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Oh man. What a book. It's been a while since I sat down with a book of this length and more or less devoured the whole thing in one sitting. I didn't even realize I was halfway done it until I looked up, eyes glazed over, because I need to go to the bathroom.

This story is told through several different perspectives and it jumps between a bunch of different periods of time, and just when you think you've figured out it all, the author throws a whole new perspectives that you and whole new problems that you hadn't even considered.

How anybody in this novel digs themselves out of the pile of lies and half-truths, is kind of beyond me, but it's also super amazing as a reader to puzzle through. The balance between the more obvious twists and the stuff that caught me slightly off guard was great. I have no complaints. This was a lovely novel and I'm glad that I grabbed it on a whim at Toronto Pearson at the start of 2025.

I've never read any of Ocean Vuong's poetry, but I did listen to his other novel, and in many ways, this one reminds me of that story. The details have long since left, but the raw, bruised echoes remain firmly in my mind. I expect this novel will be the same.

There are a lot of things about The Emperor of Gladness that are hard. Drugs are a prominent theme and play a very significant role in the story and its progression. There's family trauma, and drama, and death. None of the characters in this story have lived easy lives, but I would argue that they've lived good ones, and the lyrical way that the story shifts back and forth between time, only seems to make that even more apparent.

This book is painful and it isn't easy, but it is so full of love and desperate hope too, and that part is easy. I loved as they loved and when I finally reached the last page, I couldn't help but cry.

@reading_recluse@c.im Kim Choyeop's debut short story collection is coming out in April. It's called If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light. Highly recommend.

I read it in Japanese, so I can't personally vouch for the upcoming English translation, but I'm sure it's great.

This is a Korean non-fiction book translated into Japanese that I would absolutely love to see in English. It's written by a Korean SF author and a lawyer, activist, and performer, and they talk about perceptions of disability and the relationships we have with technology and disability.

I say we because the book is a lot about how technology does or doesn't improve the lives of disabled people, but it's also about perceptions from people who aren't disabled and how everyone's relationship with various technologies impact overall accessibility and effect sense of self.

Something that also came up again and again was the idea that we should be primarily focusing on making lives better now instead of fantasizing about potentially distant future technologies. There easy things that can be done now and simply aren't being done.

I don't really have anything super meaningful to say about this book other than that I really enjoyed it and that as I'm trying to write my feelings about it I'm realizing that I don't know how to articulate anything about it at all, but it was really impactful read for me, especially with my recent increase in disability after my diagnosis of several autoimmune conditions. It helped me recenter myself in terms of my own disabilities and I think anybody who can read either Japanese or Korean should give this a try!

This novel absolutely broke my heart, and it's so perfect for that. I feel like every Gatsby retelling I read, the more I love the guy and all is quirky charms. I'm not sure what's not to love about queer, cyberpunk Gatsby, so like, just read the book.

In all seriousness, I wrote a full review on my website because I got this book for review from NetGalley. Check that out for more coherence. It's linked in my profile.

Another great book in the Wayward Children series that I think took somewhat more of a darker turn then some of the previous books. I know that there have been dark stories up until this point, but this one felt particularly dark. Perhaps that was because it took place in our world instead of one of the world's of the doors.

Readers are finally introduced to the other school that exists alongside Eleanor West's and it's not a pretty sight. It's uncomfortable and disturbing and a lot of ways, but I really liked this edition.

This is especially true because I have found Cora extremely annoying since her introduction several books previous. I was very glad for her character to grow and for her to become more sure of herself in this volume. It's an easy recommendation and I can't wait to listen to the next book.

@origami I hope I can finish up my books in time too. I don't like carrying current books into the new year at all for some reason.

I really like the cover of this one too! I'm going to try to ignore that it exists so that I read some of her other stuff that I've bought but! 🤣