rainwaterspark | Entries tagged with books

Go Luck Yourself by Sara Raasch

Genre: Adult, romantasy

Man. At first, I was genuinely enjoying this way more than The Nightmare Before Kissmas. Unlike Coal and Hex, Kris and Loch had actual tension and more of an actual enemies-to-lovers romance, and the stakes were actually compelling in this book.

But...man, I don't know what it is, but I just despise the way Sara Raasch writes sex scenes. I can't stand them. They always make me roll my eyes so hard they're in danger of getting stuck in the back of my head. I had to DNF this book at 83% because I just couldn't stand it anymore (even though I know I could've just skipped the sex scenes, I guess).

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

Genre: Adult, fantasy

Epic fantasy and I have a rocky relationship. For a long time, I thought I just didn't like epic fantasy at all, but then books like The Poppy War, Steel Crow Saga (well, until that author was revealed to be problematic), and Daughter of the Moon Goddess made me realize I DO like epic fantasy when it's fast-paced.

It's just kind of unfortunate that a lot of epic fantasy...is slow. Sometimes it's due to the multiple POVs; sometimes it's due to the writing style. I've also noticed recently, after consuming fantasy from China, that many Western fantasy novels feel slow because they tend to just immediately reveal information about the characters. As a result, there isn't much sense of mystery or intrigue when it comes to the characters. Sure, there may be intrigue about the *world*, but *characters* are what draw me into the plot.

So many people have raved about this book, but I was starting to get bored a few chapters in and then started looking for reviews. In addition to the problem I mentioned above (Neema and Cain's backstory is just told in an infodump to the reader as soon as Cain is introduced, for example), I didn't like how extremely victimized Neema was. There are ways to present an underdog hero that are compelling, usually by focusing on their agency despite their difficult circumstances. But Neema was just repeatedly bullied in incredibly cruel ways by the rich nobility...and then saved by a deus ex machina. No thanks. That's not the kind of plot I want to read.

Also, I wasn't sure I could slog through 700 pages just to reach the apparently mind-blowing twists, given how unengaged I was with the beginning.

Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

Genre: Adult, fantasy

To be honest, I wasn't that interested in the premise of this book (I've already read The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System), but I borrowed the audiobook out of curiosity. However, this is one of the few cases that I'm quitting a book not because I don't like it, per se, but because of the audiobook narration. And it's not even because I think the audiobook narrator is bad or anything, but rather because I don't think she's a fit for this book. I think this book needed a narrator who is better at comedic narration. I kept dozing off because of how even and smooth the narrator's voice was, and that definitely should not be the case for a comedic book with funny dialogue.

Mystery Royale by Kaitlyn Cavalancia

Genre: YA, fantasy

I realized I had stopped paying attention to the audiobook around the 50% mark, so this is another DNF.

This is the third "Knives Out with sorcery" book I've tried to read, and of those three, it's definitely the one I liked the most. The magic gave me a lot of The Night Circus vibes, and I loved it.

Unfortunately, I had a few issues with this book. One was that I thought it should have been limited to two rather than three POVs; I feel like the addition of Addison's POV really slowed the pacing down and muddled it. I also felt like Lyric was a bit TOO much of an unlikable jerk, and when he finally started having feelings for Mullory, they felt like they came out of nowhere. But I do think the structural issues overall were what prevented me from being fully invested in this story.

Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

Genre: Adult, horror

This book is a satire of the wellness industry, but in the course of satirizing the industry, it portrays the industry in an exaggerated, unrealistic way that made me quickly lose interest. I feel like an effective satire is rooted in enough realism so that the commentary hits harder, rather than making up how an industry works.

I went and read some reviews, and it sounds like this book goes into some WEIRD territory, and also uses trauma for shock value? So, no thanks.

Jade City by Fonda Lee

I have a weird relationship with this book. I've tried to read it at least 4 times, and I keep putting it down.

I think the biggest issue I have with it is that I find it hard to know where the plot is going at any given point. This time, when I read it, I knew the major event that happens a little after the halfway mark, so I found myself enjoying the first half much more and able to see how everything was connected. But afterward, I rapidly lost interest again. Like I know the gangs are going to war with each other, but what exactly is the end goal? You know neither of them is going to destroy the other because this is only the first book in a trilogy, so...?

I do think it's a problem that, while the construction and sequence of the scenes make sense once you already know where the plot is headed, they do a poor job of actually foreshadowing where the story is going if you don't already know. I've actually never encountered this in a book before.

The worldbuilding is very detailed, which is one of the strengths of the book. But a weakness of the book was that I felt like the Kaul siblings' relationships with each other didn't feel as fleshed out as I wanted. They feel bound to each other more out of duty than out of love, especially when it came to the relationship between Hilo and Lan, so the emotional beats didn't always land as hard as they should have.

I'm also not a fan of Fonda Lee's writing style, which is extremely heavy on telling over showing. I've learned that the only way I can read this story is via audiobook and not ebook or physical, simply because of the writing style.

Finally, I know Fonda Lee has disputed this, but I do feel like this story is extremely male gaze-y, which isn't negated by the characters of Shae, Ayt Mada, and the few female Green Bones. I'm someone who enjoys action movies, shonen anime, and video games, and I still feel like this story is quite testosterone-fueled.

The Lies We Conjure by Sarah Henning

Genre: YA, fantasy, mystery

I can't help picking up any book that comps to Knives Out, even if I find all of them to be disappointing. This one was no exception. Although a murder happens, the plot becomes less of a murder mystery and more of a, for lack of a better term, fetch quest for a bunch of artifacts hidden around the mansion. And the puzzles the characters have to solve to find said artifacts aren't particularly interesting, either. On top of that, I found the pacing to be quite slow, and I ended up DNF'ing halfway through and skimming the ending.

Prince of Fortune by Lisa Tirreno

Genre: YA, fantasy, romance

I picked up this M/M romantasy out of curiosity, but I DNF'ed out of boredom around a third of the way through. To be fair, this book had the feel of a Regency romance (the fantasy setting was clearly inspired by Regency England), and I don't read those. But I just found the pacing really slow and I felt like nothing interesting was happening.

The Blood Orchid by Kylie Lee Baker

Genre: YA, fantasy

I ended up enjoying this book a lot, far more than the prequel, but the more time passes, the more research failures I pick up on. The book does some things right compared to the first book (e.g. no more 小姐/xiaojie used as an honorific), but there are still a bunch of very basic facts that I can tell were wrong, without even researching the time period/locations in the book. Here is the list:

- Zilan and Yufei should not refer to Wenshu as "Wenshu-gē" (this problem was carried over from the first book).
- Zilan shouldn't refer to her aunt and uncle as "Auntie So" and "Uncle Fan," but rather just as "Aunt" and "Uncle". Attaching a name after "auntie" or "uncle" denotes that they're not related to you. (Another problem that was carried over from the first book.)
- The characters are journeying in the northwestern deserts of China; they probably should not be eating congee all the time, since rice is grown in the south of China (and a desert absolutely would not have enough water to grow rice).
- A number of facts about Tang Taizong's life are wrong (which is unfortunate, considering he's only one of the three-ish most famous emperors in Chinese history). The book says that he was dreaming of becoming emperor at 16; however, when Tang Taizong was 16, China was ruled by the Sui Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty hadn't even been established yet. Also, while I get wanting to portray him as an underdog for the purposes of the story, the fact was that Tang Taizong was a talented general starting from his youth, and once the Tang Dynasty was established he very quickly emerged as a threat to the crown prince, so it's weird to describe him as being viewed as "no threat" by his brothers.
- Tianzi (天子) as a title for the emperor is treated as some arcane title when...it's not. Literally every emperor is called Tianzi during his reign, so it's weird that (a) Zilan wouldn't know this referred to the emperor, and (b) the characters decide this definitely refers to Tang Taizong and not the most recent emperor, Tang Gaozong, or any other emperor.
- A consistency error: silver is referred to as a metal stone and then later as a water stone.
- Another consistency error: Zheng Sili's pouch is described as made of silk twice but made of velvet once.

