'She drinks, and drinks, sure that here at last she will finally feel glutted, finally feel full, finally find the limits of her hunger. But she doesn’t. Instead, it only opens wider, each bite like a stitch unpicked until the darkness is a chasm.'

Didn't connect with it as deeply as I would've liked, but Victoria is a beautiful writer, and hearing her speak live about this book was such a treat.

Honestly would’ve quickly dnfed had it not been a rec from a reviewer I like - really interesting characters and lots to ponder, but not sure how to rate it.

fmc was light on unlikable imo, but appreciated the pride & prejudice takes. somebody get ripped paul rudd out of here.

Again I find myself on the other end of a ‘what if’ dopamine quest, not sure how to review on main 😂 The characters’ journeys & the writing style were so enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised to find the land management/ownership plot to be thorough & engaging, and loved the themes of responsibility to/care within community.

NGL I borrowed this book from the library expecting a dumpster fire based on the sensitivity of the plot + my one other read by the author. Once again rewarded by an open mind. Finding HR to be such an interesting space where (women) dive unabashedly into things that challenge my assumptions, saying a great deal while refusing to disentangle from an equal examination of desire.

cw: past sexual violence, brief insensitive language about Romani ppl, and a person with an intellectual disability - although both of the latter are presented favorably by the narrative

Would recommend, but also: the call is coming from inside the house. Omissions & choices especially in the latter half are telling of the persistent colonial mindset. I would highly recommend reading The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions by Jason Hickel.

This book was worth reading for what I learned about the U.S.'s history with Puerto Rico and the Philippines alone - none of which was taught to me in school. Also the Western 'wars' for guano (due to destructive farming practices & unsustainable demand), the adoption of global standards, and the development of chemicals for warfare & synthetics to replace colonized territories' materials, to name a few more topics I would like to read much more about.

Where the book begins to fail for me is its refusal to connect dots to further name harm. For example, we learn about the direct progression of chemical fertilizer's invention to the invention of chemical warfare, and its devastating use against civilians & soldiers (from the Holocaust to gov't testing on U.S. troops). Down the road through, Agent Orange & DDT are mentioned, but the consequences for the native people, natural life, and environment are not addressed.

Although the book is explicit about a great deal of violence and harm, other times passive language is used about colonial violence, and its victims given little consideration. Slurs & incorrect language are also used throughout - either from source material or with an explanation that shows there's been some consideration, but it fails to recognize or adopt alternatives.

While the author makes it clear that seemingly 'good' choices by the government did not come about through altruism, the book's investigation & criticism of imperialism & colonialism has a distinct drop-off post WWII. A telling sentence from the author is later, in chapter 19 (about the spread of language):

(transcribed from the audiobook) 'In the British mandate of Palestine, Jewish settlers had revived the ancient scriptural language of Hebrew and taught it to their children as a mother tongue. They got far enough with Hebrew that in 1948, when Palestine gained independence as the state of Israel, it dropped English as an official language. A language that in living memory, had counted no native speakers had nonetheless beaten English into retreat.'

Furthermore, while it does mention the U.S.'s wars in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan, it is with both less interest in the why & how (and the peoples of those countries!), focusing instead on the trivia-flavored chain of events that led to the attacks of 9/11. Didn't you start a conversation about the growing demand for oil to fuel the motor industry and synthetics production beginning in WWII? Didn't the U.S. contribute to reconstruction not just in Japan, but in regards to Europe and elsewhere to further national interests? While the author is not not critical, he is less interested in casting light upon certain measures of imperialism, and what that means for today.

I first felt that the romance was its weakness, but then it developed so beautifully & with such intention. I loved the FMC - tenacious & emotional, her candor was incredibly refreshing. Interactions with her best friend and with the ML were so fun, the latter a refreshing upset to common cagey romantic combativeness.

Sue always has poignant thoughts about life & personhood. This book is no exception, and I really appreciated her nuanced & difficult consideration of conflict in a violent fantasy.

Many times though, I felt disconnected by dialogue that was heavy on telling. That aside, the story structure will definitely reward rereading, and I look forward to it ❤️‍🔥

Enjoyed the gothic horror at the beginning, otherwise I couldn’t say it better than this review (linked).

I’m on a quest to find a book to scratch the itch of what if Wuthering Heights was a romance - disfunction and all 🤷🏻‍♀️ (this wasn’t it).

There’s something so powerful about reading a woman who refuses to be shamed.

Its trajectory wasn’t what I expected for the archetypes - this was not situationship first/inevitable fall. Great banter and a deep dive into vulnerability, but fell apart for me the last 15% or so when the story seemed to take more interest in the reader than the characters.

Missing scenes are in Now a Bride but they also fell kinda flat - where’s the mess?

cozy read - low angst/high reality? some great scenes, but purposefully doesn’t sweep you off your feet with its endgame. (wanted to check out Mary’s early works and this was available)

I’m not the person to say if disability was handled all as it ought, but it seemed to be - humor, challenges, and through-line of agency were enjoyable and thought provoking.

Beauty & the Beast but his only character conflict is he kidnapped her (so he’s endlessly sincere & generous to compensate). Belle isn’t clever but loves fashion, and worries about the annoying kid sister she left behind. The latter’s protagonist syndrome steers the plot and everyone’s the dumber for it.

(Belle & Beast dynamic)

I would read the sequel if my library had it, but thanks to other reviews I know that so many questions go unanswered anyways.

I wanted to love this!! It illustrates trauma really well, has great ingredients, but I kept having to try harder to connect. A couple scenes were really moving - I might give it another try once the story's complete.

I didn't DNF soon enough then couldn't look away. It's A Fire in the Sky with elemental magic, wolf stuff, and Game of Thrones/Ragnarok impending doom.

200 pages too long with really horny miscommunication, unnatural dialogue, frustrating characters, obvious plot. cw: romanticized SA (and a whitewashed cover). I enjoyed elements of it but also laughed out loud in yikes.