KayTo

Incredibly fast reading with surprise phrases and an overall feel of a cozy BBC small village murder mystery (Marlowe Murder Club? But I haven't read any of that, only watched...).

A few small editing issues, and one larger issue with the ultimate crime specifics, but overall, fun.

I hate-bought this book* and am SO GLAD I did! What a damn delight.

As the author's mom said, no one writes like her. A behind-the-prose plot that creeps up on you in the middle of general descriptive bits. Humor and despair in the face of 2025-2026 North America realities. A bit of magic, honestly.

Not quite the magical realism of Oyeyemi, but the writing reminded me of that same wit/general style. Wry, really funny phrasing, fantastic social commentary, absurdity. Cannot recommend enough!

*was in an independent bookstore and grabbed this based on the cover alone after I overheard the following exchange:

Douche Customer: <snaps pics>

Shop Owner: Do you have questions?

DC: Nah, I just want to remember these so I can get them on Amazon later.

So glad I saved this one for last! Another realistic world (or I guess maybe the same one as the other water world?). Always love Hazelwood's writing, and this world was rich, with solid characters. (And ha, love the human evolution...)

I had super high hopes based on the premise, but I probably should have tempered them when I read that it was a "return to your small town to find yourself" book. Sigh.

Having grown up and moved away from my own [actually small] town, I can, without a doubt, say yes, you revert to your teenage self when you return for visits, and no, you absolutely would not suddenly start questioning if you actually belonged there if you had, at any point in the last decade, found happiness - or even just NOT UNHAPPINESS - elsewhere. And the cruelty of toying with someone you used to be close to in a what-if way... sigh.

I get it - the whole book is full of transitions (direct or metaphorical). And thank fuck the ending (plot-wise) landed. (The fixation on the physics, sure....)

I'm just not a Herrera fan, I think. Her grammar is pretty bad (there's an anti-kink!), and I really am not a fan of her characters. I also questioned faaaar too much here, but really - tall ass trees in that short of time? A single volcano ruined the entire world for humans, but then all the animals from "before" were able to make a comeback? And a character who repeatedly reminds us she was suppressing her libido for 29 years is like, oh here, I know exactly how to wank in this very specific way? Eh. Nope.

I really enjoyed this overall - fun, imaginative, and surprising character depth for a novella.

Alas, the version I read was the first print one, and there were a ton of errors with the editing. (Not sure if it's been updated since?)

Setting side the obvious fact that they could have removed the major obstacle by dealing with it right away.... I enjoyed this one well enough. I especially liked the thought exercise of all the time threads. (Sigh, let me slip into the one where 2016 turned out differently....)

Oh, not my thing, premise or prose. This was my first - and very likely last - monster romance. I am just too skeptical (barbs? The size? But no damage or UTI????). And in this case, the tech part was also just supposed to be accepted as always charged and working - even the most generous scifi worlds seem to require power sources...

I am not the target audience for an entire novella about the entire meaning of life being procreation. (But hey, if a kink of yours is creampies....)

Also, literally had no clue this set of books was interconnected (this is the 3rd I read).