A global exploration of the ways cities are slowly finding balance with nature, ecosystems, and the human need for natural connection, I loved this boA global exploration of the ways cities are slowly finding balance with nature, ecosystems, and the human need for natural connection, I loved this book!
The writing style is phenomenal. Fitch brings us with him every step of the way, explaining technical concepts in ways that are easy to understand, introducing us to amazing humans he's met along his travels, and his conversational style makes this a joy to read.
I was delighted at the breadth of topics in the book from fish migration, to biking infrastructure, to foraging, to the ways that animals have been forced to adapt to cityscapes. There's a phenomenal narrative thread and interconnectedness to every single element. Rarely do I encounter such readable and propulsive non-fic!
I can't recommend this highly enough. If you're dismayed by sprawling metropolises, car-centricity, climate breakdown... and would like a snapshot of how things could be, check out this book.
My request to review this was approved by 4th Estate / William Collins on NetGalley....more
The slow pace felt so intentional given the focus of listening and being present that spanned Sprinkel’s tiWhat a uniquely written and presented book!
The slow pace felt so intentional given the focus of listening and being present that spanned Sprinkel’s time with the trees. There’s a unique blend of science, history, etymology, and specific dives into adjacent subjects depending on what part of the world we’re spending time in. On the other hand, there’s focus on dreams, religion, magic, and spirituality.
Immaculately researched, this book covers a wide range of perspectives, time, and geography. There’s a golden thread connecting the past, present, and uncertain future of the trees as climate breakdown accelerates. Sprinkel’s honesty about what this means for the various trees in the book, and the knock-on effect it will have for humans, was deeply appreciated by this reader.
This is a slow read, forcing us to consider all aspects of listening and being present. At times, I found some of the history and literature extracts a bit dry. The narrative flow between the hard science and Sprinkel’s experience weren’t always as smooth as they might’ve been. There’s a lot of repetition about Sprinkel’s yearning for children: she’s deeply grieving this but I’m not sure it needed to be repeated quite so much.
The final chapter was very different to rest of the book. The COVID-19 lockdowns barred Sprinkel from her trip to Africa. Instead, she uses this section to look inward and reflect on place, and by connecting with a beech tree. This had a much more intimate and memoir feel than the preceding chapters to me. In places, it read like a journal including some of Sprinkel’s own poetry and diary extracts.
I’m glad I spent time with this book. As a reader who loves trees and has a strong connection to nature, there’s a lot to appreciate about Sprinkel’s commitment to learning more about the connection of trees and community… and herself. ...more
I really enjoyed this story. Not only is it a great immersion into feudal Japan, it's also a deep exploration of traditional Japanese poetry. I reallyI really enjoyed this story. Not only is it a great immersion into feudal Japan, it's also a deep exploration of traditional Japanese poetry. I really enjoyed Matsuo's journey, both in poetry and in life. While I wasn't hugely enamoured by the romance (obsession?) as the driver, the path it led Matsuo on was compelling and emotional.
The storytelling was punchy, made gentle by the lyrical, poetic writing style. I found the ending satisfying and enjoyed spending time in Thériault's imagined world.
The story reminded me of Ghost of Tsushima crossed with elements of Red Dead Redemption 2 with the art of waka poetry at its core. A refreshingly original tale and not like anything else I've read to date.
Thank you to Pushkin Press for making this title available to review on NetGalley. ...more
This hard-hitting and poignant novel really surprised me. Despite its short length, it covers a breadth of time, distance, and themes. I really liked This hard-hitting and poignant novel really surprised me. Despite its short length, it covers a breadth of time, distance, and themes. I really liked how this book drilled into the 'grass is greener' themes and didn't shy away from the massive racism and inequality problems that plague The States. Too often in fiction, The States are portrayed as some sort of mecca, which couldn't be further from the truth! This book examines both Chinese and American cultures, warts and all.
I came to root for Lin and Liz over the narrative. Both of them made frustrating choices at times but it was impossible not to cheer them on. But, due to their similar names, I found myself having to pause to remind myself whose story I was in. (The ARC sometimes even had the wrong names which didn't help!)
The storytelling style was straight forward, the pacing was good, and the senses of place felt strong. The writing style felt rough around the edges at times, but Tam-Claiborne shows immense promise.
