Exhausted anarchist and school abolitionist who can be found at nerdteacher.com where I muse about school and education-related things, and all my links are here. My non-book posts are mostly at @whatanerd@treehouse.systems, occasionally I hide on @whatanerd@eldritch.cafe, or you can email me at n@nerdteacher.com. [they/them]
I was a secondary literature and humanities teacher who has swapped to being a tutor, so it's best to expect a ridiculously huge range of books.
And yes, I do spend a lot of time making sure book entries are as complete as I can make them. Please send help.
Now if you were going to fall into a book, a book of fairy tales …
Concept is cute, but it's frustrating.
3 stars
I like the idea of a boy getting trapped in a book that he's cut up, altered, and flipped around. It's quite fun to see him have to deal with the repercussions to the story that his meddling has created, and I really like that as a story.
But I hate how hard it is to read the book, especially as a dyslexic person. There are cursive fonts that are incredibly difficult for me (and definitely hard to recognise for young language learners), sometimes words are suddenly written backwards, other scenes have them upside down (for good affect, but it gets old after the first page). It's just... so badly handled?
Like, the story is cute and something fun for kids to think about and imagine, but this book is just so unnecessarily difficult to read.
I like that there are effectively two mysteries going on and that one of them surrounds Mao. I'm not sure where it's going because it should (based on the acknowledgement) be a critique of Mao, but I'm still not sure in what way.
There's also the mystery of the fictional Jiao and Xie, though they seem to be taking second place to Mao (which also functions as a critique because the reason they're being investigated is because it is believed that they are blaspheming against Mao and selling information that could "hurt the Party image").
The shitty editor of great talent (his name is Keith Kahla) strikes again with probably the funniest mistake I've ever seen, which exists in the following sentence:
"Besides, their conversation was disturbed by a loud Manila band and other louder diners, bantering about Madam Chiang, popping off the cocks on expensive champagne like in the old days."
Dude really must've been the epitome of the "Well, the computer's spellchecker didn't catch it" kind of editor.
Now if you were going to fall into a book, a book of fairy tales …
The shitty editor of great talent (his name is Keith Kahla) strikes again with probably the funniest mistake I've ever seen, which exists in the following sentence:
"Besides, their conversation was disturbed by a loud Manila band and other louder diners, bantering about Madam Chiang, popping off the cocks on expensive champagne like in the old days."
Dude really must have been the epitome of "Well, the spellchecker didn't catch it."
The shitty editor of great talent (his name is Keith Kahla) strikes again with probably the funniest mistake I've ever seen, which exists in the following sentence:
"Besides, their conversation was disturbed by a loud Manila band and other louder diners, bantering about Madam Chiang, popping off the cocks on expensive champagne like in the old days."
Despite the author being a poet, the poems are laid out in ways that are almost entirely unreadable. They look like paragraphs that separate lines and stanzas using slashes... which all look like capital i's, especially to a dyslexic reader.
My first thought is that the person who was thanked for editorial ability really shouldn't have been because they... simply didn't catch things that would improve readability in at least a section of about ten pages (e.g., using 'lead' as the past tense instead of 'led' because of homophones, dropped articles which disrupt the flow of reading, weirdly used commas that create strange lists when it's not supposed to be one, missing plurals...). I would not have thanked him because he did not do his job well and appears to have randomly skipped large sections, as if he read three pages and was like "Yeah, these three pages had minimal problems" and made that assumption for later sections.
ANYWAY, the poor editing aside (which really is a me-issue in terms of flow because of how I learned to read with dyslexia), it doesn't detract from the story. The story is …
My first thought is that the person who was thanked for editorial ability really shouldn't have been because they... simply didn't catch things that would improve readability in at least a section of about ten pages (e.g., using 'lead' as the past tense instead of 'led' because of homophones, dropped articles which disrupt the flow of reading, weirdly used commas that create strange lists when it's not supposed to be one, missing plurals...). I would not have thanked him because he did not do his job well and appears to have randomly skipped large sections, as if he read three pages and was like "Yeah, these three pages had minimal problems" and made that assumption for later sections.
ANYWAY, the poor editing aside (which really is a me-issue in terms of flow because of how I learned to read with dyslexia), it doesn't detract from the story. The story is succeeding in making me want to learn more about Mao (the person) because... holy shit. The things being discussed are just... unsurprising, but I've never looked into them.
To be fair, the book's acknowledgement says that it is 'for those who suffered under Mao'.
My first thought is that the person who was thanked for editorial ability really shouldn't have because there are so many issues that there was at least a whole section that was difficult to read (almost as if they skipped it because they read three pages, noticed nothing, and then went on). This does not, thankfully, detract from the story thus far.
It is succeeding in making me want to learn more about Mao (the man) because holy shit. (To be fair, the book's acknowledgement says something like "for those who were suffered under Mao.")
