#first book review

[bookishlydazed]

All That's Left In The World by Erik J. Brown

Review (spoiler free beginning and spoiler at the bottom)

Genre/s: Apocalyptic fiction, Lgbtq romance

My rating: * * * * * 4.75

Pacing: Medium-fast

Pages (digital): 345

Summary per back of the book :

 When Andrew stumbles upon Jamie's house, he's injured, starved, and has nothing left to lose. A deadly pathogen has killed off most of the world's population, including everyone both boys have ever loved. And if this new world has taught them anything, it's to be scared of what other desperate people will do . . . so why does it seem so easy for them to trust each other?

After danger breaches their shelter, they flee south in search of civilization. But something isn't adding up about Andrew's story, and it could cost them everything. And Jamie has a secret, too. He's starting to feel something more than friendship for Andrew, adding another layer of fear and confusion to an already tumultuous journey.

The road ahead of them is long, and to survive, they'll have to shed their secrets, face the consequences of their actions, and find the courage to fight for the future they desire, together. Only one thing feels certain: all that's left in their world is the undeniable pull they have toward each other.

Spoiler Free Review:

Ok so to start off just for your reference. I read this book on my kindle and now I want a physical copy. That's how much I loved it. I would 100% recommend you read this book and I don't even really like apocalyptic fiction. So why didn't I give it 5 stars. In my five star rating system one of the criteria is that it has to make me cry and this didn't. Thus the 4.75 of five star rating. However this does not mean that it wasn't an incredible read. I loved so much about this book from the pacing, characters, the world structure to little things like how covid was dealt with and how subtle changes in personality affected the characters. Truly this is one of my favorite reads of 2023 so far. 

The pacing of this book was very good. I was never bored while reading this book(a very hard thing to do for me honestly). Though a lot happens it never felt rushed or too much at one time. Everything happened when it should have taken too long to happen either. 

The world itself was kind of cool. Yea it was a “modern america” but because so much had changed so had the world. The way that Brown wrote this world in my opinion is very realistic. It follows a pattern that I could definitely see happening in real time should a super flu come about. 

I loved all of the main characters in this book, which I can't say very often. Most of the time there is just one that kind of gets to me. However in this book brown wrote each character in a that you have to like but not so much that they seem unrealistic. They all feel real. Another thing I liked was that I could very easily distinguish one character from he next. I have always found that to be a struggle for some reason. Every character was clear and unique.

Lastly, I just have to say this was Erik J. Brown’s debut novel. It’s incredible. I mean this book was so so good and for it to be his first just wow!!

More In-Depth Review  - SPOILERS BELOW!! Also just like a collection of thoughts in no real order…

|

|

|

|

First I have to talk about Jamie and Andrew and their slow burn romance. I really liked how it wasn't rushed. I mean there were plenty of moments where I think both characters had acknowledged that they loved the other and could have made a move. But they didn't. It created this great tension within their relationship. As much as their first kiss, that whole bedroom thing at Fort Caroline(FC) and so many others there, time spent in the cabin is probably my favorite part. It was calm and one of the only times they could just be. Their relationship was new but over those few months they began to trust each other and it was beautiful. Without that time I don't know if they would have made it honestly. 

Henri was so cute. She was the classic tough lady who I honestly thought was gay in the beginning but that was just me stereotyping her. I really hope that they made it back to her and she was alive and willing to go to Florida to see her daughter. 

I really don't know what to think of Cara. She didn't have muchpage time and didn't seem to have much personality. And maybe that's because she was just shy and traumatized but I do wish we could have gotten more time with her. I never completely trusted her either because of that. 

As I said before, I love all of the main characters. I even fell in love with dead ones. I mean hearing Jamie's descriptions of his mother were so heartbreaking. But being able to see what kind of person she was was great. And Andrew's sister, the fosters and their kids, all of the people who were lost. 

There was a point when they met Chris, Desiree and Keith I thought they were going to start gathering people and making their own little civilization. But i guess that's not really them

As much as I hate FC and everything it stands for, I liked the depiction of it. How they pretty much reverted back. And much as I wish I didn't think this, I think it is honestly accurate to what would happen. As awful as that is. 

