Tag Archives: Diverse Stacks, Diverse Lives

Review: Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi

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This was such a great trilogy. I am curious to see how it turns into a movie or TV series. I know the rights have been sold and Tomi is involved in the script. Zelie has been through so much and honestly wouldn’t have faulted her for giving up but of course she didn’t. Nor did her brother and friends. At the end of the last book, the Maji were successful in overthrowing the king but then overtaken by the Skulls from across the sea. King Baldyr has been hunting Maji’s because he needs the one to help him achieve Godhood. We all know this is Zelie. She escapes but not before he implants in her gold medallion that changes her powers. She has a vision that she must find the other magical person Baldyr needs. Another woman from a mysterious nation, New Gaia. Mae’e is a great addition to the books. I liked her stoicism and fire. I know that might not make sense but it’s true. It was nice to see an expansion of the world but we did sacrifice what was going on in Orisha since most of the action was happening elsewhere. The other criticism I have that the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I wanted it to be. I feel the epilogue could have given a little bit more. Other then that I found it to be a fun adventure like the other books. Baldyr is a much scarier villain then the previous king was. The stakes were much higher because the threat wasn’t just to the Maji or Orisha but to New Gaia as well. This was a good series and I am looking forward to what Tomi does next.

What I’m Reading Now: Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi

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Final book in the series. I am not ready for this series to be over. That’s probably why I have held off reading it even though I bought it when it first came out 2 months ago.

Review: Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby (read by the author)

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If you’re familiar with Hannah Gadsby’s body of work, in particular her show Nanette, then you have a good idea what the tone of this book is. This memoir is cleverly structured, taking your through Hannah Gadsby’s childhood, teen years, days at uni, her early career, and the big life changes that brought her to writing her shows Nanette and Douglas. If you’ve seen those shows, the material is familiar, but it’s written in such a touching and thoughtful way and with new details that even knowing they outline of the story, I couldn’t turn this off.

Additionally, the book spends a fair amount of time walking through what it was like growing up in Tasmania in the 90s, when homosexuality was illegal there. I can’t help but think how important this story is in a time when the lives of trans kids are constantly debated. Gadsby has given us the gift of her story and insight into the very personal consequences for the people under debate.

This was a really touching and wonderful memoir and I recommend it. But keep a box of tissues nearby. This book made me openly weep.

Review: The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

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The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas is a gothic horror delight. Set in the time after the Mexican war for independence, we follow Beatriz as she moves into in her new husband’s pulque-producing hacienda. She is the second wife of the Rodolfo, who’s previous wife died under mysterious circumstances. Everyone seems to have a different story about how his first wife died. The war was hard on Beatriz and her family, but she sees this marriage as a way to change her and her family’s fortunes. It also follows Andres, a local priest who was raised on the Hacienda but for unknown reasons has been banished. Beatriz finds the house to be fine, if neglected at first, but increasingly sinister as the novel progresses. She finds Rodolfo’s sister, an unexpected addition to the property, to be unsettling at best and actively working to undermine her at worst. She must call on the help of Andres and solve the mystery of the house before she becomes another one of its victims.

I enjoyed the setting of this immensely. I know a little bit about Mexico’s history and I loved the idea and the execution of a story with the foreboding home, mysterious husband, a first wife, etc. set in this period of post-war turmoil. This is set in a period of Mexican history where there were a lot of different factions and uncertainties, which was perfect for setting up the characters. It gave the typical elements of gothic horror another layer where we were also looking at the horrors of colonialism. Cañas is a Mexican-American author and says in an author’s note that she picked this time period and wrote these characters in part to fill a gap that she had found in this genre. She had never read stories about women like her. In that same author’s note, she also recommends history readings, in case you are further interested in the time period. I very much appreciate that.

This was really good and if you like gothic horror/romance elements, then I recommend this! Another great find at my local library!

Review: Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim (read by Emily Woo Zeller)

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I did not mean to start another series. But, I reached the top of the waiting list at my local library as I was finishing The Starless Sea and I don’t always remember what something is or why I put myself on the wait-list when it comes time to check things out. So, here we are.

Shiori’anma is a princess, the only princess, in the kingdom of Kiata and she does not want to get married. She wants to hang out with her bros and live her life. But, of course, that isn’t what she gets. Following a disastrous failure of a betrothal ceremony, Shiori ends up without an engagement and having to sew an apology tapestry under the watchful eye of her stepmother, Raikama. This turns out to be extra bad news because Shiori is hiding magic in a kingdom that has forbidden magic and Raikama has a secret; she is a sorceress. When Shiori discovers her stepmother’s secret, Raikama banishes her and transforms her six brothers into cranes. Shiori wakes on the other side of the kingdom unable to use her voice, with no money and no identity. She must find a way to survive, reunite with her brothers and return to the capital before something even more terrible than the King losing his heirs can happen. Shiori, of course, finds help along the way.

