#Tasha Lim

[milliondollarbaby87]

Damsel (2024) Review

When Elodie agrees to marrying a Prince she has no idea that the Royal Family she is joining is actually going to use her as a sacrifice to repay an ancient debt. ⭐️⭐️ Continue reading Damsel (2024) Review

[boomgers]

Estamos a punto de perder la cabeza… “Saltburn”

Mientras lucha por encontrar su lugar en la Universidad de Oxford, el estudiante Oliver Quick se ve arrastrado al mundo del encantador y aristocrático Felix Catton, quien lo invita a Saltburn, la extensa propiedad de su excéntrica familia, para pasar un verano inolvidable.

Estreno: 22 de diciembre de 2023 en Prime Video.

Dirigida por Emerald Fennell, la película cuenta con las actuaciones de Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, Carey Mulligan, Alison Oliver, Joshua Samuels, Reece Shearsmith, Olivia Hanrahan Barnes, Tasha Lim, Millie Kent, Richie Cotterell, Sadie Soverall, Ewan Mitchell, entre otros.

Detrás De Cámaras

Emerald Fennell y el elenco de la película atendiendo la premiere el 14 de noviembre de 2023 en Los Ángeles, California

[samireads]

I don’t normally have a physical TBR this big! I’m very excited about a lot of these though, so hopefully good things to come 🤓

[movies-to-add-to-your-tbw]

Title: Saltburn

Rating: R

Director: Emerald Fennell

Cast: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, Carey Mulligan, Paul Rhys, Ewan Mitchell, Sadie Soverall, Richard Cotterell, Millie Kent, Will Gibson, Tasha Lim, Aleah Aberdeen, Matthew Carver

Release year: 2023

Genres: drama, thriller, comedy

Blurb: Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, Oliver Quick finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton. Felix invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family's sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.

[popentertainment-moviereviews]

SALTBURN (2023)

Starring Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, Carey Mulligan, Paul Rhys, Ewan Mitchell, Lolly Adefope, Sadie Soverall, Millie Kent, Reece Shearsmith, Richie Cotterell, Millie Kent, Will Gibson, Tasha Lim, Aleah Aberdeen, Matthew Carver, Gabriel Bisset-Smith, Saga Spjuth-Säll, Glyn Grimstead and Paul Rhys.

Screenplay by Emerald Fennell.

Directed by Emerald Fennell.

Distributed by Metro Goldwyn Mayer. 131 minutes. Rated R.

Screened at the 2023 Philadelphia Film Festival.

Saltburn: PFF Closes With a Gem

For three consecutive years, the Philadelphia Film Festival has allocated some of its most coveted slots to vehicles that showcased Irish talent. In 2021, the festival’s opening night film was Belfast, the loosely autobiographical work, penned and directed by Kenneth Branagh. It recounted his childhood in Northern Ireland’s capital city. In 2022, the festival kicked off with The Banshees of Inisherin. The tale was set on a fictitious island in Galway Bay, off the western coast of Ireland. It starred the estimable duo of Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as life-long friends, whose relationship becomes abruptly truncated. This year, in its 32nd edition, the festival’s closing night film was Saltburn. Dublin native, Barry Keoghan, is cast as the film’s protagonist.

Set in 2006, Saltburn is at once a jocular, albeit scathing, satire of the British ruling class and a psychological thriller. It centers on Oliver Quick (Keoghan), an incoming freshman at prestigious Oxford University. Unlike his posh classmates, Oliver hails from a modest background and is a socially maladroit dweeb. His parents are apparently addled with alcoholism and drug addiction. He has no siblings or other familial support to speak of. Oliver is an obvious candidate for ostracism by his more privileged peers.

In the film’s prologue, Oliver speaks retroactively of the ambivalent, tortured, and unrequited feelings that he had harbored for Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). Felix is a strikingly handsome alpha male, whose family boasts a centuries-old aristocratic pedigree. Felix is accustomed to people fawning over him. In particular, wherever he goes, he is avidly pursued by a bevy of pulchritudinous coeds. Meanwhile, Felix remains totally oblivious to Oliver’s homoerotic longings for him.