When Jamie shot and killed Harvey Rosewood I mean that was heartbreaking. Not for Harvey of course but for Jamie. When Jamie kind of lost it was so sad. It really wasn't his fault, just circumstance. I hope that one day he can heal from that. 

When I was reading the chapter that Jamie gets shot in I didn't realize the time. So when the chapter ended i actually had to leave and it was awful i had no idea if he survived or not. It was excruciating. Anyway obviously I'm glad he did survive. I really thought he wasn't for a second but I guess that's the point. 

That last chapter. I love how you have no idea who's talking. Whether its Jamie or Andrew. At first I hated it, not going to lie but now that I've had time to think about it, it's great. I like to think Andrew is narrating it because I think Jamie would be out on the dock but i don't know maybe not. I understand their predicament in the last chapter though, should they stay or go. Once the world starts to awaken again and communication with other surviving settlements begins, FC could find them. But would FC honestly care and plus if there are so many people living in the Florida settlement could FC even find them, would they even want to. If Jamie and Andrew left they may have a better chance of surviving but they could just as easily be killed by another settlement or people. If I Were in their position I would probably stay in FLorida. They have friends there, people they trust, a home. I think they should stay and fight for it. 

Quotes: 

“Funny how little things can feel so big when you haven't done them in a while”(Andrew, pg. 187 digital)

“We are facing the end and it’s not okay but it is. It’s all okay, the world ended and there’s nothing left but shit. And him. Us. so that's all right, then.” (Andrew, pg. 285 digital)

“”You can use my shirt to wipe your snot,” he says. “If we’re going to die, i’d rather you not kiss me one final time and confess you love to me with snot flying out of your nose””(Jamie, pg.285 digital)

[shyybread]

So i just finished the Shadow and Bone trilogy and it was rlly good! As someone who had all ready seen the show and read the six of crows duology (twice) I didn't think there would be much I didn't know but there was so much stuff that I had no idea about. Genya was probably my favourite, I think her story was done very well and she is so strong and deserves everything, and after reading I have no idea how people can forgive the darkling and ship him with Alina after everything he did to Genya, Alina and everyone else its just weird to me...

Overall I really enjoyed this trilogy I thought it was very good :))

Shadow and Bone: 4.25☆

Seige and Storm: 4☆

Ruin and Rising: 4.5☆

[fromthechaoticmind]

First book review of the year!

[nedlittle]

it drives me bonkers the way people don't know how to read classic books in context anymore. i just read a review of the picture of dorian gray that said "it pains me that the homosexual subtext is just that, a subtext, rather than a fully explored part of the narrative." and now i fully want to put my head through a table. first of all, we are so lucky in the 21st century to have an entire category of books that are able to loudly and lovingly declare their queerness that we've become blind to the idea that queerness can exist in a different language than our contemporary mode of communication. second it IS a fully explored part of the narrative! dorian gray IS a textually queer story, even removed from the context of its writing. it's the story of toxic queer relationships and attraction and dangerous scandals and the intertwining of late 19th century "uranianism" and misogyny. second of all, i'm sorry that oscar wilde didn't include 15k words of graphic gay sex with ao3-style tags in his 1890 novel that was literally used to convict him of indecent behaviour. get well soon, i guess...

[reviewsbywolfie]

OMG THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING! Stephanie, you are one amazing author!

For anyone who doesn’t know, this book resembles around two sisters who live with a very cruel, abusive, jackass, arrogant, snob, and murderous father. When given the opportunity to escape to a place known as Caraval, the sisters don’t waste a second to go.

As the story goes further, I see a lot of depth in this story that I wish my own book had. Stephanie holds a lot of twists and turns along the way as she sweeps the reader into the world of Caraval. At some point, there will be a time where you think the story is over but believe me, you’re only at the beginning. There are characters you love and characters you hate. Trust me, once you pick this book up, you’ll never wanna put it down.

