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They/them. I gravitate toward spec fic, sci-fi, fantasy, occasionally horror and/or mystery. I also read a lot of non-fiction, based on recommendations from people I follow and random topics I take a sudden interest in. On Mastodon at anti-social.online/@cade
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Cade's books
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Cade wants to read The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik
The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik
Return to the Scholomance - and face an even deadlier graduation - in the stunning sequel to the ground-breaking, Sunday …
Cade wants to read Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
"A god has died, and it's up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and …
Cade wants to read The Outside by Ada Hoffmann
The Outside by Ada Hoffmann
Autistic scientist Yasira Shien has developed a radical new energy drive that could change the future of humanity. But when …
Cade wants to read A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
Cade wants to read Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally …
Cade wants to read A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
Cade wants to read Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
Cade wants to read The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu
The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu
This is the second novel in the "Remembrance of Earth’s Past" near-future trilogy. Written by the China's multiple-award-winning science fiction …
Cade set a goal to read 20 books in 2023
Cade finished reading Artificial condition by Martha Wells
Cade finished reading Mort by Terry Pratchett
Cade finished reading The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
I had a tough time finishing this one, not because it's a bad book (it's not) but it does move at a slow pace and I get distracted easily. I would say that this is LeGuin's most explicitly political book of the ones I've read so far.
Cade reviewed The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Takes slasher film tropes in a new direction, doesn't escape bias against mental illness
4 stars
Content warning mild spoilers for plot, cw for book's handling of mental health
I did enjoy reading this book, and the twists and turns were exciting to follow. The way the narrative plays with and pokes fun at slasher movie tropes is entertaining.
OTOH, it's a little exhausting to be inside the main character's head since she is very paranoid (rightfully so) and her paranoia is always misdirected (otherwise there would be no twists in the plot).
Another downside, the word crazy is thrown around a lot. I think the author tries to treat the issue of PTSD with some sensitivity, but the story establishes a dichotomy between the "good" people with trauma who are handling it "right" and the "bad" "crazy" traumatized people whose issues with drugs, violence, and mental illness are treated as character flaws more than understandable responses to horrific events.
In this book, the many killers, who are mostly men with a couple of exceptions, are evil just because. Characters refer to the killers as monsters repeatedly and very little in the narrative challenges this perception. I have read/seen very few stories that showed a killer as both monstrous and fully human (Hannibal Lecter is a good example, for all the flaws of those novels and adaptations), and this book did not succeed in that. Maybe it doesn't have to? The killer as a force of nature can work, if the focus of the story is on the protagonist's personal journey or if it's some meta commentary or whatever. But the final killer isn't that either, and that's the point (it's spelled out in the text). However, neither were they given enough characterization to be seen as people, so it just fell flat for me. I did like the very last scene though.
if you can overlook some of the more problematic aspects, it's a good read.