sashahc's reviews
169 reviews

The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai

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adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“Daughters of Izdihar” by Hadeer Elsbai features disaster bisexuals, an Avatar-like magic system, a feminist revolution in an Egypt inspired setting, and characters you alternately want to cheer, shake, and hug.  It deals with class, gender, sexuality, and ACAB.  I’m loving seeing a surge of MENA SFF! #book
Crownchasers by Rebecca Coffindaffer

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My last few #book s have been intense and dark, so it was lovely to read a romp.  “Crownchasers” by Rebecca Coffindaffer is an interstellar great race between a boisterous but reluctant heir and her childhood friends for an imperial throne.  It’s a fast paced space adventure with cozy vibes and casual queerness.  If you like Becky Chambers, you’ll enjoy this one.
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

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adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It’s unusual athat I read a #book where I truly do not know where it’s going or how it’s going to end up until the last pages.  “Some Desperate Glory” by Emily Tesh is a space opera about a teenager raised on a fascist asteroid holding the last bastion of humanity.   Maybe.  It’s layered and queer and full of relationships and growth and acknowledging  different forms of power.  It’s a heady brew.
The Pomegranate Gate by Ariel Kaplan

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I read another very different Jewish fantasy set during the Spanish Inquisition.  “The Pomegranate Gate” by Ariel Kaplan dives deep into Jewish folklore and Sephardi history.  It takes place half in the “real” world and half in the world of Mazikkin - spirits.  It has cranky old women, a queer tailor who can’t see a straight line, and a brilliant and willful half Mazik girl who creates her own twin.  It’s fun and adventurous and I look forward to the sequel.  #book
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I just finished “The Familiar” by Leigh Bardugo.  (Author of Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows). It’s about a conversa (Sephardic Jews who were forcibly baptized) in Inquisition Spain whose magic is both an opportunity and a deep danger.  Great setting and very engaging.  Full of complicated characters and politics.#book
Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If you are looking for a post-apocalyptic teenage sapphic shoot-em-up mecha revolution, "Gearbreakers" by Zoe Hana Mikuta may be up your alley.  Full of bad attitudes, questionable technology, and traumatized youth fighting the man.  Good wholesome YA fun.
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Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Micaiah Johnson’s “Those Beyond the Wall” (follow up to “The Space Between Worlds”)is a hurricane of a #book.  It’s deep rage and fierce love and community and family.  Vibes are queer multidimensional Mad Max where the landscape is a main character and revolution is required.  I had twisted dreams for a week.  Rec’d.
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A Fistful of Sky by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

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emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Re-read an old comfort read of mine today.  “A Fistful of Sky” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman is about Gypsum, a young adult from a magical family in Southern California.  Unlike her siblings, she didn’t gain powers in adolescence and assumes herself normal.  Except one day she does, and it’s an unkind power.  It’s totally a vibes rather than plot #book and Gypsum is such a great character.  It’s about family and how intertwined we are - the good and the bad.  And about settling into ourselves.  Highly rec’d. 
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I just finished a really good one.  “Starling House” by Alix Harrow is a glorious onion of a Southern Gothic.  Although linearly told, it masterfully tangles myth, dream, reality, past, and present.  There are family abandonments, small town dramas, an evil coal company, and a haunted house that may be the gateway to the underworld.  The main character is fierce, funny, scrappy, traumatized, and deeply loyal.  It is beautifully written and not at all a cozy, but it was a wrench to let the characters go at the end.  Read it.  #book.
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A Coming of Age by Timothy Zahn

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adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I reread a #book from my youth and was glad to see it stood up to the ravages of time.  “A Coming of Age” by Timothy Zahn is about a post Earth colony where children have telekinesis up until puberty.  It’s an exploration of what society would become as seen through the intertwined story of a pre-teen girl dreading losing her power, a snake peddling prophet, a police officer looking for a missing 5yo, and a scientist trying to upend everything.  I’m going to read it to Z, because it’s just the kind of what-if he likes to pose.  A good MG/YA adventure.