I'm slipping: I only got through four books for April! (I'm mostly kidding. I'm happy enough with four, haha. I'm also close to done with a few others, but didn't quite cross the finish line on them this month.)
Space for Growth by Emily Antoinette
M/NB sci-fi/romance - ebook novel
4.5/5
All Paul was planning on was a fun hookup with the attractive alien he met at his friends' wedding. Instead, the hookup didn't even happen, and he wakes up on the attractive alien's ship... as it jumps to who knows where across occupied space.
Hadrell certainly didn't intend to kidnap the human they'd brought back to their room, but they didn't have much of a choice when station security started to fire on their ship. The relatively simple job he was on the station to do has turned out not to be simple at all, and he needs to find out who set him and his crew up.
Spending more time together does nothing but increase the attraction between them... but Paul is terribly unprepared for how rough life can be out on the edges of civilized, Coalition-controlled space. Hadrell has their hands full just trying to keep him safe, much less start a relationship. Trust has never come easily to them, even more so when it seems increasingly likely that someone close to them is responsible for sabotaging the job.
My thoughts, very minor spoilers, slight discussion of kink:
I really enjoyed this one! I had preordered it based on how much I enjoyed the previous book (Space for More) last year, and because I'd liked Hadrell when they showed up in that book as a side character. I'm glad that I did. This is *exactly* what I most want from a brain candy type book. It's a fun book more than it's a deep book (though I wouldn't call it shallow, either - there are themes!) and all the aspects of the story - the writing, characters, plot, etc. - are done well enough to serve the fun, and I enjoyed it all the way through.
Hadrell, the alien protagonist/love interest, is trans and nonbinary, and uses he/him and they/them pronouns interchangeably. The narrative and the characters throughout use those pronouns interchangeably as well (and so does my review.) He's also a space pirate and he's really cool.
I will say that this is a very... soft sort of romance, though the book does include explicit sex. There is relatively little (though not zero) conflict between the characters directly, and they're both extremely understanding and supportive and patient with each other. I know some people find "endless patience and support" to feel boring or cloying, but I liked it here.
Related: I was relieved when one point where I assumed conflict would happen avoided it instead. Without spoiling too much, there are two secrets that one character is afraid to reveal to the other. I actually had to *force myself to keep reading* when I knew he was going to finally bring them up, because I hate scenes where someone finally tells a partner something and then it sparks a fight over not having told them sooner. I find it upsetting, haha. So I was afraid it would happen here, but was really glad when it didn't.
I also really liked that both characters (who are co-protagonists) get a lot of focus and their own arcs. That was something that I enjoyed in the previous book as well, where the characters and their individual relationships got pretty equal focus and development. (I also see a frequent complaint that in stories with D/s overtones, a lot of times the dominant partner is just sort of there as kink dispenser, which wasn't the vibe I got from this. I don't read enough kink fic to know if I agree that it's a common issue, or that this truly fell outside the norm in that regard, but in this book, Hadrell seemed to be just as into everything as Paul did, which was great.)
Aaaand on the topic of kink...I preordered this book after finishing the previous one (partially as "thanks", because I really enjoyed Space for More but had gotten it for free), before I'd seen much promo for it beyond the central couple and a quick teaser. Later on, the author did more promotional stuff highlighting that one of the many things in the book was the characters exploring some kink dynamics. That made me a little nervous about having committed early, because the last book I read that had a romance that took a sudden turn toward kink squicked me out SO BAD. (Winter's List was that book, not by this author. I should have rated it even lower than the 2 stars I gave it last year.)
I'm glad I didn't let the concern keep me from reading this one. While not all of the kinks are my thing, none of them were ones that squicked me. And while this is again one of those "your mileage may vary" things, this book did a good job of convincing me of what a great time both the characters were having with it the whole time, even if I wouldn't be into it, haha. It also didn't do the thing where it gets so preoccupied with confirming consent that it wraps back around to offputting, ha. There are a couple times it gets brought up, but it's not dwelled on in a way that felt excessive, at least to me.
