incipientdreamer's reviews
570 reviews

 Very sweet little novella retelling of Sleeping Beauty with an interesting twist that I haven't seen before in the numerous retellings. I really seem to enjoy T. Kingfisher's shorter stuff, though I preferred her What Moves the Dead a lot more, probably because that was rightly my nich genre of books. I feel like I would have enjoyed this more if I had read this in a single sitting instead of putting it off for several weeks because I had to pack my life up and move to another country. Still it was pretty enjoyable and I am definitely down to check out her backlist as well as her new stuff. 

 2.5 stars

Okay, but I read the entire book and I kept waiting for someone to explain why Kai is called The Witch King when he's a demon???

Initially, when this book was announced I was very very excited about it. I'm a huge fan of Martha Wells's Murderbot Diaries, and despite the fantasy setting I was ready for something that would blow me away. After reading initial reviews by friends, however, I decided to push this down the tbr since I wasn't sure I would enjoy this. I'd just like to say that I was pretty decided on DNF-ing this at the 60% mark because the plot was so damn slow, I didn't care about any of the characters or their relationships, and the writing made me want to doze off. The frequent switching between POVs made it even harder to keep reading. If I had DNF-ed I would have mentally rated this as a 1-star book even though I don't rate DNFs on GR. But I decided to carry on, simply because I browsed through the Witch King Tumblr and was curious about what exactly all those people loved. And I'm really glad I finished this book.

The plot picks up significantly after the 60% mark, and I started to have some modicum of fun in the last few chapters. I still didn't care much about any of the characters except for Bashasa. The flashbacks ended up making me really enjoy his character and his relationship with Kai but I wanted more of their dynamic because I could sense it could have been full of potential. Similarly Kai's relationship with the human vanguard Ramad. That's my issue with this book, It gives us this huge cool new world and this huge cast of characters but there isn't enough time spent on getting to know the characters themselves. Too much of the book was spent building up the world and the history, such that there isn't much that happens in this book apart from the last 80%, which makes the pacing very very horrible to get through if you are a reader who prefers their stories with a focus on characters and interpersonal relationships rather than magic and worldbuilding.

I am still glad that I read this, but I probably won't be reading any future books set in this universe. 

 The living and the dead are all plagued by the same thing these days. Bureaucracy, and the banality of stupid men.

This was the cutest thing ever! Found family with some quirky humour mixed in, If Found, Return to Hell is my new fav comfort read. I want more of Em X. Liu's writing because it seems perfect for me. I picked up this novella after reading the author's upcoming The Death I Gave Him which could not be any more different than this, both in terms of plot and themes. Both books, however, managed to bewitch me with the wonderful writing, as well as the diverse range Liu seems to have. A debut author, but one I will be looking out for. This novella is the perfect blend of cozy fantasy, comedy, a slow-burn romance and found family. It's also not at twee at all for readers who don't like that in their cozy fantasy but succeeds in making your heart feel so very warm and full.

I read this after reading Isabel J. Kim's The Big Glass Box and the Boys Inside, both of which feature a bureaucratic magic company and the employee who works there. Both are pretty wholesome and cute but at the same time pretty different from each other. I liked Liu's novella more than Kim's short story, mainly because I appreciated the depth the longer length was able to pack in and deliver a more emotional story. 

*points* This idiot doesn't even believe in the permeability of the soul.

Something something what Camilla said about how love and freedom can't coexist. Something something the very act of knowing and loving a person changes you. Something about how the entire process of Lyctorhood is so deeply tied into love and grief and how you can't have the one without the others. What does this mean for Paul and John and Alecto and Griddlehark oh GOD...
I will read anything and everything about the Sixth House and Palamedes Sextus.

Hell Will Break Lose in Alecto the Ninth.

Short story released in the paperback edition of Nona the Ninth, best read after Nona the Ninth purely for spoilery reasons. Read it now and weep. 

