DNF @p 90

I may or may not come back to this but it's way overdue at the library and I can't bring myself to finish it so DNF for now haha

Reading this just made me feel too weird. Like the whole trying to create meaningful art but ending up making something that means nothing. And also the toxic and competitive but also deeply nurturing sapphic relationship. I don't know if it just hit too close to home or what.

DNF @ p 168

This book gets way too bonkers, in a bad way.

First of all, I hated the dude that went on the nun show. He was weird and creepy and made me deeply uncomfortable. "I like all women. I like the female as a phenomenon... and that includes the smell of your genitals." (p 41) Like wtf???? And as he gets more and more deplorable I'm like, ok, the book is setting us up to really hate this guy. BUT THEN the narrator starts having sex with him??!?!?? And they basically end up in a relationship even though she KNOWS he's a shit bag who beat both of his exes?

And where it really starts going off the deep end is when this horrible man and now, equally horrible narrator, meet this weird tourist. Where I stopped reading is when the narrator dares the tourist to eat a random, ALIVE raw octopus they found on the beach and in return the tourist dares the narrator to strut around completely butt naked.

LIKE WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON???

I completely gave up on the book after that hahaha. Definitely won't recommend.

I was a bit apprehensive about this book because it had a lot of hype on TikTok and generally those books are a hit or miss. Also because the author usually works on comics, not novels.

However this book pleasantly surprised me! I don't think it brings anything new to the table. I'm very familiar with magic systems that are divided into "houses" as well as a somewhat evil entity that attaches themselves to little girls. But I think these concepts were executed well in this story.

Also I think in general this book had a lot of things I'm a sucker for so I ended up really engaged haha

Exhibit 1: As mentioned above, the evil entity + female MC combo Exhibit 2: Characters who grew up isolated and scorned but end up finding friendships in unsuspecting places. Namely Alma's relationship with Sevelie. Exhibit 3: An innocent, wholesome child character who may or may not be human (i.e. Six) Exhibit 4: A badass female character proving everyone else wrong (i.e. the whole book) Exhibit 5: Tortured and angsty gay relationship (will not name because it will be a mild spoiler) Exhibit 6: Doomed romances. (I also will not specify because it might be considered a spoiler haha)

A great bittersweet ending and I wouldn't mind if there was a sequel / spinoff that just featured Alma and Six's adventures post saving the world.

Book club pick of December.

This book was TRASHED by my book club lol which was definitely a surprise to me. Although I didn't love this book, I didn't think it was that bad either.

I think a lot of their hate had to do with Colin being a not-ironic-enough representation of white men wanting to be oppressed soooo bad. He's clearly seen as a loser but the author writes him in a way where you feel like you're supposed to root for him even though he's a bad person who feels entitled to do bad things, and then never gets the consequences he deserves.

While I do think this book was as much a satire as it was a self-insert on the author's part, I didn't hate Colin /as/ much. I think part of that is because despite his white entitlement, I understand the feeling of wanting revenge on everyone who's ever wronged you. I understand wishing you could just not care about anyone else in order to get what you want.

However, none of the revenge in the book was satisfying. Colin's greatest enemy gets killed because someone fell on him from on top a building. Not a single involvement from Colin himself. Literally so anticlimactic.

Also Colin's relationship with Eric was obviously a self insert fanfic. Like Eric is just a vessel for the fantasies of a loser gay white man's asian fetish. He has no personality except for reassuring Colin about how special he is (despite Colin showing zero signs of said special-ness). It's also constantly emphasized how Eric is wayyy out of Colin's league yet is somehow infatuated with him, which is just an ego jerk off in my opinion.

The satire bits were amusing (like how each of the horrific things the company does can be encapsulated in a marketing brochure) but none of it was laugh-out-loud funny.

This book was just okay but based on my book club's reactions, I would not recommend it haha

I will always pick up a T Kingfisher book! This book is extra delicious because it is a fairy retelling, one of my fave tropes.

However, despite my love for T Kingfisher this book felt a bit middling to me. Not bad, but not great either.

I liked the creepy vibes of the mirror world; I felt called back to when I discovered T Kingfisher through her horror books, especially The Hollow Places. It was a sweet unexpected surprise to get some spine tingling in with the fairytale setting.

I think I like T Kingfisher's books with a less heavy focus on romance. Though Anja's relationship with her bodyguard was sweet, I personally felt like it was out of place.

Snow as a character also annoyed me haha. Rebellious children who think they're always right just rub me the wrong way. Like as someone who was once a kid, I get it, but it doesn't mean that as an adult I don't get (irrationally) frustrated.

Overall, I think this was a really unique spin on the classic Snow White tale, but it maybe just wasn't for me. Would still recommend to people though! Just be warned that it is a bit spookier than it seems.

