Divya Manian stopped reading

Dark Reservations by John Fortunato
"Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Agent Joe Evers still mourns the death of his wife and, after bungling an investigation, …
I love murder mysteries & history. Preferably in the same book.
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"Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Agent Joe Evers still mourns the death of his wife and, after bungling an investigation, …
Every time I searched for an Indigenous mystery on Libby, this book would come up front and given the starred reviewed I figured I should read it. Boy, was I not more wrong, what a terrible book. This man is a current FBI agent who used to investigate cases in the Reservations. First things that are off, a dog is killed by a cop ("but you didnt take care of it anyway" says the cop to the Indigenous person), then a coyote & her puppies are killed by an Indigenous Elder because Coyotes are a "nuisance", I have never heard of Indigenous people killing Coyotes especially pups. Final nail in the coffin was when his characters who were leaders of American Indian Movement decide to claim some current issue as a fake reason to raise money.
I refuse to read any book that does not respect & honor Indigenous people …
Every time I searched for an Indigenous mystery on Libby, this book would come up front and given the starred reviewed I figured I should read it. Boy, was I not more wrong, what a terrible book. This man is a current FBI agent who used to investigate cases in the Reservations. First things that are off, a dog is killed by a cop ("but you didnt take care of it anyway" says the cop to the Indigenous person), then a coyote & her puppies are killed by an Indigenous Elder because Coyotes are a "nuisance", I have never heard of Indigenous people killing Coyotes especially pups. Final nail in the coffin was when his characters who were leaders of American Indian Movement decide to claim some current issue as a fake reason to raise money.
I refuse to read any book that does not respect & honor Indigenous people especially when it is about them. Read a book by an Indigenous person any time. I really hope nobody decides to make an adaptation of this book for TV.
The premise is so exciting, 3 ghosts hunt their murderer. Unfortunately, there is not much hunting and a lot of reminiscing. In between all this we are shown a police force that is shockingly professional – no phoning it in, following up on clues, etc etc which is a fairy tale as far as reality goes. Definitely not a "thriller" as far as thrills go.
I absolutely loved the Dramatized version of All Systems Red and other Murderbot novellas. I love Murderbot series and how nothing seems to match familiar tropes of Sci-fi robots. I think there are logical explanations (though of course not matching reality) which totally makes this a fun romp to listen to. I also love how the author does NOT do the "blue eyes" bullshit to refer to someone who was attractive. Many of the characters are deliberately darker-toned, not of binary gender, & in relationships that are not monogamous. I love vessels like this to describe a world we want to get to.
Retired nurse, avid gardener, and renowned cake maker Miss Hortense has lived in Bigglesweigh, a quiet suburb of Birmingham, England, …
I loved this murder mystery that starts slow, taking its time to introduce us to the lives of elder Jamaicans who came to UK a long time ago but by the time we get towards the end there are a LOT of twists and turns and almost felt like a thriller. I did not like that there was this "one good cop" situation once again but it was possible to ignore. I think this book will be good as a limited series IMHO. I really hope it gets that!
Retired nurse, avid gardener, and renowned cake maker Miss Hortense has lived in Bigglesweigh, a quiet suburb of Birmingham, England, …
Jenny Odell asks a good question about why we should claim Rocks are "not living" and what is this arbitrary distinction between living vs non-living. She mentions how Indigenous people have often found mountains, rocks as worthy of respect not to mention how some rivers have been granted personhood so legal actions can be entered on their behalf.
I did not know West Africa does not have Winter but instead it's called Harmattan where strong dry winds blow. This is a fantasy book that was truly wild to read during Zohran's win because the story in the book is also somewhat similar – set in West Africa where the French did not leave where a French-propped puppet tries to win an election against a popular charismatic Indigenous man. The book was very nice but then I read this author also wrote 2 books about the novels of the noted TERF Adiche so I am not so included to love this.
Lovely thriller that pulls no punches on the striking inequality and corruption in Pakistan while also navigating a story about a stolen mummy. Features a strong femme protagonist. Really enjoyed the descriptions of people & the city of Karachi. Made me want to visit Pakistan!
Set in the 60s, Vera Kelley is a lesbian spy in the CIA who leaves CIA when they leave her hanging during a hairy time in Argentina. She loses her next job when the manager finds out she is lesbian. She turns to being a private investigator putting her spying skills to good use. This book touches upon the US intervention in Dominican Republic and how much it did to prop up a dictator while also being a mystery that touches on the foster care system and how screwed up it is. Really loved the atmosphere setting which felt very lived in and how difficult it must have been for LGBTQ+ folks to be surviving in the middle of it all and yet they did.
I LOVED LOVED this book. Queer love underneath a Bachelor like reality show. Mysterious mythical creature lurking in the background, people disappearing. Perfectly written feminist horror thriller. Unlike the other one I reviewed today, this one does not have people doing silly things and saying "oops" while dying.
Apparently the author set out to write a "feminist Shining" and I dont think this is it. There is something about the white cis-het femme experience that just has been done to death. Cheating spouses, lots of wine-based alcoholism, breaking up with your bestie, constantly having your husband hovering over you and apparently feeling good about it, finally, constantly feeling afraid and yet not been practical in your fright leading to very silly Final Girl scenes.
After reading thrillers by Ramona Emerson, Cynthia Leitich Smith, who all have people who are pragmatic & practical who end up dying, and then to read this where a woman drinks herself & pops pills AFTER feeling scared someone was in the house is just a let down. It reminds me of The Flight Attendant. I was like wtf is this show and yet so many people were raving about it.
The saving grace …
Apparently the author set out to write a "feminist Shining" and I dont think this is it. There is something about the white cis-het femme experience that just has been done to death. Cheating spouses, lots of wine-based alcoholism, breaking up with your bestie, constantly having your husband hovering over you and apparently feeling good about it, finally, constantly feeling afraid and yet not been practical in your fright leading to very silly Final Girl scenes.
After reading thrillers by Ramona Emerson, Cynthia Leitich Smith, who all have people who are pragmatic & practical who end up dying, and then to read this where a woman drinks herself & pops pills AFTER feeling scared someone was in the house is just a let down. It reminds me of The Flight Attendant. I was like wtf is this show and yet so many people were raving about it.
The saving grace for me is that this book does not have copaganda. Thank you. I appreciate that.