefully Three Seagrass as they are a dynamic duo!

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Perhaps a time travel novel in disguise

Revisado: 03-02-21

Had this book been published in the 80’s or even 90’s, I might be inclined to be more generous in my review. Back then, lesbian fiction was not as wide spread as it is now and more than a few novels published back in the day were unfortunately at this level of writing. However, this was originally published in 2010 and I don’t want others to waste 10 hours like I did. Maddy the doctor is perfect in everything: she fixes people, appliances, makes killer coffee, and can fly a Cessna. Wait there’s more—she’s also super rich, kind, and beautiful. Is she Princess Charming or an Android made to order? Her looks are overly emphasized especially by male characters including the gay couple—i.e. objectified (reread my first sentence). Syd is the other main character and she is so clueless about Maddy being gay it’s really LOL. Syd is described as a “Sandra Dee.” Other dated references like Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, etc. made me hope that this was actually a time travel novel in disguise. Multiple instances of name drops like Veuve Clicquot and Stella Artois were distracting and would take me out of the narrative. All the main characters drink waaaaay too much. If any one of them actually went to AA I would have believed it. But the author goes to great lengths to keep the characters’ problems/issues skin deep and easily resolvable which made them feel like characters from a Disney fantasy on steroids. Many plot points are contrived beyond belief. As in Syd sprains her ankle and “has” to go see Doc Maddy or let’s pretend we are a couple and kiss because Maddy’s mom is watching to “sell it.” This is ridiculous because 30 min earlier Maddy’s mom says to Syd they seem to have been together longer than 2 months and goes on to say that Maddie may have found the right one this time. So there was no need to “sell” the relationship with a passionate kiss. I asked myself if I should keep going and decided to read the 1-2 star reviews on goodreads (since they seem to be lacking here) to find out the ending only to learn the book gets even more ridiculous. Hard stop and DNF at 50%. Glad I saved 11 hours of my time as the whole book is 21 hours looooong! Where was the author’s editor when the author turned in her manuscript!? This should have been a 10 hour listen if it had been edited. Maybe then I would give it 2.5 stars.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Decent read but didn’t “love it”

Revisado: 08-12-20

I decided to get this based on the Expanse comparison but, unfortunately it doesn’t live up to that level of writing nor story telling. It’s more YA storytelling on the level of Divergent and Hunger Games series. So if you liked those series you may like this. The characters are all in their early 20’s and their “strong” belief systems are challenged and take a 180 degree turn by the end. The villain Adam is pretty two dimensional and some of his delusions of grandeur were LOL. I found it hard to believe that that many peeps would follow and obey him (but then I remember who’s our current president and facepalm myself). Two main characters Jas and Zahra take turns telling what happens to them upon returning to a graveyard ship where everyone died of mysterious circumstances. Jas was the only survivor as a 12 yr old. It didn’t take me long to figure out what really happened and there were other plot points that were predictable. I was almost ready to give up on this novel and not finish it but the half did a better job of surprising me with a couple twists hence 3 stars. The main characters all suffer some type of PTSD and I think that was dealt with well. I was happy to see that there is a lot of diversity in the characters plus Jas is gay.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Soooo satisfying and worth the wait

Revisado: 06-30-20

I discovered all the Murderbot novellas last summer and just fell in love with the characters and ofcourse SecUnit! The familiar characters on this novel run (pun intended) was welcome especially with ART coming back. The relationship between them plays like the “odd couple” LOL. Also wonderful and much appreciated are the continued non-heteronormative relationships, characters of different shades of brown, and of different ages. The author sets SecUnit up for future sequels nicely with new characters so this is not the last one yay!

Kevin R Free does an amazing job (as he has done in all previous iterations) with Murderbot’s snarkiness without overdoing it. I’ve listened to a few readers and they OVER ACT out the characters which is an unwelcome distraction:( Kevin strikes the right balance between reading narrative so it’s not monotone, and giving the characters enough personality. Such a reading allows the writing to shine throughout.

I do recommend reading the novellas first as familiar names from prior adventures come up and if you haven’t read those yet, there are spoilers to what happened to those characters.

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Sooooo good

Revisado: 05-31-20

One of the best books on science backing up Buddhist teachings on no self. Some reviews are doubtful of the psychic stuff at the end but just remember, doubt is the hallmark of the ego rather than the don’t know mind. I’ve previously read Carlo Rovelli’s Reality Is Not What It Seems (great book also) and this is much easier to grasp. I really resonated with the author’s explanation of consciousness as a morphic field that is outside our brains/bodies. Will be checking out Rupert Sheldrake’s books on that subject for sure. If you are someone who meditates and find that the Buddhist teachings are too esoteric and need something that is more accessible, this is the right book for you. Happy non-thinking :-)

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Ok story but still won’t be watching the show

Revisado: 10-13-19

This was a “free bonus” for audible members in addition to the 2 selections for October. I had hoped that the show Carnival Row would get great reviews as I like Cara Delevingne. Alas, it didn’t so I didn’t bother watching. You can also read the review by Alexis Gunderson’s We Regret To Inform You: Carnival Row Is A Grusome Musty Bore.

This book is being touted as a “best seller” um yeah—lots of people like myself are buying it for $0 so I guess Amazon can say that. Oh and Amazon trying to get more viewers for the show much? Well at least now I know why the show is getting some mediocre reviews as this was written by I presume one of the screen writers. Nothing new here or original except some of the characters have wings—oooh! Too bad none of that was explored here, but it seems human males are all too eager to bed these fae and I cringed at the scene when Tourmaline has to sell her body to someone with power—really!? That kind of Weinsteinian crap is soooo tired and overdone. One would think that after #Metoo, women writers would try harder to come up with something more creative and empowering for Tourmaline.

Wonderful performance though by the actress Karla Crome. I will look for her in anything other than Carnival Row.

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