All in Fiction

Aednan

The moment Ædnan landed in my hands, I was excited to read it. And friends, I was not disappointed. This novel in verse is absolutely stunning and deeply moving, with a translation that’s both accessible and musical.

How to Build a Boat

My latest Booker Prize longlister, and while I see its merits, I’m not super surprised that we didn’t see this one on the shortlist. Sometimes I felt super engaged and sometimes I felt the opposite. All in all, I think I am slightly to the positive side of neutral on it.

The Eternal Ones (Deathless, #3)

This trilogy is a set of solid early-YA fantasy novels with an imaginative magic system and really good political world-building. All in all, I think the first book was my favorite, but this was still an adventurous, satisfying ending!

The Future

I think this book successfully did what it set out to do, but tech apocalypse stories just aren't my thing. But if you’re looking for a slightly more sophisticated version of a dystopian thriller, this might be your jam.

Prophet Song

Somehow, this book is completely engrossing and also felt sooooo slow to me. But at the end of the day, this is a devastating, scary, very moving book that absolutely achieves what it sets out to.

Come and Get It

I was pretty lukewarm on Such a Fun Age, but I decided to give this one a go anyway. But ultimately, I feel pretty similarly about this one: not bad but not for me. If you really loved SaFA, I think you’ll probably like this one too, but I just don’t like train-wreck plots.

The Book of Goose

Ultimately, this ended up in a “liked a lot” instead of a “loved” category for me. I think it was just a little too much “and then, and then, and then” held away at juuuust a little too much distance. But also, the prose was excellent, and I’ll definitely be reading more from Yiyun Li.

Western Lane

I read Western Lane because it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and I enjoyed it. It’s a very quiet, interior novel that packs a punch much bigger than its slim size might suggest.

Sword Catcher (Sword Catcher, #1)

While it’s not perfect, overall I call this step away from Shadowhunters a success. It’s definitely different from Clare’s previous work, and she’s succeeded in showing that she can write much more adult books. High level, I enjoyed it and will surely be continuing with the series!