laurareads87's reviews
536 reviews

After having enjoyed City of Last Chances, I was very happy to check out this followup as well.  The inclusion of a list of characters at the beginning helped me to get back into the world-building for this series, which is complex.

This is a very different book to its predecessor, yet somehow they work together.  While City of Last Chances focused on a city under repressive occupation, House of Open Wounds focuses on a field hospital where the violently colonizing Palleseen army brings their wounded for experimental... treatments.  While the first book's setting is sprawling, this one's is almost cramped; while the first perhaps focused more on factions, the second is very much a book about a handful of individual characters.

There are a lot of themes here. The characters working in the medical hospital are in many cases using magical forms of healing, though the Pallesseen ostensibly want to eliminate these given their violent hostility to the religious traditions of those they colonize. There is plenty of discussion about what kinds of tactics are justifiable while fighting a war (a war the reader, I think, cannot support). Religion and religious commitment are also a main theme.  Overall, I enjoyed this - the character development is excellent and the multi-POV writing is effective.

These novels are set in the same universe and share one POV character. While reading this book's predecessor first would fill in some character backstory as well as some context, I feel like these could mostly be read as standalones.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bloomsbury, Head of Zeus, & the author for providing me with an ARC to review.

Content warnings: gore, body horror, violence, murder, death, medical content, medical trauma, injury detail, torture, war, grief, xenophobia, religious discrimination, colonialism. While there is some comic relief, this book absolutely does not shy away from depicting war's violence. Gore and violence throughout.

In <i>Divination and Human Nature,</i> Peter T. Struck examines the nuances, connections, and differences in perspectives on divination of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and the Neoplatonists. As his fascinating exploration makes clear, these philosophers viewed divination as a serious matter worthy of philosophical attention. In looking at these thinkers' views on divination, one also learns about their perspectives on a wide range of interconnected themes - the body, the divine, nature, and more. As someone with a keen interest in divination (especially cartomancy, astrology, and geomancy) and with an academic background in philosophy, I enjoyed this book very much.

A solid essay by one of my absolute favourite fantasy authors.

In this essay, Clark takes up the work of Edward Said - specifically his book <i>Orientalism</i> - as a framework to analyze the fantasy genre (by way of specific examples - ex. Tolkein, Martin) and its propensity for othering, exotifying, silencing, objectifying, and villianizing racialized 'others.' I think this would ideally be read with some degree of background familiarity with Said, as Clark doesn't precisely follow Said and it wouldn't necessarily be clear to an unfamiliar reader where the differences  in their ideas lie, but understanding Orientalism is not a prerequisite for comprehending this essay's arguments by any means.  Clark's suggestions for doing better as fantasy authors make good sense and feel like a generous way to conclude.

The worldbuilding was what really stood out for me in the first book in this series, and in this sequel the worldbuilding continues to be the highlight.  The relationship between Io and Giant, and their people's perceptions of each other, was one of the most fascinating parts of this story for me.  The use of different languages' terms throughout - 'grignoter' from French, 'chisme' from Spanish, and so on - I found interesting (and entirely believable given the world this book is set in); 'grok' and 'donkulus' did not work so well.

In my review of the book's predecessor, The Mimicking of Known Successes, I noted that I found the relationship between Mossa and Pleiti less interesting than the other aspects of the book (the plot/mystery, the setting, etc.); I would say the same here, but this book focuses more on the relationship and so didn't interest me as much as the first.  There are way to many words here that are some variant of 'but how does she feel about me?!' for me.

Content warnings: murder (not on-page), violence

I really enjoyed Everfair, so was happy to pick up Kinning.

Kinning has a very large, diverse cast whose POVs feel distinctive (which is an accomplishment particularly given the plotline). There are even some brief non-human character POV sections which are really well done. The world-building in these novels is fantastic - a steampunk alternative history - and the engagement with big themes (autonomy, empathy, ideology, anticolonial politics, collective consciousness) is well realized. This book poses some serious questions about independence and interdependence and boundaries and bodily autonomy in interesting ways.

I can definitely see how this series wouldn't be for everyone - it's multi-layered and complex, and at times the massive cast and multiple plotlines and shifting allegiances and relationships can get a bit confusing, particularly toward the end of the book (around 70% or so). All in all though, I definitely enjoyed it and if there are more books set in this world, I'll pick them up for sure.

Content warnings: racism, racial slurs, sexism, colonialism, medical content, mentions of war, mentions of incest

A worthy conclusion to an excellent trilogy.  This third volume focuses on Selma and the struggle for voting rights, and delves into the complexities of the relationships between different individuals and groups within the civil rights movement.  This is far from my first book on this topic, but I still learned a lot.  5 stars for all three installments - highly recommend.

<i>Content warnings:</i> racism, racial slurs, sexism, violence, assault, murder, police brutality, hate crimes, gun violence, murder of children, grief

4.5.  I am so glad that JesseOnYoutube chose this as a group read for Blackathon2024 as I may never have found this text at all otherwise.  I don’t know what I expected when I picked up Vagabonds!  It wasn’t this, but the way Osunde captures the spirit of Lagos is extraordinary; this feels like more of a collection of very slightly intertwined short stories than a novel, but the connecting thread to all of it is Lagos itself, and particularly queer experiences of Lagos. It was a little bit inconsistent, but Osunde's writing held my attention throughout and some sections I found very emotionally impactful. 
 I found Osunde’s descriptions – particularly of queer pain and joy, of exclusion, of internalized queerphobia – deeply impactful and deeply true, and found myself highlighting frequently.  I will absolutely pick up Osunde’s next book.

<i>Content warnings:</i> violence, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, domestic abuse, forcible confinement, sexual assault, suicide, murder, death, grief

Another excellent installment, as good as the first - here, the emphasis is on the Freedom Rides for the most part, and the lead-up to the March on Washington.  What I really appreciated most about this one was the exploration of internal disagreements within the civil rights movement; here, Lewis captures a range of perspectives on non-violence (as a tactic and as a philosophy), the challenges of trying to maintain alliances across differences in perspective, and, briefly, discrimination within the movement itself (with respect to the unwillingness of some to accept Bayard Rustin's leadership for fear that his sexuality would be used in some way to discredit the movement). Highly recommend this series.

<i>Content warnings:</i> racism, racial slurs, homophobia, hate crime, police brutality, confinement, grief, violence, murder

4.5.  The Monsters We Defy is a fantastical heist adventure set within a wonderfully crafted historic Washington DC populated by actual historical figures - WEB DuBois, Langston Hughes, Carter Woodson, and more - that has much to say about gentrification, colourism, class division, and resistance to racism.  The plot is well paced and exciting, and I enjoyed the cast of characters very much.

This novel would make absolutely fantastic television; I'd happily read more set in this world & more from Leslye Penelope.

Content warnings: racism, racial slurs, police brutality, racist violence, hate crime, enslavement, classism, colourism 

March is an excellent graphic novel introduction to John Lewis and his work as a young activist in the civil rights movement.  This first volume covers many familiar events, such as the Woolworth sit-ins, the founding of the SNCC, and King's speech during the March on Washington.
 While I have a broad understanding of the movement's history, I learnd a lot about Lewis' role and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Nate Powell's illustrations bring Lewis' story to life - I like the choice of black and white, which gives the imagery a feel of having been sketched by a witness to the events. Highly recommend.

Content warnings: racism, racial slurs, violence, animal death, hate crime, police brutality, death (murder) of a child, confinement, grief, mention of slavery.