i got this at the thrift store for 50 cents. my friends were very surprised to learn that i had not read this. i found it similar, obviously, to 1984. i'm very glad that the edition i have had some information in the back about aldous huxley's personal life, as well as some criticisms and praise for the book over different points in history- which provided me with some good context. i found the worldbuilding to be quite strong. i found parts of it uncomfortable to read, particularly the portions that take place on a reservation in New Mexico. the way people of color and disabled people are dicussed (though maybe realistic for this type of society) is difficult to read. so while the story was very thought-provoking and timely and i can appreciate the conversation the book is trying to have, i did not always find myself enjoying it.

my friend molly let me borrow her copy!! and right in time for the film release. i really did enjoy this one. i enjoyed reading some dystopian/scifi situation that had a satisfying, happy outcome for a change. i really enjoyed the friendship between grace and rocky. i feel like the humor in this book was just the right amount and made the character likeable. i am NOT good at math at all but the way the math and science was presented in the book was easy for a dumbass like me to at least feel like i was understanding what was going on. i liked the way the flashbacks cut in and out of the present (reminded me of LOST lmao). i have but few complaints. one was that for how detailed and researched and thought out the science and math portions of the book were, i feel like the author really relied heavily on stereotypes to convey some of the non-american characters. second was the scene when dubois and shapiro are being VERY upfront about their sexual relationship only for us to later find out that they exploded in a lab together- leaving grace as the only other viable candidate for the mission. the writing in that portion took me out of it for bit, and maybe that was necessary, to remind me that this book was indeed written by a man.

i put a hold on this one at the library. after reading a dowry of blood i was still itching to read some more vampire stuff and settled on this retelling of carmilla. i did enjoy it but it didn't exactly deliver what i was hoping it would. i think i was hoping for something very drawn out, suspenseful, and lots of sapphic yearning lol. the supression in this novel was less about her desire to be with carmilla and more about her supressing her emotions in order to please her husband and keep up appearances. (although arguments could be made that those are one and the same) i found that even though this book is a great deal longer than carmilla, the suspense element just isn't there, which is what i enjoyed about reading carmilla. i also felt that the ending seemed rushed and too convienient.

i picked this book up at the bookstore entirely because the cover art/brief synopsis on the back intrigued me. i think conceptually, this is a really good book. it takes place in a distant future where the world has been transformed due to climate change. the economy of this world is backed up by pandemics and the need for medicine, PPE, etc. causes stocks to skyrocket. as a natural result, some pandemics are created by stock executives in order to cement their financial gains. we follow the main character- dengue boy, or later, dengue girl- a mosquito-human hybrid, the result of one of these planned pandemics- as they navigate difficult interactions (and violence) because of their appearance. the main reason i think i've rated this one so low despite admiring the concept is simply because it does include a lot of violence (including sexual violence) involving children that was difficult for me to stomach reading. (and while i fully recognize that an ultra-capitalist society plunged into irreversible climate change with inhumane wealth gaps results in that type of violence, that doesn't mean i want to read about it in such detail) the ending was not satisfying to me either, despite dengue girl getting her revenge. glad to have read it, but ultimately not for me.

i was lent this by a friend (thanks kate!!) for some context, i was in high school at the height of twilight popularity and was a little off-put by vampire media. i did attempt to read twilight once but i remember trying and coming to a point where she was like really concerned with smelling like fish (and to be clear being a teenage girl IS *that* ridiculous) and i just. did not continue reading. ANYHOW. i sort of avoided vampire media after that, but i picked up carmilla in december of last year and tore through it so quickly. i had heard things about this book and honestly the cover art was alluring, so i gave it a go. the first part of the book interested me, i read the first ~80 or so pages in one sitting. i think the way the book is written in "letters" is a nice way to break up longer chapters. however, the rest of the book did not hold my attention. this is no shade to anyone who enjoys this type of book but it started to read like a romance novel and that is decidedly not for me. i also felt that the ending was rushed. i would have liked more attention or details revealing what dracula's research entailed. i'm on the asexual spectrum and while i don't consider myself sex repulsed, i did find that the sexual encounters in the book to be a little...obviously indulgent? idk if that's the right way to put it. but they just seemed to be central to the plot and central to the character's connections to each other and that just wasn't enjoyable for me to read lmao. i think the author attempted to write about cycles of abuse and power, but ultimately fell short. the last "bonus" chapter....i could not take that seriously.

i started this one in december but finished it in january so i am counting it as part of my year-long goal. it is a bit of a chonker, but i didn't find it difficult to get through. i was intially drawn to it because of the title and its biblical significance and i was not disappointed. the author did a TON of research re: linguistics and etymology and how both human interconnectivity and care and love- but also colonialism and capitalism and violence have literally shaped words and given meaning across different cultures. it also explores how, often, the language we use today is derived from and (whether we realize it or not) perpetuates this violent and colonial history. i found the characters to be fleshed out and the magical realism elements to be finely woven into the book and perfectly believable, not only in that universe where such magic exists but believable in a sense that if such magic existed in this world, colonial powers would absolutely be utilizing it in a similiar way. i found it to be an apt example for how academia and research can be utilized as an arm of the government. (and similar to what we have seen recently in the US with pro-palestinian protests and encampments on college campuses springing up only to be met with extreme displays of state violence..) it explored thoughts on revolution and what forms of protest are the most effective, which was not something i was originally expecting to see in a fiction title. i did feel at times that the metaphors and allegories were overly explained by the author and i have seen others say the same. i think it would have been fine had it been more subtle. the ending was tied up well- but it was not a satisfying, happy ending. it was tragic and betraying all the way through. the ending almost had me crying. also, i loved the information included in the footnotes throughout the book- very informative and i have decided that more books should have footnotes!!