“An Unkindness of Ghosts” Review

Posted on by Jen

“An Unkindness of Ghosts” by Rivers Solomon

Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She’s used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, she’d be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remains of her world.

Aster lives in the lowdeck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship’s leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer, Aster learns there may be a way to improve her lot–if she’s willing to sow the seeds of civil war.

Review

I’ve been meaning to re-read all of Rivers’ earlier books so that I could review them for my blog. This is Rivers’ first and I really enjoyed it. It’s not entirely clear when the ship left Earth or how it ended up the way it did. But it’s also clear that a lot of information has been lost due to time and how bad things have gotten on the ship. The ship is set up so that those who live on the upper decks are white, rich and living comfortably; while everyone in the lower decks who are darker skinned suffers in poverty and near freezing temperatures. It’s a dark and sad story but it does a good job exploring various themes relating to how things were in times of slavery. I also felt like the book did a great job exploring the themes of neurodivergence and gender identity. It may be set in the future but it’s a reminder of how little things change relating to how badly people treat each other. It’s also a story about how people will do whatever it takes to live or die on their own terms.

Along side all this Aster has been attempting to find out more about her mother who she originally believed died at childbirth. Through journals she discovers there is a lot more to the story. I liked the way Aster kept trying to figure everything out despite everything that was happening. While I did feel like the ending chapters were a bit rushed and the ending abrupt, I have to admit it works for the way things played out.

Warnings and additional reviews can be found on the StoryGraph page for “An Unkindness of Ghosts”

Book Details

The cover is a pale field of stars with grays and light blues and in the stars is the face of a young person looking towards the left with their head slightly turned forward and eyes looking forwards too. The face takes up most of the book and the title is written over their forehead and the author's name at the bottom.

Author’s Website
Rivers Solomon
Publisher / Date
Akashic Books / October 2017
Genre
Science Fiction, Dystopian
Page Count
349
Completion Date
June 20, 2025

“Hijab Butch Blues” Review

Posted on by Jen

“Hijab Butch Blues” by Lamya H

When fourteen-year-old Lamya H realizes she has a crush on her teacher—her female teacher—she covers up her attraction, an attraction she can’t yet name, by playing up her roles as overachiever and class clown. Born in South Asia, she moved to the Middle East at a young age and has spent years feeling out of place, like her own desires and dreams don’t matter, and it’s easier to hide in plain sight. To disappear. But one day in Quran class, she reads a passage about Maryam that changes everything: When Maryam learned that she was pregnant, she insisted no man had touched her. Could Maryam, uninterested in men, be . . . like Lamya?

From that moment on, Lamya makes sense of her struggles and triumphs by comparing her experiences with some of the most famous stories in the Quran. She juxtaposes her coming out with Musa liberating his people from the pharoah; asks if Allah, who is neither male nor female, might instead be nonbinary; and, drawing on the faith and hope Nuh needed to construct his ark, begins to build a life of her own—ultimately finding that the answer to her lifelong quest for community and belonging lies in owning her identity as a queer, devout Muslim immigrant.

Review

I really enjoyed reading this memoir. I think the way Lamya uses stories from the Quran to make sense of her own story was interesting. I feel like I learned things from both her explanations of the stories in the Quran and her own life. I felt reading the memoir made me curious to hear other Muslim stories and experiences. I wish the author hadn’t had to write this anonymously but I understand why it had to be. Being anonymous actually gave the author more freedom to tell her own story and be unapologetically queer and Muslim.

In the version of the ebook I read there is an edited transcript of selected portions of an interview between Lamya H and Roxane Gay for the Audacious Book Club from March 30, 2023. I highly recommend reading that interview after reading the memoir as it provides some additional context and explanations.

Book Details

The background of the cover has verious streaks of color - blue, orange red, green and darker green from top to bottom in broad strokes. Over those colors is the profile of a woman in a Hijab turned towards the left with only a small part of her face visible. The title is written near the top with the authors name at the bottom.

