Thistle & Verse > Recent Status Updates

Stories read:
Luisah's Church
Street Worm
To the Moment

Appreciate subject matter of Luisah's Church - drama happens against backdrop of protagonist applying for increase to her disability benefits. To the Moment the shortest but the most memorable. Not much happens, but punchiness to each of the reveals about the protagonist's bizarre anatomy and feeding habits

Read so far:
An Awfully Big Adventure
Women of the Doll
The Tawny Bitch
Cruel Sistah
Just Between Us

Women of the Doll is my favorite so far. The character relationships are tragic and touching.

This collection is an interesting counterpoint to my recent re-read of Shawl's debut collection Filter House. Mother-daughter relationships and child protags still feature but more somber tone.

Read so far:
Caramelle 1864
The Seam Ripper

Appreciating the sapphic characters but storytelling not clicking for me

Read so far:
Don't Go There
Down the Kent County Trail
Watercolors
You Without Me
Hunger

You Without Me is a favorite so far about a grudge since childhood haunting an adult woman. Gruesome and surreal.

There's a rhythm to the descriptions that I can't quite lay my fingers on but is hauntingly poetic nonetheless.

I'm interested for more about Jude's transformation.

It's weird to read the scenes about Ernestine's funeral and compare my reactions now to how I know I would've reacted 10 years ago. I'm able to have more empathy for her sisters, but that's only because Ernestine can't cause any more harm.

I really appreciate Hartman's chapter on Gladys Bentley. I'd learned about Bentley's life in bits and pieces, and I'm not sure how much archival info is actually preserved on her because she was a working class performer. But something about how Hartman presented these scraps of info made Bentley feel alive.

This book keeps driving home the beauty and terror of the Great Migration and growth of Black Philly & NYC

It seems like a glaring omission to me that I didn't learn this history in high school. School I went to was not too far from Philly, and I remember the Gilded Age was a big topic of discussion. I remember talking about NY and Chicago but not really about what it looked like in our own backyard

I have family history in Philly, so these stories are hitting close to home. The Thomas Eakins story was horrifying. The stuff about DuBois so far hasn't really been a surprise because I've heard critical history of him. I'm interested to see how else Hartman engages with his studies of the city.

I enjoy the worldbuilding and this desert society
I like the discussions around disability and how Kai isn't just a character to be pitied or OP
Rasia's hardheadedness and unpredictability makes her a fun protagonist
This is Kai and Rasia's story. Nico is mostly in the background

The number of times I have dry heaved... the gore in this book is disgusting... Go head, Amanda, do your thing!!!

2 PoV characters Tabitha & Irene. Irene's powers showed first, Tabitha not until 1/2 way mark. Kinda weird jumping between perspectives because differences in maturity

CW for sexual assault and child abuse

Recently got out of the apartment search, so I felt for Tabitha

If you liked the writing style, focus on academia, and atmosphere from Tam Lin by Pamela Dean, you'll like this too

Writing style is descriptive and metaphorical, which works great for setting. It does make the fights confusing, also wish we'd seen Tabitha use her powers prior cuz of unconventional magic system.

Could use some editing (misspellings and flow of sentences), but I'm very invested and enjoying the read. It's cool that Bellamy is a female protagonist who's a bloodthirsty fighter. I also feel like she's a full character - she's still annoying because she's sheltered and learning more about the world.

There's intrigue with this prophecy around the elemental magic. Can't wait to find out what's going on with that!

Starting to drag. It seems like the main conflict happened, and it was anticlimactic.

Worldbuilding and pantheon are imaginative, although I'd like more atmosphere when the lore is introduced. Moira and Nailah have good chemistry. I can see why the empathize with each other and connect and enjoy each others' presence, even though they have very different personalities and upbringings.

Handling of the ube "addiction" is jarring. For now it's brushed off as a joke, but it seems like an actual issue.