handove's reviews
140 reviews

i've seen people complaining about not enough explanation being given to the worldbuilding but honestly i thought it was quite good :) at least i understood most of what was going on. kai, ziede & tahren are close to my heart and the mixing of the two timelines was nice (i did get confused at some points, which might've been intended lol)

overall i'm v excited for book 2!

thinking it's appropriate to blurb this with 'comfort woman' considering that this is a fucking space opera and the character in question has blond hair and blue eyes is certainly a Choice! call me sensitive but with the historical basis of that term, japan's continued attempts to erase that and other atrocities from that time period from its history, and the love interest literally being japanese (though one of the 'good' ones, and her heritage isn't expanded upon) it's really just insane levels of audacity

besides that. it suffered from a lot of typical first person YA issues, especially with the pov switches - i ended up not interested in either of the narratives and it sounded very impersonal at times. 

linden a. lewis we gotta have a chat

this was okay, overall. it really fluctuated in certain departments (pacing, quality of writing, character work) but i liked sylah & found the tournament plot engaging. 

br w/ evan, pathetic as it was

this was fun! not my favourite romance ever but the concept is interesting (though very romanticised. and also takes a very white perspective on things)

me talking on twitter about this book: well i'm in love with becky chambers, and, well i'm just in love with the world and sidra is so cute and it's like, beautiful, but in a pure way, i guess

oomf put it exquisitely: it's kind of like having a panic attack while reading your own diary. or something.

NINETEEN ADZE GODDD arkady martine if you ever end up writing that novella about her i will donate my entire body to science

this had more actual action in it than book 1 but honestly i don't think i liked it quite as much? political intrigue is definitely my thing tho so that just meant amce appealed to me more. this had lesbianism and aliens and brain issues. i love you mahit dzmare

i have no idea when i read this or even what most of it is about, except at some point a girl runs off to mongolia and meets a boy named altan. like that's all i remember. i'm kind of pleased, as always, to find evidence that i read before 2023 but otherwise? nothing.

might do a reread but ?

connected to this particularly bc of the parts set in china. beautifully written i see what clover was saying 

[16/01/25] i don't rly remember much about this book anymore but. #dykesfortouraine