I'm glad I spent time with this book! Thank you to Regalo Press for making this available to review on NetGalley. ...more
I honestly had to go back and check the blurb because this book was not at all what I was expecting. With comparisons to both the beautiful, gut-wrencI honestly had to go back and check the blurb because this book was not at all what I was expecting. With comparisons to both the beautiful, gut-wrenching familial reflection of Crying in H Mart and the incredible food writing of Butter, I was expecting something entirely different to what I got.
The focus is on the author and her romantic life. Primarily, we accompany her off the back of a breakdown of a 13-year relationship for which, (I think?), she's estranged from her parents. It's nebulous and never explored, remaining a huge elephant in the room for the length of the book. Instead, we spend a lot of time in the author's head with her insecurities as she navigates a new relationship. The choice to not name the love interests added further distance as a reader. Literally everyone else has a name? Even friends that are mentioned once in passing.
The parents felt like side characters and I was so disappointed at how little we got to know them. There isn't a lot of commentary of exploration of the lack of verbal affection (plus, we've got this hinted-at estrangement that likely provides some context for the supposed 'distance' between the author and her parents). I felt like we were missing critical information that would have helped contextualize a lot of the tension there. Instead, they all just pretended nothing happened and stay in this non-communicative limbo?
With that, the book suffers from a maddeningly distracted attention span. As if it doesn't know what it wanted to focus on and just sorta drifts instead. It felt navel-gazey at many points, especially the stream of consciousness style and random asides that didn't add anything meaningful. The author spends an excessive amount of time quoting authors, films, and books. It gave such a claustrophobic, insular feel.
I've read a lot of strong food-themed books lately that have made my mouth water and transported me to the meals. Sadly, I didn't get that same experience with this.
I liked the pictures of the lorikeet and the moving boxes as well as Yeye's art. I wish there had been more pictures! There were some beautiful turns of phrase sprinkled throughout the book too, hints at the author's capability. The prologue was one of the best intros I've ever read. This frustrated me more and I wish the author had just written what she'd wanted rather than trying to write a story she was clearly hesitant to tell.
Ultimately, I went into this book excited to explore themes of familial reconnection (and maybe complexity) through food but was disappointed that this wasn’t really what the book’s focus was.
I had my request to review this book approved by Elliot & Thompson on NetGalley....more
4.5 A straightforward, slice-of-life story that doesn't shy away from examining the hardships and suffering that many people endure under capitalism. 4.5 A straightforward, slice-of-life story that doesn't shy away from examining the hardships and suffering that many people endure under capitalism.
A propulsive story that kept me on the razor wire of anxious and hopeful for our protagonists. Watching them gamble with their life savings was so stressful! Our characters were interesting: Jisong was easily my favourite because she seemed more reasonable and self-aware than the other two. Dahae was a close second: as the narrator, I felt a closeness to her that I didn't with the other two and I particularly liked her development arc as she recognized and called out the greed that her internalized capitalism was manifesting. Eun-sang was pushy and a bully; I admired her strength but she so mean to her friends and rarely had any introspection.
The translation was strong: I particularly liked the inclusion of Korean terms, instead of watering down the language for English speakers. The sense of place was well done too: I could vividly see the cafés, Dahae's apartment, the trip to Jeju island. Most of all, I was surprised at the range of emotion I felt while reading: anger at the stupid company and how the women were treated, fear for the risks they were taking, hope that the risks would pay off, empathy for our characters and the choices they were driven to make...
I'm still sitting with some discomfort around the cryptocurrency and job culture themes. This would make an excellent book to discuss with others because it's multi-layered and could be read as both an endorsement and admonishment of both! I'm going with the latter.
The cover art is phenomenal and I liked the chapter structures (and the chapter heading font!).
About the ending...(view spoiler)[ As I was reading, I was wondering how the author would conclude the story. I was worried it would turn into something about the virtues of cryptocurrency or, worse, some trite nonsense about how how job culture iSn'T tHaT bAd. Instead, we got three very different endings, fitting our cast! I liked Eun-sang's the best (even if I liked her character the least) because she just threw of the shackles of employment to do her own thing: how empowering! Jisong's was a close second: pursuing her passion and setting up a small business. Our lead, Dahae's was the least satisfying to a degree because while she learned a lot about herself through the story, she stays at the job. I know the landscape and her circumstances had changed and there's a degree of hope that she will find her thing, but it felt disappointing because I wanted so much more for her than corporate drudgery.
I was privileged to have my request to review this book approved by Bloomsbury on NetGalley. (hide spoiler)]...more
3.5 A propulsive read and promising (CanCon!!) satirical debut that goes a bit off the rails in the last 30%.
What worked for me: ☠️ The premise was un3.5 A propulsive read and promising (CanCon!!) satirical debut that goes a bit off the rails in the last 30%.