( More/spoilers under the cut )

As of today, I've read 51 books this year. This isn't a final tally, since I still have some library holds and the sequel to Iron Widow is releasing at the end of the month, but it's a good enough approximation.

It's felt like a bad reading year in terms of my enjoyment of the books I've read, but on the bright side, I read way more books than I did in 2023. Part of it, I think, is because I've started to read ARCs from NetGalley. While I only request books that I would've been interested in reading anyway, it's definitely helped me to be able to read/listen to some books right away, especially considering that my local library has significantly cut down on the audiobooks available through Libby and hoopla.

Here are my favorite books of 2024:

1. The Tainted Cup by Robert Bennett Jackson

Fantasy + murder mystery is a winning premise that is sorely underrated in traditional publishing, and I'm so thrilled to have found this series that finally scratches that itch.

2. The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang

A book that surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. It's paced a bit like a thriller, and I ended up flying through the pages while glued to the complex, messy love story between Emperor Ai and Dong Xian across multiple lifetimes.

3. Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Abike-Iyimide

What can I say? I love Faridah Abike-Iyimide's thrillers.

4. Heavenbreaker by Sara Wolf

The other Red Tower book I was looking forward to, Five Broken Blades, ended up being one of my biggest disappointments of the year (I even gave away my copy). But I loved this book. Traditional publishing needs more books with mechs!

5. A Banh Mi For Two by Trinity Nguyen

A sweet sapphic romance with messages about family and diaspora feelings that tugged on my heartstrings.

6. Four Eids and a Funeral by Faridah Abike-Iyimide and Adiba Jaigirdar

I really enjoyed the sparkling banter, grumpy girl x sunshine boy relationship, and spotlight on a Muslim community in this romance!

7. The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

Another surprisingly enjoyable read for me. I love time-loop/reality-bending shenanigans, and this book pulled that off with breakneck pacing, a fascinating world, and a well-done friends-to-enemies-to-lovers relationship.

8. The Blood Orchid by Kylie Lee Baker

I didn't enjoy The Scarlet Alchemist, but this sequel was phenomenal, and Kylie Lee Baker is definitely becoming one of my favorite authors.

9. Darkside by Michael Mammay

It's a Carl Butler anti-capitalist military thriller. What else can I say, other than I hope Michael Mammay gets to write as many of these as he wants?

10. Kestrel by Adrienne Lothy

Yet another surprise favorite, and this time a self-published one! This is everything I wish traditionally published romantasy/romantic sci-fi was: a well-done romance combined with a fantastic sci-fi plot.

11. Remnants of Filth by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou

Volumes 3, 4, and 5 came out this year. There are two more volumes to go, so I know I can't give a final judgment, but I've really loved this story. Way more than The Husky and His White Cat Shizun, to be honest.

*

Looking back, it's interesting to see that many of my favorite reads of 2024 were complete surprises, while so many of my most anticipated books ended up being complete disappointments (like Five Broken Blades, Fathomfolk, The Last Dragon of the East, The Nightmare Before Kissmas). This might be why, when I look at my 2025 TBR list, I don't feel super hyped or excited about many of the books coming out—I'm just too used to being let down by books I thought sounded amazing.

For 2025's TBR, my list is, as usual, mostly made up of fantasy and mysteries/thrillers. Interestingly enough, I feel like a lot of dark academia books are coming out next year. Not sure why.

The Dark Becomes Her by Judy I. Lin

Genre: YA, horror

I may attempt to keep listening to this audiobook, but right now, it's looking like a DNF in the first half.

I'm dying for more horror based on non-Western folklore/history, because the possibilities are endless. I wanted to love this book so badly, but sadly, I'm not enjoying it much.

Judy Lin's books have always been mixed reads for me, and this one is no different. My biggest problem is with the pacing. It's, frankly, very slow. And while slow-burn horror is a thing (like Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia), what makes slow-burn horror work is the slowly creeping sense of unease and dread. This book doesn't really have that. Instead, random ghost attacks are interspersed with a pretty slice-of-life narrative about Ruby's life. There isn't a slow build/escalation as much as random acceleration and deceleration in the pacing. It feels like it took until 1/3 of the way through the book for the second act to even start. And that's just too slow to keep my attention.

Other problems I had: the horror parts did not feel atmospheric enough to me. Also, I feel like Lin's protagonists all sound almost exactly the same, and it's become rather noticeable.

What the book does nail is portraying the second-generation Chinese/Taiwanese immigrant experience, for better or for worse. Some of the things Ruby's mom says to her reminded me of what my mom said to me as a kid (like, in a mildly triggering way). But I did find myself grinning when Ruby's parents spoke Chinglish in one chapter, because that's exactly how my parents talked:

"我们next Wednesday晚上有空吗？"
"...Maybe? 我看一下schedule."

*

I've been complaining a lot about how a lot of books I've read this year have not been well written, and another consequence of that is that I can't find any comfort reads.

I used to read a lot of queer romance/queer romantasy as comfort reads. But the traditionally published queer romances I've tried are too rubbish to be comfort reads. And so I'm left in a constant state of frustration (and also rereading my own novels to scratch that romance comfort read itch).

I don't think my standards are that high? I just want some romantic tension and chemistry between the leads, so I can really root for them as a couple. Even trashy self-published Amazon romances do better than tradpubbed romantasies in this respect, because they've nailed that tension down to a science. There's something deeply comforting about the familiar rhythm of a romance novel, the waiting with anticipation for two characters who are clearly attracted to each other to get over their hang-ups and get together.

And I just don't get why that's so hard to find in tradpubbed queer romantasy. Sigh.

I have been having an absolutely terrible time with traditionally published Chinese fantasy (by Chinese authors) this year. The only ones I’ve enjoyed were The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang, and The Blood Orchid by Kylie Lee Baker. Every other one I’ve read has been a one- or two-star read. :(

As an example, I recently read The Last Dragon of the East by Katrina Kwan, which I was really looking forward to, but it was just so mediocre to me. (I know people argue that BIPOC authors should be allowed to write mediocre books, but at the same time, am I not allowed to be disappointed when mediocre books are published when so many talented authors of color are languishing because they're deemed "not relatable" or "not marketable enough"?)

One of the issues I had with the book was that the Chinese fantasy elements felt so superficial. Apart from the reincarnation/red thread of fate concept, if you took out the dragons, the teahouse, and the emperor, this could have easily been a generic Western fantasy. Hell, the book even features fae beasts and will-o-the-wisps already.

