![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mistressofmusesMy original goal for 2025 was to read 25 books. As soon as I actually made a real TBR list, it was clear that wouldn't even make a dent in it. And then the list just kept growing.
I did make a literal list, to save myself from decision paralysis, ha. The list was structured to alternate between a physical book, one of the horror ebooks I'd gotten from a Humble Bundle last year, and a novella from the Wayward Children series. This didn't account for all the books I was reading; there were a couple new releases that jumped the line, ebooks I was reading on the side, or books I was reading with other people.)
While not all of them were from the "official" TBR, I did manage to hit my original 25-book goal around May!
My second goal for 2025 was to at least make it through all of the Wayward Children novellas. The series is up to 10 books, and I was reading them as roughly every third book. I still had 3 left after hitting the first goal.
Good news for me, because I've hit that goal now, too! I have finally caught up on the series, after having fallen behind on it some seven years ago.
My third "stretch" goal, which may be a bit more difficult to hit, is to reach the end of that horror ebook bundle. Now that the Wayward Children novellas are finished, the ebooks have been "upgraded" to every other book on the list, rather than every third. That means I need to get through 17 more books on the TBR for the year. That's just under 4 per month, which should absolutely be doable... except that I've finished the quick-to-read novellas, and I do also have at least two new releases (Silver and Lead and Queen Demon) that will be skipping the line when they come out. And even when I do read 4+ books per month, that also typically includes at least one side-read or co-read that isn't even on the list. It's very possible I won't quite make it quite make it through that many "official" TBRs, but we'll see how far I get!
For August I read four books.
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Fantasy (background m/f) - physical novel
5/5
Agnieszka lives in one of the small villages on the margins of the kingdom. The biggest threat to them is the Wood, a darkly evil forest, a source of spreading corruption that makes its way into the rest of the kingdom, or takes people for its own. The only thing that protects them and fights that corruption back is The Dragon, a powerful wizard. But he takes things too: one seventeen year old village girl every ten years. He doesn't harm them, and always releases them when their ten years are up, but none of them have ever been willing to stay in the villages after.
Everyone knows that the next girl he will take will be Nieshka's best friend Kasia, who has always been the most perfect... except that when the time comes, he takes Nieshka instead.
Nieshka has a previously undiscovered talent for magic, if not for the carefully-controlled kind of The Dragon's, and he grudgingly tries to train her.
The Wood grows more and more threatening, and Nieshka begins to believe that it is more than just a source of corruption; it has its own will and intentions and plans, and it is ready to escalate them.
My thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. It's taken me too long to read any of Naomi Novik's (original) works!
This really was excellent fantasy. The magic system was really interesting (maybe not unique, as it does mostly consist of "people with magic skill can use magic words to do magic," but it felt consistent and well-considered), and I enjoyed the ways in which Nieshka's abilities conformed to the broader system that we can see, but also the ways in which her skills and methods were different from the "norm", and how much it frustrated the other characters around her.
The story and the worldbuilding and the conflict all grew increasingly complex as the story went on, in a way that felt very natural.
While I don't want to majorly dwell on it, I found the way the story used class and privilege really effective. Nieshka is a villager, and doesn't desire anything more than that. She's forced into interactions with royalty and nobility and the wizards who are granted similarly high status... And the story doesn't shy away from how drastic a gap that is, and how little those upper classes truly care for their subjects in anything beyond the abstract. I liked the tone it struck, neither buying into the "righteous fantasy ruler" or "crapsack misery for the peasants" tropes that are common. It ended up feeling like a far more realized and balanced world.
I liked the ultimate resolution, and how Nieshka chose to end the conflict once she'd come to understand it. The story did an excellent job repeatedly setting up the ways in which she was equipped to want to do things differently than anyone else was willing to, and she carried that through to a satisfying narrative and character conclusion.
Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire
Book 10 of Wayward Children
Fantasy (background m/f) - physical novella
4/5
Nadya was born in Russia, raised in an orphanage after being surrendered at birth. Here she is happy to try and help other children be adopted, never particularly caring to aim for the same for herself. Then a pair of American missionaries come, and see adopting the poor one-armed girl to be the perfect opportunity for them to prove their own moral correctness. There's a culture shock in coming to America, and in trying to live up to the standards of gratitude that Nadya's new parents expect, particularly when they force her to wear an unwanted prosthetic to replace the arm she'd never had, and consequently never missed.
She visits the turtles—one of her true favorite things—at the nearby pond, and falls into the water... and into Belyyreka, a world of layered rivers, underwater cities, and giant turtles tamed as steeds and companions. Here Nadya is able to live the life that she truly longed for, as one of the Drowned Girls who find their way beneath Belyyreka's waters... Though this world is not without its own dangers.
My thoughts:
This was a good one! I like Nadya as a character: her fairly practical, pragmatic view of the world is one I understand pretty well.