What worked for me: ☠️ The premise was unlike anything I’d encountered before - it felt fresh and inventive! ☠️ I loved the commentary on vacuous internet culture, on capitalism, on race, on family. While I wish some of these themes had gone a bit deeper, I particularly loved Iz’s speech to the other girls about privilege. ☠️ The exploration of the twins’ relationship and their deep-seated jealousy of each other was well done. It was interesting how that ‘grass is greener’ mindset went in both directions. ☠️ Much like MLMs, I don’t understand the draw of influencer culture - it just seems like cultish marketing to me - but reading about it is fascinating, in a gross, entertaining kind of way. ☠️ While a bit rough around the edges, the writing style, pace, and story were all pretty solid for a debut. ☠️ Julie is a perfect example of how characters don’t need to be likeable to be interesting. Sure, I pretty much hated her from go but I was still keen to see what happened next and what choices she would make.
What I wasn’t so keen on: ☠️ Julie’s surly teenage dialogue at the beginning was a very odd choice. ☠️ The last 30% of the book was a total departure from the previous 70% and I’m not sure I liked it. It stepped into the horror genre in a way I wasn’t expecting. The mouse bit was particularly awful. While I appreciate authors who subvert genre and play with structure, a shift this dramatic didn’t feel like an intentional shift but more of a forced ‘gotcha’. Zhang almost pulled it off with the escalation but didn’t quite stick the landing for this reader.
A note on the ending:(view spoiler)[ After the tension of Julie’s subterfuge, I was relieved when all the secrets came out. I don’t understand why she was being accused of murdering Chloe; but I’m glad she was able to reclaim her identity in the end. What I found particularly horrific was at the very end, when she sabotages everything and posts a video, even against the advice of her legal counsel. It was a sickening illustration of just how messed up she was and legitimized Bella Marie’s claim that Julie truly was “one of them”. (hide spoiler)]
I was privileged to have my request to review this approved by Bloomsbury on NetGalley. ...more
1.5 Don’t let the cozy, gentle cover fool you - this book is pure darkness. Originally published in 2009, this seems to be capitalizing on the success1.5 Don’t let the cozy, gentle cover fool you - this book is pure darkness. Originally published in 2009, this seems to be capitalizing on the success healing fiction has enjoyed in English-speaking markets; the only problem is: it’s not healing fiction whatsoever.
Content Warnings: child physical abuse, child sexual abuse, rape, gaslighting, physical violence, sexual violence, suicide, self-harm, toxic relationships, controlling partner, stalking, assault, body horror, murder, demonic nightmares. Many of these range from prominent to graphic.
I was really disappointed in this book, especially having enjoyed “Apartment Women” by the same author. The writing wasn’t as compelling (I mean, it’s an older book so that kinda makes sense) and fell very flat emotionally. The characters, especially the bakery customers, were pretty much all objectively awful people (Bluebird being the exception). The Baker was unstable in a way that made me nervous and the unnamed teenager didn’t have much personality outside of a speech impediment. The bakery sense of place and food writing was entirely missing-in-action or, in the case of the latter, disgustingly subverted. The overall vibe was claustrophobic and tense. While I think the choice of omniscient narrator was to lean into the fairy tale theme, it didn’t work for me as a reader when we were experiencing the story through the teenage boy (who couldn’t possibly have known many of the things in the info-dumpy sections).
I understand that the French language edition has an author’s note where the author shares that they intentionally subverted the ‘healing fiction’ genre, steering away from positively, healing, and, dare I say, saccharine. I appreciate the energy but this went too far in the other direction, into trauma porn territory.
Do not be fooled by the blurb comparisons, especially the one comparing this to the middle-grade book “The Rainfall Market”. Even Dallergut Dream Department Store is an unfair comparison. Did the publishers even read this book? It's more of a horror than anything remotely 'healing'.
I finished this book feeling misled and manipulated… by the cover, the blurb, and the comparisons. I wonder if I'd have felt differently if this hadn't been pitched so hard as 'cozy' and 'healing'. ...more
3.5 I was really excited to dive into this one, hoping for something unique, fun, and punchy like The Last One At The Party. While it offered some fr3.5 I was really excited to dive into this one, hoping for something unique, fun, and punchy like The Last One At The Party. While it offered some fresh explanation and lore about zombies, it was much slower and more sad than I was expecting based on the blurb and cover, which suggests some degree of humour and fiasco.
