Thank you, NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Every single person giving this book 4 or 5 stars is only doing so because they have Thank you, NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.
Every single person giving this book 4 or 5 stars is only doing so because they have bad taste or are fans of Misha Collins. I liked supernatural, but I only thought mean things while I listened to this book....more
A Greek mythology girlie through and through it only made sense that I start my audiobook journey with I, Antigone.
I was lucky enough to get my audioA Greek mythology girlie through and through it only made sense that I start my audiobook journey with I, Antigone.
I was lucky enough to get my audiobook from NetGalley. And I’m glad that I started it a long while ago and left off when I hurt my knee. The book came in handy today. I was going to cry in the middle of 50 person line to enter a tax office, and yell at my boyfriend and HR. Books can save you in the most unexpected of ways, in unlikely spaces.
The story of Oedipus has always been a tragic one. No less tragic is the story of Jocasta, his wife and mother, and his children, one of whom, Antigone, narrates this story. We know Antigone’s story for the play by Sophocles. We know her fathers story even better. After all, Frued had a field day.
Frued didn’t mention that Oedipus tore his own eyes out.
I feel like there isn’t much I should mention about the plot. A book based on Greek mythology depends only on the strength of the writer and the journey they take on us. After all, we know these stories; we know the start and end and what happens in the middle. These characters are compelled to act the way they do. After all, as Stephen Mitchell put it,
“the trojans couldn’t give Helen back because they didn’t give her back.”
And as Antigone says
I’m not free to not do it.
There’s something oddly comforting and terrifying in that; that sometimes we must do what we must do for no other reason than it was written in us. Nurture or nature; fate or chance, the odds are sometimes just so stacked against us and all we can do is hurry ourselves along with some dignity.
This book was a good example of that. We never talk about Oedipus and Jocasta as man and wife. It’s always hidden away under what we know is incredibly repulsive. Although I think those of us who also grew up on Flowers in the Attic know that life is a bit harder and more messy than it needs to be. But his fidelity at the end when he asks to go to her funeral and is denied by Creon is a bit different. After all, we all know how horrified Oedipus and Jocasta were; the idea of fidelity, even after that is truly something. It’s these details that Carlos Gerber uses to bring them to life; to make us sympathetic towards them. We don’t need to like them all the time or their actions; but the story of Oedipus, as other stories in Greek myth, has always been one to show us that human beings are doomed. And it’s only how we conduct ourselves through that fate that make our lives worth something....more
"As my mother helped undress me with a gentleness that only increased my fear, I understood then why the first sin on this earth had been a murder. Am"As my mother helped undress me with a gentleness that only increased my fear, I understood then why the first sin on this earth had been a murder. Among kin."
Thank you, NetGalley and John Murray Press for the chance to read and review Memphis by Tara M Stringfellow!
Memphis is an absolutely wonderful book! It's the story of 4 women and how they work to protect each other and their families from the violence that is never too far from their home.
The story starts with Miriam moving back to her home in Memphis to live with her sister, August, and her son, in their mother Hazel's old home, after Jax, her army husband takes his anger out on her in front of their children. It's early on that we realize that Joan (Miriam's older daughter) was assaulted by her cousin at the age of 3. While action was taken then, they're all living under the same roof which doesn't make things any easier on Joan and her little sister My.
Honestly, one wouldn't be able to tell that this was a debut novel. Tara M. Stringfellow put together a beautiful book on how complicated family can be. This is not to say that Derek is ever forgiven by his mother or family, he is taken from his family for some time as well, but the entire situation makes you feel really incredibly helpless. As family what do you do?...more
Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for the chance to read and review this book!
I think the blurb on Goodreads kinda says it all. That this is a take on beiThank you NetGalley and Knopf for the chance to read and review this book!
I think the blurb on Goodreads kinda says it all. That this is a take on being a young woman and all the different identities that come into play. Between the harmless fantasies 'Scabbing’ and ‘The Pussycat Dolls’ to the fetishization of ‘Starless Nights in Washington.’ You have childhood memories of mothers mortified and amused (The Burial.) and you can see the fate of those older than you (Assimilation)....more
Disclaimer: I can’t tell the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek.
So I just had to text someone last night and be like was there only one R2-D2 Disclaimer: I can’t tell the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek.
So I just had to text someone last night and be like was there only one R2-D2 or does everyone have an R2-D2? I also found out that Padmé and Anakin and Palpatine are part of the larger Star Wars universe and not just part of this book series.
But I also googled R2-D2, and I’m sure someone has watched a Star Wars movie even if they didn’t pay attention to it, and I’m fairly sure that R2-D2 is the kind of character that you’d cry for if he died.
