#didn't enjoy this as much as mexican gothic but it was still good

[vanillaflowerstuff]

just finished silver nitrate by silvia moreno-garcia c:

[llycaons]

now that I'm home, a brief summary of the new (historical) fantasy books I AM interested in. there are still nonfiction (essays, social commentary, biology) that are on my list but THIS is more my jam. putting this under a readmore but 1. if you've read any of these I'd love to hear your (non-spoilery!) opinion of them, and 2. if you have any recs based on this list, feel free to reply or send me an ask!

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang: if this book is bad I'm going to cry. it looks like it could be everything I've ever wanted. I love when lesbians are anti-authoritarian and I love wuxia settings. the rebel love interest has tattoos 😍

The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec: I haven't actually read much norse mythology-inspired stuff except that pjo spinoff that wasn't very good (and one set in 9th century greenland that was HORRIBLE) but this was suggested a few times and I think it looks very promising! it's always neat to see older women as protags and she's bisexual and maybe polyam as well, which I've only ever seen in baru cormorant and the broken earth iirc

The Forever Sea by Joshua Phillip Johnson: this doesn't look GREAT but I looovvee environmental fantasy so I'll give it a shot

The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo: this one looks WILD

The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker: this one seems a little more YA than the others but the concept is pretty original so I'm curious to see what they do with it

Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard: the description made me cringe a bit but the idea is pretty cool and it seems like YA but it's marked at adult?

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho: another wuxia-inspired book!!! please be good PLEASE be fucking good 😭

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse: this one is sparing in the description but I have a sense it'll be VERY intense

The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang: I may struggle to keep focused on this one but I thought I'd check it out bc in theory it's interesting

The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang: I didn't really understand the summary but it's hopefully good? I'l always check out a wuxia and I like a sibling dynamic

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig: PIRATES, BABY!!!!

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, Katherine Tiernan O'Connor (Translator), Ellendea Proffer (Annotations/Afterword), Diana Lewis Burgin (Translator), Hans Fronius (Illustrator): *points* like from tumblr...in all seriousness I HAVE heard some really interesting things about this book and the relationship so I'm glad to add it to my list

The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar: the first book of this series sounds really boring ngl but this one oohh 👀

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: I heard high praise for this one so while it doesn't specifically appeal to me, I'll give it a shot

Sistersong by Lucy Holland: I like a sibling story!

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh: this one could touch me tenderly I feel. I like when love interests are nice. whenever I see those setups that are like 'oh he's got an OBNOXIOUS and HOT partner' I'm like well this projection isn't working for me bc I'd leave then. I don't want to be annoyed by someone I'm supposed to like. I am aware this is a big setup for CR arc of mdzs but the annoying guy is my actual younger brother and my dear dear friend wwx so he can do whatever he wants. and also lwj really does have a stick up his ass and wwx is acting significantly more normally all things considered. anyway. this gay tree man may touch my heart

books that are ALREADY on my list/I have read excerpts from already

The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick: this one is pretty YA but I enjoy the writing and the setting, and the plot is exciting. I look forward to reading more

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley: I think my mutual suggested this to me and I tried reading it but I found it really hard to read but I am going to try it again because it sounds so intruiging!

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty: I'm on the fence bc while I liked the city of brass, I thought this one was a bit weaker so idk if I'll keep reading. I like the concept tho

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro: this one's strange and mysterious and I love the almost primordial atmosphere of england 1000 years ago...the ancient and massive landmarks around the elderly characters as they go about their relatively small lives. kind of frightening, kind of magical

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong: I haven't read any of this and it DOES look pretty YA but the setting sounds fun so why not

[hpowellsmith]

Books of January

I've really enjoyed reading more this month! I always read a lot over the holidays and then fall out of the habit but ended up doing more this time around.

Wild: from Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail - Cheryl Strayed (reread)

I liked this when I first read it, and liked it even more this time. The sense of the outdoors and the personal journeys within feel incredibly real to me. It inspired me to get out and about more: I always feel better when I take some time outdoors. I didn't really get on with her other books, but this one remains a favourite.

Dancing on Eggshells: Kitchen, Ballroom, & The Messy Inbetween - John Whaite

Every so often I read a celebrity memoir and usually it falls a little flat - often too obviously ghostwritten/over-edited or glib or twee. This one is less over-polished which is to its benefit, includes a bunch of lovely recipes, and explores growing up gay in England during Section 28 (at the same time I was growing up). Whaite comes across as very sincere in this, and since publication has said he's quitting TV which is probably a good thing. It was interesting reading the Strictly parts having read Craig Revel Horwood's memoir last year - Revel Horwood is very blithe about how lovely it all is whereas Whaite gives a more complicated perspective.

