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Recent Read: First, Become Ashes
[TL;DR] First, Become Ashes is a faced-paced cult escape fantasy story. Caveat: this book contains extremely graphic scenes of rape and self-harm among other CWs. I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Tor.Com in exchange for an honest review. Before we begin: I’m not covering nearly all of the content warnings required for this book; those at the front (at least at the time of reading the ARC) were far too vague. Here’s a list that seems fairly comprehensive to me. This review does not go into any details on potentially triggering subject matter. I requested this book on NetGalley partially because the premise was fascinating to me (more…
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Recent Read: The Unbroken
TL;DR The Unbroken is a breathtaking anticolonial epic fantasy. Set in a second world echoing the French occupation of North Africa, the book explores war, politics, colonialism, love, trust, and belonging. It comes out March 23 and you’re going to want to read it ASAP. Here’s the first two chapters in case you already can’t wait: https://www.orbitbooks.net/orbit-excerpts/the-unbroken-by-c-l-clark/ Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair review. Listen: in full transparency, I requested this book for the cover. Sure, people Tweeted about how great it is, but I’ve read a lot of great fantasy (and a lot of fantasy that was supposed to be great…
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Nothing But Blackened Teeth
TL;DR: Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a fast-paced, riveting haunted house story that I read straight through in one sitting. Five friends head into a Heian-era manor to celebrate the wedding of two of their number because of the bride’s wish to be married in a haunted house. It’s perfect for spooky evenings and hits bookstores October 2021. Find it on GoodReads. – I received a copy of Nothing But Blackened Teeth from NetGalley/Tor Nightfire in exchange for an honest review. This review contains no spoilers. I picked up this book about thirty minutes to midnight, alone in bed with the lights off. I figured I’d read a few pages…
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A Master of Djinn
TL;DR: A Master of Djinn is a delightfully sharp, action-packed mystery set in early 20th-century Cairo. Fatma, our main character, is a charming dandy with a razor wit and a nose for solving supernatural crimes; she exists in a deftly built alternative history where magic has returned to the world, ending the British occupation of Egypt. The first two installments set in this world, “A Dead Djinn in Cairo” (available for free on Tor.Com) and The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (novella, available wherever books are sold), are well worth picking up until you can get your hands on this one in May 2021. You can also find it on…
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On Fragile Waves
TL,DR: A poetic, haunting book recommended for those who want something beautiful and sad with a touch of the fantastical. Find it on Goodreads. — I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of On Fragile Waves by E. Lily Yu earlier this month. It’s my first book on NetGalley after a long hiatus away, and what a lovely one to start with. OFW is a heartbreaking book about a family of refugees and the people they meet along the way. Although we experience many POV, Firuzeh, a precocious girl of about 12, is our anchor. We follow her, her younger brother, and her parents as they flee war-torn Afghanistan…
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Failure & Self-Realization & Ravenous Hunger
Since leaving my job — more on that later — I haven’t been reading as much as I expected. I think it’s partly exhaustion, and partly just feeling lost. There’s no need to jump from deliverable to deliverable, always on a time crunch, anymore. I have time to truly think for a change, instead of just executing. That’s a luxury, and it’s scary, too. What should I tether myself to, now that I can do anything? I keep extensive to-do lists with what I want to accomplish: writing, coding, volunteering for JordanCon, et cetera. I set tasks, not time slots, so that I don’t keep 12-hour days if I don’t…
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Becoming in Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca
I started reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier while waiting in line for a salad. I had gone down to get Sweetgreen, accepted that my craving for a kale caesar was more potent than my horror at the 20-minute line, and opened the book on my phone. It was an impulsive choice, driven mainly by my desire to finally get it off my TBR. I’ve been reading the book in snatches, a page or two at a time, in line for coffee at my office or on the seven-block commute home. In spite of this disjointedness, I’ve felt a profound sense of growing anxiety. Our narrator — I have just…
