KP's Updates en-US Sun, 30 Mar 2025 17:09:13 -0700 60 KP's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7448822853 Sun, 30 Mar 2025 17:09:13 -0700 <![CDATA[KP added 'A Study in Black Brew']]> /review/show/7448822853 A Study in Black Brew by Marie Howalt KP gave 3 stars to A Study in Black Brew (Paperback) by Marie Howalt
I am a lover of Sherlock Holmes retellings, and I love them even more when they take place in a sci-fi or fantasy setting. I am very lucky that there have been several in recent years. However, this isn't one of my favorites, I'm sad to say. The writing is strong; the author is clearly talented and imaginative. The chronic illness representation is excellent. My struggle with this is that it really is a very, very close retelling of Study in Scarlet, with a dash of BBC Sherlock thrown in at the end - and that means I've read this story before, and I already knew exactly what the expect the entire time. The characters and plot just didn't diverge enough. I liked the worldbuilding, such as it was - but because the story hewed so closely to the original Doyle, it didn't get to really dive into that in any real way.

I think this author has promise, and if this has sequels, those may be enjoyable to explore, but I hope the author allows themselves to take inspiration from Doyle and not pull so closely from the source text. When I want the original Sherlock Holmes, I read the original Sherlock Holmes; I hope for more variety from retellings.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC; all opinions are my own. ]]> Review7442588802 Fri, 28 Mar 2025 10:49:20 -0700 <![CDATA[KP added 'Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng']]> /review/show/7442588802 Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker KP gave 4 stars to Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng (Hardcover) by Kylie Lee Baker
Wow, this was a really captivating horror novel! I haven't read Baker's other works, as I believe they're YA and I don't read a lot of YA, but I may need to change my mind about that if this is how strong a writer she is. This was atmospheric, creepy (also really, really gory, which is not something I actually enjoy, so heads up if you are like me and don't love lots of gore), and so strongly rooted in the 2020-2021 COVID setting that I felt like I was back in that awful, uncertain time. Baker is an excellent writer, to force my headspace back into those days.

Cora is a young Chinese-American woman who struggles with obsessive-compulsive tendencies around cleanliness. Her sister, with whom she had a complicated relationship, was horrifically murdered and Cora's life was derailed, and she has ended up as a crime scene cleaner during the COVID pandemic in NYC. The story is driven by Cora's anxieties and disconnection from Chinese culture, her difficult relationship with different family members and her hesitation to let people into her life. It's a fascinating away to introduce readers unfamiliar with the Hungry Ghost festival and the traditions and rituals it entails, while also heightening the tension as Cora begins to encounter two inexplicable things at once: all the dead bodies she's being called to clean up are Asian women as of late, and a terrifying figure is lurking in the shadows and eating chunks out of her coffee table.

I love horror driven by social forces, and horror that explores if humans or monsters are the real monsters. This book does both beautifully. I kept having to set it down and walk away because it was too tense and too creepy and I needed a break. That's a pretty high recommendation from me. Cora is a fascinating character, and her two friends, other crime scene cleaners, are great foils for her. There were some things in the book that didn't work for me. As noted, I don't really love gory books, and this was super gory. I can't really dock it for that, though; that's what this book was, and me not liking it is a personal thing. However, I felt like the last quarter of the book was rushed, with some major things happening that didn't feel necessary for the story. It also had some pacing issues occasionally, getting a little bogged down.

Overall, I did love this. I waited to write my review for several days after finishing, because I was still mulling over all of the themes and impacts of the book. It may not be perfect, but I still think it's a fantastic read that people should pick up.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC for review; all opinions are my own. ]]> Review7418132629 Wed, 19 Mar 2025 18:12:16 -0700 <![CDATA[KP added 'Knave of Diamonds']]> /review/show/7418132629 Knave of Diamonds by Laurie R. King KP gave 4 stars to Knave of Diamonds (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, #19) by Laurie R. King
bookshelves: sherlock-holmes
Another delightful outing for Russell and Holmes! The 19th in the series, this book introduces us to the black sheep of Russell's family, her Uncle Jack, her father's brother. While he's an important figure in Russell's life, as we soon learn, he also has his own, previously unknown connection to Holmes as well. This book explores the history of the so-called Irish Crown Jewels and their theft in the early 20th century, the recent-in-the-book Irish War of Independence and its effects in the immediate years after, and (briefly, but interestingly!) the breed history of the Irish Wolfhound. It's a very Irish-focused book, on the whole!

Whereas the last book was a departure in form and style, this book was a return to the adventure format, though there isn't really a ton of actual mystery to be solved here. The topic implies that there is, but in truth, many of the characters have the answers that are being sought and just reveal things over time. While this doesn't have a strong mystery focus, and moves away from the quieter, introspective character study of Lantern's Dance, it does hew closely to an adventure format, which makes sense given the character of Jack Russell and his own personal background. It's a very fast-paced story, moving swiftly from beat to beat as it carries us along to find the Irish Crown Jewels. A majority of the characters we meet are real people (if sometimes unmoored in time, as the author herself admits in her note at the end), which brings home the historical elements of this historical mystery. One thing Laurie R King always does so well is present these elements of history to us in a way that makes me, at least, immediately go to look things up and learn more about the topic. This book was no exception.

