Cheryl’s Comments (group member since Nov 29, 2022)

Cheryl’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

Catherine wrote: "three stories following a woman born hearing in a society where everyone was deaf. It was a good science fiction romance...."

Ooh, I'd love to check that out. The only thing that comes to mind is the StarBridge series by A.C. Crispin. This listopia has more:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3....

It is not shelved YA in my libraries.

Dawn wrote: "... occasionally I can't understand what's going on and them I just DNF the series rather than going back to read earlier books."

Hah! Yes!

Great question; thank you for asking because it's been on my mind, too. I'm 61. I say Yes to Random about anticipation & speculation before the next episode.

But still, I avoid starting unfinished series. Or any series for that matter. Or longer books. I don't like following along the quest through every hamlet or minor hazard, but would rather get to the point already. Give me something to think about, not just to escape into.

(That being said I do rate books, even non-fiction, on how immersive it is. Do make me care.)

I think that I get it, Random. Most people fall in love, have crushes, etc., as a normal part of their make-up. So, while they're having adventures, saving the empire, coming of age, or engineering marvels, romance happens. But most people do indeed think of themselves as adventurers or engineers or creators first, and don't focus on romance so much.

And that's the basis upon which I choose my fiction. The 'calling' comes first, and romance is a sweet cherry on top.

I'd be interested if I see something well-written. I'm always looking to try something new.

The closest thing I can think of time-travel romance, in which a modern girl gets a chance to be courted by a duke or a highlander. There was one of those I liked, um, a couple of decades ago? Wish I could remember the title. (research - it was by Jude Deveraux, it might have been Remembrance... I'd have to reread to see if it holds up.)

Reading some of the comments on the article, and the reviews of some of the books that look interesting from the lists, I'm disappointed. It looks like things like issues of consent, insta-love, gratuitous spice, and people with good heads on their shoulders are still problems. I like an intelligent romance once in awhile but these don't seem to be on track for that.

I'm convinced to give it a shot, Brad!

Also it seems that there are openings for sequels. In no particular order, here are some of the loose ends: Will Binti have a child? If so, will the child be its own character, have its own story? Will New Fish get to have adventures? Will Binti continue to use otjize? Will we ever see her in classes? Is there a love triangle or did I get the wrong idea?

I too was dissatisfied for similar reasons and gave it only two stars. I had no idea it was tagged YA (it's not in my library!) but that does explain some of the faults of this last story. There's some great YA out there, but too often it does get "simplistic."

I do wonder a couple of things:

A certain theme kept coming up.
We're told how wonderful OU is because all the different diverse people get along so well... and on the next page she feels apart because she happens to be very good at one thing that 1st-years usually aren't... and later people there (implication being everyone) are afraid of Okwu.... I don't understand why the generalizations; individuals are, irl, more or less xenophobic or racist or empathetic and Okorafor surely knows that.

Another theme:
"I'd thought something was wrong with me because my family thought something was wrong with me." Again, the generalizations: some members of her family accused her of being selfish, and some traditions of her tribe mark her as being corrupted, unmarriageable, whatever. Some others admire her; her sister admitted that some young girls consider Binti a role model.

(Now that I'm done with the third, I also advise you don't read this unless you're sure that you will want to no matter that the tone changes, it gets much longer, and I only gave it 2 stars.)

The first can stand alone, but this very much requires the third. But that's fine, as there's so much brilliance here, with not too much trauma. What mainly bothers me is Binti's older sister: is she actually envious?

" I started my breathing techniques the moment I saw my room's door; if I began treeing, I'd never experience the full effect of my terror and thus wouldn't be able to address it properly."

I'm enlightened. Both by how misleading the aura of a book can be, and about Afrofuturism and the Himba people. My edition has a helpful & interesting intro. by N.K. Jemisin.

This book had been on my radar for quite some time. But the aura, the buzz and design, made it seem to me like it would be the kind of intense story that I have to avoid, the kind that has a blurb's worth of content warnings.

I was wrong. And I'm glad that I have checked out the other two books; I'm looking forward to them.

"There were so many different types of people in the room that I found it hard to concentrate."

The First Contact scenes reminded me a bit of another novella I love, and recommend, Enemy Mine.

I wound up giving it three stars. Not much to discuss, that I can find.

It has an inconsistent tone. It's not a light romp, it's not an adventure, it's not a commentary on social mores... it's all of the above and more. I love that it's got beautiful sentences, clever bits, etc.

Glad I read it. Not sure how good it is, or to whom I'd recommend it. Ultimately it seemed just a little superficial? I'm not thinking about it afterwards, as I would a better book. It could have been so much more....

:grin:

The House of the Scorpion becomes:

House of the Sloth. A boy rejects his destiny as the clone of an idle hedonist and escapes to become a feared & corrupt drug lord.

Hah! Thanks!

Nor did I. But it's a valid distinction in some books. I can see. But I agree w/Shel about Fifth Season, too.

I persisted, and am glad that I did. Almost done, though, so more comments will be in spoiler thread.

These are great! We need to keep this thread active. :)

I'm finally going to get around to trying them; I do have all three checked out from the library. They don't look like my cup of tea, though, I must say.

Orange: The Complete Collection, Volume 1, Ichigo Takano becomes:

Grange:
An association of farmers has a chance to do over their last school year in order to prevent one of their friends from moving to the big city.