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Anne and Wentworth remain faves

Revisado: 03-04-25

The Kellynch branch of this series continues to earn my love, as this family of dragons finds ways to support each other even as new threats to them and the Blue Order keep cropping up, especially as tensions about the rights of smaller dragons really reaches a boiling point here (also how relevant, to see the oppressed see what they want to see in a proven tyrant, of only real life ones were so easily managed). Excited to see a promised crossover between the Wentworths and the Darcys in a future book.

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A bridge novel

Revisado: 02-08-25

Plot wise I can't really say much happens in this installment - a summary of events could probably be a few sentences. However, as a study of character interiority and world building, it is far stronger. We see Elizabeth grapple with the realization of she's been propaganda-pilled to the roles of minor and major dragons in England's great treaty, along with how human's role has been diminished. And also Elizabeth wrestle as she realizes how self-interested and short-sighted the dragons at the top can be, much like men of power in our own world can be (the current applicability of it all). I think I am slightly disappointed that for now the characters seem concerned with preserving the status quo, no matter how much it relegates minor dragons and humans to lesser roles, but I also know I can't really expect English regency nobility to be diehard revolutionary radicals.

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Not for the Faint of Heart

Revisado: 12-05-24

My favorite in the series, messed up as it all is. What if "I can fix him" wasn't the heroine's attitude but was the attitude of the alien keeping her as a pet, forcing her into proximity with a traumatized man? It's actually kind of sweet at times, dark though the whole scenario is.

Narrator is very good, too!

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A fun read if you like spice

Revisado: 11-22-24

This was largely a fun read that is maaaaybe about one-fourth to one-third "spicy times." Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more. That part of the book was overall pretty good for what it is, especially as the two leads are VERY interested in switching up who's dominant and submissive. I do enjoy my switch!couple rep.

The lore of the setting was also intriguing, not too bare bones and leaving no obvious questions to answer. More than enough to provide the backdrop for an escapist romantic fantasy.

Now I do want to warn for some of the potentially triggering content, for those who might think this is an entirely cozy read, and spoilers ahead! There's a mother who's emotionally and financially abusive (and eventually tries assault), an abusive ex who also escalates from on-page verbal abuse to attempted murder, and destruction of property via a house fire.

There's also some acknowledged dubiousness about "accidentally forever marrying someone because I lost control in the throes of passion" but that is overall pretty light. I will also note this book begins to lean more and more into "het A/B/O" as it continues, since that's not for everyone. It's not my preferred thing but I didn't mind it here, especially since as noted above the characters are into switching up roles rather than having one specific dynamic in bed. And I did have some amusement comparing Ahnou's "My alpha is X" to FSG's "My inner goddess is X."

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Dark, Layered, & Spicy--Just How I Like My Treats!

Revisado: 10-11-24

I picked this up (after having a bit of a chuckle at the cover with a buff bunny man) because I read reviews suggesting it was so much deeper than just a spicy and quick read, and they were absolutely correct IMO. The worldbuilding is quite lush in its way, conveying a lot with a little, allowing me to immerse myself in this alternative pantheon of "old gods" that still influence the world.

As for the romance, it's just gearing up with some FASCINATING interplay of power and desire from both parties. I'm used to more... simplified is the polite way to put, but trite but more accurately reflect my opinion, of Dom/sub relationships with very set in stone roles, sometimes bordering on or outright abusive.

But this explores a more playful aspect of that dynamic even as their higher stakes than normal for each, especially Lily who has found ambition fleeing an abusive partner in becoming the mother of the next ruler of the Valley. It's fun to see her genuinely find empowerment even in submissiveness, and I have hopes for her as a future queen regent.

I've already picked up the sequel, too invested to quit now!

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hard hitting

Revisado: 05-05-24

this podcast is very informative and helps me understand more of the wider world today

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The best ATLA media since the original series

Revisado: 04-21-24

This was the sort of story I wanted when I picked up other Avatar media, a story that felt more mature yet still in keeping with the original series' world and themes. I don't want to risk spoiling too much, so I can only hope you take a chance and give this a listen.

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Greek mythos meets The Yellow Wallpaper

Revisado: 04-20-24

In less than an hour, Miller elegantly constructs the small world of Galatea, a statue brought to life to satisfy her infatuated creator. How said creator restricted her more and more seeing how others saw her beauty, yet he cannot stand to see how her original untouched beauty is marked by time, experience, and his own hands. How he locks her away in a room when he deigns to do something beyond her, the way he might have done when she was still a statue.

There's something unsettling about the new creation Pygmalion creates in this tale, an impossibly still girl child caught in her sculptured sleep, and what that may mean about Pygmalion's ideal, as it becomes clear he's unsatisfied that his once virgin wife has become more experienced and less prone to innocent blushes when they have married relationships. The ending is unsurprising and more bittersweet than bleak, for all that it definitively ends these two characters' stories.

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The Importance of Death Rituals

Revisado: 03-22-24

There are many interesting windows presented here into the possible ways our dead could be taken care of, and a lament of the loss of death rituals in America, as we see the ways they are a healthy outlet for grief as well.

This is in many ways more of a travel vlog than a factual nonfiction book, I will note, so if any are particularly interesting you may want to dig deeper into it elsewhere. For example, Caitlyn doesn't delve into how the Shinto belief of dead bodies being impure and anti-burial influenced Japan's preference for cremation, or how many Japanese people identify as both Shinto and Buddhist (the thought you must be ONE religion and one religion alone seems to be rather uniquely Abrahamic). Still, I highly recommend it for Caitlyn's enjoyably breezy yet compassionate narration alone.

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"Democracy Is a Critically Necessary Fantasy"

Revisado: 03-22-24

This follow-up felt like it took a little bit to find its footing, without the immediately obvious goal of pulling off a heist that the first one had. And not all the previous characters have the meaty roles that they did in the first (RIP to my favorite drag queen and bi couple). However, this series continues to be LOUDLY and BEAUTIFULLY queer, and its jokes aside it asks complicated questions that have no clear answers. Namely, what do you do when someone who is technically part of your community works actively to undermine it, to be the "one Good Gay" or the token for conservatives.

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