Ricky Pine's Blog, page 33

Review: Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution

Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

R.F. Kuang's long awaited entry in the dark academia genre turned a lot of heads for months, even years, before its publication - and already the phenomenon is looking to repeat itself in her next novel Yellowface, her most realistic book yet but also very incisive in its social commentary from all the buzz I'm seeing about it already. Kuang is ...

Review: Poster Girl

Poster Girl by Veronica Roth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Veronica Roth returns with not a sequel to Chosen Ones - though, as she admits, that one ends on a pretty good standalone note as it is. No, here she brings us another adult sci-fi piece with its roots in a world not out of place in YA, and especially not for one of the biggest riders of the early 2010s post-Hunger Games dystopian wave.

Poster Girl is a relatively bite size novel, especially for a story that's both sci-fi...

Review: Foul Lady Fortune

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one goes out to all the people hopping on a ton of Chloe Gong hate bandwagons these last two years: 
Sit there in your wrongness and be wrong and get used to it.
"without the monster, there is no madness. without the madness, he goes out of business."
These Violent Delights

"nothing was ever as simple as 'my people' or 'your people...'"
Our Violent Ends

"don’t upset me in the future and it will be swell, i suppose'"
Foul...

Review: Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting

Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting by Roseanne A. Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Roseanne A. Brown has already proven herself as one of the best and brightest new arrivals on the YA scene in the last couple of years, and now that Rick Riordan’s selected her for his imprint, she’s gotten to prove her MG bona fides too. Serwa Boateng’s first adventure of many (as well it should be, after that cliffhanger!) is deeply rooted in the legends of Brown’s homeland of Ghana, and...

Review: The First to Die at the End

The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It’s been a while since I’ve read an Adam Silvera book, and even longer since I read one that reminded me of why he was such a huge fave of mine for so many years, especially in my book selling days. I would’ve benefited so much from how beautifully Silvera writes his many glorious geekboys in love if I’d had these positive portrayals when I was a teenage bisexual stuck in the closet even to myself…but I di...

Review: Mickey7

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked this book up after hearing that it was the source material for Bong Joon-Ho’s next movie, starring Robert Pattinson - a pretty quick turnaround, given that the book just came out this year, started filming this summer, and is expected in theaters next year. Assuming, of course, the current bloody bellend regime at WB don’t screw over the auteurs. The premise sounded like a pretty nice update to Duncan Jones’s amazing...

Review: A People's History of the Vampire Uprising

A People's History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well it probably won’t be a bloody movie yet for a while because it’d likely come off as way too on the nose in this era of Covid. But as a four star read, it earns its place on that particular list of mine all the same. I’m honestly amazed the ratings for this book are so low here on GR, but maybe that’s because people got tired of the World War Z style after a while? That said, thou...

Review: Nona the Ninth

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Expanding the trilogy to four Locked Tomb novels?

We've been officially Red Queen-ed.



So...Nona. She's a pretty interesting little character, introduced at the very end of Harrow the Ninth with all the mystery as we suddenly ported over from the apocalyptic futura gothica of the series so far and into what could almost pass for the present day.

Except the present day is a little closer to the flashbacks that finally explain...

Review: Legends & Lattes

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"High fantasy and low stakes," the ad campaign says? Well, you know what? It's pretty accurate a summary of the style of this book, but so is the fact that, like a coffeehouse ought to be, it's a cozy and comforting kind of read. We start with Viv the orc coming off a pretty intense battle, but she's finally realized that there's gotta be more in this life, and so she decides to take up a whole new vocation. As it ...

Review: Furysong

Furysong by Rosaria Munda
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Yeah...I think it's safe to say I figured out why Piéra Forde didn't want to finish this book. There's one scene in particular that I know just had to be everything that destroys her heart and then some, and I'm not gonna lie, I felt seriously sad reading that scene too. It was such a gut punch, and unexpectedly strongly emotional for a series that, honestly, I had such a difficult time connecting to all along. Maybe because...