Micro Reviews: May Edition

In which I review the books I've finished reading this month in one sentence.
Covers link to Goodreads.

The Mammoth Book of Extreme Science Fiction edited by Mike Ashley 

A fun (albeit long) sci-fi anthology, although it needed more diversity and women writers and I enjoyed the early and middle stories the most.

Radio Girls by Sarah-Jane Stratford 

A fantastic, vivid historical fiction with important themes, lots of sass, and superb character growth from the protagonist.

 

 

The Seafarer's Kiss by Julia Ember

A nice enough YA fantasy that didn't quite live up to the hype as it was too short for the romantic relationship to develop, I kept wondering about mermaid science like how would bowls even work underwater, and it felt like a dystopian set in a historical/mythological setting.

Shaken to the Core by Jae

An angsty f/f romance set in 1906 San Francisco that has three very interesting main characters and deals with cool themes.

 

 

The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain

 An interesting, well-written, and grim (no-one in it can be called happy) character-based novel set in Switzerland.

 

The Sappho Companion by Margaret Reynolds

An interesting anthology about my favourite poet, Sappho, however it's too long and some of the poems and other included works are barely related to her. 

 

Heart Trouble by Jae

I enjoyed this interesting (and hot) f/f medical paranormal(?) romance although the soulmates trope came through a little too heavy (even though that word wasn't mentioned once).

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde

Cool premise, cool diversity, and informative about fan conventions, but it was very clichéd, the main characters were flat, romance was valued more highly than friendship, and it didn't have a plot.

I'm currently reading Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn. It's so good so far! Hopefully I'll review it in the next few days.

 

Have you read any of these? What did you read this month? What are you excited to read next?

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In a Sentence: Micro Reviews

In which I review the books I've finished reading this month in one sentence.
Covers link to Goodreads.

The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal

Very dark and strange and gross, but at the same time so intriguing and well-written that I had to keep reading.

Gladiatrix (Gladiatrix #1) by Russell Whitfield

An awesome book about female gladiators that I reviewed in full here.

Looking for JJ (Jennifer Jones #1) by Anne Cassidy

Very simply written, and just as intriguing and thrilling as her other books, although I have no need to read the second in the series.

 

 

Night Swimming by Steph Bowe

I liked the premise but not the execution, as there was far too much exposition for me, so it fell into the trap of telling not showing. 

 

Sacred Country by Rose Tremain

Very well-written in the end (although I didn't like all the different POVs at the start) but I got confused as the main character is a transgender boy but the narrator kept referring to him as a her until very late in the book, and I'm not sure if this is due to trans perspectives at the time the book was set, the time it was written, or due to the author's own beliefs.

Roma Victrix (Gladiatrix #2) by Russell Whitfield

An action-packed sequel that deals with some gritty stuff and has a heart-stopping ending (bring on book 3!).

Sapphire Skies by Belinda Alexandra

A very interesting story, but the writing was too dense, the structure was a little strange, and the ending was too spiritual for me.


 

Imperatrix (Gladiatrix #3) by Russell Whitfield

 A brutal and bittersweet conclusion to the series, but could've done with another proofread and without the messages about women being nurturing and not made for war (but boy do I ship Lysandra and Illeana).

 So it's been a pretty good reading month so far. I'm currently reading The Girl in the Spider's Web (Millennium #4) by David Lagercrantz, so I'll probably review that one when I'm finished, since I reviewed the others in the series.

Have you read any of these? What cool - or not so cool - books have you read this month? Should I make these micro reviews a recurring thing?

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