Hey… Here I am again!
Every other week it is!
I have read some excellent things! Hooray!
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas (May 3)
Imagine Crimson Peak and We Have Always Lived in This Castle had a demonic baby. But, like, without the incest. Then, raise it in colonial Mexico, salt it with 100% justified revenge, fucking men, a brujo priest (which is historically accurate - look at Santa Muerte worship, Santeria, Voodoo…), put some tequila on it, feed it your blood, and then brick it up in a wall for a few years.
I am so here for it.
The Hacienda was deliciously creepy, and oddly sexy, and didn’t shy away from challenging the politics of colonialism and the evils it wrought. None of that romantic bullshit here. People want and people need and people (and their ghosts) will do anything to get whatever that is, even our erstwhile heroine. This book explains what we really mean when we say, “everyone has a price,” setting up each scenario in which a way that, just when we’re about to judge, we’re smacked in the face with a reminder that we too, have likely compromised, that we too, would probably sacrifice something, or someone, precious, for that one, shining, shimmering, It we’ve set our mind and heart and soul on. Does it make us evil? Not necessarily; sacrifice takes many forms.
But the line is really very, very thin.
Also? The idea of exorcising a house? I fucking love it.
So, yes. For sure read. Do not wait for spooky season. I may reread it then, though. Which, y’all how often I do that. Never. The answer is never. So consider that my highest recommendation.
Of Charms, Ghosts, and Grievances by Aliette de Bodard (June 28)
Listen: I have made no secret of my love for murderhusbands. I talk about them all the time. I’ve done fan art of them. I am pre-disposed to enjoy any stories in which they are involved. So the more important bit of any review of a given installment is what I liked about that entry specifically.
In Of Dragons, Feasts, and Murders, it was the character interactions. As a reader, I need both plot and good character interplay to remain interested; I’m not someone who can drift on one or the other. This novella had great action and banter at both it’s snarky, and loving, best. 10/10 do recommend.
In Of Charms, Ghosts, and Grievances, the danger is more immediate, more intimate, for both Thuan and Asmodeus. In their desperation for the other to survive, each decides to sacrifice himself without considering that if each shoulders part of the risk, there’s a much better chance they’ll both survive. The plot is fantastic and fascinating and I love it. The interactions between characters are amazing and I hope our new friend the healer stays on because she is absolutely phenomenal and reminds me of exactly who I believe she’s supposed to remind me of (I bet she looks great in red).
But the crux of this novella is deeper than what happens or who snaps the best comebacks (I have a vote, but I’ll keep it quiet so as not to spoiler the glory for anyone). It’s what we do for the people we truly and deeply love. And the answer isn’t sacrifice ourselves. The answer is: we survive. We survive and even if it’s our lest favorite thing in the world, we show them our squishy marshmallow center and we tell them the truth and we tell them what we’re afraid of and we hold their truths and fears inside of us. Even if we’re dragons and fallen angels.
Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei
The audacity of this book. I am serious. The audacity of it being so good that I blew through it in one sitting.
Rivals to lovers! There are two beds but only one laptop to watch a movie on! Our team captain is making us settle our differences by saying nice things about each other and I admitted I noticed his dimples! We’re on the DL but people are still writing RPF fanfic about us and he thinks it’s hilarious!
But Icebreaker isn’t all fun and games. It deals directly with depression and anxiety, privilege, how mental illness and privilege can interact to shame people into believing their mental illness isn’t real or deserving of attention and assistance. How self-medicating with alcohol is both common and dangerous. How the stories we tell ourselves about our families can be both true and be told from multiple points of view.
And, on the flip side, how life is so, so much bigger than we think.
Plus, it’s a hockey romance and no one on the team is a jerk about it and I appreciate that. The that Mickey is bi and Jaysen is gay does figure into the story but it isn’t the crux of the story and as I’ve said many, many times, we need more books where that’s the case. Do they consider how it will affect their careers? Yes. That’s a thing. Does Mickey agonize over the fact that the person he’s attracted to is a dude? No. Because he’s bi. One of his sisters is a lesbian and another is in a throuple with two guys who are both bi. Welcome to reality, my peeps. Look at all those people being in love with the person(s) they love. Everyone seems really happy, don’t they?
I have some new manga too but I’ll save those for next time.
Enjoy!