Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett, 2023, fantasy romance (het), 4/5. I liked the readable prose, presented mostly as diary entries, and especially the protagonist, but all the she-forgot-herself and voila she's a queen now with a wannabe prince charming waiting to rescue her from her unwanted king was tedious to me. However the author does emphasise, as do traditional folk and fairy tales, that aristocracy is arbitrary, capricious, and cruel, which took the edge off my discontent, lol.
Never Anyone but You, by Rupert Thomson, 2018, historical novel (lgbt+), 4/5. A historical novel about Lucie Schwob (Claude Cahun) and Suzanne Malherbe (Marcel Moore) which managed to combine the historical and the novel aspects very well. Warning for the Second World War, plus suicides, and anorexia.
Bad Influence, by C.J. Wray, 2025, technically a crime novel, 3.5/5. If this was What Three Words it'd be heartwarming.popular.tropes. Warning for spoilery but exceedingly obvious trope wrt elderly protagonists.
Priest Turned Therapist Treats Fear of God, by Tony Hoagland, 2019, poetry, 3.5/5. Specifically post-2016 dissatisfactions from Hoagland, to add to his usual satirical tendencies.
God on the Rocks, by Jane Gardam, 1978, literary slice-of-life novel, 4.5/5. 0.5 of a point too Booker Prizey for me.
Oliver VII, by Antal Szerb (translation from Hungarian by Len Rix), 1942, ruritanian farce, 3/5 I blame James Davis Nicoll. :-)
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branchandroot
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Date: 2025-06-04 08:48 pm (UTC)https://spiralsheep.dreamwidth.org/669833.html
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett, 2023, fantasy romance (het), 4/5.
I liked the readable prose, presented mostly as diary entries, and especially the protagonist, but all the she-forgot-herself and voila she's a queen now with a wannabe prince charming waiting to rescue her from her unwanted king was tedious to me. However the author does emphasise, as do traditional folk and fairy tales, that aristocracy is arbitrary, capricious, and cruel, which took the edge off my discontent, lol.
Never Anyone but You, by Rupert Thomson, 2018, historical novel (lgbt+), 4/5.
A historical novel about Lucie Schwob (Claude Cahun) and Suzanne Malherbe (Marcel Moore) which managed to combine the historical and the novel aspects very well. Warning for the Second World War, plus suicides, and anorexia.
Bad Influence, by C.J. Wray, 2025, technically a crime novel, 3.5/5.
If this was What Three Words it'd be heartwarming.popular.tropes. Warning for spoilery but exceedingly obvious trope wrt elderly protagonists.
Priest Turned Therapist Treats Fear of God, by Tony Hoagland, 2019, poetry, 3.5/5.
Specifically post-2016 dissatisfactions from Hoagland, to add to his usual satirical tendencies.
God on the Rocks, by Jane Gardam, 1978, literary slice-of-life novel, 4.5/5.
0.5 of a point too Booker Prizey for me.
Oliver VII, by Antal Szerb (translation from Hungarian by Len Rix), 1942, ruritanian farce, 3/5
I blame James Davis Nicoll. :-)