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Book reviews
Dec. 10th, 2023 01:45 pmSystem Collapse by Martha Wells
Genre: Adult, science fiction
It's a new Murderbot book!! And it's...okay. I'd rank this above Fugitive Telemetry, but below the other books. It's not bad, by any means—and the idea of showing Murderbot dealing with PTSD was definitely compelling—but I just felt like this lacked the kind of unexpected twists that were present in my favorite Murderbot novels, and the plot was very straightforward. This gets a solid 4 out of 5 stars from me.
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Genre: YA, fantasy, romance
I picked this up solely out of curiosity due to how popular it was, and...this is a good example of why I dislike romantasy.
I like fantasy with romance subplots, honestly. But the problem with romantasy is that it uses fantasy as an *aesthetic* for the romance. It's light on the worldbuilding, and the fantasy elements don't make sense. Honestly, it infuriates me considering there ARE fantasy novels with prominent romantic plots that still treat the fantasy elements seriously—so many fanfics do it, as do danmei wuxia/xianxia novels from China. For example, Divine Rivals casually mentions that some buildings are enchanted—and then never explains where the enchantment comes from. A major aspect of the premise is that the two romantic leads have enchanted typewriters...but there is ZERO explanation as to HOW the typewriters are enchanted. Also, the myths of the gods were incredibly boring. They essentially boiled down to "misogynistic god Dacre gets mad that goddess Enver doesn't like him." Snore.
As for the romance, I totally get why this is popular. This is the exact formula of "Brooding Boy who acts rude but secretly has a Tragic Past simps for girl who normally acts like an insecure wallflower except when she needs to banter snarkily with the boy" that characterizes just about every YA/Adult romantasy that goes viral. For me, I hate this formula. It does absolutely nothing for me.
My favorite part of the book was how the bombs/sirens were like a magical version of WWII. If this had spent more time on the fantasy war, I might've found more to enjoy. Alas.
The Husky and His White Cat Shizun Volume 4 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou
Is it weird to say I'm finding myself enjoying this series less and less as time goes on?
I expected to enjoy it more now that Mo Ran is repenting his former ways and he and Chu Wanning are on track to confessing their feelings for each other, but I find myself looking back more fondly on the soft interactions and yearning of Volume 2 instead. There was definitely a "sexual attraction = love" discussion in this volume that I absolutely hated, and I assume that's why this novel focuses on Mo Ran and Chu Wanning's lust for each other and we don't see as many other interactions. Also, the fact that Chu Wanning kept having visions of the other timeline was...weird? Like, were those visions supposed to be erotic, even though the consent in that timeline was dubious at best???
I'll probably keep reading just to see where the story goes, but this is also making me nervous for Remnants of Filth (since it's also by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou). I'm enjoying that series but now deathly afraid it's going to fall into the same pattern as this series, sigh.
Tessa Miyata Is No Hero by Julie Abe
Genre: MG, fantasy
The idea of this was cool, sort of like a Japanese Percy Jackson. I couldn't quite put my finger on it though, but something about this book failed to hold my attention. Then again, I'm admittedly not the right audience for Middle Grade, so.
Winnie Zeng Vanquishes a King by Katie Zhao
Genre: MG, fantasy
I remember enjoying the first book in this series when it came out, but I enjoyed this one less. I think in part because I don't like this audiobook narrator; I don't know why she decided to make David's voice as annoying as possible to listen to. But also, I felt like the plot was pretty meandering and episodic. The summary for this book mentions a new Shaman who joins Winnie and David, yet that new character doesn't even show up until halfway through the book. I don't know, I think the plot needed a stronger underlying anchor for all of Winnie and David's activities.
Genre: Adult, science fiction
It's a new Murderbot book!! And it's...okay. I'd rank this above Fugitive Telemetry, but below the other books. It's not bad, by any means—and the idea of showing Murderbot dealing with PTSD was definitely compelling—but I just felt like this lacked the kind of unexpected twists that were present in my favorite Murderbot novels, and the plot was very straightforward. This gets a solid 4 out of 5 stars from me.
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Genre: YA, fantasy, romance
I picked this up solely out of curiosity due to how popular it was, and...this is a good example of why I dislike romantasy.
I like fantasy with romance subplots, honestly. But the problem with romantasy is that it uses fantasy as an *aesthetic* for the romance. It's light on the worldbuilding, and the fantasy elements don't make sense. Honestly, it infuriates me considering there ARE fantasy novels with prominent romantic plots that still treat the fantasy elements seriously—so many fanfics do it, as do danmei wuxia/xianxia novels from China. For example, Divine Rivals casually mentions that some buildings are enchanted—and then never explains where the enchantment comes from. A major aspect of the premise is that the two romantic leads have enchanted typewriters...but there is ZERO explanation as to HOW the typewriters are enchanted. Also, the myths of the gods were incredibly boring. They essentially boiled down to "misogynistic god Dacre gets mad that goddess Enver doesn't like him." Snore.
As for the romance, I totally get why this is popular. This is the exact formula of "Brooding Boy who acts rude but secretly has a Tragic Past simps for girl who normally acts like an insecure wallflower except when she needs to banter snarkily with the boy" that characterizes just about every YA/Adult romantasy that goes viral. For me, I hate this formula. It does absolutely nothing for me.
My favorite part of the book was how the bombs/sirens were like a magical version of WWII. If this had spent more time on the fantasy war, I might've found more to enjoy. Alas.
The Husky and His White Cat Shizun Volume 4 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou
Is it weird to say I'm finding myself enjoying this series less and less as time goes on?
I expected to enjoy it more now that Mo Ran is repenting his former ways and he and Chu Wanning are on track to confessing their feelings for each other, but I find myself looking back more fondly on the soft interactions and yearning of Volume 2 instead. There was definitely a "sexual attraction = love" discussion in this volume that I absolutely hated, and I assume that's why this novel focuses on Mo Ran and Chu Wanning's lust for each other and we don't see as many other interactions. Also, the fact that Chu Wanning kept having visions of the other timeline was...weird? Like, were those visions supposed to be erotic, even though the consent in that timeline was dubious at best???
I'll probably keep reading just to see where the story goes, but this is also making me nervous for Remnants of Filth (since it's also by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou). I'm enjoying that series but now deathly afraid it's going to fall into the same pattern as this series, sigh.
Tessa Miyata Is No Hero by Julie Abe
Genre: MG, fantasy
The idea of this was cool, sort of like a Japanese Percy Jackson. I couldn't quite put my finger on it though, but something about this book failed to hold my attention. Then again, I'm admittedly not the right audience for Middle Grade, so.
Winnie Zeng Vanquishes a King by Katie Zhao
Genre: MG, fantasy
I remember enjoying the first book in this series when it came out, but I enjoyed this one less. I think in part because I don't like this audiobook narrator; I don't know why she decided to make David's voice as annoying as possible to listen to. But also, I felt like the plot was pretty meandering and episodic. The summary for this book mentions a new Shaman who joins Winnie and David, yet that new character doesn't even show up until halfway through the book. I don't know, I think the plot needed a stronger underlying anchor for all of Winnie and David's activities.