Author’s Website
Lamya H
Publisher / Date
The Dial Press, February 2023
Genre
Memoir
Page Count
284
Completion Date
June 17, 2025

“Interstellar MegaChef” Review

Posted on by Jen

“Interstellar MegaChef” (Flavour Hacker No. 1) by Lavanya Lakshminarayan

Stepping off a long-haul star freighter with one bag of clothes, her little flying robot Kili and the forged documents she used to flee Earth, Saraswati Kaveri is ready to take on the world. Primus, the oldest and most powerful colony in the United Human Cooperative, is the heart of all art and culture. Primian food is the highest and most sophisticated cuisine in the galaxy. And Interstellar MegaChef, now in its twenty-fifth year of broadcasting, is the showcase and standard of that cuisine. And this year—no matter what obstacles Primus throws in her way, whatever prejudices she encounters, however they sneer on her “Earthling” tastes and methods—Saraswati’s going to win it.

Review

This book was a bit complicated and I’m not entirely sold on any of the characters. It’s described in some places as satire so that explains why things seem to be exaggerated (while also realistic in some ways). That said it’s a fun book and many of the characters were interesting. It’s just that the main characters weren’t the most likable. I did like the fact that there was some character development towards the end but I felt like some realizations came a little too late. Food was obviously a big theme of the book and I really enjoyed all the ways it was described. The central conflict between the way Primian food has been developed and Saraswati’s food knowledge from Earth was well done. I also liked what the book had to say about racism and xenophobia. While the ending isn’t exactly a cliffhanger there were a few important plot lines left unresolved, however this is meant to be the first book in a series and I’m interested in seeing how things progress.

Additional reviews and warnings can be found on the StoryGraph page for “Interstellar MegaChef”

Book Details

The Cover of the book is a view of space that ranges from light purple at the top to black at the bottom. There is a large donut with pink frosting and sprinkles taking up most of the center of the cover. Also around the over are various pieces of sliced vegetables - mushrooms, carrot, zucchini, and leaves from herbs. The title is near the bottom of the book in yellow and red and below that is the authors name in yellow.

Author’s Website
Lavanya Lakshminarayan (BlueSky)
Publisher / Date
Rebellion, November 2024
Genre
Science Fiction
Page Count
415
Completion Date
May 25, 2025

My LTEs, Op-Ed, and Newsletter

Posted on by Jen

I’ve had two Letters to the Editor and an Op-Ed published in Local Newspapers:

Letter: ‘We need to improve our healthcare systems and access to mental health’
Community Advocate May 19, 2025 (Scroll down to the bottom of the page to read the letter)
Opinion/Guest column: Kennedy, Trump not ‘helping disabled
Published in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette on May 4, 2025
Letter: ‘We are all in danger from the current administration’
Published in the Community Advocate April 13, 2025 (Scroll down to the bottom of the page to read the letter)

I also started a newsletter which is primarily a weekly list of disability related news:
Jen’s Newsletter Archive

“The Maid and the Crocodile” Review

Posted on by Jen

“The Maid and the Crocodile” (A Raybearer Story) by Jordan Ifueko

In the magic-soaked capital city of Oluwan, Small Sade needs a job—preferably as a maid, with employers who don’t mind her unique appearance and unlucky foot. But before she can be hired, she accidentally binds herself to a powerful being known only as the Crocodile, a god rumored to devour pretty girls. Small Sade entrances the Crocodile with her secret: she is a Curse Eater, gifted with the ability to alter people’s fates by cleaning their houses.

The handsome god warns that their fates are bound, but Small Sade evades him, launching herself into a new career as the Curse Eater of a swanky inn. She is determined to impress the wealthy inhabitants and earn her place in Oluwan City . . . assuming her secret-filled past—and the revolutionary ambitions of the Crocodile God—don’t catch up with her.