So this book is probably going to be a lot better for you if you have some idea about Star Wars or have read the first couple of books in this series specifically. That being said, even if don’t know a lot about this, Star Wars has had a large enough impact on pop culture that you’ll have a friend who can walk you through most things.
This was an interesting book regardless. I love the way you see how Sabé gets slightly resentful of what Padmé is asking her to do. I found it so weird that Padmé and Anakin have kept their marriage such a big secret that there’s no reason for them to officially contact each other; I mean I understand but I’d go insane.
But I liked this! I liked this enough to want to watch Star Wars on the weekend. I’m going to start off with Clone Wars because and ease myself into the rest. I loved Sabé at the end and how she said, my hands are yours. Please don’t ask me for the again. That gave me massive feels!...more
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!
While one can tell how honest Sadee Bee is being in this collection, the poetry as a Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!
While one can tell how honest Sadee Bee is being in this collection, the poetry as a whole wasn’t for me. However, I really loved the short essays she included in this book and would read more of those. ...more
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!
I’m sorry but this just didn’t work for me. I think the writer put in a lot of effortThank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!
I’m sorry but this just didn’t work for me. I think the writer put in a lot of effort and the poems were nicely organised. However the style of the poems just wasn’t for me....more
Thank you NetGalley and The Passionate Pen for the chance to read and review the arc for 100 Nights with the Duke.
I can easily see why Jess Michaels hThank you NetGalley and The Passionate Pen for the chance to read and review the arc for 100 Nights with the Duke.
I can easily see why Jess Michaels has been able to publish 100 romance novels, and I'll probably check out more if I haven't already! This was a fun, light, read, with a lot of smut. I loved the twist, I didn't see that coming from Granny!...more
Thank you NetGalley and Wellfleet Press for the chance to read and review In Focus Wicca by Tracie Long.
I’m a fan of the whole In Focus series and thiThank you NetGalley and Wellfleet Press for the chance to read and review In Focus Wicca by Tracie Long.
I’m a fan of the whole In Focus series and this is not an exception. While I don’t know enough about Wicca to comment on whether or not things were described correctly, certain things such as tarot cards overlap with other books and interests to make me feel like Tracie Long knew exactly what she was talking about. I loved the section on wax candlemancy and will absolutely be trying a candle spell!...more
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the chance to read and review Up All Night with A Good Duke by Amy Rose Bennett!
I loved this book! The charactThank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the chance to read and review Up All Night with A Good Duke by Amy Rose Bennett!
I loved this book! The characters are interesting, the plot is fun, and I loved the conniving governess. I can’t wait for the next two books in the series. I’m sure they’re at least two more for reasons that will be obvious when you read this one.
I would have loved a bit more about her friends in this book and I hope the author makes sure to show us their dynamic and relationships with one another instead of just having us know that they are close. In this book, they do a lot for her, but we don’t know much about their pasts together....more
Thank you NetGalley and Bookleaf for the chance to read and review this book!
The premise was interesting, and I think fans of Amanda Lovelace and RupiThank you NetGalley and Bookleaf for the chance to read and review this book!
The premise was interesting, and I think fans of Amanda Lovelace and Rupi Kaur may like this collection. However, it does leave a lot to be desired. This may have made a good writing challenge, but did not make for a good book of poetry. It didn't feel honest, more like someone knows what type of poetry should sell in this market and wrote that....more
Thank you @tbrbeyondtours for the chance to read and review Sofi and the Bone Song by Adrienne Tooley!
Sofi and the Bone Song is a YA, queer, standaloThank you @tbrbeyondtours for the chance to read and review Sofi and the Bone Song by Adrienne Tooley!
Sofi and the Bone Song is a YA, queer, standalone fantasy novel that came out on the 19th of April, 2022. It was published by Margaret K. McElderry Books and all 416 pages go by in the blink of an eye.
“To Sofi, effortlessness and magic went hand in hand. There was no hard work associated with spilling a drop of blood to conjure fire-no gathering of wood or sparking of tinder or careful tending to a small flame.”
In this world Music might be the last untouched art, but that doesn’t mean its practitioners are above doing what it takes to be the best; after all, there are only a select 5 and their apprentices.
I adored the magic system in this book; between the papers, marrow and witches themselves, it was fascinating! I also loved the close relationship the king had with the Musik and their children.
All in all, a solid 4 star read that is definitely worth a reread as well! I can’t wait to get my hands on one to add to my bookshelf!
