savvylit's reviews
537 reviews

Fragile Animals by Genevieve Jagger

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Fragile Animals is a coming-of-age tale about a woman who barely knows herself. After being raised strictly Catholic, Noelle has distorted ideas of guilt and sin that have dictated and destroyed her past relationships. Said post-Catholic confusion is also deeply wrapped up in her mother's abandonment of Noelle as a young teen. Unlike most vampire stories, the vampiric subplot in Fragile Animals is portrayed as merely an intriguing, catalytic dalliance. At its core, this novel is less horror and more firmly in league with other "sad girl" coming-of-age stories for New Adults.

Fragile Animals was Jagger's debut and she has indeed proved her talent. This story was deeply atmospheric, which I really loved. However, the plot suffered from pacing issues that kept me from fully loving it. I look forward to Jagger's next book, which will hopefully be even more polished!
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Bezoar: And Other Unsettling Stories by Guadalupe Nettel

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

Bezoar is aptly titled: every single story is indeed unsettling. Specifically, Nettel's use of vivid, often disgusting imagery is what defines each vignette. As a result, there are several scenes that I still feel haunted by since finishing Bezoar. For example, there's one story where a man becomes captivated by a woman based on the residue she left in a toilet. (!!) I was deeply grossed out to the point of grimacing for the entire run of that story.

Ultimately I liked all of these stories quite a bit -- definitely enough to be interested in reading more of Nettel's work in the future!
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Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg

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adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Housemates is a well-written and sweet story. It's a road trip novel, a queer romance, and a testament to the power of art & creating things together. Bernie and Leah are both whole, believable individuals and I appreciated them for all their complexities. Overall, Housemates was an enjoyable journey but I left it feeling incomplete.
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Model Home by Rivers Solomon

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dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.25

Model Home is a terrifying look at trauma and the way it shapes our lives and family dynamics. Ezri's memories from their childhood home are awful and inexplicable. Along with their sisters, Eve & Emmanuelle, Ezri became estranged from their parents for many years. All three siblings had known evils from which their parents didn't protect them. That initial ominous text that reunites the trio and cracks open their trauma forces them to heal together -- even as it simultaneously tries to tear them apart.

This disturbing and heavy book had me riveted from the start. Solomon is definitely one of the best literary horror authors and Model Home only cemented that fact. The only reason this wasn't a five-star read for me was that I felt that the storyline and POV of Ezri's daughter Elijah was disjointed. I understand that Elijah was most likely included in order to demonstrate the cyclical nature of trauma. However, her POV arrived late enough in the story to leave me feeling like it didn't quite fit the rest of the narrative.

Thank you so much @netgalley, @fsgbooks, & @mcdbooks for the advanced reader copy of Model Home in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own. Model Home is out now, so go get a copy from wherever you source your books!
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Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte

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dark funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This series of interconnected short stories is possibly one of the most effective and brilliant satires I have read recently. Rejection is both the theme and the object of obsession for each character. Tulathimutte's incredible grasp of hyper-specific neurotic behaviors allows him to portray the most unsympathetic people in the most nuanced of ways. Let me give you a snapshot of some of the characters that populate Rejection. First, we have a white Nice Guy™️ who is a proud Feminist but also furious that no woman will sleep with him. Second, we have a selfish, entitled white woman who gives too much significance to a one-night stand to the point where she becomes quite unhinged. Third, we have a deeply introverted gay Thai-American man whose very niche fetishes keep him from being able to connect in real life. Fourth, we have a hyper-positive white entrepreneur dudebro who is constantly optimizing his life. Fifth is a nonbinary Thai-American prolific Internet troll who gives us their entire backstory... Or do they? And sixth we have Tony Tulathimutte himself in a very meta passage where he imagines this book being rejected by publishers.

If you like cultural criticism and satirical fiction, then you absolutely must read this book.

