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[personal profile] rocky41_72025-04-11 08:16 pm

Recent Reading: A Dowry of Blood

My latest commute audiobook was A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson, a vampire novel that strides along at a brisk 5 hours run time. I have to admit upfront I did not have high hopes for this book. I somewhat warily added it to my TBR list, but I feared tired romantasy tropes that don't hit for me, and that the queerness which had landed it on my radar would turn out to be little more than additional titillation for a straight audience looking for a tale of decadence and indecency. I'm quite pleased to report neither of those concerns came to fruition!
 
As the title might suggest, there's a level of melodrama in this book you have to accept to enjoy the story. It reminded me in some ways of AMC's Interview with the Vampire in its shameless embrace of all those usual vampiric tropes and in the extravagances of its characters and its prose. Throughout the introduction, I was trying to decide if this was fun, or overwrought. I came down on the side of fun.
 
 
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[personal profile] rocky41_72024-09-06 07:33 am

"On a Woman's Madness" by Astrid Roemer

The week before last Libby showed me a list of books my library recommended, all books translated into English in whole or in part by female translators. I made the sore mistake of going through the whole list and added about thirty new books to my TBR. This was the first of them that I've finished! It's called On a Woman's Madness by Surinamese author Astrid Roemer, translated from Dutch by Lucy Scott. The book description is:

When Noenka's husband refuses her request for divorce, she flees her small hometown for the city, where life is simultaneously free and unfree: an open book; a closed door.

Full review on my main.

Recommend if:
  • You like books that focus heavily on characters' emotions
  • You enjoy "soul searching" stories
  • You like messy or struggling main characters
Do not recommend if:
  • You prefer a linear story which communicates itself clearly
  • You don't enjoy heavy subject material (definitely check your trigger warnings for this book)
  • You want a plot-driven story
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[personal profile] rocky41_72024-08-30 08:23 pm

Book Review: Down Among the Sticks and Bones

This is the second book in the Wayward Children series (first book: Every Heart A Doorway). This book focuses on Jack and Jill from Every Heart, and what happened to them before they came to Ms. West's school.

Twin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.

This is the story of what happened first…



Spoilers below!


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Female General, Eldest Princess, by 请君莫笑 ("Please Don’t Laugh")

Female General, Eldest Princess (Original: 女将军和长公主) is a Chinese f/f webnovel following a woman disguised as a man in the military and the eldest princess. It switches between the two stories, until they completely intertwine. Fans have done a great job of translating it into English and compiling it here.

I really enjoyed this; I found the plot super interesting and ended up binging it. If you love drama and political intrigue, it'll probably be up your alley. The romance is complex and very slow-burn, and ultimately really satisfying to me. It's also very specifically lesbian, which was a little surprising to me as one of the main characters successfully passes as a man for a huge portion of the story.

Two issues I think may bother some people though are some descriptions of the main characters; the princess is multiple times described as beautiful specifically for her pale skin, compared to the general's tan. There's also multiple occasions where the narration will say that so-and-so had certain qualities (such as having a tender heart) because of her womanhood. Personally, I felt able to pass these off as the belief system of the characters given the historical setting, but could imagine it being a bigger turn-off for others.

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[personal profile] sophia_sol2020-05-22 05:14 pm

8 reviews!

Just realized I've been forgetting to let you folks know about the f/f book reviews I've written in the....year since I last posted here, whoops. Here's links to my reviews, along with a brief description of each!

1. A Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics, by Olivia Waite - Absolutely delightful historical romance featuring one woman who's a scientist and one who's an artist.

2. The Wolf and the Girl, by Aster Glenn Gray - The ending is ambiguous about whether it ships the two women or not but I think it falls under the spirit of this community. Historical fantasy featuring the early silent film industry and werewolves. Lovely.

3. In the Vanishers' Palace, by Aliette de Bodard - A Beauty & the Beast inspired novella. The worldbuilding is compelling, but the romance doesn't quite work for me personally.

4. Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir - Okay everyone's already heard about the lesbian necromancers, right? Anyway it's great as advertised, though a bit too far in the horror direction for me to be really happy with personally.

5. Catfishing on Catnet, by Naomi Kritzer - YA novel featuring lots of queer characters as well beyond the f/f relationship. Also a major character is an AI! Fun.

6. A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine - far-future SF, my favourite book I read last year, completely brilliant and riveting.

7. Once Ghosted, Twice Shy, by Alyssa Cole - modern romance novel, I liked the characters but the romance arc doesn't work for me personally.

8. The True Queen, by Zen Cho - historical fantasy, absolutely delightful.
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[personal profile] sophia_sol2019-03-29 10:50 pm

Daughter of Mystery, by Heather Rose Jones

Daughter of Mystery contains lesbians, swordfighting, theological magic, and political intrigue in the 19th century. You can read my review of it here.
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[personal profile] muccamukk2019-03-29 10:14 am

Mrs Martin's Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan

A novella set in Milan's latest series, The Worth Saga, which you don't need to have followed to read this book. It the story of a pair of elderly Victorian lesbians who meet and fall in love while pursuing revenge against the Terrible Nephew of one half of the couple.

In the end, I had mixed feelings. Review on my DW.
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[personal profile] sophia_sol2019-03-22 10:04 pm

Mrs Martin's Incomparable Adventure, by Courtney Milan

Oh hey, without intending to I posted an f/f book review on a Friday! So I should let you folks know about it! It's a lesbian romance between seniors, set in the Victorian era, and my review can be found here

(no subject)

"Seasons of Glass and Iron" by Amal El-Mohtar. Two women trapped in fairy tales, who find each other and fall in love and rescue themselves by rescuing each other. CN: domestic violence.

Fair Play, by Tove Jansson

Review on my DW. Fair Play, by Tove Jansson. A lovely, funny, wise book about an artist and a writer who have been together for many years and are now in their seventies, by the author of the Moomin books, who also had a fifty-year relationship with an artist.