I did have some critiques for this book, however, though I did enjoy it a great deal. I thought it was repetitive in some places, for example. We have 3 POVs in this book (Russell, Holmes, and Jack), and often two characters will be together while another character is off somewhere else, leading to moments where we have a scene with two of the characters, and later those characters provide a recap of the on-page scene to the third character who wasn't present. It's usually kept rather short, but it still wasn't really necessary. I continue to lament that the one thing I want in the series since book 10 STILL hasn't happened (JUST LET MYCROFT AND MARY FIGHT), though it was hinted at in a truly tantalizing fashion here. I also found some of the character motivations slightly unbelievable, particularly with Jack, leaving me to feel like there is more going on than was really explored or even hinted at.

Nonetheless, this was just an enjoyable, relaxing, and familiar read. I continue to return to these books over and over because they're comfortable and fun and I love seeing what will happen next. King has mentioned some possibilities for her next Russell books in her newsletter, and there is one in particular that I do hope she gets to write in the next few years - hopefully I'll get to write a review for that book at some point!

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book; all opinions are my own. ]]> Rating830092183 Tue, 25 Feb 2025 15:49:19 -0800 <![CDATA[KP liked a userstatus]]> /
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Bookishrealm is on page 74 of 410 of The Tainted Cup: Surprise surprise! This book is good as fuck.
]]> Review7329414245 Mon, 17 Feb 2025 07:35:03 -0800 <![CDATA[KP added 'The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses']]> /review/show/7329414245 The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses by Malka Ann Older KP gave 5 stars to The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses (The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti, #3) by Malka Ann Older
4.5 stars rounded up. I was very excited for a novel-length Mossa and Pleiti book, even if it was a short novel, and it paid off quite well. The slightly longer length gives the author more time to explore the worldbuilding, the themes, and the characters, which was very much needed. While the previous two books in the series technically feel a bit more tightly written (in part because they're novellas, and they need to be), I greatly appreciated the breathing room that this book had, allowing us to really sit with the events of the book and what the characters were going through in a way that we haven't been able to do before.

Pleiti is off on another adventure, but this time Mossa isn't with her. This leads to a really lovely exploration of Pleiti as an investigator, trying to apply Mossa's techniques to a situation involving claims of academic fraud and increasing threats against a scholar. It is always a delight to see the "Watson" try to be the "Holmes", but what I truly loved about this particular iteration of the idea is that there is a realization that Pleiti needs to be Pleiti, and her own training is equally useful to an investigation, if in a different way than one might think. I really loved this outcome for Pleiti, and seeing her continue to grow is one of the best parts of this series. And while Mossa is largely not present for half of the book, her absence is certainly felt, and the weight of her character is never forgotten. The reunion between the two, and the mix of emotions about the situation, was very well-handled.

(I also loved that this was in many ways an homage to Hound of the Baskervilles, although not in the way one might expect.)

The mystery itself is solid, though slower than the other books because it has more time to be explored. The worldbuilding really gets to expand in this book, as we go to another university and see the reputation and rivalry that the universities have with each other, as well as the tensions between the Classicists and Modernists. We learn more about the different platforms of Jupiter and the cultures that those platforms have. We also see more of the impact of the events from the first book, in a way that has some promise as the series progresses.

One thing other reviewers have commented on, and which did strike me more than ever while reading, is the work that Older is doing with language. Older imagines a world in which language from Earth has evolved and changed, with different languages mingling together to create a new standard language. There were bits of this in previous books, but because this book is longer, it is much more present in the narrative. I didn't find it distracting or overwhelming, but there were occasions where I'd pause to look up the meaning of a word, since it came from a language I don't know. I thought it was well-done, as there are plenty of context clues, and you can certainly figure out what is being said even if you don't know the exact meaning of the word. But it is more present in this book than in other ones, as a heads up.

I continue to enjoy this series very much, and am grateful that Older keeps returning to these characters and this world. Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC; all views are my own. ]]> Rating805735199 Tue, 31 Dec 2024 18:29:25 -0800 <![CDATA[KP liked a readstatus]]> /
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]]> Review7111554297 Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:56:27 -0800 <![CDATA[KP added 'The City in Glass']]> /review/show/7111554297 The City in Glass by Nghi Vo KP gave 4 stars to The City in Glass (Hardcover) by Nghi Vo
bookshelves: books-read-2024
4.25 stars. Ponderous, thoughtful, and slightly heartbreaking. ]]> Review7117108007 Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:54:47 -0800 <![CDATA[KP added 'Shards of Honour']]> /review/show/7117108007 Shards of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold KP gave 4 stars to Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan Saga, #1) by Lois McMaster Bujold
bookshelves: books-read-2024
Gave me tonal whiplash occasionally, but an enjoyable book.  ]]> Review7111554297 Mon, 23 Dec 2024 07:13:49 -0800 <![CDATA[KP added 'The City in Glass']]> /review/show/7111554297 The City in Glass by Nghi Vo KP gave 4 stars to The City in Glass (Hardcover) by Nghi Vo
bookshelves: books-read-2024
4.25 stars. Ponderous, thoughtful, and slightly heartbreaking. ]]>