Review Time! - Santa Muerte by Lucina Stone

Title: Santa Muerte

Author: Lucina Stone

Genre: New Adult/NA, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Witches, Vampires*, Werewolves*, Historical Fiction* (*ish)

Series: The Daniela Story #1

Amazon: UK - USA

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book from the author, Lucina Stone, who I'm in contact with on Twitter.

This does not affect the content of my review; my review is fair and honest.

I agreed to read this with only the vaguest of notions of what it was about - I had read Naz @ Read Diverse Books' review of it, but had mostly forgotten about it by the time Lucina Stone contacted me.

I definitely didn't realise that it was urban fantasy - so that was a pleasant surprise!

I love urban fantasy - a subgenre of paranormal which involves magical-type-people (witches, vampires, etc.) faffing about in cities and/or towns in which they have their own societies (sometimes open to human society, sometimes hidden.)

It's strange, really, since I don't like cities in general - too much of a rural kind of girl. *shrugs* But there you have it.

Premise:

Turns out there's more to Daniela's family than she thought there was.

In the year 2030, Daniela sees no end to the pain. Depressed and hurt by an abusive relationship, she tries to take her own life...

...and wakes up somewhere strange.

This can't be happening. She can't be in the 1920s... right?

Dani doesn't get this time period, has no idea about magic, and, with a farm-girl named Daphne in tow, is being chased by a bunch of people who want her dead - or at least in jail.

All she wants is to go home to her mothers, but that seems almost impossible from here...

Best bits:

I love the chatty tone of this book. Stone grabs hold of you and says, 'come on guys, this way!' Which is spot on.

And the time travel element is well done! DID YOU HEAR THAT???? THE TIME TRAVEL ELEMENT IS WELL DONE!!!!!!!!!

Too often, time travel gets unnecessarily messy, or even just plain naff, but not here.

Here we have the reality of suddenly finding yourself in a world full of racism and rigid gender rules (Daniela ends up posing as a dude because of her short hair and trousers.)

And it's an element which is missing from your average time travel plot: the day-to-day-ness of living in that period, especially as a person of colour (PoC) in the USA.

I liked the Mexican variations on the stalwarts of urban fantasy.

All of the different species of the paranormal and urban fantasy worlds - vamps, wolves, witches, etc. are removed from their White European stereotypes and instead seen through the lens of Mexican folklore.

Most notably we have the brujas - the Mexican witches - who are written with skill and intrigue, and are far removed from the average urban fantasy witch-chick (who is normally a white goth-girl and/or biker-chick.)

The depression representation is good overall, devastatingly realistic as a whole - but I did have a minor issue with it, which I'll write about in the next section.

The sense of hopelessness and worthlessness depicted is accurate and heart-breaking, and Daniela doesn't magically get better the moment she ends up in 1923, meaning it's not treated as just a plot point.

And we get a same-sex, lesbian, parenting couple - which is awesome.

Not so great bits:

First thing, as ever, is first, here's the potentially distressing content from this book (hold on, there's some stuff to get through):

• depression
• attempted suicide
• suicidal thoughts
• hanging
• abusive relationships
• low self-worth/self-esteem
• racism
• racial slurs (including the 'n' word)
• the KKK
• lynching
• segregation and discrimination
• sexual abuse
• child abuse
• sexual assault
• rape
• torture
• kidnapping
• burning (as a form of torture)
• attempted murder
• homophobia
• grave-robbing
• missing persons investigation

I think that's everything - v. sorry if I've missed anything out.

There's swearing and violence; if you can handle all the other stuff though... *shrugs*

At one point, the phrase totem pole is used in as a metaphor in a non-native setting, which is seen as cultural appropriation, affecting some First Nations tribes (this piece by Robin R R Gray explains more.)

It was only once, but was still disappointing, and I hope won't occur again in future books.

Also, and this one is more of a personal preference, the relationship between Dani's mothers is referred to as a lifestyle. I don't like this.

