The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

 

I was a little hesitant to read this book because I am a HUGE WUSS when it comes to horror and I don't care who knows. Body horror and spatterpunk are really hard for me to read and the cover makes it look like this book is going to be really gory. But it's not. It's kind of like if you crossed MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER with YELLOWFACE: you have the literary female serial killer pulp juxtaposed against some very powerful discussions of Asian racism.

Most of the horror doesn't happen until the last 40%. The first 60% is an intense character portrait about Ji-won, whose mother has just started dating a white man named George. George is That Creep(TM) who has a fetish for Asian women-- and even worse, he ogles and objectifies Ji-won's younger sister. She needs him gone, stat. But he has the prettiest big blue eyes... and she thinks they look tasty.

The imagery of literally eating the white male gaze is quite powerful and I think this book does a great job of showing the anger that a lot of Asian women (rightfully) have when they exist in a culture that fetishizes and objectifies them, denying them the right to exist as autonomous, flawed human beings, as well as the expression of their identity on their own terms.

I had a few issues with the ending and there were one or two things that felt a little over the top, but on the whole this feels like a smart and campy horror movie and I was actually pretty into it.

3.5 to 4 out of 5 stars

Homecoming by Madeline Thorne

 

Between Kate Rivenhall and now Madeline Thorne, I have been suckered into enjoying incest erotica by authors with names that sound like they ought to be cavorting around on a sprawling British estate tending to prize-winning orchids or breeding horses. Instead, they're out here converting the unwary into shipping blood siblings in extremely toxic but hot relationships. WHAT A SCAM. (I'm in.)

I was interested in this book because the author kept teasing the most tantalizing quotes on her Instagram. When she offered me an ARC, I was so excited. And oh my gosh, it did not disappoint. After reading Meg Smittherman's THRUM, I was really wanting another semi-gothic smut in space book, and this book really delivered. I feel like it also had DUNE space-punk vibes (only as window dressing, though, this is not hard scifi), with a generous dash of FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC family gothic incest drama.

And if you're looking at this book, you're probably very much in it for the family gothic incest drama. And maybe also the tentacle non-con. Man, when you see tentacle non-con in the list of TWs, you know you're in for a rollicking good time.

Soren was hot and Abra was such a strong character. Stabbing a dude in the dick with a nail file? COLD-BLOODED. I also really admired how resourceful she was, and how she gave as good as she got when it came to Soren and his forcefulness. She really reminded me of some of the classic bodice-ripper heroines, like Catherine from STORMFIRE and Ginny from SWEET SAVAGE LOVE. It ends on a cliffhanger with a promise of more, so there isn't an HEA at the end, but there is a ton of smut and forbidden desire and passion, so woo.

The only thing I couldn't fully get on board with was the "nectar" business. But it wasn't cream, so hey, if that's what they call come in this scifi universe, I'm willing to allow it for the sake of good smut.

Thanks to the author for providing me with a copy

4.5 out of 5 stars

Breathless by Cat Wynn

 

BREATHLESS was an impulse read since it was on Kindle Unlimited and I liked it quite a bit. There's a lot of humor in this book, and the reclusive heroine-- a burned out ex-fashion model who is incredibly neurotic-- was crazy in a very sympathetic and relatable way, and I liked her zany obsession with aquariums, which is how she meets the hero in the first place: through a forum for people who are obsessed with fish and aquariums. In the forum she meets a guy named Mack, who she has a crush on, but when he sends her a selfie after she pressures him for a pic, she notices a strange reflection in the picture...

I liked the first half a little more than I did the second half, but this was a very fun and amusing ride. Villains were a little cardboard cut-out-y but I got the impression that this was a loving parody of things like The Shape of Water and Splash, with a hefty dash of monster-fucking thrown in to keep things extra spicy.

Very cute.

3 out of 5 stars

Thrum by Meg Smitherman

 

THRUM is a lot of things and it does all of them pretty well. It felt like it could have been an episode of the show Love Death + Robots. Part gothic space opera, part alien romance, part survival story, THRUM is about a woman who wakes up in the middle of her spaceship from stasis and finds out that all of her fellow shipmates are dead and that someone-- or something-- has sabotaged her ship from the outside. When she puts out a distress call, someone answers, but that someone may be even more dangerous than being alone in space.

