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Ammonite. By Nicola Griffith. Del Rey, 1992.

Rating: 3.5/5

Genre: science fiction

Series: N/A

Summary: Change or die. These are the only options available on the planet Jeep. Centuries earlier, a deadly virus shattered the original colony, killing the men and forever altering the few surviving women. Now, generations after the colony has lost touch with the rest of humanity, a company arrives to exploit Jeep–and its forces find themselves fighting for their lives. Terrified of spreading the virus, the company abandons its employees, leaving them afraid and isolated from the natives. In the face of this crisis, anthropologist Marghe Taishan arrives to test a new vaccine. As she risks death to uncover the women’s biological secret, she finds that she, too, is changing–and realizes that not only has she found a home on Jeep, but that she alone carries the seeds of its destruction. . . .

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: violence, reference to torture, starvation, frostbite, animal death, violence, blood

OVERVIEW: This book has been on my TBR pile for a while, and I finally got around to picking it up. I hadn't read anything by Griffith before, so I was curious about her as an author. Overall, I like the way she writes and I think Ammonite works well in conversations with books like The Left Hand of Darkness. My 3.5 rating, though, is because there are some plot points that I'm not sure how I feel about; otherwise, this was a worthwhile read.

WRITING: Overall, Griffith's prose felt effortless and elegant, balancing showing and telling while flowing well. The pace was fairly quick, and even in the more drawn-out moments, I felt like Griffith made good use of the time for exploring character interiority.

At times, some of the terminology did get confusing for me, but Griffith helpfully provides a glossary at the back of the book.

PLOT: The main plot of this book follows Marghe, an anthropologist who is sent to a planet called Jeep. Jeep has an all-female population and colonists who set foot on the planet are infected with a virus that kills all men and 25% of women. Marghe arrives to not only study the people of Jeep, but to test a vaccine made by a private firm identified only as Company. As she encounters different residents of the planet, she begins to realize what matters to her and who she is meant to be.

One thing I appreciated about this book is that all the women felt varied. Griffith doesn't present women as all-peaceful, loving, druidic figures, and she also doesn't make them seem so strange that Marghe can't connect to them as humans. In that sense, it felt less like I was reading about aliens and more about multi-cultural humanity.

I also liked the subtle exploration of what it meant to be an immigrant to Jeep (could be colonist, but colonization doesn't actually happen), as well as how tradition and the refusal to change can lead to downfall. Not only is this message apparent in Marghe's personal journey, but it pops up in the story of the Echraidhe and the people of Port Central.

But even so, there were some things that I'm not sure about. For one, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with the part of Marghe's arc that has her negotiating the peace. It felt a lot like making the stranger to the world more effective than the Indigenous peoples, and she partially achieves her task by claiming to be a god. It felt a little icky, but I'm not sure of my gut reaction is correct.

There were also more minor things that were bothersome. For one, I don't think the goth were nearly important enough. Griffith seems to set up their presence as a sort of mythological tinge to the story, but the goth didn't haunt the narrative enough to make them feel deliberate. For two, I think Griffith could have made Marghe's role as an anthropologist more useful. As it stands, Marghe doesn't strike me as overly scientific or detached (like she claims), and she may has well have been a diplomat or something else for all the anthropology skills she uses. For three, I think the ending wrapped up too neatly, especially since there was so much violence. I didn't quite expect peace to come as easily as it did, so it felt a little too convenient. And lastly, I'm not entirely sure Company got enough flack. Maybe the point of this book wasn't to get into the weeds of capitalism and exploitation, or about how companies and governments can be in cahoots. But still, it felt like they were always in the background, lurking but unacknowledged.

TL;DR: Ammonite is a fascinating look at the necessity of change and what it means to belong, focusing on the story of one woman on an alien world. Though some of the plot was questionable, this is a good addition to sci fi novels about gender and learning to adapt to other cultures.

CHARACTERS: There are a lot of characters in this book, so I'll take a look at a few individuals and then speak about groups more generally.

Marghe, our protagonist, was sympathetic in that she arrives on an unfamiliar world carrying a lot of baggage from her past. Not only has her mother died, but she has a strained relationship with her father and experienced mistreatment by Company on another planet. I wish more of her backstory was integrated into her character arc; it starts out ok, but after arriving at Ollfoss, there's not really any exploration of how Marghe's past becomes irrelevant or how it fuels her transformation.

Hannah Danner, the acting commander of Port Central, has a few chapters details her side plot with the spy. I found her to be sympathetic in that she is very aware of her responsibilities and struggles with who she might be if she wasn't part of the military. I also found her plot to be a little weak in that the spy stuff didn't really resonate with me emotionally, but I did like how her personal anxieties about adapting to like on Jeep fit with the themes of change.

The Echraidhe are a tribe of women who live in the cold parts of the region. They are fairly "traditional" and put tribe before individual, which causes some problems both with Marghe and with one of their own. I liked that there was internal conflict within the tribe; Aoife, who is essentially Marghe's jailer, recognizes the dangers posed to her tribe and yet tries to protect Marghe. She was perhaps the most interesting of the bunch and I liked the complexity of her emotions.

By contrast, the family Marghe joins in the north is very kind and affectionate. I loved the way she bonded with Gerrel and Thenike, and I also liked the tension with Leifin. Their varied personalities made the world seem richer and less archetypal.

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Not just about the Echraidhe, is it?

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Nice.

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Dog Songs. By Mary Oliver. Penguin, 2013.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: poetry

Series: N/A

Summary: Mary Oliver's Dog Songs is a celebration of the special bond between human and dog, as understood through the poet's relationship to the canines that have accompanied her daily walks, warmed her home, and inspired her work. Oliver's poems begin in the small everyday moments familiar to all dog lovers, but through her extraordinary vision these observations become higher meditations on the world and our place in it.

Dog Songs includes visits with old friends, like Oliver's beloved Percy, and introduces still others in poems of love and laughter, heartbreak and grief. Throughout, the many dogs of Oliver's life emerge as fellow travelers and guides, uniquely able to open our eyes to the lessons of the moment and the joys of nature and connection.

***Full review below.***

I'm a dog lover, so of course I was interested in Mary Oliver's collection of poetry inspired by her love for dogs. I read this book in one sitting, and for the most part, I enjoyed its contents. I loved the subtle romanticization of the simple life, the quiet adoration for furry companions, the reflections on what dogs can teach us about life. Oliver's poetry is very accessible, so you might enjoy it even if you're not a poetry lover.

