Whatever Gods May Be in Mostly Sapphic

Aug 29, 2013 M rated it really liked it

Shelves: l-books, thrillers

Interesting read with a future setting and a hard tech approach to down and dirty fighting.

Some of the experiences described in this book are deliberately extreme and while I had a couple of moments when I wasn't sure that the heroine's reactions to the situation felt true, it was a compelling read and not your usual Bold Strokes book. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Oct 15, 2017 Stephanie rated it really liked it

This is not my typical fluff romance story. In fact, it is almost the complete opposite. Except there is a love story....both a romantic one and a redemptive one. I decided to read this trilogy after receiving an ARC for the third book. When I started reading it I realized there had to be more....and there was! 2 books before it! So, I backed up and started from the beginning.

I have to be honest, this is a dark series of books. I found parts of this book in particular, quite disturbing and consi ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 29, 2010 Elaine Burnes rated it really liked it

Shelves: lesbian

This is a very impressive novel, never mind being a debut novel. In short, Jamie Gywnmorgan joins the Marines and goes to war. She joins for various reasons, none of which is very explicitly explained. Her mother is dead (actually took me awhile to figure out this person was her mother), some guy did something horrible (we find out what later--nothing is dumped on us), a friend helped her prepare. There's a reference to jail time, but I didn't get that. We see her through basic training and she’ This is a very impressive novel, never mind being a debut novel. In short, Jamie Gywnmorgan joins the Marines and goes to war. She joins for various reasons, none of which is very explicitly explained. Her mother is dead (actually took me awhile to figure out this person was her mother), some guy did something horrible (we find out what later--nothing is dumped on us), a friend helped her prepare. There's a reference to jail time, but I didn't get that. We see her through basic training and she’s good. Very good. So she gets to go to scout/sniper school. She’s also good at that. So she gets to go to war.

Jamie is an Aud-like character (who is probably also [some other author's character]-like character) and I don't think that was conscious or even unconscious, nor is it a detriment to the story. We just like to think that out there somewhere is someone who can survive, maybe even thrive on stuff that would flatten us. She's bigger than life. Literally, big, strong, smart, able to handle more than just about everyone around her. Which is good, because a lot of bad things happen to her.

I think the blurb is a bit misleading, mainly because this story defies soundbites. The writing is clean and taut, the plot moves along logically and with interest. The characters, both good and evil, feel real and realistic. There are some nice metaphors and themes that run through this. It would probably be best enjoyed with two readings, but that's not a requirement to liking it, just appreciating it more. I feel I might have missed some things.

This is not an easy read—we’re talking jungle warfare after all--but to Hagin’s credit, I didn’t have to look away. Because the POV is so very tight on Jamie, we only know what she knows and she’s not conscious for the worst of it. We’ll wake up with her and find some horrible thing has happened, but we didn’t have to watch it happen. This is good, in my mind. It let me get very close to the horrors of war in a way I probably wouldn’t otherwise.

This story takes place in an indeterminate near future--post-pandemic, whatever that was (I wish there had been more about that). I knew that going in, but if I hadn't, I might have had trouble getting into the story. There is a lot that is familiar—buses, tents—this isn’t far off science fiction. This could be in the next decade or two. The gadgets were cool, the jargon understandable. She did a great job of explaining things along the way that were not info dumps. I'm just not sure why it needed to be in the future--except she needed women in combat. Otherwise, it wasn't that important, it seemed.

I did have a rather serious WTF moment near the end. Something happens that I just found too weird. And a character appears who seems to come from nowhere—not that her presence wasn’t believable, but Jamie’s connection (which I had to go back and reread to realize I was putting more into it than was there) to her was weirdly coincidental. But this is so far into the book that it doesn’t take too much away from it.

Mostly what I like is the fearlessness of the writing. I'm not sure how to explain what I mean, but I felt it.

I agree with the review on Lambda Literary, especially this: "The publisher has designated this a romance for reasons passing all understanding."

That is perhaps my biggest problem with the book (and not reflected in my stars because it's not Hagin's fault). Several times I looked at the spine and assured myself that yes, there's an R there, for Romance. This is not a romance, especially not a Romance. It breaks most of Radclyffe's formula rules for Romance. I just don't understand why it's there. They have other imprints they could put it under. I complain because I think women might buy this expecting a Romance, but it's not. It's a war story. It's a gritty, gruesome war story. It's also speculative fiction because it takes place in the future. Just perplexing.

That said, I'm glad it got published! ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 03, 2012 Cab rated it liked it

Shelves: e-books, drama

I will admit that I judged this book by its’ cover. I’ve scrolled on by it numerous times over the last couple of years and my reaction was always, “hmmm no”. On occasion as I was scrolling by I may have read the book summary but I still wasn’t really interested. Granted, this is all subjective I couldn’t tell you what about the cover didn’t grab me, I just know that if I am in a store or online sometimes the cover itself grabs my attention and makes me pick up a book. Although, I think it’s the I will admit that I judged this book by its’ cover. I’ve scrolled on by it numerous times over the last couple of years and my reaction was always, “hmmm no”. On occasion as I was scrolling by I may have read the book summary but I still wasn’t really interested. Granted, this is all subjective I couldn’t tell you what about the cover didn’t grab me, I just know that if I am in a store or online sometimes the cover itself grabs my attention and makes me pick up a book. Although, I think it’s the cover/title combination that usually grabs me.

Then a couple of weeks ago I got a coupon from Bella Books. Yes I know an entirely different publisher but what the heck they were cross selling and the coupon tipped me over the edge to try the book. I’m glad I did because the story itself was intriguing. I haven’t a clue why the last sentence in the book summary says “What she never expects is to win love.” That implies this is a romance novel. It really is not. At best the love Jamie finds appears to be deep friendship/familial love. So don’t get your hopes up.

We meet Jamie Gwynmorgan while she is on the bus heading towards basic training. This is a military/war based story. I haven’t a clue if the technology military descriptions are accurate or made up. It didn’t matter to me it’s just part of the story. We quickly learn that Jamie doesn’t give up, she’s always thinking ahead and how to get to the next step and above all how to keep herself and the people around her safe and alive.

There are a couple of things I found a little confusing in the story. We periodically hear about hear snippets throughout the story about her life growing up and “Alby”. It took me reading ¾ of the book to get a clue that Alby and her mother are one in the same. I also never understood the random hallucination or day dream of the white haired woman that Jamie would hear/see or how that added value to the story. For me the second ½ of the story was a better read and I almost wish it started at that point and took the ending out a bit further because relationships between Jamie and Senator Hillinger and Jamie and the Major General Ben Embry were interesting and I would have enjoyed finding out what happened next.
...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 22, 2011 Cheri rated it liked it

I thought the second part of the book was strong and intense. Andy and I are discussing it on Episode 17 of Cocktail Hour, if you're interested in hearing what we thought. (http://www.cocktailhour.c-spot.net/ar...) ...more

1 like · Like · see review