Wulf's Book Reviews

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire My rating: 3 of 5 stars Not the heartbreak of coming back, but the origin story I did not really need I opened my review of the first instalment, “ Every Heart a Doorway ”, with the line “Not the fantasy of going through the door, but the heartbreak of coming back.” “Down Among the Sticks and Bones” turns that idea inside out. This time, Seanan McGuire gives us the fantasy of going through the door, tracing the origins of Jack and Jill in a story that reaches for the shape, logic, and menace of a fairy tale. For me, though, that shift is precisely where the novella loses some of what made its predecessor so affecting. » On the day our story truly starts « That line captures one of my main frustrations with the book. By the time the story “truly” starts, more than a fifth of the novella has already passed, and I felt that delay. I understood what McGuire was trying to do by showing the damage inflicted on the sisters before they ever ...

The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur My rating: 4 of 5 stars After the disaster that the latest “Bruno” turned out to be, “The Fiancée Farce” was exactly the palate cleanser I needed: warm, funny, queer, and far more wholehearted than its knowingly ridiculous premise might suggest. On paper, a marriage of convenience is one of the oldest romance contraptions in the book. In practice, Alexandria Bellefleur makes it feel fresh because the romance is built not on trope, but on trust. What charmed me most was not simply that Gemma and Tansy want each other. It was that they begin, almost instinctively, to tell each other the truth. » these days, she was nothing if not brutally honest with herself « That matters. A lot of contemporary romances, including very good ones, still run on people withholding the one thing that would make the relationship real. “The Fiancée Farce” takes the more generous route. Tansy begins from a lie, yes, but the emotional shape of the novel comes from t...

Platform Decay by Martha Wells My rating: 3 of 5 stars Platform Decay should have felt like a homecoming. Instead, it feels like being shoved out of an airlock and told to keep up. I absolutely loved Murderbot at its best. The early books worked because the action was never really the point, or at least never the whole point. The point was the anxious, avoidant, furious, funny, traumatised self hiding underneath the armour. Murderbot was compelling because every mission doubled as self-exploration: what does freedom mean, what does personhood mean, what does friendship mean when even admitting you have friends feels like an exposed nerve? "Platform Decay" knows that version of the series still exists, but it only lets us see it in flashes. » ”SecUnit.” « That one word, from Mensah, carries more emotional weight than whole stretches of the surrounding plot. Likewise, the late moment where Murderbot acknowledges being surrounded by friends is exactly the sort of subtle, painf...

We Do What We Do in the Dark by Michelle Hart My rating: 3 of 5 stars I’m really torn over this one: I liked Mallory, the queer protagonist of this story, and most other characters were also interesting. For me, the major let-down is the story itself: the first part tells us about Mallory’s affair with a professor, only ever referred to melodramatically as “the woman”, from her college and the affair’s circumstances. I found that mostly… boring. As problematic as this affair is due to power differences, conflict of interest, fairness to others, in the end it’s a “normal” affair - one partner (Mallory) silently hoping “the woman” will leave her husband (which she tells Mallory she won’t), the other hoping for non-disclosure and enjoying the hero worship by a younger person. We then shift to Mallory’s childhood and youth during which she discovers she’s queer. This part is relatable but, again, just not all that interesting. Finally, the story moves a few years forward and Mallory and ...

A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow My rating: 2 of 5 stars From a story point of view Harrow's second “ Fractured Fable “, “ A Mirror Mended ”, starts right after “ A Spindle Splintered ” with Zinnia Gray, our protagonist, still trying to fix happily-ever-afters for a lot of Sleeping Beauties. That’s where my issues start: Why Zinnia again? Why not create a new character? Zinnia’s story arc was complete after “Spindle” and in my opinion, it would have made a lot more sense to create a fresh new character for this book. In fact, there’s a lot that gets repeated here: Zinnia still “falls” through the multiverse with the evil queen from Snow White, Eva, she intends to help. Sadly, while “Spindle” was a modern retelling of the old fairy tale, “Mirror” features some of Snow White’s characters and ideas but at no point is it any kind of retelling. It’s much more of a complicated series of events that somehow occur - sometimes all too conveniently - without much influence fro...

