mariebrunelm's reviews
435 reviews

Queer Voices From The Fight For Palestinian Liberation by Yazan Zahzah, June Jordan, zaheer Suboh, Kyle Carrero Lopez

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challenging informative reflective fast-paced

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BFFs: The Radical Potential of Female Friendship by Anahit Behrooz

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This short and sweet essay from 404 Inklings is a tender and researched exploration of, like the title suggests, the potential of friendship between women (whether cis or trans). Society & culture often prefer to show us women pitted against each other, because the truth is, we are so much more powerful when we league against whoever would separate us. But this essay also celebrates intimacy beyond romantic & sexual relationships, and I loved it for that. Behrooz explores with care and well-chosen words the unique bond between girls or women who share absolute trust. She charts portrayals in books, movies, tv shows and in her own experience to invite us to think or maybe rethink friendship as just important, if not more, as romantic and sexual relationships. 
Yojimbot - Part 1 by Sylvain Repos

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
Qu’est-ce qui vous attire vers une bande-dessinée / un comics / un manga ? Moi, c’est l’image. Non que l’histoire n’ait pas d’importance, mais si je n’aime pas le style graphique, je ne m’intéresserait pas à l’histoire.
J’ai emprunté Yojimbot à la bibliothèque purement pour le dessin, quand je l’ai entraperçu dans la recommandation d’un.e ami.e sur instagram. Et je n’ai pas été déçue, entre le trait et la couleur, tout est beau. Le principe était intrigant, aussi, avec ces robots qui vaquent à leurs occupations dans une sorte de parc de loisirs au Japon, déserté depuis qu’une catastrophe a forcé les humains à trouver refuge sous terre. A l’exception d’un enfant, qui se lie d’amitié avec un robot. Malheureusement, c’était beaucoup trop violent à mon goût, et avec les bandes-dessinées on n’a pas l’option de lire en diagonale pour éviter les descriptions trop graphiques. Je dirais cependant que si vous aimez Westworld, vous devriez jeter un œil à Yojimbot !
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The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

How aren’t more people talking about this book ?
Imagine a slow-paced, gentle cosy political fantasy following the man closest to the Emperor, charged with changing the world government so that it favours the many rather than the few. Imagine a vast world, plenty of different cultures, and a region of scattered islands reminiscent of Polynesia where our main character, Cliopher, comes from. Imagine the kindest man, the one most devoted to peace and fairness, and also to his Emperor, and also to his native land, learning to honour his origins and take a stand for what he believes is just. Imagine Cliopher, the Hands of the Emperor, tasked with making sure people have decent living conditions ? Reforming all the government institutions that need it to eradicate privilege ?? Creating a universal wage ??? And all the while building this relationship of trust and love with his Emperor and letting him show the man behind court policies and religious taboos ?
I don’t know how to convince you to read this gem of a book, except by adding that it was the perfect soothing read in a very scary political time here in France. Just like Becky Chambers, Victoria Goddard makes me believe that we as humans can grow to open our hearts to each other and create a system of government that is fair.
Rep : black & brown characters, discreet but omnipresent queer rep.
 
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A Line Made by Walking by Sara Baume

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dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Frankie’s grand-mother has just passed away and the young artist has decided to take residence in her Irish-countryside cottage. There, she witnesses death in all forms and records it in a photographic project.
I was attracted to this book because of the rural Irish setting, the artist protagonist and the reflection on death and memory. I gleefully ignored the part where it said the main character took pictures of dead animals for her artistic project, and I certainly wasn’t expecting these pictures to feature at the opening of all ten parts. Which, you know, isn’t the most pleasant thing to find and didn’t make me feel particularly kindly towards the protagonist. So there was a level of discomfort in my reading experience that doesn’t especially do justice to the book, but I’ve read great reviews so I know it’s just me.
The narration is done in short sequences alternating between past and present, following Frankie’s train of thoughts. It lent a sort of impressionist air to the narrative which relies more on character observations than on any sort of plot.
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The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow

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dark mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

“You were a child the first time the Saint of War came to you.”
So begins this short story featuring a Joan of Arc-type character in a twisted epic fantasy plot about free will and destiny and legend. It’s very satisfying and also very short, so I won’t give you more than the first line and also this one : “If they do not know you, they cannot fear you.”
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Diag Race: Un zine par Florence Rivières et Coline Sentenac by Florence Rivières, Coline Sentenac

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challenging dark reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Ce zine auto-publié par l’auteurice rassemble des nouvelles et des poèmes autour des violences médicales. Dis comme ça, ce n’est peut-être pas très engageant, mais les textes sont de grande qualité et servis avec des photographies qui renforcent le thème. J’ai beaucoup aimé, dans les nouvelles, l’inconfort qui s’installe et l’hésitation qui infuse les histoires. Face à des institutions qui semblent vouloir leur bien, certains personnages ne sont pas si sûr.e.s de leurs perceptions, et l’auteurice retranscrit à merveille cette hésitation.
Ce petit ouvrage tout à fait unique est tout à fait puissant et “packs a punch” comme disent les anglophones.
 
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Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Lesbian necromancers in space, anyone ? That premise might sound too good to be true, but that book delivers. It is a wild ride, so dark and so fun at the same time.
Gideon was born in the Ninth House, a decrepit place full of decrepit people. She can’t wait to get out but when she finally makes an escape plan things don’t quite go according to plan and she ends up playing bodyguard for the Reverend Daughter, heir to the House, instead. In addition, they are invited to what is basically an escape game with candidates from the other eight houses in a weird palace in which things will definitely not go according to plan.
This book is so unique and, once again, pure fun. I giggled at the author’s way of describing things and people. Sure, over 18 characters were way too much for my tired brain to compute, but even then I had a great time following grumpy Gideon and grumpier Harrow (or the reverse — who knows who’d win a grumpy contest between those two). This book is filled to the brim with badassery, but also with heart, and it scratched an itch I didn’t know I had.
Rep: go lesbians !
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Maître des djinns by P. Djèlí Clark

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Imaginez-vous au Caire en 1912, dans un monde où les Djinns ont réapparu et se sont mêlés avec plus ou moins de succès à la population humaine. Imaginez un monde où les puissances européennes coloniales battent de l’aile et où l’Egypte et les autres pays africains prennent une véritable place sur l’échiquier international. Imaginez enfin une enquêtrice à qui on ne la fait pas, vêtue de ses plus beaux costumes de dandy, à qui on confie une enquête pour de multiples meurtres des plus mystérieux.
Quel livre fun et malin ! Je voudrais plus de littérature spéculative de cette sorte. Un imaginaire audacieux soutenu par une belle plume, et qui même le pur divertissement avec une vraie conscience politique.
Je veux aussi féliciter la traductrice Mathilde Montier, dont j’avais déjà admiré le travail sur les novellas de P. Djèlí Clark et qui fait preuve ici aussi d’excellence. Je lis peu de fiction traduite quand elle vient de l’anglais car je suis très difficile, mais ici je me suis régalée.
Rep : PP lesbienne et musulmane.
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No
This novella takes the shape of a long letter from the engineer in a crew of four sent on a mission to explore four planets. The reason for this letter is unclear at first but it is explained bit by bit and yes, it is heartbreaking, as all of Becky Chambers’ stories are. They break your heart to let the light seep in.
The narrative is quite limited in this novella so I won’t go into details, but it has everything that makes a perfect book - endearing characters who treat each other with the utmost respect, a queer cast, huge questions put into simple words, and so much heart. If you haven’t yet read a book by Becky Chambers, please rush. If you have, you know what I’m talking about.
Rep: bi MC, asexual SC, trans SC.