This was a fun read. I enjoyed Shiori’s arc and the supporting cast of characters are also very fun. There were some unexpected twists that I really enjoyed. I’m interested in what happens next so I’ve added myself to the wait list of the second book. If you like a mix of fairy tale elements, women coming into their power and kicking ass, and slow burn romance, this is for you.

Quick Review: The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (read by Dominic Hoffman with Dion Graham, Bahni Turpin, Fiona Hardingham, Allan Corduner, and Jorjeana Marie)

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Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a grad student who studies video games. In between semesters, he takes some time to immerse himself in another thing he enjoys, reading books. Every day, he goes to the campus library, has a wander, picks up some books, and heads back to his room to read. One day he finds an unusual book that doesn’t seem to have an author or any of the usual things you find in a book, like a title page that has publisher information on it. It intrigues him, so he checks it out. He starts reading it immediately, but he is caught up short when he finds himself in the story. He is in the story. A section of the book is about him as a child. This sends Zachary into a tailspin and into full research mode. He has to find out who wrote the book and where it came from. His investigation takes him on an adventure with mysterious masquerades, secret societies, dangerous assassins, thieves, and, eventually, A Starless Sea. This vague description does not do this book justice. But I don’t want to tell you anything else because the book is an adventure you absolutely deserve to go on.

This book was recommended by my friend Cristin and I borrowed the audiobook from my local library. It was so good. It has a story within a story within a story structure and as you spiral down through the stories you meet so many interesting characters with flaws and goals that just made me want to keep reading. I loved Zachary. I loved Dorian, an enigmatic older man who tells Zachary a story and sets him on a path that takes him deep into a secret world. I loved Katrina Hawkins (her parts of the book read by Bahni Turpin, one of my favorite audiobook narrators), Zachary’s friend and chronicler of what happens in the real world after Zachary goes on his adventure. I was touched multiple times by the interactions between the characters and, I’m not going to lie, I definitely cried.

If you like books about stories, stories within stories, or magical realism, I recommend this book. If you like adventures with mystery and romance, I recommend this book. It was a truly good time. The audiobook in particular is fun. The book’s story-within-a-story-within-a-story structure lends itself to multiple different styles of narration and Random House Audio didn’t skimp on that. Dominic Hoffman reads Zachary’s story line. Dion Graham reads Sweet Sorrows, Bahni Turpin reads the excerpts of the secret diary of Katrina Hawkins, Fiona Hardingham reads the Ballad of Simon and Eleanor, Allan Corduner reads Fortunes and Fables, and Jorjeana Marie reads Another place, another time. I really liked that each new story was treated as its own stand alone entity. It really added to the whole production.

Review: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

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**Contains some minor spoilers**

The internet has been going crazy over the whole Man vs. Bear debate. However, there was another debate that came out of the other debate. A TikToker asked Black Women “who would you rather be left alone in a conference room? A white man or a white woman. ” I didn’t even have to read the comments to know what they answer would be. Let’s face it, white women have a history of not being very good allies to our sisters of color. Just look at the last two presidential elections. If you are still shocked by black women’s answer to above question then, read Yellowface because it is a description as to why. June went to Yale with Athena Liu. Athena comes from money and is beautiful and gets her first writing deal before they graduate. She is also Chinese American. June on the other hand struggles to find her voice and has to tutor privilege high schoolers to pay the bills. Meanwhile, Athena has had nothing but success since they graduated. She has released multiple best sellers and now a netflix deal. June’s one book barely sold and her editor and agent ignore her calls. Athena and June go out to celebrate Athena’s Netflix deal then end up going to Athena’s apartment. They get more drunk and make pancakes, which Athena chokes on and dies. Before she dies, Athena shows June her finished manuscript. No one else has seen it or even knows what it’s about. Athena was very secretive about her process or what she was writing about. June takes the manuscript and is instantly drawn to it. As good as it is, it is a first draft so June decides to make some changes to it and then sends it off to submission as her own work. She convinces herself that Athena wouldn’t want it published as it was and she did so much work on it that it’s her book too.

She publishes book under her a new name Juniper Song. Her first and real name. She is finally gets all the acclaim and fame that she always craved and felt she deserved. She is convinced that her lack of success wasn’t because she wasn’t talented but because she was a minority. These days, everyone is looking for diversity after all. She is one of those people that would say with a straight face that she can’t be racist because she had a black friend or in this case an Asian face. Since the story is told in the first person, we get her thoughts in their uncensored glory. How she dislikes Chinese food and afraid to go to Chinatown without her mace. How she was also jealous of Athena and never really liked her. Of course, she is found out but instead of coming clean she just digs in deeper. And for a while she gets away with it because people want to believe white women and since she was making a lot of people a lot of money they kept protecting her. That was until she uses a old prompt of Athena’s and scandal all over again. At this point she is much in her victim era that she has convinced herself that she has done nothing wrong and she’s being bullied. Very much like a certain Author of kids wizard’s and her transphobic comments but I digress.