Maw - Jude Ellison S. Doyle

This horror graphic novel is gripping in places but it didn't pull me in as much as I'd hoped having read Doyle's discussions about the writing process and inspirations. It was over a little fast, characters appeared and were killed off a little too speedily for it to have much impact, and the ending felt a little abrupt. I liked the characters and the general idea but would have liked more breathing room to get to know them. I've got The Neighbors on pre-order and hope to get into that one more.

The Easternmost Sky - Juliet Blaxland

I could write an essay about what was frustrating about this book - the lack of class-consciousness from someone who casually mentions going to visit cousins for Christmas at the local manor, the (wilfully?) ignorant comments about rewilding, the unexamined pro-hunting commentary - but parts of it are quite good and evocative. Having grown up in rural England where neither I nor my peers were involved with the hunting-and-shooting manor-house culture, it's irritating to read a book which cheerfully conflates "country life" with being someone who loves running to hounds and thinks hunting is great, but some of the descriptions were lovely. Still, I'd recommend other nature writers like Robert MacFarlane or Helen Macdonald (who engages with falconry, but in a much more thoughtful way) over this one.

The Lives of Christopher Chant - Diana Wynne Jones (reread)

This was a beloved book from my teenage years and I shared it with my child after there was a lot of enjoyment of Howl's Moving Castle and Charmed Life last year. This one was a harder sell, it turned out: it's slower-paced than I remember, and bleaker, and there's very DWJ-esque penultimate chapter where a lot of stuff suddenly happens and is revealed and resolved very fast. I do love Christopher and his friends, though, and as with many of DWJ's books, it does betrayal and sudden self-awareness heartbreakingly well.

Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I. Loved. This. I loved it! I'd read a couple of Moreno-Garcia's books before and enjoyed them reasonably but this was the first one where it really grabbed me and wouldn't let go. A post-colonial Mexican gothic horror in which the heroine probes into an English family's business when her cousin, who's married into this family, sends a disturbed message begging for help... it's so good. I don't want to say anything more about it but I enjoyed it immensely and it solidified Moreno-Garcia as a favourite author.

Toto the Ninja Cat and the Legend of the Wildcat - Dermot O'Leary

This was really cute. My child and I ended up losing track of some of the plot, which became slightly complex, but it was generally adorable. There's not a ton else to say other than it's a nice story with a few jokes for adults that are good sensible-chuckle material.

Untamed Shore - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

This was so good. It's a noir thriller without the supernatural elements I'd encountered in the author's other work, but it gripped me excellently. I really enjoyed the unfolding dangerousness of all the characters, including the protagonist, and I was genuinely uncertain about what would happen towards the end - it had me really tense! I enjoyed it greatly.

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

Some books I read lately:

I don't read as much as I used to, so enjoy this selection

Babel

Such a good book. Such an experience.

I've seen people voice an opinion that they couldn't relate to the protagonist, but I can't agree. My school is trying to kill me (figuratively) too.

Still, it was weird seeing myself the most as the story's antagonist. Made me think.

Likewise, it was weird reading book that had the quote of "the act of translation is an act of violence" in translation, but I think I did the right choice. The text is a bit dense and I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much in english.

The book itself is dark academia, but not as in "vaguely gothic surrounding & really hot academic rival," but as in "your school made you who you are today and destroyed you in the process; it's using you for your language and your heritage and it won't stop taking and you should be grateful, everything is so much better now, isn't it?"

Every Exquisite Thing

A modern day take on Dorian Gray. I've been thinking about getting this book for quite some time, and I'm so glad I did.

It's about teenage girls in the age of social media, which makes it about a thousand percent more reletable than Dorian "I own ten editions of the same book in different colours so it matches my outfit and judge people for expressing basic human emotions, oh woe is me" Gray.

...yeah I wanna punch him <3

Anyway. The book has great Aesthetic and themes.

Acting school and "one must siffer for beauty" and fur coats and parent-child relationship and a thing that fits my extremely specific definition of hate sex. (Yeah, they're lesbians. It's Dorian Gray retelling)

Mexican Gothic

A great horror story from the first half of last century. (So, obviously, great Aesthetic)

The thing that gets the main heroine in trouble is familiar love and there's nothing she could have done differently.

