Black Wine

This was a strange and difficult novel. Not difficult to read the way that words are read, but difficult to process, emotionally. It's very strong on feminism by way of how much crap women go through in these pages. It's ostensibly a fantasy with lots of adventure and traveling, but through different......more

I got this book as a birthday present from my sister. As soon as I was done reading it (with that shuddering pleasure that only the absolute best books give you), I passed it back to her to read... and I still haven't got it back, because when she was done, she gave it to her boyfriend to read (someo......more

This is one of the more fascinating novels I have read in a long time. Very stylized and well structured.The book reminded me a lot of Gene Wolfe’s books in the surreal and dark world it creates. The themes dealt with in this are similar to that of Ursula Le Guin. All the major characters here are f......more

A woman flees her despotic family and home; a woman bereft of family traces retraces her mother's footsteps towards that same home. I love how Jo Walton writes on this book, because that rhapsodizing is a necessary counterbalance to some of the objective flaws. The dense, mirrored, disjointed plotli......more

Reading this book felt like a dream. And sometimes a nightmare. The setup of the book was really unique and intriguing, in the first half. The way the story lines seem disconnected and eventually intertwine is perfect, but I can see where some would find the vagueness annoying. This kind of flowery......more