I also quite enjoyed the artwork by John Burgoyne. The images are mostly realistic pen and ink portraits of dogs, shaded using hatching and cross hatching. There is a significant amount of skill required to create these, so I appreciated them more than something like the simple clip art that tends to be used for poetry collections.

All that being said, I didn't rate this book a full 5 stars because I don't think Penguin makes efficient use of space. Poems are only printed on the right side and not every poem has an illustration. Thus, there is a lot of wasted space which no doubt makes the book seem longer (and thus allows them to charge more money?).

TL;DR: Dog Songs is a charming poetry collection that is sure to resonate with dog lovers and may be accessible for readers new to poetry.

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Kung Food. By Jon Kung. Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2023.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: cookbook

Series: N/A

Summary: Jon Kung grew up as a “third-culture”  Born in Los Angeles, raised in Hong Kong and Toronto, and now living in Detroit, Jon learned to embrace his diasporic identity in the kitchen after pivoting his career from law school graduate to being a cook. When the pandemic shut down his immensely popular popup, he turned to social media—not just as a means of creative expression, but as a way to teach and inspire.  Over time, Jon discovered that expressing himself through food not only reflected his complicated identities, it affirmed them. From dumplings to the most decadent curried mac and cheese, Jon inspires millions through his creative recipes and content.

***Full review below.***

I bought this book a while ago, but I wanted to make a few recipes before giving it a proper review. My friend introduced me to Jon Kung's YouTube channel, so when I learned he had a book, I rushed out to get it.

Overall, I really love the ease at which this book is written. Kung's explanations of ingredients are clear for those who are unfamiliar with Asian cooking, and I appreciated the instructions for using a wok. The recipes themselves are very clear and informative; I felt like I knew what I was looking for while making each dish, even if I hadn't made it before. In that sense, even some of the more intimidating dishes feel doable with Kung as the guide.

A lot of the prose also feels very casual, and I can easily hear it in my head as Jon's voice. There are also helpful little notes scattered here and there offering extra tips that aren't necessary to the recipe - things like comments on flavor profiles, humorous notes about your ingredients, and more serious instructions (like not needing to pretoast your sesame seeds for shrimp toast).

My main criticism is that I think there could have been more pictures showing the cooking process or techniques. I don't mean to suggest that there aren't any; this cookbook is quite colorful and has some nice professional photos. There are also various QR codes that take you to demonstration videos on Kung's YouTube channel. These are all well and good, but I personally would have liked more photos because I don't think we can rely on videos (or internet connectivity) to be around forever.

I don't think I'd recommend this book for vegetarians or vegans, however. While some recipes are vegetarian/vegan and some could probably be adapted, I don't think the book was written with those eating styles in mind. This isn't a bad thing; just know that vegetarians/vegans are not the audience.

I would, however, recommend this book (and Kung's YouTube channel) for those who might want to get into Asian cooking but perhaps might have been a little intimidated. Kung is a wonderful guide and makes every dish worth the effort, and it was lovely to be introduced to ingredients, cultural foods, and techniques that were unfamiliar to me.

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The Glass Town Game. By Catherynne M. Valente. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2017.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: YA historical fiction

Series: N/A

Summary: Inside a small Yorkshire parsonage, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne Brontë have invented a game called Glass Town, where their toy soldiers fight Napoleon and no one dies. This make-believe land helps the four escape from a harsh reality: Charlotte and Emily are being sent away to a dangerous boarding school, a school they might not return from. But on this Beastliest Day, the day Anne and Branwell walk their sisters to the train station, something incredible happens: the train whisks them all away to a real Glass Town, and the children trade the moors for a wonderland all their own.

This is their Glass Town, exactly like they envisioned it…almost. They certainly never gave Napoleon a fire-breathing porcelain rooster instead of a horse. And their soldiers can die; wars are fought over the potion that raises the dead, a potion Anne would very much like to bring back to England. But when Anne and Branwell are kidnapped, Charlotte and Emily must find a way to save their siblings. Can two English girls stand against Napoleon’s armies, especially now that he has a new weapon from the real world? And if he escapes Glass Town, will England ever be safe again?

Together the Brontë siblings must battle with a world of their own creation if they are to make it back to England alive in this magical celebration of authorship, creativity, and classic literature from award-winning author Catherynne M. Valente.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: references to child hunger/neglect, blood, death of a child, reference to suicide

OVERVIEW: I happened upon this book by chance at my local used book store. I do love the Brontës, and I've been hit or miss with Valente's works, so I took a chance and picked it up. Overall, I found it to be a delightful little fantasy story in the vein of Alice in Wonderland or The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was whimsical in the way that Valente is good at, and it had some truly heartfelt moments about death, war, and good vs bad. The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars is because I think it went overlong. Some scenes were absolutely drawn out more than they should have been, which makes this book at times feel self-indulgent.

WRITING: Valente's prose in this book takes on the tenor of a fairy tale or old-timey children's book. It's whimsical and bright, and it doesn't concern itself with trying to be anything other than clear and creative. I really loved the imaginative work and wit put into this story, taking the ideas from the Brontë children and making it come alive with Valente's own style.

I do think, however, that portions of this book tended to be self-indulgent, reveling in its own cleverness to the point where scenes stretched on overlong and the pace slowed.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows the four Brontë siblings - Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne - when they find themselves transported to Glass Town - the fictional city they created in their playroom. Amidst a battle between wooden soldiers and frogs, led by the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon Bonaparte (respectively), the children must avoid danger while also finding their way home.

I loved the imaginative whinsy of Glass Town and how it reflected the real world. People were made out of dolls and objects (as they would be in a playroom), and Valente used clever wordplay to make some of Glass Town feel more Wonderlandish (for example, by using literalisms; in Glass Town, brown besses are firearms that shoot little winged creatures who wear brown and are named Bess. The Duke of Wellington, aka the "Iron Duke," is literally made of iron).

I also appreciated that this story thought a lot about themes such as death, war, and good vs bad. The children grapple with the death of their mother and two elder sisters while also contemplating the ethics of Glass Towners having an immortality potion that the other side does not. They also think a lot about who is the "good side" in the war and whether violence is heroic. I especially liked the scene in the publishing house where they discussed whether it was more barbaric to kill a criminal or "re-educate" them (essentially changing who they are to fit society's morals).

