Okay, so reviewing this book is going to be kind of tough. It picks up directly after the events of Authority, and it is full of spoilers, so I don’t want to do any of that. What I might do instead is make a list of why I liked this book, in as vague terminology as possible: The writing. I’ve mentioned Jeff VanderMeer’s craft before, but it bears repeating. The man can put an exciting and terrifying story together. He is patient in setting up […]
Continuing a strangely fascinating sci-fi series
I was thoroughly intrigued by Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation, which I read in preparation for the Natalie Portman adaptation to be released in 2018. Of course, since my library had the next two books in the trilogy, I thought, Why not? and borrowed the whole set. I am delighted to discover a strange and thoroughly interesting series of books from a talented and inventive writer. The events of Annihilation are written from the perspective of the biologist. VanderMeer switches gears here, and he writes from the […]
A raw and gripping memoir about body, desire, and longing
I read Bad Feminist for a previous CBR, and really liked it a lot. Roxane Gay’s voice is crucial in feminist discourse, and I highly recommend her to anyone who wants to be a better intersectional feminist. That said, Bad Feminist was billed to me as a hilarious book, and it absolutely is not. That’s not a knock on it, but the marketing. I did feel, however, that the marketing for Hunger was much more appropriate and left me more prepared for what I was […]
My favorite book of 2017
Hello, favorite and best book of 2017. This is a book that needs to be shouted from the rooftops, because it crawls into your bones and won’t release you from its spell. Jesmyn Ward is a magnificent writer, as I discovered when I devoured Salvage the Bones. I’d heard that her newest novel, Sing, Unburied, Sing was short-listed for the National Book Award, so I grudgingly added to my library holds list, interrupting my read-the-books-on-my-shelf project once again. And what a worthy interruption. This is […]