#BOOK CRITIC

[yourdailyqueer]

Virginia Mathews (deceased)

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Lesbian

DOB: 9 March 1925 

RIP: 7 May 2011

Ethnicity: Native American (Osage Nation)

Occupation: Writer, activist, librarian, book critic

Note: Helped develop Sesame Street while serving as a consultant to Children's Television Workshop, and she promoted activities to support literacy through libraries.

[livingfictionsystem]

2.5 stars. Spoilers below.

The 'What if Peter Pan was evil?' concept is hardly new. In fact, it's essentially canon. But I decided to give this one a go since 'The Child Thief' was such an objective waste time. This was... fine. It's certainly a story and it certainly does have that premise, coming from who would grow up to be Captain Hook. And, compared to 'The Child Thief', it was an improvement.

But that isn't saying much.

Alright, so it's one of those that beat you senselessly over the head with certain concepts. 'Peter promised we would be friends forever and for always. Peter lies.' 'Peter doesn't care what happens to the rest of the boys, I do.' 'Being a boy and being a man are different.' If you read those lines, congratulations, you've now read at least 40% of the book. You understand that the story is setting the scene for the narrator, Jamie, to break ties with Peter, but then you discover that 'setting the scene' is easily 90% of the damned novel.

It's set in the very first chapters that Peter is a malicious spirit who considers the death of the boys 'all part of playing his game.' At the very start, Jamie resented this. So, then it falls into the predictable pattern of, 'Peter did this, a boy was hurt and/or died, Jamie rethinks his friendship with Peter.' 'Peter was manipulative, a boy was hurt and/or died, Jamie reconsiders his loyalty to Peter' 'Peter did this, a boy died, Jamie thinks about leaving him.' Over and over and over and over. Though it is accurately representative of what an abusive friendship can be like when someone else holds all of the power, we gET THE POINT.

And after there's a huge confrontation, Jamie runs off to join the pirates at the end and that's about as vague as an ending as is had. I enjoyed the narrative that Hook is essentially cursed to be there to be the eternal unwilling playmate to Peter, but there was a lot of potential lost with the pirates. How did the pirates react when Jamie switched sides? How did he become Captain? Why didn't Jamie try to recruit the subsequent Lost Boys, but instead, contemplated shooting them out of the sky with a canon? Where did the original pirates even come from? Were they all Lost Boys grown up? It's vaguely implied that Jamie wasn't the first Lost-Boy-Turned-Pirate, but what happened with the others?

The book has a lot of tragedy, but none that are too easy to connect to. Whether it's the primary-school aged boys dropping like flies, or the amount of times the humourless and dull narrator Jamie loses someone before he finally gets homicidal about it, it's impressive that this book makes children killing each other redundant.

Peter needed nuance other than being homicidal intent wrapped up in a child's packaging. And there were some scenes or rules that were never explained, like; why does he hate girls in this book but in none of the other canon? Does Tink not count?

The very last line in the book is 'I hate Peter Pan.' Which, honestly, about wins it for anti-climactic conclusions.

Or perhaps I'm just a jaded adult and I need pixies to sprinkle me with dust; who knows?

-Xanthe 🪶

[kjudgemental]

The Three-Body Problem - Science-Fiction Novel Review

Author: Cixin Liu (translated by Ken Liu) Publisher: Head of Zeus (US publisher) Country: China Year: 2014 (orig 2006) The first in a trilogy. When it got translated into English a decade ago, it won the Hugo Award for best novel, making Liu the first Asian writer to claim the prize. In the past few years, author Cixin Liu’s remarks have come under fire. Very much pro Chinese government,…

[walking-the-velvet-green]

Started reading circe by Madeline Miller... And so far I must say I'm not impressed. I mean it's imo a weird choice to make circe, who is by all means a very powerful sorceress, the first person narrator and make her actually tell her story as if she is ashamed of it? Also the way she over explains everything.... It robs of the mystic feeling those myths do have. Idk I feel like if you really know nothing about Greek myths and never read one it can be entertaining but other than that so far I can't really understand the hype....

Let's see I'll keep reading and will give a detailed review at the end. (im just already glad I only lent it tbh 😅)

[shyjusticewarrior]

Two things can be and are true at once.

Robin Jason was a sweet, kind kid who cared about victims. He also had righteous rage and violent tendencies towards those he thought deserved it.

Being Robin gave him magic and as Robin he shattered a man's collarbone with no remorse.