The two lads meet serendipitously, when Jacob experiences a flat tire on his bicycle. He is distressed by the prospect of being tardy for a meeting with his new faculty advisor. As Oliver rides past, he notices Felix’s predicament. Oliver veers from the pathway and graciously offers to lend his own bicycle to help the immobilized stranger. Felix expresses his deep-seated gratitude.

Felix defies audience expectations, when he actually takes pains to incorporate Oliver into his elite social clique. As summer break beckons, Felix magnanimously invites Oliver to sojourn at his family home, the eponymous Saltburn. It turns out that the family residence is a sprawling Medieval castle from a bygone era. Drayton House, an edifice situated in Northamptonshire, afforded an ideal site for location shooting. Construction of the spectacularly opulent estate began around 1300 and was repeatedly revised thereafter. Shortly after the house was erected, the original owner of the magnificent structure was issued a license to build ramparts and crenellations as part of a protective wall around the residence.

When Felix gives a tour of the estate to Oliver, he parenthetically references family lore. As a vestige of a tryst that the notoriously licentious Henry VII once had while visiting the estate, the monarch’s desiccated seminiferous fluids are reputed to remain embedded in the mattress in one of the guest rooms. Imagine living in a home with such a juicy historical tidbit attached to it.

Oliver soon meets the residents of Saltburn, a menagerie of well-drawn and altogether eccentric characters. Felix’s immediate family consists of his mother, Elsbeth (Rosamund Pike); his father, Sir James (Richard E. Grant); and his sister, Venetia (Alison Oliver). They are augmented by Felix’s snide biracial cousin, Farleigh Start (Archie Madekwe), who also matriculates at Oxford, and a non-family hanger-on, literally known as "Poor Dear" Pamela (Carey Mulligan). All of the thespians convincingly embody the solipsistic sense of entitlement that is routinely exhibited by upper-class British twits.

However, ultimately it is Keoghan, who delivers a particularly delicious performance that anchors the film. He adroitly captures the evolution of his screen character over the course of the film’s protracted narrative trajectory. Last year, Keoghan as well as his cast-mate, Brendan Gleeson, each scored a supporting Oscar nomination for their respective roles in the aforementioned The Banshees of Inisherin. Keoghan portrayed a cognitively impaired villager in the film. Here, Keoghan demonstrates his versatility, while enlivening a far different role. He establishes that he is capable of carrying a feature film as its lead.

Saltburn is the sophomore venture of Emerald Fennell. In 2020, she made a successful transition from actor/showrunner to screenwriter/director/co-producer with her debut feature, Promising Young Woman. The film generated an Oscar for Fennell’s Best Original Screenplay along with nominations culled for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Carey Mulligan, who as noted plays a juicy supporting role in Saltburn), and Best Editing. Here, Fennell shows impressive growth as a filmmaker. Her screenplay is chocked full of plot twists and apt metaphorical constructs. Fennell makes efficacious use of dramatic foreshadowing and misdirection. Following a faux denouement, Fennell uses a double epilogue to mount a startling montage of events, juxtaposed with a memorable true finale. In her role as director, Fennell evokes strong performances from her entire ensemble cast and handles the film’s frequent tonal shifts with dexterity.

The production values of Saltburn are superb. Cinematographer, Linus Sandgren (La La Land), makes adroit use of light, mirrors, and reflections to fashion a litany of mindboggling images. His use of a 1:33:1 aspect ratio creates the sensation that the viewer is a voyeur, who is surreptitiously spying on the most intimate machinations of the film’s onscreen characters. The editing by Victoria Boydell keeps the pacing taut and the audience guessing what will transpire next. The evocative score by Anthony Willis (M3gan) provides an excellent complement to the visual text of the film. The choice of period pop hits buttresses the film’s sense of time and place.

For all my enthusiasm for Saltburn, I would be remiss if I did not provide a caveat to prospective viewers. The film includes explicit dialogue as well as repeated depictions of drug use and decidedly twisted psychosexual expression. One vignette involves a libertine, who is ruefully disparaged as “sexually incontinent,” and her liaison with an accommodating paramour. Another scene depicts more “mundane” intercourse. These carnal interludes are not gratuitously ribald. Instead, they capture the sublimated urges of various screen characters as well as the intolerant deprecations of their more priggish detractors.

