Reading as a Writer: The Enchanted Greenhouse

As with most of the books I've read this year, I picked up The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst on a whim at the library. I didn't realize it wasn't a stand-alone novel until midway through the book, while in conversation with a friend about how much I was enjoying it. I also didn't know until after I'd finished reading that it was sold by my Futurescapes main faculty, who I met the very weekend I read this!

Overall, I thought this was a really fun, escapist book. Like Hart & Mercy, it has a strong romantic plot that felt more like a cozy romance than what I'd expect from romantasy, even though it is definitely a fantasy novel.

At times I found myself skimming over some of the setting description to arrive more quickly at the emotional core of the story. I suspect this is a downside of a cozier version of romantasy: the world-building isn't central to the plot, so it's easy enough to skip without losing the thread of the story. That makes it less work for the reader to consume, but also means the reader might miss out on important (or fun!) details. All that said, I loved the way this world came together (why is she purple? doesn't matter!!) and the ways that the world so obviously impacted the character's beliefs and misbeliefs.

One thing that I was (very mildly) disappointed by was that I had a suspicion throughout the whole novel about how Terlu arrived on the island--and I was wrong! This left me feeling (again, very mildly) unsatisfied with the ending because I was waiting for that shoe to drop until the very end. I suspect that this might have been prevented had I read the earlier book first--which I definitely plan to read next!

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AMM Connect

This is my public declaration that I am officially throwing myself (bodily) in to the ring/goblet/hat as an Author Mentor Match round 7 hopeful! As someone who recently organized my google drive, I have to admit that while I've only considered myself to be writing "seriously" for about two years, I've been doing this for ... a while. I've participated in at least one Nano Camp every year since 2012. Of those, I've written "the end" on five full novels and one novella. I've queried two of those novels and the novella, and while the rejections have been very encouraging, they've all still been rejections. After spending about a year and a half working on the same WIP over and over and over, I decided it was time for something new. Currently, I'm working on a lower-YA fantasy in which a pair of 14-year olds with strange powers fight to save their town, while trying to find their places in it. Featuring giant centipedes,...

Reading as a Writer: Children of Time

A coworker challenged me to read Children of Time as part of our 2-person sci-fi book club. My heart sank when I opened the cover to read the first line: I'd tried to read this book before as an audiobook on a road trip with my husband the year before. He adored this book and was excited to share it with me, and I couldn't get through a half-chapter without falling asleep. But, since I'd committed to reading it before realizing which book it was, I sat down to finally read it. And just like my husband suggested, I flew through it. Of course, it did take three mediums to read this--I read the first third in the physical book, then switched to audio book on another road trip, then finished it on e-book during an unexpected train delay. Separate from the experience of reading the book, I felt very lucky to have access to so many different library resources to get me through the finish line! I probably would not have picked this book up if not for the joint cajoling of my hus...

Reading as a Writer: Hungerstone

I read Kat Dunn's Hungerstone because I had to. I'd exhausted all the other books in my library stack, and half of them were overdue, too. Those I read without joy, as a way to distract myself through a family health crisis. It barely worked. Everything I read for a month left me listless. So when I picked up Hungerstone, I expected more of the same. I was mistaken! I loved this book. It was exactly what I needed to pull me firmly out of reality and into the mad world of Nethershaw. It was violent without being gory, emotional without tripping any of my sensitive wires. And the voice was excellent. By the middle of this book I was debating whether I should give first person a try too on my next novel. While reading circumstances weren't great, I really enjoyed this book and will read more of this author.

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