Sixteen years after Caroline Crale has been convicted of the murder of her husband, Amyas …
A Book of a Cold Case
4 stars
I love mysteries, but I always love looking at them from more 'novel' perspectives that are so rarely used. In this instance, it's that Hercule Poirot has to solve the murder of a painter from sixteen years ago after being commissioned by the painter's daughter to learn the truth.
Because so much of the book takes place in interviews and narratives, it really gives a different perspective to the ways that a crime can be solved. This book relies almost chiefly upon uncovering which person told a key lie and recognising that all people understand an event differently (even if they all agree with the same result). This really was truly enjoyable.
Though, it's so odd because I could see the version from the Poirot show with David Suchet as I read it, but that didn't lessen how good I thought this book was.
Nestled deep in the mist-shrouded mountains, The Village of Eight Graves takes its name from …
Delightful.
5 stars
I genuinely enjoy Yokomizo's novels. Even in translation, they are well done and engaging. It's hard to not applaud that.
The thing I liked about this one, even with the detective of Kindaichi Kosuke being part of it, is that it was less from his perspective (or involved him less) while still making it clear that he was an important part of the story. He was solving the many crimes alongside the protagonist, who wasn't entirely setting out to solve the crime (as he recounts).
I also really liked that this is written in such a way that it's like a mystery memoir from the perspective of one of the suspects. Being from his perspective, it creates a lot of chaos about who you trust and who you don't. This makes it a bit more interesting because you're trying to empathise with him while also scrutinising him and what he …
I genuinely enjoy Yokomizo's novels. Even in translation, they are well done and engaging. It's hard to not applaud that.
The thing I liked about this one, even with the detective of Kindaichi Kosuke being part of it, is that it was less from his perspective (or involved him less) while still making it clear that he was an important part of the story. He was solving the many crimes alongside the protagonist, who wasn't entirely setting out to solve the crime (as he recounts).
I also really liked that this is written in such a way that it's like a mystery memoir from the perspective of one of the suspects. Being from his perspective, it creates a lot of chaos about who you trust and who you don't. This makes it a bit more interesting because you're trying to empathise with him while also scrutinising him and what he sees or how he understood something. I really like that because it's a great way to kind of hide the solution, and it's so simple once you start unravelling who really committed the murders.
Amateur detective Mallory Viridian’s talent for solving murders ruined her life on Earth and drove …
A Mismarketed Book of Far Too Many References
1 star
I'm going to start from this premise: If they had properly marketed this book as a sci-fi thriller or an action sci-fi or something, I probably would have fewer problems with it. I probably wouldn't have spent 300+ pages trying to keep track of clues (that didn't exist) so that I could solve a mystery (that wasn't really there); I would've just gone with the flow, as I did for the remainder of the book. It got better (not good) once I did that, but the marketing was literally the worst part because it established incorrect assumptions and expectations. They told me it was a sci-fi mystery/detective novel... I literally got zero of one of those genres, despite all claims to the contrary (by people who I'm guessing didn't even read the book or have no concept of what makes a mystery).
Beyond that, while it would've been a more …
I'm going to start from this premise: If they had properly marketed this book as a sci-fi thriller or an action sci-fi or something, I probably would have fewer problems with it. I probably wouldn't have spent 300+ pages trying to keep track of clues (that didn't exist) so that I could solve a mystery (that wasn't really there); I would've just gone with the flow, as I did for the remainder of the book. It got better (not good) once I did that, but the marketing was literally the worst part because it established incorrect assumptions and expectations. They told me it was a sci-fi mystery/detective novel... I literally got zero of one of those genres, despite all claims to the contrary (by people who I'm guessing didn't even read the book or have no concept of what makes a mystery).
Beyond that, while it would've been a more tolerable read had they actually tried to set expectations in a better way, it still wasn't good. So much of it is peak white liberal woman writing diversity, not knowing shit about anyone or anything. The aliens are treated very similarly to how we (predominantly but not limited to English-speakers) treat East Asians with regards to their names; I seriously couldn't get that out of my head, especially as the explanation for why there are aliens named Tina, Ferdinand, Stephanie, Algernon and the like... is because it's the "closest approximation in our language" (or some similar rubbish). And all the random social justice throws? A psychiatrist telling a patient off for using the word crazy because it's ableist, the weird handling of race and poking at racist characters (with the single Korean character needing a non-Korean man to tell her what is part of Korean culture because she's "so disconnected")... It kept happening in so many ways that I had to roll my eyes at how White Liberal Lady this book genuinely is.
Along with that, there is very little creativity in the handling of non-human species, even when they are vaguely interesting. The Sundry are a hivemind (but they still act like humans despite being a bunch of insect-like sentients); the Gneiss are rock people (who are still more culturally like humans despite... being fucking rock people). The qualities that make aliens... alien? Aren't really there and are... quite superficial. There's very little deviation based on perspective.