CHARACTERS: The four Brontë children are a delight. I loved the way they pickerel and worked together, constantly turning to one another and pushing them away (as siblings do). I felt for Charlotte, who was suddenly tasked with being the eldest after the deaths of her sisters. I felt for Anne, who invented a "sister" so that she wouldn't be lonely when Charlotte and Emily went away to school. I loved that all of them had unique skills that were helpful in navigating Glass Town (for example, Charlotte is a great liar and Anne is the best thief). I was, however, somewhat annoyed by Branwell's constant desire to be in charge merely because he was a boy. It reeked of entitlement, and though he has a pretty compelling reason for being insecure, I would be lying if I said his behavior didn't grate on me.

Supporting characters were fun and whimsical. I loved the friendliness between the Brontës and the wooden soldiers, and I loved how all "real people" (such as Wellington, Lord Byron, and Jane Austen) were aged down so it felt like the children could interact with them on their terms. Sometimes, these side characters would speak overlong and distract from the main narrative, but at the end of the day, they were creative and easy to enjoy.

TL;DR: The Glass Town Game is a lovely tribute to the Brontës, using Valente's strengths writing whimsy to contemplate things like war, death, and good vs bad. While parts had a tendency to feel overlong, this was a charming and wild trip through children's imagination and it will surely delight fans of the Brontës' work.

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The Duke I Tempted. By Scarlett Peckham. NYLA Publishing, 2018.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Series: Secrets of Charlotte Street #1

Summary: Having overcome financial ruin and redeemed his family name to become the most legendary investor in London, the Duke of Westmead needs to secure his holdings by producing an heir. Which means he must find a wife who won’t discover his secret craving to spend his nights on his knees—or make demands on his long scarred-over heart.

Poppy Cavendish is not that type of woman. An ambitious self-taught botanist designing the garden ballroom in which Westmead plans to woo a bride, Poppy has struggled against convention all her life to secure her hard-won independence. She wants the capital to expand her exotic nursery business—not a husband.

But there is something so compelling about Westmead, with his starchy bearing and impossibly kind eyes—that when an accidental scandal makes marriage to the duke the only means to save her nursery, Poppy worries she wants more than the title he is offering. The arrangement is meant to be just business. A greenhouse for an heir. But Poppy yearns to unravel her husband’s secrets—and to tempt the duke to risk his heart.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: BDSM, death of wife and child, allusion to rape, arson, explicit sexual content, use of abortifacients

OVERVIEW: I enjoyed The Rakess when I read it however long ago, so I figured I'd explore some of Peckham's other works and see if I've found a new favorite author. While there were some things I liked about this book, I ultimately struggled with the plot structure and pacing of the story. Parts seemed to move too fast and halfway through, the plot changes gears so abruptly that it felt like the first half was meaningless. So while I want to read more from Peckham in the future, this book unfortunately only gets 2 stars from me.

WRITING: Peckham's writing is about what you might expect from the romance genre, and I mean that in a good way. It's easy to follow and does a fairly good job balancing showing and telling. I also think it explores character thoughts in a way that feels natural.

However, I do think that it has a tendency to move quite fast. In some instances, the quick pace works well and gets me, as a reader, excited about the story. Other times, though, the pace made me feel as if we were blowing through things without giving weight to them, and the story felt more hollow as a result.

PLOT: The non-romance plot of this book follows Poppy Cavendish, a botanist who wants to preserve her independence by launching a successful business selling exotic plants. Poppy is roped into decorating for the Duke of Westmeade's ball - an event which will hopefully see Westmeade select a bride. But when Poppy and the Duke develop feelings for one another, their attraction threatens everything Poppy holds dear.

This plot was a little disorienting for a number of reasons. For one, the pace seemed to move too fast at times. Scenes that felt like they should have lasted longer or delved more deeply into character interiority were cut short, and while some people might enjoy the quick pace, I wish more time had been devoted to fully exploring themes.

Second, this book shifts abruptly from a slow burn, boss and secretary style romance to a marriage of convenience plot halfway through. While I think the first half did a fine job building up the relationship and setting the stakes, the second half felt tedious. The stakes surrounding Poppy and her nursery fall away, so all we have left is this back and forth where the two protagonists decide to avoid each other, only to cave and have sex. Rinse and repeat. Also, because the shift was abrupt, it almost felt like we were starting over and that all the emotional intimacy that happened in the first half didn't matter.

As a side note, I wasn't a fan of the subplots featuring Bernadette and Tom. Poppy has memories of the sexual assault of her old nurse, Bernadette, and when the book reveals what really happened to her, I found it way too coincidental and convenient. I would rather see the SA omitted and have Archer grapple with his feelings instead.

Tom and his plot was more annoying than anything, and given all that's already happening in the novel, he really didn't add much to the overall plot.

ROMANCE: To be honest, I enjoyed the development of the romance in the first half more than in the second. In the first half, it really felt like Poppy and Archer were building up emotional intimacy, and I liked the way they emotionally enriched each other's lives.

CHARACTERS: Poppy, our heroine, was admirable in the first half of the book for her dedication to her plants and her desire for independence. I liked her business-driven mind and the comfort she found in her nursery, and I think the plot did a good job in the first half of setting up the stakes. In the second half, however, I found Poppy to be wishy-washy, self-centered, and petty. As soon as she marries the Duke, her business with the plants is secure, so there's nothing left for her to do but provoke her husband and then ignore him, demand to know his secrets and then assume he only sees her as a brood mare. It grew tiring, and by the end, I wasn't convinced that Archer deserved her.

Archer, our hero, was a little more likable in that he always seemed to treat Poppy with respect and bent over backwards to make her happy. While he occasionally withholds affection from her, his reasons seem more understandable than Poppy's, so I was a little more inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. I do wish, however, that Peckham had explored his backstory a little better. We learn that Archer had a wife and child who died more than ten years ago, and while this is painful, I was genuinely intrigued by the concept of finding a second love.

Tom, Poppy's one-time friend turned jilted lover, was annoying. Peckham did no work to show that he and Poppy were once friends; she didn't really have complicated feelings about him, and we don't feel hurt when he tries to push his will on her. I also think he conveniently pops in whenever the plot needs more drama. Honestly, he wasn't needed.