 Review for The Big Glass Box and the Boys In It by Isabel J. Kim.

3.5 stars

All you’ve got is your red heart and good intentions.

Very cute and heartwarming queer short story with a kind of predictable plot. I've read only a couple of Kim's works but every time what strikes me about her writing is the sheer creativity of the worlds she manages to create in a 20-30 page story. The uniqueness of each of her stories is remarkable to me and often more interesting to me than the plot or the characters. This short story features the faerie bargains of old but is set in a corpa setting. Where you work for the magical corporation in exchange for a wish, but working at these places turns you into one of them so you are stripped of all and any desires and wants. The romance was very cute and it made me smile. The only reason I didn't rate it higher was because of the predictability of the story. But it still works great as a short and sweet dessert of a story to snack on between books. 

 3.75 - 4 stars

Do you want to live because you want to live, or because you’re afraid to die?

I love being surprised by books. I love it when I go into a book with preconceived notions whether it be from blurbs or reviews or marketing and then being completely taken aback by how different the story is. Em X. Liu's debut novel The Death I Gave Him is one of those books. It was a lot more darker, angrier, and emotionally charged than I was prepared for.

I definitely see the comparisons to Gideon the Ninth. Spooky labs, mad scientists obsessed with cracking immortality, necromancy and resurrection. How a person's guilt and self-hatred can lead to spiralling to the point of self-destruction. And yet it is something completely unique and on its own. Fans of the former, however, will definitely enjoy this.

The Death I Gave Him is an exploration of mental health, grief and obsession. The writing is some of the emotionally wrought and rawest stuff I have ever read. I was expecting a murder mystery with some queer romance thrown in and packaged as a Hamlet retelling but it was so much more. Liu is a master at writing difficult to like, and difficult to dissect characters. Both Hayden and Felicia contain multitudes and are real fleshed-out characters. Their plights seem real and heartwrenching and it is a hard task distilling them down to "good" or "bad" characters. And I feel like that is the crux of writing a good story. Liu presents Hayden's grief over losing his father as well as his emotional turmoil in the most painful way possible. Hayden's depression and obsession with death and immortality are so interesting to read about because each page and each line reveals so many more layers to what makes him a person and ultimately leads to his tragic actions. Similarly, Felicia and her being torn between what her warring emotions dictate. The plight and conflict of these characters is the very essence of the iconic question "To be or not to be?" To betray their fathers by choosing the path of life and action or to avenge their fathers and commit themselves to the metaphorical or literal death of one's soul. In that, The Death I Gave Him is everything that a retelling should be: Thematically paralleling the original text but also expanding upon it in a unique and more nuanced setting and conflict.

In terms of the locked room murder mystery, I wouldn't say there is much shock or actual "mystery" to it. Especially if you know the story of Hamlet. Events leading up to and the conclusion of the murders are pretty much in line with the play. Finding the murder or the villain isn't the point of the story. It's whether the characters can forgive themselves for all that they've done and learn to live and grow from that. However, what Liu does is use the mystery to develop and push the characters' on their path of existential crisis. The plot pushes Hayden, Felicia and even Horatio to action. To do something about the conflict they are stuck in. So if you go into this expecting to be given a puzzle of whodunit, be warned. This is less a murder mystery and more an exploration of a character's mind and the limits to which it can be pushed in its desire for revenge and meaning. Liu does that exquisitely and this book is a keen study of mental health and suicidal ideation. Though rather than being bleak, the ending is pretty hopeful. It promises light at the end of the tunnel and that there is always a path to healing if you are willing to give life a chance.

The Death I Gave Him comes out 12/09/2023.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

4.5 stars

Go ahead. Revile me.

I laughed I cried I gasped, but most of all I felt at peace in the end. It has been a Journey and I am so glad I decided to take it. For a book about the drowning and subsuming nature of grief and anger, it delighted me that the main feeling I took away from it at the end was of love and acceptance. THIS is how you land an ending that is both fulfilling and satisfying after so much buildup. Endings and characters truly make and break a story, Shelley Parker-Chan managed to nail both in a two-part voyage of fate, destiny and autonomy.

