Recent reading

[luzula]

Deeplight 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...

Comments

[chestnut_pod]

Darn, I was so excited by the first sentence that included "historical f/f romance set in the Scottish Highlands, with two ordinary clanswomen as protagonists." Oh well! Perhaps another will come along.

[luzula]

Actually I didn't read the blurb properly, and find there the sentence "The Highland Clearances are affecting all the clans in the 1740s." Which does at least show us when the author intended it to be set...but unfortunately the Highland Clearances didn't happen until at least 50 years later...*facepalm*

[sovay]

Luz: Right, you just positioned yourself in the mid-18th century.

*snerk*

Please accept my condolences on their research.

[luzula]

I just read the blurb properly, and find there the sentence "The Highland Clearances are affecting all the clans in the 1740s." Which does at least show us when the author intended it to be set...but unfortunately the Highland Clearances didn't happen until about 50 years later...*facepalm*

Ah well. I hope I'm not being too mean--I did want it to be a book I could enjoy!

[osprey_archer]

(I don't usually comment on reviews, but I'll make an exception for The Wolf and the Girl genre debacle.)

So this book was published after I published two other romances (including another fairy tale retelling romance), and apparently a lot of people assumed it was also romance, even though it's not categorized as such or described that way in the blurb. Apparently what I needed to do was begin the blurb with NOT A ROMANCE, JUST A RETELLING.

It probably doesn't help that it was originally meant to be an f/f romance (and perhaps still hits some of the beats?) but didn't ultimate develop that way because Raisa is Masha's beloved pet wolf for most of the book and the pet => romantic partner transition just felt too weird.

[luzula]

Oh, that sounds annoying! I usually read reviews on Goodreads, and see that the book is tagged with "LGBT" and "romance" there, so that explains my expectation. Is the tagging done by authors or readers? And there's at least one review there calling it an f/f romance, which makes you wonder whether the reviewer actually read the book.

but didn't ultimate develop that way because Raisa is Masha's beloved pet wolf for most of the book and the pet => romantic partner transition just felt too weird.
Yeah, that makes sense! I did enjoy their relationship for what it was.

[osprey_archer]

The tagging is done by readers. And clearly some people do read it as an f/f romance! And, I mean, I guess if you squint... I've written fics from canons less textual basis... however in those cases I wouldn't call the canon a romance. Sometimes humanity is a mystery.

[cahn]

Deeplight is sooooo good! It just knocked my socks off. I liked it the best of the three Hardinge that I've read, though I think partially that had to do with not being in a state of mind to deal with intense discussion of abusive relationships when I read the other two...

I didn't really read it as horror either, although I can see how where that reading comes from -- rather a fantasy world with horrific elements, and yes, I think for the same reason you did.

[luzula]

Yes, so good! : D I'm now going to save up the Hardinge books I have left for a while...

[nnozomi]

lolol oh dear me, it had not occurred to that author that you were going to be one of her readers. I think "vaguely Scottish Highland-like fantasy" would have been safer for her...

[luzula]

As a further note, I just read the blurb properly, and find there the sentence "The Highland Clearances are affecting all the clans in the 1740s." Which does at least show us when the author intended it to be set...but unfortunately the Highland Clearances didn't happen until about 50 years later...*facepalm*

[sovay]

"The Highland Clearances are affecting all the clans in the 1740s."

How temporally impressive!

[regshoe]

...does this book actually say when it's supposed to be set? o_O (I don't suppose there are any specific references to Jacobite events to place things in history!).

[luzula]

I just read the blurb properly, and yes, it does say! There is the sentence "The Highland Clearances are affecting all the clans in the 1740s." Which, uh, I'm sure you can see the problems there in terms of yet another historical error.

But if she's setting it in the 1740's, why is the author not then using the '45 as the excuse for the husband to get out of the way?? And instead talking about some unspecified clan raids and battles...it's a mystery.

[regshoe]

??? Very strange. Especially strange that the author would specify the 1740s and then not bring in the Jacobites at all—surely the adventure and romance of Bonnie Prince Charlie are a big part of the appeal of the 18th-century Highlands as a dubiously accurate romantic historical setting in the first place???

Anyway, it's a shame that such a promising book turns out to be so disappointing! I hope there are better f/f Jacobite/Highland novels out there...

[author_by_night]

Sounds really interesting!