Here booky booky
Feb. 10th, 2020 11:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nrgburstUgh, I just noped out of Who fears Death? by Nnedi Okorafor after enduring through the first seventy pages of rape and abuse and finally FGM. I'm sure some people find it empowering to give their protagonists magical powers triggered by horrific, graphic abuse. I don't. I really don't think there is a silver lining in it, ever. I get the trope of finding hidden, heretofore untapped inner strength in your darkest hour, and I like the trope in other contexts and executions. I get why it would be a fantasy to suddenly go Super Saiyan when dehumanizing things are being done, and that it would be empowering for some. It's really not for me though. I really wish there were AO3 style tags on books sometimes? Would have liked a warning.
Since my last book post I've been steadily getting through more Kate Daniels books and novellas (Gunmetal Magic, Magic Gifts, Magic Steals, Small Magics) and also Burn For Me by Ilona Andrews, which is the first of their Hidden Legacy series. Really liked the latter, although I'm grateful I read the ebook version, because here is the cover:
Did you think that was an urban fantasy novel? LOL Imagine me shoving that in the face of some hapless salaryman on a crowded Japanese train to work! There is definitely romance in it (the typical Ilona Andrews slow burn, so I'm guessing it won't come to a head until the third book, which is good, because I totally agree with Nevada: Rogan acts and sounds like a sociopath), but it isn't primarily a romance novel? The reason I love Ilona Andrews novels is that they are action packed mystery with a competent female protagonist. The worldbuilding detail and side of romance are just that- the icing, not the cake. Too bad the LI isn't sometimes a monstrous lion in this series, I guess. Maybe they changed publishers? I have no idea how they went from Kate Daniels covers to that. Like here's Gunmetal Magic, which is much more focused on resolving the Andrea/Raphael romance:
Like Raphael doesn't even rate being pictured as a hyena on the cover? Whaaat? I always choose books based on recs and not covers, but I think the differences between the two series (same genre and everything) is kinda extreme?
Anyway, the last book I want to talk about is The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemesin, which was sooo good. I loved the non-linear-ness of it by the end, although I think it did make it confusing to get into at first, although her intro (which starts with the end of the world) was so super dramatic that you get into it wanting to know whyyyyy. I love the explanation of how magic works in their world. I love that I figured out the mystery of the protagonists before the end and I think it was brilliantly done. I already have the next book on my Libby and it is going to be hard to put it off until I get through the other ones that are due first. :DDD Highly recommend- I hear there's going to be a TV series made?
Since my last book post I've been steadily getting through more Kate Daniels books and novellas (Gunmetal Magic, Magic Gifts, Magic Steals, Small Magics) and also Burn For Me by Ilona Andrews, which is the first of their Hidden Legacy series. Really liked the latter, although I'm grateful I read the ebook version, because here is the cover:
Did you think that was an urban fantasy novel? LOL Imagine me shoving that in the face of some hapless salaryman on a crowded Japanese train to work! There is definitely romance in it (the typical Ilona Andrews slow burn, so I'm guessing it won't come to a head until the third book, which is good, because I totally agree with Nevada: Rogan acts and sounds like a sociopath), but it isn't primarily a romance novel? The reason I love Ilona Andrews novels is that they are action packed mystery with a competent female protagonist. The worldbuilding detail and side of romance are just that- the icing, not the cake. Too bad the LI isn't sometimes a monstrous lion in this series, I guess. Maybe they changed publishers? I have no idea how they went from Kate Daniels covers to that. Like here's Gunmetal Magic, which is much more focused on resolving the Andrea/Raphael romance:
Like Raphael doesn't even rate being pictured as a hyena on the cover? Whaaat? I always choose books based on recs and not covers, but I think the differences between the two series (same genre and everything) is kinda extreme?
Anyway, the last book I want to talk about is The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemesin, which was sooo good. I loved the non-linear-ness of it by the end, although I think it did make it confusing to get into at first, although her intro (which starts with the end of the world) was so super dramatic that you get into it wanting to know whyyyyy. I love the explanation of how magic works in their world. I love that I figured out the mystery of the protagonists before the end and I think it was brilliantly done. I already have the next book on my Libby and it is going to be hard to put it off until I get through the other ones that are due first. :DDD Highly recommend- I hear there's going to be a TV series made?