Reviews and Comments

ju

ju@lire.boitam.eu

Joined 2 years, 1 month ago

Some SF, fantasy, and obscure LGBT, mixed with travel, photography theory and women authors, in French and English.

This link opens in a pop-up window

reviewed When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo (The Singing Hills Cycle, #2)

Nghi Vo: When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (EBook, 2020, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom) 4 stars

The cleric Chih finds themself and their companions at the mercy of a band of …

Another wonderful novella

5 stars

A perfect read for an automn evening with a cup of tea. Nghi Vo is an incredible storyteller, who never loses the reader in her stories of stories told by storytellers as well as tigers. In her world, tigers fall in love in young humans, or sometimes eat them, and sit around the fire listening and re-telling their side of the old stories... It is quite magic.

Samantha Shannon, Jorge Rizzo, Samantha Shannon, SAMANTHA SHANNON: The Priory of the Orange Tree (Hardcover, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC) 4 stars

A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of …

Many nice ideas

3 stars

Many interesting ideas and some strong leading female characters, but the plot felt contrived at times or needlessly confusing, with inconsistencies (like distance and travel time), and some parts of the worldbuilding felt too simplistic -- also I wasn't too impressed with the quests for magic objects.

reviewed Tentacle by Rita Indiana

Rita Indiana, Achy Obejas: Tentacle (2019, And Other Stories) 5 stars

Plucked from her life on the streets of post-apocalyptic Santo Domingo, young maid Acilde Figueroa …

Addictive

5 stars

Hard to describe, but a must-read. You won't know exactly where and when you landed at first, but you'll get on a great trip nevertheless.

reviewed The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older (The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti, #1)

Malka Older: The Mimicking of Known Successes (2023, Tordotcom) 4 stars

The Mimicking of Known Successes presents a cozy Holmesian murder mystery and sapphic romance, set …

A smart and easy read

4 stars

Here's a book that doesn't have an over-complicated plot full of twists you can't believe in. Rather, the world-building is smart and to the point, it has just enough explanations and backstory, and you're never bored.

Ovidie: La chair est triste hélas (Paperback, french language, Julliard) 4 stars

J’ai repensé à ces innombrables rapports auxquels je m’étais forcée par politesse, pour ne pas …

A striking essay

4 stars

At times funny, enraging and hard-hitting, this essay where Ovidie explains her sex strike should make everyone -- and especially straight cis-men -- think about their practice of love, sex and relationships.

Fred Vargas: Sur la dalle (French language, 2023) 3 stars

— Le dolmen dont tu m’as parlé, Johan, il est bien sur la route du …

Nice but a bit disappointing

3 stars

Here's the thing with amazing authors : they get you used to amazing books. Unfortunately, this one isn't that, although it is always nice to read an Adamsberg novel. It's just that it's a bit long and boring at times, the charm of the previous novels isn't really there.