Book Review: I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN by Jacqueline Harpman

| Jessica Crawford

I cannot mourn for what I have not known.

This was a bleak but stimulating look at a potential dystopian future (similar to The Handmaid’s Tale, but much stranger and more disquieting).

I told myself that I’d been hypocritical and, since I had no one to lie to, I discovered that you can lie to yourself, which felt very strange

Groups of forty people (all men or all women) are caged together in bunkers all across the planet. One day an alarm sounds and all the guards run, never to be seen again. Our main character and her fellow prisoners are lucky enough to be in the cage that a guard was in the middle of unlocking when the alarm began to wail. The women don’t know where they are (is it even planet Earth?), where everyone else is, or why they were kept caged for years in the first place. They venture out into the desolate world and find ways to survive for the remainders of their lives. Since the MC is the only one who was a child when their incarceration began, she not only does not remember “normal” life before their imprisonment, she also is very aware that some day she will be the only person left alive.

I am the sterile offspring of a race about which I know nothing, not even whether it has become extinct. Perhaps, somewhere, humanity is flourishing under the stars, unaware that a daughter of its blood is ending her days in silence.

I just wish we got a little more of a hint at some answers about what actually happened to lead to things being the way they are. Beyond “it’s maybe not Earth”, the answers are completely left to the reader’s imagination.

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Book Review: EMILY WILDE’S MAP OF THE OTHERLANDS by Heather Fawcett

| Jessica Crawford

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett is a sequel that manages to be even more charming than its predecessor!

Emily, Wendell, and Shadow are back, and this time they’re joined by Emily’s niece, as well as the Cambridge dryadology department head. Professor Wilde was granted tenure after publishing her encyclopedia, and luckily for us readers, she continues the practice of keeping a journal as it helps to organize her thoughts. The story begins on campus, and so there’s a hint of “magical school” flavor at first. Then it’s off to Austria for another adventure!

The banter is just as hilarious, the romance continues to develop, and the faeries are just as enchanting and horrifying as ever. Poe is just as endearing (yes, everyone’s favorite brownie makes an appearance!) The element of two explorers trapped in Faerie, lost and confused, occasionally popping in and out of the mortal world, and continually just missing each other like ships in the night as they search for one another was wonderfully whimsical.

This book has more of a traditional structure than the first, where things started simply with a scholar doing research. Going into the sequel, we already know that there is a goal of finding a back door into Wendell’s Faerie kingdom. Pretty much straight away here, our protagonists learn that his stepmother has ordered his assassination, moving the timeline forward in an urgent way. And I was hooked!

Emily is determined that it is her turn to save Wendell, and she has learned from her past mistakes—although of course she makes some new ones, too. And with the way this book ends, it seems she will definitely have a chance to learn from those as well! Which is well and good because the parts of the resolution here felt a bit underwhelming, but did a fine job setting up the next part of the story.

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this eARC.

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Book Review: STARLING HOUSE by Alix E. Harrow

| Jessica Crawford

Opal has been dreaming about Starling House for years. It turns out the house has been dreaming about her, too.

This is a modern dark fairytale with a protagonist who has no qualms about lying and stealing her way through life if it means providing a better one for her brother. After meeting the odd inhabitant of the creepy house in the neighborhood, she finds herself in a war to protect the residents of a Kentucky town that didn’t always protect her.

This tale is Gothic and mysterious. It features flawed characters, a sentient house, a hellmouth in a place called Eden, and it addresses whose narrative gets remembered and passed on in society. It reminded me a bit of Ragnar Tornquist’s Dreamfall game, in that (SPOILERS AHEAD) the dreams of a little girl in a dreamland are doing very real damage in the real world–except in the case of Nora Lee in Starling House, the harm is very intentional! (END SPOILERS)

There is a romance aspect to this story, and I got a kick out of how, unlike in most novels, the readers keeps being told how generally unattractive these two lovers are. (Of note, Opal is 26 years old, although the book and everyone in it seem to treat her much younger.) There are some footnotes in this book, which I usually find I really like in novels, but here it seemed kind of half-assed; the point winds up being because the entire account is supposed to be Opal making sure the “real” story gets told, but the book never fully committed to this device.

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Book Review: THE FETISHIST by Katherine Min

| Jessica Crawford

Wow, what a talented writer Katherine Min was! How lucky for us that her daughter, Kayla, put in the work to ensure her mother’s second novel got published posthumously.

This is actually a very grim story, filled with infidelity, suicide, abduction, attempted murder, and more. It revolves around the relationships that violinist and accused Asian fetishist Daniel Karmody has created (and destroyed) over the course of his life. There is revenge, but also repentance, and it does end on an overall hopeful note.

The author had that special kind of skill to write characters that so feel genuinely real, from the ailing concert cellist Alma to the angry punk rocker and anime artist Kyoko, and everyone in between. I liked the structure of the book, as well as the style chosen for the chapter names. And such a way she had with words!

One issue I have is the blurb calling this black comedy and referencing it’s brilliant humour—I think that might be misleading, as I don’t remember anything funny about it (outside of Daniel wearing the Snugli and other QVC acquisitions stored in his prison).

This was truly good literary fiction, and I am so glad to have had the opportunity to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons (and Kayla) for the opportunity to read this ARC.

My Top Ten Books of 2023

| Jessica Crawford

Here they are, my top ten reads of 2023!