After appearing at the Philadelphia Film Festival, both Belfast and The Banshees of Inisherin each went on to accrue a plethora of Academy Award nominations as well as other accolades. Although Saltburn is a far more polarizing film, it is richly deserving of similar recognition.

Nathan Lerner was a syndicated Film Critic for the Montgomery Newspapers Chain and its corporate successors for twenty years. He welcomes feedback at lernerprose@gmail.com.

Nathan Lerner

Copyright ©2023 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: November 17, 2023.

[nataliescatorccio]

if u are giffing damsel (netflix) I would love gifs of tasha lim (the about to be bride that elodie tells to run), but no pressure ik she's only there for like, 30 seconds at the end lol. ur damsel gifs (and all ur gifs) are gorgeous btw!!

i'm afraid i really did download just for dragon and badass lady and i've already deleted the file asdfghj i'm so sorry!! thank you for being so sweet<3

[talvenhenki]

Tagged by @kira-nerys-rocks :^)

Get to know you game! Answer the questions and tag 9 people you want to know better.

Last song I listened to: Well I'm listening to Torukia on a loop because the beat makes me happy

Currently reading: The Dragon's Promise by Elizabeth Lim and Mo Dao Zu Shi volume two, both in English! I'm also in the middle of A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland and a few pages shy of finishing The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Currently watching: The Untamed a.k.a the thing inspired by Mo Dao Zu Shi 😅😂

Currently obsessed with: The Finnish translation of Case Study of Vanitas, the Witch Hat Atelier series, the Tears of the Kingdom game, so many songs and original fiction projects I've got going

tagging @erdariel, @wingsofhcpe, @peilinsirpale, @engineer-in-space, @celestialspark, and @hazydreamerneko, in case you want to do this :^)

[bookclub4m]

30 Fantasy fiction by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Road of the Lost by Nafiza Azad

A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair

A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

VenCo by Cherie Dimaline

The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai 

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

The Lost Dreamer by Lizz Huerta

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

The Björkan Sagas by Harold R. Johnson

Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

The Return of the Sorceress by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Famished Road by Ben Okri

Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi

The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter

[lesbiankiliel]

Tag 9 people you want to know better!

I was tagged by @soft-gay-kid thank you!!!

Currently reading: the oleander sword by tasha suri, with spin the dawn by elizabeth lim waiting

Currently watching: mom and I are watching cunk on earth on netflix, in addition to which I'm watching the owl house with finnish dub (which is better than I expected and I really love the VAs of luz, eda, king, hooty, amity, and hunter)

Favorite color: all shades of purple but especially lavender

Last song: molecules by hayley kiyoko (big rec, it's beautiful)

Last movie: portrait of a lady on fire! so good!

Currently working on: star wars big bang fic, which this year is a jedi lando/sith luke au (if you follow me over at my star wars sideblog @canonskyrissian you can't have missed it lol). it's going well, it's almost at 30k and eight chapters^^ I think it will have around 13-14 chapters total

tagging @mformara @burnhamandtilly @penny-anna @reputation @rainbowbonnet and anyone who wants to do this^^

[thewickedharlot]

Poppy Park reveals "2023 Flop List": "When you're doing KPop, it's really easy to realize that Americans suck."

Who really needs new year's resolutions at this point? We all know we're not going to go to the gym more, or stop eating chocolate, or visit our dying elderly family members. What we can do every year though, is talking shit. KPop-starlet Poppy Park knows that and blessed us with an iPhone Notes app post revealing what she refers to as the "2023 Flop List". The post has since been deleted off her Twitter, but we could get a hold on a screenshot. The caption reads:

"When you're doing KPop, it's really easy to realize that Americans suck. At most things, really, but most of all, at their respective careers. This is mostly a reminder to myself - maybe a warning to others."

The list itself appears to be all over the place, only consisting of a few names along with vague words that apparently give reasons as to why the person in question is a flop:

"coal addams - farts

tasha reynolds - bad mom, doesnt call her fans "tushies"

lexi vasquez - #teamcathy

CODY barlowe - no soul, grown man named cody

elliott with two ts lim - spells his name with only one t (sucks), too tall (what are you a giraffe with abs?)

eva floppaport - come to korea for your next surgery alien lookin ass bitch

andrea jensen - #freegoosh

peyton koopa - acts like shes 17, pick me vibes"

Poppy's team has not responded to our request for comment.

