Edits and Orange Juice

Thursday 6 April 2017 / No comments

Review: Closed and Common Orbit

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivFmq1fj3RsjCbErface69Knd2gN3ARLGVbeRe873YUgBCGkoCnepJg_OUKli8FOMc_tBlPqAw5U-hWxIfMFQ872NFALsuLs2OfsSJwwa9p5NCtdzdVCN5J7nTZ4BdthlovSh2chfUNVo/s1600/29475447.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivFmq1fj3RsjCbErface69Knd2gN3ARLGVbeRe873YUgBCGkoCnepJg_OUKli8FOMc_tBlPqAw5U-hWxIfMFQ872NFALsuLs2OfsSJwwa9p5NCtdzdVCN5J7nTZ4BdthlovSh2chfUNVo/s200/29475447.jpg" width="128" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="clear: right; color: black; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Lovelace was once merely
a ship's artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in a new body, following a
total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As
Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends
with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who's determined to help her learn and
grow. Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space
is, two people can fill it together. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
introduced readers to the incredible world of Rosemary Harper, a young woman
with a restless soul and secrets to keep. When she joined the crew of the
Wayfarer, an intergalactic ship, she got more than she bargained for - and
learned to live with, and love, her rag-tag collection of crewmates.</span></span></blockquote>
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By Becky Chambers. Published by Hodder & Stoughton.</span><span style="color: black;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: black;">The Book:</span></b><b><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Set
in the same universe as Chamber’s first novel, <i>The Long Way to A Small Angry
Planet</i>, this book explores ideas of humanity, xenophobia, sexuality and
what it means to be.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: black;">The Thoughts:</span></b><b><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Really,
I can’t be too objective about this book, considering that Chamber’s first book
is my favourite book of all time. Despite approaching <i>A Closed and Common
Orbit</i> with caution – weary of a second book always being weaker than the
first – I found myself engage with it so well. Although it was marketed as a
sequel, it’s not really; it follows the separate story of two characters we met
in The Long Way to A Small Angry Planet, so if you were hoping to find out what
happened to the crew of <i>The Wayfarer</i>, you’re not going to find that.
I’ll admit, I had that misconception, finding myself momentarily disappointed
before being impressed and sucked in.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">This
book was so much more than I had expected; it was full of warmth and
friendship, and dealt with ideas of humanity, xenophobia and sexuality in a
sensitive yet complex way. When Lovely, the AI of the <i>Wayfarer</i>, wakes up
in an (illegal) human body kit, she has to learn how to negotiate the universe.
Luckily, she’s got Pepper and Blue to help her. The book swaps between the
point of view of Lovely and Pepper – between Lovely trying to navigate the
world in an unknown and restricted body in present tense, and Pepper’s life as
a child in past tense. The swap between the present and past was well defined
and did not create any confusion; it was so well done that although
intellectually I knew that the two were building to a combination, you could feel it too. Although Pepper’s story was set
roughly 10-20 years before Lovely’s, they are as strong and engaging as each
other.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Like
TLWTASAP, ACACO is character driven with a believable and well-constructed
universe. For me, this is what a good piece of science fiction should be – well
constructed and full of diverse, complex characters. And it is not without its
romance; through the chapters of Lovely, we see the loving relationship between
Pepper and Blue, and through Pepper’s chapters, we watch them fall in love.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">When I finished TLWTASAP, it immediately became my favourite. I honestly didn't think I would come across another book I loved as much </span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">–</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <i>A Closed and Common Orbit</i> not only made a liar of past-me, but firmly planted itself into my annual-read shelf.</span></div>
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Review: Closed and Common Orbit

The Blurb: Lovelace was once merely a ship's artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in a new body, following a total system ...

Monday 19 September 2016 / No comments

Review: The Flywheel (with spoilers!)