She's also like, "My future partner must be of the highest standards", and then she sees the wet cat personified youngest son of the family her cousin married into (he's actually very sweet, tried to help her), and goes: "... actually nevermind, I want that one"

(...yeah, nothing bonds two people together as a bit of arson)

The Villain-thing is simultaneously a cult and fungi.

Fungi scares me normally, so this works.

The Thousand Floor series

Yeah it's not my first time reading this, but I adore this series.

It's set in future, which is mostly used for extra bling, and one boy has an illegal home-made Quantum computer in his brain. He uses this solely to flirt with girls better.

There's murder and excelent relationships drama.

Relationships drama as in "I accidentally killed one of my best friends in drug-induced mania cos I thought she was having an affair with my dad but she was actually my step-sister and now I'm blackmailing three people over this and fuck, one of them is kinda hot".

(once again, fits my extremely specific definition of hate sex)

There's also a con artist<3

Carmilla

Bought this at seven in the evening from a cheap books bookstore, but, c'mon. Lesbian vampires.

Mona's guide to defensive baking

This was such a cute read, it feels like a really inovative fairytale. Another book from the author, Nettle and Bone, feels the same.

It's about kids and there's magic and corrupt goverment and the animal sidekick is a sourdough starter <3

House of Hunger

More lesbian vampires, yay!

And probably my favourite read in very long time. I didn't plan to buy it, but I read a random excerp at the bookstore and the book gripped me in such a way I bought it. And read it in two days.

There's not a lot of explicit worldbuilding, but there IS worldbuilding: in the way the air tastes, in how the clothes feel against her skin. (I mean, she gets history lessons but she finds them insanely boring, so we really do not get the worldbuilding beyond bare bones on need to know basis for her)

And the relationships!! The shadow of family, the friendships, the obsession!!

...and as for the love interest/villain, imagine Ianthe Tridentaria and you're free to go. I love her. Both of them.

DNF/Hate reads <3

For when I need to persuade myself that chemistry cannot deal me THAT much psychic damage <3

Crave

By god. Please. It's Twilight but on Alaska and the author ain't mormon so MC is allowed to be horny on main.

We all know this.

So PLEASE, stop mysteriously repeating "Careful, something might bite you here"

The book refuses to tell the heroine there's supernatural shit for 150 pages even though we all know it. From the summary. And the marketing.

...also, there's were-dragons. I don't know what's going on either.

But yeah this was great for reading the most ridiculous passages to my roommate and laughing over it. Very bonding.

Crave 2

No I cannot be bothered to learn the title.

In the first two chapters, girlie has no idea wtf happened (x months long coma & amnesia), like four different people refuse to tell her, and she manages to remind us no less than five times that yes, Jaxon Vega is still hot.

Yes, that spelling is a crime too.

... I'd like to know what does the author have against Prague. That's kinda unrelated but still.

Fourth Wing

Yeah fine it's better written that Crave (the bar is in hell), but this book made me read "I cling to leaf-tipped limbs of the tree" in english version. (The word you're looking for is BRANCH.)

The translator used "branch", which, massive kudos to her, improved readability by like seventy percent by that alone.

Still, the characters talk like therapy (derogatory) and insist on telling worldbuilding in THE most ridiculous ways.

I'd give redeeming points for dragons but I didn't get to them before "leaf-tipped limbs of the tree", so, hard luck ✨

School for Good and Evil

...yeah that's mostly my fault for reading out of intended age group, but.

SIR, that's your STUDENT. STOP. Please.

That said, there's like. A lot of innuendos for a middle grade book.

Rhapsody

If I had a nickel for every YA book that has "an ancient bat-winged fae king" as the love interest, I'd probably be fucking rich.

Also, the MC is a siren and the book is "dark romance". She did NOT claw anyone to death nor drown anyone and I feel like I should be financially compensated for that.

[gotinterest]

Books I have read so far this year:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (competently written but I have complicated feelings about its premise. I'd be interested to see what autistic readers have said about the story)

The Traitor Baru Cormorant (dense in a good way, but it meant that it wasn't a relaxing read. Fantastically written. Not before bed reading because you will sit up with your mind racing with oh so many thoughts. Baru is such a compelling character. I root for her even as I am horrified at some of what she does. Perhaps I am horrified by how much I understand why she is doing what she does. I knew the twist going in but it still hit me like a sack of bricks.)

