laynemandros's reviews
248 reviews

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Thank you @librofm for this ALC of “Sister Snake”! This book accompanied me back to New Orleans on my drive back from West Virginia.

“Sister Snake” follows sisters Su and Emerald navigating present day Singapore and New York City. Although, these sisters aren’t what they seem. The sisters were once snakes thousands of years before in the Tang dynasty of China. The reader follows Su and Emerald as they navigate their relationship as sisters, their relationship to humanity, and the people they love and loathe along the way.

This book was interesting, I really liked the premise and I loved the setting of modern day Singapore. I visited Singapore when I was in elementary school for a swim meet and was absolutely enamored with this city and it has a reputation as being a “fine” city, a double entendre as they’re also notorious for their fines to keep the city clean.

I felt like this read was very middle of the road for me! I enjoyed the storyline and the characters (loved the queer rep and the tender, but complicated relationship between Su and Emerald) but it just didn’t blow me away. There’s also some great sentiments about the complications of motherhood and grieving so I did like that the plot covered a lot of topics with a good amount of depth.

My favorite scenes were when the sisters were snakes in China and I honestly would have been happy to read an entire book from the perspective of the snakes.

Hum by Helen Phillips

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

“Hum” by Helen Philips: 4.75/5

“Hum” is a near-future sci-fi novel about the advancement of technology to such an extent that humans live in a constant surveillance state (more so than we already do 🥹) and AI robots called hums are part of mainstream society.

May, desperate for money to support her family, participates in a cutting edge procedure where she alters her face to become undetectable by facial recognition systems. After taking her money she books her family on a three night luxury vacation to the botanical gardens where her husband and children get to experience nature because natural parks are seemingly no longer accessible.

This is a short book but it packs a powerful punch. There are so many layers that makes it almost indescribable in such a short space. I love Helen Philips’ writing, it’s clipped and concise but there were so many moments that stopped me in my tracks. The language is straightforward but oftentimes layered in a way that knocks the wind out of you.

It’s a sharp commentary about government interference, climate change, capitalism, and our relationship and access to nature.

At Dark, I Become Loathsome by Eric LaRocca

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

“At Dark, I Become Loathsome” by Eric Larocca: 2.75/5

My first read of 2025 shaped up to be a really weird one! Thank you @librofm for gifting me this ALC of “At Dark, I Become Loathsome.”

I picked up this book because I’ve been dipping my toes into horror a bit more and I could not resist the title or the cover of this book. I mean, are you kidding me? So compelling, so gorgeous, I had to read it immediately.

The narrative follows Ashley, a queer man struggling with his wife’s death and son’s mysterious disappearance. Grappling with an immense amount of grief, guilt, and internalized homophobia Ashley sets out to “help others” by preforming fake death rituals.

There are several stories within the story here and I think that happened a few too many times for it to have been effective for me. Additionally, the title is repeated several times in the book to the point where it became tiresome. The title is so strong that having it show up in the book once, or even twice, would have packed a more impactful punch for me. Finally, not to give anything away, but the twist at the end was really predictable and tied things up a bit ~too neatly~ for me!

The writing was wonderful and I’m excited to try more by this author. The reviews were MIXED on Storygraph so I think that this one might not have been for me, but it’s clear Larocca is a talented writer. I wouldn’t recommend this to everyone but if you’re a fan if little weird books (Tender is the Flesh, perhaps!) then you might like this.

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

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adventurous challenging dark funny reflective tense medium-paced