jamgrl's reviews
180 reviews

This is very much The Ex Hex with a triwizard tournament in it. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t read both ex hex books already; it mostly felt very samey to those. I enjoyed it enough to finish it, obviously, and it’s a cute witchy book with two bisexual leads and a sapphic romance, which is something I am totally on board with.

When I started listening to Space Opera, I got nervous! Because it was reminding me a lot of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and I am so sorry to say that I do not like Hitchhiker’s Guide. Of course, then I read the summary, which said “Hitchhiker’s Guide meets Eurovision!” But it was for a book club, so I stuck it out- and ended up enjoying it much more than I expected! 

Basically, this book goes back and forth between Hitchhiker’s style comedic/absurd world building of the outrageous aliens/alien worlds and the plot of the book- which is following our two washed up rock stars who find themselves representing Earth in an intergalactic music competition with dire stakes. 

Once the book gets going, it settles into a pattern of plot chapters and comedic chapters detailing past competition performances by various species, which, I found out at Book Club, are all Eurovision references! I have never watched Eurovision, so this all went over my head. At first, I struggled a lot with these chapters because it was impossible to remember all the species names and what they when like etc, but when I realized it didn’t really matter that much for the plot, I just allowed myself to laugh and move on. The plot itself was what kept me invested- it was very character focused, slowly unraveling backstory on our two main characters that made them feel grounded even amidst the chaos that was this book 😅. 

Heath Miller did an excellent audiobook performance (and his voice for Decibel Jones could make me fall in love… 😂). There is singing and lots of energy in the audiobook- this book seems to really benefit from the audio format!

Overall, this book is both fun and full of heart. 

Can I just insert that Lady Gaga gif? “Brilliant! Incredible! Amazing! Showstopping! Spectacular! Never the same! Totally unique!”

The world building is smart and fascinating and rich and so detailed and creative; this is some top-notch world building. I loved the way information was revealed bc I started to realize that if I payed close attention, I could pick up bread crumbs for later reveals, which is always so satisfying! I am someone who loves trying to connect the dots, like red string on a cork board, so this kind of book is great for me. I’m already formulating theories for Book 2 😂. 

I was also invested in the characters and their relationships. This book is brilliantly tragic because you can know something terrible is inevitable and still be pleading for it not to happen bc you care so much about these people. 

It definitely starts out dark and fairly cryptic/difficult to comprehend, AND it is 100% worth continuing past that initial strangeness (the prologue is a great reread after you have finished the book).

I have to admit I was bit underwhelmed by this collection. I would have loved more information about the myths the stories were based on, more of an exploration of different stages or types of love, and more development in each story. I know they are meant to be short, but I felt like the stories kept ending right when I was getting invested! For a lot of them, I felt like I would have enjoyed them more if there was more interaction between the love interests/dialogue, more back story/world building, and a greater feeling of time/relationship building between love interests.

That being said, there is a lot going on in this collection. It was really cool to see mostly stories based on non-western mythology and with mostly black protagonists. Each story had the start of something pretty interesting, and though I didn’t feel all the stories were fully realized, they span a huge variety of settings with a lot of potential and got me wanting to explore what a longer story from Bolu Babalola is like. She published a romance novel two years after this anthology, Honey & Spice, so I will have to check that out!

Some of the members of my book club mentioned they weren’t so sure about the main character, Noemí, because of her vanity, particularly at the beginning of the book. This surprised me because I LOVE a vain protagonist 😂 (does this say something about me?) and I think Noemí’s character perfectly encapsulates a rich young woman who rebels against expectations through doing what she wants- dressing up and stringing along men she doesn’t want to marry and daring to care about her academic pursuits just as much as her beautiful dresses. (And I love her.) So what happens when you take this cosmopolitan woman out of Mexico City and send her to a crumbling gothic mansion in the rural mountains to find out what has gone wrong with her cousin’s fairy tale ending- and to uncover the secrets of this (“Aryan”) British family descendant from once powerful mine-owners (for whom her mixed indigenous and white heritage is a matter of interest and scrutiny).

This book grapples with colonialism and the ghosts it has left behind, both through its physical remnants and through the persistence of its ideas. It grapples with patriarchy and eugenics, and class and wealth- and how those interact with race and heritage- all weaved into the vivid gothic imagery and fantastical horror of the story. It is unsettling and scary and it is intelligent and incisive.

Some people have claimed this book is not “Mexican” enough- I find this critique very odd, especially since the inspiration for the book was very specifically Moreno-Garcia’s experience with British colonial remnants in Mexico- this book is about colonialism rooted in a specific context, what makes that not Mexican enough? If you have read or are interested in reading this book, check out the book club kit by Random House Books for some really interesting insight into the inspiration of this book from the author (plus discussion questions and paper dolls)!

This one was 5 stars for me! 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I highly enjoyed listening to the third and final book in the Montague Siblings trilogy!

Not having known what to expect of this book, with Adrian being essentially a new character, I was pleasantly surprised to totally fall in love with him! I adored Adrian and really appreciated seeing his struggle with mental illness in the context of his setting. This book made for a satisfying end to the series!

(A bit more specific below)

It was wonderful to reunite with Monty and Felicity- and hard having to meet them though Adrian: I think Lee did a great job of creating tension between the characters and having them slowly open up to Adrian.

The portrayal of Adrian’s mental illness was vivid and visceral and also very believable and relatable. His adventure was captivating and emotional, as was his journey toward self-acceptance. 

I also really appreciated getting a closing on our original couple from book 1 ☺️.

I have highly enjoyed this series and look forward to a reread!