My favorite character so far would definitely have to be Tella (short for Donatella). She’s fearless, strong, brave, and very clever. I won’t spoil the plot so much because I like my viewers to be surprised, but I will say that she’s very important. I hope I get to see her more in book 2.

Upon further information from my roommate who lent me this book, this book is actually the beginning of a trilogy. I plan to read the last two of the books after I’ve read ‘The Night Circus’ and ‘A Soul of Ash and Blood’.

That’s all of Wolfie’s thoughts so far. If you’d like to know the name of the second book it’s called ‘Legendary’. I’ll let you know in my next review what the 3rd and final book is called. Be sure to look for Stephanie Garber on Amazon or at any bookstore.

Until next time, stay on track and stay in the pack 🐺

[vashti-lives]

The new Martha Wells book-- Witch King-- is fucking delightful if you like slightly complex fantasy that doesn't hold your hand. This is a book that never ever commits the sin of explaining stuff to a character that should already know about it for the sake of the audience. Exposition only happens in ways that are natural and logical, which sometimes means stuff just isn't explained.

It's not as obviously accessible as The Murderbot Dairies is-- it's plot is a little more opaque, there's more moving pieces, it's less directly comedic-- but man I like it and Kai is in someways a similar protagonist to Murderbot. Powerful but vulnerable and often just a little out of his element. Lonely in the face of a lot of people who are afraid of him.

Its very much a found family story. Like, literally. The book goes back and forth between the past and the present. The parts of the narrative that are set in the past are about Kai meeting the people who become his family, and the parts of the narrative set in the present are about him going to find members of that family that have gone missing. Family is a theme that's always there.

In spite of the swap in narratives there was never a moment where I was listening to one half of these stories wishing I could get back to the other one-- they were woven together very well and I found them equally compelling.

Anyway I am very certain there are people who saw there was a new Martha Wells book, then saw it wasn't Murderbot and decided to peace out. Some people probably won't but I think it's worth trying. Tor released enough excerpts that you can get a feel for what it's like and decide if you'll like it or not. The mystery is fascinating and, like Murderbot, it's casually queer in a really good way. Martha Wells clearly loves her a lesbian power couple.

[pangur-and-grim]

okay I like the long chapter titles too much, they’re gonna stay

[cherries-in-wine]

𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔 ‧₊ ☁️⋅♡ ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

People call Vladimir Nabokov a disgusting creep for writing from the perspective of a pedophile when in reality if you read the book, Humbert Humbert is not likeable in the slightest. He's an unreliable narrator that's so stuck in his own delusions that he can't see how miserable dolores is because of him. Nabokov is a great writer and lolita is really well written. It's a great satire in the sense that it's pathetic to see Humbert Humbert think he's sooo charming and these "nymphets" are soooo in love with him. Dolores' trauma is obvious to any competent reader, I don't know how people are so charmed by Humbert Humbert that they can't see how dolores' defiance which he refers to as "teenage rebellion" or "tantrums" is a very apparent cry for help. Lolita is a Gothic horror, a cautionary tale. It's a genius work of art and what's most horrific about it is how society reacted to it, how it's so normalised to sexualise little girls that blatant pedophilia is interpreted as a tragic love story. Nabokov himself referred to dolores as his "poor little girl". He had a lot of empathy for her and it must be so heartbreaking to see her getting sexualised.

When I first read the virgin suicides i thought it was a great work of satire. I adore the Lisbon girls with all my heart, I see a part of myself in all of them by varying degrees. The boys who claimed they loved these girls, only saw them as some fantasy. Even in death they never truly respected any of these girls. How when they found Cecelia's diary, instead of trying to make sense of why she killed herself, they selfishly searched for their own names. I loved the irony of the boys claiming they loved these girls when they didn't know anything about them. It showed how their "love" was really shallow and surface level. I thought Jeffrey Eugenides really understood me in that sense. But in reality he didn't mean any of the things the boys did to be interpreted as satire. According to him, peaking through windows, stealing used tampons, joking about groping dead girls, these grown men still picturing those little girls years later while they had sex with their wives etc was supposed to show that teenage boys are not disgusting horny dogs, but romantic softies (if anything this made me think teenage boys are much more repulsive than i thought). According to Eugenides the book is satire, but in the sense that you never know what was going through a person's head when they committed suicide and you can't make sense of it no matter how hard you try. Everything about how the boys viewed the girls was not satire and was to be taken at face value. This really broke my heart, an author who i thought really did get me and understood me, ended up making me feel watched instead of seen.