Constance, Archer's sister, is a nice contrast to her brother, and even though she's a bit more concerned with spending money on finery, I did like her.

The second half, however, was rather tedious because the main barrier to the couple falling in love was their own stubbornness and refusal to communicate. While I understand their reasons for wanting a marriage of convenience, in terms of storytelling, it feels like we went backwards, erasing the significance of the emotional bonding in part 1 so that we can inject more angst into the plot.

I also am not quite sure if BDSM is shown in the best light. Archer likes to see a dominatrix who hits him with a cane, and he treats his sexual appetites as something to hide. I can understand this to some extent, given the underground nature of BDSM at the time. Where it gets fuzzy for me is the tentative connection between BDSM and Archer's trauma. Peckham never states that Archer's kinks result from his trauma, but he does seem to discover or indulge in them as a way to cope with trauma. I'm not nearly knowledgeable enough to say if this is a positive portrayal or not, but I thought I'd bring it up just in case.

TL;DR: The Duke I Tempted starts out well, but quickly becomes cyclical and tedious in the second half of the plot. Characters that begin as complex and likeable turn petty and frustrating, and by the end, I wasn't sure if the main couple should be together.

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The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy. By Megan Bannen. Orbit, 2022.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Genre: fantasy romance

Series: N/A

Summary: Hart is a marshal, tasked with patrolling the strange and magical wilds of Tanria. It’s an unforgiving job, and Hart’s got nothing but time to ponder his loneliness.

Mercy never has a moment to herself. She’s been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest.

After yet another exasperating run-in with Mercy, Hart finds himself penning a letter addressed simply to “A Friend”. Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return, and a tentative friendship is born.

If only Hart knew he’s been baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most – Mercy. As the dangers from Tanria grow closer, so do the unlikely correspondents. But can their blossoming romance survive the fated discovery that their pen pals are their worst nightmares – each other?

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: descriptions of corpses, violence, explicit sexual content

OVERVIEW: I stumbled upon a glowing review of this book over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. The premise was intriguing, and I was in the mood for something macabre, so I picked it up. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I wanted to. The fantasy setting didn't enrich the romance plot and I think it went on overlong. If you like fluffy, cozy romances, you might have a better time. But I can only rate this 2 stars.

WRITING: Bannen's prose is fine. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. It's that easy-going style that one can whip through quickly and had a tendency to tell over show, but it flows nicely so it's easy to get through.

I will say, though, that a lot of the humor is just not for me. Most of the funny moments are very millennial, so I don't think it will hold up over time and may, in fact, feel young to a lot of readers.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows Mercy and Hart, an undertaker and a marshall who dislike each other but find themselves falling in love while writing anonymous letters back and forth (they don't realize they are writing to the other). At the same time, Mercy struggles to keep her family's undertaking business alive while Hart is tasked with training a new apprentice.

What makes this story both interesting and frustrating is that it's set in a fantasy world that seems somewhat urban but also builds its own history and lore. Some aspects of the worldbuilding were interesting, but on the whole, I found it to be rather distracting. Parts of the world didn't make much sense (there's same-sex marriage and women in male-dominated positions, but undertakers are only men for some reason) and concepts that could have been simplified were overcomplictaed. I also struggled to understand how they could have some things that implied an industrial revolution (they have motorized vehicles) yet haven't figured out things like email, and the vibe sometimes seemed more modern and other times more Victorian or even 1950s. Personally, I think this plot would have worked better in a historical setting or a contemporary one, but if it had to be a fantasy, I think urban fantasy would have worked better than what we got.

Moreover, I felt like this book was more focused on the low-stakes, cutesy, day-to-day shenanigans that it was on meaningfully developing the romance. While I can do a light, fluffy romance, I wasn't sure if that was what the author was going for, nor were the romance and non-romance complimentary.

CHARACTERS: Mercy, our heroine, is sympathetic in that she's trying to keep her family's business afloat while also keeping a lot of family secrets. I liked that she was devoted to her job and wished to see every corpse treated with respect, and I liked that she struggled with figuring out what she wanted out of life.

Hart, our hero, is fine but a little less interesting. We're told that he's a loner and that he and Mercy don't get along, but we're not really shown those things. As a result, Hart comes across like someone who inte totally keeps people at arm's length, and especially after he starts to bond with his apprentice, it's not clear what he gets out of his relationship with Mercy.

Side characters are fine, but most of them are young, so the general vibe of the book feels like it skews towards high school. For example, Mercy's brother, Zeddie, and his boyfriend, Pen, tease Mercy in a juvenile way. The sister, Lil, uses expressions that feel young. It just made the whole book feel unserious and emotionally arrested.

Romance: Personally, I found the romance between Hart and Mercy to be a little lackluster. For one thing, they start out attracted to one another, so it didn't feel like they were developing from mutual dislike to love, nor it make their letters back and forth more impactful. Moreover, they didn't so much loathe each other as they did exchange quips. I think it would have been better if they truly had a clash of personality (or Hart's beliefs about undertakers got in the way) rather than taking verbal swipes at one another but harboring fantasies about each other's bodies.

TL;DR: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy might be a fun read if you like lighter romances, but personally, I struggled with the fantasy setting, the humor, and the lackluster love story.

On top of that, the development of Mercy and Hart's relationship didn't feel designed for 30-something year olds. We're told that both characters are north of 30, but a lot of how they are drawn together (changing notes, people teasing term, being mean as a way to show they like you) feels very jeuvenile.

I personally like romances where the character development matches the development of the relationship, so I was also disappointed that the two didn't bond by talking about their differing views of death (or, they do, but it last maybe a couple pages). It just felt like the main thing holding them apart was misunderstanding one another, and once they were together, they mainly wanted to have sex.

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The Faithless Hawk. By Margaret Owen. Henry Holt and Company, 2020.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: YA fantasy

Series: The Merciful Crow #2

Summary: As the new chieftain of the Crows, Fie knows better than to expect a royal to keep his word. Still she’s hopeful that Prince Jasimir will fulfill his oath to protect her fellow Crows. But then black smoke fills the sky, signaling the death of King Surimir and the beginning of Queen Rhusana's merciless bid for the throne.

