wafer's reviews
685 reviews

Viscera Objectica by Yugo Limbo

emotional hopeful reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Much like their previous published work, Limbo brings in another tale of a man’s romantic tryst with a puppet… with some very key differences. 

“Viscera Objectica” is a much simpler story, a lot like a passing anecdote you’d get from a close friend over an edible high. It’s personal and intimate, the kind of story where it just kind of clicks into place once you get to a certain point. Sometimes people can fall in love with the oddest things. It’s a unique mark of humanity, the way we’re able to pack bond with pretty much anything. 

I’ve never seen a story like this before, let alone with one of the most gender affirming protagonist’s I’ve ever seen in my life. I adore how Limbo draws transmasc characters. No one else can do it like they do, and it’s simply splendid.

Is it weird? I mean, yeah, but that’s what makes it so special. 

What We Fed to the Manticore by Talia Lakshmi Kolluri

5.0

Featherbed by Annabeth Albert

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.0

Well, that’s what I get for trying this just because the cover looked goofy.

I love chickens. My parents keep them as pets, and it’s always a joy to help care for them whenever I housesit. Naturally, I went into this book expecting chickens and ended up getting breadcrumbs. Chickens only show up in the first chapter, and thereafter are demoted to passing off-page mentions and one late-book pun that made me wince.

Man, I don’t know. This book just feels like nothing. Harrison and Finn have the most basic chemistry, the most basic arguments and concerns, it’s just like - very paint-by-numbers with actual farming getting shoved to the sidelines. There’s no substance, just fluff. 

Meh.

A Thief in the Night by KJ Charles

emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A roguish man is caught by the earl he robbed some months prior, which is bad enough without considering what the two of them did that night.

Oh, my kingdom for a good thief/nobleman mlm 🙏 thank you kindly

Novellas like this are always welcome little treats, just very no-nonsense and no-frills runaway romances. My only very mild complaint is that it could have stood to have maybe one more sex scene to send it off. 

Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-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

3.75

Gay Arthurian fake dating with a dash of political intrigue for seasoning. 

This was okay! I mean, I had fun. I think my biggest disappointment was that the romance felt oddly lacking? Gwen and Bridget seem only barely connected by mutual attraction, and Gabe treats Arthur like a bug most of the time. It’s all very cynical and a bit too tongue-in-cheek for my liking.

Some of the humor is fun, and other times it feels painfully forced. It’s very YA in how it reads, which is fine! Just not my preference.

A Clean Break by Keira Andrews

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

Marked this as spoilers because it’s a direct continuation from the first book, so anything I say here may as well be a spoiler.

I’m mixed on this for a number of reasons, but my main pain point is that the ‘antagonist’ is a flamboyant gay man who violates David’s boundaries and while there IS a big apology scene about it, it still left a bad taste in my mouth. This isn’t the first time that Andrews has used a feminine gay man archetype as a villain. Idk. I didn’t like that whole club scene at all.

“A Clean Break” has a bad case of middle book syndrome, and I’ll be happy to get out of the city for the next and final one.

The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

“It is a hard thing to be a good man”

I’m just such a sucker for duel timelines and western backdrops. Sprinkle in a cursed family name and a Mephistopheles-type and I am hooked, line, and sinker.

The prose is delicious. Everything about it is just a delight on my eyes. Once I got this in the mail yesterday, I could hardly keep it down, and isn’t that endorsement enough?

Medieval Woman: Village Life in the Middle Ages by Ann Baer

informative reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I’m not sure how accurate this book is in portraying medieval village life. That’s not really a usual area of interest, but I do love how this one of those rare books where ‘nothing’ happens, and yet there isn’t a part of it that bores you.

“Medieval Woman” is a snapshot of several months centered around Marion, wife to a modest carpenter and mother to two living children. The book is divided into month-by-month chapters, with each chapter representing around a single day or so. 

For as much hardship as Marion endures, it’s mostly rooted in the mundane. She survives, and it’s oddly relaxing to read about someone doing endless toil and hard labor under a provincial backdrop.

Our Colors by Gengoroh Tagame

challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

Like a lot of other folks here, I don’t really know how to rate this one. The real kicker is that I was all-in on giving this high praise until the last few pages. It’s one of those deals.

Here’s the good: Tagame’s art is exquisite. I love the way he draws his characters and puts so much emphasis on masculinity. I can’t really eloquently describe it other than that it’s art that ‘feels’ gay in the best way possible. 

Another good thing: everything between the gay male lead and the girl childhood friend was done really well. I always love seeing healthy, supportive friendships with that undercurrent of occasional bumpy conflicts. 

Until the last few pages, I really liked the mentor character, and it pains me that I have to refrain from recommending this one to people because of the ending. Considering everything that comes before it, it just doesn’t sit right with me. 

(also, other commenters are right about the premise being flawed from the get-go: this takes place in a year with smartphones. I feel like there could have been more done with that? Better yet, have this take place in the early 2000s. It already feels like it does based on how the characters talk/act)

Foxfire Story: Oral Tradition in Southern Appalachia by Foxfire Fund Inc

emotional funny informative slow-paced

4.5

I’m so glad I caught a glance of this while I was wandering around the library the other day. The Foxfire series is something that’s always existed in my periphery with the original paperbacks passed down from my grandfather. I had no idea that the program was still running and publishing new stuff like this.

This is a really lovely book, chock-full of different examples of southern Appalachia oral folklore from a diverse set of voices all lovingly transcribed and notated where needed.