I'm aware that a lot of LGBTQ+ people are ok with it (especially from older generations,) but I am personally not a big fan of the term.

But then, a lot of LGBTQ+ people find the term queer very offensive, but I personally identify as both sexually fluid and queer.

I guess you just have to understand that some people will be offended by both of these terms, and you need to examine how and why AND WHETHER YOU SHOULD use them in any given context.

Occasionally it felt like the representation of Daniela's depression was a little bit hit-and-miss, simply because at the times when it wasn't affecting her so much it was almost as if it didn't matter any more.

Honestly though, the representation of depression was, overall, heartbreakingly affective.

Verdict:

This is a great book - a strong foundation for the series, with great characters and interesting paranormal elements.

If you're an urban fantasy fan, this is a must. But those not so familiar with the genre will love it too.




UPDATE 22nd APRIL 2017:

A couple of people have raised issues with the lesbian and depression representation in this book, as well as a few other matters. Some people have equated Dani's lesbian mother having sex with a man with biphobia.

I personally don't agree with the lesbian rep/biphobia criticism - because if anyone knows that sexuality is fluid, it's yours truly. But I see the validity of the points made.

For an overview of the issues that some people have with this book, see C T Callahan's Goodreads review.

I do find C T Callahan more than a little harsh on this book, but you guys all know that I believe in having all the cards on the table so that you can make up your own minds.

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads

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• Review Time! - Nina Is Not OK by Shappi Khorsandi
• Review Time! - Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova

My 7 Top Picks of 2016's Books

(This post contains a flashing/fast-moving gif which may cause problems to those with photosensitive medical conditions.)

2016 wasn't 100% bad - just, like, 85%, or something. Anyway, there were some pretty awesome books!

I've purposefully picked books with 2016 release dates here - but I should point out that I also read some pretty great 'back-list' (pre-2016) titles during the year, they're just not on the list.

So, these are my picks of books released in 2016, that I read in 2016. Everyone got that? Great.

(And yes, I know this post is technically 'late' - but I make my own rules dammit!)

via GIPHY

I'm also uber-pleased to note that most of these are diverse books - so anyone who says diverse books are lower quality needs to go and ask themselves some serious questions 😇

They are also all written by women - girls rock!





Here we go then (and in no particular order, because I am a wuss who can't rank books over each other):

Nina Is Not Ok by Shappi Khorsandi

Amazon links: UK - US

For my international readers (and boy is that a phrase I'm never going to get used to,) who may not have heard of her, Shappi Khorsandi is an Iranian-British comedic genius.

Her first novel though, is not light-hearted. It's not funny. It's not for the faint of heart. And it's freaking incredible.

Seriously, this is one that I'm sooooo happy I had a digital review copy of, because I was so privileged to be one of the first people to read it.

Since then, I've basically been like 'read the thing!' whenever it's been possible to recommend it.

And I'm clearly not the only one, since it was recently nominated for the inaugural Jhalak Prize - though Khorsandi unfortunately withdrew the book from the longlist out of concern that drawing attention to her ethnicity might alienate white readers.

It's a disappointing decision, but it's far from my place to tell a person of colour (PoC) how to market their own book.

And it really is a fantastic book guys! You can see my full review here.

Swan Boy by Nikki Sheehan

Amazon links: UK - US

Nikki Sheehan is a definite talent. I can't wait to see what she comes up with in the future.

Swan Boy is a remarkably artistic and lyrical kids' novel (middle grade/MG) and it's just... a stunningly beautiful read.

Honestly, it's amazing.

Check out my full review of Swan Boy here.

Blood Stain, Vol 1 by Linda Sejic

Amazon links: UK - US

Linda is an amazing person who writes awesome and oh-so relatable comics that make me laugh and bring me smiles when I need them.