With the witch queen using the deadly plague to unite the nation of Sabor against Crows—and add numbers to her monstrous army—Fie and her band are forced to go into hiding, leaving the country to be ravaged by the plague. However, they’re all running out of time before the Crows starve in exile and Sabor is lost forever.

A desperate Fie calls on old allies to help take Rhusana down from within her own walls. But inside the royal palace, the only difference between a conqueror and a thief is an army. To survive, Fie must unravel not only Rhusana’s plot, but ancient secrets of the Crows—secrets that could save her people, or set the world ablaze.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: violence, blood, disturbing imagery

OVERVIEW: I quite enjoyed the first book in this duology, so I decided to keep going and read book 2. I enjoyed this reading experience as well, though I must admit it was somewhat lessened due to the focus on plot over character interactions. Still, there were some aspects that I thought were improved from the first book. All in all, I'm rating this 3 stars because I'm still a bit mixed, though leaning in favor.

WRITING: Owen's prose is about the same as in book 1, so I don't have much to add. Owen balances showing and telling well, and I think the sentences flow well and are clearly written.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows Fie as she attempts to stop Queen Rhusana from seizing the throne of Sabor. Since book 1, Fir has gained an armed guard for protection, but their loyalties are called into question when the King dies and the Queen has yet to be granted formal authority over the military. Moreover, Jasimir and Tavin are put to the test when Rhusana offers them a deal - one that challenges the royals' oath to keep the Crows safe by leveraging the stability of the kingdom.

There were a couple things about this plot that I think improved upon the shortcomings of the first book. For one, Rhusana has more of a presence and seems to be actively involved in events (rather than being a boogeyman in the background). I still think she has a tendency to conveniently pop up when the plot needs some action, but I liked that she was more of a direct threat this time around.

I also appreciated that Owen wrote more about the Sinner's Plague. In this book, Rhusana manipulates the people into thinking that Crows are not needed to stop the plague, which puts whole towns at risk. In book 1, the plague seemed like a vague background detail, but this time, it posed more of a problem.

But even with these things, I found that I didn't enjoy the story as much as the first book, and I think it's because there's less focus on character growth. In book 1, there's the roadtrip plot, but characters learn and grow at the same time. In this book, character relationships are already established and Owen doesn't devote time to building up a partnership between Fie and her new allies, Khoda and Viimo.

I also wasn't a huge fan of the fact that Fiw was so quick to assume the worst of Tavin when he makes a questionable decision. Fie spends her time feeling hurt and betrayed, and while that's valid, it didn't seem plausible that she would assume Tavin had a complete change of heart. I think a little more nuance in the way this aspect is handled would have made the angst less anoying.

Lastly, the nuanced exploration of prejudice in book 1 was absent in book 2, and while I don't think Owen needed to rehash her previous points, I was disappointed that book 2 didn't take the opportunity to look at how prejudice and power work (or something). I was hoping that book 2 would continue the discussion from book 1, or build on the main concept, but most of what I thought made book 1 special was absent in book 2.

TL;DR: The Faithless Hawk takes readers back to the rich world of Sabor, but I personally found it less enjoyable than book 1. Though it does make some improvements re: the sinner's plague and the antagonist, there isn't a lot of development for the characters and more focus is given to the political plot than the personal relationships or contemplation of prejudice.

CHARACTERS: Fie, Jasimir, and Tavin are protagonists once more in this book. Fie is still admirable but, in my opinion, a little more impulsive and quick to judge. She also has a secret identity which was fine but kind of took away from what I liked about her in book 1. Tavin was fine but made some stupid decisions that had me roll my eyes. Jasimir was fine - not much to him this time around.

We did have some new characters that were interesting. Khoda was fun, but he seemed to be there mostly to make plans and fill Fie in on needed info. I wish more had been done to develop his personal relationship with Fie (as an ally) and Jasimir (as his subject and lover).

Rhusana was more present in this book and thus became a more threatening protagonist. There were times when I thought her schemes and plans were silly and didn't make much sense (other than to cause drama), and I wish Owen had put more pressure on her desire to replace the caste system with a new hierarchy with her at the top. I think this plan would have made for some interesting commentary on power and would have complimented the first book well.

[mediaevalmusereads]

"the problem with booktok is that it romanticizes toxic relationships blah blah blah" NO!! the problem with booktok is that its a community that talks about, produces, and consumes published novels the same way people talk about, produce, and consume fanfiction. every issue with booktok (lowbrow subject matter, oftentimes poor writing and editing, a disproportionately heavy focus on erotica, books described via tropes (tags) instead of plot synopses, thinly-veiled misogyny) boils down to that. i don't give a single solitary shit if colleen hoover is writing toxic step-sibling incest romance! i've come across weirder shit this week on ao3!! what i do care about is the fact it reads exactly like an unbetaed oc-centric slash fic and this woman is expecting us to pay upwards of $20 for a copy!! girl i can read mid-tier fic for free any time i want i don't need you!!

[mediaevalmusereads]

Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu, Vol. 1. By Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (trans. Suika and Pengie). Seven Seas Entertainment, 2021.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Genre: historical fantasy

Series: Heaven Official's Blessing Vol. 1

Summary: Born the crown prince of a prosperous kingdom, Xie Lian was renowned for his beauty, strength, and purity. His years of dedicated study and noble deeds allowed him to ascend to godhood. But those who rise may also fall, and fall he does--cast from the heavens and banished to the world below.

Eight hundred years after his mortal life, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for the third time, angering most of the gods in the process. To repay his debts, he is sent to the Mortal Realm to hunt down violent ghosts and troublemaking spirits who prey on the living. Along his travels, he meets the fascinating and brilliant San Lang, a young man with whom he feels an instant connection. Yet San Lang is clearly more than he appears... What mysteries lie behind that carefree smile?

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: violence, blood, disturbing imagery, references to self-harm and suicide

OVERVIEW: This book was my book club's pick for April 2024. I likely wouldn't have encountered it otherwise, so I was glad for the opportunity to read something outside my usual genres. Overall, I had high hopes, but quickly found this translation to be tedious and borderline unreadable. I have to assume that the original reads different to an audience more familiar with Chinese culture and media, but as a newcomer, I struggled to enjoy the prose and the pacing of the story. Even though I enjoyed some of the imagery and was interested in the overall concept, the style (at least as it is rendered in English) as well as the misogyny was off-putting, so I can only rate this book 2 stars.