I've been ruminating a lot lately on the topic of what makes Chinese fantasy "culturally Chinese" and how much that matters. To be honest, it wasn't until I started reading danmei novels that I realized fantasy novels set in China by authors in China do feel very different from fantasy novels by diaspora authors, in terms of how (fantasy) China is depicted - the cultures, the traditions, the language.

I mean, the system of pronouns and honorifics in ancient China is extremely complicated, and while I don't expect a diaspora author to necessarily know when an ancient Chinese person would refer to themselves as 本官 or 小的 or (family name) 麿 (heck, I don't necessarily know either), I think it's worth trying to convey some of the speech patterns rather than just having everyone talk like a 21st-century English-speaking American. (Personally, I love writing Chinese fantasy characters introducing themselves like "My family name is X, my given name Y" to emulate "我姓 X，名 Y".)

I can really tell now when a Chinese diaspora author is aware of Chinese folklore and cultural nuances. I had that feeling while reading Justinian Huang, Joan He, and Judy I. Lin's novels.

But I'm also personally wrestling with the fact that I don't like ideas of cultural "purity" or gatekeeping diaspora authors from writing fantasy. And I have enjoyed Chinese fantasy novels by Sue Lynn Tan, RF Kuang, and Kylie Lee Baker that feature Western values and/or storytelling traditions in certain ways.

I think it comes down to, for me, feeling like a diaspora author has done some research on ancient China, instead of just taking some superficial elements and running with their imagination of what ancient China is like (because isn't that the exact same thing white people do?).

All this is, of course, not even getting to how traditional publishing is dominated by white people who are the arbiters of what should be published even when they have no knowledge of Chinese culture or storytelling. Sigh.

It's been 6 months since I started querying, and I haven't heard anything about my outstanding queries for what feels like forever. I feel like I've become numb to it all, although there are two agents who have my query/full who are opening back up to queries next month, so I feel like I might get responses from them soon? Maybe???

Nearly every book I've read over the past month has been, quite honestly, poorly written. I know this is a controversial opinion, but I honestly think that the reason many books haven't sold that well this year is that they're just badly written. It's usually hard to say books are "objectively" bad, but I have read so many recently published books that have:

- stiff, wooden, unrealistic dialogue
- tons of telling rather than showing (including infodumping)
- action scenes that consist of vague summaries
- POV jumps from third-person limited to omniscient within the same scene
- plots that consist of a sequence of events coincidentally happening to the protagonist

And like, sure, on some level, I've known for a while that writing skill doesn't matter to publishers as much as a "marketable" premise. But this is a whole other level of "writing skill doesn't matter."

It's honestly demoralizing, thinking about how this is the kind of garbage agents/publishers think they can make money on and pride in improving the craft doesn't matter to them. I've also been feeling uninspired on the writing front after reading trash book after trash book.

On a more uplifting note, though, I'm a little more at peace with my desire to self-publish this book if it dies in the query trenches. I've seen enough horror stories from authors who have had bad experiences with editors/publishers not marketing their books that I'm more okay with a situation in which I have more control over this book specifically - a book that I have a very specific vision for, know the specific audience I'm targeting, and have a dream cover artist for.

Well, 2024 was a dud as far as reading years go; I think I enjoyed less than a third of the books I read. :/ Here's hoping the books in 2025 will be better!

1. Immortal by Sue Lynn Tan: January 7, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) The description of this didn't catch my attention, but I loved Daughter of the Moon Goddess so I'll give it a try.

2. Mystery Royale by Kaitlyn Cavalancia: January 7, 2025

(YA, fantasy, mystery)

3. You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego: February 11, 2025

(Adult, thriller) An isolation thriller with a group of mystery writers, what's not to love?

4. Mondays Are Murder by Ravena Guron: February 13, 2025

(YA, thriller)

5. Oathbound by Tracy Deonn: March 4, 2025

(YA, fantasy) The third Legendborn Cycle book!!

6. The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amelie Wen Zhao: March 4, 2025

(YA, fantasy) Did I hate Song of Silver, Flame Like Night? Yes...but I'm curious enough about any Chinese fantasy that features demons that I'll at least take a look.

7. A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett: April 1, 2025

(Adult, fantasy, mystery) I really enjoyed The Tainted Cup and am excited for more in this series!!

8. Cold Eternity by SA Barnes: April 8, 2025

(Adult, sci-fi, horror)

9. The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah: April 15, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) The sequel to The Stardust Thief!

10. The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson: April 15, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) This has been called epic fantasy, even though the summary makes it sound like a fantasy murder mystery...guess I'll give it a try.

11. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker: April 29, 2025

(Adult, horror) I enjoyed this author's debut series, and the premise of this sounds so good.

12. The Sun Blessed Prince by Lindsey Byrd: May 6, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) I'm almost certain I read this story as a fanfic on AO3, so I'm super curious as to how the published version will turn out.

13. The Lost Queen by Aimee Phan: May 6, 2025

(YA, fantasy) Vietnamese contemporary fantasy? I'm intrigued!

14. The Art of Exile by Andrea Max: May 13, 2025

(YA, sci-fi, fantasy) Another dark academia book involving the descendants of Renaissance masters???

15. Cruel Is the Light by Sophie Clark: May 20, 2025

(YA, fantasy) I'm hoping this is Trinity Blood meets the enemies-to-lovers dynamic of Bonesmith.

16. A Song of Legends Lost by MH Ayinde: June 3, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) African epic fantasy with Final Fantasy inspiration?? YES.

17. Celestial Banquet by Roselle Lim: June 3, 2025

(YA, fantasy) A magical cooking competition for the Chinese gods? Say no more!

18. The God and the Gwisin by Sophie Kim: June 3, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) The sequel to The God and the Gumiho.

19. A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim: June 3, 2025

(YA, fantasy) I didn't enjoy Six Crimson Cranes, but the idea of Beauty and the Beast with an Asian dragon is sooo good.

20. With a Vengeance by Riley Sager: June 10, 2025

(Adult, thriller) I have a pretty rocky history with Riley Sager's thrillers (enjoyed Home Before Dark, found Lock Every Door readable, DNF'ed every other book), but this is giving major Murder on the Orient Express vibes so I have to at least give it a try.

21. The Blood Phoenix by Amber Chen: June 17, 2025

(YA, fantasy) I thought the first book was just okay, but I'm curious enough to see where the sequel goes.

22. A Fiery Spirit by Kate Chenli: June 17, 2025

(YA, fantasy) I loved A Bright Heart so I'm excited for the sequel!

23. I Did Warn Her by Sian Gilbert: June 17, 2025

(Adult, thriller) I LOVED She Started It so I'm excited for another thriller by this author!

24. Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman: July 15, 2025

(Adult, thriller) God, I love the trope of a bunch of writers trapped on an island trying to solve an author's murder.

25. Love Is a War Song by Danica Nava: July 22, 2025

(Adult, romance) This romance sounds so good!

26. Very Dangerous Things by Lauren Muñoz: July 29, 2025

(YA, mystery) I didn't enjoy this author's debut, but a locked room mystery will always get me. :')

27. Immortal Consequences by IV Marie: July 29, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) Dark academia set in purgatory? I'm intrigued.

28. This Is Where We Die by Cindy RX He: July 2025

(YA, mystery) The isolation thriller murder mysteries always get me!!