[persephone-queen-of-souls]

~Nights like these~

In a city full of lights

A shooting star I saw.

I remembered those quiet nights,

As I stared at you in awe.

The quirky moments that we had,

And the laughter that we shared,

Not forgetting the fights and tears,

Ending with a hug to fight the fears.

Though I wish they had last,

Those nights have since long gone.

Memories of the past,

Short-lived but beautiful like dawn.

And so I wish upon the shooting star,

That no matter where you are,

Even if you‘re really far,

That you‘d shine bright,

Like the star that you truly are.

~ Tasha G. Lim

[micaiutu]

High waisted Jeans! by nvoyce featuring a glass aroma diffuser ❤ liked on Polyvore

Half sleeve cardigan, 405 UYU / Green top / Topshop blue distressed jeans, 1.680 UYU / Aquazzura ankle strap high heel sandals, 4.375 UYU / Chloé handbags shoulder bag, 31.605 UYU / Valentino gold chain jewelry, 24.875 UYU / Jules Smith triple layer necklace, 1.695 UYU / Maison Margiela ring, 10.395 UYU / Sole Society 14 karat gold jewelry, 720 UYU / Casetify mint iphone case, 1.440 UYU / Tasha sparkly hair accessory, 310 UYU / 3.1 phillip lim sunglasses, 7.765 UYU / Baronessa Cali glass aroma diffuser, 1.265 UYU / Merkury Innovations Helix Mic Earbuds - Pistachio, 260 UYU

[annelim]

BASIC INFORMATION

FULL NAME: Anne Margaret Lim MEANING:  Anne - “Favor, Grace” / Margaret - “Pearl” REASONING: Her maternal grandmother was named Anne, and also her mom just thought it was neat. NICKNAME(S): Annie PREFERRED NAME(S): Annie BIRTH DATE: September 8th, 1993 AGE: 28

ZODIAC: Virgo GENDER: Cisgender Female PRONOUNS: She/Her/Hers ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Biromantic SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual NATIONALITY: American ETHNICITY: Chinese-Italian CURRENT LOCATION: Eureka, CA LIVING CONDITIONS: Currently slumming it with Benji Hastings TITLE(S): N/A

BACKGROUND

BIRTH PLACE: San Francisco, CA HOMETOWN: San Francisco, CA SOCIAL CLASS: Upper-Middle Class EDUCATION LEVEL: Currently pursuing her MFA FATHER: Theodore Lim MOTHER: Melinda Lim née Clark (deceased) SIBLING(S): None BIRTH ORDER: Only child CHILDREN: None PET(S): Kevin Hastings (Benji’s), Balthazar Hastings-Lim OTHER IMPORTANT RELATIVES: N/A PREVIOUS RELATIONSHIPS: Ivy Muñoz, college ex boyfriend ARRESTS?: None PRISON TIME?: N/A

OCCUPATION & INCOME

PRIMARY SOURCE OF INCOME: Graphic Designer SECONDARY SOURCE OF INCOME: Freelancing TERTIARY SOURCE(S) OF INCOME: N/A APPROXIMATE AMOUNT PER YEAR: $75,000 CONTENT WITH THEIR JOB (OR LACK THERE OF)?: Annie’s pursuing her MFA to further her career opportunities, but overall loves what she does. PAST JOB(S): Babysitter-turned-nanny, dog walker, barista, waitress SPENDING HABITS: Modest -- she’s by no means stingy, but is practical about the money she can spend on miscellaneous things. MOST VALUABLE POSSESSION: Photo albums

SKILLS & ABILITIES

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: Average OFFENSE: Black Belt in Taekwondo DEFENSE: (...see above) SPEED: Average INTELLIGENCE: Average ACCURACY: Average AGILITY: Above average STAMINA: Above average TEAMWORK: Average TALENTS: Art SHORTCOMINGS: Recognizing/validating her own emotions LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN: English, poor Chinese DRIVE?: Yes. JUMP-STAR A CAR?: No. CHANGE A FLAT TIRE?: No. RIDE A BICYCLE?: Yes. SWIM?: Yes. PLAY AN INSTRUMENT?: Piano, cello, guitar. PLAY CHESS?: Yes. BRAID HAIR?: Yes. TIE A TIE?: Yes. PICK A LOCK?: No.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & CHARACTERISTICS