It’s gonna be tricky to talk about this in detail without spoilers. All possible spoilers have been flagged with tags.
I loved this story and spending time in the world that Lavelle created. The characters were great (I think Frankie was my favourite), the world-buildiI loved this story and spending time in the world that Lavelle created. The characters were great (I think Frankie was my favourite), the world-building/lore exquisitely crafted, the sense of place in NYC fantastic, the pacing perfect, and the theme of grief, life, and love evocative. The writing was fantastic with realistic (sometimes laugh-out-loud funny) dialogue, beautiful turns of phrase, and food writing that I could taste.
This was the first book in a long time that felt like it took a unique and new path. The story truly offered up something fresh.
I love genre-spanning books and this is like *chef's kiss* of culinary/literary with a sprinkling of horror and magic. Ya girl didn't even mind the romance component (I know!). If you wish books like The Chibineko Kitchen went a bit harder, this is the book for you!
Magnifique. No notes.
I was privileged to have my request to review this accepted by Bloomsbury on NetGalley. ...more
This one surprised me! The tight writing and storytelling really worked for me. While it clocked in at under 200 pages, it had enough action to feel lThis one surprised me! The tight writing and storytelling really worked for me. While it clocked in at under 200 pages, it had enough action to feel like a 350-pager! It reminded me of a more mature and horror-ified version of Death in the Downline.
I liked the intentional choice to not name our MC, it really drove home cultural erasure of the immigrant experience. I loved the relationship our MC had with her parents - it was so moving and beautiful how close, supportive, and loving the family was. Watching the MC’s musical journey was emotive, to say the least. I’ve never played piano but the author made sure I understand just how connected our MC was to her music to the point where I ‘got it’.
The commentary on the immigrant experience, capitalism, identity, the predatory beauty industry , poverty, and living as a second generation immigrant in North America were all impactful themes that worked really well together. We covered a lot of ground; there were times I wish we’d gone a little bit deeper into each theme or making some of it come full circle.
The escalation was absolutely unhinged. Some of it I was able to guess but a lot of it went in a direction I wasn’t expecting at all. Personally, I would have valued a bit more time in the denouement as the escalation was a bit intense and I was sitting with a few unanswered questions.
This is an impressive debut. I will keep my eyes open for more work by Huang.
My request to review this was approved by Canelo on NetGalley. ...more
A slow-paced, lyrically written dystopian that didn’t quite the mark for me.
Opening and scene-setting is very long, the first 25% of the book, in facA slow-paced, lyrically written dystopian that didn’t quite the mark for me.
Opening and scene-setting is very long, the first 25% of the book, in fact. I didn’t mind this because I liked spending time with Lark, but I mentally kept checking my watch to see when we’d actually get the story underway.
I think my favourite bits were when Rainy was on the open water in Lake Superior and exploring the coastline while sitting with this grief. There is some truly beautiful writing and it created a profound sense of place. There’s one section where Rainy observes some seagulls resting on the boat that was beautifully evocative and emotionally stirring. There’s a lot of detail about sailing which will appeal to boating folks!
Once Sol joined the tale, I started noticing some distracting inconsistencies with Rainy’s characterization and motivations. I didn’t understand why Rainy jeopardized his own safety (and his beloved bass guitar!) on freeing Sol after he’d returned her to land. Later, his aggressiveness with his captors on her behalf didn’t ring true - it didn’t feel plausible to me that he could have that kind of a bond with her after a couple of weeks.
After the bridge section, the story went a bit off the rails for this reader. I confess I’m still a bit confused about what even happened on the giant ship.
The dystopian world didn’t feel as fleshed out as I needed it to be, I finished the book sitting with a lot of question about the world and its mechanics. While I don’t read dystopian fiction to be uplifted, even recognizing that grief is a prominent theme, the hopelessness and bleakness of the book did get to me a bit. Coupled with the very, very slow pace, I did struggle to pick it up sometimes.
The cover is beautiful!
I was privileged to have my request to review this book accepted by Atlantic Books on NetGalley. ⛵️...more
2.5 My main quarrel with this book is that the blurb gives most of the plot away! Instead of being curious about what would happen next, I found mysel2.5 My main quarrel with this book is that the blurb gives most of the plot away! Instead of being curious about what would happen next, I found myself just looking out for milestones and ticking them off mentally. The only uncharted waters came in the final 30% or so!
