#Weekly Book Reviews

[bappiesbookreviews]

As it is a continuation of point of darkness It hugged me right from the first chapter and kept me tight! Again there is action. Tension,shocking,romance and passion some heat as well as emotion All ingredient glued into a brilliant story! The same nice characters who doing there job very well in the story! Dynamice storyline/plot! Which makes the reading nice and smoothly The shocks that grabs you by the throat and hold the reader tight into the book ,every minute! Overall a must read!!!!! rating 5 star

[starsbooksandtea2023]

Family Curse Blog Tour and Review

Family Curse Blog Tour and Review

Family CurseTenacity Plys Bottlecap PressJanuary 1, 2022 Book Links: Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3XGZqtd Family Curse – Field Notebooks – 1880-2020, by Tenacity Plys They say in town that every generation, fairies lure a member of Virgil’s family into the local woods, never to be seen again. Virgil doesn’t really care about that; they’re just squatting at their aunt’s vacant house during…

[mermaidsirennikita]

WEEKLY BOOK RECS: 3/29/24-4/5/24

The Viscount Always Knocks Twice by Grace Callaway

If there's one thing Grace Callaway loves, it's a batty broad and a truly confused stoic man. This begins with Violet Kent throwing the hapless Viscount Carlisle into a fountain, and it really doesn't let up from there. It's a little zany--Violet gave up her dream of being an acrobat, oh no!--a lot flirty--the amount of times these two get stuck in small spaces together and Things Happen--and overall a really good time. Also: it takes place during a house party! I love house party historicals! And this one has... murder!

Never Say Never to An Earl by Grace Callaway

Although I had a couple quibbles, this was, in a lot of ways, one of my favorite Callaways. She gives us a hero with bipolar disorder in Sinjin, and I personally (as someone with the disorder) found the portrayal accurate and sensitive. Sinjin and Polly have such a fun dynamic, and it quickly settles into one of my favorite things: We Have a Deep Physical Connection But NO Feelings, No Way. It's hot and intense and actually, quite angsty. PLUS: a scene where the hero QUITE loses himself and takes SUCH liberties, and apologizes, which is another one of my favorite things.

The Gentleman Who Loved Me by Grace Callaway

In what is always a good thing, I actually loed this even more than the last--it ranks among my top Callaways. Why? Because our heroine, Rosie, is a spoiled brat. She's frivolous, self-absorbed, way too worried about what others think of her, and, in all her flaws, completely charming. I personally love a flawed heroine, and Rosie is among the most complex Callaway heroines I've read. And she's put up against a former sex worker turned brothel owner who's been lowkey stalking her for her own good and used to see her "as a little sister"? PLEASE. PLEASE.

Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto

Can't say much about this one yet as it isn't out until July, but dude. Super hot, even better than Soto's debut, and fully of "you want to fuck me so bad it makes you look stupid" energy. It's sooooo on.

[spaceshipkat]

look i admit that i may be alone in getting incredibly annoyed by this, but for the love of god stop i wish people would stop saying “John Smith, who uses they and them pronouns, blah blah blah” and just start saying “John Smith wrote their book because they really love eating wallpaper” people will pick up on it and you’ll stop fucking othering queer people while trying to be inclusive ffs. you don’t fucking see cishets who use their birth pronouns introduced as “Jane Doe, who uses she and her pronouns, blah blah blah” right??

[bookwyrminspiration]

many people are mentioning the prevalence of "dying from shock" in victorian era novels and wondering about it, and now I've got 37 tabs open and might need to request a pdf from an author, but so far what I'm getting is that there was a correlation between guilt/atonement and shock at the time (with a focus on the perpetrator and not the victim), and "shock does not cause emotional disturbance but serves as the name for a variety of extreme emotional reactions" (Loesberg, 2011). Emotions are a form of shock, shock isn't an emotion itself, I think (I believe traumas and their lasting effects are also counted as shock). Which also means that guilt falls under the domain of those emotions, so it's possible in the case of Mr. Lanyon he is dying not from being shocked by something, but by the guilt of what he knows or has done (whatever that may be). To correct this situation, you would need to correct the guilt, but he has not.