Dungeon Meshi (10/10 loved this manga. Knew the story it wanted to tell and executed it so well. Never overstayed its welcome. If you like the anime you will love the manga even more)

The Raven Tower (This was a re-read. Love this book, such a unique approach to the written word as a medium and a fun exploration of the mere concept of stories. I enjoyed it even more during this re-read than I did when I first read it a few years back)

Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 1-5 (Withholding my full thoughts till I finish the series. I liked the execution of some of the early story better in the 2003 anime. It is still an admittedly fun little action story with likable characters.)

Mexican Gothic (Good gothic horror story. Nice creepy atmosphere. The only sticking point for me was when it transitioned full on into the real, I didn't initially believe what was actually happening because I thought it was another dream sequence. But then again, maybe that was the intended effect. I did read this one in one sitting while waiting for my car to finish getting worked on so maybe I'll have a better evaluation if I re-read it. I did enjoy it and found myself on the edge of my waiting room seat, however.)

The Girl From the Other Side Vol. 1-3 (Saving my full thoughts for when I finish the series but I am really enjoying it so far. I am enchanted by the relationship between this creature and this little girl as much as I am intrigued by the mystery that surrounds both of them. Looking forward to finding out what happens next.)

[thetrial]

hiiii let's talk about books. 4 + 5 + 17 + 20 for the reading asks :)

heyyy <3

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

like i said yesterday, definitely looking forward to reading more toni morisson soon. i also really enjoyed both the books i read by silvia moreno-garcia (mexican gothic was one of my favourites). i am conflicted about reading the continuation of the saprrow, since i think it is so beautifully tragically self-contained, but i admired mary doria russel's writing. and olga tokarczuk!

5. What genre did you read the most of?

while i gravitated towards murder mysteries this year, i also think i read quite a bit of scifi? in the sense that there were aliens etc. i've come to realise that even though i considered myself a science fiction reader most of my life i didn't like it much and was conflating it with reading tonnes of science nonfiction + nonsciencey fiction. i suppose i have to explore the genre more thoroughly - standouts were the sparrow and the left hand of darkness. in the last two weeks i also greatly enjoyed the novellas the employees (olga ravn) and sea of tranquility (emily st john mandel)

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

the brothers karamazov house of leaves! i knew it was a polarising book and i kind of expected to fall into the critical camp (starts with a beatles quote and the misogyny just gets worse from there) but it was such a unique reading experience that i still think about all of the time. i thought it would be mostly gimmick but i got very invested in the characters and story <3

20. What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

hm hm. my most anticipated releases were the spear cuts through water by simon jimenez which i am yet to read - i keep waiting for a rainy day where i can dedicate myself to reading it without interupption. the other one is babel by rf kuang which i overhyped to myself too much alongside with how much everyone else seemed to be enjoying it, i couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed, a kind of 'is that it?'. but that's entirely on me

[camreadsum]

I've been having quite a reading season so I thought I'd do the MID-YEAR Freak Out Tag to document it all since that was the point of this account before I abandoned it. 😬

Anyways Let's Go!! (I will not be going into detail about the books, just how/why they fit the question)

Best Book So Far: A Strange And Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

If ever there was a book designed for me as the target audience, it's this one. This book is everything I want when I pick up a fantasy romance. This is proof that you do not need to abandon or half ass your world building because "the focus is the romance anyway"

Honourable mention :A Taste of Gold And Iron by Alexandra Rowland. Another M/M romantasy with lovable characters in a lush, well realized world of fantasy.

Good fucking Soup!!

Best Sequel: Winter of the Witch.

Third book in the Winter night Trilogy. Historical fantasy. Epic conclusion to an amazing series. Russian folklore, utterly unforgettable MC, old gods vs Christianity battle it out in the unforgiving world of medieval Russia. Full of myth and extreme stakes. Went straight up my top 5 fave series of all time.

Honourable mention: The Long Game by Rachel Reid (book 8). A hockey romance that was just pure fun. Both light and heart-felt. Chaos and Fun. Overall good time.

New Release I haven't Gotten To Yet: Yellowface by R.F Kuang

Most Anticipated Release for the 2nd Half Of The Year: He Who Drowned The World (coming August 24) Sequel to She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker Chan.

Biggest Dissapointment : Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas. This was such an unpleasant experience. A one note character who was so removed from her reality and surroundings that I was unable to connect with her or the story. She had no reactions to any of the horrendous things happening to and around her. She didn't care, had no goals, motivations etc. She just WAS! (One would would argue that that was the point given the self medication and trauma, and perhaps they'd be right) I just couldn't help but feel like I wasted my time here. Thinking about this book still makes me angry.

Honourable mention: The Beautiful Ones by Sivia Moreno Garcia.

