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Oh hey I just read that one! I do think there's that whole "but humans are the REAL monsters" trope that is a bit too well worn in the first part, but--and hopefully this is not too spoilery--I do think by later in the book that premise is flipped around in ways that make the whole far more interesting.
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Apr 6, 2024 18:25
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DominoKitten posted:Oh hey I just read that one! I do think there's that whole "but humans are the REAL monsters" trope that is a bit too well worn in the first part, but--and hopefully this is not too spoilery--I do think by later in the book that premise is flipped around in ways that make the whole far more interesting. Sorry, I forgot to bookmark this and didn't realise you replied  I'm glad to know that changes. I'll pick it up again later, I do love some lesbian monster romance. The whole 'Rove you wrong time' is just so offputting and embarassing to read in modern works.A pretty charming, endearing romance in a scifi setting in this one I just finished. The Mars House by Natasha Pulley. quote:January Stirling was one of the principal dancers of London's Royal Ballet. Now he's a climate refugee bound for Tharsis, the notorious terraformed colony on Mars. It's a utopia for the naturalised population. For January, as a dangerous Earthstronger whose body is unadjusted to the weaker Martian gravity, it's a life sentence to hard labour and ferocious discrimination. The politics is kinda weak, so dont read it for hard scifi philosophizing. The faux marriage is very charming and the mystery was pretty interesting. It did suffer a bit in the penultimate chapters. I feel rehashing the mystery solution with multiple povs was a little unnecessary.. If you expect Aliette de Bodard, Neon Yang, or Yoon Ha Lee type of asian cultures in futuristic settings, um. Dont. It's pretty white. Though the the authors credit she did include some interesting inclusions of Chinese culture. Though she chose to annihilate all of Chinese culture and have them, a culture whose does care about gender, to commit genetic gender genocide? Though it not just about nullifying genital, but other physical features. Idk that just feels like people thinking nonbinary and similar genderqueer genders are inherently, automatically androgynous. That bugs me but I'm not Chinese so maybe I'm making mountains of someone else's mole hills. The main POV is the white british gay cis man so I can gently chalk it up to everything being filtered through his uninformed view. Ultimately I recommend it for the sweet romance and interesting mystery. Really, it is a enjoyable read. I was glad of the ending but was left wanting more of January and Aubrey, in a very good way. Give me a sequel about their domesticity dambit!!!
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Apr 18, 2024 18:34
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value-brand cereal posted:The Mars House by Natasha Pulley. Thanks for the rec, I saw it at my library this morning and grabbed it. I actually read her first book, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, and loved it if you haven't read it. I was less keen on the followup and never read the sequel but maybe I should go back and give it a shot. Recommendations from me: A Power Unbound by Freya Marske The last book in The Last Binding series. Obviously start with the first book but they are all great. They are all queer romances set in an alternate Edwardian England where magic is real but only certain families have it and it is a big secret and what happens when some normies get exposed to it. The Emperor and the Endless Palace THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE but it is a kinda love story and very queer. The description calls it a romantasy (how I hate this word) so I was fooled but I did enjoy it and other people in this thread might too. I would describe it as Cloud Atlas but gay.
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Apr 23, 2024 18:42
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Funny Story by Emily Henry came out on Tuesday, and I’m posting this just close to 1am on Wednesday after coming home from a local bookstore party for the book. I’ve read all of her books (People We Meet on Vacation, Beach Read, Book Lovers, Happy Place) and love them, but this one - I feel she’s really at her best with an interesting plot line between two people who end up in a forced proximity - this book’s premise is due to their significant others realizing their love for each other, which breaks the relationships apart (not a spoiler, it’s in the inner flap of the book) I think she’s always had a good tone in dialogue, characters with emotional baggage, and unusual third act twists - but this one had me wanting to highlight my book as I was reading it and I had to hold back so I can do that on a second attempt. Great lines of dialogue / descriptions that just make me want to relive them. I got a little distracted before the climax of the third act, but I blame that more due to the blaring tv in the background and being too focused on reading to find the remote and shut the tv off.
