I'm going to try to be more careful to mark spoilers, just a heads-up (I mostly just think of this as a place where I mark down things I've read, not as something someone else might read, eep!).
Boring Girls - Sara Taylor. There's a lot I didn't like about this YA novel, & the writing is really bad, & yet I can't stop thinking about it: what experiences & cultures the author drew from, why I wanted so badly there to be a different ending for these girls, why it must've been so cathartic to write as a revenge fantasy (& why I wanted it to be more than that). It's about two teenage girls who start a metal band, & the misogyny in the music scene (I suspect Taylor, aka Chibi of the Birthday Massacre, writes from her own experiences as a woman in music), & it's...
( mild spoilers )Kitty Saves the World - Carrie Vaughn. The last Kitty book! While I was really bummed that the series was ending, I think this was a good place for it. The oh-shit-o-meter was cranked to 11, &... yeah. Not perfect (nothing is perfect!), but gave me a lot of what I wanted!
Cold Steel - Kate Elliott. This took me longer to get into than I was expecting, given that there are feisty girl cousins who are best friends having adventures & things. It's because the obvious love interest is so v. v. obnoxious at first, & he's meant to be, but I was kept waiting too long for the part where things become more complicated & you might not actually need to hate him. Anyway, I appreciate alternate histories that highlight the accomplishments of people of color!
Sorcerer to the Crown - Zen Cho. First in a trilogy about England's first black Sorcerer Royal & the extremely magically talented biracial Indian woman he meets that proceeds to wreak havoc (in his life, & in general) in all kinds of fun ways. This is really wonderful -- seriously, everything good you've read about this book is true. Not only is it utterly delightful & frothy & lovely, it also says v. pointed things about race & colonialism & gender (& from the POV of people negatively affected), which shouldn't feel as refreshing & rare as it did.
House of Shattered Wings - Aliette de Bodard. Post-apocalyptic Paris, dangerous magic, fallen angels. I think I liked the idea of this book more than the book itself -- there were good bits, but somehow it didn't click w/me like I wanted it to (& I think the author deserved a better editor). I did really appreciate that the book also dealt w/colonialism though!!
Soloplay - Miranda Baker. Utter smutty fluff about a shy woman who ends up becoming a playtester for a sex toy company. Needs the usual sort of deliberate disregard for tired gender roles, etc. (though it's... not as bad as it could be, I guess?), &
( mild spoilers, but it's not like you read this for the plot exactly! ) If you can put these things aside (& it's a fairly big if), this is kind of hilariously amazing.
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