So I’m back on a reading binge these days and I’m feeling all kinds of fun funky feelings about books again! I wanted a little spot/series where I talk about them. I’m not planning most of this so here’s what I’ve read this year so far.
A lot of these can probably be found on my Books That Are My Jam list though as I was making it I figured I wanted to really hone it in to books I feel Feral over. Hence making a couple posts like this to kinda go over honourable mentions and stories that still made me feel something even if it was the massive desire to script doctor the shit out of it.
So here we are! Lets get into it!
READS SO FAR:
[between January 2026 & March 2026]
THE CHAOS WALKING TRILOGY – PATRICK NESS, I went back to this series just to get myself on that reading kick~ The first two books of this trilogy are extremely strong. Taking the premise of, ‘oops is a sci fi where colonists land on a planet that allows men’s thoughts to be heard & women’s not at all’ could have taken a real sour turn–but Ness’ writing is incredible here, using this premise to underline toxic behaviours between men, how that’s imparted on young boys and how this kind of mentality can really quickly turn itself into fascism. Unfortunately this IS a YA fiction from the aughts… the romance between the main characters is… tough swallow imho. The final book really suffers the landing, a lot of the themes get tossed out the window for a sake of a bombastic series of events, especially where the planet’s native inhabitants are concerned.
His writing style is incredibly addictive though, and the skill with which he turns the simple understandings of the main protagonist(s) to tackle such big themes is pretty–just wow.
SCOUT IS NOT A BAND KID – JADE ARMSTRONG, so I needed something completely different after Chaos Walking and picked up a graphic novel. I didn’t really know what to expect from this one, it was sitting on my shelf for a while (I’m so sorry Jade) and was pleasantly surprised at how engaging the characters were in this contemporary fic. Scout doesn’t really want to be a band kid (or does she??) and that really does mess with her friends. Its a really good messy romp about friendship, finding what fits for you and really doesn’t lose its teeth on the moments that actually hurt.
SUNWARD – WILLIAM ALEXANDER, I was sold on the idea of a tired postal worker raising baby androids and the characters really jumped off the page from there as I started reading it. I’m a bit of a sucker for a book that has (what feels like) massive world building but we, the reader are just given one small instance in its grand scheme. There’s a charm to it, makes it feel so much homey-er.
WALKING PRACTICE – DOLKI MIN, This one was fucking crazy. The main character is a shifter who feeds on humans to keep living. It’s fucking gross and fucking hilarious. I’ll never walk up a flight of stairs again without thinking of this protagonist’s absolute utter disdain for them. Me too, buddy, me too. It was having a whole lot of fun with Gender. I’m still reeling at the ending. I think it’s going to need another reread or two before I can fully grasp what the author was doing in this short-stacked story.
MORE THAN THIS – PATRICK NESS, god, Patrick what are you doing to me here. I guess major warning is don’t go into this one if you’re struggling with unreality. It’s not going to give you straight answers. But the answers it did give really struck a chord. What happens when you kill yourself… and find out your whole life was a simulation…was that life a simulation? Or is this new purgatory one? Does that really matter in the end? I really like the take-away being that even virtual experiences (especially in an era where long-distance friendships and relationships were starting to be a more cultural norm) matter. Especially if they really matter to you.
A PSALM FOR THE WILD BUILT – BECKY CHAMBERS, okay well not to be a baby or whatever but while Ness’ book already had me weak and weepy, this book came for me in a much stronger way. Ough I was crying…more than once throughout this ending. I think I’ve also just got a sore spot for a character that Overdoes and is fixated on some sort of Purpose being asked, “Why?” and not having a real answer. Idk!! Idk!! I just need to be Useful!! Anyway. I’m fine.
DOCILE – K.M. SZPARA, Well… this one had promise but it failed to pick a direction. There were a lot of fun things that could have happened in this book, but it felt really held back. It was almost a DNF but I’m a sucker and by the time I decided I didn’t care for the story I’d finished reading it. It uh… sure gave me a lot to rant about.
HELL’S HEART – ALEXIS HALL, I’m an asshole who only listened to about 20 chapters of Moby Dick via audiobook so I can’t attest to how fully this retelling keeps to it–but it DOES seem to keep to the narrative structure of Moby Dick–except in space, in Jupiter’s stormy skies hunting leviathans instead of sperm whales. Um… this book was incredibly fun and I found myself laughing–the main character is a riot. Give me a bi disaster transfem any day. I was often reading passages out loud to my partner when I couldn’t keep from snickering. I fell in love with Hall’s versions of all these characters. So much so–I did really want to sit still and simmer in some scenes with these character’s personalities.
It WAS a retelling, though. I get wanting to keep to the source material. Honestly I’m just about ready to jump into Moby Dick properly after all that. I know I ought to read it before I decide to reread this one.
I’m halfway through another book but I think I’m gonna tack that one on to the next post. I will say that ALL but the first trilogy (CHAOS WALKING) featured prominent queer characters in all of their casts. Chaos Walking does feature: Tragic Gay Dads but its a dystopia so someone’s gotta die.
IDK! If you’ve read any of these let me know what you thought! These are just quick blurbs but I have Thorts and Opinions about pretty much all of these!
Anyway happy reading!