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Apr 24, 2024 06:01
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The reviews for The Mars House make it look like a trash fire of the worst of UK politics. edit: from a goodreads review: January just goes on thinking about how human unity could be achieved without the naturalization process as long as the big strong Earth people go around in cages all the time, and that’s how it ends, with there being not much change to his internal dialogue around this issue. A child ends up being put in a cute little cage that has fairy wings but is nevertheless a cage.  cheat at solitaire fucked around with this message at 07:08 on Apr 24, 2024 |
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Apr 24, 2024 06:11
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Yeah. The author is a white british woman. Dont expect much decent politics from that. It's cute, but it's not a romancience fiction* story that's meant to have any political growth. See also those cute dystopia, ya genre aimed stories where the bad guys get defeated, but the entire social structure that encouraged the bad guys to exist is not dismantled or discussed. That was part of the ending I hated. Like the main character has literal bruises and injuries from wearing a cage for months on end, something which you aren't supposed to do in canon? And yet theres a bit near the end about people giving up the keys to their cages without even knowing they're in for a hell of a time when the ceaseless bruises and pressure ulcers start festering. Again, very white british politics. I dont think the author conceived of consequences besides 'how do I make the romance work'. And I guess it worked. Ish. A follow up where theres an actual revolution would be hilariously fun, but that's never going to happen. Neon Yang, take the reigns, please., *if romantasy is a thing, I'm making this a thing. Like a terrible chimera, or any recipe featuring mountain dew that should never call for it. Anyways. Someone else itt mentioned Megan Derr's Tales of the High Court, and I gotta say Lesto is a very funny character. I enjoy a buff high morals character, albeit a military man. Not sure if the author can sell me a redemption arc for a child abuser [not Lesto] but we'll see.
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Apr 24, 2024 18:03
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Anya posted:Funny Story by Emily Henry came out on Tuesday, and I’m posting this just close to 1am on Wednesday after coming home from a local Ooh I forgot this was coming out. I've really enjoyed all of her other books (Book Lovers being my favourite) so will have to look for it!
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Apr 25, 2024 14:40
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Ok, I am 200 pages into The Mars House and it is indeed interesting. I cried a lot at the beginning, very bleak. The thing about the mystery though....I am not sure if I read too many mystery books or if the author is trying to make it super obvious. But there is one super obvious thing going on and I just want to yell at January every time he continues to not notice it.
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Apr 25, 2024 16:31
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Volcano posted:Ooh I forgot this was coming out. I've really enjoyed all of her other books (Book Lovers being my favourite) so will have to look for it! Book Lovers is my fav too but I think Funny Story is battling for #1 in my ranking (Beach Read is #2) Our local bookstore had an event and all of us that pre-ordered ended up with signed books!
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Apr 26, 2024 01:28
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The Mars House complete. Ultimately I enjoyed it but I really don’t think it needed to be so long. I didn’t really like the mystery and here are complete mystery spoilers so don’t read them if you care. So it was really easy to figure out the invisible person thing. At first I assumed it was Max because it was obviously military tech but then they mentioned the thing about Aubrey’s drug problem and it all made sense except there was no way to really figure out why. Which is fine. This book is not a mystery and doesn’t have to follow the rules of one. But I was disappointed that the reason was basically just that Aubrey is a narcissist. I was happy to see that January was kicking himself for being so stupid the whole time tho. But this is the romance thread and the romance was…fine. I like them as a couple but you really don’t get to see a lot of actual romance happening. You only get January’s pov and he’s not exactly swooning a lot while there’s a murder plot going on. And from Gale all you really see is that love fixed his bad politics (but there’s still no solution and I hope everyone likes their new fashion cages) It’s not a direct readalike and I’ve already recommended it in this thread but if you at all liked The Mars House, please read A Strange and Stubborn Endurance. It is fantasy instead of sci-fi, but it also has an arranged marriage and IMO a better mystery.
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Apr 26, 2024 07:16
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I've read two of Abby Jimenez's books and I gotta say, the woman has talent. The first, The Friend Zone, was wonderful, apart from that ending, where she gave the MFC the ability to have a miracle baby and left the MMC in a job he didn't like . This is all solved though, in her second book in the series, The Happy Ever After Playlist. I assumed a book starting off with a bummer beginning was going to suck, but  was is great. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say, the angst is spectacular, the chemistry off the chain, the slow burn a blaze, and the conclusion satisfies what was needed in BOTH books. On to the next Abby Jimenez work, Life's Too Short!
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Apr 26, 2024 22:49
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I have several of her books on hold with Libby - so I’m very excited to read more!
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Apr 30, 2024 00:50
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