Book Recs

Pyrephox

That’s awful. My childhood. clutch heart

Cobalt

I’ve fallen down a hole of bad kindle ebooks. But one that wasn’t bad was The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. It was actually quite good and interesting. If you don’t mind a heavy romance theme in your fantasy it is very (to me) House of the Dragon/Game of Thrones-y.

(I’m mostly talking the TV shows because I’ve never read those books.)

A woman with what is likely rheumatoid arthritis and ehlers-danlos in a world were dragons are a thing, is forced by her general mother into the dragon rider’s quadrant despite having trained her entire life to be a scribe. She’s got to fight brutal battles to survive. Many people want to kill her either for revenge against her mother or because they think she’ll get other people killed.

My one biggest gripe is that there is a particular antagonist that gets to live way too long throughout the book, and then his death isn’t very satisfying.

ten

@Cobalt

Fourth Wing! I’m listening to the audiobook of this, I’m enjoying it.

junipersky

@moth

So good.

Cobalt

@junipersky

I enjoyed it! Except for the dude that somehow kept not being killed even though I was sure he was dead at one point. -.-

Omen

@Cobalt
I just finished last weekend and didn’t know what to do with myself. A few months and the next installment will be out, though! Can’t wait!

In this same vein, I pitch the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. I’ve read her other series, A Court of Thorns and Roses and love it immensely but this one is hitting different. I think the writing is just better and I connect a lot more with the protagonist. Highly recommend both, though, if you liked Fourth Wing but with less modern influences and language.

junipersky

You both better have screamed or yelled at the end.

Cobalt

@junipersky at fourth wing? Absolutely. There may have been mild phone throwing too

ten

YA’LL – I just finished it.

I threw my phone.

junipersky

@moth

Appropriate response

Cobalt

@junipersky said in Book Recs:

You both better have screamed or yelled at the end.

ngl, I had to re-read the last paragraph about five time before my brain wrapped around it. I legit did not see the ending coming.

bear_necessities

I recently finished Paris Hiltons memoir via audiobook, which is narrated by her.

In the book, she details her struggle with ADHD and the trauma she experienced inside & outside the “troubled teen” schools she was placed in. It’s heartbreaking and was honestly pretty rough to listen to, I was only mildly aware of the school thing and her activism related to it. As someone who was a young adult around the time she became famous, I definitely remember the negative press and remarks about her being famous for nothing, etc. The book touches on a lot of that and gave me a lot to think about.

I highly recommend it with the clear trigger warning bc it gets very dark. I can’t say I was a huge Paris Hilton fan back in the day but it’s definitely given me a new perspective on her.

Now I’m onto Fourth Wing and liking it so far! The audiobook narrator gives me a little anxiety bc of how fast she talks sometimes but it is pretty interesting.

BloodAngel

@bear_necessities I watched her doc, it broke my god damn heart. I cried for hours. Paris Hilton that is, holy shit that is a heavy story.

Wizz

still can’t say too much about it but she honestly inspired a lot of us to come forward. Q1 2024 is when a lot more of our stuff is set to come out, if anyone is looking for more stories and docs on the subject.

somasatori

Hello! I just finished the book Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez and highly recommend it. It’s a short story anthology, though there is some connective tissue between the stories. I read it in English, so there may be something lost in the translation but ultimately it was very good.

I won’t spoil it too much, but the genre is broadly horror, though it can be quite subtle at times. Enríquez is an Argentine author and lived as a child through the coup of 1976 and subsequent junta period. Some of this is illustrated in her work, but she refers to the period rather than describes it directly (except in one specific case). I think that the violence in the book is a representation of that period given how she portrays it in terms of generational trauma.

There are some content warnings for it, notably violence in general. It’s not an extreme horror novel (think more Stephen King, not Jack Ketchum) and doesn’t go into too much detail about the following:

Sexual assault/rape, self-immolation, mild body horror, inferred child abuse

There is one scene of violence towards an animal. It’s about a paragraph long and not very heavily described in detail. A lot of folks have issues with that subject, so I figured I’d mention it.

Okay! All that aside, if you are a fan of horror in general, gothic horror, or (in a couple cases) cosmic horror, you should check it out.

Babs

@Arkandel said in Book Recs:

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman was, in my opinion, excellent.

The Daughter’s War by Buehlman came out this summer and is a prequel to The Blacktongue Thief. Very different than the Blacktongue Thief, but very good.

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman. Another take on the Arthorian legend. If you enjoyed the Magicians you’ll probably like this