I don't want to say too much else because wherever you think this is going, it's probably not what you think. I am 99% sure that this was probably inspired by Bluebeard though (and that's not a spoiler, because again, not what you think), and maybe also a little bit of Crimson Peak with its hot and possibly villainous love interest. This is more creepy than scary which is perfect for a wuss like me, so if you want something with chilling vibes and a wild ending, this.

5 out of 5 stars

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

 

ON WRITING is one of my favorite writing memoirs/guides and for the moment, it's aged pretty well over the years (except for his adulation for J.K. Rowling and his seeming disdain for romance novels). I love how despite his incredible success, Mr. King seems very humble and approachable and even a little bemused that his books are as popular as they are, and it was fun getting a glimpse into the 1950s childhood that clearly inspired IT, his clear passion for writing at a very young age, and how long and arduous his path to success was (I had no idea that three of his "Bachman" books had actually been written prior to Carrie).

I think King does fall into the trap of making excuses for his favorites but condemning those exact same qualities in the things he doesn't like. His love and fond remembrance for trash films and Z movies, and the entertainment they bring because of their camp, when paired with compelling stories and charismatic and attractive leads gets him so close to understanding why romance novels are so popular-- and yet he can't seem to get over his disdain of them, mocking the adverb-heavy bodice-ripper writing style, and romance phrases like "arrogant cheekbones." Sometimes when you pick up a book, you don't want it to be literary, you want it to be fun.

Anyway, apart from that one niggling issue, I did enjoy ON WRITING a lot. I've had the same copy since I was about fourteen years old and for the longest time, this was my writing bible. It is still treasured and holds pride of place with some of my other favorites, but I no longer believe his word is law.

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead

 

I wonder what it's like to wake up in the morning and be Ashley Winstead, knowing that you can write the most beautiful, fucked-up shit and have it be so damn good. It must be amazing. Because I powered through THE LAST HOUSEWIFE in under 24 hours, going through a big rollercoaster of emotions until I reached the finish line.

HOLY SHIT.

Shay is a damaged woman who married a rich man and settled into a comfortable life of luxury, but she's haunted by things that happened to her when she was in college. Then one day she hears a podcast episode from her childhood friend, Jamie. He's looking into what happened to her friends and begs for her to reach out to him again.

What results is a sort of investigative drama, told in mixed media format, about a dangerously charismatic man, an evil cult, depraved sex, and a society that truly despises women just for existing. It's emotionally devastating and I can see why people were so ambivalent about it given some of the triggers, but I personally think it was masterfully handled and the ending was so satisfying.

5 stars

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

 

THE WOMAN IN ME basically sailed up the best-seller charts when it came out and I'm not surprised. Her conservatorship was big news, and so was her eventual release for it. After all the drama about her family and relationships-- some baldly revealed, some hinted at-- a lot of people were curious about what the Queen of Pop's life was really like. And as it turns out... pretty fucking awful.

I don't want to spoil this memoir for anyone who hasn't read it yet (I'm suuuuuuper late to the party), but it's not a particularly happy one. Her relationship with Justin Timberlake was awful (when she had an at-home abortion at his suggestion that left her feeling like she might die, his solution was to LIE ON THE FLOOR and play his guitar instead of taking her to the hospital). Her relationship with K-Fed was awful (surprise! he comes across as a super manipulative user of a person who used her kids against her to get what he wanted). And her family and the way they allegedly abused her conservatorship to give themselves big salaries and use all of her money at their leisure, while sending her to mental institutions when she fought back? WOW.  

I'm glad she seems to be having a happier life now, but man, this was a brutal read. It was nice to hear that Paris Hilton was actually a genuinely good friend to her, and that she found a man who cared about her beyond what she could bring to the table fiscally. But overall, the message in this book seems to be that fame can be a gilded prison where no one can hear you screaming behind the bars.

4 out of 5 stars