FACE CLAIM: Na/tasha Li/u Bo/rdizzo EYE COLOR: Brown HAIR COLOR: Black HAIR TYPE/STYLE: Type 1a; generally pulled up in a lazy bun or falling over her shoulders carelessly GLASSES/CONTACTS?: Both -- usually contacts. DOMINANT HAND: Right. HEIGHT: 5′5″ WEIGHT: 114lbs BUILD: Slim EXERCISE HABITS: Does Pilates, runs a few times a week. SKIN TONE: Pale TATTOOS: ( x. ) - the flower of her mom’s birth month, the rose. PIERCINGS: Ears MARKS/SCARS: Scars on her knees from falling as a kid, small scar from cutting her thumb with a knife while trying to slice a bagel NOTABLE FEATURES: None USUAL EXPRESSION: Smiling CLOTHING STYLE: ( x. ) ( x. ) ( x. ) JEWELRY: A watch, her engagement ring ALLERGIES: None BODY TEMPERATURE: Normal DIET: Vegetarian PHYSICAL AILMENTS: None

PSYCHOLOGY

JUNG TYPE: ESFP JUNG SUBTYPE: Assertive ENNEAGRAM TYPE: Type 7 MORAL ALIGNMENT: Neutral Good TEMPERAMENT: Phlegmatic ELEMENT: Earth PRIMARY INTELLIGENCE TYPE: Intrapersonal APPROXIMATE IQ: 112 MENTAL CONDITIONS/DISORDERS: None SOCIABILITY: Extremely gregarious and social EMOTIONAL STABILITY: Stable/happy OBSESSION(S): None COMPULSION(S): None PHOBIA(S): Sharks ADDICTION(S): None DRUG USE: Social, rarely ALCOHOL USE: Social PRONE TO VIOLENCE?: Not at all

MANNERISMS

SPEECH STYLE: Gentle, measured, relaxed ACCENT: None QUIRKS: None HOBBIES: Painting, baking, swimming, reading HABITS: Twirling pens NERVOUS TICKS: Humming, leg shaking, cuticle biting DRIVES/MOTIVATIONS: Keeping her loved ones safe/happy FEARS: Loss, sharks POSITIVE TRAITS: Sensitive, easy-going, gregarious NEGATIVE TRAITS: Workaholic, meddlesome, martyr SENSE OF HUMOR: Understated, witty DO THEY CURSE OFTEN?: Regularly, but not excessively CATCHPHRASE(S): N/A

FAVORITES

ACTIVITY: Reading ANIMAL: Otters BEVERAGE: Water, chai lattes BOOK: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel CELEBRITY: John Mulaney COLOR: Yellow DESIGNER: Madewell FOOD: Mexican FLOWER: Orchids GEM: Emerald HOLIDAY: Halloween MODE OF TRANSPORTATION: 2013 Toyota Camry MOVIE:  Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain MUSICAL ARTIST: Fleet Foxes QUOTE/SAYING: “Let everything happen to you - beauty and terror.” -- Rainer Maria Rilke SCENERY: The ocean SCENT: Jasmine SPORT: Baseball SPORTS TEAM: Los Angeles Dodgers TELEVISION SHOW: Bob’s Burgers WEATHER: 70 degrees and sunny VACATION DESTINATION: Europe

ATTITUDES

GREATEST DREAM: To helm an international ad campaign. GREATEST FEAR: Losing a loved one. MOST AT EASE WHEN: At home, reading. LEAST AT EASE WHEN: In open water. WORST POSSIBLE THING THAT COULD HAPPEN: Losing her family. BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT: Undertaking her master’s. BIGGEST REGRET: Losing Addie. MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: Any myriad of falls/tumbles/spills. BIGGEST SECRET: Deeply resents her mom for leaving her behind. TOP PRIORITIES: Her dad, Benji/the Hastings-Birch-Mabry clan, Tabitha, work, school.