Several trusted sources hyped this book up as not only a really juicy historical romance but the best from Miss Garcia. And as someone who didn't get the hype behind Mexican Gothic, I was hoping this would be my chance to appreciate Silvia's work. IT WASN'T!! I'm starting to think Me n Silvia just aren't suited to each other. (I will still read Gods of Jade And Shadow since I already own the audiobook but I won't pick up anything new moving forward)

Biggest Surprise: Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe.

This is contemporary fiction featuring sad gays coming of age. I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed and was gut punched by this story. This duology did for me what SONG OF ACHILLES did for the girls.

Honourable Mention: Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco. I don't even have words for how this book swept me away. Another MC I would lay down my life for. Charming characters, dark world, monstrous creatures and sexy vampires. AGAIN a book designed with ME in mind.

Fave New Author: T Kingfisher.

Technically I discovered them last year with the Paladin Series but I've only gotten to expound on their catalog this year and boy do they keep GIVING!! Their writing style is equal parts Humour, whimsy, vivid and just hits all the beats. Her characterization is obe of my favorites for sure. An auto-read author for me moving forward.

Honourable mention :KJ Charles

An indie author who focuses on queer romantic and historical fantasy. She's yet to let me down

Newest Fictional Crush: I don't really crush on book characters but for the sake of this question Delilah Green from Delilah Green Doesn't Care(super tated Butch Lesbian with percings and mommy issues?! Come on now)

Honourable mention : Tadek from A Taste Of Gold And Iron. The complete Chaos that is this man. We would be best friends immediately!!

Newest Fave Character : Velasin Vin Aaro- Aeduria from A Strange And Stubborn Endurance. Fits the archetype of all my favorite male characters. Cute, shy, super smart and entirely a cinnamon role. Him, Cae and Markel are the PERFECT chaotic Trio. (Pls go read this book y'all I need someone to die over it with me)

Honourable mention : Ilya Rozanov from Long Game. Look, this man is a total bastard, a delinquent, an utter S.O.B but I stand by him. *Keke Palmer voice* I KNOW HIM Y'ALL!! I KNOW HIM!!

Book That made me Cry: Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters.

Listen, I may have been going through some things at the time but that last act L0ve Declaration GOT ME!! just cheesing and sobbing like "love is real y'all"

Book That Made Me Happy: Swordheart by T Kingfisher.

The utter WHOLESOMENESS that is this book!!!the FMC was so pure and guileless and genuine I wanted to hug her. The high jinks, the shenanigans and the wonder of it all. This story was utterly hilarious, sweet, emotional and fun. All the things I want in my romances. Solidified Kingfisher's Pen Game as unclockable.

(The audiobook narrator for Halla is one of the most talented in the game. Give her all the gigs!)

If you see this and are interested pls join in. I'd love to see what everyone's been reading.

[the---hermit]

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I have seen this book everywhere in the past year or so. I wasn't super sure about it, but in the end I gave in and got it to see how this novel was. If you have read a couple of my other posts you probably know that gothic horror is by far my favourote genre. There's something about the vibe of those stories that just calles to me, and so anything that gives a similar premise is good enough for me. My opinions on this particular book are a bit torn, I gave it 3.5 stars, right in the middle of the scale. The thing is that I did enjoy my time reading the book, but there's a lot of things that disappointed me. (This is going to be a long one, I have a lot to say).

Let's start with the writing. I didn't mind it, in fact I was excited to pick the book up, and the chapters where perfectly structured so that they weren't too long, and they made the story flow well. Unfortunately I found the story to be very slow. I am not into short paced books, but with this novel I felt that nothing really happened in the first half, which I doubt is a good thing. Plot-wise I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought it was going to be a gothic ghost story, it wasn't. Some ideas of the plot were really interesting, but I'm not sure they were explored as much as they could have (I talk about it more in the spoilery part under the cut), and there wasn't really a gothic vibe. Okay, the house is huge and a bit creepy, but I was looking for that realy gothic horror vibe, and I didn't really find it. A lot of the chatacters were really annoying, but it often served the plot so that's fine. Still I didn't really felt super passionate about any character. So basically it was a fairly good book but it could have had so much more potential.

For those who don't have any idea of what the plot is about here's the base line. The story is set in 1950 Mexico, and our protagonist is Noemí, a young woman with a strong character. After receving a worring letter from her cousin Catalina, who recently got married to an Englishman, her father asks her to visit Catalina to check on her. Noemí goes there to find her cousin in a worrying physical and mental state, in the cares of a family who's vibe is just a bit off. While staying there she will discover more and more about the history of the house and of this family. I will not say more, to avoid spoilers. As I said the premise is really cool, and the result is not bad, but I am left with this feeling that it could have been much better too.

