Reviews – Page 13 – Marked for Plot

Monk and Robot

Utopias are oftentimes criticized for being boring, and impossible to tell interesting stories in. Monk and Robot, a pair of books (Psalm for the Wild Built and Prayer for the Crown Shy) by Becky Chambers defied the saying entirely. I found myself quickly drawn into the world of Panga, enjoying my time with a cup of chai – fitting for a pair of books featuring a tea monk as a lead character.

Read if Looking For: low stakes stories, philosophic pondering, quirky robots

Avoid if Looking For: high octane stories, books with violence or external conflict

The Bone Swans Collection

The Bone Swans of Amandale has been one of my favorite novellas for a while, and I’d been meaning to read the full collection it was included in at some point. I finally got around to it, and while I don’t think any of the stories quite captured the genius of Bone Swans, there were a few other gems in here. Expect dark fairy tale vibes to run through the series of stories as a motif, and generally high writing craft quality.

The Fox’s Tower and Other Tales

Generally speaking I only read two books at a time: one audiobook and one text copy. This book, however, has been sitting on my nightstand for around a month. Filled with 2-4 page stories (and the pages aren’t big) this collection of fairy tales and fables was perfect to read before bedtime, chipping away at it whenever I wanted to read, but didn’t have the brain power to commit to my longer novels.

Read if Looking For: stories that can be read 5 minutes, hopeful and magical vibes

Avoid if Looking For: complex or deeply thematic reads

Snow Crash

Cyberpunk is not a genre I’m particularly familiar with. I don’t watch a ton of movies, haven’t played the video games, and am only versed enough to know the basic premises of a corporate world filled with technologically enhanced humans slowly being corrupted by power (or trying to plow the power holders up in bombs). At least I think? I’m still a bit unsure.

Anyways, Snow Crash was the pick for an in-person book club I’m in. I found myself pleasantly surprised at how familiar the story felt, and can understand why its considered a classic foundational text of the Cyberpunk genre. I had some fairly major issues with it though, and left it feeling the way I feel about a lot of these older iconic works: greatness colored by cringeworthy reminders of the past.

Read if Looking For: fun blends of futuristic and retro technology, observational humor, dramatic internal monologues

Avoid if: dated depictions of female and LGBTQ+ characters, weirdly sexualized 15 year old girls

Split Tooth

Split Tooth is not a novel I should have enjoyed. Despite being an English major in college, Literature with a capital L has always rubbed me the wrong way. Even the more experimental Fantasy stuff I love tends to have strong roots in genre fiction tropes, like The Spear Cuts Through Water. Split Tooth was none of what I typically love, but I found that it became my first five star read of 2025.

Read if Looking For: books that blend poetry and prose, sparse magical realism stories, books with sharp edges, indigenous voices

Avoid if Looking For: traditional fantasy plot structures, easy reading

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven

It’s been nice to see witches getting more love in fantasy over the last five years. Whether or not they delve into historical witchcraft or lean into fantasy cliches, they’re just a fun archetype. Her Majesty’s Royal Coven is a pretty damn good book focusing on what witchcraft in the modern age might look like. Like with a lot of modern fantasy, you’re getting some political commentary woven into the story, and this book does a good job of locking into an exciting plotline and sticking the landing.

Read if Looking For: witches, critiques of TERF ideology, witchy goodness, POVs from many ideological perspectives

Avoid if Looking For: Books with subtle themes, cinematic action

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon

Speaking generally, I think comparisons to other books does a disservice to individual books. In official publishing industry pitches, this is especially egregious, where every book is _____ meets _____. While Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon absolutely stands on its own merit, it shares a lot of DNA with American Gods, and, considering that many readers are no longer interested in giving Neil Gaiman their money anymore, Shigidi is a phenomenal take on gods and modernity.

Read if Looking For: modern interpretations of myth, three dimensional characters, bisexuals everywhere

Avoid if Looking For: tightly focused ‘heist’ books, fast pacing

Cemetery Boys

The Paranormal Romance trend of the mid 2010s may have died down, but it never quite went away. Cemetery Boys was a delightful recent addition to the genre, eschewing many of the more stickier parts of the subgenre in favor of something refreshing and heartfelt, instead of being another drop of water in the vast ocean of edgy immortal love interests.

Read if Looking For: sweet romances, light mystery elements, transmasc latinx rep

Avoid if Looking For: surprising twists, action scenes, lots of magic

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself

About an hour into my listen of this audiobook, I was convinced that it was going to be my first 5/5 read of the year. I was lost in Marisa Crane’s intensely emotional writing, and felt like I was living in the skin of another person, feeling what they felt. Then, as the story shifted from something amorphous and reflective into a more traditional plot, I ran headfirst into walls of frustration and disappointment. The things I love about this book are intoxicating, but it wasn’t enough to hold the story together until the ending for me.

Read If Looking For: meditations on grief and motherhood, dynamic queer relationships (romantic and platonic), thoughtful depictions of mental health struggles

Avoid if Looking For: dystopian settings with the intensity of The Handmaid’s Tale, realistic depictions of children

Light From Uncommon Stars

Sometimes you run into books that are really difficult to pitch. Light From Uncommon Stars sounds like a comedy book. Aliens running a donut shop certainly doesn’t sound like a book that takes itself particularly seriously. But this story made me cry, made me furious, and made me feel more deeply than I expected when opening the cover. This book is an emotional roller coaster, and a journey that isn’t happy, but is filling.

Read If Looking For: character-led stories, phenomenal music recommendations, genre bending novels, romance subplots

Avoid if Looking For: stories avoiding queer trauma, classic fantasy or science fiction plot beats