WRITING: I can't evaluate the quality of the original because I neither speak nor read Mandarin; I can't say with any credibility whether the translation is accurate, nor am I familiar enough with Chinese literature and media to make any sort of commentary that takes into account its cultural situatedness. Therefore, I can only provide my opinion as an outsider (white native English speaker) coming in cold.

One thing I appreciated about this edition was the supplementary material. There is a pronunciation guide, glossary, and name guide at the back of the book, and I felt like I could grasp the nuances of the story better while consulting these materials. Not only did they help me keep track of names, but they explained the significance of certain characters, genre influences, and other cultural touchstones that would otherwise be invisible to me, so I am grateful to the editors for including so much support.

All that being said, I struggled with the style and tone of the prose within the body of the text itself. I'm sure these things come across differently in the original Mandarin, but in English, the writing feels somewhat haphazard. Some parts feel like they take on an almost mythic tenor, mimicking a style that I associate with fairy tales or epics. But then the tone will shift to something more emotional or humorous, using punctuation in a way I (as an English speaker) associate with a younger audience (multiple exclamation points, ellipses, swearing, etc.). There is also a lot more telling than showing and very little to help the reader connect with the interiority of the characters. It felt like I was reading the draft of a story written by a new writer. Again, I'm sure the original Mandarin comes across differently, but for me, the style rendered in English was difficult to enjoy.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows Xie Lian, a prince who has ascended to godhood but falls on account of some poor decisions. He eventually manages to ascend and fall and ascend again, but to smooth things over with the other gods, he is tasked with returning to the mortal world to battle ghosts and other vengeful spirits. Along the way, he meets a mysterious boy named San Lang, who may or may not be a supernatural being himself.

I really enjoyed the creepy imagery in this story as well as the interactions between Xie Lian and San Lang. I generally enjoy horror and supernatural storytelling, so the descriptions of the ghosts were incredibly creative and resonant, and I loved the lore that accompanied them. I also thought the interactions between Xie Lian and San Lang were sweet, and I relished the suspense that told us there was more to San Lang than meets the eye.

But despite these things, I struggled to be invested in the larger story because of the writing style. In English, this book relies a lot on telling over showing, which means there's not a lot the reader can bring to the table. The progression of the narrarive also feels a bit random, with scenes not necessarily building on one another and twists happening without much groundwork. The action is also more focused on character bickering and explaining backstory than it is on what's actually happening. I can see how this book would make for a compelling tv show; it's fairly episodic in nature, so it would work well in a visual medium. But as a novel (especially in English), it was difficult to get through.

As a final note: the way female characters were treated in this book was off-putting. It was definitely not the worst I've seen - there's no sexual violence or anything. But there are so few women that when they do appear, their treatment is all the more apparent and unsettling, from Xie Lian remarking upon a character's ugliness as she lays dying to a female ghost who is driven mad by her obsession with a male love interest.

CHARACTERS: In general, I found the characters themselves interesting in that they had unique abilities and motivations, but I also struggled to connect to them because of the prose style and lack of strong motivations.

Xie Lian, the protagonist, is likable in that he is brave and seems to be compassionate. His status as a "weirdo" amongst the gods sets him apart and makes him more compelling, and I thought his ability to control the supernatural silk strip Ruoye was fun. However, we're not really given a strong motivation for Xie Lian wanting to be a god or wanting to fit in, so a lot of his arc felt like he was just going around doing cool things for the sake of being cool. Of course, there are more volumes in this novel series, so there is still time for Xie Lian to grow and change, but in this volume, I wasn't sure what we were meant to see in the protagonist other than a person with neat abilities. Most of what makes him a misfit happen off-page, and he seems rather competent in his adventures on-page, so it felt like we were being asked to accept that he is an outsider with bad luck without being shown those things.

San Lang, the youth who befriends Xie Lian, is fun to watch, in part because the reader knows he's hiding something. I liked watching his carefree and playful attitude brush up against awkward moments when it was clear San Lang wasn't human, and I found it endearing how much he cared for Xie Lian. Because readers might know who he really is, his character was even more intriguing because his motivations seemed at odds with what everyone knew about him. This made me want to read more and uncover why he was acting in such and such a way.

Side characters were fine. I don't think they needed to be as developed as the protagonists, and I don't really have much to say about them.

TL;DR: While I can see the appeal of Heaven Official's Blessing and think it would make for a great TV show, the style of the English translation is difficult to get through. I enjoyed a lot of the imagery and the interactions between the two protagonists, but the progression of the plot left a lot to be desired.

[mediaevalmusereads]

Why is this so frikkin' funny

[mediaevalmusereads]

The Warm Hands of Ghosts. By Katherine Arden. Del Rey, 2024.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: historical fiction, supernatural

Series: N/A

Summary: January 1918. Laura Iven was a revered field nurse until she was wounded and discharged from the medical corps, leaving behind a brother still fighting in Flanders. Now home in Halifax, Canada, she receives word of Freddie’s death in combat, along with his personal effects—but something doesn’t make sense. Determined to uncover the truth, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital. Soon after arriving, she hears whispers about haunted trenches, and a strange hotelier whose wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could Freddie have escaped the battlefield, only to fall prey to something—or someone—else?

November 1917. Freddie Iven awakens after an explosion to find himself trapped in an overturned pillbox with a wounded enemy soldier, a German by the name of Hans Winter. Against all odds, the two men form an alliance and succeed in clawing their way out. Unable to bear the thought of returning to the killing fields, especially on opposite sides, they take refuge with a mysterious man who seems to have the power to make the hellscape of the trenches disappear.

As shells rain down on Flanders, and ghosts move among those yet living, Laura’s and Freddie’s deepest traumas are reawakened. Now they must decide whether their world is worth salvaging—or better left behind entirely.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: descriptions of trench warfare and wartime injuries, PTSD

OVERVIEW: I picked up this book on a whim when I saw it displayed at a local bookstore. I generally find myself interested in World War I fiction, so I was hoping I'd get a good story out of this. Unfortunately, I can't say this book had a profound impact on me. While I liked the way Arden explored memory and how she crafted the main antagonist, it was difficult to connect to the protagonists and the plot didn't feel deliberate. As a result, I can only give this book 3 stars.

