Somehow the yearning increased in book two. These men seriously have such a tragic and beautiful story, I can't get over it. Zhao Yunlan truly recreates the "disaster bisexual" stereotype, while still being highly competent.

We get a lot of lore in this book, filling in the details of what has been heavily implied or confirmed in the story prior. Past the footnotes, I am not sure how much this is "inspired by" vs a "retelling" of Chinese mythology. And since it was new to me, I was just fully enthralled by the backstories. However, I could see this being boring, and I did think this exposition was in very large drops rather than well spaced out throughout the story. Despite not knowing much of the folklore and mythology basis, the plot did feel somewhat predictable.

Once again, the characterization is superb and much of the prose is quite beautiful. The beautiful prose does seem oddly mixed in with the mundane descriptions especially of dialogue, and I am not sure how much this may be based on translation issues. And of course, the few illustrations throughout are incredible.

An emotional coming-of-age and coming-out novel about a Latina lesbian in a very Catholic family. This book does not pull punches in addressing issues about homophobia, religious trauma/hypocrisy, immigration, racism, classism, and more.

I was expecting a decent amount of cringe when some of these issues were brought up so blatantly, but the direct and honest way they were addressed was surprisingly well-handled, succint, and authentic. I also was not expecting to feel so emotional from the wholesome elements of the resolution. Reyes balances the real terror and survival mentality that many queer teens unfortunately experience with the joy and community of the queer community and allies. The trauma is not the only focus of the story, nor is it dismissed.

That said, this book is very much a YA title- which is not bad, but something to know going in. The subject matter and the protagonist's mindset and maturity could not be handled outside the quintessential YA vibe.

This felt like talking with a friend, or listening to an informal speech lecture. I would have loved this to be longer, although the rambling autobiographical nature may be too nebulous for a longer work. This worked well as an audiobook, though I do not know if I would have found a print book with this format as engaging.

I didn't know much about James Baldwin and haven't yet read any of his fiction, so I learned a lot and will be interested to see how his experiences influence his writings, which I plan to read at least one later this year.

One of the weirdest books I have read, and I mean that in the best possible way. This was difficult with the subject matter, but so so interesting. Definitely one of those books I dreaded picking up to find out what happened next, but for the same reason couldn't resist reading more.

I was not expecting the semi-autobiographical framed narrative to become an even more integrated focus on storytelling in a metaphysical way, but in retrospect maybe I should have. The various Buddhist paradigms that Nao learns from her grandmother, and slowly understands and embraces, lead us right to the Weirdness of the plot.

The characters weren't necessarily likeable or too compelling, but by the end I could fully understand the few main characters.

This book is certainly not fast paced overall. Just as the river Ganga herself, we may slowly move along, sometimes meandering and sometimes pooling in an area to focus or simply enjoy, while other times we careen over the long-anticipated rapids, swirling around quick developments. Being based on a very old myth, the plot is certainly not as gripping as a modern standard, and rather the focus is on characterization and posing Big Questions. And Patel succeeds at this in her retelling. Her prose specifically is hypnotic.

I'm generally not into stories that feel like reality tv or soap operas to me: characters just being terrible to each other. However, Patel clearly shows us who each of these distinct characters are, and that is somewhat enjoyable in itself and certainly worth applauding. I also enjoyed the meditations on: what it means to be human (or a god); when, if at all, and how, do our intentions matter when weighed against their consequences; what is honor and loyalty, and what is it worth. Viewing these questions from various perspectives and across time truly forces the reader to contemplate these issues deeply and consider other perspectives.

Patel's prose is the shining star in this book, in my opinion. I wish I enjoyed this book more, simply because those elements which I did enjoy were so good. I look forward to checking out her other books.

An immersive and gripping tale, sure to hook even readers "not into history." The nature of this microhistory inherently lends itself to a narrative style, and Grann paints scenes by bringing in various contemporaneous sources, facts, and standards of the time period and naval life to enhance his foundation of primary source material of journals and first-hand accounts from the journey. The narration from Dion Graham is impeccable, truly situating the listener on the 18th century ship through Grann's words.

I have never felt closer to climbing the treacherous levels of a mast, harassed by the wind, cold, and sea spray, as the ship rocks on the waves. This is only one example of how Grann pulls in details to fill out the sparse and technical logbooks of the crew. I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone, whether they are interested in history or especially if they aren't. The Wager would serve as a great intro in how history can be interesting for those who were bored in high school and haven't wanted to try anything since! Especially the Dion Graham narration.

Grann thoroughly documents and explains the entire final journey of The Wager, from the dockyards to Wager Island to the aftermath both back in London and the remainder of the fleet around the world. He even explains how such a sensational story was quietly dismissed and relegated to the lesser-known annals of history.