Rated Shadowshaper 8/10
<div>I've had this book hanging around forever, and just finally got to it. A really great YA fantasy that uses metaphor without beating readers about the head with it.</div>
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Wants to read Serafina and the Black Cloak
Rated Simon's Cat Vs. the World! 10/10
Both very funny and full of detail.<br><br>Full review to come.
Rated Somewhere in France 6/10
If the relationship had occurred differently and if the pacing were tightened, I think I would have liked this book quite a bit. I’ve been reading and watching a lot of WWI and WWII content set in England lately, and I am interested for reasons I don’t yet fully know. Robson has a great love for historical subject matter, and it shows. Her insights into period details are very, very good, and the descriptions of the hospital and the war feel true, even coming from semi-naive Lilly. There’s an excellent book floating around in here, but as it stands, Somewhere in France is merely adequate.<br><br>(My full review appears at <a href="http://persephonemagazine.com/2014/02/book-review-somewhere-in-france-by-jennifer-robson/">Persephone Magazine</a>.)
Rated Song So Wild and Blue: A Life with the Music of Joni Mitchell 9/10
<div>I really loved this. If you know how personal being a great fan of music can be, and perhaps in a larger sense, how love has a way of shifting and changing over decades, then you will find reflections that feel very familiar here. <br><br>I'm also quite jealous that Lisicky and his partner got to go to the Joni Jam at the Gorge, but I did enjoy hearing about his experience of being there.</div>
Rated Spin 6/10
<i>Spin</i> is cute, yes, and nicely satisfying in a not-totally-insulting romantic comedy way, even though this is a story more about addiction than wanting to make out with someone. It’s about all relationships a person can have, and how a person’s behavior affects those relationships. While it's not my usual literary neck of the woods, it made for a nice palate cleanser after reading heavier material.<br><br>(My full review can be found at <a href="http://persephonemagazine.com/2012/03/book-review-spin-by-catherine-mckenzie/">Persephone Magazine</a>.)
Rated The Cassandra 10/10
This was really great. I wish I knew more about the myth so I could've gotten even more out of it.
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Rated Silver Lining / UNIT: The Coup [Promo] 6/10
More of a 3.5, but I'm rounding down. The UNIT story is more of a jumping off point for further UNIT stories and isn't overly captivating on its own. The Bernice Summerfield story, on the other hand, does well with the short format and has a lot of humor as well.
Rated Survivors - Series 7 10/10
<div>Ugggh why do I not have a bunch of money to throw around so I can buy the rest of this series? It's always so good. Grim sometimes, but good.</div>
Rated The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel 7/10
Rated Tempted 8/10
<div>Normally, I don't really read romance — everyone staring at all the grim shit I read says, "Oh you don't say???" — but I read this because of a potential work thing. Nothing wrong with romance, but we like what we like. And this definitely does what it sets out to do by hopping right to the frisky business, but in a way that makes sense for the circumstances. I can see why people like Kelly's books. Anything I didn't care for is a ME thing and not a writing quality thing.</div>
Rated The Golem and the Jinni 8/10
Full review will be forthcoming, but it was the excellent epilogue that firmly pushed this book from 3 stars to 4.
Rated Snowpiercer, Vol. 2: The Explorers 6/10
Rated The April Dead 8/10
<div>Ooh a cliffhanger. </div>
Rated The Black House 8/10
Finally, a break from the constant murderin’. Oh sure, people still die, but The Black House features fewer sudden blows to the head. Most of the time, the characters act with good intentions, only to have their situation spin out of control. <br><br>Unlike some of her other short story collections, <i>The Black House</i> is likely the one that’s most appealing to a wider audience — entirely compelling and complex, in an easy bite-size form.<br><br>(Full review can be found at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/selected-stories-of-patricia-highsmith_30.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>)
Wants to read State of the Union: A Marriage in Ten Parts
Rated Survivors: Series One Box Set 9/10
<div>Very much enjoyed this. I've never watched the original series, but I watched the remake that came out in the late '00s (I think?) and loved it and hated that it was cancelled on a cliffhanger. So I'm interested to see where this story keeps going.<br><br>Also, apparently I am not one of those people who is averse to pandemic stories during a pandemic, though ours is not quite so apocalyptic.<br><br>... knock wood</div>
Rated System Collapse 10/10
<div>Best one yet.</div>
Edited 34d ago