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiha7LsFMXyco_0ZRn05QNeV1CHJAj1i89N6dfzpDOL7UcfhL1rQl6k1kiwiyn-ww7oiFdKc0yh23EdV4fKBwtjLGegN8FoRnc3hBH2n0kZKOGIoPxWOwsygMyQQiROjCwk28XG1DEzq_I/s1600/The+Flywheel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiha7LsFMXyco_0ZRn05QNeV1CHJAj1i89N6dfzpDOL7UcfhL1rQl6k1kiwiyn-ww7oiFdKc0yh23EdV4fKBwtjLGegN8FoRnc3hBH2n0kZKOGIoPxWOwsygMyQQiROjCwk28XG1DEzq_I/s200/The+Flywheel.jpg" width="123" /></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Seventeen-year-old Delilah’s crazy life is about to get crazier. Ever since her father took off overseas, she’s been struggling to run the family’s cafe - The Flywheel - without him and survive high school. But after a misjudged crush on one of the cool girls, she’s become the school punchline as well.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With all that’s on her plate she barely has time for her favourite distraction - spying on the beautiful Rosa, who dances flamenco at the tapas bar across the road. Only her best friend Charlie knows how she feels about Rosa, but he has romantic problems of his own. When his plan to win an older woman’s heart goes horribly wrong, Del is the only one who can help Charlie stay out of jail.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All this leaves Del grappling with some seriously curly questions. Is it okay to break the law to help a friend? How can a girl tell another girl she likes her without it ending in humiliation and heartbreak? And - the big one - is it ever truly possible to dance in public without falling over?</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Erin Gough. Published by Hardie Grant Egmont.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Book:</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This book is a fantastic example of how to write a queer YA book without making it all about being queer, or coming out. From the first page, Del has accepted her queerness, and is not ashamed of it or closeted; she does avoid talking about it some times, but it doesn't appear to be because of shame. There's also that awkward moment of being drunk and fooling around with a friend, a moment that made the book so much real and relatable. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The book follows the trials and tribulations of seventeen-year-old Delilah's life. Bullied for her sexuality, left to run a failing cafe by her father and having problems at school, this book follows Delilah's problems at home, at the cafe, with her crush and her inability to dance in public.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The easiest way to explain how I feel about this is my tweet upon finishing it.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/ErinOnFridays">@ErinOnFridays</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AmpersandPrize">@AmpersandPrize</a> thank you for 'The Flywheel'. It was beautiful and what I needed when I was younger. 💯💯</div>
— Jessica Harvie (@jlharvie) <a href="https://twitter.com/jlharvie/status/776261467507073024">September 15, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">Reading the buildup for the relationship between Del and Rosa was bittersweet. Del's observations, feelings, observations were right on point, and it sent me back to my high school days. The longing and tension was basically jumping off the page, authentic and believable.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 23px;">Although Del is out, this book has a lot to say about coming out. With two other characters at various levels of closetedness, one deals with it by spreading lies and rumours, and the other tries to find ways to slowly acclimate her family to the idea. With my own memories of coming out, and knowing the fear that it produces, I can understand both of these characters — and that's terrifying. I can, on some level, understand why one of the characters deflects her queerness, denies it, and I can see how it would be the easiest and safest option. It makes me glad that I didn't choose to go down that path, it makes me be thankful for my family, and it makes me feel sorry for those people who have to do that to ensure their safety.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 23px;">The friendship between Del and Charlie is beautiful. They had to navigate their own friendship troubles, but for me, friendships that show their flaws are the most believable on the page. Charlie was an interesting character, beautifully crafted and written. My personal head canon is that he goes to TAFE and becomes a chef. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The only draw back is that, at times, it was a bit hard to believe that Del's father had just left her with the cafe — of course, it is a bit more complicated than this, but there were moments where I could not suspend belief. This being said, the (absent) relationship between Del and parents was interesting: the mother seemed to have little-to-know interest in her daughter, and her father was largely away, although tangible in the book.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is the kind of book I wish I had had when I was a teenager, with positive queer lady characters and supportive families, with a plot that doesn't revolve around coming out.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Five Stars.</span></span>

Review: The Flywheel (with spoilers!)

The Blurb: Seventeen-year-old Delilah’s crazy life is about to get crazier. Ever since her father took off overseas, she’s been st...

Home australian , fiction , laura woollett , scribe , short story collection

Tuesday 13 September 2016 / No comments

Review: The Love Of A Bad Man

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Blurb:</span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> "A schoolgirl catches the eye of the
future leader of Nazi Germany. An aspiring playwright writes to a convicted
serial killer, seeking inspiration. A pair of childhood sweethearts reunite to
commit rape and murder. A devoted Mormon wife follows her husband into the
wilderness after he declares himself a prophet.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">  The twelve stories in <i>The
Love of a Bad Man</i> imagine the lives of real women, all of whom were the
lovers, wives, or mistresses of various ‘bad’ men in history. Beautifully
observed, fascinating, and at times horrifying, the stories interrogate power,
the nature of obsession, and the lengths some women will go to for the men they
love."</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">By Laura Elizabeth Woollett. </span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;">Published By Scribe</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 18px;">.</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 18px;">5 out of 5 stars.</span></span></div>
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Review: The Love Of A Bad Man

The Blurb: "A schoolgirl catches the eye of the future leader of Nazi Germany. An aspiring playwright writes to a convicted ...

Home 2015 , about me , top 2015

Friday 25 December 2015 / No comments

Passing Judgement

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Despite the fact that this is actually my first post on my
brand new blog, I’m going to do one of those ‘Top 5 x of 2015’ posts, because
what’s a better way to start a blog than to pass judgement over everything
you’ve read, watched or listened to this year? <o:p></o:p></div>
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There’s no better way, I say. Besides, it’s always
refreshing to recap a year and see just how much you didn’t achieve. And I certainly didn't achieve my 2015 NYE goal of starting a reviewing blog this year — does starting it on the 26th of December count?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Passing Judgement

Despite the fact that this is actually my first post on my brand new blog, I’m going to do one of those ‘Top 5 x of 2015’ posts, because ...

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Edits and Orange Juice

Thursday 6 April 2017 / No comments

Review: Closed and Common Orbit

Monday 19 September 2016 / No comments

Review: The Flywheel (with spoilers!)

Tuesday 13 September 2016 / No comments

Review: The Love Of A Bad Man

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