(To be fair, part of the lack of squick is probably that it's m-sub, which doesn't give me the ick the way a lot of f-sub stuff does. That's obviously a personal thing.)
The sex is reasonably well integrated with the other plotline (the "who sabotaged Hadrell and their crew" plotline) at times, even if it requires a little bit of suspension of disbelief. Honestly, "oh no, the object of my situationship and I need to credibly go undercover at a sleazy sex club so I can assassinate a trafficker who is using the club as a cover" is 1000% the horny, tropey nonsense (affectionate) that I find delightful.
Having liked the second and third books of this trilogy so well, it may actually convince me to buy book one, despite it being... a het romance. (The books do all stand alone, so there's no need to read them all or in order.) Most of the rest of the author's work is also m/f, and I might give some of it a try at some point.
(She has said in a couple places that she sees a sharp drop in sales when she writes anything other than m/f, and that sucks, because I'd very much be interested in more queer stuff from her. But despite mostly finding m/f uninteresting, I may at least give it a try because I find her writing quite fun. And a good part of it is like, monster romance, which I'm at least more into than human het, haha.)
You Feel It Just Below the Ribs by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson
Set in the Within the Wires universe, but stands alone
Alternate History/Science Fiction (background f/f) - physical novel
4/5
Dr. Miriam Gregory's psychological studies were foundational to the building of the New Society. Her unique methods of treating - and even curing - traumatic memories underpin many of the protocols the Society follows to guarantee ongoing peace, most notably the "Age Ten Protocols," which remove all citizens' previous memories once they reach the age of ten. These protocols help to ensure that there are no avenues of tribalism within the Society, including traditional family ties, in order to remove risk of future war.
Dr. Gregory's memoir is found after her death, recounting her time growing up in Europe during the Great Reckoning, the decades-long global war that devastated the entire world; her move to the former United States to begin her career in psychology, as the New Society came into being and global power; her marriage, and the expansion of her trauma research; and eventually the discovery of just how horrifyingly far her research was covertly being taken by some in the New Society.
My thoughts and minor spoilers, connections with Within the Wires:
I liked this one! I really enjoyed the first several seasons of Within the Wires, and then I pretty much stopped being capable of listening to podcasts. (Bad focus, lack of time.) This does make me want to relisten and catch up, though. [Holy hell, it's at 9 seasons, now.]
The book is presented as a found document, extensively footnoted by the in-universe publisher. (I dig this as a style choice. I deeply enjoyed the segments of City of Saints and Madmen that had snarky academic footnotes. These aren't quite as fun as those, but still add depth to the story, imo.) The memoir's contents make a lot of implications and accusations regarding the New Society, which the footnotes call out as being unverifiable, and make their own accusations that the memoir is at best unreliable recollections, or at worst a forgery intended to lead to suspicion and destabilization of the society.
While there's no need to have listened to any of Within the Wires, this does connect very directly to the first season, and having listened to at least that season definitely provides context for the book. At the very least it confirms part of the book as being in-universe true; the first season of the podcast is set in the facility Dr. Gregory discusses, the one the footnotes insist does not exist.
(And as a reader who remembered the first season, having the final section of the book be titled "Carpentry" induced a sense of oncoming dread that would have been utterly absent otherwise! Though that may work in reverse as well; if you read the book, then listen to the first season, the term may also give you a twinge when it comes up.)
Seeing the origin of the damselfly motif, and getting an explanation for why it's so widespread throughout the series is a nice bonus, too.