29. Her Soul For a Crown by Alysha Rameera: August 12, 2025

(Adult, fantasy, romance)

30. The Last Soul Among Wolves by Melissa Caruso: August 19, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) Loved the first book, excited for the sequel!!

31. The Good Vampire’s Guide to Blood and Boyfriends by Jamie D’Amato: August 26, 2025

(YA, romance)

32. King Foretold by Jayci Lee: August 26, 2025

(Adult, fantasy, romance)

33. Demon Song by Kelsea Yu: September 30, 2025

(Adult, horror) The horror vibes in this author's debut were immaculate, AND Journey to the West themes?? Give it to me now!!

34. The Door on the Sea by Caskey Russell: October 7, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) Tlingit epic fantasy? I'm intrigued!

35. Red City by Marie Lu: October 14, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) My only prior experience with Marie Lu was The Young Elites, which I absolutely hated. But I guess I'm curious enough about her Adult debut to give it a try?

36. The Only One Who Knows by Lisa Matlin: October 28, 2025

(Adult, thriller) I had mixed feelings about the author's debut, but it was very readable so I'm willing to give another book by this author a try.

37. The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee: November 4, 2025

(Adult, sci-fi) I honestly didn't enjoy Jade City that much, but I'm always down to give an anti-capitalist space sci-fi a try.

38. I'll Find You Where the Timeline Ends by Kylie Lee Baker: November 18, 2025

(YA, fantasy, sci-fi) KLB is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, so I'm happy to give this a try.

39. Dawn of the Firebird by Sarah Mughal Rana: December 9, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) This sounds really good!!

Here is the problem I have with many traditionally published queer romances/romantic fantasies: if you've ever spent time reading fanfic, traditionally published stuff is just not as good.

I'm thinking of books like Red, White and Royal Blue, Winter's Orbit, The Kingdoms, or Sorcery and Small Magics (which hasn't come out yet, but I read an ARC of it). People tell me I should find these books swoony, but I do not. These romances are as compelling to me as stale bread. They're just...bad.

And I'm not saying that I only like fanfic because of my favorite ships or whatever. I've also read and enjoyed indie-published queer romances as well as Chinese danmei novels. I have a similar experience reading all these works, regardless of specific genre (contemporary romance, paranormal romance, fantasy romance, sci-fi romance), trope, or heat level: I get characters who are compelling as individuals but who also make sense as a couple I want to root for.

That sounds like a low bar, right? And yet traditionally published queer romances are SO bad at meeting that bar.

One thing that all the traditionally published books I listed above has in common is that they're all written by white people. To be fair, so were most of the indie-published queer romances I've enjoyed (so #NotAllWhite People, before anyone comes after me), but something about these romances are just SO poorly written to me. I don't understand what other people see in them unless there is a ton of projection going on. Like, WHERE is the romantic tension? WHERE is the yearning? WHERE is the deep, nuanced character work? WHERE are the scenes where the characters understand each other/enjoy being in each other's company?

I don't know what goes into the thought processes of agents, editors, and acquisitions teams. Are the stale, tension-less queer romances the ones that feel "safe" for them to acquire? Is stripping queer romances of emotion the only way they are "acceptable" to publish? I really want to know.

It's so frustrating to me because I WANT traditionally published queer romances that make me swoon, that take over my life, that I want to tell all my friends to read. But right now, I only get those feelings from danmei, so those are the only books I really look forward to. SIGH.

I usually don't feel compelled to write my thoughts about books until I'm done, but maybe it's the combination of my nerves being on edge from querying and recent events in my personal life, or maybe this book is bothering me just that much.

I requested an ARC (advanced reader's copy) of Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy (from Orbit Books, publishing this October) after reading the first two chapters in an online excerpt and enjoying them. Now I'm nearly 25% of the way through and feeling like this book has already become a slog.

I want to say for the record that I try not to request ARCs of books unless I really want to read them and really think (or hope) I'll enjoy them. I'm an aggressive DNF'er when it comes to books in general and hate being stuck with a book I'm not enjoying, so because I feel pressure to finish ARCs I receive, I try to only request books that I believe I'll enjoy enough to finish.

Before I received my ARC, I read an online review that said the book felt like fanfiction of The Untamed. That made me apprehensive, but I assumed that maybe the two romantic leads would follow the same trope. Tropes can't be copyrighted, after all. Even as a writer myself, I love writing opposites attract/the sunshine one falls for the reserved, grumpy one.

Unfortunately, the similarities are too close as to be distracting.

Leo Loveage, the narrating protagonist, is an alcohol-loving, free-spirited, prank-playing, rules-hating character who even practices forbidden magic. Like, come on, my guy.

At the same time, he's different from Wei Wuxian in one crucial aspect: rather than being clever and a genius, Leo is more the Walking Mess type of character. And this is a pretty crucial difference, because it makes him much, MUCH more annoying to read about.

You can forgive Wei Wuxian's antics because his cleverness makes him fun to follow and makes it more understandable as to why he's constantly bending rules. Even though he antagonizes Lan Wangji, he has the energy of a rambunctious, mischievous, but ultimately harmless puppy who nevertheless wants to befriend Lan Wangji (at least in the C-drama). Leo Loveage, on the other hand, constantly antagonizes Sebastian Grimm for no reason other than he likes to cause trouble and annoy him. I don't know how old he's supposed to be, but given that this is an adult novel, it makes him seem immature rather than endearing. Combined with the fact that Leo is consistently terrible with magic and seems determined not to find a solution for that in order to spite his family, it quickly becomes grating to be in his head.

I don't easily find characters annoying. I also generally like Walking Disaster-type characters, characters who are presented as being messed up, who drink too much, and whose lives are out of control, usually due to past/family trauma. But I think it's the fact that Leo has no goal or desires and can't stop himself from making his life worse that bugs the hell out of me.

The other part that bothers me is that the magic system feels eerily like the author took cultivation from The Untamed and slapped a European coat of paint on it. The system of scriving spells onto paper sounds a lot like paper talismans, and the absolute dead giveaway was the fact that these sorcerers are also taught swordplay. Combining swordsmanship with magic has always been a very Asian, if not Chinese, fantasy tradition.

Why does this bug me? Because Chinese cultivation fantasy is not exactly well represented in American publishing. Very few, if any, Chinese fantasy novels published in the US actually draw from the Chinese fantasy tradition of cultivation---which to me is an indictment of what Chinese fantasy novels US publishers deem "worthy" of publication. So yeah, it bugs me more than a little that slapping a pseudo-European coat of paint on Chinese traditions is deemed palatable while actual Chinese fantasies drawing from that same tradition are not.

Man, my reading list this year has been an absolute DNF wasteland. :(

One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware

Genre: Adult, thriller

I'll admit, I have a very rocky relationship with Ruth Ware's books (as in, I DNF most of them). But I was suckered into this one by its And Then There Were None comparison.

I got about 60% or so of the way through it, and then skipped to the end, and calling it an And Then There Were None thriller is completely misleading. This is more like Lord of the Flies with adults and a feminist theme. It's not even twisty; it's just a straight survival thriller. Which is not really my thing when it comes to thrillers. I would have preferred this to be either a true And Then There Were None serial-killer-stalking-people-on-an-island thriller, or an actual reality TV show thriller (instead of the show stopping after one day due to the storm).

