Really liked this! You can barely tell that this was her first book. It was pretty short, and for the most part that was fine, but there were parts whReally liked this! You can barely tell that this was her first book. It was pretty short, and for the most part that was fine, but there were parts where she sums up conversations instead of showing them, where I wanted her to actually show them. There's a significant story that Crane tells Stephen about how he got his tattoos, and we don't get to hear it at all! She also glossed over their initial bonding and friendship.
But other than that, this was actually great. It's equal parts fantasy, horror, and romance, and the plot actually was as intriguing as the romance. A lot of times plot just annoys me in romance novels because it feels like filler and is uninteresting, but here it was genuinely scary and exciting and cool, and Charles does a great job using the events of the plot to illuminate her characters.
Who are Lucien Vaudrey (Lord Crane, newly minted Earl, newly back in England after a twenty year exile to China) and Stephen Day (a practitioner of magic, whose father was ruined by Crane's family years before). The two are brought together when it becomes clear that someone has targeted Crane by magical means, and his life is in danger. Being from Shanghai, where shamans and magic are common, he and his manservant Merrick immediately seek the local services of a magician. Day ends up helping him reluctantly, first assuming that Crane is as horrible a person as his departed father and brother. What seems at first to be a straightforward single act of vengeance on Crane's family turns into a magical mystery, and both of them are soon in extreme danger as they try to unravel it.
Also, Crane is a terrible flirt and makes it very clear that he would appreciate a romp in the sack with the small but incredibly fierce magician (there was a reason his father exiled him to China, and that reason was incorrigible gayness). The sexytimes weren't quite up to my taste (and she gets way better at those as her career goes on), but I really liked the chemistry between the characters, and appreciated that because this is a series, the two aren't in love by the end of the book. They barely know one another, presumably that will happen in the rest of the series.
Definitely recommend though, and I'm excited to finish the series out, though I probably won't get around to it until later in the year.
Read Harder Challenge 2019: A self-published book.
Merged review:
Really liked this! You can barely tell that this was her first book. It was pretty short, and for the most part that was fine, but there were parts where she sums up conversations instead of showing them, where I wanted her to actually show them. There's a significant story that Crane tells Stephen about how he got his tattoos, and we don't get to hear it at all! She also glossed over their initial bonding and friendship.
But other than that, this was actually great. It's equal parts fantasy, horror, and romance, and the plot actually was as intriguing as the romance. A lot of times plot just annoys me in romance novels because it feels like filler and is uninteresting, but here it was genuinely scary and exciting and cool, and Charles does a great job using the events of the plot to illuminate her characters.
Who are Lucien Vaudrey (Lord Crane, newly minted Earl, newly back in England after a twenty year exile to China) and Stephen Day (a practitioner of magic, whose father was ruined by Crane's family years before). The two are brought together when it becomes clear that someone has targeted Crane by magical means, and his life is in danger. Being from Shanghai, where shamans and magic are common, he and his manservant Merrick immediately seek the local services of a magician. Day ends up helping him reluctantly, first assuming that Crane is as horrible a person as his departed father and brother. What seems at first to be a straightforward single act of vengeance on Crane's family turns into a magical mystery, and both of them are soon in extreme danger as they try to unravel it.
Also, Crane is a terrible flirt and makes it very clear that he would appreciate a romp in the sack with the small but incredibly fierce magician (there was a reason his father exiled him to China, and that reason was incorrigible gayness). The sexytimes weren't quite up to my taste (and she gets way better at those as her career goes on), but I really liked the chemistry between the characters, and appreciated that because this is a series, the two aren't in love by the end of the book. They barely know one another, presumably that will happen in the rest of the series.
Definitely recommend though, and I'm excited to finish the series out, though I probably won't get around to it until later in the year.
Read Harder Challenge 2019: A self-published book....more
My favorite of the Magpie books. I was surprised by this! The premise turned me off a little, which is why it took me so long to pick up. I'm not realMy favorite of the Magpie books. I was surprised by this! The premise turned me off a little, which is why it took me so long to pick up. I'm not really a fan of "redeeming the bad guy" stories, but of course Charles pulls it off. And, as it turns out, Jonah wasn't really a bad guy for what he did in the original trilogy. He was being coerced, very strongly.