[samireads]

October reads ✌🏻

The Jasmine Throne and Six Crimson Cranes were particularly good 😌👌🏻

[elusivemellifluence]

Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag

Stolen from @ninja-muse

How many books have you read so far?

81, including 5 rereads, and currently reading 2.

What genres have you read?

Fantasy (38), science fiction (15), historical (9), contemporary (8), nonfiction (6), mystery (5), horror (4), thriller (3) and magic realism (1)

Best books you’ve read so far in 2021:

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (lesbian necromancers in space, pov fuckery, memory wiping, self-styled God-Emperor quoting memes)

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland (bisexual and aroace Black girls fighting zombies, becoming outlaws and adopting kids in the Old West)

Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston (12 year old recruited by Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, has delightful adventures, searches for missing brother)

The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate (the tragic gay story of a background character from Dracula)

All the Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (unputdownable thriller, reformed teenage conartist channels all her skills to save girlfriend and ex-boyfriend from bank robbery gone wrong)

Space Opera by Catherine M. Valente (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy shaken vigorously, drenched in body glitter and shoved on stage for intergalactic Eurovision)

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (mind-sharing friends, first contact with aliens, learning/inventing a whole new form of communication in order to ask said aliens ‘please stop killing us’ before the military starts blowing up planets, political intrigue in space empire, cute lesbian romance with ‘will she ever really, truly see me as fully human and equal’ angst)

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo (story about stories, clan of tiger shapeshifters are pissed off that humans are telling the story of the lady scholar who married the tiger queen all wrong, damn it)

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells (grumpy, anxious cyborg learns what it means to have free will and be cared for)

Warrior Moon by K. Arsenault Rivera (third in trilogy about epic sapphic love reshaping the world in fantasy China/Japan/Mongolia)

I’m 2/3 through The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal but I’m already pretty sure it belongs on this list

Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2021:

A lot of the ones of my previous list - Harrow the Ninth, Deathless Divide, A Desolation Called Peace, When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain and Warrior Moon are sequels. Out of those, I think probably A Desolation Called Peace was the best book (it’s beautiful, though-provoking science fiction that I can’t wait to vote for in next year’s Hugo awards) and Harrow the Ninth was the best sequel (the way it interacts with the previous book, adshfk).

New release you haven’t read yet, but want to:

So many!

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters (Southern gothic, angry sapphic witches, the mystery of a missing sister)

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan (queer fantasy about the founding of the Ming dynasty, described as “Mulan meets The Song of Achilles”)

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim (retelling of The Swan Princes with a Chinese twist)

Eat Your Heart Out by Kelly deVos (zombies attack a weight loss camp, pissed off teens fight back, has snark, horror and body positivity)

A War of Swallowed Stars by Sangu Mandanna (third in a series about the Mahabarata in space)

The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison (sequel to the lovely The Goblin Emperor, kindness and decency and solving murders)

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (princess and handmaiden/priestess holding knives to each other’s ribs, kissing under a waterfall and reshaping an empire)

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian (former highwayman teaches a nobleman how to do a heist, with sexy results)

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (sapphic time travel romance)

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year:

The Sisters of Reckoning by Charlotte Nicole Davis (sequel to the story of indentured sex workers escaping the ‘welcome house’ and striking out across the desert to make a new life, I’m told the rivals-to-friends dynamic I adored is gonna add -to-lovers)

Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko (sequel to epic African fantasy about empires and free will and telepathic harems)

No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull (monsters reveal themselves to the world, chaos and hate crimes ensue)

The All Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw (all girl team of broken, bitter former criminals get back together for one last mission)

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (giant robots, mind melds and polyamory)

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor (disability, biotechnology, Nigerian science fiction)

Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen (The Little Mermaid story with West African mythology)

The Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks by Mackenzi Lee (much-anticipated third in a trilogy about queer disaster siblings in slightly magical 18th century Europe)

Biggest disappointment:

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. A supposed classic that disgusted and infuriated me. I tried to read it for book club but rage quit 120 pages in, and reading up on the rest of the story made me so very glad I did.