In conclusion I do recommend the book if you are curious, and you want a really (really) light creepy story, but bear in mind that at least for my very humbe opinion it's not a masterpiece. Under the cut I discuss a couple of spoiler-y things so if you are interested read more!

As mentioned in this part I'll write freely and there's spoilers so consider yourself warned.

I want to talk about two main things here. The first one is a very personal opinion, but I am so tired of snakes being used as a symbol of evil stuff. Those who have read a few of my posts might know I am really passionate about symbology, and the ouroborus is a symbol I particularly like (so much that I have it tattooed), so of couse my opinion is not objective. But it's such a meaningful positive symbol, that finding that another so called horror story (which in my opinion wasn't so horrific anyway) uses an occult symbol as something bad. There's a much longer talk we could have on how horror movies fucked up the general perception of other positive symbols like the pentagram, but this is not the time nor place. I just needed to vent and talk about this thing. The usage of occult symbols as something bad in horror fiction has become kinda old in my opinion, and it doesn't really serve anyone. Anyway my overall opinion on the book wasn' t influenced by this.

The second thing I want to talk about is how certain subjects were really interesting but not really developed. The immortality thing is not really a theme I adore, and in this novel I think it wasn't even a surprise, I could have told it was going to be part of the plot quite soon. Still the fact that I didn't love it might be influenced by me not being a hige fan of the trope. The mushroom thing was very very cool. I found it to be very interesting and original, and I wished there had been even more about it. What I was really disappointed not to see as well developed was the theme of eugenetics. When Noemí first meets Howard, their conversation suggested that it might have been a big theme in the rest of the novel and it really wasn't. It was mentioned a couple more times with even less depth than in the first conversation. It was a huge disappointment for me. It could have been a really interesting main theme that could have led to a langer discurse on racism, and I feel like it was such a lost opportunity. It was such a let down, because that first conversation had some really nice historical references, for example to Cesare Lombroso. And when I read it I was super excited to see how the author had used this historical theme to create fictional horror, and then it wasn't done, and it's such a shame.

[wingedshoes]

END OF THE YEAR BOOK TAG !

Yes, it's 2022 but the questions are fun and I'm hilarious so bear with me.

1. Did you reach your reading goal this year?

I DID, THANK FUCK. Read 35/25 😋 it feels good i was so crushed last year (2020) when i was 6 short of 49.

2. What are my top 3 books this year?

THREE??? THREE?????? Not counting re-reads, um. The Secret History, The King's Men, The Dragon Republic, Our Violent Ends, The Picture of Dorian Gray i am not picking

3. What's a book I didn't quite expect to enjoy going in?

I'm a picky reader so I almost always have high expectations when I decide to read something but I didn't expect to Love The Gilded Wolves with a capital L :((( my best friend gifted me I'll Give You the Sun and IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL??? I also made my brother read it and he loved it so much

4. A book that didn't live up to expectations?

lmao the second book of The Gilded Wolves, there was no plot and substance to it at all. Rule of Wolves was gross fan service and unsatisfactory. Chain of Iron was just horrible writing, I want to burn my copy-

5. Did you re-read any old favs?

😳 SoC, CK, first three books of Aru Shah (Shahcharya my babies), RWRB

6. Did you DNF any books ?

not TECHNICALLY but i guess i did start Mexican Gothic last January but I've been so busy-

7. Did you read any books outside your preferred genre?

I read literally every single genre except for Non Fiction. why the fuck would i read non fictiom

8. What was your pre dominant format this year?

Ebooks because I'm a big fan of not bankrupting my parents they're good for the environment!!!

9. What's the longest book you read this year?

The Priory of the Orange Tree!! 836 something pages and it STILL FEELS SO LESS I MISS TANE EVERYDAY she's like fang runin except less murdery 😕😕

10. Top 3 Anticipated releases?

THREE? WHAT IS IT WITH THREE? THIS YEAR'S GONNA BE A BANGER

The sequel to Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, GALLANT BY VICTORIA MF SCHWAB, Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong, Babel by RF Kuang, The Book of the Night by HOLLY BLACK AKDNDKXMKSKXMDKXM

11. What books did you not get to this year from your TBR but are excited to read in 2022?

The Song of Achilles 😀 @chen-kitays amirite