Our narrator isn't Jonah Pastern, though, it's ex-policeman Ben Spenser, who was left behind by his lover Jonah to face jail time and months of hard labor for "gross indecency." Ben's life was completely ruined after Jonah swept out of it one morning. He lost his friends, his family, his job, and his health, and can no longer find decent work. He wants to find Jonah and exact his revenge (which is the most gentle form of revenge, wanting him to be punished for his crimes, and he can't even do that in the end because he's too good of a guy).
For once with these Magpie-world books, the romance is the star of the show and the world and the magic takes a backseat, which I very much appreciated. Jonah and Ben's relationship is very compelling and sweet, and in the end, satisfying. I did think it a bit hand-wavy how it ended, because it would never have ended that way in real life, but this isn't real life, and I'm glad these characters got their happy ending.
Merged review:
My favorite of the Magpie books. I was surprised by this! The premise turned me off a little, which is why it took me so long to pick up. I'm not really a fan of "redeeming the bad guy" stories, but of course Charles pulls it off. And, as it turns out, Jonah wasn't really a bad guy for what he did in the original trilogy. He was being coerced, very strongly.
Our narrator isn't Jonah Pastern, though, it's ex-policeman Ben Spenser, who was left behind by his lover Jonah to face jail time and months of hard labor for "gross indecency." Ben's life was completely ruined after Jonah swept out of it one morning. He lost his friends, his family, his job, and his health, and can no longer find decent work. He wants to find Jonah and exact his revenge (which is the most gentle form of revenge, wanting him to be punished for his crimes, and he can't even do that in the end because he's too good of a guy).
For once with these Magpie-world books, the romance is the star of the show and the world and the magic takes a backseat, which I very much appreciated. Jonah and Ben's relationship is very compelling and sweet, and in the end, satisfying. I did think it a bit hand-wavy how it ended, because it would never have ended that way in real life, but this isn't real life, and I'm glad these characters got their happy ending....more
Thanks to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Orbit for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
Okay, so I loved this, even though it wasn't Thanks to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Orbit for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
Okay, so I loved this, even though it wasn't perfect, and I kind of want to bump my 4.5 stars up to five. I feel like it might be one of those cases where after I read future books and re-read this one, it will be a full five. I want to get a physical copy and annotate! There are a LOT of people who are not getting what this is going for, which is fine if sad. But it's important to go in knowing it's not just a campy, fun time. I think this book is a smart, fun send-up of fantasy as a genre with actual pathos behind it. I can't wait to see what happens with these characters once the author really gets a chance to do things with them.
For the first 25%, I thought I was going to give this five stars, but the tension sort of petered out as it went along. I still had a good time, but iFor the first 25%, I thought I was going to give this five stars, but the tension sort of petered out as it went along. I still had a good time, but it didn't end as well as it began. Still, will definitely read more from Cait Nary.
Merged review:
For the first 25%, I thought I was going to give this five stars, but the tension sort of petered out as it went along. I still had a good time, but it didn't end as well as it began. Still, will definitely read more from Cait Nary....more
This was definitely a cozy mystery, with that ending. I thought it was building up to something else! Anyway, I love this series, and I'm glad it's baThis was definitely a cozy mystery, with that ending. I thought it was building up to something else! Anyway, I love this series, and I'm glad it's back to its origins with Daisy stopping bad men and helping the people they harm with pies. I need to buy hard copies of these books, if for nothing else than the recipes in the back....more
I kind of can’t believe how much I liked this. Sometimes you just have to try new things! I do not recommend that the new thing you try be eating humaI kind of can’t believe how much I liked this. Sometimes you just have to try new things! I do not recommend that the new thing you try be eating human eyeballs, as our MC is into, but like, try some pig ear soup! Or some menudo. You never had jackfruit? Try some jackfruit (had to throw something in for the vegans). You know! Or like me. Reading a book about a woman who looooooves eating eyeballs, a thing most versions of past me would not have believed I would do, let alone enjoy.
I sat on this review for a little bit because I wanted to see what my subconscious could do with the story after a little stewing (pun not intended—don’t stew eyeballs) and I’m glad I did that, because it has indeed settled in my head, and I think if I read it again, I would bump up my rating even higher.