I also like how, again (like with Jack and Jill, and to a lesser extent some of the other children) it's the expectations of her parents that presents more of a horror than any of the fantasy dangers she ends up facing. Jack and Jill's parents wanted the perfect ideas of children to show off as a status symbol. Nadya's adoptive parents are much the same: they adopt her as an extension of their missionary work, and they very much want a perfect, grateful little orphan that they can use to show how righteous and godly they are for giving her the opportunity to live with them. They're far less interested in an actual child, and especially in allowing that child to make her own decisions, even about the things solely affecting her! (Nadya's bodily autonomy being violated as she is forced to wear a prosthetic that she finds uncomfortable and inconvenient, but her parents want her to wear it because it's expensive and makes her "look normal." Themes about the ways in which children are denied autonomy are common in the series!)
I also like the world of Belyyreka: it's a world that I can see the appeal of without feeling like it would be home to me. (I enjoy that about this series quite a lot. There are several worlds, like the Goblin Market or the Moors, that are appealing to me in a very personal way. I feel like those worlds, or something like them, could very much have called me away if I had been a child finding a door. Others, like Belyyreka or Confection are worlds I can understand being appealing, but wouldn't want to do more than visit. Still others, like The Halls of the Dead, sound completely terrible, yet I can still buy into how perfectly they suit the characters that called them home.)
About the only thing that I didn't love about Nadya's time through her door was that it covered a large amount of time, and so moved quite fast. It gives nice little snapshots of her life growing up in Belyyreka, including the family that takes her in as a really good narrative foil for her adoptive parents in our world, and her finding her own way and a job to do there, and getting married... but it felt like an overview rather than something I could quite get grounded in. Then again, I'm not sure that I would have wanted to narrow in more on any specific part of her time, and it is significant that she got the chance to grow up fully before being pulled back to our world, so I'm not sure I would have wanted it to be changed, either.
Little Eve by Catriona Ward
Horror (subgenres: gothic, religious/cult, family) - ebook novel
5/5
On the small island of Altnaharra, off the coast of Scotland, a small group of seven people plan for their apocalypse, and the promised rebirth of the world. Eve, one of the four children in the group, is the most willing to do whatever it takes to prove her worthiness to Uncle, also called "The Adder," the leader of the cult.
The group's insular nature puts them at odds with the nearest village, and when one of the men of the village is murdered, the investigation comes to Altnaharra as well. While investigating, Inspector Black takes an interest in the cult, and Eve in particular, recognizing some of the horror of the conditions she is living in.
Years later, a man from the village visits the island, and finds the inhabitants have been the victims of a grisly ritual sacrifice. The oldest child, Dinah—the only survivor—claims Eve was the one who killed the rest.
My thoughts, minor spoilers, though I try to avoid either of the big ones:
I really enjoyed this book. The writing style is excellent.
A lot of the horror is pretty subtle... well, subtle might not actually be the word. A lot of the horror is... unremarked-upon, because the characters find it so completely normal. This is very much the case for most of the cult-related horror: to the reader, and to the outsider characters like the inspector, life within the cult is horrifying, but the children who have been raised within it find everything to be perfectly normal. (One example: basically everyone except for Uncle is constantly starving. They're strictly limited in how many bites of food they're allowed, as well as what kinds and how often. Things like "only The Adder is permitted meat" are treated as matter-of-fact, but are awful in context.) The cult also operates very realistically, in my opinion, down to that restriction of food: keeping people undernourished and exhausted and [redacted spoiler] are excellent ways to maintain control over them!
This truly did feel like an excellent gothic horror. The physically and socially isolated setting of the island, with its crumbling castle and ancient stone circle, is so, so good. It also feels very well set in its time period, which I appreciated.
The narrative choice to switch between Eve's perspective on the island, and then Dinah's perspective at various points afterwards, as she looks back to tell her story, is also very effective. The two perspectives juxtapose in interesting ways, and there was definitely a lot of good tension built up wondering how we get from point A to the point B that we already know happened.
This was another book that felt pretty cinematic to me; I think that a well-handled visual adaptation of it could be amazing, though some parts of it would be difficult to pull off.
It has a twist that worked for me, and I figured out just pages before the characters did, (which to me, feels like one of the ideal ways for a twist to hit.) There is information that is deliberately obscured in order to facilitate that twist, but it never felt underhanded to me, which is to say I don't think the twist creates any plot holes or contradictions. There were things that seemed odd at the time, that were actually hinting toward the ending. I'd actually really like to reread it and see how some of it comes across now.
Alice Isn't Dead by Joseph Fink
Horror (f/f) - physical novel
4/5
Years after her wife went missing and was declared dead, Keisha gets a job as a truck driver, traveling back and forth along the American highway system. She's doing more than just a job, though: she's looking for clues. Because she knows that her wife, Alice, isn't dead; she's seen her, in the background of news coverage across the country. Keisha wants to find her wife, to find out why she left, and why she's never come back.