Evocation by ST Gibson

Adult, contemporary fantasy

DNF about 27%, at least for now. Maybe I'll keep trying, I'm not sure.

I liked the contemporary fantasy elements, and I love a good, old-fashioned, enemies-to-lovers second-chance romance. But I find the interactions among the three main characters to be honestly pretty toxic. They're just mad at each other all the time, and it's exhausting to read. Rhys just absolutely cannot make up his mind regarding David and goes back and forth regarding him, and then blames David for his indecision. It's really irritating.

I read some Goodreads reviews before starting this book that mentioned that the main characters felt very immature for their age (late twenties). I thought those reviews might have been exaggerating; I feel like sometimes messy adults are called "immature," even though I've seen plenty of messy adults in real life. Also, I know of people in their late twenties who still come off as young. However, now that I've read part of the book, I'm inclined to agree with those reviews. It's hard to explain, but the characters carry themselves as though they're in their thirties, and yet their dialogue feels 10 years younger. It's pretty jarring and makes me constantly forget how old they're supposed to be.

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis

Adult, fantasy

This started off hilarious, but I didn't realize until I was several chapters in that apparently this is considered cozy fantasy? Which explains why the plot feels episodic and meandering. I love satirical fantasy, and I'm very curious as to whether Gav eventually gets his memories back, but a meandering plot is the easiest way for me to lose attention in a book. :(

Your Blood, My Bones by Kelly Andrew

Young Adult, fantasy

Okay, so this is cheating because I just got this audiobook and am planning to give it a bit more of my time to see if it will hook me. But man, I am so not a prose person when it comes to novels. By which I mean, prose does not hook me into a story—the characters and plot do. And this book seems so heavy on prose as opposed to commercial pacing.

*

I keep reading the beginnings of upcoming books as soon as they become available on Amazon or Apple Books, and most of the time I end up feeling unenthusiastic about them. Either the writing style doesn't hook me, or the beginning is just bland in terms of plot.

Next week, I'm curious about Ballad of Sword and Wine, since danmei novels seem to be the only books that have been maintaining my attention. :( Though I hear it's very heavy on politics, so we'll see if I enjoy it or not.

So far, 2024 has not been that much better of a reading year than 2023 was...

Into the Sunken City by Dinesh Thiru

Genre: YA, science fiction, heist

I swear, heist books are cursed for me. The only one I've enjoyed was The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi; every other one has let me down.

When I heard the pitch for this book—a sci-fi retelling of Treasure Island involving a heist in a drowned casino—I thought it was awesome. But I'm not that familiar with Treasure Island (the closest I've come is watching Disney's Treasure Planet), and I suspect this book was a faithful retelling, pacing-wise, because I found the beginning of the book a bit...slow. I also didn't like how much Jin and Thara clashed? Their relationship seemed to be a constant up and down.

I DNF'ed about 40% of the way through because I just wasn't feeling motivated to continue. I may pick up the book again later to give it another try.

A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat

Genre: YA, horror

I'm a sucker for a haunted house book. I found this book kind of slow until I think 25% of the way through, and then I got completely hooked.

And then...I ended up abandoning the story in one of the final chapters. I'm not someone who loves "cozy" comfort reads, but the level of violence at the climax stressed me out so much that I jumped ship.

Darker By Four by June CL Tan

Genre: YA, fantasy

The author's debut novel was a 3-star read for me, and this book had a cool premise. Chinese urban fantasy involving cultivation, Exorcists, and the Ten Courts of Hell? Sign me up! Plus, the audiobook narrator is one of my absolute favorite narrators.

So imagine my surprise when I was aggravated enough to DNF this book at the 20% mark.

The recurring theme in a bunch of 2024 releases so far, for me, is that they are absolutely TERRIBLE at getting the reader invested in the protagonist(s) within the first few chapters. Coupled with the inciting incident not making much sense, I just didn't care enough to keep reading.

Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan

Genre: Adult, fantasy

Another book I wanted to love and tried really hard to finish, but even on audio with one of my favorite narrators, I think this might be a DNF around the 2/3 mark.

I went into this book apprehensive because it got a lot of mixed advance reviews. I definitely agree with those reviews that this book had a lot of problems—but I think my biggest problem was the character of Cordelia. Not only did I despise her character (I don't know if this was the author's intention, but she came off as a "race traitor," e.g. willing to make things worse for other fathomfolk for the sake of her own selfish desires), but it was also stressful to put up with her POV chapters, knowing she was scheming to make things worse for the other POV characters. Other reviewers have complained about how impulsive Nami was, but for me, Cordelia was the worst part of this book, and I think I could have pushed through if her chapters hadn't been there.

I've read some spoilers about things that happen to certain characters later on, and I just don't think I have enough interest to finish this.

*

As I'm typing out my thoughts, I realize that I don't like "stressful" reads.

Again, not that I'm someone who likes "cozy" reads, either. I like conflict. I guess my definition of a "stressful" read is a story that foreshadows that bad things will happen to the main character(s), because that causes a feeling of dread for me.

I like books in which characters had bad things happen to them in the past and then struggle for revenge/catharsis. I like books about characters coping with how trauma has shaped them and figuring out how to move forward. I don't like rooting for the characters to succeed only to see them receive disabling injuries/lose it all during the story.

Switching gears a bit—I mentioned above that I feel like a lot of new releases are doing a terrible job of making me invested in the protagonist(s) from the get-go. I'm normally not a mood reader or someone whose enjoyment of books is impacted by external factors, but it's gotten to the point where I AM starting to wonder if the problem is *me*, because it can't be that most books coming out this year have the exact same problem, can it???

I generally try to read the beginnings of books on Amazon to see if the writing style will be a turn-off, and Amazon previews can go online up to a month before the book's release. And even for unreleased books whose previews I've read, I STILL find the opening chapters atrocious at getting me to care about the protagonist(s).

What makes me care about the protagonist? First and foremost—a distinctive personality. Where this goes wrong for me is when authors immediately try to give the protagonist "witty banter" or a "badass attitude" in order to convey their personality. This doesn't work because too many authors have used these elements as shorthands for a personality, so they've effectively become generic, ironically.

Make me care about the protagonist by showing me something unexpected about them, and by giving them an air of mystery.

A sword for hire who is all "IDGAF about making people suffer as long as I get paid"? Boring. Seen that done a hundred times.

A sword for hire who's all "I'm out of money, but I can't bring myself to wring the fee out of the person who just swindled me"? Unexpected. Now I'm intrigued about why the character is like this.

My revisions for Novel #5 are done, I'm ready to query (just waiting on feedback on my query materials from someone who hopefully will respond this week), and now I'm trying to refill my creative well because I'm feeling drained of ideas.

And...I'm not having much luck.

While I've read some books I've enjoyed so far this year, none of them have "wowed" me. Even my four-star reads are books that I mostly forget about a week later—which is deeply painful, given my autistic self loves nothing more than to latch onto a new special interest and obsess over it for a month.

