speculative

> Tag: speculative

CBR15 Passport! Book #1 – A book that is Not For Moi.

Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden

January 31, 2023 by narfna 9 Comments

Oof, this was not for me. Like, so not for me that I maybe shouldn’t even be writing a review, because my brain just bounced off this after about ten pages and then just kept bouncing harder and harder. This is a speculative fiction, experimental novel by British poet Salena Godden about an anthropomorphized version of Death (here called Mrs. Death, personified by an older Black woman) and her connections to/conversations with a person called Wolf. In addition to the the prose actually feeling like […]

“No point in thinking, you just have to get on with life. We only have one after all, we should try and do our best. We can never get it right, but we must try.”

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

December 29, 2022 by narfna Leave a Comment

I will admit that I have been avoiding this book since it was published, but especially after I read a Sherlock fanfic one time* that was a riff on Life After Life, and which is one of the most emotionally traumatizing fics I’ve ever read, so by association I was pre-traumatized by this book. Also, one time I read the first Jackson Brodie mystery and I thought it was boring, so I thought this would be boring too. Happily, wrong on all fronts! *If you […]

“They were supposed to grow up with their hands in each other’s pockets, compensating for one another’s weaknesses, encouraging one another’s strengths.”

Middlegame (Alchemical Journeys, #1) by Seanan McGuire

December 23, 2022 by narfna Leave a Comment

This was my first Seanan McGuire book, which is a little unbelievable, both because she writes in genres I love, and because she writes so very prolifically. And I started with a really good one. I’m not against spoilers and frequently spoil myself for things, but I went into this book almost completely unspoiled, even for the premise, and I think that’s the way to go. The book is so weird it’s almost impossible to really sum up in a blurb anyway. So, how to […]

“Comfort me with apples, for I am sick of love.”

Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente

December 5, 2022 by narfna 2 Comments

My initial reaction upon finishing Comfort Me With Apples was “wtf was this.” I’m not sure what I was going to rate it or say about it before my book club meeting, but something one of the other members said during the meeting sort of flipped a little switch in my brain and clarified my feelings and thoughts about it. This was a weird effing book. Especially if you go in thinking you know what the main premise is, but you really don’t as it turns out, […]

“I’d follow a clown into a storm drain if he had a baby goat in pajamas.”

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez

November 22, 2022 by narfna Leave a Comment

Objectively Part of Your World is probably closer to four stars, but I had a really good time with it so I’m giving it five. This book was so uplifting and charming and cozy and swoony. Firstly, before we get to plot, probably good to know that this takes place in a very, very, very light sff atmosphere, so there will have to be some suspension of disbelief, but honestly that’s not hard to do here (the idea, I think, was to try to create an approximation […]

I’m still not sure exactly what to make of this book and it’s been months.

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

October 17, 2022 by narfna Leave a Comment

I found this an enjoyable reading experience, but it definitely wasn’t a perfect read for me. I’m gonna need to talk spoilers to get my full thoughts out, but they’ll be marked. But first, non-spoilery thoughts. Obviously you know from the title that this is a book about maps, and people who make, study, and collect maps. It’s also about family, secrets, magic, and murder. Our main character is Nell, whose mother died in a fire when she was a small child, and whose father […]

Leedock on Because when women understand chemistry, they begin to understand how things work.Soooo much better!
narfna on We are women without a voice…We are women out of time and place, without even the language of the country we reside in.Everything I hear about this makes me want to read it more. I've heard the audio is great, that's probably the route I'll go.
narfna on Because when women understand chemistry, they begin to understand how things work.The author hates the cover, too! I, like you, judged the book by the cover and was wrong. The British one is much better. https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61QJVdPaRWL.jpg...
narfna on Her grin was tiny but evil. Adorably evil, if that was a thing.TBRed!
Leedock on Maiden voyagesWelcome! A Marvellous Light worked better for me, but this was a good book. I'm looking forward to the last in the trilogy when, I...

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