You will love the hapless Elliott as she tries to make her way in this bizarre world of adulting (and she has levels of clumsiness and bad luck that most of us will recognise!)

You can see my full review of Blood Stain, Vol 1 here.

Monstress, Vol 1: The Awakening

Amazon links: UK - US

ORHGUIREJNGOIRGHNKETMNHOEIROIJTGGWMKRNGHTOI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are very few books which I consider '5 star' books guys.

(And I have issues with the arbitrary and restrictive nature of star ratings anyway - which is why I don't use them on this blog!)

But, if there is such a thing as a five-star book, then THIS IS A 5 STAR BOOK.

It has everything - fantasy, world-building, a disabled Asian protagonist, and stunning artwork.

And I want to adopt the small fox child. Soooo cute!

The ladies in charge here - Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda - have a lot to be proud of.

You can see my fangirling ramble review here.

Santa Muerte by Lucina Stone

Amazon: UK - US

One which I haven't reviewed yet (but I will dammit! I will!)

Santa Muerte is an awesome-sauce first instalment in a new-adult urban fantasy series by the lovely Lucina Stone.

What is urban fantasy? It's only an uber-incredible sub-genre of paranormal and fantasy that involves paranormal-types faffing about in cities and/or towns!

Add in the focus on brujas (witches,) and a chatty prose-tone (that's totally a phrase now. Shh,) and what more do you want?!

Luna the Vampire: Grumpy Space by Yasmin Sheikh

Amazon: UK - US

Do you want grumpy internet-style humour with bright colours and a millennial attitude? Of course you freaking do!

Seriously, Luna makes me smile. And will make you smile too.

Check out my review here.

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova

Amazon: UK - US

Another bruja book, although a lot different to Santa Muerte, Labyrinth Lost is the beginning of a YA series about a bisexual Brooklyn Latina girl, Alex, who has a big mess to clean up.

This one is so involving, and those of you looking for a new YA obsession and/or fandom need look no further!

You can see my review of Labyrinth Lost here.

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#DisabilityDiaries2017 | Harry Potter and the Representation of Scarring

(Flashing Images Warning: there are some gifs with flashing images in this blogpost which may cause problems for those with photosensitive conditions such as epilepsy or migraines.)



Let's kick off Disability Diaries 2017 with something a little different. Let's talk about scars.

(The lovely Ely @ Tea and Titles came up with the idea of Disability Diaries - a week long event running from 14th-21st Jan 2017, discussing disability, books, and disability in books. 

Ely, myself, Angel @ Angel Reads, Dina @ Dinasoaur, Jolien @ The Fictional Reader, and Lara @ Another Teen Reader are running it.)

Scars. A physical sign of illness and injury. Not a disability, but often an indication of one, and often made into one by the way society treats them.

I have a lot of scars.

My scars are mundane - sorry, but there's no cool story of danger and adventure, neither is there any trauma you can romanticise.

But I'm covered in lines of silver, purple, and pink.

I scar easily - my skin is 'sensitive,' which is another way of saying 'my skin reacts to numerous substances and allergens, because my immune system treats them as a threat.' But that's not as pithy, I agree.

My skin also takes a long time to heal. So a simple scratch from my cat may leave a reddish purpleish line for 6 months or more.

So, with my variety of permanent, semi-permanent, and temporary scars, I notice the way we portray scars, in books and elsewhere.

Guess what? Society and media is cr*p at representation of scars. And for someone with low self-esteem (hello there! 🙋) it can have a really negative affect on how you view yourself.

Shall we take our most well-known scarred hero as an example?

(And I'd like to just point out that, like most people, I love Harry Potter and simply want to use this as an example to discuss scarring. It's really not an attack on anyone's enjoyment of anything.)

via GIPHY

What do we know about Harry Potter's famous scar?

• it's lightning shaped
• it's the result of a magical curse that rebounded
• it's on his forehead
• it gives him magical Spidey-sense to let him know when Voldemort's faffing about
• it's permanent

And what does that tell us, my nerdlets, about the representation of scarring here?