I have yet to rate a book 5 stars this year. Even books I've enjoyed have had issues that prevent me from loving them: character development that wasn't done well enough, wooden dialogue, meandering plot, "show don't tell" problems. As one example, I tried reading Darker By Four by June Tan, which just recently came out. And I just...became too aggravated to keep reading by the 20% point. All of the characters were paper-thin and poorly established. The beginning had no plot momentum. I couldn't believe the book was published like that, when any debut author trying to get a book like that published would be laughed out of the industry by editors.

I don't know what the problem is. Quality of books declining due to editor burnout, or the industry's focus on hook and premise over execution? Gatekeepers doing a poor job of publishing books that are actually compelling? It's interesting to watch Goodreads pages for upcoming books and see there are books that lack buzz from advance readers—sometimes due to the quality of the book, but sometimes this happens to books that are reviewed well. Books that were enjoyed by most of the readers who read them, yet not enough for readers to rave about them to their friends.

Honestly, the books I find myself most excited for these days are danmei novels. :( Because I can at least be guaranteed a plot that moves and interesting characters that I care about. Meanwhile, reading tradpub releases feels like playing roulette: Am I going to enjoy this book, or am I going to hate it?

I've seen it said that all books need conflict. I would disagree with that and say instead: all books need tension.

2023 had a lot of action movie duds. Those movies were definitely full of conflict, yet for the ones that I watched and wasn't in love with, they lacked tension.

What is tension? I define it as the reader's guess/expectation that something will happen. Or, in the words of Dan Brown (probably paraphrased), it's posing a question and then promising that if the reader keeps reading, they'll get the answer. Romance novels are often criticized by people who don't read the genre for being formulaic, but the tension in romance comes from knowing the main couple will get together, but not exactly how they will. It's why they're so compulsively readable for fans of the genre. Crucially, tension involves uncertainty. If a story is completely predictable, there is no tension.

Recently, I read A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal, and ended up feeling bored out of my skull after roughly the 20% mark. It's a heist book—it was definitely full of conflict. But I didn't feel any sense of tension. Like, sure, the main characters have to pull off this heist or else they'll lose their beloved teahouse. But we know that failure isn't really an option because otherwise why are we reading this book, so...?

I find that action-packed books with tension often achieve that tension by introducing a conflict underlying the main action plot. Either a character-based conflict, or multiple conflicts in a single action setpiece. For example, in Voyage of the Damned by Frances White, protagonist Dee isn't just investigating the murders to get justice for his loved one and because he and his friends might become the next targets—he's also trying to hide the fact that he's the only powerless person on the cruise ship. Or, in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, when Ethan Hunt and co. attempt to steal the nuclear codes at the Burj Khalifa, they're not just stealing the codes because they can't let them fall into the wrong hands; they're also gambling on not having their identities uncovered, which would ruin their whole mission.

It's taken me a while to be able to articulate my problems with A Tempest of Tea, and I think it boils down to a few things: (1) The characters never fail in their goals, so even when they encounter obstacles, there isn't much tension that something bad could happen to them. (In Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, by contrast, we see the main characters lose the nuclear codes multiple times, which really heightens the stakes.) And (2) none of the twists were foreshadowed ahead of time, so while they should have been sources of tension throughout most of the book, they weren't.

And that's why I ended up bored out of my skull while reading the book.

Well, after a rough start, Reading Year 2024 is picking up a bit with some better reads.

Voyage of the Damned by Frances White

Genre: Adult, fantasy, mystery

I was a bit wary of this book at the start, due to the worldbuilding not making a ton of sense. But once a dead body appeared, I literally couldn't put this book down. For that reason alone, it's pretty much a 4 out of 5 star read for me.

I do agree with other reviews that this book feels very Young Adult rather than Adult (save for the swearing and violence). The ending, in particular, feels extremely YA. And the murder mystery does, in large part, hinge on the fact that the magic system is very soft and almost none of the characters themselves understands how it works. Which doesn't really make sense from a fantasy worldbuilding perspective, but it did serve the murder mystery well enough. If you can suspend your disbelief, it's an enjoyable read.

Prince of Endless Tides by Ben Alderson

Genre: Adult, fantasy, romance

So, I DNF'ed this solely because it wasn't what I was in the mood for at the time, but reading this book did make me think.

Unlike traditionally published romantasy novels, which often suffer from weak fantasy worldbuilding in order to center the romance, this book was the opposite. The fantasy worldbuilding was robust, more complex than I was expecting in fact, and the romance takes a bit of a backseat to the fantasy plot.

But the enemies-to-lovers setup was really well done, and that made me think about how traditional publishing seems to have lost the plot when it comes to enemies-to-lovers. Tradpub enemies-to-lovers often veers into outright colonizer x colonized romances these days, or "they're enemies because one of them actively sabotaged the other's career." Whereas enemies-to-lovers only really works when the characters are equal in some way—or even if one of them is a prisoner or something, they can't be completely at the mercy of the other character.

The other problem is that so many enemies-to-lovers romances jump from "I hate you" to "but you're hot so let's bang." I despise this because the appeal of enemies-to-lovers, for me, comes from seeing two people who hate each other at first slowly get to know each other and then fall in love. I suppose that's why books like Prince of Endless Tides and Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto work for me—the idea of enemies having to team up against a greater threat, and then gradually falling for each other, is the perfect execution of enemies-to-lovers.

Sigh. I do love the idea of enemies-to-lovers, and yet it's done so terribly most of the time that it's become a turn-off. But when it's done well, it's catnip to me.

***

In other news, I've handed off Novel #5 to my beta readers, and now I face the age-old problem of how to fill the time while I wait for feedback.

Without fail, I always hit the point while revising when I feel like I'm so burned out that I just want the book out of my hands—and then, just a few days later, I'm already missing the characters and world and antsy about what to do.

A friend suggested that I work on something else. But my pattern seems to be writing 1 novel every 2 years. And it's hard, these days, to bring myself to work on something even non-seriously. I used to be able to do that when I was younger (that's how I ended up writing Novel #2), but now I'm so paralyzed by how much work and time it takes to write a book, even a "non-serious" one, that I can't bring myself to do it unless I believe 200% in the story I'm writing.

Well...I was hoping, after having a bad reading year last year, this year would be better. But so far, all but one of the books I've read/been reading have been duds, including ARCs I've been able to get from NetGalley. (It almost feels like I should give up being hyped for books and just hope that a book I have no expectations for will end up blowing me away...)

Since 2023 had such slim pickings, here are my favorite books of 2023:

1. This Book Kills and Catch Your Death by Ravena Guron

Okay, I'm biased here because this author is actually a friend, BUT I genuinely do love her twisty thrillers. I binged Catch Your Death in like a day.

2. She Started It by Sian Gilbert

I love isolation thrillers, and this is probably my favorite execution of that trope. The author masterfully keeps the tension high and perfectly balances withholding information and revealing twists at the right moments. I loved this.

3. Generation Ship by Michael Mammay

An incredibly smart book, using a futuristic sci-fi scenario to reflect the political realities of 2023. I know it's also no mean feat to balance five interweaving plotlines and still have the pacing move at a quick clip.

4. Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto

I haven't read a satisfying fantasy with an enemies-to-lovers relationship in a while, and this book aboslutely delivered. While I had a few quibbles with it, the worldbuilding was cool and Wren and Julian were compelling characters, both individually and as a couple, and it's rare for me to feel that way while reading these days.

And now for a couple of early 2024 book reviews:

The Blighted Stars by Megan O'Keefe

Genre: Science fiction, romance

I had the weirdest reading experience with this book.