Additionally, when speaking on Victorian literature, Matus said, "Literature imagines the aftermath of disaster for the victim and so helps to establish a discourse about the mind’s vulnerability to overwhelming experience" (2010), which combined with another source saying "Victorian intellectuals insisted on the reality of a spiritual life higher than that of the body" (Douglas, 1991) may indicate that a mental disturbance such as guilt, referred to as shock, could be powerful enough to affect the body based on Victorian understanding. As we're dealing with fiction, this could then be heightened to an extreme in literature that may not have been present in real life and lead to death. Which we've seen mention of several times. There did appear to be a fascination with death from Victorian literature, which this may be an extension of.

However, take all this with a grain of salt as I am not nearly an expert and this is only like one hour worth of research and potential understandings/conclusions. So keep that in mind as I'm absolutely positive there's more to it than this, but this may serve as a sort of introductory to some things going on with medicine and psychology (which didn't truly exist yet) during the events of the book. Hope that helps, because I find it interesting :)

[balaenabooks]

I regret to inform my Whale Weekly peeps that this novella written as a scifi sequel to Moby Dick, in which Ishmael is flung millions of years into a future where the ocean is too toxic for most life and whales rule the skies instead of the seas...isn't very good.

The Ishmael in this book is basically indistinguishable from most generic Pulp Scifi Action Hero guys. He makes occasional references to his old life, but they feel superficial and have little to do with his personal feelings or the plot. The only nod to his relationship with Queequeg (and it's only brought up once) is that when he cuddles Love Interest Girl he thinks of cuddling Queequeg. Love Interest Girl falls hard for him and pretty quickly. The book takes a hard turn at the halfway point into some white savior nonsense. Women characters are pretty sparse and are ultimately valued as breeding stock mothers to safeguard the critically endangered human race. The final battle feels rushed with an unearned 'peace and love/triumph of the human spirit' message tacked on at the very last second.

I was really looking forward to The Further Adventures of Our Lad Ishmael, but this was wildly disappointing. If anybody's got any recommendations for books like this but, well, good, please hit me up.

[lashaan]

Weekly Update — March 31, 2024

[denimshortsdean]

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK THAT YOU HAVE??

IT'S CALLED INDA, BY SHERWOOD SMITH!!!!!

I read it late last year and panicked because it was like the author had looked directly into my head while i was asleep and pulled the story out fully formed and i felt weirdly seen about it???? obviously i proceeded to read all the rest of her works like a normal person who finds one (1) piece of media they enjoy and assumes all like media from the same creator will follow suit, and on this occasion i was right

It's a medieval fantasy but not in a gross western-washing way (which is saying a lot bc it was published in the early 00's), and is essentially a 600 page coming of age story that continues for another three books because i am a clown and don't know when to stop with media. also the mc is hella adhd coded fuck yeah

The Blue Sword is a close second tho, stronk lady with sword step on me make brain go brr

[vampireboy2003]

Weekly comic reviews N°1

The book tour, by Andi Watson

Published First in 2019

This book came in to my possession almost by chance. I had some money to spare this month and wanted to spend it on a graphic novel (living lavish, i know) this one, out of all the other ones in the book store that day, looked most appealing to me after a quick sift through the pages. Its fitting then, that the book is all about a guy that gets majorly screwed over by circumstance.

The book tour tells the story of G.H Fratwell, a relatively unknown english author who, upon the publication of his latest novel has to now go on a book tour to promote It. The book tour is a colossal disaster from day one, and on top of that he becomes the main suspect of some murders he didnt commit.

The story is almost simple in its structure, with Fratwell going from bookstore to bookstore, and hotel to hotel, and misfortune to misfortune, all without cracking that very British "politely inconvenienced" face.

Its a very kafkaesque tale, not only in its themes and presentation, but with a lot of references peppered in. For example, the title of Fratwells novel -- "No K" is one of many references to The trial, a short story that this book is clearly inspired by. You can see a very heavy kafka influence not only in the plot itself but the tone of the story, finding humour in the absurdities that Fratwell goes through, and in Fratwell himself almost perpetuating some of the things that happen to him by wanting to not inconvenience whoever It was that was making him miserable at the moment. It is a book ultimately about Fratwell and his downward spiral, as he realizes no one around him really cares about him, his book, or wether or not he killed a woman. I wont spoil the ending here, but make sure to be prepared If you like things neatly tied up. The ending DID work for me, and it kind of gets me reflecting upon the work and making me want to read again, which is good!