I do appreciate the ambiguity around the New Society, which was something I found true of the podcast as well. There are a lot of ways in which it is utopian, at least on the surface: there is widespread peace, plentiful social services ensuring general wellbeing, support for the arts, racial and gender equality, queer-normative inclusion... But that peace and social control (particularly the removal of all family ties) has to be enforced. While it's supposed to always be rehabilitative rather than punitive, in practice, we see much worse ways that the control is maintained. Corruption and threat have certainly not gone away, even under the veneer of "transparency" and egalitarianism... but there are justifications (whether good enough or not) for why the New Society exists and would have gotten the necessary support to do what they do.
I feel like Miriam's wife, Theresa Moyo, was mentioned in the podcast at some point, though I couldn't have said where. Maybe season two? If I do the relisten, I'll take note. I've used the footnotes to start the timeline that I'd wanted to put together for the podcast, ha. (The Great Reckoning starts in the 1910s, and The New Society is founded in the 40s, so it's an alternate history from there, though with some events and artists and such that also exist in the real world.)
I thought maybe there was some sort of hidden message in the footnotes (there are many where the note is just "edited for clarity," and I wanted to see if there was some commonality between those sections) but while chained together those sentences sort of make their own passage, it's not a clear secret message or anything, ha. If there is a secret code, I'm not clever enough to figure it out!
I also chose to read just a touch of tonal ambiguity into the footnotes... they protest that of COURSE none of the accusations could be true, that of course none of these people could have done the awful things Dr. Gregory says they did, and express unfailing support for the New Society... but in that "protest too much" sort of a way, like they're covering their asses but really hoping the reader does consider what the text is saying.
It also seems plausible, with the inclusion of the "Carpentry" term, that this book is what prompted the narrator of the first season of the podcast to take the actions she did, but I don't know that the timeline actually syncs up for that to happen. (Since canonically, this book wasn't found until the 90s, and I think the first season is ambiguously 80s-ish? I'll need to relisten. Or perhaps that's an implication that the first season narrator met Miriam at some other time. Or maybe it's not that deep!)
Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire
Book 6 of Wayward Children
Fantasy - physical novella
4/5
Regan's childhood, for better or worse, is strongly based on wanting to be normal. She shares a secret about herself with her so-called best friend, a girl with a very restrictive view of "normal," one that doesn't include what Regan confides. In the face of her friend's rejection, Regan flees. In the woods, she finds a door she's never seen before, and walks through.
On the other side of the door is the Hooflands, a world populated by centaurs, satyrs, silene, and all kinds of other hooved creatures, where unicorns are kept as livestock, and where kelpies and perytons lurk as dangers in the forest. In the Hooflands, humans are considered mythical creatures, oddities that only appear when the world is in need of a hero. Regan isn't interested in destiny, especially when it becomes clear that others are after her, fearing what a "hero" showing up will mean.
My thoughts, no real spoilers:
Look, I said that The Moors is the world I find the most fun of the ones in the series so far, but that The Goblin Market is probably closer to the type of world I would have wound up as a kid. The Hooflands is probably even more accurate to what I would have been likely to find as a child, haha. The unicorn and horse obsession was real. (Along with dinosaurs and frogs and bugs, haha.)
I like having an intersex protagonist. This is what Regan is rejected for in her "real life," but it's pretty explicit that it's her one crappy ex-friend who has a problem with it; her parents, the rest of the characters she interacts with, and Regan herself do not have issues with it. (Though part of Regan's arc is about whether "normalcy" is really the thing to want most of all, or if other things might be more important, and that applies to herself, too.)
The friend-bullying at the beginning felt #tooreal, gotta say. I was a shy, follower type kid for most of my childhood, and remember the dynamic of feeling like I needed to do what the "friend" who tolerated me said at all costs. I also remember the feeling when that friend who tolerated me decided not to anymore, when I just became a new target.
The world on the other side of the door is fun. I would happily have settled in there, haha. Having humans be the weird mythological creature that shows up as a harbinger of change is an entertaining trope inversion.
Everything starts as a quite fun, lighthearted story of spending time and growing up in a fantasy setting, and then takes a slightly darker turn toward the end (examining what creatures get to be people vs. which creatures get to be monsters, as well as some other things that I'm not spoiling) which I really enjoyed. The "oh, there's something very dark and creepy under the surface" was always what I found most compelling (particularly in the longer-term) about children's media that I liked as a kid, so this feels very true to that sort of story.
Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A Snyder
Horror (subgenres: transformation/body horror, pandemic/apocalyptic, eldrich/cosmic) (background f/f and m/f) - ebook novel
3.5/5
Only a few years after the panic around Covid has died down, and there's a new pandemic hitting the world: PVG, or polymorphic viral gastroencephalitis. It strikes with a wide range of symptoms, from asymptomatic infections to sudden, violent death. Survivors could be left with manageable symptoms, or they may have escalating complications that alter everything about their lives, leading to eventual bizarre physical transformation.
Part one follows Erin, a tech worker who comes down with a rapid-onset PVG. When she wakes from a coma, she finds out she is a "Type Three"; the disease has left her unable to synthesize certain proteins, and the only replacement to keep her alive is eating brain tissue. Faced with extreme restrictions regulating every aspect of her life, she strikes up an illegal relationship with Betty, a "Type Two" infection who requires blood to survive.
Part two follows Savannah, a sex worker who is infected by a client. Her infection is a new "Type Five:" mainly undetectable, but leaving her with a near-unstoppable drive to kill "unworthy" humans, and the ability to learn the skills and memories of others by consuming their brains. She gets direct instruction from the old gods regarding how they want her to steer the world.
Part three follows Mareva, a coworker of Erin's with a rare health condition, who has been chosen by the old gods to become the mother of their new world. Savannah is sent to find and protect her as the apocalypse rages on.
My thoughts, minor spoilers:
Overall I liked this one! As you can probably tell by just how many subgenres I felt the need to list... it is a bit of a weird one. It starts as pandemic horror, then swings toward body horror, then reveals that it's actually more of a cosmic and apocalyptic horror. There's also erotic brain-licking, so. Some weirdness.
There are a few bits that didn't quite click for me - it felt like all of the characters were a bit too self-aware. All of them understand their own motivations and the impacts their past traumas have had on them. It's not BAD - Savannah's past, especially, is really interesting in terms of her later choices and thoughts. The self-awareness is also not entirely unrelatable, as someone who tries to analyze my own motivations and behavior. But I think it would have been stronger if it was left for the reader to draw some of the connections instead of the characters drawing those connections on-page.
I also feel like some of the meme-y language might end up feeling dated in a few more years... but perhaps it will just feel more like quirks of the characters, and make it feel more firmly set in a specific time period.
I think Savannah's section was the most fun to read, even though she is unquestionably the worst person. She's terrible! But she was fun to follow.
I liked all the various crossover characters between the sections. I enjoyed all the sort of... hints of tragedy that we get, as we see sorts of missed connections and missed opportunities between them.
There was some buildup toward like... a grand conspiracy of sorts. We're dealing with the old gods who dwell in the dark between the stars who want to remake the world and the creatures on it into bizarre monstrosities, so definitely a bit Lovecraftian. And to that end, there's a recurring wealthy local family who gets mentioned a few times, and a creepy symbol* that seems connected with them and maybe to the apocalyptic goings-on. While this thread does end up having some relevance at the very end, it feels like it was mostly just... background noise that never really got explored. Maybe that's intentional, that there are spooky implications that we don't have answers to, but it felt like we were being given hints that never really led to anything.
*The creepy symbol is specifically yellow. Is this a King in Yellow/Yellow Sign reference? I haven't read the story collection, just know of it and its ongoing influence on cosmic horror. Since it's public domain, I guess I should add it to the TBR list...
I'm currently in the middle of four books:
Silver Under Nightfall, my primary read
Awakening Delilah, my ebook side read
Lord of Souls, with Alex (SO CLOSE TO DONE)
Aftermarket Afterlife, with Taylor
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