Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

I received an ARC from the Publisher via NetGalley. My review is my own. I was looking forward to new Yoon Ha Lee novel - one drawing upon Korean history and myths - and the worldbuilding is as astonishingly complex and wonderful as I'd hoped. To say too much would be a spoiler, but the …

The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg

I received the ARC for review from NetGalley. My opinions are my own. A wonderfully heartfelt story whose metaphors sing and whose themes resonated with me quite a lot. I loved the language, and the plot, once I got into it a little, kept me gripped. I came to it without knowledge of the Birdverse …

ARCs: Actual American Gods

And I don't mean the Neil Gaiman version, with the Vikings and the immigrants. The two NetGalley ARCs I have recently read happened to be about young indigenous women interacting with actual American deities, drawing upon Navajo and Mayan beliefs. The first was Silvia Moreno Garcia's Gods of Jade and Shadow, which features a young Mexican …

[ARC] The Trans Space Octopus Congregation: Stories

Full disclosure: I received an ebook of this collection from the author, and I know Bogi on GoodReads and on Twitter; I think my review is largely unaffected by our acquaintance. This was my last Pride Read, and perhaps the queerest of them all - and that is definitely a compliment. The writing forces the …

[ARC] Richard Powers’ The Overstory

I love trees a lot. The one book this brought to mind was (quite obviously), Peter Wohlleben's book about trees (which I reviewed & read in Polish). I received the ARC of this novel from NetGalley. Thank you! My opinion is my own, and I'll probably buy a paper copy of this novel at some point. I …

Drive-by update: August reading

August passed by like a blur, and I did actually get some reading done (I'm properly on track on GoodReads for the first time in months), but very little reviewing. I barely wrote a few sentences about books I read, for the most part. So maybe I could summarize here. Book update 1: we finally …

[ARC] This Is How You Lose the Time War

I read this book courtesy of the Publisher and NetGalley. Thank you! My opinions are my own. A beautiful book, a beautiful cover, a beautiful title and a beautiful story: this is a book whose beauty is undeniable, and its own reward. It is truly exquisitely beautifully written, and its imagery is striking. It is …

[ARC] Yoon Ha Lee, Hexarchate Stories

I read this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley; my enthusiasm is genuine and unprompted and my own. First things first: this is very much a book for a reader of Machineries of Empire trilogy, or better yet, its fan: not a primer to Yoon Ha Lee's writing. Perhaps it's readable without knowing the …

[ARC] Frankissstein, by Jeanette Winterson

The official copy goes like this: In Brexit Britain, a young transgender doctor called Ry is falling in love – against their better judgement – with Victor Stein, a celebrated professor leading the public debate around AI. Meanwhile, Ron Lord, just divorced and living with Mum again, is set to make his fortune launching a …

[PL] Czerwcowe czytanie pełne dumy

Pride Month Pride Reading \o/ Czerwiec to PRIDE MONTH!!! Obchodziłam go trochę w zeszłym roku, ale w tym czuję intensywną, głęboką potrzebę celebrowania swojej queerowości bardziej niż kiedykolwiek wcześniej. Może to zły polityczny klimat w kraju, może rodzinne perypetie, których nie chcę opisywać zbyt szczegółowo, bo to nieprzyjemny temat. Tak czy siak, czerwiec chcę poświęcić …