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Category: 4 Stars

Repercussions, Anthony Schneider

Published 11 May 2016 by Gin Jenny

Did I ever tell you about my fondness for aftermath? Stories about aftermaths are all I long for, all I worship and adore. In fact when I finish writing this post I might just go read the bit about the Scouring of the Shire. Repercussions is about aftermath, and it’s about a thing I don’t get nearly enough of in contemporary adult fiction, which is good people who are trying their best. Henry Wegland is a Lithuanian Jew whose family came to South Africa years ago in the assumption that they would find a better way of life. Henry has…

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Peas and Carrots, Tanita Davis

Published 26 Apr 2016 by Gin Jenny

“But Jenny, you should read Tanita Davis! Perhaps this new one, Peas and Carrots!” “Oh, gosh, it seems like she has a sort of middle-grade aesthetic going on, and I tend to prefer older-skewing YA, so I’ll maybe give her a miss.” “Jenny, no really, Tanita Davis, she’s right up your–” “Shhhhh, I’m busy.” FOOLISH FOOLISH FOOLISH JENNY. Have I not yet learned that I should listen to bloggers and their wisdom? Even if I have reservations? Peas and Carrots is about two girls, Hope and Dess, who become foster sisters without either of them particularly wanting to be. In alternating…

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Gemsigns, Stephanie Saulter

Published 28 Mar 2016 by Gin Jenny

Can we have more sociopolitical speculative fiction, y’all? Can that be a thing we ask the book gods for? I read about Stephanie Saulter’s Gemsigns on Tor.com a while ago, and I had basically this exact reaction to it: @Nymeth @xicanti @readingtheend I admit gemsigns as a title makes me think of animated 80s Rock bands — Aarti (@aartichapati) March 11, 2016 But it happened to be lying around my Overdrive wishlist when I was picking out books for a long trip, and I happened to choose it out of all the books on my Nook on a train ride…

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The Dark Net, Jamie Bartlett

Published 7 Mar 2016 by Gin Jenny

One theme that came out of Book Blogger Appreciation Week (thanks to everyone, again, for making it awesome!) was that there are a lot of bloggers who read nonfiction and wish for more nonfiction reviews by other bloggers, without in fact themselves reviewing all that much nonfiction. Leaving the week, I promised myself that I would write more often about the nonfiction I’m reading. Hence: Jamie Bartlett’s The Dark Net. Bartlett, a journalist and droplet for a UK think-tank, explores the grim and hidden corners, cultures, and economies of the internet, from neo-Nazis to drug dealers to amateur pornographers. This…

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The Five Bronte-est Things That Happened in Claire Harman’s Biography of Charlotte Brontë

Published 2 Mar 2016 by Gin Jenny

Note: I received an electronic galley of Charlotte Bronte: A Fiery Heart from the publisher for review consideration. Sometimes when you read books about the olden days, you feel nostalgic and affectionate like maybe you would have liked to live back in those days and make your own butter and play whist with the other families in the neighborhood. Books by and about the Brontës do not have this effect. Claire Harman’s Charlotte Brontë: A Fiery Heart primarily made me feel fortunate for living in an age and area that offer me a near-infinitude of life choices. It’s hard to…

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The Last Witness, K. J. Parker

Published 22 Feb 2016 by Gin Jenny

tl;dr: A fantastically unreliable narrator; a twisty and intricate plot containing many machinations; a short but intensely KJ Parkery introduction to political fantasy author KJ Parker. The subtitle for every KJ Parker novel, including this Tor novella The Last Witness might be, The Death of All Hope. Be warned of this before you go in. A lot of things will happen, you will experience feelings of suspense, and at the end, nobody you care about will get anything they want. Or if they do, they will find it is a cold and hollow victory. Anyway, if you’re unsure about KJ Parker…

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What Is Veiling?, Sahar Amer

Published 3 Feb 2016 by Gin Jenny

I try, in general, to cast a critical eye upon ideas and information and opinions, and sometimes I am more successful at this and other times less successful. For genres of things where Societal Bullshit has often been at play in the past, I try to be extra skeptical about that thing. As a totally inconsequential example, I know that the Bachelor manipulates my views of all the women through editing; and I maintain a particular skepticism of the edits that people of color receive. (The, like, three that have ever been on that show.) Similarly, I have decided upon…

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Carry On, Rainbow Rowell

Published 27 Oct 2015 by Gin Jenny

I have a lot to say about Carry On. WHERE TO BEGIN. Carry On is an extension of the book-within-a-book from Rowell’s last-but-one book, Fangirl, set in the world of Simon Snow where Fangirl‘s Cath chose to spend so much of her time. And yes, when you start out, you’ll think Gosh this is awfully Harry Potterish, but then of course you’ll find that Rainbow Rowell knows this and is playing with it, and you’ll be all right after that. Simon Snow is destined to be the world’s greatest Mage; but as his maybe-a-vampire nemesis roommate Baz is constantly reminding him, he’s…

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Make Your Home Among Strangers, Jennine Capó Crucet

Published 5 Oct 2015 by Gin Jenny

Have I told you that I love it in books when characters mishear each other? It’s one of my favorite things because it happens in life all the time and in books almost never. Here is a misheard conversation from somewhere in the middle of Make Your Home Among Strangers: I was just about to hang up on him when he asked, So you hear yet? –Omar, I told you I’ve been here, but I’m leaving. –No, I mean the thing at school. The investigation thing. What happened? –Oh that. Misunderstanding is central to this book about a first-generation college…

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