ashes-reviews

[ashes-reviews]

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

9.5/10

Don't know what's going on? Good! All in the due time. This is a book you simply must read cover to cover in its entirety.

Cyclical as any time traveling romance must be, and yet, the beginning and the end are as separate as if it was linear. As my friend said, and I can't have said it better, the ending was "very crunchy and satisfying". Complete with metaphors so in depth you lose your train of understanding, and passionate words so loving you feel as if you are intruding, this book blew me away in the span of two days.

What romance! What stakes! What utterly elegant prose...This book is unlike anything you've ever read and requires quite a bit of faith even for its small size. Even so, for a story where you never learn the main characters' names, it sure had me in tears for them! I give this book my highest praise, save a singular half point, simply because I was promised to feel like a rat with cheese and that obsession has not taken hold of me. :P

I would recommend this book a thousand times over,

Ash

P.S. God, I hate time travel

[ashes-reviews]

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

8/10

I'm a week away from graduating, and I need my favorite escapism. A good gay ya novel. So I head down to my little neighborhood library with absolutely no expectations. I see a cheesy title and two boys on the cover, I read the back and I'm promised enemies to lovers in space--I'm sold. The librarian confirms that this book has won many awards, I'm a little shocked that a cute little sci-fi romance novel was so critically acclaimed, but ah well time to start readin--OH MY GOD.

This BOOK, y'all!!! Absolutely nothing you could possibly expect. I was thrown for a loop in the absolute best way. At first I was pleasantly surprised by the usual sci-fi AI motifs, and then by page 50 I had given up that this was anything like the book I had thought it was.

The plot is astounding and kept me on the edge of my seat, truly suspending my disbelief. Clearly, Schrefer knows his way around science fiction! The characters were three dimensional, and ultimately memorable, but the emotions this book made me feel are truly what I will take with me. I laughed, I cried, but most of all I hugged a pillow sucking on my thumb rocking back and forth while staring into the middle distance. :)

This book blends utter existentialism and heartbreak with the solemn safety of a happy ending. It's like doom scrolling world news all day only for a loved one to walk in and greet you with a kiss atop the head. I gave it an eight simply because I am a harsh grader and I am saving the ten for a very special occasion, and I felt that even though I loved the characters and their relationship, the romance was lacking. Very "horny teens with no one else around" which, as a hesitant ace, I was a little taken aback by. While the romance didn't blow me away, this book was truly about love. Love for the world, love for yourself, and love for each other.

Definitely would recommend!

Ash

P.S. There's apparently going to be a sequel this October?? I am very excited and will be keeping a look out for it.