Probably more like a 3.75*, but I like to round up when possible.
Navigational Entanglements was creative, unique, and at times, a bit confusing. Look,Probably more like a 3.75*, but I like to round up when possible.
Navigational Entanglements was creative, unique, and at times, a bit confusing. Look, I won't pretend that I fully understood the world; I did not. It seems incredibly ambitious and well thought out, just perhaps not enough pages for the reader to fully grasp it? Which is unfortunate, but also... you do get the gist. So while I was a bit bummed that I wasn't going to understand the complexities, it also didn't really dampen the reading experience too much. Because really, I enjoyed the characters, and they seemed to be more the point, if you will.
We're told most of the story through a third person perspective of Việt Nhi. Nhi is pretty salty that she has to go on this mission that, she feels, does not exactly pull to her strengths. She's got to not only interact with and rely on other people, but people who are not from her clan. But go she must, and the story really jumps into gear when we see the lengths that Nhi and the others will have to go to. Lots of morally ambiguous choices to be made, danger, and figuring out who, if anyone, she can trust all become part of Nhi's adventure. Basically, it is worth it for Nhi's story, even though I think that more pages may have helped this one, it was still a satisfying story.
Bottom Line:
Ambitious world building with some great characters made this novella a win, though I think it could have been an even bigger hit as a full length novel.
After loving several of Sarah Crossan's YA titles, I was eager to take my first (and certainly not last) foray into her adult fiction. The title of thAfter loving several of Sarah Crossan's YA titles, I was eager to take my first (and certainly not last) foray into her adult fiction. The title of the book may be about Zoey, but the book itself is truly the story of Dolores. And it's one I quite enjoyed, and definitely felt sympathetic toward. So look: this isn't really about the AI sex doll, but it isn't not about it either. It's just less of a focus than I'd first thought. And that was fine!
Because wow, I felt Dolores. Ma'am is over here in the deadest of dead end marriages, but like a lot of us, she doesn't quite see the signs. Or sees them, perhaps, but doesn't realize how not okay they are. For example, "I thought that not wanting to touch your wife was perfectly normal" was one of her lines early on, which speaks volumes, especially in its nonchalance. Dolores is busy taking care of her mother who has some form of dementia, working at her teaching job, and basically just all the mundanity of life. When she realizes that her husband has spent eight thousand dollars on this doll, she's finally awakened from her placation.
Basically, Zoey is the catalyst for Dolores to finally see her life as it is. Not only that, Zoey opens the door for Dolores to face some of her past demons, too, as well as figure out some family dynamics, what she wants out of her career, etc. I liked this because... well, not everyone gets a "Zoey Moment". I did. Dolores did. But I hope that this story can be that "Zoey Moment" for someone to realize that they don't need to be a passive viewer in their own life. I liked those messages, and even though I would have liked more exploration into the ethics and such of AI dolls, it was still very worth the read.
Bottom Line:
More a contemporary than a speculative/AI story, it is still incredibly worth it to watch Dolores take back her agency.
Things in this world are just... bad, basically, and rendering cities uninhabitable. Food is scarce, people are dying from what the synopsis refers toThings in this world are just... bad, basically, and rendering cities uninhabitable. Food is scarce, people are dying from what the synopsis refers to as an "algae bloom". We follow our narrator/main character as she's in the midst of the fallout of the aforementioned Bad Thing™. She is currently the nanny for a young boy who seemingly has Prader-Willi syndrome, and since there is literally no food to eat, she has to be extra careful. His parents are obviously rich, and can't be arsed to deal with both their child with a disability and the end days, so they pay our MC to do it for them. They give her a break by taking Mauro to the "country" for a few days every so often. It's... rough, but she is trying to buy her and her mother's way out of the city, so. We do what we must. (Unless we're rich, then we just pay to make our problems go away- literally, in this case.)
We get to see glimpses of her life as she visits her mother, as well as her ex-husband who is in the hospital because he has fallen ill with this plague that everyone is getting from Monty's algae. We also get to see bits of how the city around her is devolving, literally right before her eyes. It's a quiet sort of apocalyptic story, as she's still clinging on to the remnants of her life while she tries to find both the means and the gumption to escape.
The atmosphere is incredibly on point, as the whole book has a rather melancholy tone, which you'd expect from such a novel. You can truly feel as the world around our main character slips further into decrepit isolation, as staying becomes completely untenable. There still remain hopeful moments, which do help to keep the book feeling balanced. There are moments were the pacing does feel quite slow, but like I said, this is a much quieter book, so it tracks.
Bottom Line: A thoughtful, quieter apocalyptic story that focuses on the smaller nuances of the endings of things.
The Deading was... definitely unique. Let's start with that. The concept of "deading", in which young folkMaybe 2.25*? Idk but not quite a 2.5 for me.
The Deading was... definitely unique. Let's start with that. The concept of "deading", in which young folks basically dropped in the middle of whatever they were doing to literally "play dead" was introduced at the start. Of course, like all things popular, eventually The Olds start doing it, and it becomes decidedly less cool. And then... things go off the rails, and right into bird watching. Look- I try not to punish books for how much I dislike birds, and how I'd rather watch paint dry than birds, and I can overlook a pretty reasonable amount of bird shenanigans. But what we have here is not a reasonable amount, I fear. Mostly because I don't really understand what the point of the birds even was?
When the crux of the story starts, the "bad stuff" happens in the water, with an oyster farming operation. The first folks who fall to the "stuff" are in the water. The "stuff" are not birds and have nothing to do with birds, as far as I can tell. Anyway, when the "stuff" infects people, it's like their minds are taken over, and they start deading. What does this have to do with the "deading" trend mentioned at the start of the book? Your guess is as good as mine. But this is a thing that happens to most of the town.
