Book opinions, but short ones.
The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy by David Graeber
Status: Completed
I read David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs a while ago and thought it was fantastic, so I was excited to dive into another of his works. This one was not entirely what I expected. It has a lot of fantastic ideas, some truly inspiring moments, and a solid critique of the political left, but this was above all a work of political philosophy, which is most definitely not my jam. There were some good things in this book and I’m glad I read it, but there were also several spots where I was not very interested in a particular point and caught my mind wandering.
Trigger Warnings: Death (mentions), death of parent (mentions), systemic oppression, violence (mentions), police brutality (mentions)
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Status: DNF at 37%
I picked this up because a professor who wrote a really good essay about Severance also wrote an essay about this book and made it sound interesting. Unfortunately I didn’t find it interesting, and I think a large part of it is because I read that essay so I knew and was expecting the twist. The reveal comes about a third of the way into the book, but I get the impression that it’s supposed to be a slow burn, with a horror element that comes from the protagonists accepting horrifying things as normal. Since I had the spoilers from that essay, I didn’t get any of the emotions I think I was supposed to. I found it rambling and dull, and it’s entirely not the book’s fault.
Tags: Author of Color, Japanese Author
Trigger Warnings: Death, sexual content (discussions), medical content (mentions), medical abuse, child abuse
Malice (Malice duology #1) by Heather Walter
Status: Completed
This is a queer reimagining of Sleeping Beauty told from Maleficent’s perspective, but the reimagination is so solid that it feels much more like a standalone fantasy than a fairy tale retelling. The world is fantastic, I love the complexities of human and fae politics, the romance is well-done, the hatred Alyce (the protagonist) faces because of her blood is heartbreaking, and the magic system is fantastically creative. I really enjoyed the ending, too. It was simultaneously sad, cathartic, and amazing watching Alyce finally decide to become the monster everyone told her she was. The ending felt satisfying enough, though, so I don’t know if I’ll read the next book (plus I don’t want to see Alyce defeated by any fairy tale prince if it sticks to the original fairy tale).
Tags: It’s Queer!
Trigger Warnings: Blood, self-harm for magic purposes, body horror (extreme), dubiously-consentual kissing, homophobia (mentions), suicide (mentions), fantasy racism, bullying, death of parent (mentions), murder
The Warehouse by Rob Hart
Status: Completed
I am somewhat surprised I finished this at all, because this kind of dystopia feels hopelessly possible and normally I hate that. But I think I related to the tension in Paxton – fighting the corporation versus personal survival, hating the job but still wanting to do it well. I also found the perspective of Cloud’s founder interesting, because he presented terrible ideas in a very reasonable way. (Zinnia’s parts were interesting for the suspense, but I know too much about corporate espionage to fully suspend my disbelief.) It was a blend of horrifying and relevant – strange, sometimes uncomfortable, but thoroughly fascinating.
Tags: Protagonist of Color, Mixed Race Protagonist
Trigger Warnings: Drug use, drug abuse, death, overdose, sexual assault (graphic), sexual violence, alcohol use, ableism, guns (mentions), cancer, racism, sexual content, injury
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
Status: Completed
Objectively, this is not a fantastic book. It’s significantly more memoir than self-help, and a rambling one at that. It starts out solid, introducing the concept of wintering as an emotional season, parallelling not necessarily correlating with the season in nature. She discusses what the season feels like, the symptoms, and a few very general thoughts about how to get through such seasons. Then she loses the main thread and talks about various vignettes of her life, from seeing the Northern Lights to her son’s first blizzard, ending with an extended discussion of the benefits of swimming in ice water. I appreciated it because it gave a name and explanation to what I’m going through right now, but it’s unfocused and doesn’t provide much advice for what to do when you’re in an emotional winter.
Tags: Autistic Author
Trigger Warnings: Mental illness, cancer (mentions), medical content
Bluejay Reads 