Like the Comet

February may be the shortest month of the year, and smack dab in the middle of the depressing winter months, but it’s also my birthday month, so I’m a fan.

I was on the struggle bus with reading in February - found myself in a bit of a “reading funk,” if you will - so, I didn’t read as many books as I had hoped.

But, nonetheless, let’s get into the short stack of books I read last month!

*Summaries are paraphrased and/or taken from Goodreads.

I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST by Mason Deaver

Rating: 3.7/5 stars

Summary: When Ben DeBacker comes out to their parents as non-binary, they’re thrown out of their house and finds refuge with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder worsened by their parents’ rejection, Ben come out to only a couple of people including a therapist.

Ben’s attempts to survive the last half of senior year at a new school by keeping a low profile are hindered when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic guy, takes Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan’s friendship grows, their feelings for each other evolve, and what started as a disastrous situation turns into the chance to start a happier life.

My Thoughts: This was an incredibly powerful book that touches on identity, acceptance, complex family issues, mental illness, and more. It dove into areas that, as a cis woman, I would’ve never thought about in terms of sexuality as it relates to gender identity. For example, Ben’s sister, Hannah, asks them what gender they’re into, and they explain that they don’t know because although they gravitate towards more masculine-looking people, they don’t want to say they’re bisexual because that would discount nonbinary people, and who is Ben to determine someone’s gender is more attractive than another? Besides David Rose’s wine metaphor in Schitt’s Creek, I haven’t encountered any explanations on this topic that were as eye-opening as the ones in this book. My main critique is although it was dripping with emotion during the pivotal parts, everything in between was kind of dry. I found myself really pushing to get through the lulls to get to the next high where the story picked up pace again. I also think the supporting characters deserved a little more page time because the author gave them really distinct personalities that added texture to the story, but they weren’t utilized enough. Overall, I think this was a really impactful book that I believe a lot of people would benefit from reading.

THE HOUSE OF DEEP WATER by Jeni McFarland

Rating: 3/5 stars

Summary: River Bend, Michigan is a small town that while most can’t imagine leaving, three women couldn’t wait to escape. When Linda Williams, her mother Paula and Beth DeWitt return and their paths collide, the town struggles to contain all of their love affairs and secrets. Filled with the voices of mothers, daughters, lovers, and fathers, The House of Deep Water explores motherhood, trauma, love, loss and new beginnings.

My Thoughts: This was a very heavy, emotional read for me. Not that it caused me to physically cry or anything, but as someone who experiences seasonal depression, the dark emotional undertones that accompanied some of the characters in this novel made it really hard to pick up every night. If you’re someone who isn’t easily affected vicariously through books, then you’d probably be fine. I just found it a little emotionally exhausting, but that’s also due to the author’s ability to immerse you in each character. This novel touches on the dynamics of dysfunctional families, social and racial issues, sexual abuse (trigger warning), and small town isolation. I appreciated that even though the three main characters were so different, their lives were still intertwined through experiences, history, and family members. Overall, I thought it was an all right book, but I won’t read it again.

THE FIFTH SEASON by N.K. Jemisin

Rating: 3.9/5 stars

Summary: Three terrible things happen in the same day - which is how the world ends. Again. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, the Sanze empire - which has been the foundation for civilization for thousands of years - collapses, killing most of its citizens. Worst of all, a great red rift has torn into the heart of the earth, causing ash to darken the sky for years - if not, centuries. Now, to save her daughter, Essun must travel through a deadly, dying land without sunlight, clean water, and limited supplies. A war is coming across the Stillness continent for the basic resources necessary to get through the long, dark night.

My Thoughts: Going into The Fifth Season, I had high expectations because of all the positive reviews I saw on Bookstagram, Goodreads, etc., but this book may have been a victim of its own hype. The way this story is structured is really unique as it follows three women’s journeys - Damaya, Essun and Syenite. At one point, the author actually puts you in Essun’s shoes and starts writing in second-person for her chapters, which was cool because it made it easier to really get into the mindset of the character and envision her experience firsthand. Since this book is the first in the Broken Earth trilogy, I know its purpose is to set the scene and background for what’s to come in the next two books, but that made a large portion of this book a very slooooow burn. There is a glossary and historical overview in the back to help you understand some historical, caste, societal, and setting references, but I didn’t find those tools until after I finished lol. There is also so much detail that you really have to pay attention to each woman’s journey to understand how they’re all connected and the significance of each one’s experience. In all honesty, I didn’t truly get into it until maybe halfway through and after finishing it, I think it probably could have been about 50 pages shorter. This was a good book overall, but I didn’t feel like it lived up to its hype. It ended on an interesting cliffhanger though, so I may read the next book, but probably not anytime soon.

HOMEGOING by Yaa Gyasi

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary: Two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born in different villages during 18th century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman which leaves her living in comfort in the Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, Esi is imprisoned beneath her in the castle’s dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast’s booming slave trade, and shipped off to America where her children and grandchildren are raised in slavery. Homegoing follows the descendents of these sisters through everything from centuries of warfare and British colonization in Ghana to the Civil War, Great Migration and twentieth-century Harlem in America, right up to the present day. This novel makes history visceral and captures how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation.

My Thoughts: I loved this book and not just because it ended my lukewarm reading streak for February. The story follows the families of two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, who started in two very different places in life and is uniquely formatted to read as though you’re climbing a family tree. Starting from the roots, the author takes you on a journey across 250 years from 18th-century Ghana to 20th-century Harlem. Each chapter is a vignette that focuses on a different family member in subsequent generations to show how each of the sister’s family ends up in the present day. I liked that although you don’t spend a ton of time with each character, you still get to know each one intimately. Which, personally, helped me build a deeper connection not only with the character, but also the families.The author’s writing is absolutely incredible, and the way she illustrates the horrifics of slavery and slavery’s aftermath was incredibly impactful yet still digestable. I also want to give mad props to the author for the amount of research that had to have gone into writing this book to truly bring each character’s time period and setting to life. This was a marvellous book for only being 300 pages and I highly recommend it!

2021 Book Count: 12 down, 43 to go!

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YOUR TURN! Let me know in the comments below what books you have on this year’s TBR (To Be Read) list.