But maybe there is more to Small Sade. And maybe everyone in Oluwan City deserves more, too, from the maids all the way to the Anointed Ones.

Review

I wasn’t entirely sure if this book was going to be my cup of tea because of the romance, but I wanted to give it a chance because it’s set in the same universe as the author’s Raybearer duology which I enjoyed. As it turns out the romance was actually very in the background. Both Small Shade and Crocodile had a lot of things to work through before anything could happen and I loved the story all the more for that. I also really liked the way the author flipped the focus so that we see the commoner point of view of the results of the work done in the original books. While many things were solved by the new rulers in those books, there were a lot of gaps and unintended consequences that Small Shade encountered.

Both characters ended up learning a lot from each other – coming from different worlds and everything that that entails. Small Shade is someone who has long lived under the idea that she must “know her place” and never cause problems because it will only make things worse for her. But there comes a time when making noise and protesting what is happening is just as vital to survival. Crocodile, meanwhile needs to learn what it’s like to not have anything and what not having choices actually means.

I also really liked the disability elements in this story – Small Sade is physically disabled from an accident that crushed her foot, and also dyslexic (though it’s not a diagnosis that exist in this universe). In both cases her disabilities end up adding more to the plot and more ideas for changes.

Additional reviews and warnings can be found on the StoryGraph page for “The Maid and the Crocodile”

Book Details

The background of the cover has various colors and depicts a young Black woman on the right side turned to the left with har hand up in the air. She is wearing a head band of green plants and a pale yellow wrapper around her body. On the left side of the cover is a black image of a crocodile. The title of the book is written out in the center of the cover one word on each line with the author's name at the bottom.

Author’s Website
Jordan Ifueko
Publisher / Date
Amulet Books, August 2024
Genre
Fantasy, Young Adult
Page Count
289
Completion Date
May 7, 2025

“Lone Women” Review

Posted on by Jen

“Lone Women” by Victor LaValle

Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear.

The year is 1915, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, forcing her to flee California in a hellfire rush and make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will become one of the “lone women” taking advantage of the government’s offer of free land for those who can tame it—except that Adelaide isn’t alone. And the secret she’s tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing that will help her survive the harsh territory.

Crafted by a modern master of magical suspense, Lone Women blends shimmering prose, an unforgettable cast of adventurers who find horror and sisterhood in a brutal landscape, and a portrait of early-twentieth-century America like you’ve never seen. And at its heart is the gripping story of a woman desperate to bury her past—or redeem it.

Review

This book was interesting to read and in some ways both simple and a lot more complicated than it initially seems. There are multiple themes going on throughout the book such as racism, sexism and ableism. The reality of Adelaide’s secret is hard to explain without spoiling the whole thing but there are parallels to various issues around disability and responsibilities. I had a few moments where I was concerned about how the book was going to handle those issues, but the ending resolved most of my concerns.

There are multiple plot threads going on through out the book and I liked the way the characters interacted and the various relationships that were shown. There were a couple things that didn’t get explained as well as I’d have liked (as an example it’s not clear how Adelaide and everyone actually survived on their own as they didn’t seem to have access to supplies). I liked all the characters Adelaide ends up being friends with and the way the ending was described. Though I did end up wishing more was said about the future of one character who ended up being my favorite.

Additional reviews and warnings can be found on the StoryGraph page for “Lone Women”

Book Details

The book cover depicts a red cloudy sky with the rest of the cover in gray, black and white. There is a woman walking towards the right side of the cover. She is wearing a dress with her hair in a bun at the top of her head and carrying a shotgun. The ground she is walking on has branches all over the place and has the appearance f a vast plain. The title is shown at the center of the cover over partially written over the woman and then the author's name is at the bottom.

Author’s Website
Victor LaValle
Publisher / Date
One World, March 2023
Genre
Horror, Historical Fiction
Page Count
320
Completion Date
May 3, 2025