[oposssumsaucee]

Listen All Systems Red is so so funny from Gurathins perspective imagine you grew up with Space Socialism and was hired to go help some pal with science but you weren't allowed to go unless you rented AmaTeslas Torment Nexus Alexa Dot and then when you get there you find out a whole continent of people got annihilated by their Tourment Nexus rentals so you take a moment to check yours quickly and find out it already had disengaged its Don't Kill People box, the only thing you've ever been told prevented them from mass homiciding their clients, something that LITERALLY just happened to people you knew a day ago, and when you say to your fellow socialist doctors HEY I think our Tourment Nexus is fucked up and it's files said it killed dozens of people barely a year ago and we should probably get the hell away from it the same doctors are like look at what you're saying. You're hurting the Tourment Nexus' feelings. The Tourment Nexus is just a little construct who likes Netflix Gurathin stop antagonizing it on the plane ride.

[bi-dykes]

YA novel covers

[ghelgheli]

Often when trans women ask me when I'm performing next, and I tell them that it's a queer/trans event, they will tell me that they'd rather not go because they do not feel comfortable or safe in those spaces, that they have been dismissed or belittled at such events before. Even trans women who are dyke- or bisexual- identified often don't feel welcome or relevant in queer/trans spaces. And whenever a trans woman or ally points out aspects about the queer/ trans community that contribute to these feelings of irrelevancy and disrespect—such as the way our community coddles those who support trans-woman-exclusionist events or who make trans-misogynistic comments—we are described as being "divisive." This use of the word "divisive" is particularly telling, as it implies that "queer/trans" represents a uniform movement or community—a "oneness"—rather than an alliance where all voices are respected.

Julia Serano, Whipping Girl. Published 2007.

[cheekios]

Last Cartridge of Insulin

This is an URGENT REQUEST as I cannot go a day without insulin. Currently I am unemployed through no fault of my own. I do not have insurance so I will have to use GoodRx. My insulin is called Afrezza. It costs around $450-$490 depending on the pharmacy I go to.

Goal: $450

CA: $HushEmu

PP: emuslayter@gmail.com

Currently I cannot drive because my only pair of perscription glasses are broken. So I will also need help with ubers. Please.

I’d like to stress that not taking insulin daily is deadly. This is a medical emergency. Begging for this request to be filled.

Informative read:

https://www.healthcentral.com/condition/type-1-diabetes/how-long-can-a-diabetic-go-without-insulin

[shanalikeanna]

Okay anon you got me haha, I love this too much not to post.

I just started reading One Piece, and I haven’t met Law yet. But Rachel told me that him and Chopper have something in common and this is my own personal headcanon.

[livingfictionsystem]

Book Review: "One of Us is Lying" by Karen McManus

I absolutely did *not* expect to like this novel as much as I did. So, the premise is that the owner of a life-ruining rumor website dies suddenly in high school. He just happened to be in detention with four other students that he was about to post about. Everything's fishy and points to murder from the beginning and the question is: Who did it, and what did they have to hide? When I first cracked this open and realized that the first-person POV went back and forth between the four suspects, I was like, "Really?" I thought it was a lapse of fictional judgment, but McManus is a master of hiding plot twists and subverting expectations even when you're directly in the character's head. That in itself is impressive. Think of if 'Breakfast Club' was written in 2017. That's not saying anything ground-breaking, it compares itself to that within the description. But no pretty goth girl gets an unfortunate makeover. You've got some good queer rep in there and a great discussion on how gossip, violation of privacy, and the media can ruin the lives of good people who made a bad mistake. The first quarter or so is a little difficult. While it's introducing everyone, it can be rough to keep track of each of 'The Four's' individual circles and backstories and it does seem to switch around a lot, but I didn't find it too distracting. The reveal wasn't too obvious, probably in my top three or four guesses, but the secrets unraveling around it were a complete surprise. I also did not expect how deeply invested I would get into everyone. Every character is exceedingly well-written and believable, and it gets almost heart-warming how everyone in 'The Murder Club' works together to figure this all out. My only real complaint is that the main reveal didn't take too much investigation. From the time the characters start trying to get to the bottom of it and stop flinching away from the potential consequences, there's probably only three phases of questioning people to figure it out. This didn't stop me from actually tensing, gasping, and racing to the next page to see what'd happen next.

It's a 9/10 from me. -RH

Trigger warnings for: Alcoholism, drug use, suicide, homophobia, mental illness, and an abusive relationship. 