I love books about human vs nature. I enjoy suspense. I like to feel stuff. This book delivered on all fronts.
As someone who grew up in what’s tantamI love books about human vs nature. I enjoy suspense. I like to feel stuff. This book delivered on all fronts.
As someone who grew up in what’s tantamount to a national park, I know full well that the woods can kill you which turned the tension up to 11 for me and I read this story in mere hours. The pacing was propulsive, without being frantic. I particularly liked that there wasn’t loads of preamble, we jump right into the action. I was very drawn to Valerie and Bev and enjoyed spending time with them. The epistolary format of transcripts, DMs, articles, and narrative really brought the urgency to life for me and kept the pace tight. I was a bit skeptical of Valerie’s poetic and coherent prose the longer she spent in the woods. There’s at least one inconsistency with that: (view spoiler)[Valerie does say, around day ten that she’s too weak to write but will continue her letter in her heart. Yet, at the end, mails the complete diary to Bev? (hide spoiler)]
The sense of place was awesome. I paused a couple of times to look up places mentioned (lemon squeezer, no thanks!) and could picture the forest vividly. I really liked the scenes with Badger, the search and rescue dog and learning a bit more about the mechanics of K9 rescue!
My interest waned during Lena’s backstory. I found Lena a complex but frustrating character. It took her an agonizingly long time to make a connection that I guessed around the 40% mark, and her inaction made me want to scream. We spent a lot of time on her backstory and inner angst about her daughter and I’m still not really sure why. I also didn’t really understand the purpose of taking us along for Bev’s trip to Connecticut, which took me out of Valerie’s story right at the climax and into a kind of twee family scene that felt forced.
Ultimately, I recommend this book. It’s got a great hook, a good mystery, and takes place in a unique setting. The exact genre is difficult to pinpoint and I love it for that! Also, while the North American and UK covers are wildly different, they’re both stunners!
My request to review this was approved by Little, Brown Book Group UK on NetGalley. ...more
The fictionalized ‘story’ format did not work for me at all. Amid bland corporate language, the story is cloying and saccharine (and enough with the JThe fictionalized ‘story’ format did not work for me at all. Amid bland corporate language, the story is cloying and saccharine (and enough with the Journey references, geez!). I didn’t like spending time with the Emily character. Her motivations and decisions didn’t make much sense to me and there were a lot of inconsistencies. I couldn’t get past how deeply weird that this is a fictional story that the author writes about himself.
I found the creative writing format poor and got in the way of the content significantly. When I read dog training books, formatting is critical for me. I like bite-size so I can dip in and out and revisit sections; I don’t want to have to wade through narrative prose to find the info I want. Even the summaries at the end of the chapters didn’t help because the context is all in the ‘story’.
In terms of the content, it was a real mixed bag. I found some of it a bit ‘pack mentality’ and weirdly hierarchical which didn’t land; sorta like if aggressive corporate leadership techniques were applied to pets. There was a controlling ethos to it that made me uncomfortable. Some of the advice was good (crate training, the advocacy part of guardianship, consistency) and I’m a huge advocate for compassionate, trust-based training; but, I didn’t find I learned anything new here, which was disappointing. This book isn’t subtle: it’s basically a long-winded, repetitive advertisement for the author and his business.
This is the first book I’ve encountered on this platform that wouldn’t download to the NetGalley app. Having to read this as a PDF in a browser window was profoundly annoying. While I can usually read a book in a few days, this took me weeks!
Between the writing, style, and format, I didn’t have a good time with this.
This title was available to review on NetGalley. ...more
2.5 I found this odd but not in a good way. The writing was strong but the story didn’t work for me. It was messy and disjointed with a heavy focus on2.5 I found this odd but not in a good way. The writing was strong but the story didn’t work for me. It was messy and disjointed with a heavy focus on motherhood, babies, and some pretty uncomfortable sex which wasn’t what I was expecting in something billed as a dystopia. I was disappointed by how abstract and unrealized the world-building was for the dystopian world. The explanation comes far too late and was super predictable.
This book is the first time in my life that I’d have preferred a more linear storytelling. This felt obtuse and convoluted for the sake of it. I’m disappointed because I think there’s a good story here; it’s just not told very well and doesn’t have a sharp enough focus.
I remember enjoying Strange Weather in Tokyo and Nakano Thrift Shop but the author’s recent works have disappointed me. While this was more enjoyable than Third Love, it wasn’t great.
I had my request to review this approved by Granta on NetGalley. ...more
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