Nore > Recent Status Updates

on a BL kick in between reading more serious things <3

the author's thinly veiled fetish (big blonde women who can and will kill you) (love that)

finally fingered what her style reminds me of - johnny the homicidal maniac......

autonomy - 2★ - left absolutely zero impression on me any which way, so call it a literal 2 stars (it was okay). not rly unique or striking but it's classic feminist lit so I can't be mad. kill your rapist :)

beyond everything - 1★ - I read this at like 3am because I couldn't sleep and my notes are "hated it. fundamentally divorced from humanity as a concept but also grandstands on human potential. scifi version of ayn rand if she'd been a Buddhist." so I guess I hated it lol

temporary murder - 3.75★ - a bit of a "young, beautiful people" story, which I'm typically not into, but good worldbuilding and an interesting meetcute brings up the rating for me. almost wish it hadn't had a HEA, which I think weakens the narrative of choice and self-determination, as well as the critique of dystopic wealth - rich, beautiful white ppl on a beach in a cheap, exotic country, amiright?

never eaten vegetables - 5★ - in tears about granny ship. she's a granny. grandmother. she loved them and was loved. in vein of murderbot with the commentary on capitalism's influence on human life and purpose + dehumanization en route to creation of sentient non-human life to further a corporation's goals, but with the maternal instinct thrown in. really deeply loved this. what is love in terms of code?

"sad like red" oh!!!!!!!! no!!!

child of the mountain - 2 1/2★ - and what good is all the information you gather without action? what is the point of preservation if it leads to stagnation at best, decline at worst, thru the effort to preserve? very explicit symbolism with the youth/elder thing. new worlds built on the old. interesting worldbuilding. it's a me problem that I found it a touch boring"

when there are two of you - 3★ - a bit short for what it wants to approach. interesting w the self-centered/selfless mirror of extremes. externalizing/internalizing the voice in your head and the dangers thereof, the isolation at either end. minimization/aggrandization of self. okay. alright. I'll give it three stars instead of two. I didn't rly like it but I appreciate it, how about that.

retirement plan - 1★ - dense worldbuilding for such a short page count, but not worldbuilding I was interested in. mythmaking but like.... why did the myth take root... what about it spoke to the people of this planet... "he saved a girl" okay? romance of the wild wild west, I guess. not my bag.

life sentence - 3★ - wobbles hand back and forth. interesting ideas. wish it had been a bit longer, because the rapid cuts began to lose their impact after few pages, and it relies heavily on the implication of their relationship rather than the relationship itself. effective for what it is, though; good use of a compressed word count.

coffee - 3★ - okay, it was stupid but it was fun. the homage to cornball 80s-90s scifi did get me to smile, can't lie. yes I got the joke about the number."

driver - 5★ - oh, bravo. a nice little inversion of a midlife crisis story; I actually started grinning in delight at the page as I realized what was going on. beautifully structured narrative, great execution, and interesting questions asked. one's place in the world, needing to be needed in your niche, the desire to be seen (and to see yourself).

lucie loves neutrons - 1 ★ - dnf. skimmed. even tediously rich folk are affected by nuclear war and can feel hope etc etc etc so fucking boring

souljacker - 2 ★ - interesting idea but weak storytelling and bland worldbuilding. what exactly is motivating these characters, esp Angelina? the ending in particular does nothing to address the tension established early in the story. it's not even a cliffhanger, it's just a sudden swerve.

painted skin - 4 ★ - deeply romantic. poetically written. tech as magic, magic as human, tech as human. what does it mean to have a soul? where is the dividing line between the real and unreal? is the act of creation inherently human? can we find meaning in the art created by machines? all sort of moot points bc as far as we can tell AI isn't ensouled atm but a topic I find interesting

from across time - 4★ - fantastic worldbuilding, enticing concept. clear and concise writing used to outline interesting characters in few strokes. I appreciated the bit. what would you be willing to sacrifice?

stranger seas - 3 ★ - interesting and I appreciate the willingness to kill a character, but The Face of God did alien divinity better + I wasn't fully sold on the worldbuilding. delightfully oppressive tone to match the cramped quarters tho, good job on that.

unfortunately I associate first person present with YA novels but I am enjoying this so far - good voice, nice to see fated mates in a lesbian novel, liking the Wolf Lore

"Eliot noticed Luc more, as an eye does when something is removed from a picture and the image is reduced to its flaw, the line where the whole is disrupted." ah

"a star planted seed-deep"

ironically I thought the prequel included in the end was better than the rest of the entire book, because it dropped the flowery pretense and just told a story

occasionally clear, brilliant imagery absolutely buried under pages of slop

"diamantine paillettes" sparkly sparkly things??? glittery glitter???

put the word diamantine down. please. PLEASE.

someone hit her so hard her nasal bone fenestrates. like I understand what this is MEANT to mean but it's just not correct usage

I would be less annoyed if she were using the words correctly. "I cringe at its infantile architectonics" - she's cringing at the study of architecture? the STUDY of the sounds of her own voice? Khaw, please. put the thesaurus down.

I wish I'd dropped this earlier when I realized who this author was. nothing about her writing has changed. what is a "basal" laugh! be serious for a moment! get off tumblr!

the more things change, the more they stay the same. living thru a resurgence of this sort of morally pure censorship and reading a book from the 90s describing a similar pearl-clutching distaste for impure fantasy is a bit saddening