Books and Sensibility

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Diverse Reads

The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown

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This novella follows a generation spaceship making a decades-long voyage back to Earth. First Mate Jack Albright is trying to hold it together but mysterious attacks from an unseen enemy and a secret endgame hidden in the ship could spell the end for this last vestige of humanity. I love a good sci-fi on-a-ship story à la Battlestar Galactica (2004) and Ascension. Count me in.

The first ⅔ of this book is a little slow as we delve into ship politics and Jack starts to pick up clues about the ship’s unseen foe, but WOW does the last third pack a punch! It’s an intense and action-packed story with a tinge of horror. There are plenty of reveals and plot twists that make this book worth getting through the slow start. This is exactly what I want from my Black female-led sci-fi fantasy books. Brown paints a pretty diverse world that felt lived in.

I’ve listened to Bahni Turpin a lot and she truly hits her stride with this one.  She has an impeccable range of voices for the diverse crew Jack leads.

Yellowface by R.F Kuang

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

Lol, how did Rebecca get this published? She is eating the publishing girlies up in this biting critique of the publishing industry, bookish social media, and cancel culture. Yellowface follows June Hayword, a flop debut author who steals an Asian American woman’s work and becomes a literary star.

Audiobook Narrator Helen Laser understood the assignment. Her performance truly encapsulates the self-important NWL ‘I’m a liberal, so I can’t be wrong’ energy coming off of June.

For the past decade, I’ve casually observed the publishing industry from the sidelines and it definitely influenced my perception of this book. I’ve seen the sort of online book discourse/drama June gets mixed up in play-out IRL. I think this is uncanny look at online book culture is why this book has been so popular with book influencers.

I’m curious what the average reader who is not plugged into the bookish internet will think of this book. Will they think the Twitter beefs, think-pieces, and clapbacks are inventions of Kuang’s?

Personally, I don’t think this is a complete parody. I am sure Kuang has seen and heard some of the outlandish things June thinks and says IRL.

Jess’ Mini Review Round-Up

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Dawn by Octavia Butler

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This book is incredibly strange.

I can’t fathom how Butler conceived any of this. Butler is definitely joining my list of authors who must possess entire worlds inside their minds because this was a wildly imaginative ride.

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Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim

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Spice Road is a well-constructed evenly-paced YA fantasy that feels ideal for teens just getting into YA fantasy. The story follows Imani, a fierce monster-slaying soldier, in the magical Arabian-inspired city Qalia.

The book jumps into the plot immediately as Imani is informed that her missing brother may be alive in Alqibah, a faraway city on the other side of a vast and dangerous desert. Imani sets across the desert with her rival and an untrustworthy charming Djinn.

I found myself getting more invested in the world as our characters enter Alqibahl and witnesses the political upheaval between the Alqibah people and the ruthless pale-faced colonizers

Spice Road features some YA fantasy classics; brooding boys, a love triangle plus a dash of enemies to lovers that is all the rage right now

The lore behind the world is kept simple and we learn just enough to understand the story’s stakes. This book moves at a fast pace– making this a fun quick read for newbies to YA fantasy

This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang

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This Time It’s Real is a fun contemporary YA following Eliza Lin who writes an essay about her fake boyfriend—only for it to go viral. So she finds the perfect boy, C-Drama star Caz Song, to play the part.

I. Only. Want. To. Read. The. Fake. Dating. Trope. In. YA. I think it works best from this perspective because high school exists in its own little world where things like who you are dating can feel big and life-changing.

I love books that take place outside of the United States and it was fun exploring and learning more about Bejjing through Kaz and Eliza. I also liked that this book featured positive and supportive parents

Last year I read No Filters and Other Lies by Crystal Maldonado which also featured a teen girl lying to the internet. It’s interesting seeing how each author depicts teenagers and their relationship to our social media-saturated world. This book is much lighter with the repercussions, which is odd because the stakes are so much higher in this book; Eliza gets writing and job opportunities based on this no-so-truthful essay and Caz is lying to his very diehard fans.

Overall, this is an easy recommendation if you want a YA romance that is also about finding your place and building better relationships.