Rat 🛸

Kept audibly saying 'this is crazy' as I read this lol. A wild ride, I did not want to put it down.

the THEMEs, I love it! I know this isn't the main focus of the story but I love how it explores the idea of medical consent to mental health treatment.

By far the simplest of all UKLG's books I've read so far, and this one did take me by surprise because I didn't find the premise that exciting, but was hooked from the first chapter. Enjoyed that this is set in the part of the US that I've spent the most time in <3

Haber belongs IN THE BIN. I got sososo angry reading this.

It's fascinating how it deals with some concepts (overpopulation, climate change, race) in a way that is honestly very dated but still thoughtful. I guess we thought having 7 Billion people on Earth would be unbearable but honestly 8 Billion people in and it doesn't feel as described; the problem isn't the people, it's the spread of resources. I have so many thoughts on the idea of power wrt to this book but I can't articulate rn.

The way Heather is described is so interesting. She's described like a villain but is fundamentally very nice and compassionate. Not sure about how race is handled in this, but I think the heart's in the right place.

Love that Le Guin just makes so many of her characters bi lol <3

A great debut novel and story about religious contradictions and abuse. It's interesting to get into a character who appears really noble to an outsider but terrible to their family.

Feels very small in scope which I didn't love (Yellow Sun and Americanah feel hugeee). The prose is good but it doesn't feel like much more is going on.

I enjoyed all the weirdest things about this - the no-nosed people, the plant people, the animal-based "humans". I thought seeing these other humanities was really interesting, and something I wish the book had dwelt on more.

Stand out for me was Love + Change. The idea of reading someone's mind and being driven crazy by the different ways of experiencing love feels sooo haunting to me.

Meaningful and silly and fucked-up and fun and really insightful? Idk?? Starts strange and ends up in places I didn't imagine it could. I love July's character style, the way Cheryl presses a lift button with 'a fun loving finger', is self-possessed and insecure at the same time. It's funny how we start out thinking Cheryl is weird but it pretty soon becomes apparent everyone here is at least sorta weird.

The Clee-Cheryl dynamic is really interesting. It definitely went in places I was not anticipating and I actually thought it was really interesting? Speed-running all relationship dynamics and phases of life.

I only really have one issue which is that the pacing seems really off. The pregnancy is so rushed and seems so disjointed from the rest of the book.

Yayyy!!! This was really fun, way better than Strange Houses, as there's a lot more to it and it's fun to try and figure out how all the pieces link together. The only thing I'd want to be improved upon are the really bland main characters. They are Nothing. Thankfully it doesn't really matter to the story, but you'd think there'd be a little characterisation.

What is it with Uketsu and amputees?

I really liked the water mill chapter and the article chapter - it's fun when the narrative style get's switched up and I thought they were cool concepts

Fun and pleasantly incomprehensible! I liked Complicity the most, it's mixed-up style and the evocative descriptions. Felt good to stretch my brain with something difficult and experimental.

Elements of this I really loved - a lot of Shibata's messed-up internal monologue, especially her connection to and esteem of pregnant women. I enjoy her colleague who smells of glue. The section near the end where her friend confides about her experiences as a mother really stands out. But unfortunately it did get quite repetitive - so much about her diet and exercise, which was only relevant or interesting half the time.

While this is a feminist story, I did find myself struggling a bit with the premise just because I know that pregnant people themselves are an oppressed class. So many people don't have adequate parental leave, or find that people think they are incompetent during their pregnancy. Sexism can often be worse as a pregnant woman is often seen as 'more feminine' and so more guilty of perceived feminine faults like spiritual weakness and irrationality. This is barely touched on in the book (maybe because they would have to spend more time justifying Shibata's lie?), but I think it would be stronger for dealing with these issues. I was pleased it dealt with the overwhelming nature of motherhood though.

Took a while to grow on me but then I got hooked, felt like I was getting so much depth (and gossip) about these women.

My favourite chapters were: Dominique, Bummi, LaTisha, Grace and Winsome. I loooove a woman in a messy relationship.

Got off to a rough start because I think Yazz is the worst written. Evaristo understands 30+ year old people a lot more than the current younger generation. Similar problems with Morgan's chapter (better than Yazz's but a little out of step)