thebookbin's reviews
503 reviews

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

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

5.0

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? No

5.0

Can I just say Becky Chambers is so goddamn good at what she does? How does that saying go? If Becky Chambers has a million fans, I am one of them . If Chambers has ten fans, I am one of them. If Chambers has only one fan, that is me. if Chambers has no fans, that means I am dead. It's so true. In this novella, Becky imagines a optimistic future, where humanity comes together to tackle the problem of climate change. That isn't enough to sway those with their eyes set on the stars, and a stateless populist organization has pulled its resources to pursue space exploration, with a true altruistic mindset of "leave no trace." 

While alien life plays an important role—this crew of four would not be in space if there weren't alien planets to explore—the heart and soul of the novel is the crew itself. The story is structured as a mission report, sent from the Lawki 6 to earth, after they have lost contact. Engineer Ariadne O'Neill is the one conveying the message on behalf of herself and her three crewmates: meteorologist Elena Quesada-Cruz, geologist Jack Vo, and biologist Chikondi Daka. 

The story is framed around an unprecedented event, so although Ari is relaying a mission, she is somewhat more personable than strictly scientific. In the beginning of the novel, when Ari says she loves her crewmates more than anyone in the universe, it's easy to write that off, but as the story progresses it becomes apparent that it is remarkably true. Ari knows her crewmates down to their souls, knowing where and how Elena prefers to sleep, can tell when Jack is nearby just by the cadence of his footsteps and spends hours with Chikondi having theoretical discussions about ethics and the meaning of life. 

The most compelling part of the novel for me, is the ending of their stay on Opera. They have been trapped in the Lawki 6 for weeks under a tumultuous ocean, and everybody's nerves are frayed. Ari, the mechanic, the engineer, whose job it is to keep everything running, tries to bolster her teammates but in turn, eventually, each rebuff her efforts. When they finally make it back into orbit, Ari has a sort of mental break, where she puts on her EVA suit and is tempted to commit suicide by drifting away into the stars. When her crewmates notice, Jack and Elena try to get her back in the spacecraft. Jack considers going after her, even with the disastrous consequences with the airlock open. But it's Chikondi—asexual, introspective, gentle Chikondi—who gets her back inside by asking her an inane question. But it's not the question that matters, it's the implicit acknowledgement that they haven't been taking care of her as well as she'd been caring for them.
Because the story is told in a mission report format, we really don't get to see any of Ari's recovery, and part of me really wanted to, but the rest of me acknowledges the perfection of this novel. 

And how I know Becky Chambers is truly a masterclass in her craft, is the choice the crew makes at the end of the novel. They are presented with what is seemingly a two-choice problem. And no matter what we would choose as the audience, our choice would ultimately be selfish. When the crew chooses a third option, an option I wouldn't have even considered, I'll admit I was taken aback. But after ruminating on that for a while, I think there would be no other ending so fitting for a novel of this caliber. 

★★★★★ the polycule in space I've been wanting stars

We step out of our solar system into the universe seeking only peace and friendship, to teach if we are called upon, to be taught if we are fortunate.Kurt Waldheim, Secretary General of the United Nations
Message recorded in the Voyager Spacecrafts, intended for extraterrestrials
Mission Launched 5th September, 1977
 
Girls Can Kiss Now: Essays by Jill Gutowitz

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 66%.
Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo, Ren Graham

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

3.0

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

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dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

 At work yesterday I finished Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall. This is a YA graphic novel, which I would describe as a teen revenge fantasy à la Jennifer's Body. Becca has just moved to a new school and she's desperate to fit in. When she gives a stranger a tampon in the bathroom, she is launched into a whole new life wherein she is initiated into a pack of man-eating werewolves. Except these werewolves are a pack of teenage girls. The story is a lot darker than I'd expect, and honestly I thought it would be a lot better as an adult graphic novel rather than YA. In order to keep it YA they gloss over a lot of the horror elements, which almost makes it even more horror-y but unintentionally.
When the pack alpha upsets the leader of another pack, they kill her and Becca and her girlfriend eat her heart out, literally so they can stop being werewolves. Then Becca and her girlfriend go on a date to homecoming lol.
 