Biggest surprise:

Daughters of Frankenstein: Lesbian Mad Scientists! by Steve Berman. A fantastic array of sapphic science fiction that gave me surprise after surprise as I encountered a Scooby Doo parody, a Jeeves and Wooster parody, a Pgymalion and Galatea love story between a scientist and her robot wife, psychological horror about wildly unethical experiments, lesbian outlaws building armoured getaway vehicles to rob banks, middle-aged wives fightng ice weasels and adopting a kid, chaotic genius invents hot new drug and accidentally starts the zombie apocalypse ...

Favorite new author (debut or new to you):

Martha Wells - I read the first five Murderbot books and fell head over heels in love

Underrated gems:

The Myriad Carnival by Matthew Bright (dark and delightful anthology of queer stories revolving around a magical carnival, has only 12 ratings on goodreads) and Stone and Steel by Eboni J. Dunbar (African fantasy novella with sapphic soldiers and queens that manages to feel both epic and satisfying despite being only 92 pages long, has only 100 ratings on goodreads)

Newest fictional crush:

Guet Imm from The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho - a female Chirrut Imwe type who leaves her nunnery and cheerfully forces her way into a group of bandits. Sunnily chaotic weirdos are most definitely my type. Though considering the way she responded to a guy hitting on her with a pleasant “Oh, sure, we could sleep together, but I’m very religious so I’d have to make sacrifice after” (Tet Sang translates: “She’s not agreeing, you fool, she’s threatening you, when she says ‘make sacrifice’ she means ‘cut your dick off’”), perhaps it’s best to just Look Respectfully.

And perhaps also Iktan from Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. Xe’s the spymaster, protector and ex-lover of one of the protagonists. Sure, xe may be ruthless, amoral and more than a little terrifying, but it’s in a really hot way.

Newest favorite characters:

Murderbot and all its friends

Book that made you cry:

None have actually made me cry (my tears are difficult to provoke, I can only name like five books that have ever had me actually crying), but the closest I came was probably The Old Lie by Claire G. Coleman. It’s science fiction where Earth gets caught up in a war between alien powers, and humans join the army to fight in a horrific war for a Federation that doesn’t even consider them citizens, get their children kidnapped to become servants and pets for wealthy alien families, and have their homes destroyed in weapons testing. All these things echo the real history of how white people have treated Indigenous Australians, and it both is and is not a metaphor, since the protagonists are all Aboriginal and very aware of the paralells.

Book that made you happy:

Amari and the Night Brothers is a warmhearted delight.

Most beautiful book cover of a book you’ve read so far this year:

Either The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett or The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard

How are you doing with your year’s goals?

81/100 books

going strong with ‘two authors of colour for each white author’ 

doing good with ‘read from a wider variety of contries’ (so far I’ve read authors from 20 different countries)

doing good with ‘I don’t want straight protagonists to be the majority’ (41 queer or indeterminate protagonists versus 31 straight ones)

doing OK with ‘include some translated books’ (6 books originally written in other languages)

could do better with ‘read some books that aren’t from the last two decades’ (I’ve read one from the 1990s, one from the 1970s and one from the 1960s, but that’s not a lot - I used to read books from centuries ago)

could do better with ‘more trans authors’ too - I’ve read three nonbinary authors and no binary trans folks so far, but I do have several on my to-read list

What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter and Love and Other Thought Experiments by Sophie Ward, because they’re my book club’s picks for August and September

Not tagging anyone because I wasn’t officially tagged myself, but if you see this and want to do it, go ahead, and tag me!

[fangrunin]

Hi, so I’ve seen all your posts about books by authors of colour and would love to read some by authors of colour but don’t know where to start. Are there any magical fantasy books you’d recommend?

hi yes! i haven’t read all of these but they are well loved by my trusted sources so: 

descendent of the crane by joan he

nocturna by maya motayne

we hunt the flame by hafsah faizal

spin the dawn by elizabeth lim

wicked fox by kat cho

a song of wraiths and ruin by roseanne a brown

gods of jade and shadow by silvia moreno-garcia

dark and deepest red by anna-marie mclemore

the fifth season by n.k. jemisin 

empire of sand by tasha suri

empress of salt and fortune by nghi vo 

do you dream of terra-two? by temi oh

children of blood and bone by tomi adeyemi