Ricky Pine's Blog, page 81

Review: Old Man's War

Old Man's War by John Scalzi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first John Scalzi book I read wasn't his first, but instead Lock In, which was suitably complex and well-thought-out but not so well-executed, due to its general lack of interesting characters or even much of a sense of humor. Seeing Scalzi's debut, a sly parody of classic sci-fi from Heinlein to Bradbury to even Orson Scott Card (though of course far cruder in content than anything Card would ever serve up), I think I've got a much b...

Review: The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic

The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Leigh Bardugo's look at the folklore of the Grishaverse gives those of us who thus far never read any of the three short stories she wrote in this department a chance to see some more subtle world-building for Ravka, while also including three additional short stories to give us glimpses into Zemeni, Kerch, and Fjerdan culture. (Not Shu, though, but that's no surprise given that Shu Han is by...

Review: Dumplin'

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This month's book club read at work was a little not my style, though certainly good as another #ownvoices read I've spent some time sleeping on. Though Dumplin' wasn't quite to my taste, it had more than its share of small moments of relatable humor - like Will's laments early on about how people in relationships always get way too public with their displays of affection - and some very well-written relationship drama. I think the biggest fl...

Review: Fairest

Fairest by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you, Marissa Meyer, for giving us this piece of insight into the increasingly evil, increasingly deranged, and surprisingly sad story of the appalling, atrocious, love-to-hate-her-'cause-she-is-so-freaking-evil Queen Levana. It's a short story, only a shade over 200 pages, but Levana is so Cersei-grade nasty that it proves compulsively readable to a shocking degree. And I do mean Cersei-grade - of all the books in this series, this one...

Review: Cress

Cress by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Long, but oh so totally worth it. The Wham Line at the very end sells it, natch. Along the way, Cress, the semi-official midpoint of The Lunar Chronicles, delivers the most globe-hopping adventure up to this point in the series, with a jam-packed storyline full of not one, not two, but three vastly reimagined fairytale heroines. And Cress, of course, is perhaps the most radically reimagined of them all, a Rapunzel whose tower is a satellite, an...

Review: When Dimple Met Rishi

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Like The Upside of Unrequited, this piece of lighthearted YA contemporary is more of a 3.5 for me, but I'll round it up to a four. After spending six months sleeping on Sandhya Menon's debut, I've finally read it, and I found I enjoyed it more than I was expecting, especially given that I got a lot of spoilers. Most of which had to do with Dimple's actions and attitude, which didn't endear her to me very much. After reading the...

Review: Looking for Group

Looking for Group by Rory Harrison
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I sorta remember I picked this book up because of Zac Brewer's blurb on the cover, because as far as I know, Zac Brewer almost never blurbs books, and he's one of a few authors whom I would absolutely LOVE to see blurb for mine someday. Suffice it to say I was actually extremely disappointed in what I read. I mean, it should've been pretty well tailor-made for me, this book, with its strong queer rep - Dylan being gay, Arden being t...

Review: Scarlet

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's hard to say which I like more: the OUAT-verse or The Lunar Chronicles. Though I'd probably go with the latter only because the true stellar-ness of OUAT lies in its all-too-short-lived Wonderland spinoff, which, by coincidence, I remember I was watching around the same time that I discovered The Lunar Chronicles. Which might explain why Scarlet and Wolf in this book remind me so much of my failed Knalice ship, except maybe not so failed...

Review: Dear Martin

Dear Martin by Nic Stone
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Easily comparable to Angie Thomas' The Hate U Give, Nic Stone's debut Dear Martin, while delivered in a physically smaller package, is no less gut-punching and devastating and firmly rooted in the real-world issues of systemic racism and police brutality. That gut-punch quality owes a lot to the fact that unlike THUG, Stone's book, being so much smaller, doesn't have nearly as much room for the little things in life to liven things up. Not th...

Review: Renegades

Renegades by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OFFICIAL RENEGADES PLAYLIST:

"I know you don't listen to me, 'cause you say you see straight through me, don't you?"
-Coldplay, "Shiver"

"The gods decree you'll be right here by my side
Right next to me, you can run but you cannot hide..."
-Depeche Mode, "It's No Good"

"I'm gonna fight 'em off
A seven nation army couldn't hold me back..."
-The White Stripes

"I guess in love there's no guarantee
Sometimes it's not what it seems to be
Even though you're...