For the first 300+ pages, I was entranced. I binged the book. The multiple mysteries running through the plot were so intriguing, and the pace of the reveals so satisfying.

But then...once all the mysteries were solved, I paused. And then I didn't pick the book back up for several months.

My biggest issue was with the ending. Look, I didn't read the book because of the romance, but without getting into details, the romance sort of ends up getting a reset at the end of the book. And that was so disappointing to me, because it made me feel like the slow-burn enemies-to-lovers arc we'd been following the entire time was for nothing.

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

The best way I can describe this book is "military sci-fi/time-traveling thriller."

It took me a while to get into it, but once Dietz finished her basic training around the 20% point and the time-traveling aspect was introduced, I was hooked, riveted by the question of what was happening to Dietz and how all the time-traveling would be resolved. The book also did a good job of showing both a capitalist dystopia and the dangers of being controlled through propaganda and fake news (a very real danger we're facing even now).

My biggest issue with this book, though, was with the ending. I wasn't sure what to make of it, and that cooled my enthusiasm for the story.

I've wanted to write this post for a while now, except my mind got stuck in the loop of "I want to write about Yellowface but I don't want to read the book because RF Kuang is on my personal hate list" and for some reason, it only just occurred to me that I could just write a blog post about it, lol.

For those who don't know, Yellowface by RF Kuang is a literary fiction novel about a white woman who steals her Chinese American friend's manuscript and passes it off as her own (I've linked the Goodreads page if you want to read a more detailed summary). I decided not to read the book myself because I was burned by RF Kuang after Babel. I did enjoy the first two books in the Poppy War trilogy, but thought the third book was a muddled mess in terms of character arcs and messaging. Babel made me suspect that RF Kuang has developed a bit of an ego after experiencing so much publishing success. And now, here we are.

I enjoyed Cindy's video about the book, and the point about RF Kuang's own financial privilege is an important one that even I didn't know. But something that I don't see enough people talking about is RF Kuang's privileged publishing journey, which for me calls into question just how much of an authority she can be on racism in publishing.

RF Kuang has had a charmed journey through publishing, especially for an author of color. The first book she queried, she landed an agent with it. She went on submission and sold her debut (I assume quickly) at auction to a Big 5 publisher in a "significant" deal (which means $251,000 to $499,000). Her debut may not have been a New York Times bestseller, but it sold very well and earned out its significant advance within a few months, if my memory serves me correctly. Every book deal of hers since then has been for a lot of money. Babel also sold in a "significant" deal. Yellowface alone sold in a "major" deal, which means $500,000 or more. This is the kind of success most authors in general, let alone authors of color, dream of.

Given all this, I just can't take RF Kuang seriously as an "expert" on racism in the publishing industry when she's never had to deal with the most significant gatekeeping authors of color face: difficulty landing an agent, selling a book to a publisher, and earning an adequate advance for our books.

So many authors of color struggle for years to get an agent. So many more have their first book, or even multiple books, die on submission. (I fall into both of these camps.) And even those authors of color who land a book deal are often paid peanuts and have to persevere for years before finally having their big break and being able to earn anywhere near livable advances (if they ever do).

My feeling from reading Babel and a few interviews is that RF Kuang thinks rather highly of her own intellect. It wouldn't surprise me if she assumes that whatever difficulties she may have faced in the industry constitute the worst, most racist experiences ever (including the experience of getting one-star reviews on Goodreads, which is just a majorly cringey attitude). I find that many authors who don't interact much with other authors fall into this insular view. In one interview, Kuang criticized the character of Athena Liu from Yellowface as someone who never uplifts other Asian American authors—and yet I don't recall ever seeing Kuang herself uplifting other Asian American authors, either.

I've seen some people who were awed by the fact that Kuang was able to publish this "exposé" on the publishing industry. But that itself is a marker of privilege. Kuang was already a bestseller; the industry was willing to take a risk on her that it would never do for an "unproven" author. And for crying out loud, do people really think the publishing industry would be hesitant to publish books "exposing" their secrets if they thought they could make a lot of money doing so? No one, for example, would be willing to publish a book from me that talks about the rejection I received from an editor who said "I already acquired another book about an Asian American protagonist [from a different Asian ethnicity]". Or the rejection I received from an agent who said it was "too much" that my protagonist was queer, Chinese, depressed, anxious, and autistic.

In general, I'm tired of financially privileged Chinese Americans being held up as evidence of how "diverse" the publishing industry is. (And I generally consider myself financially privileged, but some of these authors are on a different level—my parents didn't have enough money when I was young to take the family traveling all the time, for example, and I attended public schools.)

System 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.

Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou

Genre: YA, fantasy

I was interested in this book because it seemed to have a good reception and was also described as a fantasy noir. Also, because it's a retelling of Greek myths by a Greek author. But I just couldn't bring myself to read yet another story about how the magic-users are persecuted and discriminated against. I just...can't care when I think about how publishing discriminates so heavily against marginalized authors.

Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle

Genre: YA, fantasy

I'm always interested in trying books that are described as dark academia, plus I heard this book sold in a huge deal at auction and was curious because the summary sounded bland. And...I found this book boring as hell.

It didn't help that the audiobook narrators both put me to sleep. But after trying to read the ebook, I knew I couldn't push through that writing style if I wasn't listening on audio.

The worldbuilding was the most interesting part, but it couldn't carry the story. For a book described as "dark academia," in the first 20% of the story, there was no actual academia. It was just a fantasy story that happened to be set at a school. If the book had been structured more around the characters learning about magic from their classes, I might have enjoyed it more.

(This might have been particularly stark to me because right before this book, I'd just read the sequel to The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton. It's not classified as dark academia, since it's Middle Grade (and therefore can't be as dark as YA or Adult fiction), but it reminded me of all the ways magical school stories can work well. If you have unique worldbuilding, a magical school is the perfect way you can exposit on how the world and the magic work without it feeling infodump-y.)

This also had the same issue as Threads That Bind: one class of magic-users, the "Eclipse-born," are discriminated against. And I just don't care. On top of that, the female protagonist ended up being yet another YA female protagonist who discovers she has special, unique, "dangerous" magic. And I DON'T CARE.

Speaking of the female protagonist, I didn't like Emory at all. It's hard to explain without sounding harsh, and maybe I've been partly influenced by the audiobook narrator sounding like she was on the verge of tears the entire time she narrated from Emory's POV, but Emory is that combination of wallflower female protagonist who gets unique, special powers that honestly feels like some kind of self-insert character. "Oh, she's shy, but the hot guys like her and she's secretly super powerful!!" NO, THANK YOU.

What Stalks Among Us by Sarah Hollowell

Genre: YA, horror

I may actually end up finishing this; I started to get invested in it right before my library hold was due.

I picked this up out of curiosity because the summary honestly sounded bonkers. I have to say, because of the terrible "dry spell" I've been having this year in regard to reading, I did something I usually don't do: I kept pushing through this book past the point where I would usually DNF. (It probably helped that, while I'm someone who usually doesn't go above 1x speed on audio due to my auditory processing issues, I realized this narrator spoke so slowly that I could easily increase the speed to 1.25x or even 1.50x and still understand.)