"in this world i am never so lonely that i laugh just to have something to wrap my hands around
in this world i am no longer a list of unasked questions &"in this world i am never so lonely that i laugh just to have something to wrap my hands around
in this world i am no longer a list of unasked questions & the answer to each is no longer the word blasphemy in this world when the parts of me that are not made of water beg for mercy
i spare them"
Thank you NetGalley and Button Poetry for the chance to read and review the ARC for So, Stranger by Topaz Winters.
I wasn't expecting much from this collection; the cover is not to my taste and in a store would put me off. But here I am, pretty surprised that this turned out to be a phenomenal collection on loss (for lack of a better word) and family. Topaz Winters is a great writer and puts her best foot forward with the first piece 'Departure Time.' My other favorites were 'Ars Poetica Il: Season Finale of the American Dream' and 'In your absence', which hit closer to home than I would like to admit.
I'll be checking out more by this poet soon!...more
Thank you, NetGalley for the chance to listen to the audiobook for Rose Petal Graves by Olivia Wildenstein and narrated by Stephanie Fritz.
Rose Petal Thank you, NetGalley for the chance to listen to the audiobook for Rose Petal Graves by Olivia Wildenstein and narrated by Stephanie Fritz.
Rose Petal Graves is the third audiobook I've finished in my life, and the second one I haven't hated. It's the first book in the lost clan series with a very very stupid main character, who also has an incredibly stupid family. It's truly a marvel that she and her aunt and her mother survived as long as they did. Who reads a book and decides, I want to see if our ancestors are still alive under the ground after 200 years? At least in our mains case, she's 19, what excuse do the others have?!?!?!
It's also good for me in audiobook form, I don't have to pay too much attention, but I still get what's going on while I do things. Of course, I really do want the next book just to see who survives!...more
"'Food and sex mean the same thing to the demon my mum told me after Ye-Ye left. 'If you ever get too close to a human, you’ll lose control, and your "'Food and sex mean the same thing to the demon my mum told me after Ye-Ye left. 'If you ever get too close to a human, you’ll lose control, and your human side will lose its soul, just like in that TV program.’
'What about you and Dad though? How was I made if that’s true?’
'No questions,’ she said.' ‘Inside your body is death.’"
Thank you, NetGalley for the chance to read and review ‘Woman, Eating’ by Claire Korda.
While the premise of the book is fascinating, large chunks of it come off as boring.
We have a vampire who was turned at birth and who wishes she was human and could try different food. Her mother has raised her on a steady diet of pigs' blood, so that the demon is never fully given in to, and she's finding it hard to source that after a move to London.
Lydia deals with the fear of time moving on, her mother's failing health, and her own inability to create art now that she's graduated. She's also isolated, her mother taught her to never have any friends and struggling with loneliness.
So in some ways, this book is fantastic. It's a coming-of-age story that gets vampires very right, in a way that makes you really think you might have one as the next-door neighbor.
But Lydia was boring. This might have been the author's intention; after all, most people are boring. But that didn't work as well for this book as I think they imagined....more
Thank you NetGalley and Wellfleet Press for the chance to review the arc for In Focus Dreams by Angela Mogridge.
This book was really interesting and mThank you NetGalley and Wellfleet Press for the chance to review the arc for In Focus Dreams by Angela Mogridge.
This book was really interesting and more detailed than I thought something of 144 pages could be! Not only does the book cover different theories behind dreams, including religious ones, but it provides a pretty long list of common symbols and their interpretations. I loved the section on dreams in literature and art, and I would have loved for that to be longer....more
Thank you, NetGalley for the chance to read and review the ARC for Silk Hills by Brian Level and Ryan Ferrier.
Beth Wills, a private investigator, goesThank you, NetGalley for the chance to read and review the ARC for Silk Hills by Brian Level and Ryan Ferrier.
Beth Wills, a private investigator, goes to Silk Hills, a small Appalachian town that's seen better days since the mines were abandoned, to find a missing boy. Of course, she didn't expect all the Stranger Things type stuff that was going down there!
We're told pretty early that Beth is running from her past; a war veteran who was traumatized by her experience of being trapped underground in a cave. She's done with new york city and picks up this gig in Silk Hills. When she gets there she finds out that the town itself is pretty ugly on the inside (the way all small American towns in media are). It's also home to some really interesting moths and 'Dust,' a drug made from the scales of these moths. As she searches for the boy we're not sure if what she's seeing is real, or a hallucination because of the dust.
I'm not a big graphic novel fan, but this one was pretty interesting. I'm also not the biggest fan of the illustrations in this book, not through any fault of their own but just because they're not my style. That doesn't mean that there weren't some really beautiful ones in this book because there were.
We also end on a cliffhanger, and I'm very sure I'll read the next one in this series!...more
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