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vickycbooks's reviews
871 reviews
VenCo by Cherie Dimaline
For a book that tried so hard to not be too girl boss-y, it was exceedlingly girl boss-y.
(Seven women will form a coven and somehow cure war and famine and everything bad with the world? Doesn't matter how LGBTQ+ friendly you are, there's something fundamentally flawed in this idea that this is what is (and is the only thing that is) going to lead to change. And okay, the epilogue tones it down a little bit, but inherently the way the stakes in VenCo are framed don't really convey the message that I think the author wanted to send.)
(Seven women will form a coven and somehow cure war and famine and everything bad with the world? Doesn't matter how LGBTQ+ friendly you are, there's something fundamentally flawed in this idea that this is what is (and is the only thing that is) going to lead to change. And okay, the epilogue tones it down a little bit, but inherently the way the stakes in VenCo are framed don't really convey the message that I think the author wanted to send.)
I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
5.0
Screaming, crying, throwing up this was so good and I was SOBBING at the end. I wasn't sold in the beginning, especially because I didn't quite pick up on all the slasher references initially (I've never watched a slasher), but I was fully committed by the 50% mark and the ending was so hard-hitting it's one of those unforgettable books. Graham Jones does incredible things with I WAS A TEENAGE SLASHER, imbuing a unique voice into this narrative that pokes fun at traditional slasher movies while drawing on some of the best parts of the genre and adding his own flair and heart into the story. It's a fantastic piece of horror writing with its own dashes of dark humor amidst the gore, and I wish I could read it all over again for the first time.
Translation State by Ann Leckie
5.0
I almost didn't read TRANSLATION STATE because some sources say it's the start of a new series (which I didn't want to be left on a cliffhanger for), while others call it a standalone. Nonetheless, I'm so glad I picked it up because it's one of the best books in the series! (And Ann Leckie seems incapable of writing cliffhangers which I'm very glad for.)
TRANSLATION STATE effortlessly builds upon all the worldbuilding that Leckie has set up in the previous Imperial Radch books -- the self determination in PROVENANCE, the Presger Translator shenanigans in ANCILLARY MERCY, and so much more. But unlike PROVENANCE which fell a little flat for me in Ingray's comedy-of-errors sort of storyline, TRANSLATION STATE presents three different compelling narrators: Enae, who has a bit of a only-one-in-the-family-to-be-bequeathed-something-after-rich-grandma-dies backstory and is shuffled off to work a job no one really cares about, but gets more than sie bargained for; Reet who is seemingly a nobody human who works a shitty job but gets Anastasia'd after a political group thinks he's someone from a long lost prominent family line; and dear Qven, our resident cannibal (this is normal) Presger Translator.
Ann Leckie provides not just one, but THREE compelling points of view, and it makes it hard for the reader to decide who they want to read more! Nonetheless, these narrators find each other in a great big political and cultural mess, and have to work their way out of it and not cause a giant intergalactic incident. Like all of the novels in the Imperial Radch series, Ann Leckie keeps a surprisingly small scope, even amongst this large world she's developed, and we get a very nice tidy story that does indeed resolve itself in TRANSLATION STATE with strong beats and a beautiful glimpse into what is (hopefully) to come in the series.
These books are written such that yes, theoretically you could read them as a standalone. But honestly? Why would you want to? The experience is so much richer having the backstory of what Breq has done to the Radchaai, what's going on with the Geck mechs, and why people care so much about this diplomatic conclave. Regardless, the standalone-ability of TRANSLATION STATE means we as readers get to experience a nice, satisfying ending for the characters of this book, while still yearning to see what happens to the world and when we might see our beloved characters again.
We still don't even get a direct glimpse of the Presger in TRANSLATION STATE -- just of the Presger Translators -- and even this is almost bone-chilling in the fact that they're mostly human with a little bit of Presger and already are little cannibalistic nightmares of children with almost unfathomable powers.
TRANSLATION STATE doesn't just leave me a satisfied reader, but it also leaves me yearning for what Leckie will put out next in the Imperial Radch series. Another stellar installment.
TRANSLATION STATE effortlessly builds upon all the worldbuilding that Leckie has set up in the previous Imperial Radch books -- the self determination in PROVENANCE, the Presger Translator shenanigans in ANCILLARY MERCY, and so much more. But unlike PROVENANCE which fell a little flat for me in Ingray's comedy-of-errors sort of storyline, TRANSLATION STATE presents three different compelling narrators: Enae, who has a bit of a only-one-in-the-family-to-be-bequeathed-something-after-rich-grandma-dies backstory and is shuffled off to work a job no one really cares about, but gets more than sie bargained for; Reet who is seemingly a nobody human who works a shitty job but gets Anastasia'd after a political group thinks he's someone from a long lost prominent family line; and dear Qven, our resident cannibal (this is normal) Presger Translator.
Ann Leckie provides not just one, but THREE compelling points of view, and it makes it hard for the reader to decide who they want to read more! Nonetheless, these narrators find each other in a great big political and cultural mess, and have to work their way out of it and not cause a giant intergalactic incident. Like all of the novels in the Imperial Radch series, Ann Leckie keeps a surprisingly small scope, even amongst this large world she's developed, and we get a very nice tidy story that does indeed resolve itself in TRANSLATION STATE with strong beats and a beautiful glimpse into what is (hopefully) to come in the series.
These books are written such that yes, theoretically you could read them as a standalone. But honestly? Why would you want to? The experience is so much richer having the backstory of what Breq has done to the Radchaai, what's going on with the Geck mechs, and why people care so much about this diplomatic conclave. Regardless, the standalone-ability of TRANSLATION STATE means we as readers get to experience a nice, satisfying ending for the characters of this book, while still yearning to see what happens to the world and when we might see our beloved characters again.
We still don't even get a direct glimpse of the Presger in TRANSLATION STATE -- just of the Presger Translators -- and even this is almost bone-chilling in the fact that they're mostly human with a little bit of Presger and already are little cannibalistic nightmares of children with almost unfathomable powers.
TRANSLATION STATE doesn't just leave me a satisfied reader, but it also leaves me yearning for what Leckie will put out next in the Imperial Radch series. Another stellar installment.