November was a rollercoaster of a month. I officially applied to graduate school at the end of the month, so working on those applications kept me pretty busy. I somehow managed to read three books in the last week and a half of the month, mostly to procrastinate finishing my grad school apps (whoops). Now that applications have ended, I’m hoping to be more consistent about reading and updating this blog! So, I’m reviving my feeble attempts at a monthly reading wrap-up that I started in April!
Things you can expect in this post:
- Monthly reading stats!
- Me gushing about the books I read in November because, yes, I liked them all (including my rating for each one)
- My new favorite book series
Monthly Reading Stats:
Books Read: 3
Pages Read: 1181
Average Rating: 4.33
November Favorite: 🌟The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang🌟
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven: 🌟🌟🌟
Trigger warning about this book: the book is centered around the main characters’ struggles with mental health. Namely, depression, bipolar disorder, and suicide. If this is a trigger for you, I DO NOT recommend this book, and please skip this section of the post.
Before starting All the Bright Places, I expected to actively dislike this book. I was expecting a John Green-esque teen novel with a male “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” type character that discusses mental health in a superficial, almost toxic, way. The Goodreads blurb actually describes the book as, “The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park.” I loved both of those in high school, but it isn’t typically the kind of story I gravitate towards now. I also have my own criticisms of both that I won’t get into here. This gist is: I had low expectations for this book.
In some ways, this book is exactly what I expected. The two main characters are “quirky”, they bond over their struggles with depression and go on road trips where they do “quirky” things and quote Virginia Woolf at each other. It’s overdone, but it’s cute sometimes. My main critique here is that sometimes things did feel romanticized a bit.
Amidst my critiques, I felt that Niven did a good job of weaving in the importance of good support networks for teenagers struggling with mental health. One of the main characters, Violet, struggles with depression and survivor’s guilt after the death of her sister, Eleanor, in a car accident. Her parents often gloss over the magnitude of the situation and tip-toe around Eleanor’s death for months. They’ve convinced themselves that Violet just needs time when a more active role would have been more beneficial. The other main character, Finch, is struggling to manage undiagnosed bipolar disorder. He’s just awoken from a period that he refers to as “Asleep” and is fighting to stay in the “Awake”. His mom is physically present but emotionally absent, and his father is largely absent on both accounts. His guidance counselor at school recognizes what he’s dealing with and attempts to work with the parents, but doesn’t quite follow through. Both characters experience suicidal thoughts that are unknown to their parents and other support systems.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. It was emotional but very readable. That being said, mental health and mental illness representation is extremely complicated and the writing is often interpreted differently by everyone. This story definitely isn’t a perfect representation of the illnesses it discusses, and while aspects of this book resonated with my experiences, those same pieces may feel problematic or unhelpful to others. So, read it if you’d like, but it definitely won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.
They Will Drown in Their Mother’s Tears by Johannes Anyuru: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This is probably the most unique book I’ve read this year. I picked it up on a whim from the new fiction section at McNally Jackson. I thought it sounded interesting but was blown away by what I ended up reading. This book is rooted firmly in speculative fiction but gives strong commentary on state-sanctioned violence and Islamophobia in Sweden.
The book begins with a terrorist attack on a comic book store targeting an artist known for making controversial and anti-Islam cartoons. The story focuses on the surviving attacker. She’s sentenced to an institution for the criminally insane because she believes she is from an alternate version of future Sweden where the terrorist attack did succeed and Sweden developed into a fascist state driven by Islamophobia. Non-swedes are forced to sign an annual Citizen Contract or are forced to live in government-controlled ghettos as enemies of the state. She delivers her story to an author who is also a Muslim immigrant. He becomes increasingly drawn in by her story. He reflects on his own experiences in Sweden and the increasing discomfort that he and many other Swedish Muslims are experiencing. Over time the author becomes less sure of what is reality and what is not. Something about this woman feels oddly familiar to him and her description of the future sounds plausible given the current state of affairs in Sweden.
Anyuru’s writing here is brilliant and complex. He explores ideas about what it means to be Swedish, feeling unwanted and out-of-place in the only home you’ve ever known, and the dangers of unchecked racism and xenophobia. The speculative elements add an extra layer of mystery to the story. Here the ambiguity of reality is a perfect fit for the topic and kept me wanting to read more.
I won’t write much more so I don’t give away the most interesting plot developments, but would definitely recommend this book to anyone. If you’re especially interested in reading translated works, this is a great one!
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Wow. This book is brilliant. I cannot speak highly enough of this series, and Kuang. The book tells the story of Fang Runin (Rin), an orphaned peasant who is raised by an adoptive family that didn’t want her. They use her to run their shop and hope to eventually marry her off to a trade official to benefit their black-market opium dealings. Refusing to accept that fate, she aces the nationwide talent exam and is accepted to Sinegard, the most prestigious academy in the country. Here she is trained to excel at military command and unexpectedly finds that she can commune with the gods through shamanic abilities. She struggles to grapple with her own abilities which often conflict with the life trajectory that she envisioned for herself.
Her schooling ends abruptly with the onset of a war between her home country, Nikara, and the neighboring Federation of Mugen. She faces the tragedies of war head-on: death, destruction, starvation, and a refugee crisis. Her uncontrolled shamanic abilities add another layer of unpredictability to the mix.
While the premise seems young adult, this book is definitely not in that category. It’s the epitome of grimdark fantasy and focuses on the challenges of war and international relations more than Rin’s time at school. The world draws inspiration from the Song dynasty in China and the Second Sino-Japanese War. The country of Nikara has a long and beautifully complex history. It’s rich in Chinese culture: exploring religion, politics, geography, and international relations between Nikara and other nations. Kuang is currently getting her Ph.D. in East Asian studies, so she’s an expert at weaving those elements into her stories.
I finished this book in less than a week and immediately picked up the next one, The Dragon Republic from my library. It’s a trilogy (and just got a deal for a tv series) so there’s no need to worry about running out of content to read anytime soon!
If you enjoy fantasy, history, and political drama (think Avatar: The Last Airbender, Game of Thrones, etc) you’ll love this series!
Books I’m most excited to read in December:
- The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang (Poppy War, #2)
- War Storm by Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen, #4)
Check out my Goodreads page for what I’m currently reading and for book recommendations!
Let me know what you read this month in the comments below!
Much love,
Taylor