I got to tell you, as a white woman myself, I had moments reading this where I thought “not all White woman are like this” or “I’m not like this” because I really don’t want think of myself like this but honestly that’s exactly what June would say about herself. She identified as liberal and a democrat. She liked to point out how she started a scholarship in Athena’s name in the same sentence as she denigrated the Black Lives Movement. Any criticism of her was nothing but jealous, SJW looking to score points on the internet despite that fact that they were right. She did steal Athena’s work and passed it off as her own, It really made me think more retrospectively about my own relationships and yeah it’s uncomfortable but need to be down. I don’t truly think I am anyway as bad as June but I do recognize I have my own work to do to be a better ally. I do hope that other white readers do the same too. I did enjoyed the ending because even though June got caught, it was left open to how she could and most likely make a comeback because who doesn’t love a redemption story. Especially for a young white woman.

Quick Review: A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera

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This was lovely. I really enjoyed reading about Luz Alana and Evan’s romance. It just was the fluffy romance I was looking for. Luz Alana is an heiress to a Rum fortune from the Dominican Republic. She and her 2 best friends and younger sister have come to Paris to expand her Rum into the European markets during the World’s fair. However, not many men are willing to do business with a women. Meet Evan, a Scottish Earl, who has his own Whiskey distillery. They both need to get married and quickly. She needs a husband to get back her inheritance. He needs to be married to gain full control of this distillery. So they agree to temporary get married until they both get what they want and part ways. Of course, they fall in love and well you know how it goes. Marriage of convenience is not my favorite trope but it works for this novel. Luz and Evan compliment each other very well. Her spirit and stubbornness challenges Evan and Evan’s support is what Luz needs. Despite coming from different places they really understand each other compliment each other and I could not be happier they found each other.

Review: The Adventurs of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

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I have made a conscious effort this year to not read as many teen novels. Not that I think they are not worth reading but as I get older, It was starting to feel weird reading but the love lives of teenagers. I’m not going to stop reading teen novels completely because there are many authors I love and I want to support but maybe it’s time to read novels that feature people my own age. So I was ecstatic to find this novel about a woman in her 40’s who is also a kick ass pirate. Amina at the beginning is retired and living a quiet life with her family and daughter. She get an offer to set sail once more on a mission that will bring her riches beyond her wildest dreams but of course nothing is that simple. We are introduced to a wide range of characters that really makes this novel rich with description and color. It takes place mainly in the Indian Ocean area in the Muslim world. Which gives the narrative a different perspective. Most of the pirate novels I have read have taken place in the West or a fantasy to world so to explore a new place is exciting. Amina is what you want in a protagonist. She is smart, flawed, brave and sarcastic. She is ambitious but her experience has made her take stock in her surroundings and doesn’t make the rash decisions that often gets other character in trouble. She is assure of herself of having lived a life previously. This is not a coming of age. I wish there were more stories of established women succeeding in their chosen occupation because our stories don’t end in our 20’s but continues to the end of our lives.

Review: Babel by R.F. Kuang

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I’m not sure where to begin with this novel. It was good but it didn’t grab the way The Poppy Wars did. I would have to say this is much more of a slow burner for me. I was almost half way through before I truly got interested in Robin’s story and wanting to know how it would end. From a young age, Robin was taken to England from China under the guardianship of Professor Lovell. Despite the fact his family was poor, they always had a lived in tutor to teach him English. He soon discovers that it Lovell who had been paying for her. When he is brought to England, he is immediately put to work to study languages as the end goal was for him to go to Oxford and join Babel, the translation school that controls all the silver in the world. England has found a way to use language to power silver and to expand their Empire. Robin goes on a journey of discovering who he is and how he has been essentially been weaponized against his own country. It’s not an easy read as Robin questions ourselves we also must question our own culpability. Like in the Poppy Wars, R.F. Kuang is unflinching when she comes to describing the effects of colonization on the world but also to people of color who live with their on colonizers. On the one hand, Robin is very lucky to be taken out of poverty and given the opportunities to be learn at Oxford and live a comfortable life but he was also taken from his family and his homeland without much of a choice and forced to learn what his guardian wanted him to learn. It’s an allusion of freedom. For me one of the most effective characters is Letty. She is in Robin’s cohort at Oxford and the only white student. She is the perfect example of white privilege and not understanding her privilege. She is the daughter of an admiral. Raised on the aristocracy but because she is a woman she has always been looked down or given much thought even though she was always a bright. If she was a boy, she would have been seen as the genius that she was but since she wasn’t she was raised to be the perfect wife and mother one day. She resents the privileges that she saw her brother waste and when she is given the opportunity to take his place in Oxford she grabs it. But even there she has to have a man vouch for her to take out a book at the library. She has to live off campus and has to deal with sexist comments. She felt she finally found people who could relate with her POC classmates but being white she will never truly understand their struggles. So when they start to rebel against the nation that she feels has given so much instead of them being grateful she feels betrayed. As if they have personally offended her. Even though she helps to cover up the same crime she is spared any of the backlash because again she is white and still she doesn’t understand why they have right to be angry. I can see why Letty as a character would upset many readers because we have to confront our own privilege and that’s not a comfortable thing. So If you are looking for a challenging book, give this a try.