#my aunt suggested i do a whole illustrative story piece about the differences between shapeshifters & sk!nwalkers

[neechees]

My family always tries to get me to draw shit that they want, like they want a full commission but they want me to do it just because. "You should draw this" you should pay me

[ladyherenya]

Books read in November

I like it when I read a bunch of books with similar-coloured covers in a row . I love it when those covers are all blue.

This was another successful month of reading, including three YA short story collections, two graphic novels and one audiobook (and all the rest).

I’ve asterisked my favourites.

(My longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing. And also my Dreamwidth blog.)

Almost Midnight: two festive stories by Rainbow Rowell, illustrated by Simini Blocker: This is super cute. Delightful. “Midnights” is about Mags and Noel over several years of New Year’s Eve parties. I liked how Rowell-ish the story is, and loved the illustrations. They brought the characters to life and gave the story a really strong sense of place. “Kindred Spirits” is about being a Star Wars fan. Elena camps outside the cinema in the days before The Force Awakens’s release, and the experience is not what she expects. This story is geeky, delightful and surprising.. My only disappointment is that there’s no more about these characters.

My True Love Gave to Me: twelve winter romances edited by Stephanie Perkins: After I read “Midnights”, I borrowed the anthology in which first appeared. I’m not a fan of the whole cheesy, commercial idea of Christmas and winter - but I enjoyed these stories more than I expected. They present different experiences of, and attitudes towards, the holiday season. My favourites included Kelly Link’s “The Lady and the Fox”, Stephanie Perkins’ “It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown”, and Gayle Forman’s “What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth?” I really liked Myra McEntire’s “Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus” and Ally Carter’s “Star of Bethlehem” and liked Lainie Taylor’s “The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer” for its prose.

Summer Days & Summer Nights: twelve summer romances edited by Stephanie Perkins: I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as the winter anthology. But I liked that Perkins’ “In Ninety Minutes, Turn North” was a sequel to her story from the previous anthology. That was unexpected and delightful - and the story itself was one of my favourites. My other favourites were “Inertia” by Veronica Roth and “A Thousand Ways This Could All Go Wrong” by Jennifer E. Smith. And I liked how “The End of Love” by Nina LaCour unfolded, and the way time repeated in “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things” by Lev Grossman.

The Prisoner of Limnos: a novella in the World of the Five Gods by Lois McMaster Bujold:  No way was I waiting for the audiobook! This is both a standalone adventure and the third installment of a larger story, following on from Penric’s Mission and Mira’s Last Dance. It’s an interesting case of themes and variations. Another member of Nikys’s family requires rescue, and although the circumstances are different, the politics behind it are not (Her brother has enemies in high places). Penric takes inspiration from Desdemona for another disguise. Nikys is given another example of people whose relationships are successful despite being unconventionally complicated. It’s a much better place to leave everyone than Mira’s Last Dance.

* Shattered Warrior by Sharon Shinn, illustrated by Molly Knox Ostertag (graphic novel):  I’m not really a graphic novel person so I wasn’t excited until I saw the artwork. Colleen’s planet has been invaded by aliens, society and infrastructure have crumbled and her family are dead or missing. I loved the worldbuilding, how expressive everyone’s faces are and how the pictures tell the story. I really liked the balance between action and emotion - this is as much about the choices and connections Colleen makes as it’s about how she rebels. I also appreciated that darker aspects are not ignored but neither are they allowed to dominate. This is a story about hope.

The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag (graphic novel): In Aster's family, girls become witches and boys become shapeshifters. Everyone discourages Aster’s interest in witchery but he keeps learning in secret. A solid, diverse story about being different and finding acceptance. I'd have stronger feelings about it if the artwork’s aesthetic had appealed to me more. I didn’t dislike it - I loved Ostertag’s illustrations for Shattered Warrior and it’s only the colour palette (and worldbuilding) that’s different here - but I didn’t love it, either? Graphic novels are not my preferred mode of storytelling, so maybe I’m just not very interested if I don’t love the artwork...

A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer: I've wanted to read this ever since I read the companion novel/sequel years ago. In hindsight, taking so long to find this was actually a good thing, because I couldn’t remember anything remotely spoiler-ish. And I wasn’t disappointed by how much of it is about Faris after she leaves college. This is a mystery about magic and a coming-of-age story about responsibility. It is vivid and poignant and there’s something really lovely about it. I enjoyed the parts about college life, and Faris’ friend Jane is an utter delight. I’m so pleased I finally got to read this.

