mariebrunelm's reviews
400 reviews

The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

“You were a child the first time the Saint of War came to you.”
So begins this short story featuring a Joan of Arc-type character in a twisted epic fantasy plot about free will and destiny and legend. It’s very satisfying and also very short, so I won’t give you more than the first line and also this one : “If they do not know you, they cannot fear you.”
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Diag Race: Un zine par Florence Rivières et Coline Sentenac by Florence Rivières, Coline Sentenac

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Ce zine auto-publié par l’auteurice rassemble des nouvelles et des poèmes autour des violences médicales. Dis comme ça, ce n’est peut-être pas très engageant, mais les textes sont de grande qualité et servis avec des photographies qui renforcent le thème. J’ai beaucoup aimé, dans les nouvelles, l’inconfort qui s’installe et l’hésitation qui infuse les histoires. Face à des institutions qui semblent vouloir leur bien, certains personnages ne sont pas si sûr.e.s de leurs perceptions, et l’auteurice retranscrit à merveille cette hésitation.
Ce petit ouvrage tout à fait unique est tout à fait puissant et “packs a punch” comme disent les anglophones.
 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Lesbian necromancers in space, anyone ? That premise might sound too good to be true, but that book delivers. It is a wild ride, so dark and so fun at the same time.
Gideon was born in the Ninth House, a decrepit place full of decrepit people. She can’t wait to get out but when she finally makes an escape plan things don’t quite go according to plan and she ends up playing bodyguard for the Reverend Daughter, heir to the House, instead. In addition, they are invited to what is basically an escape game with candidates from the other eight houses in a weird palace in which things will definitely not go according to plan.
This book is so unique and, once again, pure fun. I giggled at the author’s way of describing things and people. Sure, over 18 characters were way too much for my tired brain to compute, but even then I had a great time following grumpy Gideon and grumpier Harrow (or the reverse — who knows who’d win a grumpy contest between those two). This book is filled to the brim with badassery, but also with heart, and it scratched an itch I didn’t know I had.
Rep: go lesbians !
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Maître des djinns by P. Djèlí Clark

Go to review page

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Imaginez-vous au Caire en 1912, dans un monde où les Djinns ont réapparu et se sont mêlés avec plus ou moins de succès à la population humaine. Imaginez un monde où les puissances européennes coloniales battent de l’aile et où l’Egypte et les autres pays africains prennent une véritable place sur l’échiquier international. Imaginez enfin une enquêtrice à qui on ne la fait pas, vêtue de ses plus beaux costumes de dandy, à qui on confie une enquête pour de multiples meurtres des plus mystérieux.
Quel livre fun et malin ! Je voudrais plus de littérature spéculative de cette sorte. Un imaginaire audacieux soutenu par une belle plume, et qui même le pur divertissement avec une vraie conscience politique.
Je veux aussi féliciter la traductrice Mathilde Montier, dont j’avais déjà admiré le travail sur les novellas de P. Djèlí Clark et qui fait preuve ici aussi d’excellence. Je lis peu de fiction traduite quand elle vient de l’anglais car je suis très difficile, mais ici je me suis régalée.
Rep : PP lesbienne et musulmane.
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No
This novella takes the shape of a long letter from the engineer in a crew of four sent on a mission to explore four planets. The reason for this letter is unclear at first but it is explained bit by bit and yes, it is heartbreaking, as all of Becky Chambers’ stories are. They break your heart to let the light seep in.
The narrative is quite limited in this novella so I won’t go into details, but it has everything that makes a perfect book - endearing characters who treat each other with the utmost respect, a queer cast, huge questions put into simple words, and so much heart. If you haven’t yet read a book by Becky Chambers, please rush. If you have, you know what I’m talking about.
Rep: bi MC, asexual SC, trans SC.
The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Go to review page

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No
How do you fight off a reading slump ? I often pick a short, entertaining read and / or choose middle-grade or YA for intense readability.
I have loved both the middle-grade and adult books by Kiran Millwood Hargrave I’ve read in the past, so this was a safe bet and indeed I had an excellent time. This is a YA adventure following 13-year-old Isabella, living on an island with her dad, cat and hen. Their village is wrapped in mysteries since all birds but ravens flew and the forest has been declared forbidden to enter. The Governor responsible for this decision is a cruel man, but whoever defies him ends in prison or worse. Isabella is the only one who was willing to befriend his daughter Lupe, not guessing that this would lead her to betray the man’s orders. But terrible beasts lurk in the forest, and there are uncharted lands to explore.
This novel is very evocative and image-rich, which didn’t necessarily work for my aphantasia (I can’t picture images in my mind) but there was lots of adventure on the whole, with a fierce protagonist determined to do what’s right. It was a really lovely story that played on legends and stories, not without its darkness (if you’ve read Julia & the Shark you know) but well told. Not my favourite (Julia remains a huge favourite, and The Mercies after that), but well worth a try.
 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Robustia by Betty Piccioli

