sadpear's reviews
494 reviews

The Beastly Bride: Tales of the Animal People by Ellen Datlow

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mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Pretty good selection of stories, I personally do not care for so much poetry
Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is one hell of a book. It's absolutely brutal and devastating and beautifully shows how growing up queer in a society that hates you leaves marks time does not erase. I want to recommend this to people so I have someone to talk to about it but it also feels like asking someone to stab themselves in the hand to see if it hurts them the same way it does me.  This really kicked some old wounds and the ending is just... god it hurts and it is beautiful. Protect trans kids. 
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Kittentits by Holly Wilson

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challenging dark emotional funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is feral in such a good way. The protagonist is a little monster child who is self centered in the way of children, with a vicious mouth and buckets of anger/grief/hurt stewing inside. She's so unlikable and yet! I could not put this down. 
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Our Lady of Pain by John Blackburn

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A creepy take on the legends around Bathory, this brings the story into a delightfully 20th century setting and adds some spooky, creepy aspects. There's a cinematic quality to it and it bumps along at a quick pace. While the language is sometimes very much of another, less enlightened era it mostly feels like set dressing to a contemporary reader. It would be fun to see this translated to the big screen.
Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

New Weird before it was New Weird, early grimdark, very much of the writer's era of casual misogyny. There's really engaging pieces to this story and I do enjoy it though I wish for more description or interiority or something to lift it up.
Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is such a recognizable moment even if you've never worked in a chain restaurant and I burned through this wondering if these tangled relationships could and would be resolved. 
Northranger by Rey Terciero

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emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Queer rural Texans just trying to be alive and loved. Absolutely gutted me.
Cinema Love by Jiaming Tang

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emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A really elliptical story about love and loss and personhood showing the ways the system harms not just queer people but others in their lives
Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

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funny hopeful reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

After a slow start, the book really picks up and Margo becomes fully alive. My only real real quibble with the book is that I don't think the shift between 1st and 3rd really adds much to the book. Margo's internal journey is well written and I liked the ending.
Shanghailanders by Juli Min

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tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I found the backwards flowing timeline interesting, like peeling back layers of wallpaper to find the original rooms beneath. The complex family dynamics were fascinating.