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storyorc's reviews
643 reviews
Central Station by Lavie Tidhar
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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? No
3.5
Like scanning through the radio stations of a fascinating city. This world is boldly imagined and gives the impression that the author has thought through all the interconnecting strings for many hours, yet is also confident enough in the intrigue not to info-dump.
While a few plot threads, like the children, come together thrillingly, the book is more slice-of-life. Its lessons surround accepting what we cannot change and living with mistakes and missed opportunities. At the end of the book lies a list of all the places individual chapters were published previously as standalone short stories. I understand many we refactored to form a cohesive narrative but the fragmented nature still left me unable to get into any one characters' skin as much as I was hoping too. For their small page time, the development is impressive, but one can only do so much with so many interesting characters jostling for attention. The setting is the main character of this book, and it is a delight of the imagination, but personally, I would have found it a smoother read if the setting was delivered on the backs of a few main characters.
While a few plot threads, like the children, come together thrillingly, the book is more slice-of-life. Its lessons surround accepting what we cannot change and living with mistakes and missed opportunities. At the end of the book lies a list of all the places individual chapters were published previously as standalone short stories. I understand many we refactored to form a cohesive narrative but the fragmented nature still left me unable to get into any one characters' skin as much as I was hoping too. For their small page time, the development is impressive, but one can only do so much with so many interesting characters jostling for attention. The setting is the main character of this book, and it is a delight of the imagination, but personally, I would have found it a smoother read if the setting was delivered on the backs of a few main characters.
Hiroshima by
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Sad, of course, but also eye-opening to the cultural differences between Westerners and the Japanese people, and not without its hope and its heroes. Interesting to contrast to Ghosts of the Tsunami as well. A vital read for anyone who wants to claim that the bombings were necessary.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This book is bold with its aliens, both in how many limbs they get and how it insists we take them seriously anyway. The world is fresh, creative, and colourful. The Wayfarer's journey feels like a television program where each episode showcases alien cultures butting heads, threatens escalation, and then applies radical kindness instead. Her crew are a warm, optimistic view of multiculturalism where people stay humble about the righteousness of their own beliefs and extend charity toward what is strange.
This would be a lovely book for a young teen, anyone in danger of being disillusioned by modern society, or someone just looking to spend a few hours in pleasant escapism.
Not for me, however; I get my thrills from characters being nasty, messy bastards. I was interested in Sissex accidentally breaking hearts, Jenks trying to mould new Lovelace into dead Lovey, and a spectacular fight between Ohan and Corbin after the forced 'cure' but alas, those conflicts never really got off the ground.
This would be a lovely book for a young teen, anyone in danger of being disillusioned by modern society, or someone just looking to spend a few hours in pleasant escapism.
Not for me, however; I get my thrills from characters being nasty, messy bastards. I was interested in
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book makes exorbitant promises and delivers things adjacent to those promises in a surprising and thrilling way. Hawkins pushes the limits of what a reader can stomach in both the fantastical and the moral sense yet the book has its own near-nihilistic sense of humour. His characters are weird and often harsh but never quite unsympathetic.
My only complaints are the huge loss in momentum between the last two acts and that the first chapter had me hungry for much more interaction between Carolyn's terminally messed up 'family'.
If you like stories like The Old Guard, the ending of IT, Harrow the Ninth, Wild Seed, and/or Sandman, or have any interest in exploring how abysmally human morals scale when people live too long and get too strong (and can handle some existential dread), pick this up.
My only complaints are the huge loss in momentum between the last two acts and that the first chapter had me hungry for much more interaction between Carolyn's terminally messed up 'family'.
If you like stories like The Old Guard, the ending of IT, Harrow the Ninth, Wild Seed, and/or Sandman, or have any interest in exploring how abysmally human morals scale when people live too long and get too strong (and can handle some existential dread), pick this up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Police brutality
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This has got to be the definitive puppet horror story. I now hate not only dolls but marianettes, taxidermy and hand-puppets too! Hendrix comes up with an impressive variety of ways for toys to terrorise.
Despite the suspense, tragedy, and disgusting injuries, Louise's disbelieving voice and larger-than-life family usually keep the tone from becoming truly dark. Yet, the book still tackles real family angst when not busy wringing every drop out of the puppet horror concept. The siblings are ridiculously determined not to get along and multiple sets of parents let their children down. Beneath the theatrics, there's a nagging reminder that so many of our families would rather grow around a problem like a tree trunk than confront it.
I not only enjoyed the ways in which Louise is toxic, I found them practically educational. It's clear she's a little too anal from the start but I was with her on the value of attacking problems ruthlessly and systematically all the way up to about the last quarter of the book when she herself is forced to take a more nuanced approach. No-one in this book sounds like much fun to be related to initially, except maybe Constance and Brody, but all had things to offer if Louise could humble herself enough to meet them on their own terms. I was surprised how much the writing brought me around.
My only complaints are that it was a slow start and that Louise shook off her injuries too easily. From the descriptions, I was expecting life-altering injuries but not so, and this lessened the impact of future ones. Also the final confrontation featured a monster that I couldn't quite take seriously. One miss when all your horror has to come from rainbow puppets isn't bad though.