He Who Drowned the World is immediately a lot darker, angrier and more gruesome than its predecessor. Given the way the last book ended, that's not a big surprise. The sequel focuses more on the themes of grief, identity, gender and desire. While in the first book, there are ways where you can excuse the characters' actions or understand why they are going to such extreme lengths, in HWBTS the characters' begin on a path of no return. They are willing to do anything and everything to get what they want no matter who or what the cost. That makes for a rather grimdark book, with some gruesome scenes. Though most scenes aren't as graphic in nature there is a sexual assault scene at the end of Chapter 8 that I would warn readers about, since it was a bit more graphic for me.

I have a hard time marshalling my thoughts about HWDTW since I don't think all those emotions I felt reading it can be bottled up and labelled nicely. There were moments where I was absolutely horrified at the cruelty and disregard for human life, there were scenes where I couldn't help but feel a dark well of anger over a world that reviles anyone who deviates from the norm. The grief of losing someone who you love but who never saw you as an equal or deigned to tolerate your presence was gut-wrenching. Parker-Chan can write. I don't think there is any doubt about that. They proved that with Zhu's journey in the first book but in HWDTW Parker-Chan delves even deeper into Zhu's relationship with her body and gender. It's absolutely wonderful to see her journey to accepting her body for who she is, and her determination to make the world accept her.

Zhu's character foils beautifully with the other dramatis personae. Madam Zhang and how she never thinks to strive for anything more than what a woman can strive for in a patriarchal world. Her utter lack of imagination that she can only be worth something in relation to a man, is sadly a very real cause of internal misogyny. Ouyang, and his self-hate and refusal to accept himself as who he is instead of destroying himself to take revenge thinking that will be his only path to peace. Wang Baoxiang (my favourite in this book easily. I need to write essays on this disaster of a man) and how he accepts himself as a social deviant but is bent on making the world hate him for it because he feels he is incapable of love.

The way the author mirrors and contrasts these characters, their journeys and their motivations is so so good. Anyone who follows me on Goodreads knows how much I love a doubling narrative trope, and the doomed by the narrative trope. Except, Parker-Chan paints the doomed by the narrative trope in different shades depending on all 4 of the main characters. It is utterly brilliant and writing and characterisation at its best. This is an English teacher's and a book critic's dream of a novel. There are so many motifs and themes to dissect, I would love to reread this duology with a friend someday and discuss all the tiny bits of hints and foreshadowing scattered about. I can see this becoming a polarizing book however, I feel like there are bits that people will be "controversial" about and try to ban in libraries and schools. Sadly that is the world we live in, but thank you Shelley Parker Chan for giving us a series so inherently and unapologetically queer. This duology will go up in my hall of fame of queer books. I look forward to whatever they write next.

HWDTW is also a lot more plot-rich than SWBTS. There is almost no slow part, so much happens and continues to happen so readers will not be bored at all reading this. It also has a lot more court politics and drama which I absolutely loved. I enjoyed that a lot more than the battle scenes which was surprising. The court intrigue is very reminiscent of seaguk KDramas, the exaggerated acting of the courtesans etc. would be so very historical KDrama-ish that I would be giggling and gasping over the reveals and backstabbings. Truly a joy to read. If I had to make a complaint about this, it would be the lack of Ma Xiuying in this sequel. I wanted more of her and more of her influence on Zhu but she was only really in it at the end and while I loved her contribution to the plot and how it all led to a series of events, I still missed her dearly.