The art also wraps around the story pretty perfectly, with very simplified designs for every character (especially our main character) and more detailed backgrounds and buildings. It is pretty to look at and delicately drafted, and gave me the feeling that the street itself was swallowing up Fratwell, while providing a lot of character to all of the generic european towns and bookshops he visited. One of my favourite sequences in the novel is the opening one, where we see a character arriving in town through a lot of big wide pannels of cityscape. It reminded me almost of a movie, and in fact the timing displayed throught the whole story is really tight, this being not only pacing, but the pannel-to-pannel and page-to-page timing that really makes you feel those akward situations Fratwell puts himself in, and even the timing of the "jokes" the book has.

Ultimately, while i could write a lot more about the themes and overall message of the story (its pretty dense and would take me at least another re-read), its a light read that one could do in a rainy afternoon. It IS quite derivative of Kafka, but in a way that didnt bother me as someone who didnt really know all the references going in (but might bother someone who does for all i know) id definately reccomend this if you want a real dream-like experience, where in the end you can really chew on the story for a while.

I give It

7 kafkas out of 10.

Thanks for reading and make sure to tune in next week where i will read uhhh another comic.

[somnesca]

Look, the writing still isn't good, but I feel less homicidal reading Marjorie Lindon's POV than Sydney's. I really think Marsh could have cut out the whole Sydney part, gone right from Holt to Marjorie, and then we would be left curious and suspicious when Sydney seems to know more than he's letting on. The Beetle retains their mystique, we're rooting for Marjorie the Girlboss now, and we have a dubious ally who may complicate matters but we don't know why.

[bappiesbookreviews]

The Stalking: author:Mason Kim A short thrilling story about the stalker,William, who gets obsessed and after a while in love with Hazel! inreverse she starts stalking him ,which leads to very unexpected twist and even dead and prison! not a easy reader!not a great story either! my rating 3,7 stars

[starsbooksandtea2023]

Death in High Places Blog Tour and Review

Death in High Places Tour Date:March 22-26 Blog link: https://travelling-pages.com/blog-tour-death-in-high-places/ Book Details:  Sara L. JamesonFebruary 8, 2023Scrivenings Press LLC 324 pages Book Links: Amazon GoodreadsBookshop.org Barnes & Noble Book Summary:  An Interpol agent with a deadline he can’t miss. Urgent intel warns of terrorist cells planning coordinated attacks…

[mermaidsirennikita]

Weekly Book Recs 4/12/24-4/26/24

Regarding the Duke by Grace Callaway

I have a new favorite Grace Callaway! Amnesia, as a trope, is very hit or miss for me... but when it hits, it really hits. What also hits? A stern, revenge-driven man who can't admit that he's in love, AND a marriage in trouble, and that same man completely breaking down when he realizes that he was So Wrong About Everything. This book has all of that, plus a very conventionally feminine wife and mother heroine who's so sweet yet also so fun. It's also super, super hot. I had so much fun. I was so Swept Away. It's great.

The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton

Gays In Space, the book. This is out in June, so I'll give more of my thoughts sometime next month but like... This is billed as a sapphic sci-fi romcom, and I wouldn't say that's WRONG, but there's a lot more to it. Like: grief, mystery, the temptation of running away from reality, and the problem with falling for a hologram. I was really impressed.

Played by Naima Simone

Another one that's not out for a while (September, to be exact) but like... A firefighter finds the sad journal of a growly hockey-playing widower and finds herself falling in love? Despite him being unable to offer anything emotional? PLEASE.