Despite the suspense, tragedy, and disgusting injuries, Louise's disbelieving voice and larger-than-life family usually keep the tone from becoming truly dark. Yet, the book still tackles real family angst when not busy wringing every drop out of the puppet horror concept. The siblings are ridiculously determined not to get along and multiple sets of parents let their children down. Beneath the theatrics, there's a nagging reminder that so many of our families would rather grow around a problem like a tree trunk than confront it.
I not only enjoyed the ways in which Louise is toxic, I found them practically educational. It's clear she's a little too anal from the start but I was with her on the value of attacking problems ruthlessly and systematically all the way up to about the last quarter of the book when she herself is forced to take a more nuanced approach. No-one in this book sounds like much fun to be related to initially, except maybe Constance and Brody, but all had things to offer if Louise could humble herself enough to meet them on their own terms. I was surprised how much the writing brought me around.
My only complaints are that it was a slow start and that Louise shook off her injuries too easily. From the descriptions, I was expecting life-altering injuries but not so, and this lessened the impact of future ones. Also the final confrontation featured a monster that I couldn't quite take seriously. One miss when all your horror has to come from rainbow puppets isn't bad though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? No
4.0
Dreamlike, this story of a relationship slips into a deeper emotional level. It is difficult, not to mention wasteful, to shrug off the impacts of Saeed and Nadia's ups and downs. The content is not gentle, either on its characters or the reader ("For when we migrate, we murder from our lives those we leave behind.”"), yet it is gently told, and through kind, though not perfect, people.
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Main character wasn't as novel as A Dead Djinn in Cairo but still plenty affable and competent while still being humble enough to seek unconventional help. More fun secondary characters this time around though. The world is as colourful and imaginative as ever. Didn't feel compelled to follow the mystery too closely - this is my beef with cozier mysteries in general - but it was clever enough and the atmosphere was brimming with enough humour and warmth to keep me entertained.
Spear by Nicola Griffith
adventurous
informative
relaxing
slow-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
2.5
A good cozy read before bed. The writing style has a mythic quality that, paired with the natural magic of the setting, renders it quite a dreamy experience. It is a treat to hear all the Welsh names for Arthurian characters as well, especially Llanza with the ll. Most characters have a casually enchanting nature to them that makes everything feel intimate and significant.
Unfortunately, Spear also carries many aspects of myths that dovetail with my tastes: the POV holds itself at a distance from its characters, it takes its time documenting Peretur's entire life instead of the most exciting slice that you would typically find carved out for a modern novel, and she barely had any moral or physical difficulties. My ears perked up at a few signs of internal dilemma , such aswith her loyalty to her mother vs Artos and when some commoners she'd broke bread with feared her as a knight , but these moments didn't cause much significant strife.
The nature of Spear's ending also left me feeling that Peretur had little impact on the overarching Arthurian mythos. Perhaps that was not the author's goal. I will say that even if Spear was small in scope, it was a fun female knight power fantasy (with a believable lore justification to boot). Usually, a woman will need to be throwing fireballs or sniping to be that much of a threat so part of me appreciated seeing a woman flattening her competition with her own muscle even though it lessened the stakes.
Unfortunately, Spear also carries many aspects of myths that dovetail with my tastes: the POV holds itself at a distance from its characters, it takes its time documenting Peretur's entire life instead of the most exciting slice that you would typically find carved out for a modern novel, and she barely had any moral or physical difficulties. My ears perked up at a few signs of internal dilemma , such as
The nature of Spear's ending also left me feeling that Peretur had little impact on the overarching Arthurian mythos. Perhaps that was not the author's goal. I will say that even if Spear was small in scope, it was a fun female knight power fantasy (with a believable lore justification to boot). Usually, a woman will need to be throwing fireballs or sniping to be that much of a threat so part of me appreciated seeing a woman flattening her competition with her own muscle even though it lessened the stakes.
The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The time travelling aspects are a trove of surprises, and a touch of existential horror, as the author demonstrates the butterfly effect over and over. The mechanics behind it were also quite carefully thought out, which made for a satisfying time of trying anticipate what would happen (I don't consider the fact that I guessed the twist a bad thing). The ships, exoplanet, and protocols surrounding time travel were just cool.
The characters were where I struggled. Brock was my favourite for the range and competence he displayed and a few other had their moments -Moss with herself on the tree or the Courtney hologram, Petal/Vivian turning into a detective, Nicole flipping the script on Moss - but for the most part they seemed thin or more tools of the plot than people. This may have been exaggerated by the multiverse element of the plot which can make anything start to feel pointless if you're not careful.
It was also neat to see a protagonist with one leg navigate both daily life and physically demanding situations in a way that was neither completely unaffected nor completely helpless.
The characters were where I struggled. Brock was my favourite for the range and competence he displayed and a few other had their moments -
It was also neat to see a protagonist with one leg navigate both daily life and physically demanding situations in a way that was neither completely unaffected nor completely helpless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Ableism and Misogyny