K.D. Rye's Blog, page 2

Being Fishkill

What a heartbreakingly beautiful book. I will try my best to write a review deserving of Being Fishkill by Ruth Lehrer, but I know it’s unlikely I’ll do it justice. First, I should say that this story is deep—the main protagonist is a twelve (turned thirteen) year old girl living in rural poverty struggling to make sense of her situation. Carmel Fishkill makes friends with Duck-Duck Farina and her life is forever changed. Through Fishkill’s poetic and observant narrative we learn how a family ca...

Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing

I’ve been into non-fictional accounts of people’s lives ever since I discovered Ann Morrow Lindbergh and a biography about her in my high school library (my stamped check-out-date being the only one in the front of the book). So of course I jumped at reading the collection of essays by Lauren Hough, Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing. It was a book club pick but I was planning on checking it out after catching her Cable Guy essay in the Huff Post last year. Something about the voice was captivating...

In the Dream House

I received a copy of this book for Christmas last year and read it in my book club recently. I have to say, collective reading of the same text with a troop of insightful people has been my favorite change to 2021. It’s definitely widened my reading experience—making it even more fulfilling, and has turned a usual isolated activity into something social.

In the Dream House is a memoir by Carmen Maria Machado that documents Machado’s relationship with a petite blonde, Harvard graduated. Machad...

The Mercies

It was suggested in my book club that we read The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave and I quickly agreed. I’m not sure if I would have found this title otherwise so I’m very thankful that it was put on the table, and having the fortune of discussing The Mercies with multiple other people made it an even more enriching experience.

Here’s a quick plot—

In one stormy moment 40 men are killed at sea. In 1617 Norway, a small village lost half its population, and the remaining women were left t...

Gretel on Her Own

What a delight to have another novella from Elna Holst. You may remember the review I put out two years ago covering In the Palm—a story of a shipwrecked woman with no memory—and one of my favorite things I’ve read in the lesbian fiction genre. Holst has excelled in longer works such as Lucas and Pyotra and the Wolf and I’ve enjoyed many of her short stories such as those in the Tinsel and Spruce Needles Series, but Holst really knows how to work a novella. She’s also been breathing some life in...

A Tender Grave

I’ve had a pretty hectic spring so far, but managed to finish A Tender Grave by Sheri Reynolds. I was pretty interested in this book after reading the premise and it did not disappoint!

Here’s a quick plot—

Dori Baxter runs away from home, at her mother’s insistence, after participating in a hate crime that leaves a gay boy severely wounded. Dori finds her older half-sister and hopes she can start a new life, away from her own culpability and dysfunctional childhood. Teresa has been living...

Plain Bad Heroines

I aim, in this review, not to give away any spoilers, at least not share what you can’t attain by the blurb on the book’s jacket. However, if this is a book you want to come into blindly, then maybe come back after you’ve finished. I read Plain Bard Heroines by Emily M. Danforth with a handful of other readers for a book club created to discuss this book (though we’ve since decided to continue with another novel). It was an incredibly rewarding experience and having the ability to discuss Plain ...

Honey Girl

I’ve been seeing this book everywhere and decided to get it in audio form. Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers is a New Adult novel centered around learning to love oneself and navigating adulthood.

Here’s a quick summary—

Grace Porter was gifted a trip to Vegas from her father after completing a PhD in astronomy. The trip was supposed to be a way for her to blow off some much needed steam but Grace takes it a little too far when she gets black out drunk and marries a stranger. Her mystery wife is...

Fishwives

There’s only been one book that has ever made me shed a tear and now there’s two. I hate crying, which is why I always try to avoid the act, but I do love and respect a book that thwarts my best efforts. Even now, having just finished this little beauty by Sally Bellerose less than 24 hours ago, I’m still a husk of emotion. Usually I wait a few days before writing a review to allow my thoughts to settle, but I want to do my best to convey the full breath of what this book has accomplished and I ...

The Empress of Salt and Fortune

I found this novella on Audible and had to give it a listen. Something about the description was captivating, but I was not prepared for how the narrative took me in. Nghi Vo really outdid herself with this debut novella.

Set in imperial China with hints of fantasy, we follow cleric Chih as they record the history of late Empress In-yo. An old woman known as Rabbit who was once a handmaiden to the Empress recalls her years spent with the Empress to Chih. What follows is a complicated story. ...