This had more CBT/DBT and less yoga than I was expecting. Not that it's not decent advice but less focus on asana and pranayama than I was hoping for.This had more CBT/DBT and less yoga than I was expecting. Not that it's not decent advice but less focus on asana and pranayama than I was hoping for. ...more
I'm really wrestling with whether to mark this 5 stars.
Importantly note: this delivers what I, as a bisexual woman, have always wanted out of the veryI'm really wrestling with whether to mark this 5 stars.
Importantly note: this delivers what I, as a bisexual woman, have always wanted out of the very straight reality dating shows: two of the women contestants getting together and saying "screw this guy."
What I liked: Not knowing who was killed until the very end. There being multiple people with motives for the murder. Somehow still being intrigued byWhat I liked: Not knowing who was killed until the very end. There being multiple people with motives for the murder. Somehow still being intrigued by various people's secrets up until knowing who was murdered.
What didn't work for me: The "creepy" atmosphere. Listen, most things about this island that were clearly meant to be creepy by how they were described I simply thought were cool. For example, there's nothing creepy about cormorants! They're fascinating water birds whose feathers aren't water-repellant, therefore they need to dry their feathers, which is why they pose the way they do to dry out. The hares on the island sound great, not creepy. The bog is an incredible natural feature. The cave! This island sounds amazing. And I just couldn't understand the multiple people wondering why anyone would want to get married on the island when it sounded so cool. Like....obviously you would want to. ...more
I like the spirit of this graphic novel, but I had two issues with it.
1) Some facts about WWII (as opposed to about Dietrich) are incorrect. The most I like the spirit of this graphic novel, but I had two issues with it.
1) Some facts about WWII (as opposed to about Dietrich) are incorrect. The most noticeable was the quoted number of non-Jewish people killed in the Holocaust. You can see an accurate account in the Holocaust Encyclopedia.
2) This is marketed as a graphic novel but very little of it is told in panel format. It's largely text on a background that's a drawing. For example, there might be a drawing of a map with large swathes of text over it. It was a little difficult to read, and not the comic panel format I was anticipating. I wanted more scenes from Dietrich's life and less background summaries.
I did like how the author noted which pieces of dialogue were direct quotes from original sources with an asterisk. That was nice transparency....more
I was torn on whether to call this a mystery or a thriller but it didn't thrill me so mystery it is.
A 1950s era Cold War mystery set in Switzerland. UI was torn on whether to call this a mystery or a thriller but it didn't thrill me so mystery it is.
A 1950s era Cold War mystery set in Switzerland. Uses third person omniscient narration style, which I haven't read in quite a while. You'd think that would remove all the mystery but since no one knows the full picture of what's going on, it doesn't.
This book didn't super work for me because a lot of it was talking as opposed to action. The last couple of chapter were fast with the action, and I wished the rest of the book had been paced more like that. I found myself bored a lot leading up to that.
I did like the smooth mixing in of German phrases.
Overall, this was an interesting book of discourses from a well-respected Buddhist nun. The first part is perfect for bedtime reading, and the second Overall, this was an interesting book of discourses from a well-respected Buddhist nun. The first part is perfect for bedtime reading, and the second part may be used either as an introduction to loving-kindness meditation or a way to introduce some variety to an already established practice.
I really enjoyed these intertwined cat short stories! I'm waffling between 4 and 5 stars because sometimes the changing perspective was a little hard I really enjoyed these intertwined cat short stories! I'm waffling between 4 and 5 stars because sometimes the changing perspective was a little hard to follow.
The overall plot has promise. In the future humanity has broken into four groups - those still living on Earth (even if they space travel in life), thThe overall plot has promise. In the future humanity has broken into four groups - those still living on Earth (even if they space travel in life), those originating from the colonizers of Mars, those living in space in the Centaur culture (strict rule abiders), and those living in space in the Bear culture (happy folks who rely on luck). A Martian man who worked briefly on a ship to get home finds himself being tortured by a bunch of Centaurs who think he knows something that he thinks he doesn't.