His scar might be shaped like a lightning bolt, but it's a clean line.

Scars are often jagged, uneven, and/or unsightly.

Rowling falls into the trope of Good Scars vs Evil Scars - good scars, the kind heroes get, are either attractive or barely noticeable.

They are clean lines, as if made by a precision instrument, and healed evenly.

The villains get to have 'scary' jagged or unsightly scars, to show that they're evil inside and out (*sighs*.)

via GIPHY

It gives Harry a dramatic backstory.

It's a sign that he's 'the Chosen One' - it's derring-do and noble-suffering bound into one little line on his head.

And, just to be handy, it never dries out and flakes in the winter, forcing him to use non-heroic moisturiser.

Harry's scar is easily hidden.

Harry wears his hair long to hide his scar. While I would defend the right of anyone with a scar to either hide it, or display it, as they choose, why does Rowling choose to hide Harry's scar?

Is it, perhaps, because society sees facial imperfections and scars as something shameful, some sign of corruption? 

By hiding his scar, he can hide his imperfection. Rowling's hero is flawed, but not where anyone can see it.

But guess what? Scars are ok. They are not a corruption, or a flaw of character. They are simply damaged skin.

Harry's scar 'aches.'

OK, I'm about to blow your mind - SCARS DON'T HURT. Yes, yes, magic and all that. But scars have limited pain receptors.

Unless you cut through all the skin layers, they will very rarely actually hurt. The skin around them might ache or hurt, especially if they've dried out and tightened, but the scar itself? Not usually.

Scars are simply the result of collagen healing the skin. Yeah - collagen, that stuff they put in dermal fillers? Very few pain receptors.







And Harry's scar has magical Voldy Spider-sense.

Granted, this is handy plot-wise, and has the added 'oh, poor Harry!' effect that Rowling was clearly going for.

But what is this saying, really?

That scars are a constant reminder of the bad parts of your life and your past? That physical scars and psychological ones are directly linked?

That scars have to be (as Dumbledore says) 'useful' in order to be present on a hero instead of on a villain?

via GIPHY

Scars actually change over time, you know that?

They can change vastly for about 2 years after the injury or other damage to the skin, and can change in appearance after that as your body ages.

You wouldn't think that, given that scars in so many books etc. are either healed completely within a week or two, or permanently in a specific state for the rest of the character's life.



If your character ages, their scar should too.

Stretch marks in particular will silver as you get older (and no, stretch marks aren't just from pregnancies - they also occur in growth spurts, and sometimes around injuries where the skin has had to grow more quickly than normal in order to heal the wound.)

I have a small indented scar above my eye from where I had some face-time with a table aged six (it had staples sticking out of it, and accident-prone Cee over here just had to connect with the stapled portion of the table.)

It looks different all the freaking time. If I'm tired, it really stands out. Some days, it's barely there at all. Skin is stretchy and crinkly - especially on your face.






So, there I am as a kid, reading Harry Potter, and wondering why the hell his scar looks the same all the time? Why doesn't it flake? Why is it aching, but never pulling with skin tightness?

Facial skin moves a lot, and you know those lines you get in your forehead when you're making expressions? They should've made Harry's scar look different all the time.





Ms Rowling chose to give Harry a facial scar, yet doesn't seem to know what that entails.

I would've loved it if he wandered down to Madame Pomfrey every now and then in winter to ask for lotion of some kind.

Or maybe a description of the weird feeling of not-feeling when you move a joint or a muscle (like, in your forehead, for example) with a scar overlapping it?





Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Harry, or against J K Rowling. It just would've been nice if, when writing a kid with a scar, she thought about what that was like.

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Month in Review(s) - December 2016

This wrap-up isn't late, it's fashionably detained. 😎

So, in another round of let's-help-2016-get-the-hell-out-of-here, I'm tying up some more leftover 2016 business.

