(no subject)
Jan. 24th, 2020 11:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Notes on the books I read recently so I don't forget when I actually get to the reviews:
Aru Shah and the End of Time was really fun! It was pretty kiddish, but that was what I liked about it - it really didn't take itself too seriously, and it actually felt modern. I find that sometimes middle grade gets stuck in a mythical nineties-ish past, where the writers don't know how to contend with modern technology. Aru Shah doesn't do too much with social media, but it also actually feels like it has modern 12-13 year olds in it. It's also hilariously feminist in the sense that it isn't trying to Do Anything Grand with being about girls. It's just fun! Especially every time Aru's like "it's HEROINE." Particularly love: Mini being mixed Filipino and Indian. (I did get a little mixed up at first, because the Pandavas are not part of Hindu mythology I know, but as Chokshi explains - Hindu mythology is MASSIVE.)
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky is a little more somber although it definitely has its silly moments. It's impossible to make a book about the demons of slavery and cotton silly and light in tone, and the scope is epic-fantasy level. In particular, I love the blending of the New-World and Old-World gods, and their enmity towards each other - not to mention the monsters themselves. Brrr. I always think I'm nowhere near Black enough for this stuff to affect me this deeply, but every now and again...
Hollow Girl was my most intense recent read. I was warned several times and well ahead of time that it featured a sexual assault, but I still tensed up waiting for it, and I had to wait a good 24 hours before reading the chapter that involved it. The horror is pretty great, and I love that it's a revenge story - the character who didn't work for me mostly was Drina, actually. The mother twist didn't really seem that necessary and kind of seemed to bank on 'getting old is scary and sad'.
Aru Shah and the End of Time was really fun! It was pretty kiddish, but that was what I liked about it - it really didn't take itself too seriously, and it actually felt modern. I find that sometimes middle grade gets stuck in a mythical nineties-ish past, where the writers don't know how to contend with modern technology. Aru Shah doesn't do too much with social media, but it also actually feels like it has modern 12-13 year olds in it. It's also hilariously feminist in the sense that it isn't trying to Do Anything Grand with being about girls. It's just fun! Especially every time Aru's like "it's HEROINE." Particularly love: Mini being mixed Filipino and Indian. (I did get a little mixed up at first, because the Pandavas are not part of Hindu mythology I know, but as Chokshi explains - Hindu mythology is MASSIVE.)
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky is a little more somber although it definitely has its silly moments. It's impossible to make a book about the demons of slavery and cotton silly and light in tone, and the scope is epic-fantasy level. In particular, I love the blending of the New-World and Old-World gods, and their enmity towards each other - not to mention the monsters themselves. Brrr. I always think I'm nowhere near Black enough for this stuff to affect me this deeply, but every now and again...
Hollow Girl was my most intense recent read. I was warned several times and well ahead of time that it featured a sexual assault, but I still tensed up waiting for it, and I had to wait a good 24 hours before reading the chapter that involved it. The horror is pretty great, and I love that it's a revenge story - the character who didn't work for me mostly was Drina, actually. The mother twist didn't really seem that necessary and kind of seemed to bank on 'getting old is scary and sad'.