It's so interesting how lolita which is supposed to be from the perspective of an unreliable narrator was taken at face value and the virgin suicides which was to be taken at face value was perceived as satire.

The director of Lolita didn't get her at all, even he thought she was some kind of a seductress instead of a child that was abused repeatedly. While the virgin suicides movie was so much better than the book, Sofia Coppola, the director, understood the Lisbon girls so well and she did them justice.

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Now that I know more about writing, I'm upset at all the writing advice that urged new writers to find the one best way to write stories, when they should be telling us to play with writing techniques like toys.

Don't tell us to avoid certain points of view! Don't box us into the one currently popular prose style! Let us play and see what effects different techniques achieve, so we can learn the best ways to make use of them! Give us a whole ton of possibility instead of one cookie-cutter template!

[softness-and-shattering]

So I've been reading the captive prince trilogy by c s pacat, over the last few days. im beginning of book 3 now. and I just have to say the book is building it up to this big reveal of Laurent doesnt know Damen's true identity and is going to be so devastated and betrayed etc when he find out. (side note, of fucking course their names are Damen and Laurent. It would only be more on the nose if they were both vampires or something. anyway) But just. you CANNOT tell me that Laurent didnt figure it out months ago. That he hasnt been asking himself the whole time who the fuck this slave is who behaves nothing like a slave who is an incredible fighter he scarcely believes could be subdued to begin with to be taken captive. Laurents main trait as a character is his intelligence. Over and over and over again. the mind games he plays with his uncle and all the plans in layers of traps. Youre telling me he hasnt worked out Damianos the prince is his slave like at least 6 months ago? You think he didnt ask Nik...andros? Nick. You think he didnt ask nick of delphi some casually leading questions? Im this far in. But if we get an honest "I never guessed big strong slave Damen is really the dead prince damianos im so betrayed" Im .....I cant even throw the book because im reading digitally. but I will be very frustated . Heres hoping the author throws in a twist because unless you can convincingly convince me Laurent has a huge blind spot when it comes to Damen, which im not sure that there's groundwork for....yeah. Also I know these books are ~controversial~ ie very kinky in ways not everyone is comfortable with. Thats fine. Dont come at me about it. No living humans were harmed. No ones making you read it. If it does sound interesting to you, probably look up some content warnings.

[fumifooms]

<3

[aroaceleovaldez]

they girlbossed Sally Jackson

[the---hermit]

Only Dull People Are Brilliant At Breakfast by Oscar Wilde

I read this collection of quotes a couple of years ago, and ever since I have wanted a physical copy of this book. I decided it was finally time to get one and have a reread. I love Wilde and this collection of quotes feels a lot like a trip into his brain, it got me really motivated to finally pick up The Ballad Of Reading Gaol.

[velvetjune]

imagine being director Northmoor of the FBC and one day you revel so much in your power that you literally explode. and instead of doing anything else about it, the FBC goes “when life gives a secret paranatural government agency lemons…” and throws your possibly-alive, moving corpse in a power plant so they don’t have to worry about their power bill. then going onwards, people only refer back to you using ominous light-based puns

[selenophiliiaaa]

got a new book from a local witchy store and i am So Excited to read it - its “Secrets of Greek Mysticism; a modern guide to daily practice with the Greek gods and goddesses” by George Lizos,,, im only a couple chapters in but it seems like itll be a really good read !!

[souldagger]

so normal about the gender fuckery of the Polish murderbot translation (lie i am on the verge of tears)