December was OK, for me, anyway.

There was Christmas, and I love Christmas, so s'all good. Plus, we all said goodbye to 2016. Which up until it's very last days was a b**ch. (Don't do what your big sibling did, 2017 - you can be better!)

It was also the month when I decided to change things up on DORA a bit. In case you aren't aware: I'll be posting less from now on, but hopefully will be bringing you better content as a result.

And honestly, it'll be less - but not that much less. And you'll still probably see yours truly faffing about on social media etc. quite a damned bit!





I only wrote two reviews in December (shock! horror! 😲) what with Christmas and everything... so, here they are:

Graphic Novels

Rendez-Vous in Phoenix by Tony Sandoval

Red Sonja: The Falcon Throne

And that's another piece of 2016 done and dusted!

Comics Wrap-Up - Bumper Catch-Up Edition!

Since Comics Wrap-Up took a break over Christmas, this week's edition is a catch-up of my comics reading and all related stuff in the last couple of weeks :)

Film Trailers


Here's an extended Batman TV spot for you all :)

(This film looks hilarious!)

Single Issues


I read a butt-load of short and preview comics to help prop up my Goodreads challenge total, so I'll just give you my three top picks.

(Trust me, these three are the ones worth mentioning!)




Heart of a Corpse: An Undead Engagement #1 (UK - US) and Bloody Dreadful #1 (UK - US) are two comics by creator Justin Sane.

Both are fairly interesting, creepily executed, tales of Victorian Gothic horror. Heart of a Corpse actually plays out like a silent movie in silhouette - and was really moody and cool. :)

I enjoyed both, and they def. came as a pleasant surprise.

Loki: Agent of Asgard #1 (UK - US) is the start of the whole Loki-as-a-teen series.

(Fangirling note:

Loki is one of the most difficult Marvel characters to define because s/he spends periods of time as a child, a teenager, a woman, a man, and two people. In honesty, I've probably missed something out.

Just trust me. In this period of time, Loki = reincarnated teenager. Thor = adult. That's as basic as it's gonna get, so let's leave it there.

You can't sweat the small stuff in comics. Your brain will explode. #TrueStory.)



This is the first part of Loki: Agent of Asgard Vol 1 (UK - US) and is pretty awesome. I really want to read the full volume soon for more sassy Loki awesomeness!








Webcomics





Over Christmas, I also read webcomic Princess Princess by Kay O'Neill

This is about two princesses who are faffing around a magical kingdom, challenging gender norms, and falling in love with each other.

One of the princesses is black - so there's a strong person of colour (PoC) lead too 😄



Princess Princess: Ever After (to give it it's fancy in-print title) is also available in printed format (UK - US.)

Other Stuff



Over on Women Write About Comics, Sergio Alexis wrote an awesome recommendation list of webcomics.

And just for the awesomeness of it all, all the comics they recommend are diverse!

Catherynne M Valente wrote a guest post over @ The Mary Sue about her up-coming superhero-based book The Refrigerator Monologues.

For anyone who doesn't know, 'Women in Refrigerators' or 'fridging' is a phrase that was invented by comics artist Gail Simone for unnecessary acts of violence against women in comic books - often used as a plot device to motivate the male hero.

The origin of the phrase was an infamous storyline where the Green Lantern finds his girlfriend murdered and stuffed in his fridge by a super-villain - apparently just to make him angry.

Valente's book plans to give a voice to fridged women - and it looks incredibly poignant, and undoubtedly awesome.

Also on The Mary Sue, Teresa Jusino took an early look at upcoming Afro-Puerto Rican Marvel superheroine La Borinqueña.

Along with America Chavez, Marisol Rios De La Luz aka La Borinqueña, is an awesome step forward for Latinx superheroes.