The Eyes are the Best Part opens with Ji-won and her sister Ji-hyun witnessing their mother falling apart after their father left weeks before. The family is Korean American, both parents are immigrants, and the girls were born in the US. Their father leaving has thrown their lives into chaos. This also coincides with some changes for Ji-won, who is a freshman at college, and is dealing with growing pains of her own. Soon her mother begins dating a man named George, who is clearly an Asian fetishist, and Ji-won begins dreaming and then imagining (and then putting into practice) eating the blue eyeballs of men.
The blurb says the books is about a female serial killer in the making from a Korean American perspective, and that’s accurate, because it’s just as much about Ji-won dealing with being treated and feeling differently due to her race and gender (with a little bit of class thrown in for good measure; her family is poor) as it is about her becoming a murderous monster fixated on eating eyeballs. And the two things are not unrelated!
Something that initially kept me from giving the book five stars is that my brain was having a hard time making the connection between the eyeball eating and the clearly literary-leaning rest of the book, that so accurately and incisively pokes at the social structures Ji-won is straining against, at the men who look at Asian women and see nothing but sex, at the rest of society that puts Asian Americans into very defined categories and doesn’t allow for them to make mistakes (Ji-won is not a good student, doesn’t get into Berkley like her friends, and is put on academic probation in her first semester of college, just to name a few things). Anyway, so I jokingly suggested halfway through the book while trying to piece this all together, is the eyeball eating, is it the gaze??? And you know, it absolutely is. It just took my brain a bit to get there (and this interview from the author solidifies it). She absolutely did this on purpose.
Anyway, I highly, highly recommend this book. The unhinged main character, her outrageous actions, the incisive social commentary, all of it works. I can’t wait to see what Monika Kim does next, I will definitely be here for it.
I actually read this several years back bc I was curious, and it was all right. I actually think she needs a therapist and/or psychiatrist way more thI actually read this several years back bc I was curious, and it was all right. I actually think she needs a therapist and/or psychiatrist way more than she needs a publishing deal. Didn't feel the need to read any more of her books....more
As you did it to the strangest of my sisters you did it to me
MATTHEW 25:40
Next time I read this, I need to have the Bible and other resources with me
As you did it to the strangest of my sisters you did it to me
MATTHEW 25:40
Next time I read this, I need to have the Bible and other resources with me because I'm sure I missed a lot. The prayers and liturgy and scripture I recognized that she had referenced did hit harder than the ones I didn't. But the reason this isn't getting five stars is because some of the actual verse in the poems flopped pretty hard. The ones that were bangers made up for those, but still can't give this a five. Seemed very much like a debut poetry collection (says the person who knows nothing about poetry and doesn't like it that much). But dang do I love Emily Austin's style. (Former and lapsed Catholics, this one is for you. Hope you don't mind a bit of well-intentioned blasphemy.)
[4.5 stars]
Read Harder Challenge 2024: Read an indie published collection of poetry by a BIPOC or queer author....more
“We are going to watch a scary movie. I felt like watching something frightening so I could exert power over it. I want to eat popcorn while I watch i“We are going to watch a scary movie. I felt like watching something frightening so I could exert power over it. I want to eat popcorn while I watch it and laugh while it tries to scare me.”
And Emily Austin has become a new favorite author, with two five-star books in a row. More thoughts in my reading vlog....more
This was almost perfect. I just wanted a little bit more from it at the end. Will be updating my spreadsheet of things that make me want to read lit-fThis was almost perfect. I just wanted a little bit more from it at the end. Will be updating my spreadsheet of things that make me want to read lit-fic to include unstable, lovable, queer neurodivergents.
This was fantastic fun, and I learned a bunch while reading it. Very similar to my experience reading Bitch last year, except geared towards a young aThis was fantastic fun, and I learned a bunch while reading it. Very similar to my experience reading Bitch last year, except geared towards a young adult audience. Absolutely recommended for everyone, though, because it completely overturns some very basic assumptions that patriarchal society takes for granted. The natural world is absolutely chock full of queerness. We're fuckin natural as shit*. Plus, it's funny!