[kjudgemental]

Valis: Classic Sci-fi Novel Review

Author: Philip K. Dick Publisher: Bantam Books (Gollancz, my copy) Country: USA Year: 1981 (2001, my copy) Valis is a uniquely strange novel in that it’s only partially fictional. And even that is only half fictional itself. Inspired largely by author Philip K. Dick’s own mental breakdown in 1974, it largely concerns itself with Horselover Fat, a split personality persona of the narrator (who…

[gwandas]

We don't talk enough about how funny the dreamer shit in ACOTAR is. The IC are all sitting around acting like they're these underdogs when they are literally the government. Wdym you're dreaming of a better world... that's your fuckin job. Get to it, chop chop!

[teaandspite]

The Great Goodreads Diss List (Part 1)

Context: For many years now, I have been collecting funny lines from Goodreads reviews to share with my coworkers. (I do collection development, reader's advisory, and weeding at a public library, so I read a LOT of reviews)

Are some of these, perhaps, rather mean? Yes, but they are also very funny, and come from a place of honest frustration. In the tradition of Bargepole threads and lists everywhere, names and titles have been censored.

"First, I want to say that I understand how hard it is to write a book and how amazing it is when it is actually published. Congrats to the author for that accomplishment. That said--"

"Warning: This review will be lengthy due to pure hatred."

"I found myself feeling really, really annoyed with the world that this book is allowed to exist. We live in a universe where the passenger pigeon is extinct but this book goes along merrily being read by unsuspecting lovers of words and ideas and stories? It just seems like too much, you know?"

"Don't do it. Don't spring the cash for the hardcover. Instead, eat an entire bag of Twizzlers, spend some money you don't have at a high-end department store, look up on Facebook the shady college boyfriend that made you cry, research the current value of your home or 401K and then read all about how the big hedge fund managers are faring during the economic crisis. You'll feel about the same stomach pain if you waste your time reading this book."

"This wretched novel begins with the mugging of an old lady and it appears I may be in the process of repeating that loathsome crime as [author] was 78 when she wrote it. It is not nice to put the boot into such a poor defenseless old creature lying there with only a damehood, a Booker Prize and a few million quid. It’s a nasty job but somebody has to do it."

"I think this is the way dead people would write, if they could."

"I am considering setting up SPABB: Society for the Protection of Accurate Book Blurb. This blurb appears to have been written by someone from the publishers who met [the author] the night before, got very drunk, lost his notes and then constructed something in a fug of hangover the next morning."

"I congratulate [the author] on the early half of his book, which was thoroughly fun and made me laugh and think. I congratulate [the author] on the second half of his book, for finishing it. It reads like that was difficult."

"…a woman whose taste in contemporary literature has roughly the same batting average as a pitcher in the National League."

"The author is a pompous windbag."

"Recommends it for: No one. Recommended to me by: A friend who apparently wished to cause me great suffering."

"Makes me wonder: is it possible to obtain similes at a volume discount?"

"The repeated phrases made me want to mail a thesaurus to the author."

"I'm disappointed in myself for finishing this book."

"if the author described [character's] eyes as "obsidian" one more time I was tempted to write her and ask if her thesaurus broke."

"They say that an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters would, if given infinite time, eventually produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. [This book], on the other hand, would probably take the average monkey just under two hours."

"I can't imagine what the author had to do to get this nadir of Western literature printed on innocent trees, but he does seem to know a LOT about being well-connected in New York."

"This book is so bad it is almost worth reading just to make you appreciate the other books you are reading."

"Reads like it was written by a brilliant author, the night before it was due."

"raises interesting questions, like: can a book be so bad as to constitute an act of terrorism"

"has this author ever spoken to a human woman"

"This acorn has fallen so far from the tree that it can’t even see the forest."

"I’m guessing they are touted as ���beach reads’ because no one will care if they get dropped into the ocean."

"This book begins with all the energy of a hand vacuum near the end of its battery life, and the pace doesn't quicken much from there."

"At least everybody’s eyes stayed the same color this time around.”

Part 2

[shyjusticewarrior]

A reminder:

Robins: Dick, Jason, Tim, Steph, Damian

Batboys: Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, Duke

Batkids: Dick, Barbara, Jason, Tim, Cass, Steph, Damian, Duke

Batsiblings: Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, Cass, Duke

[sevenspoonfulsofsugar]

daniel, being the one and only fledgling of a 500-year-old vampire who is now the most divorced anyone has ever been, using his crazy mind powers to figure out if the guy interviewing him on local news and denigrating his career actually read his book