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Review Time! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Red Sonja: The Falcon Throne

Title: Red Sonja: The Falcon Throne

Author: Marguerite Bennett

Contributors: Aneke, Marguerite Sauvage

Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, High Fantasy, LGBTQ+ (M/F; F/F)

Amazon: UK - USA

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

Ahhhh, Red Sonja - the She-Devil with a Sword.

We come once again, my nerdlets, to the opportunity to review a Red Sonja book (which apparently, as a woman, is beyond my expertise; but it turns out girls can review comics. #TrueStory.)

And to see that this Sonja story had Marguerite Bennett at the helm?

I hardly dared get my hopes up at the prospect of Sonja being given the book she deserved... but I think my fervent prayers to the feminist gods were at least somewhat answered.

Strap in guys, 'cos I got some stuff to say.

Premise:

Hyrkania's king is dying. Sonja believes the kingdom will be better off with someone who... well, basically, isn't her... in charge.

Instead of the She-Devil, someone else comes in to fill the power vacuum.

But will this new leader be a force for good? Or will the prejudices he stirs up become Hyrkania's shame?

Best bits:

WOW. Dudes, this was the Red Sonja book I've been waiting for.

Finally, Sonja is freed from the prospect of painful chainmail wedgies and having to make pathetic doe-eyes at Conan that make her fans (well, some of us,) want to barf.

Instead, we have a still-sexy she-warrior who gets to wear warmer (though still not especially protective) clothes into battle, and doesn't have to worry about rust in her most intimate areas!

(Does anyone else flinch at the idea of non-lined chainmail underwear? *shudder*)

The (in)famous chainmail bikini is the costume male creators and fans have chosen again and again for Sonja; essentially they want an overly-sexualised Barbarian Barbie.

But as Sonja makes very clear - NO-ONE owns her!

There's also a clear political message throughout this book - hatred against people who are different to you goes against everything that makes us human.

Sonja is revolted by the clear bigotry and outright racism that creeps into Hyrkania, and even more revolted by the support this bigotry has from the people.

Instead of a strong female leader, they have a douchebag bigoted dude. Kind of timely, don't you think?

Sonja's bisexuality is not ignored here: too often, Sonja's character is manipulated to erase her queer aspects - she becomes de facto straight in so many of her books.

But with Marguerite Bennett at the helm, we have a queer woman making sure Sonja is given her dues.

There are also people of colour (PoC) characters with agency, and complexity, and lives of their own.

Not so great bits:

Ok, so, my main problem with this book is that it comes dangerously close to White Saviour territory.

For those who don't know, the White Saviour trope is where a white person comes along and rescues the PoC characters - the implication being that they couldn't possibly rescue themselves, and need a white person to come and do it for them (which ofc is utter sh**.)

This trope reinforces the ugly idea of white superiority, and places PoC in a position where they are never the hero, only the victim.

Here, the PoC characters are pretty much doing things for themselves, but the final save-the-day business is achieved by Sonja - the white heroine and symbol of inspiration.

It all plays out a lot more complexly than just white-girl-saves-PoCs, but... I'm not saying this necessarily goes over the line, but we can certainly see the line from here, y'know?

And even seeing the line is worrying guys. I don't want to be anywhere near that line.

Parts of the plotting in general are... confused? Maybe? It just feels a bit hectic and out-of-control in places in terms of plot.

Maybe this is a side-effect of trying to make the plot twisty and action-filled, when really, all that was needed was to follow the characters' lead.

There's a bunch of gore and violence pretty much everywhere, swearing, and some non-explicit sexual content.

Verdict:

We verge uncomfortably close to white saviour territory here (*squints suspiciously at book*) and that's not cool.

Aside from that, though, this is the Sonja book her (true) fans have been waiting for - she kicks butt, looks sexy, but never betrays her character or her dignity.

Bennett's Sonja is strong. Bennett's Sonja is my Sonja, finally brought to the page.

This book is a major step-forward for the character. I just hope it can be built on and improved in the future.

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads

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