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner My rating: 1 of 5 stars Oh, wow. This was… bad, really bad. I expected this to be fantasy while in fact this is a young-adult novel that feels like it was written by a teenager. Kissen (I’m sorry but as a German, I’m having a hard time with this name…), our queer, one-legged hero, goes on an adventure with a former knight, childhood friend of the king, a spoilt brat, Inara, from a noble house - a house that was literally burned down, including Inara’s beloved servants, and mother. Inara also has a pest problem, manifesting as a god (of white lies). Among that lies naive romance, attempted-coming-of-age, fantasy-lite and a looooong journey that drags and drags and… You get the gist. The writing is also mediocre at best and, even worse, errors abound: » Kissen wasn’t going to let him stupid that easily. « Thankfully, that was the most aggravating mistake but, still, a disgrace. I’m abandoning this at 70% to later slumber on my Kissen . One star ...

The Woman in the Pyjamas by Sarah Pond My rating: 2 of 5 stars Despite the premise and the very positive review that put this novel on my reading list, sadly, large parts were a chore to read. The story starts with 40-year-old Daisy in an early-onset midlife crisis: Divorced and a single parent to her daughter Jess, she is unhappy with her life. So she starts doing teenager-style “challenges”, e. g. asking for a Pizza at Thorntons (which non-UK readers might not know is a confectionary store…). During her self-discovery mission, Daisy first meets and dates Ryan. When they break things off, Daisy is disillusioned and looks for solace with her friends - especially her new friend Kate… The plot is paper-thin and there’s nothing original in it. Sadly, the writing is graceless, grating and annoying - the language is wooden, stiff, and lifeless. Full of “X said”, “Y replied”, “Z looked” and so on. Repetitive sentence constructions, dialogues repeated in indirect speech, excess...

Happy Place by Emily Henry My rating: 5 of 5 stars There seem to be two Emily Henrys : The first one writes straightforward, somewhat simple rom-com novels like “ Beach Read ” or “ Book Lovers ” which aren’t outright bad but decidedly average in many ways. I read both, wrote a review and awarded three stars each and promptly forgot about them. The second Emily Henry writes much more nuanced and complex. With “ People We Meet on Vacation ” she created a novel about a decade of vacations that’s, ultimately, about the concept of home. Now this Emily Henry, the one that I vastly prefer , wrote a novel about long-time friends and keeping up traditions that’s in fact about change and personal growth. » Everything is changing. It has to. You can’t stop time. « Harriet and Wyn were engaged, broke up months ago but never told anyone and now have to spend a week on holidays with their friends. Since this trip is the end of an era, everyone pretends nothing has ever changed and re...

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood My rating: 5 of 5 stars This was my Schrödinger’s reading experience : At the same time, this novel was what I expected - and it wasn’t at all. And by simply reading, I influenced the outcome of the experiment! Thankfully, it all went down in a very good way. I smiled, grinned, and giggled my way through Ali Hazelwood's “ The Love Hypothesis ” and even a bit more so with her “ Love on the Brain ”. I almost feverishly waited for “ Love, Theoretically ” and while I found myself smiling at the very first sentence, for quite a bit of the novel, I didn’t really get the same “vibes”. Elsie seemed so naïve (a Goodreads friend of mine put it less favourably as “dumb af”!) and I wasn’t entirely sure about Jack either. And then I started to understand that Hazelwood didn’t seem to aim for the nerdy, uplifting, carefree romance/romcom I was expecting. She actually seemed to take time to build up both protagonists. » Professionally, my life ...

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree My rating: 5 of 5 stars » After twenty-two years of adventuring, Viv had reached her limit of blood and mud and bullshit. An orc’s life was strength and violence and a sudden, sharp end—but she’d be damned if she’d let hers finish that way. It was time for something new. « Thus begins the story of Viv, a former orc swordswoman who retires from adventuring and opens a coffee shop, the eponymous “Legends & Lattes”, in the town of Thune. She makes friends with various fantasy creatures and faces challenges from a local crime boss and a former colleague who wants to steal her magical treasure. Rarely was a moniker, “High fantasy, low stakes” in this case, more apt because we’re not off on a conventional fantasy adventure. Much more important in this entertaining and heartwarming novel are the relationships Viv and her friends build: In Thune, Viv is part of a small minority and doesn’t care about outward appearances and societal expec...

Visible Amazement by Gale Zoe Garnett My rating: 5 of 5 stars With a meagre 95 ratings and 16 reviews on Goodreads, “ Visible Amazement ” by Gale Zoe Garnett can probably safely be called an “insider tip” or “Geheimtipp” in my native German. It might also be due to the somewhat problematic subject matter… So, to get it out of the way immediately: Roanne tells everyone she’s just turning 16 whereas, in fact, she is 14 and Pascal with whom she proceeds to have a sexual relationship is 42. This is in many ways, a significant and, yes, troubling aspect of the novel that raises important questions about consent, power dynamics, and the sexualisation of young girls. The portrayal of the relationship between Roanne and Pascal is done carefully and in a complex and nuanced way, exploring the emotional and psychological dynamics at play. At this point, you should choose: You can follow me and choose not to render judgement. I will neither condemn nor condone this relationship whi...