Some members of the local ornithological group, mostly older folks but one teen guy, find themselves immune. Is it because of bird watching? I don't know, but probably not since all of them are not immune. And now they have to, in essence, try to fight back against the townspeople who are infected.
There are some definitely relevant commentaries that are present in the story, but for me, the extraneous topics muddied the waters a bit. There were some interesting pieces, but none of them really came together in any cohesive way. While I liked the concept of the uninfected trying to survive the town, because of all the other stuff, it just didn't hit as hard. Also, how does this random infection cause "deading", which, as we are meant to understand it, was basically a TikTok trend? So... I have questions, and most of them went unanswered. Also, too much bird talk.
Bottom Line:
Unique and with some relevant commentary, but the various topics just didn't mesh together in a way that flowed.
In Thirst, we follow two characters: One, a vampire, over a century ago as she moves from Europe to Buenos Aires; the second, a modern woman strugglinIn Thirst, we follow two characters: One, a vampire, over a century ago as she moves from Europe to Buenos Aires; the second, a modern woman struggling with a lot of current-day problems like single motherhood, the illness of a parent, and general dissatisfaction with life. While I did appreciate a lot of the things this book had to offer, a few left me wishing for more. So, as I love to do, let's break it down!
What Worked For Me:
►The location and time periods! I do wish we'd gotten to see a bit more of Buenos Aires, though I was quite excited to be there! I also loved that we got to experience it in two very different time periods (technically, even more I suppose, but two for sure), which showed two very different examples of the city. I mean, did you know about the Paraguayan War? I didn't, but now I do! There was also a plague, and to the best of my sleuthing, it seems to have been yellow fever? Regardless, I know now quite a bit more about the history of Buenos Aires than I did before, and that is a win.
►I quite enjoyed the character of Alma. I mean- don't get me wrong, the vampire part was fascinating, too. I just liked the character of Alma more. (Interestingly, I read plenty of reviews that felt the opposite, so do with this what you will!) I did enjoy the journey to see how these two very different women, with stories vastly differing from each other, would connect. (As you'll see below, I did not enjoy the way it all went down, but I did enjoy trying to figure out how it would all happen.) I felt a lot for Alma, and her current life situations. She was compelling, for me, and I was eager to see what would happen next.
►The atmosphere was on point. This definitely had a gothic, vampiric feel to it, which I definitely appreciated!
What I Struggled With:
Okay here's the thing, my biggest issue with this book: the character development is completely incongruent with the choices they make. I am keeping this vague, but I will do spoiler tags to explain more. But look- I actually liked the character development, especially that of present-day Alma, like I mentioned. But then some of the things that end up happening make absolutely no sense to who the book has been making her out to be all along! It could be that something is lost in translation here, but I can't say for sure, as me and my very basic Spanish can't exactly translate it ourselves. It just kind of made me feel like the whole of the story is pointless, if nothing that Alma said or felt was genuine, if that makes sense? (view spoiler)[We spend literally half the book learning about Alma, her son, her dying mother. We hear about her past, her present, her fierce love for her son and her parents. And then the vampire comes along and she just... dips, leaving her young son and grieving father to their own devices. WHAT!? How?! How can you tell me that this protective, loving mother and daughter just decided to hop on down to the cemetery to spend eternity with a vampire that she met like, twice!?I maybe could have bought it if there was an actual relationship between them, but it was a brief infatuation/lust at most. No. Nope, nope, fucking nopety nope. And if she IS that kind of person, why'd you spend hundreds of pages convincing me otherwise?! I get that vampires have some sort of... glamour, or something, to use to lure people in, but this was not framed that way at all- it was made to seem like a very cognizant choice that was made. For reasons? (hide spoiler)]
Also, I didn't fully understand what made the vampire character tick. Bloodlust, obviously, as the title implies, but little else. As such, I could not understand fully the appeal of her, as a character. That part may be on me, as I said above, others seemed to quite enjoy her character, even if she didn't do it for me.
Bottom Line:
A dual-timeline, dual-character POV story that I enjoyed but also felt let down by.
Ah, another sequel that I daresay outshines its predecessor! We love to see it! I was giddy excited when I heard there was a follow up on the way to 2Ah, another sequel that I daresay outshines its predecessor! We love to see it! I was giddy excited when I heard there was a follow up on the way to 2022's All That's Left In the World, and wow did it deliver. By now, you all know that apocalypse novels are kind of my "thing", so makes sense that I was a fan.
This book was so full of heart, much like its predecessor. I found the stakes even higher in this one, probably because we know how messy the world is. I felt like I had a lot more in common with Andrew, and as such I related to him and his chapters more, because he made choices that I'd have probably made. Even so, I enjoyed reading Jamie's point of view as well. The differences between the two characters make them work well together, both in a relationship and just as a team. I equally loved the side characters, and how much our guys grew to consider them family. I think that has to be the key to surviving in a TEOTWAWKI situation- if there are no people to live for, what have you got? I will say, there were a few times where Andrew and Jamie's voices felt a little too similar, even though they are very well developed- so much that I had to look back a couple times to see whose chapter I was on. Minor gripe, in the grand scheme of things though!
The same bad guys from the first book are still a threat this time around. If there's one thing I can say about surviving the end of the world, the crappiest people seem to make it- probably because they'll do the most awful stuff to survive. That is no exception here, as our characters have to face a lot of brutal people, and also a brutal changing world in which things that seemed benign no longer are. Makes for such a thought provoking and realistic reading experience, frankly. Everything about this story, from start to finish, has been full of heart, and I have to say that is my favorite part about it- the idea of finding light in the darkest of times.
Bottom Line:
Such a great sequel/ending, exciting and satisfying and all the good stuff.
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