#chu reads

[chuplayswithfire]

Having managed to meet my reading goal for the year unexpectedly early (24 novels and novellas down so far) I thought I'd share some of the ones I really enjoyed and would widely recommend.

Title: Cemetery Boys

Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy

Synopsis: Urban fantasy set in LA based in Latin American traditions, a trans boy brujex summons the loud irritating ghost of his apparently murdered classmate, who refuses to be released unless they find out what happened to his friends, who were with him around the time of his death. Our hero agrees to help his classmate if he promises to go peacefully to the afterlife, which will let him prove to his family that he is indeed a brujo and not a bruja.

Warnings/Content Warnings: non-explicit transphobia, struggles coping with the loss of a parent, family alienation, murder

Title: A Magic Steeped in Poison

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis: Fantasy adventure set in fantasy ancient China. Our protagonist enters a competition to be the new court tea magician (there's a word but i can say it not spell it) for the princess of the realm, hoping to obtain a magical cure all - her sister is one of many who has been poisoned in a spread of poisonings across the kingdom. the catch? her sister is the one trained in the art of magics, not her.

Warnings: grieving the loss of a parent

Title: The Murderbot Diaries

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian Future

An organic-mechanic fusion construct who calls themself Murderbot is put into So Many Shenanigans trying to first protect their clients and then protect themselves in an increasing array of Events spinning out from the original novella. This is a series consisting of mostly novellas and a full length novel. Lots of focus on the nature of personhood, and what it means to be a person.

Warnings: dehumanization, discrimination, body horror and violence (but not described in an especially gorey way), the usual suspects for dystopian settings.

Title: A Master of Djinn

Steampunk, Fantasy, Murder Mystery

Set in steampunk fantasy Cairo, an agent of the department of magic and artifacts and supernatural entities is given a new partner and the task of investigating a mass murder. All the while, a stranger who claims to be the creator of the mystic age the world now lives in - a world where ancient magics and magical beings such as the djinn themselves have been returned to live alongside humans - is trying to provoke the people of Cairo into revolt. The majority of the characters are Muslim, and the main character is a wlw in a relationship with another woman. I adored them both, and honestly loved the entire wide tapestry of characters I was introduced to A Master of Djinn is really one of the best books I've read all year, and I've read some really good books this year. The universe P Djeli Clark created is vivid and imaginative and incredibly different from the vast majority of fantasy novels I've read before and absolutely, unlike any steampunk work I've ever read. This is actually the third in a series, as there are two proceeding short stories/novellas set in the same universe, however, the book gives you all the information you need on those events.

Warnings: descriptions of non-graphic violence, there are discussions of racism and colonization

Title: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

Genre: historical fiction (recommend the full cast audiobook format)

Synopsis: A historical fiction novel set ten, twelve years after the worldwide Zombie War was declared finished. The history of the zombie war is told from the perspectives of various survivors sharing their stories and understandings of the events that took place in the lead up to, during, and at the conclusion of the Zombie war. Perspectives are offered from characters who experienced the war in countries across the world, and the geopolitical analysis of how various countries and cultures would respond to the zombie war was magnificent. As someone terrified of zombies, I am happy to say that while this book is of course scary at times, it isn't a super graphic gorefest or anything like that.

Warnings: death, mass loss of life, descriptions of combat scenarios, everything you would expect to hear from people who lived through a Zombie apocalypse.

[meltedmush]

[pakhnokh]

At Butterfly Town~~ YAYYYY my very first 2ha work!

Hehehe that scene was really funny. I like how in this happy and rascal teen disciple, a 30+ y/o tyrant emperor wakes up with NEEDS to his shizun, when the boy is just trying to make his crush on his fellow disciple WORK.

(PLEASE NO SPOILERS!)

X/twitter || NSFW X/twitter || Patreon || Ko-Fi

[seagreenlaurin]

[jeusus]

POV: You have a pulse and looked at Mo Ran

[fukurodowlni]

erha as shitposts vol. 1

[inthefaceofadaffodil]

Breaking News from the Jianghu: Two gay idiots unknowingly in competition to see who can ramp up the sexual tension the most manage to win simultaneously. More at 10.

[lantianlong]

©️Dot

[chuluoyi]

*sigh* why is yuta so cool nowadays… and his domain expansion being “true and mutual love” is just —

[mellophase]

Also Chu Wanning hearing his disciple say he's going to fuck him and immediately assumes his spiritual weapon that makes people tell the truth is broken is funnier than it should be

[chuplayswithfire]

reading murderbot diaries was so fun and honestly i need to take the leap and read the full novel length one, i miss murderbot and their funky adventures.

[domo-arts]

His terrible temper and autistic swag have captivated me body and soul

[chu-diaries]

100 days of mental healthcare: day 67/100

It was a lovely day. I woke up early and had a slow breakfast, then I cooked lunch and did laundry. After lunch I cleaned my kitchen, did dishes and cleaned my oven. I still had some time until the sunset so I planned a picnic! I went to a farm near my house and bought some Camembert, cinnamon bread and kombucha. It was really nice to walk around the olive trees. I felt relaxed and happy.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my self knowledge as something that is part of my mental health. As a people-pleaser I realized I’ve been wearing a lot of masks to keep myself socially safe. I really want to remember who I really am so I asked ChatGPT to come up with 40 questions about myself for me to answer in the remaining days of this challenge.

💥: day 14/28 (ovulation day!)

💧: 1 L

🏋🏻‍♀️: 🚫

🏃🏻‍♀️: 🚫

📝: 🚫

🎧: coroa de marabô - aldeia de caboclos

🎮: 🚫

📺: one piece ep. 404-415

📚: hp and the half blood prince

🛑: 8 days pick-free

💊: 🚫

[jeong-guwon]

"The Yuheng Elder was indeed boss as fuck, impressive, truly impressive."

[jeusus]

"Shizun, let me see your face…"

[mios-art]

Trying to be normal at work but just thinking about Chu Wanning who at 26 thinks he's beyond love and support after spending all his formative years without anyone to stand by him and who developed feelings for the first person who showed some interest and kindness towards him even if it made no sense and who then saw that person fall for someone else

That man who hides when he sees people smiling heading his way because he knows they'll stop smiling if they see him since everyone he knows is afraid of him because he sticks to the rules however harsh those rules are and reacts aggressively at any show of injustice, but who still uses his powers in secret to create barriers to shield his students from the rain and who after failing to save one of his disciple became hated by the person he cared the most about

Chu Wanning who's every clumsy attempts at kindness is taken as mockery or cruelty and who spent the last 10 years of his life being abused emotionally and physically by that same person he loved and and I'm aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA