Welcome to the March 2022 edition of Review Shorts – where I do have opinions, but an entire review for them would be overkill.
Forged: Writing in the Name of God by Bart Ehrman
Status: Completed
Not a lot of new information if you’re familiar with scholarship on the New Testament canon and extracanonical works (and I am). The main point of this book seems to be “If something is written by an author pretending to be someone else it’s a forgery and we should call it a forgery god damn it!” Actual scholarship is secondary to Bart making a 300+ page case that his preferred terminology is the only valid terminology.
Circe by Madeline Miller
Status: DNF at 74%
There’s no plot, just the story of the witch Circe beyond her encounter with Odysseus. It started off very rich and atmospheric and just dripping with Ancient Greek Mythology vibes, and I liked it quite a bit. Then Circe’s priorities shifted from navigating the worlds of gods and mortals and understanding and perfecting her power to something entirely different (and possibly a spoiler): She decided she wanted to have a child, and seeing her have that child just reminded me of all the reasons I never want to have kids. The first 60%-ish is fantastic, and then things changed and I just didn’t care anymore.
Trigger Warnings: Injury, blood, gore, torture, death, abandonment, fire/fire injury, abuse, sexual assault, rape, body horror, sexual content
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance trilogy #1) by N.K. Jemisin
Status: Completed
I have to stop comparing everything N.K. Jemisin writes with The Fifth Season, because that series is in a class by itself. This book was perfectly good, with a lot of interesting takes on gods, a hint of the Protagonist Does Impossible Things/Absurdly Powerful Protagonist tropes that I love, and a really good climax. The story feels complete, though, and I feel no need to read the rest of the series.
Tags: Protagonist of Color, Author of Color
Trigger Warnings: Death, death of parent, gore, violence, imprisonment/confinement, slavery, body horror, classism, sexual content (on-page)
The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight trilogy #1) by Katherine Arden
Status: Completed
Very similar to Spinning Silver in concept – a little village in a cold snowy place under threat from terrifying supernatural beings of the snow – with the bonuses of a protagonist who may or may not be a witch and of one antagonists being the “holy man is horny and upset about it” trope (which is one of my favorite kinds of antagonists). Very atmospheric and an enjoyable reading experience, but not all that memorable. I’m on the fence about reading the rest of the series.
Tags: Nonwestern Setting
Trigger Warnings: Death, death of parent, injury, death of animals, blood, gore, body horror (mild-moderate), death of children, misogyny, religious bigotry
The Thousand Eyes (The Serpent Gates #2) by A.K. Larkwood
Status: DNF at 62%
I wanted to do a full review of this, but I only have one thing to say. I misunderstood book one (The Unspoken Name) and thought this series was, fundamentally, Csorwe’s story. It isn’t, and Csorwe herself was barely in this book. Tal and Shuthmili are good characters, but Csorwe was the one I really loved, and without her driving the story, I didn’t quite care enough to finish reading.
Trigger Warnings: Blood, death, gore, self-harm, mind control, confinement, body horror (mild), torture (mentions), death of children (mentions)
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Status: Completed
A fascinating new framework to look at American race relations by framing it as an issue of caste. It makes a lot of sense and explains it a lot better than racism (which is often ill-defined anyway) or classism. A combination of length, rigorous academic analysis, and graphic descriptions of atrocities made it hard for me to get through, but it was a worthwhile read.
Tags: Author of Color
Trigger Warnings: Racism, racial slurs, racist violence, death, death of children, torture, slavery, hate crimes, antisemitism
Stealing Thunder (Stealing Thunder #1) by Alina Boyden
Status: Completed
I picked this up for fantasy in a fictional version of the Mughal Empire in India, not for romance. Yet despite there being dragon-like creatures and politics and the threat of war, the heart of this story is a romance with an almost-unrealistically perfect guy, but it was sweet and satisfying nonetheless. The point of this book seems to be “hey, trans girls, you can be loved,” and it was an enjoyable story so I can’t really complain. I feel no need to continue the series, though.
Tags: #ownvoices Transgender, Trans Author, Trans Protagonist, Nonwestern Setting, Protagonist of Color, Indian Protagonist
Trigger Warnings: Transphobia, misgendering (occasionally), deadnaming, survival sex work, rape, sexual assault, pedophilia, grief, death, blood (mentions), war, sexual content (off-page)
Bluejay Reads 