WRITING: Arden's prose is fairly clean and will probably appeal to most readers. It flows just fine and balances showing and telling well, and it even has some intriguing descriptions and imagery; however, I wouldn't necessarily call it atmospheric or particularly visceral. It's fine - it's just not very lush.

PLOT: The plot of this book is divided into two timelines. In 1918, we follow Laura Iven, a discharged combat nurse who receives her brother's effects but no information about how he died on the front in Belgium. She decides to return to the front to find out what happened to him. In 1917, we follow Freddie Iven, a soldier who finds himself trapped in an overturned pillbox with a German soldier. The two decide to keep each other alive as they make their escape and leave the front, only to encounter a strange man on the way.

The first third of this plot progressed somewhat slowly and unevenly. Part of me didn't enjoy it because it didn't seem like Laura was very driven to find her brother, nor did she really have any whiff that something was amiss. Mostly, we follow Laura as she travels with two other women and attends parties, but I never got the sense that she was calculating her next moves or trying to use her experience to uncover information being withheld from her about her brother. She mostly just accepts that he's gone and decides to try to find out for... fun? I don't know - she didn't seem very driven or obsessive. As a result, I had a hard time caring about her progress.

The next third was a little better since we are introduced to a mysterious figure named Faland. In my opinion, Arden gives the game away too quickly regarding who Faland is, but I enjoyed watching him and figuring out whether he was real or just a story.

The last third was perhaps the most interesting part because we see Laura actually tracking down her brother and Freddie surrendering to oblivion. I liked the way this section depicted trauma and memory as well as how it associated war with hell.

But altogether, I don't think this plot had a huge impact because character relationships felt surface-level. Perhaps if more was done to deepen the connections between characters, I would have felt more invested in their plots. But as it stands, it didn't seem like Laura was particularly preoccupied with finding her brother, nor did the plot make use of suspense to keep the reader on edge.

TL;DR: The Warm Hands of Ghosts is memorable for its antagonist, but the lack of strong character relationships makes this book feel devoid of suspense and urgency. While it does a great job exploring shell-shock and the mental toll of war, it is held back by a protagonist who doesn't seem very driven and a plot that doesn't pick up for quite a while.

CHARACTERS: Laura, the combat nurse, is interesting on paper but is harder to connect to in practice. While I sympathized with her desire to find her brother, I didn't quite feel like their connection was strong and I didn't think she pursued her goals with much zeal (at least until the last third of the book). I think if Arden did a little more work to show us more about her past and her inner life during the first third, I might have felt different.

Freddie, the soldier, is a little more interesting because we see a lot of what affects him. We see him in the trenches and we see his reactions to traumatic events. It's a lot easier to feel invested in his story. However, his devotion to Laura is similarly ill-defined and surface-level, and I didn't feel like I understood why the two fought so hard to get to one another aside from the fact that they were siblings (which isn't much of a reason on its own - siblings can hate each other).

Supporting characters were fine, but I didn't feel like much was done to show me how their relationships with the protagonists became driving forces behind action. By that I mean I feel like I was told more about relationships than shown, so even the most emotional bonds didn't feel very affective.

Faland, the antagonist (sort of), was perhaps the most interesting character, in part because it wasn't clear at first who he was. I liked the creative use of his musical powers and his desire for stories, and I think Arden did a good job crafting him as a commentary on war and shell-shock.

[mediaevalmusereads]

I'm not enjoying this book as much as I want to, but "what is God if not another system" is a banger of a line.

[mediaevalmusereads]

"At HarperCollins, a lot of attention and thought is given to deciding exactly what combinations of margin measurements, font, and layout feel most appropriate for the genre, and writing style.

But in a case of do-your-part environmentalism, designers at the publishing house have now standardized a series of subtle and imperceptible alterations to normal font style, layouts, and ink that have so far removed the need for 245 million book pages, totaling 5,618 trees.

Telling the story in Fast Company, representatives from HarperCollins, one of the four largest publishing houses in the world, explained that the idea first arose in Zondervan Bibles, HarperCollins’ Christian publishing division. Being that the Bible is 2,500 pages or sometimes more, saving ink and pages was not just an environmental consideration, but one of production costs.

A new typeface called NIV Comfort Print allowed Zondervan to shave 350 pages off of every Bible, which by 2017 had amounted to 100 million pages, and which, as Fast Company points out, would be four times higher than the Empire State Building if stacked.

The production and design teams then wondered how much they could save if they applied the same concepts to other genres like romance and fiction. Aside from the invention of the eBook, publishing hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years, and the challenge was a totally novel one for the teams—to alter all their preconceived ideas and try and find a font and typeface that resulted in fewer pages without being harder to read.

They eventually standardized 14 different combinations their tests determined were the most environmentally friendly, and which delivered an unchanged reading experience.

But the challenge didn’t stop there. Printed books, one might not know, are printed in large sheets which are then folded into sections of sixteen pages, meaning that Leah Carlson-Stanisic, associate director of design at HarperCollins, has to calculate the savings of space, words, and ultimately pages with the help of her team to fall in multiples of sixteen.

Nevertheless, they have been successful with it so far, and in the recent print run of one popular book, 1 million pages (or a number near 1 million that coincides with the 16 times tables) were saved.

“We want to make sure our big titles, by prominent authors, are using these eco-fonts,” Carlson-Stanisic said. “It adds up a little bit at a time, saving more and more trees.”"

-via Good News Network, April 4, 2024

--

Note: Great! Waiting to see this on the rest of their books and at the other big publishers!

Actually, though, it's worth noting that this may not come quickly to the other large publishers, because Harper Collins almost certainly owns that font - meaning that other publishers would have to pay HarperCollins in order to use it, on an ongoing basis.

More on publishing shit and more realistic solutions here below the cut!

What I'm hoping for and think is more likely is that this will inspire the development of open source eco-friendly fonts, which would be free for anyone to use. That would make it far more likely other publishers would adopt eco-friendly fonts.

I'm also hoping it would inspire other publishers to create similar eco-friendly fonts of their own.

Ideally, there would be a whole new landscape of (hopefully mostly open source) eco-friendly fonts. And/or to see calculations of the eco-friendliness of popular existing fonts, compared to each other.