Before long, Keisha discovers that there are terrible things stalking the roads of America; monsters, brutalizing and murdering people with impunity, somehow being ignored by everyone around. The conspiracy goes deeper than Keisha could possibly have guessed, and now that she knows it, there's no way to escape.
My rambly thoughts, some spoilers:
I've seen this book called a "different take" on Keisha and Alice's story vs. the podcast Alice Isn't Dead (and in the back of the book, the podcast is advertised the same way) but... eh... I wouldn't say they're that different. It's been years since I listened to the podcast, despite wanting to give it a relisten, but it followed most of the same plot beats in mostly the same ways (at least as far as I can recall.)
I do think the story worked a little bit better as a podcast. The novel covers all three seasons of the series, so it cuts out a lot of "filler." Except I feel like the filler was some of what I most enjoyed; it's what really gives it the spooky road trip vibes, when there are episodes that were pretty self-contained as Keisha discovers some weird little town or creepy goings-on. The book distills it just down to the overarching plot, with comparatively few diversions. I think that's a good choice for the book, but I also felt the absence of the parts that were cut. Jasika Nicole's narration is also just so excellent in the podcast, and her voice was the series for me in a lot of ways, and I missed that, too. I know she also narrated the audiobook, so if I felt like I was capable of paying attention to audiobooks, I probably would have enjoyed that.
Still, this was a MUCH easier way to get the canon refresh for the series that I've been wanting to do for years now, haha. (I still really want to write an Alice Isn't Dead x Sparrow Hill Road crossover, but re-listening to a 30-episode audio drama was a daunting amount of research for what will probably amount to a few thousand words of fic.)
The spooky road trip vibes, the isolation of the American highways, the liminality of diners, motels, rest areas, and the abandoned places the oracles can be found in, are definitely all still present and enjoyable.
The themes of the story, and what the evils of Thistle represent aren't subtle; I mean, they literally spell out eventually that the Thistle Men are monsters created by bigotry and hatred. I still really like when it starts out a bit less literal, though. Initially these monsters are attacking and taking victims, but are mostly ignored by everyone else around, are specifically aided by the police who insist that they don't see anything wrong and wish the monsters well... (The main character being a Black lesbian certainly adds a layer, too!) The metaphor is obvious even at the start, but I appreciated it still being a metaphor. It isn't bad that it's made completely literal, but that does certainly remove any subtlety from it.
The ending of the series/book is ultimately pretty hopeful. While the big bad evil isn't fully defeated, because there will always be bad people out there, it presents a very hopeful view of a world in which banding together with others who refuse to turn a blind eye the way the majority does can make a difference.
I've given some thought trying to figure out why I found it more effective here than in say, Beyond the Sea, which I found demoralizing in a way that it very much wasn't intended to be. I think it comes down to Beyond the Sea presenting a magical solution to what felt like a very real-world problem (the registration and restrictions of magical people being VERY MUCH an allegory for the treatment of trans people.) In Alice Isn't Dead it's a magnified realistic solution to a magnified realistic problem. Both sides have supernatural entities on their sides, but it's ultimately about people choosing to fight against hatred, even when in this case the two sides are larger-than-life.
I'm currently reading five books:
- The Dead Take the A Train, my current main read (another of the horror ebooks)
- A Queen Rises, my ebook side read that I'm debating DNFing. I feel bad, because it's an indie book I won in a giveaway like, six years ago or something, but I am really struggling to get into it, and it is also very long. On the one hand, as my mom used to very frequently remind me as a kid, "Life is too short for bad books." On the other hand, I feel guilty when it comes to indie stuff if I don't feel like I'm giving it a fair shot, or when the author seems nice or really earnest about caring about their work... But back to the first hand, I've given several hours to this book, and am about a quarter of the way through, still feeling like I'm waiting for something to happen. Pushing through is going to be at least another 8 or more hours. I think it definitely needed stronger editing. It has some good points, which feel like almost enough to keep going, but it also feels like more of a slog than I want it to. (The ebook sidereads are supposed to be my brain candy!) DNFing it now doesn't mean I can't ever go back to it, obviously. I am still deciding, but right now I'm leaning toward switching to something else.
- Duma Key, which I'm reading with Alex (also a very long book, but we're at least two thirds of the way through it now! Maybe three fourths!)
- Dracula, which I'm reading/listening along with as a serial via Dracula Daily and Re: Dracula
- Dead Silence, on hold for the moment - Alex and I started it after forgetting our main book, but we haven't touched in almost two months, as we shifted back to the main one
I also finished one more:
- Witch King, which I read with Taylor, and finished on 9/01. Starting September off strong!
![[staff profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_staff.png){kind=small}
![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
