February Reviews

February is wild because you think you have two more days to finish your monthly reviews and then suddenly it's the last day of the month and you have to get creative taking pictures inside because it's cold and dark outside.

That's all I've got for an opener, this truly is so last minute whoops:

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

I picked this book up on a whim, partially because I love retellings and partially because this particular retelling felt like a mix of Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast, both of which slap.

Red has known her entire life that she was for the wolf. The second daughter of her family line is sent to the Wilderwood to appease the wolf, in the hopes that her sacrifice will be enough to release the five kings; folk lore gods. Red, plagued by magic she can't control or understand, hopes that the woods will at least protect the people she loves from her. And on her twentieth birthday, Red enters the wood. But things aren't as she's been told; the wolf is a man, and he's fighting to protect the forest, giving blood and magic to keep the shadowlands and the kings within them buried. Now Red has a choice: learn to use the magic she's buried for so long to fight for the wood and the wolf, or risk losing her home, both new and old, to a creeping shadow power.

I have such a soft spot for stories where the love interest in compared to or sort of actually is a wolf. That feels cringy to admit, but I think it has to do with the idea that a person can be powerful and sort of terrifying and still want to risk everything for the person they love. A heart of gold and lots of sharp teeth, it's a brilliant combination. And while Eammon isn't exactly a wolf, there are pieces of him that are different, and a little bit monstrous. But he cares for his friends and the woods, and even if he tries not to, Red. He's self sacrificing and protective and wants so badly to prevent other people from suffering, he was a fabulous love interest. Red was a pretty good narrator too; she was impassioned and afraid and wanted to save Eammon and her sister and a wood she grew to understand.

This book didn't shy away from gore; blood is a regular component for the wood and all kinds of magic, and bone and injury was not uncommon. Even the twisted shadows and creatures that bled from them had a very body horror feelings, which feels very integral to the story of Little Red Riding Hood. The world built around this haunted wood with it's religious zealots and magic trees and different kinds of magic was fascinating. It took me a bit to really get into the layout and intricacies of the land and kingdom, but I was pretty hooked into the Wilderwood almost immediately. I guess I just love a creepy forest.

Neve, Red's twin sister, had a few chapters from her perspective, and while they were interesting, most of the time I wanted to skip past them and go right back into Red and the woods. They were important, especially as we bore witness to Neve's slow descent into grief-induced madness, but I was still way more invested in Red's part of the story than I was Neve's. Red took a bit for me to really get into, but once I was in I devoured the story. There's a lot left unknown, including a lot of Wilderwood history and magic, but I suppose that's what sequels are for.

Overall, this was a pretty decent read.

Similar to: listen, I normally make myself come up with similar titles while I'm writing the review, but this month I said "I'll have time at the end to do it" and then I didn't have time and also my brain hurt so no similar books are coming to mind oops

Flash Fire by TJ Klune

I held out on reading this book because I knew it was going to be so good. Like, I don't know if that makes sense, but I waited until a sort of stressful but not too stressful week and then cracked open this bad boy: instant serotonin. My week was still stressful but I could fall into this book for a little while and feel better.

Things are finally looking up for Nick; his fanfiction is now even more inspired by real life, since his best friend and boyfriend is an Extraordinary. But public opinion has taken a turn since the battle with Shadow Star, and now Nick, Seth, Gibby, and Jazz have to make decisions for a future that seems very uncertain. It doesn't help that new Extraordinaries are appearing in the city, and Nick and Seth have to decide if they mean to help or harm them. And when Nick's own powers start to manifest, a lot of old family secrets coming out, bringing a lot of uncertainty with them.

This is a sequel, so it's hard to do a total summary, but for those of you who are interested, I did review the first one back in July of...I think it may have been 2020 but who knows (here's the link). And honestly, this one was pretty much on par with the first one. Klune's humor is on point, and Nick's train of thought is always entertaining to follow, whether he's putting together clues or rambling about sex. He's annoying in the best way, and getting to spend time reading about him and his friends is such a treat.

That being said, this book took a bit of a different stance, one that has really increased my already very high respect for the author. Nick's dad is a cop, and the first book held a lot of hero-worshiping for his father and profession, but with how police misconduct and racism has been unfortunately very present in society, Klune took the steps to change things in his novel. Nick and his dad have serious conversations about all of it, both between them and with the other characters, including many characters of color. It was really really good to read, especially in a super hero book, since those are usually the ones that have the highest police presence, whether it's fighting against or with them.

There were also a lot of discussions about the future, which is such a scary thing to think about as a teenager (and an adult), and these teens were able to figure out how to keep helping other people while recognizing the toll it took on them and their ability to just be kids. They had moments of dealing with more than they should, but they also got to go on dates and go to prom and prepare for graduation. The tonal maturity of this book changed a bit, and I think that has to do with the characters growing up just a little bit. Not too much, thankfully, but they talked about sex and the importance of consent and safety. I appreciated those moments (for their hilarity and reminder) just as much as the action sequences and other moments.