Saga, Compendium One by Brian K. Vaughan My rating: 5 of 5 stars It has been a very long time since I’ve had this much fun with comics! The story follows Alana and Marko, two former soldiers, now deserters from their opposing armies, who got married and went on to found a family. We see their daughter, Hazel, growing up on the run with her parents in a (mostly) hostile universe in which they encounter new friends and enemies alike. And this is where Saga shines beyond any other comic I’ve ever encountered: Our fugitives meet a broad range of people who more often than not want to either capture or kill them. Unless there’s no other way, Alana, Marko… … and their very diverse rag tag group of friends… …and great sidekicks… …will treat people with respect… …kindness and the kind of simple decency I wish all of us would apply… There are certainly very adult topics and scenes but they’re very obviously not included to “disturb” or “provoke” but they’re sensible p...

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid My rating: 4 of 5 stars Oh, well, another difficult review to write… I really did like this book and while writing this very sentence I’m still unsure what my final verdict will be. Evelyn Hugo, fictional Hollywood icon, is - to me - an immensely likeable person: Starting her career in the 1950s she works her way up to become a legend. That alone would already have made for an interesting read because I grew up on films from the Golden Age of Old Hollywood. When I first read the title I immediately thought of Elizabeth Taylor (eight marriages, seven husbands…) whose work in the film industry has indeed inspired Reid (as I just found out). Just like fictional Evelyn Taylor has been a staunch ally of the LGBTQ* community and an early HIV/AIDS activist. More than that, how could I not like a bisexual woman who lives through eight tumultous marriages? In a time, more than 20 years into the 21st century, during which sti...

Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx My rating: 3 of 5 stars I feel a bit like a philistine when it comes to “ Brokeback Mountain ”: The relationship between the two farm hands, Ennis and Jack, made sense to me and felt real. Sadly, both the story this short story tells as well as the style in which it is told, fall somewhat flat for me. Annie Proulx laconically and unemotionally narrates her story and while there are some powerful scenes (the shirts…), I cannot help but feel that some of this story’s potential hasn’t been fulfilled. I’m late to to read this, though: First published in 1997 and the narrated time starting quite a bit earlier, western societies at least are changing: We’re still farther from true equality than I had would have hoped for but at least in my native Germany, we’re making progress: With Nyke Slawik und Tessa Ganserer we have two openly transgender people elected to the German parliament, the Bundestag. And there are more members of the German parliamen...

Mr. Parnassus' Heim für magisch Begabte 5/5 Aus einer Welt, die sich offensichtlich von der unseren unterscheidet (dort gibt es Magie und magische Wesen!), aber eng mit der unseren verwandt ist, wird uns in T.J. Klunes "Das Haus im Cerulean-Meer" ein modernes Märchen über ein Waisenhaus und seine Bewohner erzählt. Linus Baker, ein Sachbearbeiter des "Department in Charge Of Magical Youth", wird beauftragt, ein Waisenhaus unter den Fittichen von Arthur Parnassus zu untersuchen, der sich um das Wohlergehen von sechs besonders gefährlichen Waisenkindern kümmert - eines von ihnen ist das Kind des Teufels! Doch was Linus entdeckt, ist ganz anders, als er erwartet hat… Dies ist in erster Linie ein Buch über Freundlichkeit und Liebe. Es gibt nicht viel "Action", denn es ist ein Buch, das von der Liebe lebt, die es ausstrahlt: Da ist der "Herr" des Hauses, Arthur, der mehr ein Lehrer, ein Beichtvater, eine Vaterfigur für sein...

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune My rating: 5 of 5 stars » We are who we are not because of our birthright, but because of what we choose to do in this life. It cannot be boiled down to black and white. Not when there is so much in between. You cannot say something is moral or immoral without understanding the nuances behind it.” « From a world obviously different from ours (magic and magical beings exist there!) but closely related to ours, in T.J. Klune ’s “ The House in the Cerulean Sea ” we are told a modern fairy tale about an orphanage and its inhabitants. Linus Baker, a caseworker of the “ Department in Charge Of Magical Youth ” is charged to investigate an orphanage under the wings of Arthur Parnassus who is overseeing the well-being of six especially dangerous orphaned children - one of them being the devil’s child! What Linus discovers, though, is completely different from what he expected… First and foremost this is a book about kindness and love. There isn’...