• ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Tangleroot Palace by Marjorie Liu | ARC Review

    15th June 2021
    Cover of The Tangleroot Palace (Marjorie Liu)

    The Tangleroot Palace by Marjorie Liu

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    The Tangleroot Palace contains six short stories (“Sympathy for the Bones,” “The Briar and the Rose,” “Call Her Savage,” “The Last Dignity of Man,” “Where the Heart Lives,” “After the Blood”) and one novella (“Tangleroot Palace”), all of which are fantasy with hints of horror and gorgeously written. At the end of each story, there is also brief commentary by Liu, providing some background and thematic connections between the stories.

    I adore the writing, which flowed beautifully, and I love how effortlessly detailed each sentence is. Fantasy short stories are extremely difficult to pull off, given the need to provide enough world building and plot within the limited word count, and Liu delivered not one but six satisfying stories.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Membranes by Chi Ta-wei | ARC Review

    31st May 2021
    Cover of The Membranes (Chi Ta-wei)

    The Membranes by Chi Ta-wei, translated by Ari Larissa Heinrich

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    tl;dr: MIND-BLOWING TAIWANESE QUEER SCI-FI novella written by a 23yo queer Taiwanese guy in 1995 that is still super relevant today; as a queer Taiwanese, I am extremely happy to see this translated

    Content warnings: surgery, animal abuse, blood, mention of organ harvesting, gassing, non-consensual medical procedures, hospitalization, murder, death, manipulation, gaslighting, child molestation, voyeurism

    I read The Membranes (膜) in both Chinese and English with one immediately following another, at first scene-by-scene, and as the story picked up pace, chapter-by-chapter. Both versions have very similar feels, and I am amazed at Heinrich keeping the translation so atmospherically close to the Chinese writing. There were a few differences here and there, whether to fit the English language, the present time (this work was originally published in 1995/1996), or simply because Heinrich felt that these fit their translation better, I am not sure, but I love a lot of Heinrich’s decisions. Also, from my understanding of the Chinese original, there were minor misinterpretations and overlooking some of Chi’s deliberate word choices, but fortunately these did not affect the overall picture.

    The story follows a thirty-year-old aesthetician Momo as she reunites with her mother, whom she hasn’t seen in twenty years since she recovered from a major surgery. Throughout the story, bits and bits of information is slowly revealed, and we learn about Momo’s past as she learns it herself. The Membranes is a disturbing read that questions perceptions, experiences, reality, gender, and sexuality within the thin volume of 136 pages.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby | ARC Review

    25th May 2021
    How to Become a Planet (Nicole Melleby)

    How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    It’s a space-themed MG book, so of course I loved it. 🚀🪐☄️

    Pluto Timoney (12) loves astronomy because her mom loves it. But she misses the last month of her seventh grade after being diagnosed with depression and anxiety and Pluto wonders if she’ll ever be the same again. Or would she be like Pluto the planet becoming a non-planet?

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon | ARC Review

    4th May 2021
    Cover of Sorrowland (Rivers Solomon)

    Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Content warnings: animal killings, self harm, childbirth, alcohol abuse, cult, gaslight, pedophilia, blood, death, drowning, rape, attempted forcing of medication, torture, hallucination, brainwash, non-consensual medical experiment, reclaimed d slur, suicide, cannibalism?, voyeurism?, drug abuse, child abuse

    The craft of fiction at its finest.

    Sorrowland opens in the woods with the fifteen-year-old Vern—who is Black, albino (the term is used in text), and intersex—giving birth to twins Howling and Feral, the latter also has albinism. Vern grew up in the Blessed Acres of Cain, a religious compound that was supposed to be a Black utopia, but she had to escape because everything there seems to be a lie. Over the next several months and years, Vern’s body begins to change. She is both stronger and more vulnerable, and she starts to understand that the power of the past while struggling to raise the twins with the freedom she never had.

    I used to wish for a book in contemporary settings that references history and beliefs while telling a brand new story deeply influenced by the past. And now I have found it in Sorrowland.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Before. After. Always. by Morgan Lee Miller | ARC Review

    3rd May 2021
    Cover of Before. After Always (Morgan Lee Miller)

    Before. After. Always. by Morgan Lee Miller

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Content warnings: panic attacks, PTSD, motor accidents, loss of loved ones, surgery, hospitalization, homophobia, outing, conversion therapy (pray the gay away)

    I loved Miller’s YA duology All the Worlds between Us (my review of ATWBU & ATPTY) and have been looking forward to Before. After. Always. for months. And I wasn’t disappointed.

    Dr. Eliza Walsh (31, lesbian) lost her girlfriend of four years when she was eighteen in a car accident where she was the driver. Now, thirteen years later, she is a surgeon on her last year of residency and still not entirely ready to love again. When Blake Navarro (30, lesbian, Mexican American) enters the ER with multiple fractures after a motorcycle accident, Eliza becomes intrigued by this flirty patient. After discharge, Eliza decides to take up on Blake’s invitation to Mezcal Cocina where she works as a head chef. Would it be so wrong to get to know this reckless woman?

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