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juushikaTitle: All the Murmuring Bones
Author: A.G. Slatter/Angela Slatter
Published: Titan Books, 2021
Rating: 2.5 of 5
Page Count: 370
Total Page Count: 387,980
Text Number: 1455
Read Because: reviewed bymrissa, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: The last remaining descendant of a once-powerful family with unusual ties to the sea flees a dangerous marriage. I was slow to warm to this and never got much above tepid. Some of that is the structure—this is more raggedy than other Slatter I've read, with a rambling narrative that makes for sequential (and not especially complex) reveals. Some of that is that the speculative, surprisingly fantastical elements of the worldbuilding are more interesting than the actual events of the plot. But the real culprit is that I don't like water as an aesthetic, be it beautiful or scary. And this is so much about aesthetic: very gothic, much mermaids; it's probably the weakest Slatter I've read, but she's got great vibes, and vibes could sell this ... if I were a better audience, but I'm not.
Title: Pleasant Dreams: The Welcoming Play of Kirby's Dream Land
Author: Joel Couture
Published: 2019
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 130
Total Page Count: 388,510
Text Number: 1457
Read Because: received in the itch.io Bundle for Ukraine
Review: An analysis of Kirby's Dream Land that explores how it welcomes newcomers to action-platformer games, teaching them the skills of the genre in a safe and inviting environment. This got me to go back and play Dream Land, which I skipped when I played the Kirby back catalog after falling in love with the series as an adult—I assumed Gameboy B&W wouldn't have the right Kirby vibe but I was totally wrong, and Couture nails the reasons it's a great game: the atmosphere, the controls, the difficulty curve, even the short and sweet length.
There's a lot to love in this game, and a lot of love in this book; I share the author's opinions on the value of "wholesome" games, both as entry points and for the ethos they bring to medium. But the writing is … rough. It's casual, which is fine, this is a personal book; but it's also ridiculously redundant. This should have been a 40 page chapbook. Recommended in spirit! … but in practice: skim it.
Title: Dark Rise (Dark Rise Book 1)
Author: C.S. Pacat
Published: HarperCollins, 2021
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 465
Total Page Count: 388,975
Text Number: 1458
Read Because: reviewed by Amy, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Behind the scenes of 1820s London, a secret war is raging between those who welcome and those who fear the return of the Dark King, a calamitous figure from a lost time of magic. The first half of this is a fine (and probably better in retrospective view of the second half) but standard chosen one/light vs. dark/fated destinies setup which is so delineated that it constantly begs: so, what are the complications?
But when those complications come, boy howdy, they come in handfuls and they're significant, personal, and ruthless. I can nitpick how it gets there and be justified (a lot of convenient eavesdropping; and there's a half-dozen moments when literally one (1) adult could ask "hey, wait, where are you sneaking off to?"), but the truth is that I don't care to because it's just too much fun—to see an author go completely feral destroying their own hard work; to develop momentum and significant character growth around tropey but effectively tropey and oh-so-satisfying developments; to arrive at an interesting, complicated conclusion that bodes well for the sequels I'm excited to read. The interpersonal dynamics are very shippy in a very Pacat way—this is a compliment, I'm the target audience, but it's not unsubtle.
Author: A.G. Slatter/Angela Slatter
Published: Titan Books, 2021
Rating: 2.5 of 5
Page Count: 370
Total Page Count: 387,980
Text Number: 1455
Read Because: reviewed by
mrissa, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County LibraryReview: The last remaining descendant of a once-powerful family with unusual ties to the sea flees a dangerous marriage. I was slow to warm to this and never got much above tepid. Some of that is the structure—this is more raggedy than other Slatter I've read, with a rambling narrative that makes for sequential (and not especially complex) reveals. Some of that is that the speculative, surprisingly fantastical elements of the worldbuilding are more interesting than the actual events of the plot. But the real culprit is that I don't like water as an aesthetic, be it beautiful or scary. And this is so much about aesthetic: very gothic, much mermaids; it's probably the weakest Slatter I've read, but she's got great vibes, and vibes could sell this ... if I were a better audience, but I'm not.
Title: Pleasant Dreams: The Welcoming Play of Kirby's Dream Land
Author: Joel Couture
Published: 2019
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 130
Total Page Count: 388,510
Text Number: 1457
Read Because: received in the itch.io Bundle for Ukraine
Review: An analysis of Kirby's Dream Land that explores how it welcomes newcomers to action-platformer games, teaching them the skills of the genre in a safe and inviting environment. This got me to go back and play Dream Land, which I skipped when I played the Kirby back catalog after falling in love with the series as an adult—I assumed Gameboy B&W wouldn't have the right Kirby vibe but I was totally wrong, and Couture nails the reasons it's a great game: the atmosphere, the controls, the difficulty curve, even the short and sweet length.
There's a lot to love in this game, and a lot of love in this book; I share the author's opinions on the value of "wholesome" games, both as entry points and for the ethos they bring to medium. But the writing is … rough. It's casual, which is fine, this is a personal book; but it's also ridiculously redundant. This should have been a 40 page chapbook. Recommended in spirit! … but in practice: skim it.
Title: Dark Rise (Dark Rise Book 1)
Author: C.S. Pacat
Published: HarperCollins, 2021
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 465
Total Page Count: 388,975
Text Number: 1458
Read Because: reviewed by Amy, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Behind the scenes of 1820s London, a secret war is raging between those who welcome and those who fear the return of the Dark King, a calamitous figure from a lost time of magic. The first half of this is a fine (and probably better in retrospective view of the second half) but standard chosen one/light vs. dark/fated destinies setup which is so delineated that it constantly begs: so, what are the complications?
But when those complications come, boy howdy, they come in handfuls and they're significant, personal, and ruthless. I can nitpick how it gets there and be justified (a lot of convenient eavesdropping; and there's a half-dozen moments when literally one (1) adult could ask "hey, wait, where are you sneaking off to?"), but the truth is that I don't care to because it's just too much fun—to see an author go completely feral destroying their own hard work; to develop momentum and significant character growth around tropey but effectively tropey and oh-so-satisfying developments; to arrive at an interesting, complicated conclusion that bodes well for the sequels I'm excited to read. The interpersonal dynamics are very shippy in a very Pacat way—this is a compliment, I'm the target audience, but it's not unsubtle.
no subject
Date: 2022-05-11 07:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-05-11 09:22 pm (UTC)