Fanlore's Journal

Last month I read too many long books, so this month I read a lot of really short books! I wrote this up a few days ago but only found the time to post it now rip. Anyway, here we go!

My Nemesis by Charmaine Craig

I… don’t know if I liked it or not. I don’t think I understood it very well. Short, but felt like it took a long time to read.

Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers

Fun! It’s interesting how much Dorothy Sayers likes her detectives: Wimsey and Harriet are her little blorbos and she thinks they’re so fun and she wants to write about them doing fun things. While Agatha Christie clearly does not really like any of her detective characters as much as she likes her puzzles and mysteries. I feel like it could’ve been shorter though. Still unsure if I wanna try Gaudy Night or not.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

I think Henry's characterization and framing of the interviewing-an-aging-celebrity setup worked better than the same setup in Evelyn Hugo, but the romance was unconvincing and the final twist didn’t land super well. Also Evelyn Hugo did have more Diversity even if it was also very annoying about it (‘being bisexual… is just like being biracial’ was somehow a repeated motif in Evelyn Hugo. which. okay) I guess with straight white women authors you gotta pick your poison huh. The romantic leads did have convincing physical chemistry, even though the sex scenes were more implied than explicit.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

I Get It Now. So short and sweet but man. She’s so right. Long live the minimum wage service worker.

Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory

Hm. It keeps telling me these women are sexually attracted to other women but without describing any of them thinking about other women in a sexual manner at all. Both POV characters are constantly saying the other is super hot, without describing what is hot about her. Does she have big boobs, long legs, nice eyes? Who knows! Sometimes their clothes are described at least. It's not even that it's not explicit they're not... in their bodies enough? Not having enough bodily reactions to things, or reacting enough to body things, even when doing body-related events like salsa dancing and attending a burlesque show. The sex scenes felt like Insert Finger A into Hole B, rote lists of events with no emotion attached to them. Remarkably unhorny for a book with multiple sex scenes. Felt like an “eat your vegetables” kind of F/F. Also I found it implausible that Taylor's long string of exes were all just totally fine and cool with no longer dating Taylor and that there were zero lingering messy feelings on anyone's part at all.

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

Fun enough, a fairytale twist/retelling. Short and sweet. I wish I was allowed to write novellas.

Cover Story by Celia Laskey

OP said this was originally set in present day and then rewritten to be in 2005 and it was not rewritten hard enough because it does Not feel like 2005 at all. Characters reference memes and fashion trends that did not exist in 2005 and there’s not nearly enough ambient homophobia to be plausible/make the closet thing make any sense, especially with how the characters talk about being gay and out in a very not-2005 kind of way. They weren't even doing Target Pride Collections yet in 2005! I have a weakness for mid-2000s chick lit and that’s why this feels so off to me. It doesn’t sound like the Devil Wears Prada, or Sex and the City, or any of those types of books. But Y2K is in and cool now, OP should’ve leaned into it more! Sex scenes and relationship were both fine enough I guess.
Hilariously the book got one-star bombed by Swifties accusing OP of being a Gaylor which, if that's true, I did not pick up on it because the Celebrity Character read a lot more like a knockoff Kristen Stewart than anyone else.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Very short, but dense. Lots going on. Very clear atmosphere and very direct story.

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

Very cruel sequel hook, very topical and pointed subject matter. I don’t know if it’s a stylistic choice or the editor just ignored it but none of the dialogue is punctuated correctly? Otherwise the prose is fine and that one Goodreads reviewer was exaggerating. The magic system made sense.

Nicked by M. T. Anderson

FIVE STAR READ: whimsical, funny, entertaining, AND gay. M. T. Anderson is so good at words, the opening and ending both hit so well. Loved, loved, loved. Might have to buy a copy now.

Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel's Tween Empire by Ashley Spencer

I stayed up late to inhale this but I don’t know if I’d call this “good,” I was just a disney channel kid at exactly the correct time to be invested in extra lore about my childhood favorite shows. I don’t think the structure worked well, it should’ve been chronological because a lot of the later chapters had overlapping “recurring characters” I guess (like the Jonas Brothers, Miley, Selena, Demi, etc) and that got confusing. The “fall” part in the title happened entirely in a 5 page epilogue, which, lol. Overall feeling was that Disney Channel was really good when the author was at the right age to enjoy it and got worse when they grew out of it. Fortunately this coincided perfectly with the age I was watching it so I had fun reading about things I cared about when I was young.

Like Real People Do by E.L. Massey

Decent fic that doesn’t function as well on its own.

How to Summon a Fairy Godmother by Laura J. Mayo

Not funny but trying very hard to be. Ending was extremely satisfying, but most of the buildup to it was less satisfying. Everyone kept speaking in big paragraphs with no body language or description to break it up, which annoyed me.

Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner

Read for reference on my romantasy wip and I did enjoy it a lot. Reminded me of Nicked lol. I liked the worldbuilding and the characters.
Personal updates: starting my editorial internship next week aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. hopefully it goes well!