Roundup of abandoned books

[lightreads]

I switched digital book players, which means I still have all my books but I lost my place in everything (seriously! WTF?) so I am admitting defeat on things I can't be bothered to remember where I even left off on. A few notes:

Jade City by Fonda Lee

Lots of people love this jadepunk gangster secondary world fantasy, and I tried, but I just hated all the men and their machismo problems and couldn't hack it beyond the 1/3 mark. I suspect there's some interesting stuff in there re the pointedly off-page woman-led rival gang, but eh.

Chime by Franny Billingsley

Lovely and atmospheric historical YA about a girl who can see ghosts and also there's industrialization and emotional abuse. Nothing wrong with it; just not in the mood and now it's been too long.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

*Stares dead-eyed into camera* I hate Kizzy. Hate. She and her manic pixie wokeness and really this entire book were trying so hard, my teeth hurt.

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Oh, thank you for the salt re: Chambers. I gave up around 40 pages in, wondering: why do people love this book? Am I a grinch? If so, I'm proud.

[cathexys]

Here's three.

I gave up and while I'll try again, I'll feel in good company if I end up not liking it. Thanks you two for not making me feel like the fannish scifi grinch :)

[kareila]

Four! And I normally really like this type of book.

[ellen_fremedon]

Becky Chambers' second book, A Closed and Common Orbit, is much, much better and does not have Kizzy or anyone like her in it. It's probably worth trying despite having bounced off the first.

(She has a third that I haven't read yet, though I want to--I'm saving it for a unicorn chaser once I finally manage to read Rivers Solomon's An Unkindness of Ghosts. Maybe I should just read it now, since I don't know when I'm going to have the spoons for the Solomon.)

[lightreads]

I literally just finished the Solomon -- like, an hour ago -- and yeah. I'm going for some soothing nonfiction after that.

[thefourthvine]

Oh man, I thought the Solomon was great and so, so painful. I needed a LOT of fluff after.

[lightreads]

Okay good, because I was reading it thinking "Tfv has read this, right? what a marvelous spacetoaster!"

[kate_nepveu]

I've forgotten LONG WAY so thoroughly I can't even remember Kizzy! Apparently this is a good thing.

ORBIT has actual focus and arcs and suchlike, though if you thought Murderbot was too twee I'm not sure you'll like it any better, because I sort of think of it as similar except with not as many action sequences.

[cyphomandra]

...this makes me feel better about abandoning Jade City less than a chapter in. And I might take the comments advice about skipping to the second Chambers book.

I am baling in reading any more of Annabeth Albert’s military m/m, as her characters have been devolving in emotional maturity with each book, and given that in the first one they behaved like teenagers and I’m now four books in it’’s just disturbing.

[thefourthvine]

Oh thank god I am not alone. Jade City made me roll my eyes at all the dudes and dudeliness, and everyone I know loved the Chambers but me.

[thawrecka]

I'm happy every time I see another person hate The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet as much as I do. I'm not alone!

[conuly]

Fonda Lee falls way too far on the plot end of the plot/character based story spectrum for my tastes, though I keep her books in mind for a specific audience, namely, reluctant male teen readers.