VERY BELATED August Book Log
Nov. 8th, 2022 02:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
halfcactusIt’s been so long I don’t know if I even watched anything in August. Read a bunch of books, though! Because we lost our electricity and then I got sick, so my entertainment options were limited. 😂
BTW I’m typing all of this from my phone while I procrastinate between tasks, I hope the formatting is ok. I’ll try to fix it when I’m on desktop lol.
Book thoughts:
Manga: Do Chokkyu Kareshi X Kanojo
A short and funny coming-of-age het romance manga about two very straightforward and shouty people. It has some of the funniest comic panels, but ultimately it's not my thing--in spite of the unconventional romance, and an interesting attempt to breach the topic of bad sex, it still skews too male-gaze-y for me. The sexual situations that the FL gets forced on are pretty much hentai set-ups, on top of none of the adults really having any boundaries with children, whether their own or others'.
From what I read on the internet, this manga had a lot of trouble finding a publisher (or staying with one), because it was so small? Which might explain the plot/resolution speedrun.
It does have some truly comedic scenes! It’s just that the story was not character-driven enough for me (even though it’s character-centric), and the friendships were too one-dimensional.
C.L Polk, “Witchmark”
M/m fantasy novel featuring a secret witch and a fae. More story-driven than character-driven, but it builds to a really cinematic and emotional climax! I had a lot of trouble getting into this because the most interesting relationship for me was the complicated sibling relationship, which, because the novel started when they’re already estranged, felt very incomplete.
The plot was okay, with a little bit of magical murder mystery, genre-typical commentary about class inequality (witches vs Secondaries, whose sole differences are socio-economic class), and what I think of as FMA-esque revelations. It starts out pretty slow and then it goes way too fast haha (I ended up staying up to finish this, lol).
Martha Wells, “Artificial Condition”
Murderbot#2. I really enjoyed it but don’t really have much to say about it—this book introduces ART (who is great!), and investigates Murderbot’s backstory. Very emotional reveals about sexbots that manifest very well in Murderbot’s POV.
Victoria Goddard, “The Hands of the Emperor”
My AO3 tags for this book: competence + loyalty porn; retirement fantasy; bureaucratic fantasy; the impostor syndrome of being of two worlds and belonging to none
This book is slow and long, but I read it when I was sick and I found it extremely comforting! It’s a social justice fantasy from the PoV of an immigrant who has worked himself up to being the hands of the emperor. Some of the scenes feel very self-indulgent and wish fulfillment-y, but I think that the characters were written solidly enough for it to work. Plus, Kip’s complicated semi-estranged relationship with his friends and family that he simultaneously loves so much but feels so distant from feels so plausible.
There’s not really any worldbuilding, but the fantasy parts just fill themselves in the background as you go along. It’s personally attractive to me because it explores dualities and dynamics of being both insider and outsider all the time. A recurring conflict is Kip not really being able to find his own voice enough to make claims for himself.
I liked the part where it brings to mind how sometimes it’s those who leave the community who hold on to pieces of their heritage differently and renew their connections more intentionally. But some of the things Kip attributes to community values are really just his personality, which… yeah! Can also relate!
Although Kip and the Emperor have an extremely slow-burn romance going on, the book as a whole is centered on platonic and familial loyalty. Plus, all of Kip’s palace friends have big war/calamity trauma where they have all lost their families and just want to live in a house together when they retire and be adopted by Kip’s legendary large family.
tl;dr - no plot, only characters, relationships, and competence; some interpersonal conflicts feel repetitive towards the end, but the heart of it is still Kip finding his place in the world, and a group of veterans wanting to live and retire together.
Zen Cho, “The Order of Pure Moon Reflected in Water”
Like Murderbot 2, this is a novella so I don’t have much to say—it’s not my fav Zen Cho work, but I still enjoyed the taciturn PoV and the rush of feelings in the end. The setting is kind of grim and tense, but the main characters give it an energetic push forward then backward then forward again.
BTW I’m typing all of this from my phone while I procrastinate between tasks, I hope the formatting is ok. I’ll try to fix it when I’m on desktop lol.
Book thoughts:
Manga: Do Chokkyu Kareshi X Kanojo
A short and funny coming-of-age het romance manga about two very straightforward and shouty people. It has some of the funniest comic panels, but ultimately it's not my thing--in spite of the unconventional romance, and an interesting attempt to breach the topic of bad sex, it still skews too male-gaze-y for me. The sexual situations that the FL gets forced on are pretty much hentai set-ups, on top of none of the adults really having any boundaries with children, whether their own or others'.
From what I read on the internet, this manga had a lot of trouble finding a publisher (or staying with one), because it was so small? Which might explain the plot/resolution speedrun.
It does have some truly comedic scenes! It’s just that the story was not character-driven enough for me (even though it’s character-centric), and the friendships were too one-dimensional.
C.L Polk, “Witchmark”
M/m fantasy novel featuring a secret witch and a fae. More story-driven than character-driven, but it builds to a really cinematic and emotional climax! I had a lot of trouble getting into this because the most interesting relationship for me was the complicated sibling relationship, which, because the novel started when they’re already estranged, felt very incomplete.
The plot was okay, with a little bit of magical murder mystery, genre-typical commentary about class inequality (witches vs Secondaries, whose sole differences are socio-economic class), and what I think of as FMA-esque revelations. It starts out pretty slow and then it goes way too fast haha (I ended up staying up to finish this, lol).
Martha Wells, “Artificial Condition”
Murderbot#2. I really enjoyed it but don’t really have much to say about it—this book introduces ART (who is great!), and investigates Murderbot’s backstory. Very emotional reveals about sexbots that manifest very well in Murderbot’s POV.
Victoria Goddard, “The Hands of the Emperor”
My AO3 tags for this book: competence + loyalty porn; retirement fantasy; bureaucratic fantasy; the impostor syndrome of being of two worlds and belonging to none
This book is slow and long, but I read it when I was sick and I found it extremely comforting! It’s a social justice fantasy from the PoV of an immigrant who has worked himself up to being the hands of the emperor. Some of the scenes feel very self-indulgent and wish fulfillment-y, but I think that the characters were written solidly enough for it to work. Plus, Kip’s complicated semi-estranged relationship with his friends and family that he simultaneously loves so much but feels so distant from feels so plausible.
There’s not really any worldbuilding, but the fantasy parts just fill themselves in the background as you go along. It’s personally attractive to me because it explores dualities and dynamics of being both insider and outsider all the time. A recurring conflict is Kip not really being able to find his own voice enough to make claims for himself.
I liked the part where it brings to mind how sometimes it’s those who leave the community who hold on to pieces of their heritage differently and renew their connections more intentionally. But some of the things Kip attributes to community values are really just his personality, which… yeah! Can also relate!
Although Kip and the Emperor have an extremely slow-burn romance going on, the book as a whole is centered on platonic and familial loyalty. Plus, all of Kip’s palace friends have big war/calamity trauma where they have all lost their families and just want to live in a house together when they retire and be adopted by Kip’s legendary large family.
tl;dr - no plot, only characters, relationships, and competence; some interpersonal conflicts feel repetitive towards the end, but the heart of it is still Kip finding his place in the world, and a group of veterans wanting to live and retire together.
Zen Cho, “The Order of Pure Moon Reflected in Water”
Like Murderbot 2, this is a novella so I don’t have much to say—it’s not my fav Zen Cho work, but I still enjoyed the taciturn PoV and the rush of feelings in the end. The setting is kind of grim and tense, but the main characters give it an energetic push forward then backward then forward again.
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Date: 2022-11-09 03:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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