Five Rapid Reviews

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Curious about what I've been reading lately? Here are a couple of my recent reads and ratings. Most of these were Advance Reader's Copies, courtesy of publishing houses. All opinions are my own.

To Best The Boys by Mary Weber

DNF ( Did not finish) I just could not get into this book, I tried. While the premise was interesting, I found the world underdeveloped and the characters a bit flat. To Best The Boys features a magical contest, questioning misogynistic traditions, and a mysterious disease- sounds great right? The protagonist felt like every other YA tomboy I have ever read that doesn't like wearing dresses. The society created in TBTB is vague and lacking in detail. I might give this book another try, but not for a while.

Romanov by Nadine Brandes

2 Stars

Although I enjoyed the premise of this book, I found that it lacking and quite dull. Romanov centers around Anastasia Romanov just before the Russian revolution. This book features an underdeveloped magic element. Spells are used in the form of magic ink to heal and protect, but there isn't much in the way of a thought out magic system. Romanov is dialogue heavy, which I find difficult. to follow.

The plot mostly follows the historical account of what is known of the last days of The Romanovs, but in a dry, stripped-down manner. The characters are

indistinguishable from one another. Overall, I was so disappointed in this book and would not recommend.

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

3 Stars

I've loved many of Lisa See's previous books, but The Island of Sea Women felt different to me. While I enjoyed reading about a different culture- the haenyeo women of Jeju- I felt that there was no emotional connection between the characters. It was like I was supposed to care about the protagonist and her family, but I didn't. I loved the careful attention to detail, especially about the matrilineal society. As a western reader, I don't often come across accounts of matrilineal societies. The haenyeo culture in The Island of Sea Women presents men as the sentimental, dreamy ones, with women as the loud, hard workers. While not See's most emotive or character driven work, I still enjoyed reading this book for the careful research.

Consent by Donna Freitas

Reading this gave me the haunting feeling that too many women have gone through similar experiences of stalking from men in power. Freitas conveys her dread in a skin-crawling way that almost all women are familiar with. Oh he's just being nice. Oh, he's just being friendly. How quickly these behaviors become unwelcome and uncomfortable.

I think books like these are important for cisgendered men to read to have better empathy for the female experience.

Unmarriagable by Soniah Kamal

This modern day Pakistani Pride and Prejudice retelling is fun and bright. I am not super familiar with Pride and Prejudice, so I maybe missed some of the cleverer connections and jokes. I liked the familial interactions and the witty twists on everyone's names.

I found it unrealistic though, that Unmarriagable's heroine, Alys would suddenly be both in love and ready to marry after spending the entire book talking about the benefits of NOT being married. Cheerful, easy

read, but not great literature by any means.

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