If we could have a publicly accessible list of calculations for different fonts, including fonts designed to maximize eco-friendliness, I really do think that it would affect which fonts publishers choose to use. Here's why:

Most people in publishing are on the left (notoriously, actually) and really do care about the environment

People in publishing are plenty aware of these issues re: paper and trees, I promise

Shorter books means smaller production costs - and possibly smaller shipping costs as well, over time! So it would save them money too.

Eco-friendly fonts could also be combined with other measures for greater effect, such as bamboo paper (already in use for a lot of projects where page color/quality is more flexible) and thinner paper (aka paper with a lower weight) that uses less trees.

Don't expect books to all move to just one or two different fonts, though. Publishers and typesetters and font designers will innovate to create more options instead, though it will take longer. This is because different books really do use different fonts for various different reasons - one new font to rule them all isn't really a solution here.

"Every book is in the same font" may sound like a "whatever" deal to a lot of people, but as someone who works in publishing - trust me, it would actually make your reading experience worse, even if you could never quite put your finger on why.

[mediaevalmusereads]

“Not all writing is cursed, but surely all of it is haunted. Literature is a catacomb of past readers, past writers, past books. Traces of those who are responsible for creation linger among the words on a page; Shakespeare can’t hear us, but we can still hear him (and don’t ghosts wander through those estate houses upon the moors unaware that they’ve died?). […] Of all of the forms of expression that humanity has worked with—painting, music, sculpture—literature is the eeriest. Poetry and fiction are both incantation and conjuration, the spinning of specters and the invoking of ghosts; it is very literally listening to somebody who isn’t there, and might not have been for a long while. All writing is occult, because it’s the creation of something from ether, and magic is simply a way of acknowledging that—a linguistic practice, an attitude, a critical method more than a body of spells. We should be disquieted by literature; we should be unnerved.”

— Ed Simon, from his essay “Who’s There?: Every Story Is a Ghost Story”, published in The Millions, August 18, 2021

[mediaevalmusereads]

Martyr! By Kaveh Akbar. Alfred A. Knopf, 2024.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: literary fiction

Series: N/A

Summary: Cyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss: his mother’s plane was shot down over the skies of Tehran in a senseless accident; and his father’s life in America was circumscribed by his work killing chickens at a factory farm in the Midwest. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet, whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past—toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the Angel of death to inspire and comfort the dying, and toward his mother, through a painting discovered in a Brooklyn art gallery that suggests she may not have been who or what she seemed.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: drug use, alcoholism, suicidal ideation, blood, bodily injuries, PTSD

OVERVIEW: I didn't know anything about this book or the author before I picked it up; I saw it on a display at my local bookstore, a and it seemed interesting, so I bought it on a whim. Overall, I think this was a beautifully-written novel with a messy protagonist and a meaningful meditation on life, death, and meaning. The only reason why I'm awarding it 4 stars instead of 4.5 or 5 is I think some of it gets a bit too self-referencing for my tastes, some parts a bit too academic. I also think it could have ended more strongly, but the ending isn't necessarily "bad." In sum, the 4 star is subjective; in all, this was a very impressive first novel and I look forward to reading more from this author.

WRITING: I always like reading prose written by a poet and Akbar's prose is no different. It flows beautifully and uses very poignant language, easily calling up evocative metaphor and painting a vivid picture of the characters' lives. There were some especially wonderful passages about addiction and struggling to make life matter, and I felt like every word was put down with intent.

I do, however, have some minor criticisms that are more reflective of my personal taste than anything. For one, there are some moments when Akbar (through his protagonist, Cyrus) says some very blunt things about racism, capitalism, etc. A lot of "-ism" language tends to feel a bit like regurgitating a sociology or critical theory book, which may be fine for some but feels weird to me, personally. Second, there's a recurring image of piss which I just personally found strange. I don't know if Akbar did it on purpose, but every time piss was mentioned, it seemed like a lot for one novel.

PLOT: The plot of this book primarily follows Cyrus Shams, an Iranian-American man approaching 30 who struggles with sobriety. Cyrus is also a writer and aims to write something about death - specifically, he decides to write about martyrdom and people who died "for something bigger than themselves." But when he struggles with the framing of his idea, he decides to consult the artist Orkideh for insight. Orkideh has terminal breast cancer and is spending her last days living in a museum and talking with strangers during her exhibit "Death-Speak," and over the course of a few days, Cyrus learns there might be more to her than he imagined.

The most insightful and moving parts of this book, for me, were when characters spoke about their struggles. I appreciated Cyrus's insights into addiction, his mother (Roya)'s unhappy marriage, his father (Ali)'s life as a single father who must work long hours. All of these passages felt raw and real, enhanced by Akbar's incredible command of language.

I also found Orkideh's project fascinating and I liked the way she responded to Cyrus. Their interactions always felt like she was pushing him to think differently or do better, and I loved watching Cyrus re-examine his own life after every conversation.

If I had any criticism, I would say that I personally thought Cyrus seemed to move from self-absorbed to appreciative in a short span of time, but I alsonrecognize that this book isn't really meant to be a story about one character changing their outlook. It's more like a polyvocalic novel about one particular family - one that contemplates life and death through the lens of war, addiction, illness, etc. The value of these meditations outweigh any personal gripes in have with the pace of character development.

CHARACTERS: Cyrus, our protagonist, is interesting to read because he's at once sympathetic and self-absorbed. I had a lot of compassion for him as an addict who feels adrift in the world, and I found his discussions about identity and wanting to matter compelling. Sometimes his self-centeredness annoyed me, but I think that's on purpose; he's supposed to be fixated on himself because Akbar is, in part, thinking about the self in relation to the world and others.

Orkideh, the artist, is also compelling in that she is putting on this controversial art piece. I enjoyed watching her conversations with Cyrus and I was always curious to hear what she had to say. There was something powerful about her exhibit that I think a lot of people would value if it were real.

There are a number of other characters who have POV chapters scattered throughout the novel - Ali (Cyrus's father), Roya (Cyrus's mother), and Arash (Cyrus's uncle), to name a few. I found their chapters to be moving without distracting from the main narrative. In fact, the subjects they covered complimented Cyrus's arc well.

TL;DR: Martyr! is an impressive and incredibly well-written first novel about wanting one's life (and death) to have meaning. While there are some minor things that didn't suit my personal taste, I was blown away by Akbar's craft and look forward to reading more from the author in the future.