The plot itself is generally pretty ok. Although the end message that the Martian culture's strength is that it's Puritanical is more than a bit cringe. But the telling of the story feels like a first draft. I don't have any problem with first person like some people do. But it's not well-executed here. At the beginning, the narrator knows things that we don't know when we should know them if it's first person. Then later, we know things he doesn't know because his memory got messed with. I also personally really dislike a book starting with a first person torture scene. I'm still not sure why this book needed to be first person. First person is best when we get something valuable out of it as readers. Like maybe the point is to get inside the head of someone with a mental illness. But here nothing was added. I kept finding myself thinking how much better, more full of action, and longer this would have been from the third person with multiple perspectives.
I don't like the shorthand critique of "showing not telling." But I will say for a book about a galactic plot there's an awful lot of scenes of characters standing in a room together talking (info-dumping). It felt like it wanted to be a noir but instead of seeing the private eye figure it out the majority of the book is the final scene where he confronts the big bad and talks about it. I don't mind some talking scenes but that's what most of this book was.
I've loved previous John Brunner reads. Stand on Zanzibar is one of my all-time favorites. This book was missing most of what was great about that. ...more
Overall, this is a different fantasy read featuring a w/w couple at the lead. It's a fun universe to visit and was escapist for me. Recommended to reaOverall, this is a different fantasy read featuring a w/w couple at the lead. It's a fun universe to visit and was escapist for me. Recommended to readers looking for a quick, light read who don't mind some stakes in their cozy.
For my thoughts on the description of Kianthe's skin tone, details on queer representation in the book, and a slight rant about the incorrect making of tea in the book, check out my full review....more
I really like the biopunk setting informed by Maori culture. I thought the first chapter about the pirates was super interesting. But then tDNF at 23%
I really like the biopunk setting informed by Maori culture. I thought the first chapter about the pirates was super interesting. But then they disappeared to be replaced by...a boring cop.
I think this is mostly that I'm a mismatch for this book. At this point, I'm just very over the whole a cop with a heart of gold or a cop who's had a rough run of luck and can't help being a cop storyline. I can't empathize. And when that happens, and they're the main character....
I appreciate the bisexual representation. I appreciate how the author shows that the bisexual character can't be fully in either the queer world or the heteronormative world. But it was more explicit than I like in my fantasy. (I prefer fade out in fantasy.)
I wish it had stuck with the pirates and just ignored the weird cop lady.
This is a mismatch between me and the book. Everything that didn't work for me works for other people. But I like to be honest about whDNF at page 50.
This is a mismatch between me and the book. Everything that didn't work for me works for other people. But I like to be honest about what didn't work for me to help match the right reader to the book.
The writing style was very much not for me. Too much description/attempts at atmosphere building that just made me laugh at loud. Example: "She breathed in the redwood smell and she spread the last of her hop9e out on those brand-new steps and she watched it die writhing, watched without pity, watched it until it was still and cold." (page 4 - chapter 1! How are we this overwrought in chapter 1?!)
Then we took a hard left out of spooky house territory and into body gore in Chapter 5. (It involves a nightmare about pulling out your own intestines). There was a time in my life when I enjoyed being grossed out. That time has passed.
Anyway, so I came to look for spoilers to see where, exactly, this plot was going so I could decide for myself if I wanted to continue. Here's what I found in the spoilers and why that made me decide it's not worth it / life is short.
(view spoiler)[ Vera's dad is a serial killer who only killed bad men so he himself was still good (according to the logic of the book/family) and also he only killed them at the ordering of Vera's domineering mother so he's not really at fault (according to the logic of the book). Vera as a child watched him do the murders through a peephole in the basement. She decided she wanted to hurt bad men too so she killed her childhood best friend Brandon. Her dad took the fall for that, and the rest of the serial killings were found.
