
fierceandtender commented...
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Agreed with no pressure š Would mid-November be an ok time to check in for this if things align?


Lyrical, heart-rending, charming, blunt, and funny, poignant with its topic of displacement. This is a story, like all of the Singing Hills Cycle, about storytelling. It struck me in this one particularly how these books emphasize the importance of who tells the story, in what context, and who the audience is. These themes resonate for me among conversations about problematic authors and the use of AI. The way a story is told, who is telling it, and its audience donāt just matter, they fundamentally dictate what information a story conveys.

fierceandtender commented...
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Rereading this for a buddy read with @readlaughlove š I'm revisiting my ebook copy, which has chapter illustrations by Rovina Cai and I remember the artwork wasn't temporally synchronous with the story, will be paying closer attention to them for this round (i remember they're absolutely gorgeous)

fierceandtender is re-reading...
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Elatsoe
Darcie Little Badger
Imagine an America very similar to our own. It's got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream. There are some differences. This America has been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day. Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.

fierceandtender is re-reading...
1d

Elatsoe
Darcie Little Badger
Imagine an America very similar to our own. It's got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream. There are some differences. This America has been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day. Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.

fierceandtender commented...
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Aw yay, yes 8th Sept still works for me. I have my ebook ready, will add it to current read and I'll keep an eye for your update cards as well. So excited for your thoughts on this one! The intro scenes might be one of my fave book beginnings, iirc! š
re: unrealistic plot points, I've definitely found a lot of comfort in these for some read, moreso than with others. I think it's a mix of what detail are being lifted off into the imaginal and which details remain grounded. Maybe my mood as a reader plays a role too. When the imaginative, maybe unrealistic scenes lift you up with it though, to me that can feel like such a precious, comforting feeling šµš

This was such a cute and lovely story! I had such a fun time! The characters were really charismatic and lovable. The small town setting was everything I was hoping for! I also love that the couple of focus was not the only queer couple! The entire town is made up of queer couples! I love that Black, sapphic, fat characters are loved so deeply! There was also no third act break up and no miscommunication. There was never any situations of betrayal of trust that made it difficult to root for the couple. I love love! I was smiling and giggling. I had an excellent time! I would rate the enjoyment of this story a 5/5! This is very much like a Hallmark romance story, which I love!
If I had to be more analytical about the story:
I love that Black sapphic characters can just love and love easily and be supported by their community. There are no bells and whistles. There are no huge, traumatic, mind blowing events that take place. Itās just simple (and I mean this as a huge compliment).

Shady Hollow (Shady Hollow, #1)
Juneau Black
So many people are writing positive things about this but I must say I am finding it really hard to read all the stereotypes theyāve crammed into Sun Li. An Asian who is a doctor, a monk, and runs an Asian restaurant? Also his speech pattern is normal at times but when he serves customers it becomes racialized? E.g instead of āThe special today is snap peas, itās very tastyā he says āSpecial today is snap peas. Very Tastyā Idk I feel itās a bit odd that not many people are mentioning this?
Stunning cover design by Olly Costello. _
"Olly is a non-binary, queer illustrator, prison industrial complex abolitionist, urban food growing enthusiast and community seed saver who is committed to participating in the creative, collective work of building a liberated and flourishing future for all of us.
Through their artistic and community based practices they explore themes of interconnectedness, spiritual ecology, community resistance, anti-imperialist world building, emergence, accountability, prison industrial complex abolition, transformative justice and belonging. Olly finds direction and purpose in recognizing the power our radical imaginations have in shaping the world we live in and knows that this is one of our most essential tools.
Olly hopes their work can be a small contributing part of creating our new culture that is grounded in honoring the inherent sacredness of all beings and pushing us beyond violent cultures of imperialism, white supremacy and capitalism toward a culture of accountability, collective flourishing and abundance."
(information taken from the artist's website)
You can support Olly Costello through: Website: ollycostello.com Instagram: @olly.costello.art Bluesky: @ollycostello.bsky.social Facebook: Olly Costello Creative Practice _

fierceandtender is interested in reading...
2d

A Gentleman's Gentleman
T.J. Alexander
From the acclaimed author of Chef's Kiss, a groundbreaking trans Regency romance that's both delightfully witty and refreshingly iconoclastic. The notoriously eccentric Lord Christopher Eden is a āman of unusual makeā and even more unusual habits: he prefers to live as far from the prying eyes and ears of the ton as possible, and would rather have the comfortable company of his childhood cook and his aged butler, Plinkton, than the swarm of servants and hangers-on befitting a man of his station. But Christopher's pleasant, if occasionally lonely life is upended when he receives word from his lawyers that, according to his late fatherās will, he must find a wife by the end of the Season if he intends to keep his family's fortune and the Eden's End estate. Christopher cannot imagine a worse fate: as he isn't attracted to women, his chances of making a wife happy are slim. Furthermore, if his quest to marry has any hope of succeeding, he must move to London posthaste and acquire some more suitable staff. Enter James Harding, Christopher's new, distractingly handsomeāif rigidly traditionalāvalet. After a rocky start, the two strike up a fragile friendship amid the throes of the London Season . . . a friendship that threatens to shatter under the looming shadow of Christopherās impending nuptialsāand the secrets both men are keeping. With its heady combination of dry wit, slow-burn romance, and a nuanced, complex portrait of trans identity and relationships thatās as relevant now as it was during the Regency era, A Gentleman's Gentleman stands to transform the historical romance genre as we know it.

fierceandtender is interested in reading...
2d

A Gentleman's Gentleman
T.J. Alexander
From the acclaimed author of Chef's Kiss, a groundbreaking trans Regency romance that's both delightfully witty and refreshingly iconoclastic. The notoriously eccentric Lord Christopher Eden is a āman of unusual makeā and even more unusual habits: he prefers to live as far from the prying eyes and ears of the ton as possible, and would rather have the comfortable company of his childhood cook and his aged butler, Plinkton, than the swarm of servants and hangers-on befitting a man of his station. But Christopher's pleasant, if occasionally lonely life is upended when he receives word from his lawyers that, according to his late fatherās will, he must find a wife by the end of the Season if he intends to keep his family's fortune and the Eden's End estate. Christopher cannot imagine a worse fate: as he isn't attracted to women, his chances of making a wife happy are slim. Furthermore, if his quest to marry has any hope of succeeding, he must move to London posthaste and acquire some more suitable staff. Enter James Harding, Christopher's new, distractingly handsomeāif rigidly traditionalāvalet. After a rocky start, the two strike up a fragile friendship amid the throes of the London Season . . . a friendship that threatens to shatter under the looming shadow of Christopherās impending nuptialsāand the secrets both men are keeping. With its heady combination of dry wit, slow-burn romance, and a nuanced, complex portrait of trans identity and relationships thatās as relevant now as it was during the Regency era, A Gentleman's Gentleman stands to transform the historical romance genre as we know it.

fierceandtender started reading...
2d

All Systems Red
Martha Wells
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isnāt a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ādroid ā a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as āMurderbot.ā Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is. But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.