I do have to say, the little epilogue for this book sort of took me out at the knees. I maybe suspected, with a little too much hope, where things were going, but then there was a reveal and I'm sorting of still losing my shit over it. There has to be another book, so now I'm just sort of sitting here, biting my nails as I wait. It'll be worth it though, these books always are.

Similar to: The Fascinators by Andrew Eliopulos and Infinity Son by Adam Silvera (and, of course, The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune)

This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

I had seen quotes from this book all over the internet and finally picked it up after a friend highly recommended it, and I was absolutely blown away.

Rival time-traveling agents on different sides of a war, Red and Blue started exchanging letters as taunts, as trails of where they'd been, where they had defeated or tricked one another. But what starts as a boastful play becomes something much deeper, as each travels through time, unraveling stories and causing wars and falling in love. Told as partial epistolary, partial poetic prose, this is a love story unlike anything else I've ever seen.

I want to swallow this book and regurgitate quotes from it for the rest of my life. I want to write poetry to this book, to it's weird descriptions and science fiction poetry. I want to tell everyone to read it and no one, so that it stays a little bit of a secret for me just a few moments longer. El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone have managed to create very vague and very specific characters in a war that is never fully explained beyond the very poetic descriptions of technology versus nature. The science fiction of it is reminiscent of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy in that nothing is ever properly laid out for the reader, but it's all the better for it. Because it's not about the different agencies and their techniques or the way time and time-travel work. This is a story about two agents who were the best and alone and fell in love through the letters they made from tea leaves, from bee stings, from trees.

The creativity that went into this, both with the world building and the formatting of the letters themselves is incredible. My heart sang with this book. It's not even 200 pages and yet I felt like I was fully emersed in a world far beyond my understanding. It was poetry, really, and I wish I had a longer, more coherent review for it than that.

One of my favorite lines was from a letter: "I want to be a context for you, and you for me." That line was so raw to me, absolutely blew me away to the point where I read it several times and just had to sit with the feeling it provided. If I still wrote academic papers, I would try and write one about this book, just to analyze everything a bit more closely. But instead this review will have to suffice.

This book is ambitious, stranger, and beautiful. Highly recommended.

Similar to: this book is unlike any I've ever read

The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre by Robin Talley

I picked up this book without even really processing who wrote it, and then was delighted to remember it was written by Robin Talley, who wrote the incredible modern queer retelling of Macbeth that I reviewed way back when, as well as several others.

Melody McIntyre, stage manager extraordinaire, is just trying to put on the perfect show, but after another abysmal end to her relationship, her crew decides her love life has cursed their plays to go wrong. So she swears this time she won't date anyone for the duration of the show and it will go off without a hitch. But Melody wasn't expecting rising star Odile Rose, who is radiant on stage and off, and somehow manages to get past Mel's defenses. Now she'll have to decide if she's going to risk it all for love, and if that risk is worth the fall.

I should start by saying this book picked the perfect show to put on--Les Miserables the movie came out my senior year of high school and my show choir did a huge compilation performance of the songs. I very briefly forayed onto the stage before firmly sitting my ass down in the audience, but to this day I still love theater. So this book was a fun mix of theater hilarity and queer high school drama. I liked Mel as a character, and I think she got kind of a bad rep for trying to have it all. Pinning the curse on her love life wasn't fair, but it certainly made for an interesting plot.

The other characters were fun too, judgmental and nervous high school theater kids remind me a lot of my own high school experience, so I felt right at home with Dom and Gabby and the other kids. Odile took my by surprise, but by the end she was probably one of my favorite characters. She wasn't entirely sure of herself and very humble despite her clear success, and the more honest she became the more I liked her. It's incredibly human to have no idea what you want or what you're doing.

There were parts that made me cringe a lot, but it was mostly the big argument with the theater kids after (spoiler alert) Odile and Mel's relationship came to light. That was a lot of drama and a lot of people angry for frustrating reasons, but I get it. In high school, everything is a big deal, event he stuff that seems trivial as you get older. Beyond that though, it was a really fun read with some pretty fabulous references. Not my favorite of Robin Talley's work, but very enjoyable.

Similar to Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan and A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner

And that's it! February is over I am am hopeful winter will be done soon too.

Keep writing, friends!

Sam

Literary recommendation: The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Media recommendation: if you like dungeons and dragons and/or podcasts, please go listen to Dungeons and Daddies the podcast, it's hilarious and rowdy and I love it. Season 2 just started, but season 1 is beyond good so go listen to that and laugh and then cry