talonsontypewriters's reviews
317 reviews

Common Bonds: An Aromantic Speculative Anthology by C.T. Callahan, B.R. Sanders, RoAnna Sylver, Claudie Arseneault

Go to review page

reflective medium-paced

2.5

Was super excited for an aro-centered anthology (especially one that doesn't treat aromanticism as synonymous with asexuality), but most of these are just... not very good :-( I get the sense a lot of the authors might not have had much experience with original short stories -- there's a certain awkwardness to the pacing of quite a few included here, particularly regarding character/relationship development and worldbuilding, that would indicate as much.

Besides that and the Generic YA Style™ several share, there's not much tying them all together either; I think I can actually easier count the ones that explicitly or heavily implicitly describe at least one main character as aro than the ones that don't. Stories with protagonists that happens to be aro without that factoring into the actual plot are all well and good, as are ones that just center around platonic relationships/lack romance, but somehow I expected a little more from something literally titled "an aromantic anthology"?

Only actively liked a couple of pieces, feel pretty "meh" about the rest. The poems are fine but again don't really fit the expressed theme.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

Go to review page

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

3.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Endless Forms: The Secret World of Wasps by Seirian Sumner

Go to review page

informative medium-paced

2.5

wasps :-)
the writing :-I
the entire chapter framed as a dinner conversation with aristotle (or rather "aris," as he's ~cutely~/nauseatingly referred to as for the duration) that also projects modern capitalist social organization, including policing, onto nature just existing as it is :-///

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Thick and the Lean by Chana Porter

Go to review page

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

2.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

Go to review page

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

2.0

cool magic system. the rest... ehhh

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Bathysphere Book: Effects of the Luminous Ocean Depths by Brad Fox

Go to review page

slow-paced

1.0

Maybe 10-15% actually about the bathysphere and early explorations thereof, but mostly a bunch of random, poorly organized historical anecdotes with only tangential or sometimes no apparent relevance to that throughline. Occasional interesting commentary about racism and sexism in STEM that doesn't really build to anything. Not super well written in general, descriptive but lifeless style.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Wolfpack by Rem Wigmore

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

3.5

whatever the fuck orfeus and faolan have going on >>>>>

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

Go to review page

reflective fast-paced

1.0

Straight up badly written: scattered and repetitive with a bunch of shallow, obvious platitudes masquerading as wise advice/insight into the world. Reeks of white middle-class privilege with little to no self-awareness thereof (there's a whole word vomit chapter on what it would be like if we ignored race/gender/etc and just saw each other as ~human~, and another part about how ~inspiring~ a visit to a homeless shelter was... all right man). No direct citations or sources aside from some books quoted in the text; even if you're being purposefully messy, you should still say where you're getting any actual statistics from? I think the alternative is called "plagiarism" or perhaps "making shit up."

Some weird leaps of logic based on anecdotes too -- I really don't think panic attacks occur frequently in supermarkets because of, uh, the unnaturalness of processed foods or the subconscious realization of how companies are manipulating us or whatever tangent Haig went on there. I'd wager it has more to do with the much more obvious factors of the amount of people in them and required interactions with those people, general intense sensory input (smells, noise, lighting, etc), and thought spirals about choices and money.

Overall made me more rather than less anxious, so also kind of failed in its basic purpose.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America's Cemeteries by Greg Melville

Go to review page

informative medium-paced

3.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings