The Expanse series has captured lightning in a bottle, and Nemesis Games is my favorite installation yet. The entire series is assertively skilled at balancing comedy, drama, suspense, and pure sci-fi adventure, all while grounding the story in character development and the interactions between them, as part of a larger picture that addresses societal concerns that are relevant to us today. Just by existing, the series critiques its contemporaries that are at a loss as to how to include and respect women and minorities. In […]
A well-intentioned mess
(2.5 stars) This was a tough book to read and will be a tough review to write. Love is the Drug is a very ambitious book that plots contemporary social issues and a story of developing one’s identity and independence against the background of a bioterrorist pandemic. Ultimately, I think Johnson just had too many ideas here and as a result several threads were underdeveloped and/or incoherent. Emily Bird, who goes by Bird, is from an affluent black family in Washington DC. Her parents are […]
I have some THOUGHTS, but overall not bad.
The Birthright books are very, very similar in tone and flow into each other plot-wise, so it’s easiest to review them together as a group, but I’ll break down the exact plot in each for posterity’s sake. The series is composed of: 1. All These Things I’ve Done — Anya Balanchine is a teenager who happens to also be the eldest daughter of a deceased crime boss, though the family still operates under the guidance of her uncle. Their trade is chocolate, because in near […]
In which I am a glutton for punishment
I just don’t know what to do with this series. The Glass Magician is a followup to The Paper Magician, with which I had significant problems but mostly forgave it based on the strength of the concept. It is that same strength of concept that led me, some time later, to read the sequel, despite my misgivings. And now? There’s just not a lot here, and it is so frustrating. There is no sophistication to the plot or characters, and the whole concept (a magician […]
In which I am moderately cross
All right. Five books into the Outlander series, I know what to expect. Jamie and Claire. Roger and Bree. Lots of ludicrousness, lots of rudimentary surgeries, and lots of “Wait, is anything actually happening? IS THIS ABOUT ANYTHING?” In The Fiery Cross, in particular, you get a wedding day that is, I don’t know, 300 pages? Overall, I found this book to be more trying than its predecessors, but the charm and charisma of the lead characters — Jamie and Claire, I mean, since I […]
Does a mix of The Matrix and Supernatural sound interesting to you? If so, maybe you should write that book better than this one.
Have you ever started a review of a book you rated three stars (as I did) thinking “Meh,” but by the end realized you spent most of the review trashing the book and wondered if you shouldn’t downgrade your official rating? Come with me as I overthink Darkness Brutal, a book I picked up because I was determined to get something out of my Kindle Unlimited trial, and I noticed that this book with an incredibly silly title actually had pretty good reviews. Here’s the […]
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