Reviews and Comments

Another good meandering story about Lucy. There are places I cried gently.

I just found out that many of Strout's books are related, more than just the Lucy stories! They mention Olive Kitteridge in this book.

Trigger warning: This book touches on almost all the way old cultures, meaning patriarchies, have devastated women.

This is an amazing book. It starts out with two women characters, unflinching in their inner thoughts. Then it moves into a tough journey novel. From there it gets even more brutal in its honesty.

But it is so cathartic. The characters investigate themselves in ways I hadn't imagined for myself.

I'll have to check this out because I just watched this conference based on it, Oxford Ministry for the Future Event. (youtube link)

Which has the great Kate Raworth of Doughnut Economics. (Which I'm about half-way through (patting my own back).)

I realized what I don't like about romance-style writing in other genres. Romance as a genre is fine; it has a very specific structure to lead to specific outcomes. And this is because the readers want these things. Mysteries are the same; very specific needs.

But you know what sitcoms are like on TV? They set up a situation for the characters then try to find the comedy in it. This book sets up a situation then tries to find the romance in it. It's a sitrom.

Finding romance in plots or situations of other genres pulls the emotion out of the moment. It completely deflates the character's story and does nothing to add to the plot's advancement. In this way, it lets the reader down. I did not finish it.

Brain not working well. Try something light...

I still enjoy that these worlds are so individual that they show the inner workings of the character. I have no interest in being in any of them. And that's the point, the worlds are not for me. But I still enjoy reading about them.

Poetic descriptions usually put me off in a novel because the act puts importance on something that usually doesn't need it. It pulls me out of the story. Strong Washburn uses poetics instead to show the inner feelings of the character. And she does it well. You viscerally feel the turmoil or the disgust or the peace. It totally worked for me.

This was done in a magical-realism type of plot (though the grittiness is not like the wispy distance of the genre at all), so the dream-like connections to the earth had the same feeling as the prose.

And the final speech was brutally beautiful. I cried.

This book starts with the same formula as his next, Starter Villain: snappy, funny dialog with a silly plot idea. And I mean 'silly' as a good thing. It totally works in Villain.

This book though relies on a very tired plot point to move forward and then falters. Just didn't work for me.

Reading order advice: Read this after you read The Siren Depths. Three of the stories explicitly say they happen after that book.

I think the stories were written at that time, but this collection was published last. I wouldn't recommend reading it last (like I did). The novella really sets you up for the final two books.

I'd also recommend you read this one first after Siren, then the other short story book after it. They both should be read before you read the last two Raksura books.

Worth the read though.

Whoops! This is a short story. I thought it was a book.

I love Murakami's style, but it's an adult style. It doesn't fit so well for a simple fable told by a child.

This book is pretty much a continuation of the last book and it's much longer than all the previous. Which was fine with me. I didn't need it to end. I did have to slow down reading several times as I was anxious to find out what happens.

The relationships are what makes this series. You get to know the characters and watch them grow. But luckily they don't grow too much.

(I'll continue to read the last-published short stories, but this was a nice conclusion.)

This book was a little like her later Murderbot books, slow and character building sequences interspersed with blood-pumping action.

And this book ends in a cliffhanger! It's late tonight, but I have to continue with the last book....

Edit: I'd recommend reading this book after The Siren Depths but before the last two novels in the series. Actually, I'd also recommend reading after Siren and after the second story collection book. It emotionally sets up the last two novels, which are really two parts of one last book.

I liked the two longer pieces. They add flavor to the series. One was like a side story but showed how their bonding increased between the books. The second filled out some important history.

There were also a couple short stories that were like decoration.

Geez, the emotions in this one were tough. Anger, frustration, anxiety. Of course they all come from my caring for the protagonist, Moon. I just want him to be able to relax for a turn. I don't think it'll happen...

I'll definitely finish up this series.

This entry to the series is still strong. Exploration of places and gripping turns. I felt emotionally attached to the group's outcomes.