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essjay's reviews
560 reviews
Werecockroach by Polenth Blake
4.5
Probably my favourite alien invasion story I've read this year (which I was not expecting, given I didn't read the back copy or any reviews).
That's What She Said: A Novel by Eleanor Pilcher
2.0
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. Yay for queer-platonic relationships! Boo for being too handhold-y and having two PoV characters that read exactly the same.
The Divine Flesh by Drew Huff
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
I love splatterpunk. I love cosmic horror. I love weird shit.
I did NOT love this. Disjointed and difficult to follow (in a bad way) and I found myself not caring enough to keep going.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
I love splatterpunk. I love cosmic horror. I love weird shit.
I did NOT love this. Disjointed and difficult to follow (in a bad way) and I found myself not caring enough to keep going.
The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard
4.75
I guess this is the year for melancholy time fuckery? Here for it.
I Made It Out of Clay by Beth Kander
A lot less romcom-y than I was expecting, given the title and cover, BUT I still had a good time with it. Looking forward to an eventual adaptation.
3.75
"Just a story," she repeated, shaking her head. She was looking past me, the flickering lights of the candles snapping fire in her dark eyes. "As if stories are not the most powerful things we have."
A lot less romcom-y than I was expecting, given the title and cover, BUT I still had a good time with it. Looking forward to an eventual adaptation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism and Death of parent
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
5.0
Don't get me wrong, I love TEA, but this is where all of my favourite pieces start coming together.
Golemcrafters by Emi Watanabe Cohen
4.75
Genuinely didn't think one of my top new releases of 2024 would be a middle grade novel I read aloud to my 14y/o.
We laughed. We cried. The kid kept saying "meeeeeee" in a little croak while I read (it's December, most of the family is sick rn). Faye is definitely one of my favourite child protagonists in a LONG time. Cannot recommend this highly enough. It does get dark, but never too dark, I don't think.
We laughed. We cried. The kid kept saying "meeeeeee" in a little croak while I read (it's December, most of the family is sick rn). Faye is definitely one of my favourite child protagonists in a LONG time. Cannot recommend this highly enough. It does get dark, but never too dark, I don't think.
Beta Vulgaris by Margie Sarsfield
Woooooow. Adding to the pile of messy as fuck queer women I will never stop thinking about.
4.75
she couldn't figure out why, because she wasn't an expert in snaps. Elise was only an expert in egomaniacal self- hatred, the dark art of inventing new and spectacular ways to feel bad.
Woooooow. Adding to the pile of messy as fuck queer women I will never stop thinking about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Vomit
On the Calculation of Volume II by Solvej Balle
5.0
I WILL be reading this again, and I don't know that I can wait for next November.
When I wasn't reading this, I was talking about it. When I wasn't talking about it, I was thinking about it.
I am desperate for the rest to be released and translated.
It can't be that hard to learn Danish well enough to read, can it?
When I wasn't reading this, I was talking about it. When I wasn't talking about it, I was thinking about it.
I am desperate for the rest to be released and translated.
It can't be that hard to learn Danish well enough to read, can it?
I think of December. I think of heute and morgen and übermorgen. I think of gestern and vorgestern.
And now I am also thinking of Frühstück.
There are containers in the world. Of course there are. That's not what scares me. I have fallen into one, into time's container.
I mean, did the Romans really come to a halt because rye gave Pliny the Elder a stomachache?