The Duke Redemption by Grace Callaway

If there's one thing I love, it's a book where they fuck first and have feelings later. And in this one, they fuck... immediately. Like, within twenty minutes of meeting. But it was a masked orgy situation! And she was hiding her identity due to her hideous (not hideous) scar! And she's a surprise virgin but really good at hiding it! This is a fun gender-flipped Beauty and the Beast situation, with the kind of light mystery Grace Callaway loves, and a hero who literally paces back and forth after finding out he accidentally deflowered this woman (who refuses to marry him) because he's NOT! THAT! GUY! (Anymore.) Also, they have sex in a cage, which I always approve of.

The Return of the Duke by Grace Callaway

Do you like a sweeping marriage of convenience story, with a heroine who needs to be My Fairy Lady'd? Look no further. Severin is looking for the ideal duchess (he has a whole "was raised on the mean streets but found out he was a secret duke" situation) to help him introduce his four(!) illegitimate siblings to high society. Except then he accidentally deflowers (again, love this) a tinker's daughter in the WOODS and is too honorable to NOT marry her, and also she's HOT, so even though he Cannot Love, they'll just have a fun fuck marriage, right? Even if she can't say the "H" sound? Sure. Fancy is actually such a great heroine, and this actually works very well in a way that I think a lot of books with this scenario wouldn't. And it's HOT, with a third act reveal that's so bonkers it's delightful.

The Trouble with Inventing a Viscount by Vivienne Lorret

Another ARC, so I'll stay somewhat tight-lipped. But suffice to say--this is about a hot girl who knows she's a hot girl (how refreshing) conning a con man, only to have him show up a year later pretending to be the long-lost viscount she's been betrothed to since infancy. And he's fully prepared to scam his way all the way to the altar, whether they like it or not. This has the single most insane erotic eating (not that, literally eating food) scene I have ever read in my life. Like, they're having a picnic, but it feels like he's hitting it raw. I was. So happy.

[thecasualbookreviewer]

Todays review will be postponed due to the fact that I haven’t have reading beans all week and I haven’t been able to finish the book (or make much progress) but I’m hoping to finish it by Monday!

[thejewofkansas]

The Weekly Gravy #136

The Jungle Book (1967) – *** I’ve been slacking on my rewatches of the Disney animated classics; the last one I watched, The Sword in the Stone, was way back in September. I didn’t much care for it, either; it had some good moments, but there wasn’t much to the story, the characters, or the animation. To a degree, you could say the same of The Jungle Book, which often plays on the level of…

[balaenabooks]

Hey Whale Weekly Peeps, I've got a book recommendation!

It's White as the Waves by Alison Baird, and unlike that one book about whales by Patrick Ness, this one is actually the story of Moby Dick told from Moby's perspective. This story refers to him by his whale name, Whitewave. Review under the cut.

The first half is standard xenofiction stuff, establishing the sperm whale culture and mythology and Whitewave as a young and naive whale who doesn't yet know what's coming for him. I was wondering if his albinism would affect his relationship to other whales or his ability to survive in the wild, but it doesn't seem to have much of an impact. Which is interesting, because I always thought of Moby's albinism as a disability in the same way that Ahab's missing leg was a disability. Here's an article with some more detail about albinism in wild animals.

The second half is what made this book for me, where tragedy strikes and Whitewave's life hits a turning point, sending him on a vengeance quest similar in some ways to Ahab's. One key difference, however, is that Whitewave's revenge is justified, Ahab's is not.

As for the writing itself, the dialogue was clunky in places, and there was quite a bit of telling rather than showing, but it wasn't terrible. It was even a little nostalgic, reminding me of the YA xenofiction I read as a teenager, like David Clement-Davies' Fire Bringer and The Sight.

Unfortunately, physical copies of this book have been out of print for years, and used copies are expensive. The ebook version is still available and much more reasonably priced, but sadly, it's a Kindle exclusive, which I know is a deal-breaker for many. Still, if this book sounds interesting to you and you can get ahold of a copy, go for it.

Also, if Whale Weekly is your first time reading Moby Dick, PLEASE don't read White as the Waves yet, because this book contains spoilers. Obvious trigger warnings for animal cruelty, animal death, and human death. The characters, being wild animals that more or less behave like their real-life counterparts, observe very strict gender roles (the males are expected to travel the world and mate with females from different family groups, and females are expected to stay with their own family groups and raise the babies). They also have sex, but it's offscreen and not described in detail.