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Recent reading
Jun. 4th, 2023 08:21 pmDeeplight by Frances Hardinge (2019)
Read for book club. I really enjoyed this! Which is not a surprise, since I have loved the author’s previous books as well. The worldbuilding is great, and the world feels so lived-in and real. There was so much narrative tension in this book--sometimes I had to put it down because I was so worried about where the main character’s questionable decision would land him next. And the gradual reveals about the nature of the gods and the Cataclysm are so great—Quest was definitely my favorite character. Book club was of divided opinion. Everyone agreed that it was a good book, but the horror aspects and the gradually more abusive friendship was not for everybody. I didn't actually read it as horror? I think this is because it was a secondary world where everybody knew this was how it worked, rather than our world with sea monster horror introduced.
The Wolf and the Girl by Aster Glenn Gray (2019)
Another book which I enjoyed for its engaging storytelling! I have seen so many takes on little Red Riding Hood in Yuletide, but this is one take I have not seen before. But then, that fairy tale is only the jumping off point. I loved the relationship between Masha and Raisa--it's interesting how they get so comfortable as girl and wolf together that it feels strange to them when they are suddenly two girls instead. The two halves of the book could have felt like two stories smushed together, but I was happy to follow along wherever they ended up. I was a little bit confused, though, because I was somehow expecting it to be f/f romance, and later went back to see if it was actually labeled as such. And yes, it is labeled that way by some sites and reviews, but to me it was a story about friendship (I mean, it might possibly turn romantic later on, but it doesn't happen in the text that I can see). Not that I was disappointed--for so much of the time, they are a girl and a wolf together, which is perhaps not conducive to building romantic/sexual tension.
I also read some sample chapters of Like the Down of a Thistle by Sarah Swan, which is a historical f/f romance set in the Scottish Highlands, with two ordinary clanswomen as protagonists. It went like this:
Protagonist: My family has a Clydesdale horse and I am wearing a muslin chemise!
Luz: Okay, I think you must be in the 19th century.
Protagonist: My neighbor’s husband is going off to raid and fight a battle against another clan!
Luz: Whoa. You're in the 17th century at the latest.
Protagonist: This summer we are going to try the strange new crop called potatoes!
Luz: Right, you just positioned yourself in the mid-18th century.
Sigh, probably not the Jacobite f/f romance we are looking for...
Read for book club. I really enjoyed this! Which is not a surprise, since I have loved the author’s previous books as well. The worldbuilding is great, and the world feels so lived-in and real. There was so much narrative tension in this book--sometimes I had to put it down because I was so worried about where the main character’s questionable decision would land him next. And the gradual reveals about the nature of the gods and the Cataclysm are so great—Quest was definitely my favorite character. Book club was of divided opinion. Everyone agreed that it was a good book, but the horror aspects and the gradually more abusive friendship was not for everybody. I didn't actually read it as horror? I think this is because it was a secondary world where everybody knew this was how it worked, rather than our world with sea monster horror introduced.
The Wolf and the Girl by Aster Glenn Gray (2019)
Another book which I enjoyed for its engaging storytelling! I have seen so many takes on little Red Riding Hood in Yuletide, but this is one take I have not seen before. But then, that fairy tale is only the jumping off point. I loved the relationship between Masha and Raisa--it's interesting how they get so comfortable as girl and wolf together that it feels strange to them when they are suddenly two girls instead. The two halves of the book could have felt like two stories smushed together, but I was happy to follow along wherever they ended up. I was a little bit confused, though, because I was somehow expecting it to be f/f romance, and later went back to see if it was actually labeled as such. And yes, it is labeled that way by some sites and reviews, but to me it was a story about friendship (I mean, it might possibly turn romantic later on, but it doesn't happen in the text that I can see). Not that I was disappointed--for so much of the time, they are a girl and a wolf together, which is perhaps not conducive to building romantic/sexual tension.
I also read some sample chapters of Like the Down of a Thistle by Sarah Swan, which is a historical f/f romance set in the Scottish Highlands, with two ordinary clanswomen as protagonists. It went like this:
Protagonist: My family has a Clydesdale horse and I am wearing a muslin chemise!
Luz: Okay, I think you must be in the 19th century.
Protagonist: My neighbor’s husband is going off to raid and fight a battle against another clan!
Luz: Whoa. You're in the 17th century at the latest.
Protagonist: This summer we are going to try the strange new crop called potatoes!
Luz: Right, you just positioned yourself in the mid-18th century.
Sigh, probably not the Jacobite f/f romance we are looking for...