I mean I did like the themes of female rage, and I definitely appreciated how they only went after sleazy guys, but the fact that they couldn't confront some themes and plot elements because it was YA really took away from it for me. 
Overall I think I'm a fan of this sapphic spooky read, I just wish it embraced itself in all its gory glory. 

4.5/5 eat your heart out stars
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One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

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lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Invincible: Compendium One by Cory Walker, Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley

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

2.0

The Golden Sheep, Vol. 3 by Kaori Ozaki

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The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray

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challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

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lighthearted 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

 
I don’t know why I keep convincing myself to give them a try when I have clearly outgrown the genre. It’s probably the pretty covers and interesting blurbs, but yanno. I apparently can't trust myself. I'm an untrustworthy bitch.

Now, being the extremely gay fantasy-lover I am, when I saw the premise of the book I was immediately like yes. This is exactly what I want from a fantasy, a nonwhite setting with fantastical mythology and everybody's just so gay. But it just... disappointed me on all aspects.

I didn't used to be a prose snob, but now apparently I guess I am. I have just read some works that are so well-written that the more juvenile style of YA becomes grating. There were so many "he explained" and "she retorted"s. In my humble opinion, dialogue tags should only be used when there needs to be clarity over who is speaking. Also, what's wrong with plain ol' "said?" IDK it just takes me out of the story. Instead of focusing on what the characters are saying, I am so focused on these weird descriptors that are all over the place.

There are so many expressions that just come from an undeveloped writing style. "Terror gripped his spine" and "The curve of his muscles" were two phrases that I caught multiple times each, and they were so weird. There is an absurd amount of detail paid to clothes and appearance. It very much gives "secret-novel-I-wrote-in-high-school-that-was-lowkey-anime-fanfic." 

First is the introduction to Teo. He is described as a troublemaker, but he rarely causes mischief and when he does, it's caricaturistic. His first introduction, he plays a "prank" on the described "bully." But because we don't get to see Ocelo actually be a bully, Teo becomes the bully in my eyes, humiliating them in front of a room full of gods. But literally as soon as anybody says anything to Teo, he gets so offended and cries. Characters constantly feel like caricatures: Niya is the literal stereotypical Nickelodeon Best Friend, like I'm pretty sure her character is just Sam Puckett. Loud, stupid, strong, and loves food. Aurelio, the strong and stoic type. His sister, the stereotypical high school bully, who is even described with a high pony tail!

There's also this weird hierarchy between types of gods. There are Gold gods and Jade gods. Gold gods are supposed to be "superior." But literally the only person who ever talks about this is Teo himself. It gets to the point where we as the audience start to wonder if it's all in Teo's head. Like yeah, Jades have never been in the Trials before, which means he's never had to worry about joining a life-or-death competition. And then Teo complains about not being allowed to go to the "Academy" (cue eye-roll), which is described as a place of abuse, anyway. Nobody literally says anything about Jades being less than Golds except Teo.

The comparison to Percy Jackson and The Hunger Games is so laughable. Both of those series have a main theme of systems of power being corrupt and harmful to society. But in The Sunbearer Trials the system itself is part of a religious order that is deeply rooted in latine cultures. I mean personally, any religion that requires child sacrifice isn't one worth following, but hey that's just me. But this culture isn't acknowledged as bad or flawed, even by the main character, the so called trouble-maker, the one who can see the flaws in the world, doesn't even have a doubt about the way this world is. It's like if Katniss was from the Capitol or Percy if he was more like Luke. 

Just the idea of the entire world relying on teenagers à la Hunger Games but not for entertainment or a grotesque commentary on society but to literally keep the apocalypse from happening is probably the stupidest system for keeping the world from ending ever thought of. 

There's just so much to say about this, because I wanted to like it. But the clumsy attempts at prose end up seeming like more of a rough draft for a novel than a complete novel in and of itself. I think I would consider reading another Aiden Thomas novel if it wasn't YA, and had gone through the higher publishing standards of the fantasy genre.