I do think this book doesn't pick up until after the 40% point, but then it becomes really compelling. That's my main problem with it: the beginning was way too slow. The author took too long to try to establish the creepiness of the corn maze, but I think she should have introduced Helena's character much sooner, because the book only becomes compelling after that.

Something else I kept thinking about was that, while Sadie is described as having ADHD and anxiety, she also comes off as very autistic-coded to me. I know there's overlap between ADHD and autism, but seriously, her thought patterns screamed "autism!" to me. I'm pretty sure this was unintentional representation, so I couldn't help wondering if the author is also an undiagnosed autistic...

So far, I've read 21 books this year, which is an abysmal number compared to past years. Of course, there are still 3 months left, and I have a bunch of library holds, so maybe I'll get up to 30 books read this year. But...yeah, it's felt like a really bad reading year for me overall. I've barely enjoyed any of the books I've read; my favorite reads have been This Book Kills by Ravena Guron, She Started It by Sian Gilbert, The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, and The Husky and His White Cat Shizun by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou.

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa Matlin

Genre: Adult, thriller

To be honest, I've been puzzling over my feelings about this book for several weeks.

It started off absolutely amazing: the promise of a haunted murder house combined with a protagonist whose seemingly picture-perfect life hides the fact that she is a con artist and her marriage is falling apart. But somehow, by the 50% mark or so...the plot fell apart for me.

Maybe it was because, ultimately, this isn't really a book with a happy ending. It's about a terrible person who does terrible things and doesn't get redeemed. Some may find that empowering; I prefer to have a protagonist I can root for, even if they're extremely flawed. But I ultimately couldn't really root for Sarah Slade.

(I also couldn't help feeling like Sarah Slade was unintentionally written to be an undiagnosed autistic, which made me wonder if the author is an undiagnosed autistic...)

The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker

Genre: YA, fantasy

This was my most anticipated book of the year, and I loved Baker's Keeper of Night duology, so I was so sure I would love this book. I mean, FullMetal Alchemist meets Tang Dynasty China? Sign me up, right???

Spoiler alert: I did not enjoy this book. For me, it was a 2-star read. And that hurts my soul.

The parts I loved included the magic system (how the alchemy worked), Zilan herself was a compelling protagonist, her relationship with her cousins was great (I always love the way Kylie Lee Baker writes sibling relationships), and Li Hong was exactly the kind of soft, awkward boy I love. That was about it.

The plot, generally, goes like this: Zilan studies and takes the alchemy exam, in multiple stages, eventually traveling from her home city of Guangzhou to Chang'an (the imperial capital). She eventually achieves her dream of becoming a royal alchemist and gets embroiled in the intrigue surrounding the imperial family, including Empress Wu Zetian and Crown Prince Li Hong. It sounds fine on paper, yet the pacing occasionally felt weirdly off to me. Maybe it's because we all know that Zilan will pass the alchemy exam, otherwise there would be no story, so the exam itself starts to drag after a while? I'm not sure.

I found the side characters somewhat lacking in this book, which was a bit disappointing since there wasn't a single side character in the Keeper of Night duology that I thought was dull or two-dimensional. Zheng Sili existed to be the stock rival and also raging misogynist. The other royal alchemists were barely characters. Aside from Zilan, her cousins Wenshu and Yufei, Li Hong, and Wu Zetian, no one else was memorable.

My main problem was that this book felt very Game of Thrones-grimdark. The plot mostly consisted of terrible tragedy after terrible tragedy happening to Zilan. Ren from The Keeper of Night also experienced discrimination, yet she was able to cathartically beat the pulp out of most people who crossed her. Zilan isn't powerless, but the sheer number of horrible things happening to her—sexism, classism, discrimination for being biracial, her plans going terribly wrong—was overwhelming. And I can't do grimdark fantasy. It's too depressing and anxiety-inducing for me.

And now...for the historical part of this book.

There is an author's note saying that, because this is an alternate history Tang Dynasty China with alchemy, readers shouldn't expect complete accuracy. Fair. But...there were parts of this book that struck me as "not enough research" done rather than deliberately changing historical details to serve the story.

And I hate nitpicking the author for this. For authors who are first-generation Chinese American, or even second-gen immigrants who have close ties to China, I don't feel as bad, because y'all should know better. But from her author's note, I genuinely felt for Kylie Lee Baker. I strongly believe diaspora authors should have the freedom to explore our heritages. I don't believe there's ever a threshold we have to cross before we can start telling stories drawn from our ancestral homeland, because all that does is discourage diaspora authors from even doing research. I know exactly how it feels, because I felt—I feel—the exact same way.

But I've spent a lot of the past year reading xianxia novels from China. I've also done my own research for my novels. And my autistic, detail-oriented mind has a hard time not pointing these things out if I notice them.

1. The clothing. Characters are frequently mentioned as putting things "in their pockets." The thing is, traditional Chinese clothes do not have pockets; people stored things either in the front of their robes, in their sleeves, or in external pouches. A charitable reading is that maybe the author meant that characters were putting things in pockets sewn into their sleeves. But there was also a part in which someone helps Zilan "unbutton the back of her dress," and that is clearly not how traditional Chinese clothes work.

2. The floor. This is an extremely nitpicky detail, but there was a part where the imperial palace was described as having "porcelain tiles" on the floor, and I was like ??? The floors of Chinese houses were made of wood or stone.

3. Honorifics. Zilan was referred to as "Zilan xiǎojiě" by the prince (I can't recall off the top of my head if anyone else called her that). The thing is, "xiǎojiě" (小姐) is a modern Mandarin form of addressing young women. If you watch C-dramas or read xianxia novels, you'll notice that characters never call young women "xiǎojiě", but "gūniang" (姑娘) instead. I kind of wish the author had stuck to calling Zilan "Miss Zilan" instead to avoid this trap.

Also, Yufei should never address Wenshu as "Wenshu-gē" but only as "gēge." In Chinese, referring to someone as "[name]-gē" is what you would call an older male friend, not your actual brother. (If you have multiple older brothers, you would call them based on their order of birth. The oldest would be "gēge", the second would be "èrgē" ("second brother"), the third would be "sāngē" ("third brother"), etc.)

So...yeah. I may still give the sequel a try because I thought The Empress of Time was even better than The Keeper of Night, but right now, I'm just disappointed and sad.

Profile

rainwaterspark

May 2025

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Syndicate

Page Summary

Style Credit

Style: Fruit Salad for Leftovers by sforzinda

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated May. 24th, 2025 11:52 pm

On my world, it means hope.

(The fundamental belief in the potential of every person to be a force for good)

Entries tagged with books

Book reviews: DNF edition

Book reviews: New year, new DNFs

Book thoughts

2024's Books in Review, and thoughts on 2025's TBR

A book review + book thoughts

Some book thoughts

Querying numbness & the state of the publishing industry

Books I'm Looking Forward To In 2025

Fanfiction and traditionally published fiction

Book thoughts

Book reviews: DNF edition

Book thoughts: DNF edition

Trying and failing to refill the creative well (and book-ish thoughts)

On the importance of tension in stories

Book reviews & rambles

Favorite Books of 2023 & 2024 Book Reviews

Yellowface and privilege in publishing

Book reviews

Book reviews: DNF edition

Book reviews

Profile

May 2025

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags