Tessa Portuese

Frankenstein's monster has one of the best villain origin stories ever. Queen Mary Shelley really invented the science fiction genre at age 19

Really wanted to love Moshfegh because it would be cool if I did. The way she writes about people is the literary equivalent of “the ick” and it's cool that she has such a distinct perspective, but it's not for me.

Praying that Yorgos Lanthimos is still slated to direct the film adaptation of this

Some really good perspective-shifting stuff about primatology and human anatomy that makes you question the status quo is followed by a bizarrely disappointing conclusion. So much of the book is about questioning what we assume is natural about human sexuality due to cultural bias, but the end seems to take male infidelity of the modern day at face value without examining alternate causes (e.g. how societal male socialization limits men from forming platonic emotional bonds) and leaves prior discussion of natural female promiscuity out of a modern lens entirely. Flop ending to an otherwise very interesting read!

Beautifully written short fiction stories that read as folklore. Full of appreciation for nature and how human nature interacts with it, uses it, and finds meaning in it. One of them in particular has stuck with me for the month since I finished it, which is always a good sign! Weirdly too many stories with big relationship age gaps, though.