Then comes the big divisive plot twist. The book is actually personified into a monster. It possessed Vera's mom to call her back to protect it from the dude living in the shed in the back yard. Vera kills the dude living in the shed in the back yard.
Lots of reviews mentioned more body horror coming up also.
I don't know, I guess I'm just burnt out on "my dad's a serial killer" plots and also childhood trauma being something the character doesn't overcome but succumbs to. That's just me, though. (hide spoiler)]...more
I'm a bit confused by the message about fate in this book.
Also, the more I thought about the book after finishing it, the more I realized I didn't liI'm a bit confused by the message about fate in this book.
Also, the more I thought about the book after finishing it, the more I realized I didn't like various aspects of it. So. While I found it very readable, I think that mostly came down to how much I just love sliding doors moments.
I appreciate the author sharing his personal journey of how he came to understand being a queer Christian as a queer Christian himself.
This is not in-I appreciate the author sharing his personal journey of how he came to understand being a queer Christian as a queer Christian himself.
This is not in-depth theology or apologetics, nor does he present it as such. Rather it's his own understanding of the big clobber passages, Jesus, and Christianity, and how he has chosen to remain a Christian as a queer person.
This is a well-written book, it just wasn't for me.
Overall, I liked getting to know Violet, and it was an interesting world to visit. But the spice leThis is a well-written book, it just wasn't for me.
Overall, I liked getting to know Violet, and it was an interesting world to visit. But the spice level was far too hot for what I personally prefer in romance, sliding more into an erotica category in my opinion. It also seems to me that the first book may have been quite different from this one (I don't know for certain, because I didn't read it), so readers of the first should come in aware of these differences.
A 1952 noir-esque mystery — but everyone from the detective to the murder victim to most of the suspects themselves are part of the queer community.
AlA 1952 noir-esque mystery — but everyone from the detective to the murder victim to most of the suspects themselves are part of the queer community.
All I noticed in the blurb I saw was that this was a queer Knives Out. I somehow missed the historical part. I loved Knives Out but I wasn’t prepared for the amount of period appropriate homophobic content in this one. With all the rampant homophobia being depicted, I was honestly shocked that racism didn’t come up. It would certainly have been period appropriate to, for example, even allude to issues like redlining or racist responses to the Korean War. If one was completely unaware of history coming into this book, one could have left it thinking the only issue of tolerance and acceptance in the 1950s was sexuality. Ultimately, I wanted this book to either go full period piece getting into all the nitty gritty or move it into the present and just make it fun.
Overall, this is a fun twist on Jane Eyre that gives agency to Mr. Rochester's ward Adéle. Come for the twist, stay for the YA sapphic heart-throbing.Overall, this is a fun twist on Jane Eyre that gives agency to Mr. Rochester's ward Adéle. Come for the twist, stay for the YA sapphic heart-throbing.
This is a book for those steeped in academia who want the mystery to remain a mystery.
I liked the alternating perspective chapters. The monster in theThis is a book for those steeped in academia who want the mystery to remain a mystery.
I liked the alternating perspective chapters. The monster in the woods.
I didn't like the characterization (2-dimensional). The fact that it wasn't thrilling or horrific (just a mystery that remains unsolved). That it reads like speculative academic wish fulfillment.
A scifi mystery with creative imaginings of multiple alien species and a queer cast.
The queer content is that Mallory is bisexual. Another character iA scifi mystery with creative imaginings of multiple alien species and a queer cast.
The queer content is that Mallory is bisexual. Another character is a trans gay guy. Another minor character is gay.
My favorite part of this book is the various alien species present on the space station. My least favorite was the style of storytelling. The marketing I saw was Agatha Christie in space. The storytelling isn’t comparable. Agatha Christie novels are mostly one pov. Third person from the detective’s perspective. This book uses multiple povs. This annoyed me, because at many times, we the readers know things Mallory doesn’t. It removes a lot of the mystery. We end up just sitting there waiting for her to find out something we already know.
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