*About 10% of white-tailed deer are born intersex and asexual and live their lives just chilling in sexless groups, occasionally adopting orphaned fawns. As an asexual person, I find this amazing and heartwarming. Lots of fun tidbits like this in this book!
Read Harder Challenge 2024: Read a YA nonfiction book....more
This is a ridiculous book that I loved very much. Also, because I have low spoons at the moment and also because I couldn’t do better, here are some kThis is a ridiculous book that I loved very much. Also, because I have low spoons at the moment and also because I couldn’t do better, here are some key moments from the blurb:
"Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she’s fallen in love."
"Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor."
"Homily is kind and nurturing and would make an excellent co-parent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshen’s eggs so their young could devour Homily from the inside out."
"Eating her girlfriend isn’t an option."
"And the bigger challenge remains: surviving her toxic in-laws long enough to learn to build a life with, rather than in, the love of her life."
I think you’ll agree whoever wrote that blurb deserves an award of some sort. And in my opinion, it perfectly represents what you will get in the book: a tongue in cheek, weird little story about a monster who learns to be a person, while gross and funny things are constantly happening to and around her.
Also, I WILL NOTE LOUDLY, both of the love interests in this book, Shesheshen and Homily, are not only homoromantic but ASEXUAL. There is also a tertiary character in here that is called the offspring for most of the book that made me CACKLE every time it was on page. The last time I laughed this hard at a book and tabbed so many memorable, funny, and utterly weird lines was Gideon the Ninth.
I don’t know what to tell you about all the mediocre reviews of this one. They just don’t get it. I thought this book was perfect and exactly what I wanted, and I can’t wait to see what John Wiswell and his weird little mind do next.
Read Harder 2024: Read a book based solely on the title.
r/Fantasy BINGO 2024: Book Club or Readalong Book (Hard Mode)
The worldbuilding in this was a huge, huge problem (why are there HOT DOGS and FINGER GUNS in a high fantasy novel??? WHERE GUNS DO NOT EVEN EXIST), bThe worldbuilding in this was a huge, huge problem (why are there HOT DOGS and FINGER GUNS in a high fantasy novel??? WHERE GUNS DO NOT EVEN EXIST), but this wasn't terrible, and I would read from this author again if maybe they grow as a writer in a few years.
r/Fantasy BINGO: Published in 2024 (Hard Mode - A Debut)...more
The ending killed my buzz a little on this one, which up until then had been extremely interesting with arresting30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 4 Book 10/30
The ending killed my buzz a little on this one, which up until then had been extremely interesting with arresting imagery (not something I normally care about!) and an extremely unique look at modern religion, from the perspective a queer, chain-smoking, tattooed nun who was a former punk rocker until traumatic events pushed her to seek solace, as her mother did before her, in a sisterhood of fellow nuns. Plus, there is a mystery here, but honestly, it was the least interesting part of the book for me.
Also, when I say the ending killed my buzz, it's not that I didn't like what happened, but that it felt rushed. I wanted them to have spent more time leading up to it emotionally for our main character, Sister Holiday (her pre-nun name was Holiday Walsh), and then coming down from the fallout. A lot of things were left on the table as well, though some of that could be mitigated by the sequel. I think it's a fair complaint to have, though, in that this book should be able to mostly stand on its own, and several of the things not fully resolved should have been. Especially since it's my understanding that the next book has quite a time jump.
As a lapsed Catholic, I found Sister Holiday's spirituality very wholesome. She seeks solace and wisdom, wants to help others, and it's important to her that she live in a progressive convent (though one of the sisters hates her and uses her queerness against her). There was so much lovely prose about her thinking about god and her place in the world. On like page three she compares praying to a witch's spell, and I was in.
I was at a bit of an emotional remove from this one, and I don't know why, but it was still a fun time. Julie was v. relatable and Elle made my heart I was at a bit of an emotional remove from this one, and I don't know why, but it was still a fun time. Julie was v. relatable and Elle made my heart hurt. I skipped all the sex scenes.
Read Harder Challenge 2024: Read a book by an author with an upcoming event (virtual or in person) and then attend the event. (Saw them at the 2024 Tucson Festival of Books and got this book signed!)...more
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