Cheng Bogdani > Recent Status Updates

The Witch Is Not the Monster by Alaya Dawn Johnson
3 stars
Lots of emotions packed in this one. Some of the action was hard to follow, and there were flashbacks that interrupted the flow - I feel like the context should have been provided sooner rather than later - but having just read American War I was getting weird cross-story vibes.

Escape Artists by Andrea Hairston
I skipped the poem. Not my thing, sorry not sorry.

The Liar by Darcie Little Badger
5 stars, no notes. Contemporary paranormal thriller done right - There's a lot of story packed into these few pages, this could easily be expanded into a series of novels. If you liked the Daniel Faust series by Craig Schaefer, you'll like this.

Good Spells by Ken Liu
3 stars. I see how and why this got added to an anthology of witches, but honestly I'd rather see it get a fuller treatment with blessings from a scifi perspective. The premise was very interesting and reminded me of Metropolitan by Walter Jon Williams.

The Luck Thief
by Tade Thompson
5 stars
The premise is fascinating, and the author could've gone to some banal places with it, but kept the arc intriguing. Strong characterization but the resolution was a bit weak.

Catechism For Those Who Would Find Witches
by Kathleen Jennings
2 Stars

The story had a janky Question + Answer + Margin notes +inner dialogue format that I couldn't get into. Also, the story - such as it was - didn't have a satisfying arc or conclusion.

What I Remember of Oresha Moon Dragon Devshrata
by P. Djelf Clark

I kept thinking of the Black Sabbath song "Iron Man" while I was reading this. No great magnetic fields, no boots of lead - but the ungrateful, unwashed masses are still as ignorant and superstitious as ever.

Seed of Power - Linda D. Addison
This was a poem integrated into the epub as an image, and the words were too small to read at 320dpi

I feel like I've read stories with this premise before. Characterization is all over the place; the MC's relationships seem improbable given what a jerk he is.

Beth, you idiot - we just Mcguffin'd phone records a few pages ago.

This could resolve with an HEA, or any number of f'd up ways with collateral damage all over the place. Since this is an MR Carey book, it won't be an HEA.

Splatterpunk group read June 2024

NGL, that was a slow start getting all the threads spooled up. But now that the warp and the weft is starting to show, this may be my most favorite MRCarey book - and they're all five star books.

This book feels denser and more intricate than I expected.

Thank you, dear author, for the shout-out to John Constantine - it was tickling the back of my mind, now I remember what this scenario - and our MC - reminds me of.

I feel like as soon as I get a chance to get properly started on this, I'm going to have a hard time putting it down.

Director Mrs Tum-Tum, if you want to be formal.

Today's word is "scrotemonkey".

I am 110% on board with our MC who "gets along with cats better than people".

I DON'T WANT THIS BOOK TO END

Top shelf stortytellin', is what this is

I mean, if you're not reading Daryl Gregory, - are you even reading?

I'm not sure how much more scene needs to be set or character needs to get developed before we get to the crux of this story.

Our character is getting groomed like a rusty old knife, getting sharpened until it does it's purpose.

After setting the scene in excruciating detail, now we get to watch our character develop in excruciating detail. Don't confuse my snark with dislike; I'm in for the ride and feel invested in Sarat.

Wow, this is a lot of scene-setting. I'm ready for the story part to start.

Given the TOC, map and first few pages this looks like it's going to have the same feel and style as "Warday" by Whitley Streiber and James Kunetka