I finally got to read the second book!!! I was so crushed when I read the first book earlier this year and found out that I had to wait forever for the next book when it ended on such a cliffhanger!!!

Thankfully, this book sequel wrapped up the duology BEAUTIFULLY. Very wholesome, warm feelings for a very satisfying ending.

I liked seeing Theo in an environment where she (somewhat) thrived instead of being trampled by everyone around her. Seeing all her new friends care so deeply about her was so heartwarming.

I LOVED Alby as a character, it was so glad to see (mostly) everyone be nice to him and for him to be such a wholesome, instrumental character in the plot. And he got the recognition he deserved in the end!!!

mild spoiler I was scared when Arlys showed up because I thought he was going to become a love interest despite being such a poopoo person but I'm glad that did not end up being the case haha. mild spoiler end

I lived for the angst between Theo and Kaz. The romantic tension felt much more solid than in the previous book.

Overall a fun, witty, and wholesome series! Def would recommend :)

A great companion novel to Strange Pictures. I feel like I enjoyed Strange Pictures more because there were more people involved and greater twists and turns. This one I think followed one plot line more solidly so the result was a bit less shocking.

I still enjoyed finding out the mysteries underneath the floor plans, although I found the ultimate reasoning to be just a tad flimsy.

Book club pick of November.

Not a bad book. A lot of my fellow book club readers felt uncomfortable reading this story but I’ve read too many fucked up books as a high schooler to be phased. To me it felt like a typical thriller. In fact I think I actually enjoy reading about fucked up women doing fucked up things. "I support women's wrongs" and whatnot.

What stopped this from being a 4 was the ending, which felt rushed, like a thing tacked on for shock value. Like we spent all this time focusing on finding evidence for this one killer but then another killer gets caught literally red handed killing with no exposition? It didn't feel satisfying enough.

Book club pick for April.

I feel like this book was very powerful and needed for its time. But for me as I am right now, it didn't really give me anything new, anything that I didn't already know.

I also did not have a fun time reading it. It definitely hits way too close to home (cue everyone saying that Octavia Butler somehow predicted the fires in LA at the start of the year 😬😬. That's some scary prophet shit and if this book is any hint to how the coming days are gonna turn out I'm gonna kms for real.)

I also really, really hated the relationship our main character had with a man that was literally her dad's age. Like why insert such an inappropriate relationship in the first place? There was 0 point from what I could tell. It just made me extremely uncomfortable and dimmed the legitimacy of this book in my eyes.

Notes while reading: WARNING SPOILERS MAY BE AHEAD

(p 22)- mention of Lauren’s hyperempathy note: empathy (labeled) as a disease, revealing the cost of empathy?

(p 30)- “This is the youngest Cabinet department, and already it’s fighting for its life.” note: predicting the abolishment of gov agencies?

(p 37)- “Dad decided not to vote for Donner after all. He didn’t vote for anyone. He said politicians turned his stomach” note: the farce of voting in a system that doesn’t want people to have power

(p 46)- “Is that the future: Large numbers of people stuck in either President-elect Donner’s version of slavery or Richard Moss’s?” note: in this day and age, are we all slaves? (except billionaires)

(p 65)- Joanne and Lauren arguing over the future “More likely blast it down, or blast the gate open. It’s going to happen some day. You know that as well as I do.” / “Oh, no I don’t.” note: I am both Joanne and Lauren in this situation. I want to deny everything, I don’t want to know more. But I also feel like I need to prepare and warn everyone, and like no one’s going to believe me / take me seriously.

(p 75)- “It’s better to teach people than to scare them, Lauren. If you scare them and nothing happens, they lose their fear, and you lose some of your authority with them. It’s harder to scare them a second time, harder to teach them, harder to win back their trust. Best to begin by teaching.” note: share resources not fear? I feel like there’s a balance; how do we motivate without fear? (maybe I can’t envision another motivator because my primary motivator is fear). Everybody is too busy to learn nowadays without a proper motivator

(p 85)- “There’s nobody to help us but God and ourselves. I protect Moss’s place in spite of what I think of him, and he protects mine, no matter what he thinks of me. We all look out for one another.” note: community building- we don’t have to agree or like each other to keep each other safe.

(p 92)- mention of paying property taxes note: It’s wild that they still have to pay taxes, that they’re still willing to pay them. but I guess people can become complacent to anything, obey anything, if they fear enough.

