90 - 93: fantasy, social realism, romcoms - this entry COVERS ALL BASES!

The Fairy Godmother, by Mercedes Lackey.

( A SHORT BUT DAMNING REVIEW: under a cut because I know some of you are Mercedes Lackey fans. )

Let The Circle Be Unbroken, by Mildred D. Taylor.

Fucking fantastic - actually, no, there were a lot of different plot strands all over the place, but who cares because they were just all amazing. ( spoilers )

Then I proceeded to reread The Ladies of Grace Adieu but I'm not counting that; except to say that it's even more amazing than I remember and also Susanna Clarke is probably the standard by which I measure all fantasy* ever (unless it's Diana Wynne Jones). Mr Strange & Doctor Norrell shoutout!!!

* what I really want more and more is fantasy that acknowledges its cultural roots in some way, hence I think why I love Mr Strange & Doctor Norrell for refusing to elide THE KYRIARCHY while not making it the main point (though that is also great! she does that quite subtly in The Ladies of Grace Adieu, I think) of her narrative. Also I would like fantasy about ~~the frontier~~, basically like Cathy Park Hong except in prose (tho even that's optional) and with added magic.

Dealing With Dragons, by Patricia Wrede.

I tried to be kind with this because it was probably written a bit younger than I was expecting, but it turns out that I have, against all expectation, quite recently become the kind of reader who has Strong Opinions about fantasy universes, so all through this I was like yelling NO BUT DRAGONS DON'T EAT COOKED MEALS!!! (dragons may be kind but biology, obviously they still have to eat raw meat) and WIZARDS AREN'T EVIL!!! (maybe so individually but.... not as a class) and stuff.

Also I really appreciate the message that princesses are boring and girls don't necessarily have to be princesses, because like... really, I am all behind that, but also it was so unsubtle I just got bored with it. See also: me reading books meant for 8 y.o.s and being a jerk, etc etc.

Julie & Romeo, by Jeanne Ray.

Jeanne Ray basically writes the same protagonist over and over again, doesn't she? She's lucky that her characters (and her writing) are just so goddamn likeable. I loved Eat Cake and I really enjoyed this - basically Julie & Romeo are proprietors of two feuding family flower firms (say that three times, real quick) and meet in late middle age and fall in love, against the wishes of their family. So yeah, this was pretty great in that it was all about older people having a meet-cute and actual sexuality and ~~engaging in narratives of empowerment~~, and also career fulfillment. Such a breath of fresh air, and also has that vaguely kind, drily comic narrative voice that is so - watch my huge arsenal of vocabulary here, ladies and gents - likeable. Awesome! ♥

I also read Calling Invisible Women and the remaining Chrestomanci novels but I'll review them later yis

#94-99: the dickens entry.

Calling Invisible Women, by Jeanne Ray.

AWESOME - middle-aged Clover Hobart wakes up one day and finds that she's become invisible. ( not a long review but cut because some spoilers - not huge explicit spoilers, but spoilers nevertheless. whoops! )

The Magicians of Caprona, by Diana Wynne Jones.

I liked this a lot but it wasn't my favourite Chrestomanci book; I guess a lot of that is down to my personal hangups about how I associate DWJ with a particular kind of Englishness and so the Italian setting here kind of knocked me off-course, which is weird, because I didn't think that DWJ failed at writing Caprona or anything like that. In fact, it was pretty great!!! I was a fan of all the Petrocchi-Montana partnerships, esp. ( ahhh spoiler cut )

and the singing especially was great. I... just don't have a whole lot to say about this novel, is all. /o\

Witch Week, by Diana Wynne Jones.

Someone (I forget who) told me that Witch Week is one of their favourite Chrestomanci novels and OH MAN I TOTALLY SEE WHY. Like, this was such a weird perspective because in all the Chrestomanci novels magic is front and centre in a way it was (but wasn't!!!) here; I mean in the sense of this world being completely similar to Real Life so that when magic or witchcraft showed up it was this huge threatening thing.

( It hurts to be burnt. )

Is, by Joan Aiken.

I always tend to think that Joan Aiken is much less famous than she actually is, with the result that whenever I read one of her novels I always end up beating at my chest and rending my clothing and doing some seriously weird things with sackcloth and ashes and being like WHY ISN'T SHE MORE FAMOUS THOUGH??? Throwbacks of being of the Harry Potter generation: writing YA suddenly seems so much more lucrative and glamorous than it actually is.

( This review is all about Charles Dickens and also is way too long. )

Cold Shoulder Road, by Joan Aiken.

Not as brilliant as Is, but I think I make it pretty clear in my last review that that's a pretty high standard. I'm all talked out now but I enjoyed this! I didn't think the Dickens mojo was as strong in here, if only because it was pretty different in terms of theme and character - Dickens can do a lot of things, but he never really paid any attention to 'somewhat dysfunctional and mismatched families trying to work it out while saving the world' without reducing it to caricature, so.

Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters.

ANOTHER DICKENS HOMAGE and no I'm not even kidding, GUYS this is so obviously the lesbian version of Great Expectations and ( this sentence goes on for a while. )