The other thing that ruins this book is the timeline. The timeline is atrocious and difficult to follow, which I'm guessing is how so many people wrongly categorised this as "mystery." A book being obtuse for no real reason and difficult to follow does not... make it a mystery. It makes it annoying. So many chapters could've been pulled from where they were and re-slotted somewhere else to make things coherent, especially when it was never clear what time or place you were in until you were at least half a page into a chapter. Or section, actually! Sometimes the middle of chapters just would suddenly jump without any indication anywhere of what was going on.
My final gripe is with the number of references to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I have no problem with references, but these were at one point so excessive and frequent that it really just felt like "Did you get it? Did you? Did you see it? Get that one? What about that one?!" I wanted to scream because it honestly just made me angry at how many there were. I'm fine with references when they're utilised well, but this was just the equivalent of smashing me in the face with a brick for at least the first half of the book. Annoying as hell.
I wouldn't recommend this, and I have zero desire to read anything else in this series... especially because it's not a mystery like it keeps trying to claim.
Amateur detective Mallory Viridian’s talent for solving murders ruined her life on Earth and drove …
A Mismarketed Book of Far Too Many References
2 stars
I'm going to start from this premise: If they had properly marketed this book as a sci-fi thriller or an action sci-fi or something, I probably would have fewer problems with it. I probably wouldn't have spent 300+ pages trying to keep track of clues (that didn't exist) so that I could solve a mystery (that wasn't really there); I would've just gone with the flow, as I did for the remainder of the book. It got better (not good) once I did that, but the marketing was literally the worst part because it established incorrect assumptions and expectations. They told me it was a sci-fi mystery/detective novel... I literally got zero of one of those genres, despite all claims to the contrary (by people who I'm guessing didn't even read the book or have no concept of what makes a mystery).
Beyond that, while it would've been a more …
I'm going to start from this premise: If they had properly marketed this book as a sci-fi thriller or an action sci-fi or something, I probably would have fewer problems with it. I probably wouldn't have spent 300+ pages trying to keep track of clues (that didn't exist) so that I could solve a mystery (that wasn't really there); I would've just gone with the flow, as I did for the remainder of the book. It got better (not good) once I did that, but the marketing was literally the worst part because it established incorrect assumptions and expectations. They told me it was a sci-fi mystery/detective novel... I literally got zero of one of those genres, despite all claims to the contrary (by people who I'm guessing didn't even read the book or have no concept of what makes a mystery).
Beyond that, while it would've been a more tolerable read had they actually tried to set expectations in a better way, it still wasn't good. So much of it is peak white liberal woman writing diversity, not knowing shit about anyone or anything. The aliens are treated very similarly to how we (predominantly but not limited to English-speakers) treat East Asians with regards to their names; I seriously couldn't get that out of my head, especially as the explanation for why there are aliens named Tina, Ferdinand, Stephanie, Algernon and the like... is because it's the "closest approximation in our language" (or some similar rubbish). And all the random social justice throws? A psychiatrist telling a patient off for using the word crazy because it's ableist, the weird handling of race and poking at racist characters (with the single Korean character needing a non-Korean man to tell her what is part of Korean culture because she's "so disconnected")... It kept happening in so many ways that I had to roll my eyes at how White Liberal Lady this book genuinely is.
Along with that, there is very little creativity in the handling of non-human species, even when they are vaguely interesting. The Sundry are a hivemind (but they still act like humans despite being a bunch of insect-like sentients); the Gneiss are rock people (who are still more culturally like humans despite... being fucking rock people). The qualities that make aliens... alien? Aren't really there and are... quite superficial. There's very little deviation based on perspective.
The other thing that ruins this book is the timeline. The timeline is atrocious and difficult to follow, which I'm guessing is how so many people wrongly categorised this as "mystery." A book being obtuse for no real reason and difficult to follow does not... make it a mystery. It makes it annoying. So many chapters could've been pulled from where they were and re-slotted somewhere else to make things coherent, especially when it was never clear what time or place you were in until you were at least half a page into a chapter. Or section, actually! Sometimes the middle of chapters just would suddenly jump without any indication anywhere of what was going on.
I wouldn't recommend this, and I have zero desire to read anything else in this series... especially because it's not a mystery like it keeps trying to claim.
Amateur detective Mallory Viridian’s talent for solving murders ruined her life on Earth and drove …
I am 361 pages in, and there have been NO CLUES AND NO MYSTERIES TO SOLVE.
One of the praises for this book on the back reads: "If Jessica Fletcher ended up on Babylon 5, you still wouldn't get anywhere close to this deft, complicated, and fast-moving book." It's driving me insane when I see it because I don't know how this book is 'deft' and both 'complicated' and 'fast-moving' aren't inherently good things. But also, it's an insult to both Babylon 5 and Jessica Fletcher because even Jess (who solved some of the most convoluted crimes I ever saw on a detective show) wouldn't have written this shit because she would've found it too convoluted and absurd and WITHOUT A MYSTERY TO SOLVE.
