• Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Bestiary by K-Ming Chang

    Cover of Bestiary (K-Ming Chang)

    Bestiary by K-Ming Chang

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.


    Content warnings: cannibalism, animal abuse, animal killing, child abuse, miscarriage, suicide, blood, poison, gore, bestiality, PTSD, gun shot, on-page amputation

    Throughout most of the read, I thought the gruesome imageries were the author’s attempt to make Bestiary a disturbing read. But when I was two-thirds in, I realized this isn’t just a Taiwanese American novel, but also a retelling of Tayal fables (Tayal are a Taiwanese indigenous people, 泰雅族), strung together with common themes, told in English but are really also in Chinese (mostly Mandarin, but Taiwanese sort of helps).

    So I continued my reading as my eyes trailed the lines of English, my thoughts flipped to Mandarin and all the Tayal folklore I remembered and could find.

    Then things started to make sense.

  • Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth

    Cover of Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

    Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth, read by Xe Sands

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.


    AUDIOBOOK REVIEW

    Content warnings: death (including drowning), gore, insect (yellow jacket), hallucination, internet trolls, alcohol (recreational, abuse), fat-shaming, murder, manipulation, PTSD (maybe)

    I listened to the audiobook of Danforth’s Plain Bad Heroines narrated by Xe Sands. The narration itself was, without a doubt, 5 stars. I don’t think I would enjoy the book as much if not for Sands’ performance since her voice, always with a slight tremor and purposefully distorted in hallucinations as well as under curses, made this horror story feel creepier than it would have been on paper.

  • Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

    Cover of Record of a Spaceborn Few (Becky Chambers)

    Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers #3) by Becky Chambers

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.


    ‘I am seventy-nine years old. If I want dessert twice . . . I get dessert twice.’

    Tamsin

    Content warnings: catastrophic spaceship accident resulting in ~44k deaths, bodies, death of prominent character, equivalent of underage smoking of weed?, PTSD?

    When I read a few reviews stating that there is virtually no plot in this installment, I was excited that it must be very character-driven. Sadly, there were a bit too many characters, similar to The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (my review here) but with looser bonds. Since it took me a month to read the book, that could also be a reason why I failed to connect with any of the characters and felt that the plot dragged a little. That being said, I love the pureness of them all and also the philosophical questions Record of a Spaceborn Few decides to tackle.

  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Project by Courtney Summers | ARC Review

    Cover of The Project (Courtney Summers)

    The Project by Courtney Summers

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.


    Content warnings: cult, gaslighting, manipulation, child abuse, abuse (cigarette burn, scalding, etc.), panic attacks, death of family members, suicide (jumper), vandalization, pregnancy, car accident, substance-induced psychosis, threatening, possible PTSD, infidelity

    The Project is a story about a cult, The Unity Project led by Lev Warren, and the unbreakable ties between sisters Lo (b. 1998) and Bea (b. ca. 1992) Denham.

    Lo has always dreamed of being a writer but is currently, in 2017, stuck working as an assistant for Paul Tindale at SVO, a magazine company. When the opportunity arises for her to dig into The Unity Project, a religious organization Lo believes to have taken Bea from her, she risks her own safety for a series of exclusive interviews with Lev. With Lo being facially scarred from a life-threatening car accident that killed both her parents in 2011, she is recognizable everywhere at The Project’s compounds as Bea’s little sister. But Lo is tired of everyone else knowing Bea when she hasn’t heard from her sister in a long time, and she is desperate to find out what is really going on at The Unity Project.

  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Clinch by Nicole Disney | ARC Review

    Cover of The Clinch (Nicole Disney)

    The Clinch by Nicole Disney

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.


    Content warnings: graphic sex, blood, d slur, homophobia/homomisia, child abuse, minor character drug addiction, mention of prostitution, recreational drinking, uses of ableist language, hospitalization

    Written in present tense, The Clinch is an incredibly vivid rivals-to-lovers sports romance, charged with immediacy.

    Eden Bauer (27, gay) holds an undefeated record and is the reigning UFC featherweight championship. When newbie pro Brooklyn Shaw (22, biracial, Black) challenges Eden for a title match, Eden reluctantly agrees. Their rivalry is strong, but when post-match Brooklyn comes knocking on the door of Eden’s gym, will they be able to put aside their differences and work together?