Review: Recursion

Recursion by Blake Crouch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The latest from Blake Crouch, which I read in ARC form after getting it behind the scenes at work, is another deep dive into contemporary sci-fi wildness in the vein of Dark Matter. It starts off pretty well-grounded and procedural, focusing on a law-enforcement agent slowly uncovering a conspiracy beyond real scientific ability - not unlike the Wayward Pines trilogy either, to the point where I can just as easily see a lot of the same creative team behind that TV series (Chad Hodge, M. Night Shyamalan, and all) handily adapting this book to either TV or film. But once the conspiracy becomes known...hoo boy, does Crouch turn up the mind-screw game like nobody else, hitting the reset button on reality itself so constantly that after a while it feels like a needle to the brain direct through the retina. Just imagine how mind-bending this story would be on screen, though. I'm ready for that to happen, and until then, I'll be happy to help sell this book at work when it comes out!

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Review: The Malta Exchange

The Malta Exchange by Steve Berry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Steve Berry returns to the world of Cotton Malone with one of his most interesting thrillers in a while - focusing, as its title suggests, on the island of Malta. This, of course, particularly grabs my attention since I'm Maltese on my mom's side. So, naturally, we get a focus on Malta's long history of having numerous empires lay claim to it - some successfully, others less so, all depending on how well one takes advantage of the island's fortifications both natural and artificial - as well as the ever-presence of the Catholic Church and some, erm, corrupt higher-ups thereof. And then there's the historical legend of Churchill having possibly written to Mussolini about ceding Malta to Italy, though only after Italy was about to lose anyway and it was more of a troll job against Mussolini than anything else...there's a lot to unpack in this book, and as much as I was expecting a five-star read for something Malta-related, it's still a pretty active - if standalone - Cotton Malone adventure.

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Review: Daisy Jones & The Six

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Though it's not Taylor Jenkins Reid's first book, this one, a well-fabricated rock history piece, couldn't help but capture my notice of her for the first time. Reading a lot of other reviews for it - with the common refrain being that the book was so well-fabricated, in fact, that it was easy to forget that Daisy Jones & The Six were never a real band - I really had no choice but to jump into this book as quickly as I could. The fictional history of this band reads like what Fleetwood Mac might've been if they hit it big with Rumours and then let their infighting and dysfunction break them up early, and for good. Plus a little dash of Janis Joplin for good measure, with Daisy Jones (though I can't help but think of her as a fictionalized Stevie Nicks) being a strong, self-assured, creative woman. She's literate as hell, and even throws in quite a bit of 2019 sensibility even as far back as her childhood (like, when she proudly talks about having gotten an F on a school paper for pointing out that Columbus did NOT, in fact, discover America.) With this book in mind, I'm for sure going to look into Reid's previous works as well - this one's too much evidence of a strong talent to ignore.

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Review: Supermarket

Supermarket by Bobby Hall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been seeing little hints being dropped that this book was a thing in the last couple of weeks or so. Then I saw it on the table at work, picked it up because I thought, wait, who's the author? Is this book anonymous? Then I realized what this book really was - Logic's debut novel, under his real name of Bobby Hall. And I had to read it all as quickly as I could - which was pretty easy given that it's less than 300 pages and I had the power of several cups of coffee in my system. Well, more accurately, two cups of coffee and one espresso, but still. It's the principle of the thing. And the principle of this thing is that it's a millennial Fight Club on a much smaller scale, less about the subtle gayness (this book is actually about one of the most hetero I've ever read, tbh) and more about the exploration of mental illness and artistry. And in that exploration, Hall writes a protagonist who combines so many elements of myself and my dear friend Koda - himself the biggest Logic fan I know - into one that it's not even funny. Hell, the small-town Oregon setting is so very Koda, and considering I'm planning to move up to Oregon by the end of this year...well, let's just say that this book is going to require a few more reads on my part, but I'm more than down for that. I'll probably page through at least one copy several times over as I attempt to hand-sell this one at work, because god DAMN did I need this book right now. And I know so many fellow artists and fellow warriors in the fight to take back their own mental health who need this book right now too.

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Review: Bloodwitch

Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The third full-length novel - and fourth book overall - in Susan Dennard's Witchlands brings the quality back up to the level I came to expect for all the books in this series after it began in Truthwitch. That one had been followed by Windwitch with its bloated character sheet, and Sightwitch with its gothic mind-screwery. Here, in Bloodwitch, we've got the bloated character sheet back - but also, I think that this time, Dennard does a better job managing the delicate balancing act of managing all the many POVs she crams into the book. Whereas Windwitch had the disadvantage of subtracting too much focus from my big faves - Safi and Iseult - those two get a lot more equal time in this book. As, of course, does Aeduan - which makes a lot of sense since this is the book named for his particular witchery. Though the plot needle doesn't move quite as forward as I'd hope it would - naturally, since Dennard's expanded the series from four full-length novels to five, and possibly even more? - it's still a breakneck paced, engaging fantasy. With a particularly distressing cliffhanger that I'm pretty sure is going to enrage many of my fellow readers. I guess my friend Becca was right to not trust Dennard with her characters' lives, eh?

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Review: On the Come Up

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Here we have the way Angie Thomas retains her YA queenship: another big bestseller primed to dominate the charts for months on end. :D Especially with that ass-kicking cover, so much in the style of The Hate U Give and poised to be just as iconic. :D :D

Review: Supergirl: Master of Illusion

Supergirl: Master of Illusion by Jo Whittemore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For Master of Illusion, the conclusion to Jo Whittemore's awe and some Supergirl trilogy, I was hoping for a story that would continue in the style of the first two books, and cap the whole thing off with as much fun as Season 2 Supergirl was. (Before Quarter Queller wrecked the party in Season 3, but let's not go there.)

I was not disappointed. Well, maybe just a little because of Lena Luthor's presence setting my teeth on edge (though, as with everyone else, Whittemore does a far better job of writing her, to the point where I'm pretty secure in my supposition that most of me not liking Lena on the show owes more to KMG's dreadful acting than anything else), but for a fun little kid-friendly thriller full of awe and some shenanigans? And of course some sweeeeeeeeet Karamel love?