ninaprime's reviews
2433 reviews

An informative examination of cryptocurrency, focused on criminals using it for nefarious purposes (drug deals, theft, child abuse) and the agents, researchers, and corporations that have helped track them down. Greenberg offers a balanced view  that also speaks to the aspirational benefits of an unregulated, theoretically private money market, but ultimately the heros here are the dogged civil servants. While he did his best to explain in layman's terms, I still struggled at times to understand the analysis techniques, and the story could be repetitive and dry as it covered case after case. Yet it's useful reading to understand a transformative industry and also how bad actors could be anyone hiding in plain sight.

While Raafe and Red's plot felt like filler just there to parallel the first book and the foreshadowing of the ending with Kayu was too obvious, I enjoyed Neve's adventures in the Shadowlands and growing relationship with Solmir. The various gods they encounter - especially the desolate spidery Seamstress and the eerie Leviathan - were fascinating, even if I didn't fully understand how the divinity/magic system worked. And I appreciated the ending, which felt realistic even if not fully happily ever after (except for Arik maybe who got to live and forget all this drama lol)

Cool premise, plus unique worldbuilding while still harkening to traditional fairy tales. I loved the dread that hung over the characters with knowledge of their fates, and their willingness to fight that inevitability due to their love for each other. Also the priestesses were so mysterious and creepy, especially Kiri, building my curiosity about the truth of Valleyda's history and the kings. That being said, I thought the middle part dragged as I found Red quite annoying, grew frustrated at the constant bloodletting montages, and wasn't invested in her and the Wolf's martyr-y, angsty romance. Neve's interludes with her growing darkness and the political intrigue were more my cup of tea, which is why I nearly immediately picked up the second book.

A middling entry compared to Kingfisher's other works. While I liked the characters, particularly the Golden Girls-esque friendship of Hester, Imogene, and Penelope and the classic butler energy of Willard, I didn't love them. The story dragged quite a bit in the middle as everyone worried about Doom, and the ending felt slightly anti-climactic. I wish we got more backstory on Evangeline and Falada - as villains, they were horrible but one-note - as well as the magical systems at play in this world. Certain elements reminded me of 'Carrie' or a darker 'Ella Enchanted', both books I enjoyed, so I wasn't disappointed in the story as much as not as enthralled as I would've wished to be.

A uncanny, surreal collection of short stories featuring mainly Chinese American women protagonists who are grappling internally with their self-conception and ennui while confronting their relationships with people, places, and memory. Pretty much every story ended abruptly with me feeling like "wtf just happened?" and "what happens next?", which shows that I was invested despite their inherent creepiness. My favorite was "G" about two estranged frenemies taking a drug that renders you invisible and "Yeti Lovemaking", a weird but tender account of a one-night stand with a yeti. "Office Hours", featuring a mentor-mentee relationship at a university and a Narnia-esque escape hatch from the boredom and frustrations of academia, was my least favorite, mostly because I didn't engage with it as emotionally. Overall I loved Ma's writing style and look forward to reading her other works.

A clever Japanese mystery inspired by Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None.' The characters were slightly pretentious uni students in a mystery club, and their author-inspired nicknames confused me at first. Once I got into it, I thought the writing and twists were quite clever, especially with the chapters switching off between the mainland investigation and the incidents on the island. I found Shimada - a random stranger (and monk?) - investigating the case a bit weird and thought for most of the story that he had done it, but the reveal that

Morisu did it in revenge for the alcohol poisoning death of Chiori/his girlfriend by the club members

was poignant.

A cute holiday historical romance with Sense & Sensibility vibes and a main couple who I could root for. I wish there was a little more to the plot and a little less contrived miscommunication though.

Clearly defined results of a data-driven, scientifically sound study about women's access to abortion on America, which finds that abortion is an essential component of family planning and outcomes are almost always better if a woman can get a needed abortion. Findings that particularly struck me were that women who are denied abortions often get mired in poverty or in abusive relationships due to keeping a baby, and that very few women overall go to adoption if they are denied an abortion. One of my favorite parts of this book was that in addition to facts, Greene Foster also intersperses women's stories in their own voices, which gives a personal accounting of abortion decisions and humanizes a polarized issue.

Painfully challenging to get through in parts. Herbert's incisive perspective on religious mania and state-building wasn't sufficient to keep me engaged, especially as the characters made mind-boggling decisions. Alia and Chani were particularly cringey in personality and dialogue, which was sad because Lady Jessica was a standout in Dune so I'm not sure how he worsened at writing women. And he threw in so many concepts that weren't well-explained, which made it a more frustrating read.

Matthews hooked me into Justin and Helena's story from the first chapter, and I was really rooting for them as a couple who had been through so much horror and deserved better. Conflicted feelings about how the incidents in India were portrayed - on one hand, brutality on both sides was acknowledged, but on the other it wasn't an outright refutation of colonialism. In general, I do think much of the book was period authentic and the characters and their development felt real.