Go to review page

tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Lire ce livre en pleine attaque de covid ne m’a pas aidée à l’apprécier à sa juste valeur, donc mon avis va sûrement refléter cela.
Dans cette suite de Chromatopia, on change de décor pour découvrir la ville de Robustia, elle aussi fondée sur une division stricte entre ses habitants. Ici, c’est la valeur guerrière qui détermine la position politique des citoyen.ne.s, et elle est remise en jeu tous les ans, en particulier pour l’élite, à savoir les cinq membres de l’Electrum. Biann s’est entraînée toute sa jeune vie pour en faire partie et elle y a enfin gagné sa place, grâce à sa victoire contre Kalel. Cependant, la force des armes ne suffit pas à assurer sa légitimité, comme elle va vite le comprendre. Quant à son adversaire, c’est une haine farouche qui l’anime désormais et il est prêt à tout pour se venger. L’arrivée d’un habitant de Chromatopia en exil risque bien de rebattre les cartes.
Betty Piccioli livre ici un roman YA de fantasy politique. Une grande partie de l’intrigue se déroule au sein du conseil de Robustia, et met en scène les tractations quotidiennes qui s’y déroulent. Il y a donc moins d’action que dans Chromatopia, mais le rythme est soutenu. Je n’ai personnellement pas accroché au style de l’autrice, extrêmement factuel, mais il servait bien son propos. J’ai regretté la belle diversité d’identités LGBTQIA+ qui régnait à Chromatopia et qui est plus discrète ici (deux personnages gays dont un extrêmement détestable). En revanche, j’ai trouvé merveilleux de faire une place à un personnage souffrant d’endométriose, afin de banaliser la discussion autour de cette maladie, en particulier dans un roman à destination des ados.
Rep : PP souffrant d’endométriose, PP gay. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Are you sometimes so stubborn about what you want a book to be that you overlook what’s actually written on the cover or the back ?
Olivie Blake is an author I've wanted to read for a few years. I couldn't decide which of her books to start with until I heard about this one and some words ticked very specific boxes: PhD student character, Art, Time. I blissfully ignored the subtitle that said “a love story” and jumped in.
This novel really is a love story, can you believe it ? That being said, Blake has a very original approach to romance which did appeal to me although the genre usually doesn't. It’s a very playful novel, literary-speaking. I don’t want to give too much away, but the author plays with narration in a way I haven’t often seen and it felt very clever without being too high-brow, if that makes sense.
Rep: MC with bipolar disorder (not stated but described at length and stated in the acknowledgments), autistic-coded MC.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
salt slow by Julia Armfield

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Welcome to the wonderful feeling of falling in love with a short story collection.
Julia Armfield has a knack for writing intense, flawed female characters who are on the brink. Whether they are teenagers in that uncomfortable space between childhood and adulthood, or women going through a break-up or grief, most of them are teetering, and ready to embrace the mess that is their life. I loved that each story was very different from the others, but they had very tenuous, easy-to-miss links that tied this collection together. Most of them start off with a very strong concept that is given in the first lines of the story, and then explore the repercussions of that concept not on the grand scale of geopolitics (though the author easily could) but at the level of bodies. Be ready for both implied and full-on body horror depending on the stories, with a scrumptious taste for words and that delightful hesitation between speculative and realist.
My favourite story was The Great Awake, which was very timely (although a bit late) because I’ve just finished hosting a monthly writing workshop on the theme of sleep.
Rep: queer characters, mostly sapphic. One is on the asexual spectrum.
PS: I bought this book when I first went cat-sitting for a friend, so it is doubly special !
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Le vieil homme et son chat marchent à pas de velours by Nekomaki

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

What a pleasure to be reunited with Tama and Daikichi in this 6th volume of their cosy adventures ! This manga series is very gentle and heartwarming, with peaceful watercolour illustrations throughout and makes for the perfect pause in-between two heavier reads. We follow an old man and his cat on their small Japanese island, as they navigate the seasons and daily life. This series really captured my heart.