(p 96)- How in the world can anyone get married and make babies with things the way they are now? note: I think this all the time. Having children in this day and age seems so selfish and reckless

(p 111) When apparent stability disintegrates… People tend to give in To fear and depression, To need and greed. When no influence is strong enough To unify people They divide They struggle One against one, Group against group, For survival, position, power. They remember old hates and generate new ones, They create chaos and nurture it. They kill and kill and kill, Until they are exhausted and destroyed, Until they are conquered by outside forces, Or until one of them becomes A leader Most will follow, or a tyrant Most fear. note: I fear this is where we are rn

(p 128)- company town of Olivar, how things will be different than before There are still people in Olivar who are uncomfortable with the change. They know about earlyAmerican company towns in which the companies cheated and abused people. But this is to be different. The people of Olivar aren’t frightened, impoverished victims. They’re able to look after themselves, their rights, and their property. note: people with privilege always think they’re the exception, that bad things won’t happen to them

(p 149)- Curtis and Luaren talking about leaving “I And what? You think it’s going to get sane? It’s never been sane. You just have to go ahead and live, no matter what.” note: what does living mean? (not continuing to toil under capitalism that’s for sure)

(p 178)- Lauren talking to Zahra “Did you think we were going to just dump you?” I asked. “All you had to do was let us know.” / “I don’t have any money,” she said. “Not a dollar.” note: the expectation of abandonment in a society that devalues community and/or makes it transactional

(p 187)- “What, then? Everyone’s guilty until proven innocent? Guilty of what? And how do they prove themselves to you?” note: what is society without trust? how do we function without trust? what do we become without trust?

(p 219)- Lauren cutting her hair and disguising herself as a man on the road note: gender (performance) as survival. not exactly the same as today, but still relevant (esp w/ intense targeting towards trans people)

(p 226)- “Worship is no good without action. With action, it’s only useful if it steadies you, focuses your efforts, eases your mind.” note: relate to today: preaching (on social media) is nothing without action / belief is only as strong as what you do with it

(p 259)- introduction of relationship between Lauren and Bankole note: now why did Ms. Butler have to do all that? what is the purpose of including this highly inappropriate and uncomfortable relationship?

(p 265)- Lauren commenting on people coupling up note: almost strange that polyamory isn’t a thing, maybe too progressive a topic for the 90’s? this book in general isn’t very progressive at all about queerness. Maybe you could make the argument that in times of crisis, social values regress? or that smaller communities create smaller values? Harder to explore values and topics when you rely on a small community and are afraid of being shunned

(p 292)- Lauren admonishing Jill for not keeping better watch “ I want [Jill] to love her own life and [her sister’s] enough not to be careless. That’s what I want. That’s what [Jill] should want, now more than ever.” note: people grow, change, and commit because of love, not fear.

Book isekais are so hot in the year of our lord 2025 🤪🔥

Men are also (surprisingly) killing it in the comedy genre.

Right after reading this I literally put all subsequent sequels in this series on hold at the library.

I love the way this book satirizes human society and culture. It gives an "apocalypse but make it fun!" vibe that we all need right now in this hell hole. And I love that despite the chaos of it all, Carl still stays a stand-up guy with his own unfailing moral code.

I'm excited to see how convoluted this dungeon system will turn out to be; there seems to be all sorts of secrets hidden deeper behind the character relationships both on a macro and personal scale.

To more Dungeon Crawler Carl in 2026!

A fun speculative sci-fi read. I wouldn't say it was groundbreaking but switching between unique POV's was very entertaining and engaging. I'd say my favorite POV was maybe Christopher's (for the shock value) or Ellie's (for the shocking ending). Not much to say, but would recommend to anyone looking for a quick, fun read!

DNF @ p 51

I wanted to give this book a try since it's such a beloved story and also because I recently discovered that Robin Hobb is actually a woman (sue me but men who write high fantasies are incredibly dull).

Unfortunately, this book was SO boring. Part of that might be the year it came out, 1995 (idk why but in my head this was published between 2005-2010?). This book reads like an old fart recalling every detail of his life from start to finish. There was no plot pacing, no tension, no intrigue. Just a story literally from the very start to the very end with as many details as possible crammed in.

Apologies to all the fans of this book but I couldn't do it.

I've been WAITING for this to come out!!! And I'm so glad to report that it did NOT disappoint!!

All the angst hit me right in the feels and I wish I could read this for the first time all over again. I sobbed my heart out at 1 in the morning finishing this. The way Flip and Chi Chi feel are both so relatable. Not feeling good enough, not wanting to exist anymore; both feelings I'm intimately familiar with. And it's not just that they were familiar, it's the way the author PORTRAYED these emotions in such a visceral way that made this book what it was.

The romance was also just UGH A true enemies to friends to lovers pipeline without weird smut getting in the way of the relationship. I loved how literally being in each other's shoes led to them being each other's biggest supports. So sweet and so touching and UGGHH

The concept was amazing, the art was expressive, the plot was funny and entertaining. I mean what more could I need from a graphic novel?

10/10 recommend!!!