Thank you very much to @netgalley & @williammorrowbooks for the advanced reader copy of Rejection in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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A Sunny Place for Shady People: Stories by Mariana Enríquez

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

5.0

I am a big fan of short story collections, in general. However - and this seems to be the nature of the form - many short stories often leave me wanting more; there's a sense of incompleteness when they're over. As someone who has only dabbled in writing fiction of my own, I know that a satisfying ending is the worst (and hardest!) part. That's why I was ultimately blown away by A Sunny Place for Shady People - Enriquez has achieved a collection of twelve stories that are each perfectly complete.

Now, onto the content of the stories themselves. In A Sunny Place for Shady People, readers are treated to a variety of scares that range from the mildly unsettling to the downright terrifying. Each scare is based in the paranormal yet reflects a terror that is all too real-world: loss, mortality, colonization, murder, family secrets, greed, sexual assault, addiction, aging, guilt, and disgust. In Night Birds, a young (un)dead girl worships her older sister's world of make believe. In Face of Disgrace, a woman inherits a disturbing maternal legacy from a mother that she hated. In Hyena Hymns, a couple accidentally enters a torturous dimension while exploring a mansion in ruins. In the titular story, a woman returns to the site of her grief and spends time with a cult that communes with a famous dead woman. In A Local Artist, a couple escapes to the countryside to seek tranquility but what they find instead is a gradually escalating trap.

Thank you so much to @netgalley, @hogarthbooks, and @marianaenriquez1973 for the advanced reader copy of A Sunny Place for Shady People in exchange for my honest review! As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Sunny Place for Shady People is out now and can be found in a bookstore or library near you! What are you waiting for?
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The Barrow Will Send What it May by Margaret Killjoy

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adventurous dark emotional fast-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? Yes

4.0

A satisfying follow-up to the speculative thrills of The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion! Danielle Cain and her demon slayer crew land in a small town with a terrifying necromancy problem. Like its predecessor, this novella was a delightful and entertaining read that celebrated radical living and queer chosen family. A perfect one-sitting escape!
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First Law of Holes: New and Selected Stories by Meg Pokrass

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

2.0

This is a collection of flash fiction that spans Meg Pokrass' multi-decade career. And Pokrass is quite skilled at flash fiction - some stories are merely one paragraph long yet evocative and thought-provoking. Overall, though, I ultimately didn't enjoy this collection because it seemed to reveal a lot of internalized misogyny and fatphobia. Does Meg Pokrass hate women? Or do most of her protagonists exist in a realm where impressing men and competing with each other over said men is the primary goal?

Thank you @dzancbooks for the advanced reader copy of First Law of Holes in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Roland Rogers Isn't Dead Yet by Samantha Allen

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funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Roland Rogers Isn't Dead Yet is a delightful and sweet novel about mortality, grief, isolation, and coming out. Adam and Roland, while different in so many ways, share an understanding of certain types of loneliness specific to gay men. Roland is lonely because he never felt comfortable coming out while in the spotlight. Adam is lonely because he feels like he doesn't fit in within his own community. As Roland gradually shares his life story with Adam, their closeness increases and they are able to help one another heal.

With this release, Samantha Allen has proved her distinct ability to write deeply entertaining paranormal stories with a ton of heart. Like Patricia Wants to Cuddle, Roland Rogers Isn't Dead Yet is full of just as many silly moments as it is cultural criticism. Both novels demonstrate Allen's grasp on the nuanced humanity behind the public figures we think we know and love.

Thank you so much @netgalley & @zandoprojects for the advanced reader copy of Roland Rogers Isn't Dead Yet in exchange for my honest review!! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Fieldwork: A Forager's Memoir by Lane Regan

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emotional hopeful reflective

3.5

I enjoyed this introspective book. Regan's childhood on the farm and her adult decision to leave the hustle & bustle of Chicago's culinary scene was all so distinctive and compelling. The artfulness and care that she puts into her food preparation shone through on nearly every page. I could almost literally see the abundance of forageable flora in the Hiawatha National Forest as I read Fieldwork.

Ultimately, though, I think this memoir would have been better as an essay collection. Something was missing within the structure and the narrative eventually became overly drawn out. I think with polishing and the natural pauses of essay formatting, Fieldwork would have been a much more powerful memoir.
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