My reading went into sicko mode this year and I read nearly twice as many books as usual. My average rating on Goodreads was 3.6 stars. My most read genre was fantasy, followed by literary and then historical fiction. I wound up reading less science fiction (I’ll have to fix that this year!) and more thrillers and mystery than has historically been the case.

According to Storygraph I “delved into dark and intense narratives, unraveled intricate mysteries, and embarked on exciting adventures”. I preferred emotional stories, which comes as no surprise!

My reading goal for 2024 is to have a higher average star rating (above 3.6) by trying to land on books that are more of a hit for me and my tastes.

What are your reading goals for this new year?

Books pictured: What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher, A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher, The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher, If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio, Our Hideous Progeny by C. E. McGill, North Woods by Daniel Mason, Trust by Hernan Diaz, Chlorine by Jade Song, Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, and Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett.

BOTBC Part 3

| Jessica Crawford

Of the books I read last month, only two had alternate cover editions.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden, author of The Winternight Trilogy (The Bear and the Nightingale) is an upcoming historical fantasy novel set during World War I (expected publication February 13, 2024). I think I have to give call this one a tie – I like the US cover because it’s rather unique, but the colors of the UK one are just so darn pretty!

Mrs. Caliban, written by Rachel Ingalls and originally published in 1982, is an interesting novella about a lonely house wife and a frog man. The US covers win this round for me; I like the US hardcover edition best, but the paperback is certainly not without its charm.

And with that, on to a new year of reading!

2023 Reading Bracket

| Jessica Crawford

Here is my final 2023 reading bracket! (Hopefully I’m not jinxing it by posting it 3 days before the end of the year–I’m in the middle of reading a book that is fine but not a favorite, here’s to hoping I don’t finish it and then read something Earth shattering in the next 72 hours!)

I reconsidered and made a change since the last time I posted this bracket, but the final outcome would have been the same either way. I think this supports what I already knew: I love me some Gothic fantasy and science fiction, but not quite as much as I love some moving literary fiction!

Books included as some of my favorite reads of the year: “What Moves the Dead” by T. Kingfisher, “Trust” by Hernan Diaz, “Nettle & Bone” by T. Kingfisher, “The Mountain in the Sea” by Ray Nayler, “A House with Good Bones” by T. Kingfisher, “Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries” by Heather Fawcett (I actually read an ARC of the sequel and enjoyed it even more, but decided not to count it as a 2023 favorite since it won’t be published until after the new year), “A Face Like Glass” by Frances Hardinge, “Chlorine” by Jade Song, “Chain-Gang All-Stars” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, “If We Were Villains” by M. L. Rio, “North Woods” by Daniel Mason, and “The Seventh Bride” by T. Kingfisher.

Wow, that’s a lot of T. Kingfisher!

But the top honor goes to “North Woods” 🎉💯❤️

What was your favorite book you read this year?

Book Review: THE COVENANT OF WATER by Abraham Verghese

| Jessica Crawford

THE COVENANT OF WATER by Abraham Verghese is literary historical fiction. It is a long book that is in no hurry to get where it’s going, but if you just sit back and relax, there’s much beauty to enjoy along the way. If you require your books to be plot-driven and action packed, look elsewhere. If you prefer your reads constructed around realistic characters and their loves, griefs, sacrifices and ambitions, then treat yourself to the family saga told through evocative writing here.

The story follows three generations of a family in India over the course of the twentieth century. The crux is that there seems to be an inherited condition in the family, and there is hope that someday someone will figure out what it is and how to treat it. Alternate sections of the book tell of a Scottish surgeon who joined the Indian Medical Service; his story and that of the afflicted family eventually come together, but not in the ways you might expect.

Verghese expertly summons forth a strong sense of place and time, and readers find themselves inserted into daily life for Saint Thomas Christians in the part of India that eventually became Kerala. Sociopolitical issues, such as India’s caste system, are addressed in a adroit manner.

Some readers are turned off by the book’s many graphic surgical scenes, though I personally found them of great interest–which is no surprise, since my husband has had to repeatedly ask me to stop sharing stories from my job at the hospital with him. Different strokes for different folks!

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Backlist Book Reviews

| Jessica Crawford

I read a couple of lovely backlist books recently!

Rhea felt better. She was still going somewhere terrible, but she had a hedgehog, dammit.

I only just “discovered” Kingfisher this year and she is already an autobuy for me, and so I am now also working through her backlist. This book did not disappoint! I do feel like it took too long to get to the meat of the story–we know our main character is engaged against her wishes because her family cannot afford to say “no” to a Lord, but it takes quite some time for her to actually arrive at this nobleman’s home and learn exactly why being his bride is even so much more of a bummer than she feared. But this is one of the author’s earlier works, and I have not noticed the same issue with any of her other books.

Once we do learn about the other wives, some of whom are not…exactly…living human beings, as well as just what is at stake, this is a darkly fun adventure as the main character races to try to save herself and the others. The resolution was bit too hurried and neat IMO, but the characters and quests undertaken are just so imaginative and…well, darkly fun!

The narration also includes some of the author’s trademark wit and humor.

She clung to the tile, and eventually she stopped screaming, because it didn’t seem to be helping.

I am so excited to read more of her work!

Beautifully written queer retelling of Arthurian legend from the POV of the knight Percival. It’s magical, it’s moving, and it’s very human at its core…while also being, you know, not fully human. The book itself, the cover and the handful of illustrations inside, are lovely!