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon: Two Indian-American teenagers meet at a summer app-development convention. Their meeting is arranged by their parents, but while Rishi believes Dimple has agreed to meet him, to see if they’d suit, Dimple is unaware of their parents’ plans. I enjoyed this, but not as much as I was expecting to. All the comments I’d seen suggested this was funny. And it wasn’t. It was still entertaining and likeable, I just didn’t find it humorous. Because humour is subjective, I guess. Also, I wished there was less focus on the romance - or rather, more focus on other parts of the story.

Provenance by Ann Leckie: Leckie’s new story is about family - the things people do for them and the things people do to get away from them. There were a lot of things I liked. Characters, scenes, ideas. There were moments that made me laugh or took me took me by surprise. I also like how Leckie presents elements of her worldbuilding and leaves the reader to put the pieces together. However I found I had to concentrate extra hard to follow what was going on, and, although I liked them, I didn't feel strongly about the characters. I was expecting that I'd care more...

* Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C.S. Lewis (narrated by Nadia May): The Cupid and Psyche myth, from the perspective of Psyche’s older sister, surpassed my expectations. It is surprising, powerful and occasionally heartbreaking. Orual is fierce in love and anger and her relationships are complex, often more so than is first apparent. She’s not so much an unreliable narrator as a biased one, which I found really interesting. Also interesting is all the ways in which she does not conform to conventional ideas of womanhood - neither as a woman of Glome nor as the protagonist of a novel written in 1956.

The City in the Lake by Rachel Neumeier: A coming-of-age story written in a style that reminded me less of Rachel Neumeier’s others novels and much more of Patricia A. McKillip, and maybe Robin McKinley. An the City, the Prince disappears. Meanwhile, on the other side of the great forest, Timou’s father, the mage Kapoen, leaves for the City and does not return. This is lovely. There’s a dreamlike quality to parts of it, but at its heart, it is very real and emotionally relatable - this story is about losing (and finding) family members. 

In the Greenwood by Mari Ness (short story): Published on Tor.com. This Robin Hood retelling is sharp and unexpected and fraught, in a way that I appreciate in short fiction or poetry but tend to find unsatisfying in novels.

This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills: Sloane, a high school senior, has recently moved to Florida. There’s a lot of different things going on here, from Sloane’s mission to find a painting by her new friends’ mother to her father’s adventures in fanfiction. At first, there didn’t seem to be quite enough space to explore everything properly - although I didn’t mind, because Sloane is witty and I was entertained. But as I read, I realised all of these are actually about love: family relationships, friendships, romantic relationships and the things people are passionate about. I really liked the way everything fitted together.

* Winter of Ice and Iron by Rachel Neumeier:  A tense, atmospheric and utterly gripping story of power and sacrifice. It is almost too dark for me to enjoy it - almost, because there’s thoughtful restraint to how the darkness is handled. The most unusual and complex aspect of the worldbuilding is the influence of Immanent Powers have on politics and those tied to them. But the characters were the reason I cared. By the time Kehera and Innisth’s paths cross, I was completely invested - and conflicted, because they each have the ability to help each other but their goals are different. Neumeier writes beautifully. This is amongst her strongest books. 

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crawley: Rachel and Henry were best friends until Rachel moved away and stopped replying to Henry’s letters. But after her brother drowns and she fails Year 12, she ends up working in Henry’s family’s secondhand bookshop. Meanwhile Henry has just been dumped and his parents are arguing about selling the shop. This alternates between Rachel and Henry’s POV, which means there’s a lot less suspense as the reader knows what both of them are thinking. On the other hand, knowing what they think of each other gives a sad story about endings - of life, of relationships, of dreams - a hopeful inevitability.

The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone by Jaclyn Moriarty: When Bronte was a baby, her parents left her with an aunt before gallivanting off on adventures. Ten years later, she receives the news that her parents have been killed by pirates. Their will insists that she set out alone on a journey to deliver a gift to each of her aunts. This is quirky and entertaining, and what begins as a episodic adventure eventually twists together in Moriarty-fashion. I suspect I would have stronger feelings about it were I still Bronte’s age or if it hadn’t been so light-hearted. All the same, I’d happily read more.