I did much more reading in April than this looks like, but it's all either re-reads or unfinished yet. May will probably be hard to fit everything into! At least that's the hope. The Phantom Coach was my favorite Twitch read this past month and I think I'm going to go look for more of her fiction. Both the modern books were mildly disappointing. Also, I've developed a taste for Regency pamphlets, satirical and serious both. I need more!
pickNovella giving the Recovery Man's back story and telling part of the story from “The Recovery Man“ from his point of view.
I enjoyed it, but not much point if you haven't read the main story.
pickThere's a dream-like quality to this book and its prose that was just breathtaking, and also quite unsettling at many points. I think Link is really good, too, at writing young people in a way that feels alive and real. Would love to talk in depth about this book with someone smarter than me.
panNo idea what I just read. No idea how to really review it. Might be worthy of 1 star or 2, maybe 5. I'm going with 1. Very weird, and not my cup of tea.
bailedSince it‘s longlisted for the Women‘s Prize for fiction, I tried really hard to make this book happen. But despite having engaging writing, the story is so convoluted that I‘m not following it well and I just don‘t care. I made it 2/3 through and am calling it. I could stare at that cover all day long, though.
panWhat a disappointment. I love science fiction and was delighted that an SF book made the #Womensprize long list. For most of the book, I was confused. When the puzzel pieces came together, I no longer cared about the story. 2 🌟
pickOnly marginally a standalone. Readers who haven't read the first two books will struggle to orient themselves or feel invested. Lots of characters from previous books, allusions to events and people that are only relevant if you know the backstory. I read these back to back and I still found it messy. Soft pick for me but fully understand if others bail in confusion.
#WomensPrize2024 #WomensPrize
pickI took off the dust jacket and now it's in storage ?
Anyway
Overall a really nice long form debut from Link; I wanted to love it a little more than I actually did though, mainly because it was Too Long. I can justify length if you're doing worldbuilding in scifi or fantasy, but this wasn't a 650 page story.
Still overall positive to it, @donut_jefa called it "casually dark", which is very accurate and very typical of Link.