A tour-de-force, He Who Drowned the World has the characters look back on their actions in book 1 and say "I can do worse". Full of queer injustice and anger, HWDTW is about the queer and marginalised people who learn to make their place in a world that tries its hardest to erase and crush their identities. But at the same time, it's about making a place for others like you by accepting and loving them regardless of their identities.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

 2- 2.5 stars

I was expecting a lot from this. Given how hyped this was and how many awards and starred ratings Babel got, I was sure this would be something groundbreaking that would change the way I think of empire and language. Sadly, this ended up grossly disappointing me. If I were to rate rfk's books in order of my enjoyment I would rate Yellowface, The Poppy War, and lastly Babel. There were some things I did like in Babel but they were in the minority. I do think that hype is terrible for expectations, but no matter how many times I tell myself that, I can't help but fall into the best-seller fever.

Babel has a very clever magic system where silver bars are engraved with a pair of words that are translations of each other. The magic comes from the stuff left in between translations, the meanings that are lost through the act of translation or language development. It's a nice idea and an even nicer metaphor for colonialism and the plundering of empires. However, it doesn't work very well in terms of how the world is constructed or the implications rfk makes but never touches upon. There are lots of holes in the reasoning and many questions that are left unanswered. This might not seem that bad of a thing, because sometimes leaving things unanswered adds to the mystery. But it just didn't make a lot of sense.

The writing is very readable which makes it slightly easier to read a book of this length, and there are a bunch of really heavy-hitting passages about imperialism that show rfk's research and passion for the topic. That's all and good. I'm all for bringing down the fascists. But the issue is that the plot moves at a snail's pace. There are moments when there is great buildup but not enough payoff leaving the reader disappointed. The best and only chapter in the entire book where I felt hooked and interested was Chapter 18. And I was hoping that the story would keep the same pace for the rest of the book but it just about lost steam 1 chapter later. This kind of storytelling had me scratching my head over what actually happened that contributed to the story/ character progression in the 500+ pages. You'd think if she didn't focus on the plot but had great writing, there would be some character development. Or any depth to any of the side/supporting characters. The omniscient narrator style of narration doesn't help because I was not attached to any of the characters or their relationships. I could not feel the love between the friend group at all, nor did I know anything about them other than their races. Calling that a disappointment is an understatement.

The major plot points (except for one) were also very obvious. Stuff I'd been predicting from the start. Combine that with the lack of emotional connection to the characters and what could have been something like the legendary barricade scene from Les Misrables fell flat on its face. This is interesting because I know rfk can WRITE. I read an advanced copy of her Yellowface more than 6 months before it came out and I loved how nuanced the characters were (alive or dead) and how well the plot unfolded. I actually felt for the main character, despicable as she was. But at least there wasn't a sense of disconnect which is surprising because rfk actually managed to feel bad for June at times (the online bullying) and the reader couldn't help but see the inevitable actions June took digging her a deeper grave.

Maybe rfk's strengths lie in contemporary non-fantasy settings, or maybe that's the kind of book that works for me when it comes to her writing.

Buddy read with the lovely Hirondelle. 

 Review for The Utmost Bound by Vivian Shaw

Vivian Shaw can write. And she can write really great horror. I feel like this story would have been more impactful emotionally if it had been longer. Sure, it serves its purpose but I feel like that ending didn't really affect me as much as it could have it was a full-blown space horror mystery. I find it cool that Shaw uses so many real-life examples and events to hide the spooky in. Similar to Transference, The Utmost Bound took the theory of the Lost Cosmonauts to spin a creepy short space story. I just wish there was more!

Short Story Month - 8/31 

 Review for The Sadness Box by Suzanne Palmer.

The Sadness Box was a cute story of friendship in a time of war. I loved how the author built up the world on the sidelines of the story. We never get a full picture of what actually the war is about but we get throwaway details mentioned by the characters which really works for a story like this. I wanted more from the AI deleting the Sadness setting, which didn't really happen so this came across as kind of predictable. Also, it was long for no reason, I feel like if it was going to be 13k words, we could have gotten something more to sink our teeth into.

Overall not bad, but left me wanting more.

Short Story Month - 4/31