LRRC Week 44
So, November, huh. It both feels wild and perfectly right that it has been however many months dealing with this pandemic, and that we are now once more approaching the cold dark months.
Stay strong, friends. We can make it through this. We will see each other on the other side of it.
EDIT: So I typed that a couple days ago and then NOVEMBER FIFTH happened and anyway I'm sleep-deprived and reeling and also still giggling helplessly about Supernatural so?? Take that as you will.
#87: DROWNED COUNTRY by Emily Tesh
I should probably have just read this one together with Silver In The Wood, huh? Well, you live and you learn.
Anyway, this, like the first in the duology, is extremely and heartbreakingly good. It's sweet and dramatic and I love the exploration of the magic system and how it gets expanded in this. Also, extremely good Awkward Breakup Energy. This gives the perfect ending that I felt Silver In The Wood was missing, and I liked it a lot.
What are you doing, go read the Greenhollow Duology!!!
#88: THE SPACE BETWEEN WORLDS by Micaiah Johnson
Oh!! Yes!!!!
I don't think it's any great secret that I sometimes bounce off science fiction books. Even this came due from the library and I put it off for a couple weeks because, despite seeing good reviews from people I trust, I just didn't feel excited about it.
Friends? This was a mistake, "The Space Between Worlds" is EXCELLENT.
It took me a couple chapters to really get situated into the world and into the main character, Cara, and then I was hooked. I love this book. It's funny and heartfelt and does all of my favourite alternate universe things and also it's GAY.
I think the main selling point for this book is the characters. Cara, the main character, is fascinating in all of the ways I love: she's ambitious, she's tough, and she's willing to do morally questionable things to achieve her goals. She and her love interest, Dell, play off each other in ways that are always fun to read.
Furthermore, being a multiverse story, we get to see many of the supporting characters in a multitude of different ways, and I was all the way into that. Different permutations of the same people, changed by circumstance, and a protagonist who is able to tell the differences and remark on their significance - hell yes.
This book almost reads like fanfiction, in the best of ways, in the sense that it establishes a world and then proceeds to twist that world in upon itself. I could barely put this book down, I wanted to know what happened next and I wanted Cara and Dell to ride off into the sunset together.
NEXT WEEK'S AGENDA
#89: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
#90: When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole