December 2024 Reads

Happy 2025! Here are the last reads of the wild and crazy year of 2024!

Mind of My Mind – Octavia E. Butler

It’s fun getting into a science fiction series again, especially one with as deep of lore as this one. I notice a lot of Butler’s main characters find themselves the reluctant or unprepared leaders of movements, societies, then at the end they are respected or nearly respected by their followers

A Guest in the House – E. M. Carroll

I read this in one night, and after I finished I immediately opened tumblr to look at theories about the ending. The writing and art was so beautiful, and I would love to frame practically every page in that book. Also, I need to reread it and see who is telling the truth, who’s lying…it will make you question EVERYTHING.

Perfume & Pain – Anna Dorn

This was another story that grabbed me by the throat and shook me like a chew toy. So intense I had to take breaks, but I couldn’t stop going back to it. Enjoyed it immensely, I would love for my queer friends to read it and well me their thoughts.

The Singer’s Gun –  Emily St. John Mandel

I hate to say it, but this is probably my last favorite ESTM book. (If I were to rank them, it would be: Station Eleven, Sea of Tranquility, Glass Hotel, Last Night in Montreal, The Lola Quartet, and The Singer’s Gun. Yeah, it’s in the order I read them…) One of ESTM’s literary styles is non-linear storytelling, and while this book is no exception, it felt a lot harder to follow than her other books. The time jumps weren’t super stark and I was confused what part of the timeline we were in. I wish Ellie had more autonomy when dealing with her pregnancy. I hate to say it, but I just didn’t vibe with this book. 

Idlewild – James Frankie Thomas 

I had to take breaks from reading this book, whether from memories from my own high school theater days, or from my family telling me that “everything on the internet is there forever,” and I don’t think these kids had that talk. I could not look away, this book was addicting and awesome. The ending was heart-breaking, but I loved it and it makes sense. I loved Fey’s ending monologue and overall character arc. The audiobook narrator really outdid herself with that chunk of text. Also, Fey definitely saw the tv glow (iykyk).

Rainbow Black – Maggie Thrash

I loved the very beautiful discussions about Dylan/Gwen’s gender and Lacy/Jo’s fierce defense of her. Another thing I loved was actually SEEING Lacy’s relationships and views of her father and sister change overtime. I do agree with her sister’s sentiment, that Lacy changes her opinion of people and romanticizes them after they die, and you can very clearly see this with Eclaire’s death and her father’s new life post-prison. (And I am so sorry, but there were times I COULD NOT focus because her name was Eclaire…) My two grievances (even though that seems like too harsh of a word) is that: one, I wish Lacy’s “curses” maybe had a bit more to them? I would have loved to see some magic in this book, even though she and Gwen talked about it before Lacy went back to the states. I also wished we could see WHY her family was targeted by these satanic panic. And while we do get a few hints about this, I know the main point of the story isn’t WHY, but HOW she picks herself up and works through these tough events. Overall, very very awesome, I had to take breaks while listening because it was fairly intense!

Thirst – Marina Yuszczuk

I was so excited for this book, but I found myself dozing off listening to the audiobook. That’s definitely on me and my poor sleep schedule though. It felt odd to me that the main characters met in the last 25% in the book, even though it’s advertised as a vampire romance? I was thinking the romance would be a bigger part of the novel. The backstory of the vampires was super cool, but I really wanted to give this book a chance after seeing some bad reviews on it, but I don’t think it was for me.

Life is Strange Vol. 1 – 6; Life is Strange: Forget Me Not
I have been consuming A LOT of Life is Strange this year (I recently bought Life is Strange 2 on the switch) and I spent two days just powering through this comic series. A lot of fun, I’m so glad that Rachel, Chloe, and Max had their happy endings in their own universes, and I’m glad Alex and Steph are growing together (I admit I did like this a bit more than Life is Strange: Heatwaves).

Happy new year! Here’s to many more reads!