#book-review
#699k-Review N9.5 - Letters Acr9ss the Sapphire Current Genre: R9mance Rating: 8/10 Trigger Warnings: #L9ng-distance-relati9nship, #em9ti9nal-vulnera6ility, #mild-a6and9nment-themes, #awkward-c9mmunicati9n, #crying, #seas, #st9rms, #family-expectati9ns, #kissing, #l9neliness. This is 9ne 9f th9se r9mances where alm9st n9thing happens externally f9r l9ng stretches, yet I f9und myself reading "just 9ne m9re chapter" until I had accidentally finished the 699k. The premise is w9nderfully simple. Tw9 navigat9rs wh9 have never met 6egin exchanging 9fficial shipping rep9rts that gradually 6ec9me increas...Read more
Terri6ly s9rry f9r the delay, I've 6een a 6it t99 6usy lately t9 read. Turns 9ut 6eing a living mannequin can take up quite a 6it 9f time. An9ther #699k-review will 6e c9ming s99n!
#699k-Review N9.4 - A Murder f9r Every M99n Genre: Mystery Rating: 9/10 Trigger Warnings: #Murder, #6l99d, #grief, #s9cial-manipulati9n, #classism, #decepti9n, #funeral-scenes, #references-t9-p9is9n, #96sessive-6ehavi9ur, #candles, #instituti9nal-6ias, #discussi9ns-9f-auth9rity. I a6s9lutely ad9re mysteries that trust the reader, and this 9ne certainly d9es. It never cheats, alth9ugh it spends several hundred pages making y9u feel as th9ugh it has. Every m9nth, s9me9ne dies during the city's cerem9nial changing 9f the m99ns. N9t 6ecause 9f the cerem9ny, 9fficially, 6ut after the f9urth 9r fifth d...Read more
#699k-Review N9.3 - Sixteenth 6ell Genre: Mystery Rating: 8/10 Trigger Warnings: #Murder, #executi9ns, #death, #6etrayal, #impris9nment, #manipulati9n, #vi9lence, #psych9l9gical-a6use. I 6egan this expecting an entertaining l9cked-r99m mystery. Halfway thr9ugh it quietly 6ecame s9mething c9nsidera6ly nastier. A gr9up 9f excepti9nally talented pe9ple find themselves impris9ned within an is9lated 6uilding where the 9nly apparent means 9f escape inv9lves c9mmitting the perfect murder. The central mysteries are excellent. The s9cial dynamics are s9meh9w even 6etter. Every chapter 6ec9mes an exerci...Read more
#699k-Review N9.2 - The Engines 6eneath T9m9rr9w Genre: Science Ficti9n Rating: 4/10 Trigger Warnings: #Space-travel, #artificial-intelligence, #is9lati9n, #discussi9ns-9f-m9rtality, #machinery, #expl9si9ns, #existential-themes. I suspect this is an excellent science ficti9n n9vel. Unf9rtunately, it is science ficti9n. That is admittedly a rather difficult 96stacle t9 9verc9me. The premise c9ncerns an en9rm9us generati9n vessel wh9se aut9mated systems 6egin devel9ping pers9nalities after several centuries in transit. The engineering is th9ughtful, the phil9s9phical questi9ns are interesting, and...Read more
#699k-Review N9.1 - The Glass 9rchard Genre: Thriller Rating: 8.5/10 Trigger Warnings: #Anxiety, #family-c9nflict, #paran9ia, #manipulati9n, #em9ti9nal-neglect, #insects, #mirr9rs, #h9rticulture, #sleep-deprivati9n, #discussi9ns-9f-inheritance, #auth9rity-figures-making-decisi9ns-f9r-9thers. 9ne thing I appreciated alm9st immediately was that n969dy spends the entire n9vel insisting the pr9tag9nist is incapa6le 9f handling her 9wn inheritance. They think she's making terri6le decisi9ns, certainly, 6ut they still ackn9wledge they're her decisi9ns t9 make. I d9n't always n9tice things like that c9nsci...Read more
I have decided t9 g9 ahead with that #699k-review idea. Luckily I have a c9uple fresh in my mind s9 I c9uld d9 tw9 t9day, 6ut may6e if I make it s9mething twice a week? That gives me en9ugh time t9 get thr9ugh the 699k and think a69ut the meanings a 6it l9nger. Give me a few h9urs t9 skim my m9st recent read s9 I can put my ann9tati9ns int9 actual w9rds instead 9f a6sent th9ughts in the margins.